Chechen warlord and Putin ally addresses rumour that Russian president is in 'coma'

Vladimir Putin is set to venture out of Russia for the first time since he ordered Russian troops into Ukraine and managed to avoid an assassination attempt on his life.Ever since Putin launched an invasion of Ukraine back In February of this year, he hasn’t ventured out of the safety of Russia.But today reports claim that the Russian president will travel to two small former Soviet states in Central Asia shortly.READ MORE: US Army vet returning to Ukraine calls Russians 'clowns' over £40k bounty on his headThousands of people have died as a result of the war, with millions of families displaced, and Putin's actions have had serious financial implications on the Western world - including the rising fuel prices.Pavel Zarubin, the Kremlin correspondent of the Rossiya 1 state television station, said Putin would visit Tajikistan and Turkmenistan and then meet Indonesian President Joko Widodo for talks in Moscow.In Dushanbe, Putin will meet Tajik President Imomali Rakhmon, a close Russian ally and the longest-serving ruler of a former Soviet state. In Ashgabat, he will attend a summit of Caspian nations as reported by Reuters.The trips are planned for June 30 and July 1 where Putin will meet Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, RIA news agency cited.

Vladimir Putin come from a top Ukrainian intelligence official, suggesting he does not have much time left.Major General Kyrylo O. Budanov says that Putin is suffering from several "grave" illnesses and "doesn't have a long life ahead of him.”Budanov claims to have a network of spies inside the Kremlin, providing him with information about Putin.

Ukraine because Vladimir Putin is running out of senior officers. The 20 stone general, 67, is now said to be in charge of Russian special forces operating in the region after the unit’s former commander was seriously injured in an artillery strike.

Queen Elizabeth II in "disguise" while in the crowd at popular music festival, Glastonbury.Although the event will be filled to the brim with famous musical talent this weekend, fans at home seem to think a special royal was also in attendance.During the live coverage of Robert Plant, the camera cut to a woman in the crowd wearing a blue hooded jacket and dark round sunglasses.READ MORE : Festival-goers resorting to paper cups at Glastonbury to avoid 'wrath of dirty toilets' The mystery person also sported red lipstick and fringe that gently swept over her forehead- which some thought may have been a "disguise".Seeing what looked to be Our Majesty The Queen on their screens, spectators at home quickly rushed to Twitter to share their thoughts.One person wrote: "Lovely to see the Queen enjoying a bit of Robert Plant at #Glastonbury."Meanwhile another viewer echoed: "The Queen has turned up at Glastonbury to watch Robert Plant. That disguise is fooling nobody." After a two-year hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic, Glastonbury finally returned to eagerly awaiting festival goers across the globe.

Vladimir Putin has been dealt a humiliating blow after a Russian surface-to-air missile boomeranged back at his troops.A bizarre video shows the weapon being fired into the air before it turned back and slammed into where it came from, causing an enormous explosion.Kremlin troops reportedly launched a missile to intercept an oncoming Ukrainian plane as it flew over the Ukrainian city of Alchevsk in the Luhansk region, in the early hours of Friday morning (June 24).READ MORE: Russian forces bested by goat after tripwire grenade trap injures dozens of troopsThe area is currently under occupation of pro-Russian separatist forces and is on the front line of the Russia-Ukraine War.The news comes just days after a Russian military plane burst into flames and crashed while on its way to support Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine.The Ilyushin-76 cargo plane was spotted on fire above the Russian city of Ryazan (125 miles southeast of Moscow) immediately after refuelling there.Ryazan is an important staging point for the Russian military heading for Ukraine, as well as a key base for the Russian paratroopers who have been decimated during the conflict.The aircraft was forced into an emergency landing behind a busy residential tower, exploding as it touched down, sending a large plume of black smoke into the air.Stay up to date with all the latest Daily Star news by signing up to one of our free newsletters here.Nine crew members were on board, at least four of which were killed with the rest in a "grave" condition after being rushed to hospital.Three of those killed - Vladimir Petrushin, Nikolai Gorbunov, and Dmitry Andreev - died at the crash site, while a fourth died in hospital.It is understood that there were no civilian

Chris Pratt is defending his upcoming movie role.

Russia.Fatalities were reported on Friday (June 24) morning shortly after the IL-76 transport aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing in a field near the city of Ryazan.Nine people in total were on board the plane at the time of the accident, according to the Moscow-based Interfax news agency.Footage posted on social media shows a line of fire engines and one ambulance positioned in front of large flames.The blaze can be seen billowing dark black smoke in front of a row of trees, while a small crowd of people can seen watching in front of the camera.One local report said the plane was attempting to land at the nearby Ryazan airport when it crashed. The city is located around 351 miles from the border with Ukraine.Earlier this week dramatic footage from the frontline showed the moment a Russian colonel crashed in his helicopter in a 'fireball' after being hit by a Ukrainian missile.The military helicopter carrying Lt-Col Sergey Gundorov, 51, was struck by a portable surface-to-air missile near Volnovakha in the Donbas.Vladimir Putin lost his 55th colonel in the Russia-Ukraine war as the stricken Mi-35 touched the ground before cartwheeling over a narrow strip of woodland, becoming a fireball and crashing in a field.This is a breaking news story and is being constantly updated.

SPOILER ALERT: The following article contains spoilers for the series finale of “Obi-Wan Kenobi”. 

Russian military expert has warned that Britain will be reduced to a nuclear wasteland.Lieutenant-General Evgeny Buzhinsky has said that Britain will “physically cease to exist” if tensions over Lithuania triggers a nuclear Third World War,Nikolai Patrushev, a close ally to Vladimir Putin, has threatened “serious consequences” if Lithuania continues to block the movement of good into the strategically important Russian enclave of Kaliningrad.READ MORE: SAS hero slams Brits fighting in Ukraine as 'they create mayhem and get away with it'While he did not specify what these consequences might be, many observers suspect that Putin is planning military action against Lithuania – which is protected by its membership of both the EU and NATO. Buzhinsky lashed out at British general Sir Patrick Sanders, who has already warned the British Army to prepare for a land war with Russia.

Russian president Vladimir Putin has been shot at his home near Moscow.Vadim Zimin, the retired 53-year-old colonel, was shot at his home and is now gravely ill in intensive care, reports say.Colonel Zimin had been in charge of the nuclear briefcase during his time as an active member of the Federal Security Service, accompanying the Kremlin leader and carrying his nuclear warhead controls.READ MORE: Putin says 'we don't threaten anyone with nukes but we do have them and will use them'The colonel, alongside former President Boris Yeltsin, was said to have carried out the trusted role for the current Russian president, handling the world-ending suitcase for the 69-year-old Russian leader. Zimin had been a member of the FSS, rising through the ranks until he landed himself the position of colonel under his successor Vladimir Putin.But the precise role of the gravely ill colonel is as yet unknown, with the ex-KGB spy found with gunshot wounds in the kitchen of his flat located in Krasnogorsk, Moscow.The wife of Zimin, a medic, had been absent from the house as she is reportedly treating soldiers fighting in the invasion of Ukraine.The 53-year-old colonel was under house arrest over allegations of bribe-taking after joining the customs service in a senior role, with Zimin denying any wrongdoing.

President Barack Obama & Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground has found a new podcast home.

Spending on funerals in Russia has increased by 17 per cent since the invasion of Ukraine, according to western officials in an update of Vladimir Putin’s advances in a “grinding, slow conflict” with mounting costs.

Ukraine to help with the war effort after two Brits were sentenced to death.US citizens Alexander Drueke and Andy Huynh - who are ex-army and ex-marines, respectively - ran into trouble after being separated from Ukrainian troops near Kharkiv, after which they were spotted and picked up by a Russian patrol.Now both face the possibility of being put to death, with a Kremlin spokesperson calling them "soldiers of fortune" who, pending the results of an investigation, "should be punished." According to Russian state broadcaster RT, both Americans are currently in the custody of Russian-backed separatists in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, reports The Independent.In a video aired by the channel Alexander Drueke can reportedly be heard to say, "Mom, I just want to let you know that I’m alive and I hope to be back home as soon as I can be."Lois Drueke, Alexander Drueke’s mother, said that seeing the video gave her some hope that her son would be okay and may return home.“Just seeing him move, just hearing his voice, gives us great hope," she said.

Russia’s richest has said that “domestic problems” could force Vladimir Putin into a military confrontation with the west, if his Ukraine invasion succeeds. Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a businessman-turned-philanthropist, has been living in the UK since 2015 after he made made his fortune in the 1990s through currency trading and in the oil industry.In an interview with the Financial Times, the outspoken Putin critic said that the threat of an escalation of the conflict to drag in NATO countries was serious if Putin achieved his goal of seizing the Donbas region in the southeast of Ukraine.

“You’re my hero,” Ben Stiller told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy today on a visit to Kyiv. “You gave up a great acting career for this,” the Severance filmmaker joked with the former Servant of the People star.

Vladimir Putin has warned that political leaders in the West were clinging “to the shadows of the past” as he unveiled his new world order with his invasion of Ukraine.

Vladimir Putin has accused Western leaders of clinging "to the shadows of the past" as he creates a new world order with his invasion of Ukraine. The world will not be as it was before the "special operation", Putin said in his speech at the plenary session of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum.

Russian naval tugboat was blown up by two Harpoon missiles while in the middle of the Black Sea.In a video, which was filmed using a TB-2 drone, the Russian "Vasily Bekh" appears to show a low-flying missile approaching the target before detonating and sparking two huge explosions.Ukrainian officials have confirmed that its forces used an anti-ship missile system to strike the enemy vessel as it travelled to Snake Island loaded with weapons on June 17. It is said that the sea-skimming harpoon missiles can sink a ship over the horizon from a distance of over 80 miles, according to The Sun.The incident was the first time Ukraine has acknowledged launching the Harpoon missiles, which have been supplied by the UK, Denmark and the US.Head of the Odesa Regional Military Administration, Maxim Marchenko, said: "This morning, our naval forces struck the Black Sea Fleet support vessel Vasily Bekh, with the TOR anti-aircraft missile system on board.

Vladimir Putin threatened him 16 years ago – as he towered over him wearing stacked heels’. From his raised position the 5ft 7ins Russian president read out details of the ex-PM’s private life from a series of index cards as though he wanted to prove that "he knew more about me than I knew about myself". The extraordinary showdown happened during a 2006 visit to the Kremlin in Moscow while Brown – who is 3ins taller than the Russian ruler – was Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Vladimir Putin's informers are working in the House of Commons, the civil service and top public schools, reports The Mirror.It is also understood that Putin has demanded that all his sleeper agents - operating under deep cover - remain on standby to jump into action as a response to Britain's support for Ukraine in their war with Russia.The Security Service have already been put on alert for potential cyber attacks by Russian spies in the UK.There are also concerns that the country's military secrets are being targeted, along with Ukrainian activists and Russian dissenters.A senior intelligence insider said: "We have to assume Russia is now active at all levels of British society. They scoop up all forms of intelligence and pass it back to the Kremlin through handlers."This could be anything from what sort of weaponry is being sent to the Ukraine – and how much of it – to the sexual antics of the country's political and military leaders."The disclosure comes after a suspected Russian spy was seized at Gatwick last week.The man in his 40s was held under the Official Secrets Act and remains in custody.Lt Col Philip Ingram, a former military intelligence officer, said: "It is impossible to accurately assess how many Russian agents there are in the UK.

cancel culture in a new interview. However, the former This Morning star admitted that someone like Vladimir Putin “does need to be cancelled, and quickly".Fern opened up about her thoughts on cancel culture whilst speaking on the podcast Walking The Dog with Emily Dean.The presenter went for a walk with the podcast host as they chatted whilst out walking their dogs. Fern, who is promoting her new book The Good Servant, discussed the story of Marion Crawford.Marion, whom the book centres around, was the governess to a young Princess Margaret and Princess Elizabeth, who was later shunned by the Royal Family after releasing a book about her time with them. Emily suggested to Fern that what happened to Marion was one of the earliest examples of cancel culture. “She was cancelled, essentially,” Emily remarked, to which Fern replied: “She was.”“She was one of the first big high profile cancellations, really,” Emily continued. “She lost everything,” Fern reflected.