Page 34 - Vladimir Putin

Russia's new rule on temporary residency: Who qualifies and how to apply

The new programme removes the need for applicants to prove their knowledge of the Russian language, history, or laws

Putin meets China's Premier Li as Moscow, Beijing deepen their relations

Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Chinese premier Li Qiang Wednesday, hailing growing trade relations as Moscow becomes increasingly dependent on Beijing for political and economic support. Our trade relations are developing, developing successfully ... The attention that the governments of the two countries on both sides are paying to trade and economic ties is yielding results, Putin said at the meeting in the Kremlin. He also said that Russia and China have developed large-scale plans for economic and other projects. Chinese-Russian relations are at an unprecedentedly high level," said Li, who earlier had met with his Russian counterpart, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin. The meeting took place as Russia struggled to push back a Ukrainian incursion into the Kursk region now in its third week. And overnight, Moscow experienced one of the largest waves of drone attacks on the Russian capital since the start of the Ukraine conflict. Russian news reports did not indicate ..

Russia neutralises largest drone attack launched by Ukrainian forces

There were also no casualties or damage reported in the aftermath of the drone attack on the border Bryansk region in Russia's southwest, Alexander Bogomaz, the governor of the region wrote

Putin ally Sergei Chemezov says West risks global war over Ukraine

Chemezov, CEO of the Rostec corporation which supplies many of Russia's arms for the war, said Russia felt confident and had enough weapons more than two years into what the Kremlin calls its SMO

Putin's slow response to Kursk attack could test patience of his supporters

A year ago this week, President Vladmir Putin strode onto a stage in the Kursk region to commemorate the 80th anniversary of one of the Soviet army's proudest moments in World War II. Addressing a rapt audience that included soldiers fresh from fighting in Ukraine, Putin called the decisive victory in the Battle of Kursk one of the great feats of our people. Now, as Russia prepares to celebrate the 81st anniversary of that 1943 battle, Kursk is again in the news but for a very different reason. On Aug. 6, Ukrainian forces made a lightning push into the region, seizing villages, taking hundreds of prisoners and forcing the evacuation of tens of thousands of civilians. Russia was caught unprepared by the offensive and reportedly is drafting conscripts to repel some of Ukraine's most battle-hardened units. Putin has a history of responding slowly to various crises in his tenure, and he has so far played down the attack. But 2 1/2 years after l aunching a war in Ukraine to remove what

Putin makes surprise trip to Chechnya amid Ukraine's cross-border incursion

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday made an unscheduled trip to Chechnya, a mainly Muslim republic within the Russian Federation, his first visit in nearly 13 years, as Ukraine's stunning cross-border incursion into western Russia entered its third week. Putin was greeted by Chechnya's self-styled strongman leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, before visiting a special forces academy bearing his own name and speaking with volunteer fighters who train there prior to being deployed in Ukraine. Putin praised the volunteers and said that as long as Russia has men like them, it will be invincible, according to reports by Russian state agencies. Kadyrov said in a post on his official Telegram channels that more than 47,000 fighters, including volunteers, have trained at the facility since Moscow began what it terms its special military operation in Ukraine. Fighters from Chechnya, whose bid for independence after the Soviet Union's collapse led to years of war with Russian government forces,

Putin meets Azerbaijani Prez to strengthen ties amid ongoing tensions

Russian leader Vladimir Putin held talks on Monday with his Azerbaijani counterpart as part of a two-day trip to secure Moscow's under-pressure trade routes and shore up ties in the South Caucasus. Business links were high on the agenda as Putin and President Ilham Aliyev met in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku, with Aliyev announcing that USD 120 million had been earmarked to boost cargo transport between the two countries. We're talking about the possibility of transporting 15 million tons of cargo per year or more, he said, adding that the two countries crossed the USD 4 billion mark for Russia-Azerbaijan turnover last year and "neither of us think that is where things will stop, Such ties are a priority for Putin, who increasingly depends on countries such as Azerbaijan to access global markets because of sanctions imposed on Moscow over Russia's war on Ukraine, said independent political scientist Zardusht Alizade. Azerbaijan is an important transit country for Russia at a time

Military incursion in Russia's Kursk aims to create buffer zone: Zelenskyy

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday the daring military incursion into Russia's Kursk region aims to create a buffer zone. It was the first time the president had clearly stated the aim of the operation, which was launched on August 6. Previously, he had said the operation aimed to protect communities in the bordering Sumy region from constant shelling. Zelenskyy said it is now our primary task in defensive operations overall: to destroy as much Russian war potential as possible and conduct maximum counteroffensive actions. This includes creating a buffer zone on the aggressor's territory our operation in the Kursk region.

Kremlin aide says Nato and West helped Ukraine attack Russian territory

The United States and Western powers, eager to avoid direct confrontation with Russia, said Ukraine had not given advance notice and that Washington was not involved, though weaponry provided by Brit

Ukraine gambles on deep move into Russian territory, changed battle attempt

Ukraine's stunning incursion into Russia's Kursk border region was a bold gamble for the country's military commanders, who committed their limited resources to a risky assault on a nuclear-armed enemy with no assurance of success. After the first signs of progress, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy broke his silence and spelled out Kyiv's daily advances to his war-weary public. By Wednesday, Ukrainian officials said they controlled 1,000 square kilometers (386 square miles) of enemy territory, including at least 74 settlements and hundreds of Russian prisoners of war. But a week after it began, the overall aim of the daring operation is still unclear: Will Ukraine dig in and keep the conquered territory, advance further into Russian territory or pull back? What is clear is that the incursion has changed the battlefield. The shock of Ukraine's thunder run revealed chinks in the armor of its powerful adversary. The attack also risked aggravating Ukraine's own weaknesses by ...

Ukraine advancing deeper into Russia, says Zelenskyy as battle intensifies

Ukraine has carved out a slice of the Russian border region of Kursk and though Putin said the Russian army would push out the Ukrainian troops

Russia beats Ukraine charge to expand attack, Kyiv says won't occupy land

Russia has said that its forces checked an effort by Ukrainian troops to expand a stunning week-long incursion into the Kursk region, as a Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman said Kyiv has no intention of occupying Russian territory. Russian army units, including fresh reserves, aircraft, drone teams and artillery forces, stopped Ukrainian armoured mobile groups from moving deeper into Russia near the Kursk settlements of Obshchy Kolodez, Snagost, Kauchuk and Alexeyevsky, a Russian Defense Ministry statement said on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhii Tykhyi said the cross-border operation was aimed at protecting Ukrainian land from long-range strikes launched from Kursk. Ukraine is not interested in taking the territory of the Kursk region, but we want to protect the lives of our people, Tykhyi was quoted as saying by local media. He said Russia had launched more than 2,000 strikes from the Kursk region in recent months using anti-aircraft missiles, .

Kursk attack: Top general reveals how much Russian land Ukraine captured

Russia has suffered several incursions into its territory during the nearly two and a half years of war, but Ukraine's advance into Kursk is the largest attack on its soil since World War II

Trump praises Xi, Putin, Kim Jong Un in Elon Musk interview: Key remarks

Donald Trump returned to X for a high-stakes interview with Elon Musk; former US president critiqued Joe Biden, while praising Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, and Kim Jong Un

Ukraine's incursion into Russia embarrasses Putin; how will it affect war?

The swift Ukrainian incursion into Russia's Kursk region that began last week has been the largest cross-border raid by Kyiv's forces in the nearly 2 -year war, and has exposed Russia's vulnerabilities and dealt a painful blow to the Kremlin. The Russian military has thus far struggled to deal with the surprise attack, which has led tens of thousands of civilians to flee the region. For Ukraine, the raid has provided a much-needed boost to morale at a time when its undermanned and under-gunned forces are facing relentless Russian attacks along the more than 1,000 kilometre (620-mile) front line. Here's a look at the Ukrainian raid and its implications: How has the attack unfolded? Kyiv's troops poured into the Kursk region from several directions last Tuesday, quickly overwhelming a few checkpoints and field fortifications manned by lightly armed border guards and infantry units along the region's 245-kilometre (152-mile) frontier with Ukraine. Unlike previous raids conducted by

Ukraine seizes 28 villages in Russia's Kursk ahead of possible peace talks

Putin said Zelenskyy is trying to improve negotiating position; questions "what talks there can be with Ukraine"

Ukraine enters 30 km into Russia: Deepest incursion so far | Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant fire

In a first, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has acknowledged the cross-border operation between Ukraine and Russia.

For Russian activist Ilya Yashin, resuming work against Putin a priority

All Russian opposition politician Ilya Yashin had with him when he was released from his penal colony in a swap was his toothbrush, a tube of toothpaste, his expired passport and the prison garb he was wearing. But he has hit the ground running. Within days of arriving in Germany, Yashin not only bought new clothes, set up a smartphone and reunited with his parents, but also held a news conference, fielded questions from his supporters live on YouTube and held a rally in a Berlin park even if it meant he didn't have time to catch up on sleep. The 41-year-old dissident, released last week in the historic East-West prisoner exchange, admits he doesn't quite know how to be a politician in exile, a role that was forced upon him against his wishes. But in an interview Friday in Berlin with The Associated Press, he said he wanted to continue campaigning against Russia's war in Ukraine, trying to free more political prisoners and advance projects to unite the country's fragmented ...

Russia sliding back toward Stalinist times, says human rights advocate

A human rights activist since the 1980s, Oleg Orlov thought Russia had turned a corner when the Soviet Union collapsed and a democratically elected president became leader. But then Vladimir Putin rose to power, crushing dissent and launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Finally, the 71-year-old Orlov was himself thrown in prison for opposing the war. Freed last week in the largest East-West prisoner swap since the Cold War, he was forced into exile -- just like the Soviet dissidents of his youth. In an interview with The Associated Press on Thursday in Berlin, Orlov decried t he scale and severity of repressions under Putin, with people imprisoned for merely criticizing the authorities, something unseen since the days of dictator Josef Stalin. And he's vowing to continue his work to free the many political prisoners in Russia and keep their names in the spotlight. We're sliding somewhere into Stalin times, said Orlov, who at times showed signs of fatigue from a hectic schedul

Putin accuses Ukraine of a provocation with its raid in southwestern Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday described a Ukrainian incursion into the country's southwestern Kursk region as a large-scale provocation as his officials asserted that they were fighting off cross-border raids for a second day. Ukrainian officials remained silent about the scope of the operation. Putin met with his top defense and security officials to discuss what he called the indiscriminate shelling of civilian buildings, residential houses, ambulances with different types of weapons. He instructed the Cabinet to coordinate assistance to the Kursk region. The fighting is about 500 kilometers (320 miles) from Moscow. Army chief of staff Valery Gerasimov told Putin at the meeting via video link that about 100 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed in the battle and more than 200 wounded, Russian news agencies reported. The Ukrainian shelling, meanwhile, killed at least two people a paramedic and an ambulance driver and injured 24, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson