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Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the nationalization of an ammunition plant in Moscow after a mechanical failure caused tens of thousands of Muscovites to lose heat and water amid freezing temperatures beginning last week. On January 4, a heating main burst at the Klimovsk Specialized Ammunition Plant in the town of Podolsk, which is around 30 miles south of central Moscow. Since then, tens of thousands of Russians are reported to have no heating in their homes in the Moscow region amid subzero temperatures. Affected areas include the cities of Khimki, Balashikha, Lobnya, Lyubertsy, Podolsk, Chekhov, Naro-Fominsk, and Podolsk,...

Ukraine claims its forces “seriously wounded” a high-profile Russian figure as part of a special forces mission into border city Belgorod. Vladimir Putin’s forces sustained heavy losses in the Russian city as Ukraine bombarded the city, Ukraine's military chief has claimed. Hundreds of Russians have been evacuated from Belgorod after a reported barrage of shelling from the Ukrainian army in recent days. Kyiv spymaster Kyrylo Budanov said: “Not disclosing details, I can say that one of the very seriously wounded [in Russia’s Belgorod region] was quite a significant personality. “They immediately requested a helicopter to evacuate him directly to Moscow,"...

Vladimir Putin's police state has become so repressive that a popular joke from Soviet times has resurfaced and been repurposed for those Russians today who dare to acknowledge the truth about the autocratic regime they are living under. It tells the story of two FSB (successor of the KGB) agents who are having a beer after work. The first one, Ivan, says to his colleague, 'Tell me, Dmitry. What do you really think about Putin?' and Dmitry replies, 'The same as you do.' Ivan thinks for a moment and says: 'In that case, it is my duty to arrest you.'

The current conflict in Ukraine is a direct result of the failure of the Minsk Agreements. Between 2014 and 2015, Russia and the European Union mediated negotiations between the breakaway republics of Donbass and the Kiev government, reaching a mutually beneficial protocol that was expected to guarantee regional peace. However, the terms of the pact were never respected by the Ukrainian regime, which continued to constantly attack the republics and advance its project of “de-Russification” and ethnic cleansing.

In a shocking admission that underscores the challenges facing Russia, its own central bank governor, Elvira Nabiullina, said on Monday that the country should brace for more economic pain in the form of additional sanctions. This admission comes amidst growing concerns about the resilience of the Russian economy and the effectiveness of its leadership in the face of mounting global pressure. Nabiullina, speaking to the TASS state news agency, cautioned against optimism regarding Russia's economic standing, asserting that the nation is not as robust as some may believe.

In a significant development in the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia, the Ukrainian Air Force successfully targeted and destroyed the Russian landing ship Novocherkassk. The military action took place in the early hours of December 26, in the port of Feodosia, located in the occupied territory of Crimea. The event was announced by the Ukrainian Air Force Commander, Mykola Oleshchuk, and signifies a strategic blow to the Russian military’s capabilities in the region. The Novocherkassk, a large landing ship, represents a significant asset in the Russian Navy. Its destruction likely involved the use of Storm Shadow/SCALP-EG missiles. This loss...

Loud explosions were heard in early Tuesday hours over the Crimean town of Feodosia on the Black Sea coast, Russian news outlets on the Telegram messaging service reported. Footage posted on several Russian news outlets on Telegram showed powerful explosions and fires over a port area.

Update (0933 EST): Russian military bloggers are blaming Russian General Teplinsky for ordering the glide bombing of the Ukrainian bridgehead by Su-34s even after a November 25th shoot down of another Su-34 carrying out that mission. The bloggers claim that Teplinsky is “obsessed” with destroying the Ukrainian bridgehead and has “crossed a line”, sacrificing hundreds of soldiers, Marines, and now up to four Su-34s. According to their sources, the general disregarded warnings of Ukrainian shuffling of advanced air defenses to Kherson and ordered the flights anyways. These bloggers may be referencing Colonel General Mikhail Teplinsky who is the embattled commander...

Russian war fanatics are enraged over an 'almost naked' party staged in Moscow by wealthy showbiz celebrities including Vladimir Putin's 'goddaughter'. The 'debauched' gathering was likened to Sodom and Gomorrah by critics claiming the antics of the wealthy stars insulted those on the frontline in the Kremlin's illegal war against Ukraine. Among the most visible guests was a pregnant and braless Ksenia Sobchak, 40, a TV presenter and 'liberal' Russian presidential candidate in 2018, in a nude-coloured Sorelle outfit. She is known as Putin's goddaughter after he attended her baptism and viewed her late father Anatoly Sobchak as his political...

Tackling cost of eggs and putting western company exits on hold among measures aimed at containing surging prices. Vladimir Putin’s re-election campaign has prompted a fresh drive by Russian officials to curb inflation as disquiet grows over soaring prices for consumer goods and as technocrats move to rein in a weakening rouble. -snip- Pressures on consumers were a central feature of Putin’s telethon last Thursday, the first time he had held his usually annual press conference or phone-in since ordering the invasion in 2022 — and, since “eggs” are slang for testicles in Russian, he could not pass up an...

A Russian television serial exploring the tragedy wrought by brutal teenage street gangs fighting for survival, money and love in the last years of the crumbling Soviet Union has become a sensation in Russia. The series – “A hoodlum’s promise – blood on the asphalt” – shows the savagery of the gangs which carved up the Russian city of Kazan in 1989 as the reforms of Mikhail Gorbachev gyrated the Soviet Union towards its 1991 demise. In the Kazan badlands, many of the teenagers tried to make sense of their Soviet world turned upside down by flocking to the gangs...

Sharply rising prices for eggs led another weekly rise in consumer inflation in Russia as the central bank hiked interest rates by 100 basis points, data from the federal statistics service showed on Wednesday. The government last week said it would exempt 1.2 billion eggs from import duty in the first half of next year to try to rein in prices that have risen by more than 50% this year, a surge in costs for Russia's poorest that led to a rare apology from President Vladimir Putin. -snip- The Bank of Russia said its interest rate hiking cycle may be...

Russian imports of 1.2 billion eggs will be exempt from duty for the first six months of 2024, the economy ministry said on Wednesday, to help rein in prices as some shops run low on supplies. Egg prices have risen more than 40% so far this year and empty egg shelves have been seen in some Moscow supermarkets in the past week. -snip- Natalia Chernovolova, a resident of Valuyki in the Belgorod region, said prices above around 150 roubles were too much for her. "I have to look for other options, cheaper ones," she said. "Because we need eggs not...

Russia said today that the European Union's decision to open membership talks with Ukraine and Moldova was a politicised decision that could destabilise the bloc. 'Negotiations to join the EU can last for years or decades. The EU has always had strict criteria for accession and it is obvious that at the moment neither Ukraine nor Moldova meets these criteria,' Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. 'It is clear that this is an absolutely politicised decision, the EU's desire to demonstrate support for these countries. But such new members could destabilise the EU.'

Russian President Vladimir Putin has vowed "problems" for Finland after he says the Nordic country was "dragged into NATO" amid the war in Ukraine. "Look, Finland was taken and dragged into NATO," Putin said in a new on-camera interview. "What did we have, some kind of dispute with Finland? All disputes, including those of a territorial nature in the middle of the 20th century, were all resolved a long time ago. We had the best, most heartfelt relations. Economically, everything was developing. Yes, in the timber industry, there were some problems linked to the necessity to develop timber processing within...

Russia's central bank has today raised its key interest rate by 100 basis points to 16%, hiking borrowing costs for the fifth meeting in a row under stubborn inflation pressure from widespread labour shortages, high lending and the weak rouble. The central bank has now raised rates by 850 basis points since July, including an unscheduled emergency hike in August as the rouble tumbled past 100 to the dollar and the Kremlin called for tighter monetary policy. The bank said pro-inflationary risks over the medium-term horizon remained substantial and warned that stabilising inflation near its 4% target would require high...

NATO’s newest member, Finland, has announced it will sign a bilateral defence cooperation agreement next week with the United States. The deal will allow Washington to station troops and store weapons inside the Nordic country, which shares a sprawling border with Russia.

Rumours of Vladimir Putin's 'ill health' have been swirling for years, with recent sources claiming the Russian President has died and his corpse is being stored in a freezer 'used for deep-frozen food'. Russian President Vladimir Putin is holding his first major news conference today, since launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February last year. At the annual event (which didn't happen last year), he has claimed that peace with Ukraine will only occur "when we achieve our objectives". -snip- Speculation has mounted online for years about the Russian President's 'ill health', with claims he is allegedly suffering from...

The departure of foreign auto makers from Russia has ultimately caused domestic car prices to rise, President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday, a rare acknowledgement of the harm caused by Western measures imposed over Moscow's actions in Ukraine. Most European, Japanese and South Korean carmakers suspended production and gradually left the Russian market following Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, taking technology, know-how and access to parts with them. Putin said car prices had risen by about 40%, without specifying a period, blaming this on low production and domestic carmakers' increased costs as they import components. "When European brands left...

Russia's Central Bank on Friday raised its key interest rate to 16%, the fifth hike since summer as it fights to keep accelerating inflation down and a move widely anticipated by analysts. "Current inflationary pressures remain high," the Central Bank said in a statement explaining the rate hike, adding that "annual inflation for 2023 is expected to be close to the upper bound of the 7.0–7.5 percent forecast range." This is a developing story.