The Kremlin leader kept his speech short, spoke only briefly about the fighting in Ukraine, and did not mention U.S.-mediated talks on ending the war.

Russian commanders told Putin during an inspection visit that Moscow's forces had captured towns in Ukraine's eastern region of Donetsk.

Between January and November, more than 2,300 Ukrainian civilians were killed and more than 11,000 were injured, the United Nations said earlier in December. That was 26% higher than in the same period in 2024 and 70% higher than in 2023,

President Donald Trump shared a New York Post op-ed on his Truth Social account Wednesday that lambasted Russian President Vladimir Putin as a "dictator" whose "lies" and "hatred" were "standing in the way" of a peace deal in Ukraine.

MOSCOW, Dec 29 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin on Monday told his army to press on with a campaign to take full control of the Zaporizhzhia region in southern Ukraine after a Russian commander said Moscow's forces were 15 kilometres (9.3 miles) from its biggest city.

From gigantic submarines lurking in the depths of British waters to mysterious drones probing our allies airports, there is new and worrying evidence that Moscow’s appetite for wider conflict is about to be unleashed,

President Vladimir Putin and President Xi Jinping exchanged New Year messages, hailing strong trade growth and a "new era" of Russia-China ties.

Russian dictator Vladimir Putin claimed in a phone call with President Donald Trump that Kyiv had attacked one of his official residences—a claim which Ukraine denied almost instantly. The Russian readout of the call said that Putin,