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Russian President Vladimir Putin phoned Iran's new interim president on Monday as Moscow made clear its desire to preserve and build on its deepening relationship with Tehran despite the sudden death of President Ebrahim Raisi. The Kremlin said Putin expressed his condolences to interim president Mohammad Mokhber and to the whole Iranian people over Raisi's death in a helicopter crash, describing Raisi as a "reliable partner who made an invaluable personal contribution" to bilateral relations. "Both sides emphasised their mutual desire to further consistently strengthen comprehensive Russian-Iranian interaction for the benefit of the peoples of the two countries," the Kremlin...

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi was a "true friend" to Russia and was admired both at home and abroad, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a message on Monday, after it was confirmed that Raisi died in a helicopter crash a day earlier. Raisi "was rightly highly respected by his compatriots and enjoyed great prestige abroad," Putin said in a condolence message to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that was released by the Kremlin. "As a true friend of Russia, he made an invaluable personal contribution to the development of good neighbourly relations between our countries and made great efforts...

Tyrants and terrorists have been mourning the death of Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi after his surprise death in a helicopter crash on Sunday. The Hamas terror group, Lebanon's Hezbollah militia, Iraq-based armed groups and the Syrian government - all members of the so-called 'Axis of Resistance' against Israel and its Western allies - expressed their condolences on Monday. Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a statement released by the Kremlin, meanwhile described Raisi 'as a true friend of Russia'. Iran has been supplying Russia with munitions and drones to support its continued invasion of Ukraine that have wreaked havoc across the...

In a conversation with the First Vice President, the special assistant to the Russian President stated that, by Putin's order, two advanced aircrafts with special helicopters and 50 professional mountain rescue personnel will be dispatched to Tabriz, Iranian media reported on Sunday overnight.

A Russian military airfield in Crimea has caught fire for a second night in a row, according to new reports, after Moscow said Ukraine had launched consecutive long-range strikes on the Russian-controlled peninsula. The Belbek airfield, close to the port city of Sevastopol on Crimea's western edge where Russia bases its Black Sea naval fleet, is "on fire again," Russian independent news outlet Astra reported on Thursday.

Vladimir Putin tried to engage Xi Jinping with eye-contact during their meeting today, but it is clear that the Chinese president is the senior partner in the relationship between the world leaders, according to a body language expert. -snip- But amid the deepening partnership between the two nations, body language expert and author of 26 books on the subject Judi James said the meeting was perhaps more one-sided than Putin would want the world to believe. The Russian employed subtle ways to show the bond between the two despots, Ms James said. But Xi, she noted, 'didn't get the memo.'...

Ukraine used U.S-supplied missiles in an attack that sparked blazes at a Russian military air base in Crimea, according to reports. The Astra Telegram channel posted images of flames at the Belbek airfield near the city of Sevastopol following the strikes overnight Tuesday. Belbek airfield has been operated by the Russian defense ministry since Moscow's annexation of Crimea in 2014. -snip- Open-source X user OSINT Technical posted NASA satellite images, which the account said showed large fires raging at the airfield located more than 160 miles from the frontline in Ukraine. "Ukrainian forces reportedly carried out a massive missile strike...

Gazprom, the energy giant at the heart of Russia's economy, has announced it is selling property in Moscow, one week after posting record losses linked to restricted supplies to Europe linked to Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine. The company said on Wednesday that the properties include office and non-residential buildings, a car parking lot in the capital, and the Imperial Park Hotel and spa sanatorium and resort complex in Rogozino village, just outside of Moscow. "Gazprom is engaged in a fire sale. They had their worst year in decades, and their production has fallen precipitously, down to what it was...

Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed replacing his defence minister and long-term ally, Sergei Shoigu, more than two years into the Ukraine war, the upper house of parliament said on Sunday. Putin proposed Andrei Belousov, former deputy prime minister, as the new defence minister.

The figurehead president of the Cuban communist Castro regime, Miguel Díaz-Canel, arrived in Moscow on Tuesday for a two-day official visit that will include a meeting with Russian strongman Vladimir Putin, who has been recently inaugurated for a new six-year term as president. According to the Cuban Foreign Ministry, Díaz-Canel will “address bilateral agenda priorities” following Putin’s inauguration, meeting with other representatives of the Russian government before meeting with Putin on Thursday. Díaz-Canel will also participate in Wednesday’s meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council, representing Cuba in its capacity as an observer member of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU)....

Vladimir Putin wore thick make-up with his eyebrows darkened and used cheek filler when he was sworn in for a fifth term, says a security expert. -snip- Prof Anthony Glees, from the University of Buckingham, told The Mirror that Putin was “heavily made up” for the event including user filler. It comes with the Russian leader having typically tried to give a macho image of himself whether it is riding shirtless on horseback or doing judo. “The doors open and Putin ambles in, greeted by an adoring audience. He is followed by a goose-stepping presidential guard of in uniforms,” said...

All five Central Asian presidents are scheduled to attend a parade on Red Square on May 9 to commemorate the end of World War II in Europe in 1945, while the majority of the world's leaders continue to condemn Russia's ongoing unprovoked invasion of Ukraine launched in February 2022. Yury Ushakov, an aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin, on May 7 said Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoev, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov, and Turkmen President Serdar Berdymukhammedov will attend the event in the Russian capital’s Red Square. Ushakov added that President Miguel Diaz-Canel of...

Tanks and columns of troops are massing in Moscow ahead of Russia's annual Victory Day - timed this year to coincide with Vladimir Putin's latest presidential inauguration after another election victory denounced as a 'sham'. The despot is set for another six years in the Kremlin after emphatically and unsurprisingly winning March's presidential poll, with his new term formally beginning on Tuesday. -snip- Last year's Victory Day parade featured just a single tank, a Second World War-era T-34.

Vladimir Putin has had to cancel multiple Victory Day parades over ‘security risks’. -snip- Celebrated every year on May 9, the Victory Parade will take place online in some regions, Elena Tsunaeva, the first deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Labour, Social Policy and Veterans’ Affairs, announced. Portraits of veterans will be placed on public transport instead of the procession. Heads of multiple Russian regions and occupied Crimea, for example, announced that events will be scaled back or not happening at all, despite it being the most solemn day in the Russian calendar. Victory parades and fireworks have...

A Russian deputy defence minister has been accused of taking bribes and remanded in custody by a court in Moscow. Timur Ivanov, who denies the charges, is accused of accepting bribes "on a particularly large scale". Appointed to the defence ministry in 2016, Mr Ivanov, 47, has been responsible for Russia's military infrastructure projects. Mr Ivanov is considered an ally of Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and has worked with him for many years. He was previously deputy prime minister of the Moscow region, where Mr Shoigu briefly served as governor. -snip- In 2022, the Anti-Corruption Foundation (ACF), the group founded...

Vladimir Putin is no stranger to rumours about his own health – but now the health of one of his closest allies has been called into question. Exiled newspaper Novaya Gazeta Europe claims that Chechen warlord Ramzan Kadyrov, 47, is suffering from pancreatic disease and has ‘no hope of recovery’. The news outlet says Kadyrov – a leading ally of the dictator’s war against Ukraine – has been living with ‘pancreatic necrosis’ for more than five years, which explains his frequent absences from the public stage. An extraordinary new picture shows the Chechen warlord looking unusually bloated. Novaya Gazeta Europe...

Polish director Besaleel’s film will feature an AI-rendered Russian president and footage shot by Ukrainian film-makers during the Russian invasion. The “world premiere” of a new biopic of Russian president Vladimir Putin featuring an AI-rendered central character, has been announced for 26 September. In a statement released via PR Leap, Polish studio AIO said the film, titled Putin, will be released in 35 countries, and describes itself as “up close and personal with the Kremlin leader’s story”. -snip- Originally titled The Vor in Law (a term used for elite organised crime figures), the film also incorporates footage shot by Ukrainian...

The missing American who’d traveled to Ukraine years ago to aid Russian separatists in Donbas was found dead in the country’s war-torn eastern region. The body of Russell Bentley, a 64-year-old U.S. Army vet, was recovered in the Russian-controlled region of Donetsk Oblast, Reuters reported. -snip- The former pothead, who used “Texas” as his military call-sign, left behind a yoga instructor girlfriend to travel to Ukraine. He utilized crowdfunding sites to finance his trip, and had since become a Russian citizen. He also got married after moving to Ukraine, where he began working as a reporter for the state-owned Sputnik...

UFOs and their pilots might not be 'extra-terrestrials' from a distant planet at all, but 'spiritual entities' who have inhabited Earth for as long as humanity itself. At least, that's the 'supernatural' theory Fox News vet and one-time MSNBC host Tucker Carlson put forward this week on comedian Joe Rogan's podcast 'There's a ton of evidence that they're under the ocean and under the ground,' Carlson told Rogan's listeners during the show's usual, sprawling, three-hour-long chat format, adding: 'They've been here for a long time.' -snip- 'They're from here and they've been here for thousands of years,' Carlson said, 'whatever...

"You can't go anywhere at all, not even to Uzbekistan or Belarus for the May holidays," said one source. -snip- Russia is making overseas travel harder for some officials due to fears that foreign powers may try to gain access to state secrets during the worst crisis in relations with the West for more than 60 years, nine sources told Reuters. The Federal Security Service (FSB) is putting pressure on employees across government ministries not to leave Russia at all, even to visit so-called 'friendly' countries that have not imposed sanctions against Moscow, the sources said. Foreign travel was highly...