If Putin dies his replacement could be far more 'hardline and aggressive', expert claims

EXCLUSIVE: Two-time BAFTA nominee Maxine Peake (The Village) is set to star as renowned Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya in the timely Cannes market package Mother Russia.

Vladimir Putin is 'firing and arresting' his top brass over the botched invasion of Ukraine, according to reports.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin is suffering severe health problem as rumours over a potential successor now have eyes on a young mystery man he was close with at the Victory Day parade.He has appeared unsteady and weak in recent pubic appearances, and sparked further speculation when he missed an ice hockey match that has been a regular date in his diary for a decade.But If Putin were to step down – or be ousted – the big question is who would replace him?In the short term Mikhail Mishustin, the Prime Minister, would automatically assume power if the leader died or became incapacitated.But Kremlin watchers are tipping Dmitry Kovalev as a possible future leader. Kovalev, a member of the Presidential Administration, appears to be one of the few people that Putin trusts.Russian news source Baza (Base) posted on Telegram that Kovalev, 36, seemed to be very friendly with Putin at Monday’s Victory Parade in Moscow."Baza found out the identity of a young man who talked about something with Vladimir Putin after the end of the Victory Parade,” the post read.“During the live broadcast, the camera caught their conversation.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is reportedly outraged about his secret gymnast lover falling pregnant again.

Vladimir Putin has missed an annual ice hockey match that has been a regular fixture in his calendar since 2012, giving rise to more speculation about his health.The Russian leader, 69, has made a habit of showing off his skills on the ice at an annual match during Russia's Night Hockey League National Festival in May.But this year while Putin was 'expected' to take part, he instead sent a video message wishing competitors 'good luck in their ice battles' - despite the President being in the Black Sea report of Sochi where the match took place on Tuesday. It is only the second time that the President has missed the game since 2012, with the first instance being due to acknowledged health problems.

Vladimir Putin is under threat from “hardmen” within the Kremlin after his disastrous Ukraine campaign, and the Russian leader could be planning to invade other countries just to “distract” his generals, a top military expert has said. Putin has weakened his own position within Russia, says former NATO boss Sir James Everard, and he has weakened Russia’s position in the world.

Vladimir Putin's forces have been accused of keeping Ukrainians in refrigerators before carting them off to Russia, according to a Ukraine human rights organisation. Grim reports from officials in Ukraine say that troops abducted, threatened and deported civilians in the towns of Gostomel, Irpen and Bucha during their failed assault on Kyiv this year.The Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs now believes that dozens of deported civilians are being held in Russian jails, and are likely facing torture.Numerous reports of kidnappings also remain unresolved, with some families still trying to find missing members nearly a month after Russians retreated from the area.Some have been taken to Russia and Belarus under the guise of 'evacuation', where they are in fact placed in camps and not allowed to leave.One witness to the alleged atrocities described being threatened with death and separated from his loved ones as he was forced into a terrifying interrogation.The man, named Oleg, was placed under blindfold with close family near an airfield in Ukraine and had a gun held to his temple when his own son ran out to tell soldiers that he should not be killed.His entire family was then transported in the armoured personnel carrier, while blindfolded, before being put into a disused refrigeration unit.For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletter by clicking here.Oleg told human rights organisation the Media Initiative for Human Rights (MIPL): "We were placed in non-functioning refrigerators in a dilapidated dining room.

Vladimir Putin. Rumours of an affair between her and the Russian president began circulating in 2008 after she was dubbed “Russia’s most eligible woman”.Russian newspaper Moskovsky Korrespondent ran a story claiming Putin had divorced his wife, Lyudmila Putina, and was going to marry Kabaeva.However, the Kremlin soon denied this and the newspaper was completely shutdown soon after.

Pussy Riot’s Masha Alyokhina has escaped from Russia as president Vladimir Putin continues to crack down on dissidents in the country.Alyokhina, along with her bandmates, has been arrested and imprisoned multiple times over the past decade and more for publicly protesting Putin’s rule, most recently last year when she was detained for 48 hours after attending protests encouraging others to protest on social media.Amid the continued Russian invasion of Ukraine, a new story in The New York Times reveals that Alyokhina was under house arrest and, when authorities decided to turn that into a 21-day jail sentence last month, she decided to flee Russia.The story outlines Alyokhina’s escape, which included posing as a food courier and being placed on Russia’s wanted list after being refused entry into Belarus on account of her Russian passport having been confiscated by authorities.The report then reveals that Icelandic artist Ragnar Kjartansson was able to assist Alyokhina in getting her a travel document from a European country that allowed her to travel freely from Russia to the EU. It adds that she has now travelled to Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania.“I still don’t understand completely what I’ve done,” she said in the piece.

Vladimir Putin is "more dangerous" than both Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin, the Polish Prime Minister has claimed. Mateusz Morawiecki said that the Russian President is more of a threat as he has advanced weapons at his disposal, such as a nuclear arsenal.He also noted that, compared to the 20th century dictators, Putin can channel "the new media at his fingertips to spread his propaganda" more effectively.

Vladimir Putin's health may be failing during his Victory Day speech on Monday (May 9), a body language expert has claimed. The Russian President was spotted with a blanket over his legs, something that none of the other Kremlin dignitaries deemed necessary for themselves in the 9C Moscow weather.

Ukrainian military has said that Russian forces fired seven missiles at Odesa, hitting a shopping centre and a warehouse in an attack that killed one person and injured five. The city’s Mayor Gennady Trukhanov said that the warehouse "had nothing in common with military infrastructure or military objects".The strikes come a day after a Victory Day parade in Moscow, where Vladimir Putin was surprisingly calm in his speech - which many expected to be thunderous.

James Bond villain but she was actually a real life spy dispatched by Russian tyrant Vladimir Putin to infiltrate America - before becoming a sultry Maxim magazine covergirl.The super-glamourous, flame-haired femme fatale from Russia posed as an American in the US to feed information back to her homeland.And she showed just how she was able to charm her way to hearts of her targets when dressed in Agent Provocateur lingerie on the front cover of a leading men's magazine and named one of Russia's 100 most sexiest women.These days, Anna is a TV host and celebrity with an army of followers on social media, but she first came to attention when her cover was blown as a Kremlin spy in America.It certainly sounds like the stuff of TV fiction, but Chapman, from Volgograd, was part of a secretive program tasked with conducting operations inside the United States.She was born Anna Kushchenko and gained an economics degree from Moscow University before she met her future husband Alex Chapman in London in 2001.After the couple married Chapman gained a British passport and worked at a bank before moving to New York, but the marriage was not to last and in 2006 the pair divorced.In 2018 it was reported that Alex had died two years previously with his family not wishing to share the details of his death but insisting it was nothing suspicious.Chapman’s secretive work in the US was dubbed The Illegals Program by the Department of Justice and its discovery was one of the biggest spy rings found on American soil.It was alleged that while she was active she attempted to seduce a cabinet member of the Obama administration and came very close to fulfilling her task.Had it been successful, Chapman could have gained access to highly sensitive

Russian President Vladimir Putin would need to send 600,000 more troops to Ukraine to secure victory, NATO's former Deputy Supreme Allied Commander in Europe has claimed. Sir James Everard also warned that the tyrant may turn to nuclear weapons to level the playing field.

Vladimir Putin's long-awaited Victory Day saw the brutal tyrant deliver a laughably feeble speech as the live stream was embarrassingly hacked.Hackers managed to plaster a message on the stream saying that the Russians had Ukrainian blood on their hands as it was being streamed to TV screens around the country.The parade is usually a huge affair which allows Putin to show off the nation's nuclear missiles, tanks and other weapons of mass destruction.Military equipment is usually accompanied by thousands of Russian troops marching in unison to show off the country's military might. But the parade was embarrassingly scaled down by 35% this year as much of the country's military equipment has been lost in the ongoing invasion attempt of Ukraine.It's estimated that around 10,000 troops took part in the parade, down from the 12,000 usually on show, following a reported 26,000 Russian deaths in Ukraine.

Vladimir Putin launching a nuclear war is "very real" and his “psychiatric health is bad indeed”, an oligarch close to the Russian tyrant has warned. A prominent billionaire has alerted associates about his health and said "stories about him going bonkers are not a joke”.

Russia’s “strongman” leader Vladimir Putin looked like a “little old man feeling the cold” as he huddled under a blanket during Moscow’s Victory Day parade, a leading body language expert has said. Today’s Victory Day event has been the most closely-watched in many years due to the situation in Ukraine, and many observers raised concerns over the Russian leader’s appearance.

As Russian president Vladimir Putin was preparing to address the nation Monday morning during the annual Victory Day parade commemorating the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, local television menus were reportedly hacked with program descriptions on smart TVs replaced by a message reading, “The blood of thousands of Ukrainians and hundreds of murdered children is on your hands. TV and the authorities are lying. No to war.”

Vladimir Putin was spotted keeping warm with a heavy blanket as he oversaw the massive parade of his country’s military might to mark Victory Day – the day when Russia marks the end of World War Two. While it was a slightly chilly 9ºC in Moscow this morning, none of the other senior Kremlin dignitaries watching the march-past felt the need for a blanket, adding to concerns that the Russian leader’s health could be failing.One user on Twitter commented on the blanket by tweeting: "President Vladimir Putin throws aside his Russian Wool blanket to stride manfully to the unknown."While another joked that "Putin stole a blanket from a veteran" after noticing few others had one.There have been reports that Putin was undergoing treatment for both cancer and Parkinson’s Disease, even before he launched his attack on Ukraine.The poor progress of his invasion seems to have taken an additional toll on his health.

Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the West of preparing to invade Russia and told soldiers they are fighting for the future of their 'motherland' in a Victory Day speech in the country's capital on Monday (9 May).

Vladimir Putin is "mirroring" the Nazis, according to the UK's Defence Secretary. Ben Wallace is set to make a major speech at the National Army Museum in London, slamming the tyrant and his cronies amid the ongoing invasion of Ukraine.