Elite Russian unit dubbed 'Putin's best' sees 39 members killed in fierce fighting

Richard Madeley went full " Alan Partridge " as he compared Russian war crimes to an old legal story about a man on a bus.

Vladimir Putin is now relying on the help of his very own 'Dad's Army' to help fight his war on Ukraine. In a desperate attempt to make up the numbers to replace soldiers killed in battle, the age cap for Russian military volunteers has been stretched to 60.Retired servicemen are being called up specifically to fill the roles of tank commanders, snipers and engineers in two Siberian cities after around 15,000 Russian soldiers fell to resistance in Ukraine.A rallying cry from the Kremlin for former soldiers to return to duty and make their way to either Chelyabinsk or Tyumen, has been reported by Russian media.

Ukrainian town won back from retreating Russian soldiers, state officials claim.Graphic images of dead bodies discarded among rubble have been shared by the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office who claim the photos were taken in a chilling building in Bucha.The Office alleges the corpses belonged to citizens who had been tortured and killed by Russian soldiers when Moscow had a fleeting grip on the city.Ukrainian officials say 410 civilians have been killed in the towns surrounding Kyiv so far with 300 partially buried or not buried at all in Bucha alone.Bodies of men, women and children were also seen strewn across roads in Bucha over the weekend after Vladimir Putin's invading military pulled back from the city. The horrendous disregard for civilian life as evidenced by a tragic mass grave has been widely condemned with international governing bodies pledging to punish Russia for it.

Vladimir Putin is said to live like a king on his extraordinary wealth after splashing the cash on a fleet of yachts, cars and presidential palaces, critics have claimed.

Two Russian soldiers have apparently died and several dozen more allegedly became sick after apparently being served poisoned pastries by local Ukrainian citizens.

Vladimir Putin has drafted 130,000 conscripts into the Russian army in a desperate attempt to turn around his stalled invasion, according to western officials.

Russia soldiers fighting in Ukraine. The leaked information reportedly includes names, addresses, dates of birth, passport numbers and unit affiliation.It comes after the hacktivist group claimed responsibility for a number of cyber attacks against Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin since Russia invaded Ukraine back in February.

Russian invasion.Arthur Ozerov performs as the blonde-haired glitzy Aura in their home country but now the 32-year-old has decided to join the fight to save Ukraine.Arthur made the decision after feeling he can no longer sit back and watch his people being killed and buildings being destroyed by Vladimir Putin's troops.He said: “I can't just sit at home and watch how people are killed, houses are destroyed.“Victory of us! Everything will be Ukraine! Glory to Ukraine!“34 days of war have passed - we continue to defend my mother Ukraine.“Together to victory.”The Kyiv-native added: “More than 30 days of war, more than a month of blood.“I'm not a soldier in the army, but I help.“I'm a drag queen artist. I love my country.“Each of us is a hero and a warrior - each of us fights for Ukraine.“We are killed, but we fight and we win.“Ukraine will be independent and strong.”His decision to don the army uniform was praised on Instagram, with hundreds of users commenting with a variety of heart, clapping and Ukraine flag emojis.He becomes the latest in a long line of those with no combat skills joining the fight.To stay up to date with all the latest news, make sure you sign up to one of our newsletters here.Yesterday, two Russian soldiers died and another 28 were in intensive care after eating poisoned stuffed buns gifted to them by brave and defiant Ukrainian civilians in the eastern town of Izium, near Kharkiv.It's thought that two soldiers from the 3rd Motor Rifle Division died immediately after eating the stuffed buns, the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine announced via Facebook on Saturday, April 2."As a result, two invaders were killed at once, another 28 went to intensive care.

Vladimir Putin has set up a hotline for Russians to report “traitors” who criticise the war in Ukraine. The Kremlin has reportedly set up a telephone hotline and website that allow “good citizens” to report “traitors” over any potential anti-war sentiments. Russian authorities have allegedly sent Russian citizens texts with instructions how to report one another, with outspoken voices being tossed in jail, the Daily Mirror reports.

Russian fighter has been seen burning in a field after it was shot out of the sky above Ukraine. The SU-35 was brought down near the city of Izium in the eastern part of the country, by Ukrainian forces, local news outlet Nexta reports.

ordered a military operation on its neighbouring country in February.“The Russian people are not responsible for the crazy, unacceptable excesses of their leaders like Vladimir Putin,” Depardieu, who has previously praised the Russian leader, said in a statement to French news agency AFP (per France 24).“Russia and Ukraine have always been brother countries,” he continued. “Stop the weapons and negotiate.”On Friday (April 1), Dmitry Peskov, a spokesperson for Putin, responded to Depardieu’s comments, telling reporters that the actor probably did not completely understand the situation in Ukraine and offered to explain it.“Since the president is mentioned there, I will assume that Depardieu most likely does not fully understand what is happening,” Peskov said on Friday (via News Interfax).He continued: “Due to the fact that he is not completely immersed in the political agenda, he does not understand what happened in Ukraine in 1914, he does not understand what the Minsk agreements are, he does not understand what Donetsk and Lugansk are, he hardly understands what is the bombing of civilians, he is unlikely to know about nationalist elements.”“If necessary, we will be ready to tell him all this and explain it so that he understands better. If he wants,” Peskov concluded.Depardieu left France and took up Russian nationality in 2013 to protest a proposed tax hike on the rich in his homeland.

Vladimir Putin bathes in antler blood because he believes it has health benefits including boosting male potency, reports claim.The Russian president has been a fan of the procedure since the mid-2000s and isn’t the only Kremlin official to enjoy the bizarre ritual.Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin is also said to soak in the rare liquid, which is extracted by painfully hacking off a deer's horns.Defence minister Sergei Shoigu introduced the alternative treatment to Putin who washed in a “bathtub containing an odorant extract from blood-filled deer antlers”.Although there is no evidence for the health benefits, the blood’s alleged impacts also include age reversal, bone and muscle strengthening, and even improvements to eyesight and hearing. It has been a tradition for hundreds of years in Russia and there is also evidence of it taking place in China and Korea.

Ukraine means that there have been as yet no publicly acknowledged deaths of troops from Moscow. Instead, the worst-hit regions for the heavy losses - held by critics to be “cannon fodder” - are remote from Vladimir Putin’s capital city.

To stay up to date with all the latest news, make sure you sign up to one of our newsletters here.While savage, Putin's invasion of Ukraine has been one of bungled efforts, confusion, deserting Russian soldiers and comes at a great cost to the Russian forces. The Daily Star previously reported that Vladimir Putin's "best fighters", the 331st Guards Parachute Regiment, have lost 29 soldiers since the war began, and France24 reports the Russian despot has lost seven of his top military generals according to Ukraine officials.

Russian president Vladimir Putin is ­using a body double over fears he will be ­assassinated, it has been claimed. Sources believe the leader is afraid that military chiefs could stage a coup after he fired eight senior generals for their failure to ­capture Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin was suffering with thyroid cancer and Parkinson's Disease when he ordered the Ukrainian invasion.These clues follow Putin's recent public appearances where the despot's "strong man" image was marred by looking "bloated" and "weakened". And in November last year a Russian political analyst revealed the despot had been struck by both cancer and Parkinson's Disease, while a separate source claimed he had undergone surgery for abdominal cancer, reports The Mirror.

Russian Army gaffe after the "pathetic" force were recorded leaving troops behind in a snowy wilderness in Ukraine. In the 40-second bird's eye view clip, the soldiers are seen filing into the Z-marked truck before it takes off and suddenly two troops are pictured running after the vehicle.

Wrestlemania weekend, here's another one for you - in the raspy style of Mr McMahon: It's gonna be 'Big Bad' Vlad versus 'The Pain from Ukraine' Zelenskyy inside HELL IN A CELL!!All jokes aside though, this fight is actually happening. Or at least, it will be to the untrained eye.

Vladimir Putin is ­using a body double to avoid ­being ­assassinated. The Russian president fears military chiefs could stage a coup after he fired eight senior generals for their failure to ­capture Ukraine.

Vladimir Putin once wanted to spend £24million on an acrobatic rock’n’roll centre for his daughter.The Russian President's youngest had a senior role in the development of the sport, Reuters revealed in 2016, and so the leader wanted to splash the cash to build a centre for the activity. The Zhavoronki Acrobatic Rock’n’Roll Center was proposed to be built on the western outskirts of Moscow, making it the only specialised facility in the world for the sport.Katerina Tikhonova, Putin's daughter, competed several times in acrobatic rock'n'roll, a form of dance that’s performed as a couple or as a group.

Vladimir Putin has lost another colonel during fierce fighting in Ukraine, which serves as further proof that the Russian leader's war isn't going according to plan. Lt Col Vitaly Slabtsov, 43, was an elite paratrooper buried with full military honours, say reports.The body of the commander was placed in a closed coffin with a Russian flag draped over it, indicating he had suffered devastating wounds in the war.