Russian President Vladimir Putin has hosted Slovakia’s prime minister, Robert Fico, in a rare visit to the Kremlin by an EU leader since Moscow’s all-out invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The killing of a senior Russian general in a bombing outside his apartment building in Moscow was the boldest assassination yet of a top military officer and it again brought the war in Ukraine to the streets of the capital.

Russia’s intervention on behalf of former Syrian leader Bashar Assad once turned the tide of Syria's civil war.

Ukraine’s military intelligence agency and the Pentagon say some North Korean troops have been killed during combat against Ukrainian forces in Russia’s Kursk border region.

The Kremlin’s failure to prevent Bashar Assad’s swift downfall in Syria has exposed the limits of Russia’s power and dented its international clout.

Meta is banning Russia state media organization from its social media company platforms, alleging that the outlets used deceptive tactics to amplify Moscow’s propaganda.

French prosecutors say an investigative judge has extended police custody for the Telegram CEO, Pavel Durov.

New details have emerged on the largest prisoner swap since the Cold War, with the Kremlin acknowledging for the first time that some of the Russians held in the West were from its security services.

The Kremlin’s spokesman says recent statements by France’s president and Britain’s foreign secretary about the war in Ukraine are “dangerous” and will deepen international tension around the conflict.

The Kremlin says that a draft agreement between Russia and Ukraine negotiated in 2022 could serve as a starting point for prospective talks to end the fighting that has dragged into a third year.

Russia and Ukraine are trading fresh accusations over renewed threats to Europe’s largest nuclear plant that has been caught up in the war.

President Joe Biden called Russian President Vladimir Putin a “crazy SOB” during a fundraiser for his reelection campaign Wednesday night.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has submitted documents to Russia’s Central Election Commission to register as a candidate in the 2024 presidential election.

The Kremlin says that Russian President Vladimir Putin will make a one-day trip to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia focused on the Israeli-Hamas war and also host the Iranian president in Moscow this week.

The Armenian parliament has voted to join International Criminal Court, which earlier this year indicted Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes connected to the deportation of children from Ukraine.

The United Nations atomic watchdog has warned of a potential threat to nuclear safety due to a spike in fighting near Europe’s largest nuclear power plant in Ukraine, whose forces continued pressing their counteroffensive.

The Kremlin says that Russian President Vladimir Putin will host Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan for talks in Russia’s Black Sea resort of Sochi on Monday.

The Kremlin says “deliberate wrongdoing” is among the possible causes of the plane crash that killed mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin last week.

Ukraine said its forces shot down Russian drones and cruise missiles targeting the Black Sea port of Odesa in what Moscow called “retribution” for an attack that damaged a crucial bridge to the Crimean Peninsula.

Russia has halted a breakthrough wartime deal that allows grain to flow from Ukraine to countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia where hunger is a growing threat and high food prices have pushed people into poverty.

The Kremlin is holding the door open for contacts with the U.S. regarding a possible prisoner exchange that could potentially involve jailed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich.

Russian mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin was notorious for unbridled and profane challenges to authority even before the attempted rebellion that he mounted Saturday.

The greatest challenge to Russian President Vladimir Putin in his more than two decades in power has fizzled out after the rebellious mercenary commander who ordered his troops to march on Moscow agreed to go into exile and sounded the retreat.

Russia accused Australia of “Russophobic hysteria” for canceling the lease on the land where Moscow wanted to build its new embassy.

Russia’s Interior Ministry has issued an arrest warrant for U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham following his comments related to the fighting in Ukraine.

Russia’s defense chief is urging a state company to double its missile output as a possible Ukrainian counteroffensive looms.

Germany’s defense minister has voiced caution over media reports that a pro-Ukraine group was involved in blowing up the Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea last year.

The West's move to send tanks to Ukraine was greeted enthusiastically from Kyiv, Berlin and Washington.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sounded another defiant note on his return to his nation's capital following his wartime visit to the United States.

Russian President Vladimir Putin says more U.S.-Russian prisoner exchanges are possible.

Russian authorities have rejected a price cap on the country’s oil set by Ukraine’s Western supporters and are threatening to stop supplying the nations that endorsed it.

Russia has rejected Western demands that it pulls out completely from Ukraine as part of any future talks to end the war, saying they effectively rule out any talks on settling the conflict.

Ukraine is accusing Iran of violating a U.N. Security Council ban on the transfer of drones capable of flying 300 kilometers.

Authorities say a gunman has killed 17 people and wounded 24 others in a school in central Russia.

Estonia and Finland want European countries to stop issuing tourist visas to Russians amid the war in Ukraine.

The Kremlin says that Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit Iran next week, after the U.S. warned that Tehran could provide Moscow with drones for its action in Ukraine.

The United Nations says Secretary-General Antonio Guterres plans to meet separately with the presidents of Russia and Ukraine next week to make an urgent plea for peace.

The winners in the team figure skating competition at the Beijing Olympics still have not received their medals two days later because of what the IOC says are “legal issues.”.

Russia's daily count of new coronavirus infections has spiked above 110,000 as the highly contagious omicron variant spreads through the vast country.

The United States and NATO have made no concessions to the main Russian demands to resolve the crisis over Ukraine.

The White House says President Joe Biden warned Ukraine's president on Thursday that there is a “distinct possibility” Russia could take military action against Ukraine in February.

Moscow and Washington both have taken uncompromising stands ahead of more talks amid a Russian troop buildup near Ukraine.

The Kremlin says it expects the U.S. to respond next month to Moscow’s request for security guarantees precluding NATO’s expansion to Ukraine.

The Kremlin says Russia has submitted draft documents outlining security arrangements it wants to negotiate with the United States and its NATO allies.

The Kremlin has rejected the U.S. claims of a Russian troop buildup near Ukraine as a ruse intended to cover up what it described as Ukrainian leadership’s aggressive intentions.

The Kremlin has rebuffed allegations that a buildup of Russian troops near Ukraine reflects Moscow’s aggressive intentions.

Coronavirus deaths in Russia hit another daily record several days after a nationwide order for many Russians to stay off work took effect.

An Amsterdam appeals court has ruled that a trove of historical treasures from Crimea that have been stored for years at a Dutch museum must be given to Ukraine.

Facing a surge of seriously ill COVID-19 patients, the head of an intensive care unit at a Moscow hospital says the situation could easily have been avoided if more Russians were vaccinated.

The Kremlin says Russia has the potential to boost natural gas supplies to Europe as surging gas prices put pressure on consumers.

The Kremlin says Russian President Vladimir Putin is in self-isolation after people in his inner circle became infected with the coronavirus.

The Kremlin is seeking to temper expectations for next month’s summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Joe Biden but noted the meeting’s significance amid soaring tensions between their countries.

Putin said he will get vaccinated against the coronavirus on Tuesday, months after widespread vaccination has started in Russia. Dmitry Peskov said Putin is feeling fine after getting the shot and is planning a regular workday Wednesday. Kremlin critics have argued that Putin's reluctance to get vaccinated was contributing to the already existing public hesitancy about the vaccine. Russia has been actively marketing Sputnik V abroad, despite the slow rollout at home and limited production capacities. AdThe fund said Tuesday it has submitted a request for Sputnik V to be part of the global vaccine sharing scheme COVAX.

In this photo made available on Sunday, March 21, 2021, Russian President Vladimir Putin looks at a photographer in a taiga forest in Russia's Siberian region. Putin and Russia Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu are spending the weekend in Siberia, said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. In taking a tough stance on Russia, Biden has said the days of the U.S. “rolling over” to Putin are done. Last week, the U.S. national intelligence director’s office released a report finding that Putin authorized influence operations to help Trump’s reelection bid. The Biden administration warned that Russia would face sanctions soon over its attempt to influence the election and the massive SolarWinds hacks.

Putin said he will get vaccinated against the coronavirus on Tuesday, months after widespread vaccination has started in Russia. (Alexei Druzhinin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)MOSCOW – President Vladimir Putin said he will get a coronavirus vaccine shot on Tuesday, several months after widespread vaccination started in Russia. Putin, 68, told a meeting with government officials and vaccine developers on Monday that he will get his shot “tomorrow,” without specifying which coronavirus vaccine out of the three authorized for use in Russia he will take. Dozens of countries have approved the use of Sputnik V and signed deals with Russia to get shipments of the shot. Even despite deliberate discrediting of our vaccine, various hoaxes and sometimes outright nonsense, more states all around the world express interest in our vaccine," Putin said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks to top Interior Ministry officials in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, March 3, 2021. (Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)MOSCOW – The Kremlin on Wednesday shrugged off new Western sanctions over the poisoning and arrest of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny as unfounded and pointless — but warned that Moscow will retaliate. U.S. President Joe Biden's administration sanctioned seven Russian officials on Tuesday, along with more than a dozen government entities, over the nerve-agent attack on Navalny and his subsequent jailing. It coordinated the move with the European Union, which expanded its own sanctions Tuesday. Commenting on the U.S. and the EU decisions, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the sanctions against top Russian officials that include a freeze on their bank accounts duplicate Russia's own law that bans them from having financial and other assets abroad.

AdA Moscow court on Tuesday sent Navalny to prison, finding that he violated the terms of his probation while recuperating in Germany. “We aren’t going to take into account such statements regarding the enforcement of our laws on those who violate them and Russian court verdicts,” Peskov said. Navalny argued that the crackdown on protests was a show of weakness, saying that the government's power is illusory and urging Russians not to fear it. “They can only hold on to power and use it to enrich themselves relying on our fear,” he said. “If we overcome that fear, we will be able to free our Motherland from a bunch of occupants-thieves.

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, right, is escorted hand-cuffed after a court hearing in Moscow, Russia, Monday, Jan. 18, 2021. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)MOSCOW – The Kremlin on Tuesday brushed aside calls from the West to release opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who was arrested upon his return to Russia from Germany following treatment for poisoning with a nerve agent. The condemnations of his arrest and the calls from abroad for his release have added to the existing tensions between Russia and the West. “It is the most secretive and guarded facility in Russia," Navalny says in the video. In the video, Navalny's team once again urged supporters to take to the streets on Saturday.

Russia was banned Thursday Dec. 17, 2020 from using its name, flag and anthem at the next two Olympics or at any world championships for the next two years. The Court of Arbitration for Sport's ruling also blocked Russia from bidding to host major sporting events for two years. WADA wanted Russian athletes to show they didn’t benefit from cover-ups at a Moscow laboratory before they were cleared to compete at the Olympics, Paralympics and world championship events. Peskov emphasized that Russia will continue to work as closely as possible with international sports organizations. “As regards all other issues, we intend to stay in close touch with international sports organizations,” he said.

FILE - In this March 10, 2011, file photo, Vice President of the United States Joe Biden, left, shakes hands with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Russia. Putin wont congratulate President-elect Joe Biden until legal challenges to the U.S. election are resolved and the result is official, the Kremlin announced Monday, Nov. 9, 2020. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)MOSCOW – Russian President Vladimir Putin won’t congratulate President-elect Joe Biden until legal challenges to the U.S. election are resolved and the result is official, the Kremlin announced Monday. And Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador also said he would wait to comment until the legal challenges were resolved. Kosachev also suggested that Biden’s election would largely eliminate complaints about Russian election interference, thereby smoothing the way for armaments agreements.

A preliminary inquiry launched last week hasn't found any indication of "deliberate criminal acts committed against Navalny, Russia's Prosecutor General's office said. Over the weekend, he was transferred to the Charit hospital in Berlin, where doctors found indications of cholinesterase inhibitors in his system. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday he saw no grounds for a criminal case until the cause of the politicians condition was fully established. On Wednesday night, the politician's illness was discussed in a phone call between Putin and Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte. Peskov on Thursday refused to comment on Maas' statement and reiterated there were no grounds for a criminal investigation.

MOSCOW The Kremlin on Tuesday rejected accusations of involvement in an alleged attack on Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny who is in a coma in a German hospital, a day after doctors said tests indicated that he was poisoned. The politician's allies say the Kremlin is behind the illness of its most prominent critic, with some demanding an investigation into whether Russian President Vladimir Putin was involved. These accusations absolutely cannot be true and are rather an empty noise, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday. Chancellor Angela Merkel personally offered Germany's help in treating Navalny and, along with other European officials, has called for a full Russian investigation. Charit said the specific substance to which Navalny was exposed isn't yet known but that a further series of comprehensive tests had been started.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, listens to Federal Security Service (FSB) director Alexander Bortnikov, back to a camera, during their meeting at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, June 16, 2020. (Alexei Nikolsky, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)MOSCOW The Russian government built special tunnels to protect President Vladimir Putin from the coronavirus at home and at work, Putin's spokesman said Wednesday. Reports about tunnels where anyone passing through gets sprayed with germ-killing antiseptics appeared in Russian media on Tuesday night. Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday that one tunnel was installed at the presidents home outside Moscow and two at the Kremlin. Russian health officials reported 7,843 new confirmed coronavirus cases on Wednesday, the lowest daily number since late April.

Riga-based investigative outlet Meduza reported Thursday that an employee at an Arkhangelsk hospital was told the exposure likely occurred during a holiday in Thailand. "You just ate Fukushima crabs there," the employee described officials as saying to the doctor, according to Meduza. Radiation poisoning at missile test site? The explosive incident at the Nyonoksa missile test site on August 8 took the lives of at least five nuclear specialists working for Rosatom state corporation. Russian officials question media reports"I'm not aware of it, I do not know what doctors you are talking about.

MOSCOW - The Kremlin broke its silence Tuesday on the apparent explosion of a nuclear-powered cruise missile during a test, saying that accidents "happen" but that Russia remained "far ahead" in the development of advanced weaponry. But in a conference call with reporters, Peskov denied that such mishaps would set back Russian efforts to develop advanced military capabilities. The spokesperson said that only experts could speak with authority on such matters, but added: "Accidents, unfortunately, happen. Rosatom, Russia's state atomic energy company, confirmed that five of its nuclear specialists were killed in the incident. Local authorities reported a brief spike in radiation following the incident, while Russia's Defense Ministry said radiation levels were normal.