Page 29 - Vladimir Putin

Putin bets big on war: Russia approves $126 billion defence budget for 2025

Russian President Vladimir Putin has approved a record $126 billion defence budget for 2025, as the ongoing war in Ukraine continues to strain Russia's economy

President Putin signs off record Russian defence spending Budget for 2025

Russian President Vladimir Putin approved budget plans, raising 2025 military spending to record levels as Moscow seeks to prevail in the war in Ukraine. Around 32.5% of the budget posted on a government website Sunday has been allocated for national defense, amounting to 13.5 trillion rubles (over $145 billion), up from a reported 28.3% this year. Lawmakers in both houses of the Russian parliament, the State Duma and Federation Council had already approved the plans in the past 10 days. Russia's war on Ukraine, which started in Feb. 2022, is Europe's biggest conflict since World War II and has drained the resources of both sides. Kyiv has been getting billions of dollars in help from its Western allies, but Russia's forces are bigger and better equipped, and in recent months the Russian army has gradually been pushing Ukrainian troops backward in eastern areas. On the ground in Ukraine, three people died in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson when a Russian drone struck a mini

Russian defence minister visits North Korea for talks to boost ties

Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov arrived in North Korea on Friday for talks with North Korean military and political leaders as the countries deepen their cooperation over Russia's war in Ukraine. In announcing the visit, Russia's Defence Ministry didn't say whom Belousov would meet or the purpose of the talks. North Korean state media didn't immediately confirm the visit. Belousov, a former economist, replaced Sergei Shoigu as defence minister in May after Russian President Vladimir Putin started a fifth term in power. Photos released by the Defense Ministry showed Belousov walking alongside North Korean Defense Minister No Kwang Chol on a red carpet at a Pyongyang airport. North Korean military officials were seen clapping under a banner that read, Complete support and solidarity with the fighting Russian army and people. Belousov noted after his arrival that military cooperation between the countries is expanding. He applauded a strategic partnership agreement signed by

Desertion a major issue with Ukraine's forces in its war with Russia

Desertion is starving the Ukrainian army of desperately needed manpower and crippling its battle plans at a crucial time in its war with Russia, which could put Kyiv at a clear disadvantage in future ceasefire talks. Facing every imaginable shortage, tens of thousands of Ukrainian troops, tired and bereft, have walked away from combat and front-line positions to slide into anonymity, according to soldiers, lawyers and Ukrainian officials. Entire units have abandoned their posts, leaving defensive lines vulnerable and accelerating territorial losses, according to military commanders and soldiers. Some take medical leave and never return, haunted by the traumas of war and demoralized by bleak prospects for victory. Others clash with commanders and refuse to carry out orders, sometimes in the middle of firefights. This problem is critical, said Oleksandr Kovalenko, a Kyiv-based military analyst. This is the third year of war, and this problem will only grow. Although Moscow has also b

Putin says Trump can stop the Ukraine war, raises concerns about his safety

The Russian President also criticised the Biden administration's recent support for Ukraine, suggesting it could be part of a strategy to strain relations between the US and Russia

Russia could strike 'decision-making centres' in Kyiv, says Putin

Russian attacks have not so far struck government buildings in the Ukrainian capital. Kyiv is heavily protected by air defences, but Putin says Russia's Oreshnik hypersonic missile

Russia's labour shortage spreads as defence sector cuts down staff

Heavy recruitment by the armed forces and defence industries has drawn workers away from civilian enterprises, as has emigration, pushing unemployment to a record low of 2.3 per cent

News highlights: Priyanka Gandhi wins in debut poll contest in Wayanad by a margin of over 410,000

News highlights: Read the news developments from across the world here

Hypersonic missile strike on Ukraine was a warning to reckless West: Russia

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was speaking a day after President Vladimir Putin said Moscow had fired the new missile

World War-3 officially begins: claims Ukraine's former commander-in-chief

Participation of North Korean soldiers, use of Iranian drones and weapons from China are 'unmistakable signs' of the conflict's broader international dimensions, said Valery Zaluzhny

Putin, ascendant in Ukraine, eyes contours of a Donald Trump peace deal

US President-elect Trump, who has vowed to swiftly end the conflict, is returning to the White House at a time of Russian ascendancy

Russia revises nuclear policy, is it likely to use its atomic weapons now?

The 4-year-old document has a bland, bureaucratic title Basic Principles of State Policy on Nuclear Deterrence but its contents are chilling, especially with its newest revisions. Better known as Russia's nuclear doctrine, the revamped version that was signed Tuesday by President Vladimir Putin spells out the circumstances that allow him to use Moscow's atomic arsenal, the world's largest. This new version lowers the bar, giving him that option in response to even a conventional attack backed by a nuclear power. That possibly could include the use of U.S.-supplied ATACMS missiles by Ukraine to hit Russian territory which Moscow says happened Tuesday when six missiles hit the Bryansk region. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov emphasized that such strikes could potentially be a trigger for a nuclear response under the revised document. What is Russia's nuclear doctrine? Its first iteration was signed by Putin in 2020, and he approved latest version Tuesday, according to the Kremlin.

Russian President Putin plans first visit to India since Ukraine war began

Putin and Modi held talks when Russia hosted the summit of Brics states last month. The Indian leader also met Putin in Moscow in July on his first trip to Russia since the war began

Ukraine fired 6 US-made ATACMs, shot 5 of them, say Russian officials

Russia's Defence Ministry said Tuesday that Ukraine fired six US-made ATACMs missiles at Russia's Bryansk region. In a statement carried by Russian news agencies, the ministry said the military shot down five of them and damaged one more. The fragments fell on the territory of an unspecified military facility, the ministry said. The falling debris sparked a fire, but didn't inflict any damage or casualties, it said. The announcement comes shortly after Washington lifted restrictions on Ukraine using US-made longer-range missiles to strike Russia. Ukraine didn't immediately confirm the use of ATACMs in a strike on Russia's Bryansk region. Earlier on Tuesday, Ukraine's General Staff said that Ukrainian army carried out a strike on the arsenal of the 1046th Logistics Support Centre in the area of Karachev in Bryansk region of Russia. The General Staff said that multiple explosions and detonation were heard in the targeted area. The destruction of ammunition depots for the Russian .

Putin signs new doctrine that lowers threshold for using nuclear weapons

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday signed a revised nuclear doctrine declaring that a conventional attack on Russia by any nation that is supported by a nuclear power will be considered a joint attack on his country. Putin's endorsement of the new nuclear deterrent policy comes on the 1,000th day after he sent troops into Ukraine on Feb 24, 2022. It follows US President Joe Biden's decision to let Ukraine strike targets inside Russia with US-supplied longer-range missiles. The signing of the doctrine, which says that any massive aerial attack on Russia could trigger a nuclear response, reflects Putin's readiness to threaten use of the country's nuclear arsenal to force the West to back down as Moscow presses a slow-moving offensive in Ukraine.

Putin to visit India: First trip since Russia-Ukraine war outbreak in 2022

Vladimir Putin's upcoming visit to India will mark his third bilateral meeting with PM Modi since the onset of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022

No plans to talk with Putin: Starmer as he reaffirms support for Ukraine

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Sunday that he has no plan to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin as he pledged support for Ukraine as the UK's top priority at this week's G20 Summit. Speaking with reporters on the way to the meeting in Brazil, Starmer said he wouldn't speak to Putin as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz did on Friday. The call between the two leaders, which the Kremlin said was initiated by Germany, was the first publicly announced conversation between Putin and a major head of a Western power in almost two years. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy criticised the call and said it would only make Russia less isolated. Ukraine's allies fear that the election of President-elect Donald Trump, who has questioned US aid sent to Kyiv and spoken favourably about Putin, could alter support from Washington, its biggest backer. Starmer said allies have to double down now to support Ukraine for as long as it takes. "We are coming up to the 1,000th day of

Russia presses deeper into Ukraine after 1,000 days of brutal war

When Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine in February 2022, the conventional wisdom was that the capital, Kyiv, would soon fall and the rest of the country wouldn't last long against a much larger enemy. Instead, it was that narrative that quickly collapsed. The Ukrainian army proved it could slow the advance of Russia's forces and, if not drive them out completely, then with enough support from the West at least forestall defeat. But nearly three years later, the outlook is again grim. Russia is expending huge amounts of weaponry and human life to make small-but-steady territorial gains to the nearly one-fifth of Ukraine it already controls. Ukraine, meanwhile, is struggling to minimize losses, maintain morale and convince allies that, with more military aid, it can turn the tide. As this brutal war of attrition grinds toward its 1,000th day, neither side seems eager to negotiate. President-elect Donald Trump has said he could quickly end the war, though it is unclear how or in whos

Trump spends 1st week as president-elect behind closed doors at Mar-a-Lago

For a man who loves the spotlight, Donald Trump has been conspicuously out of view since his triumph in last week's presidential election. There have been no rallies, no press conferences, no speeches. Instead, Trump has spent most of his first week as president-elect behind closed doors at Mar-a-Lago, his private club in Florida, where he's working the phones, reconnecting with foreign leaders and building his new administration. Trump is hardly in seclusion. He's surrounded by advisers, friends and paying members of his club, who weigh in with advice as he selects people for top government jobs. Elon Musk, the world's richest man, whose companies have billions of dollars of federal contracts, has been a constant presence. Some see Musk as the second-most influential figure in Trump's immediate orbit after his campaign chief-turned-incoming chief of staff, Susie Wiles. Very productive day of work by the transition team, Musk posted on X, his social media company, on Monday ...

Russian frigate with hypersonic missiles conducts drills in English Channel

This is the first long-distance voyage of the multipurpose frigate since it was accepted into the Russian Navy in December 2023, TASS state news agency reported. The ship left its main base in Russia