Russia 'practically broken' by Western economic sanctions, admits top Kremlin official

Russia has one of the world’s largest armies, but a new report says the conflict in Ukraine – which is estimated to have cost in the region of 30,000 Russian lives – could force its collapse. Russian leader Vladimir Putin reportedly believes that the “blood sacrifice” of all those young men, along with over 200 warplanes destroyed, around 174 helicopters, 1,349 tanks and 13 boats is a “price worth paying” for the control of Ukraine.

Vladimir Putin may already be dead as rumours spiral about the Russian leader's death, MI6 sources say.

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Russian troops the go-ahead to shoot dead "looters" and pet dogs and lie about it has allegedly fallen into Ukrainian hands.The instruction blueprint, said to have been seized from Vladimir Putin’s forces, also tells soldiers to avoid using the words “killed, liquidated, [and] shot” when talking to locals - even if they commit such acts.Such descriptions “impact on local residents extremely negatively” and should not be used, the document states.Instead, they should say “the problem has been solved” if they kill a local deemed to be a looter or a member of the “territorial defence”, usually elderly reservists known as the Ukrainian Dad's Army."House dogs" are also legitimate targets to be shot dead, it says.The alleged dossier says Russians should avoid telling locals that they have shelled their communities and tell them they are on a "humanitarian mission" bringing food if asked what they are doing there.In a shocking understatement, it states: "Don’t explain that people in Donbas are getting shelled - local residents don’t take it well, don’t understand it."Troops are also urged to answer a question with a question to dodge the truth and never use the word "war."If asked why they carry weapons, they should tell people they are replacing the police because they "ran away" and that there are "looters and criminals, released by Zelensky."For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletter by clicking here.The aim is to "seed the thought that the Ukrainian authorities are weak, that they escaped and left their people without money, food and pensions.”The document purports to be from the Russian army, headed by defence minister Sergei Shoigu - a close Putin ally -

Russia has now lost 30,000 troops, 1,330 tanks, 207 planes and 174 helicopters during the war, according to Ukrainian officials.President Vladimir Putin is being forced to “conceal” the true scale of Russian losses in Ukraine to avoid the country’s citizens from accepting that they might not be winning the war, former UK foreign secretary, William Hague, has claimed.For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletter by clicking here.He said in a radio interview: "They’re very uncomfortable, and of course what they mean to him first of all is that he has to conceal them as much as possible from the Russian population, because he doesn’t want to admit that the Russian losses have been anything like that."Look at how he reacted – how the Russian government reacted – to the loss of the Moskva, which was to say that a fire had broken out and the seas were stormy and so on, and to not even admit that it might have been hit by the Ukrainians, which it clearly was."So what it means to Putin first of all is cover this up at all costs because people in Russia might realise what is going on."

Ukraine. The video, believed to be captured by a Ukrainian soldier, appears to show the Russian bomb light up the night sky with a shower of thermite - a horrific concoction of aluminum powder and iron oxide that burns at a high temperature, which The Sun claims can "burn flesh down to the bone".It is also reported the thermite bomb was fired by Russian grad launchers using 9M22S incendiary rockets.If verified, this footage is evidence that Russian forces are using chemical weapons in Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine.The terrifying footage was posted on Twitter by the user @Harri_Est, the founder of Ukraine Aid Operation, who tweeted that the footage was sent to him by a friend in the National Guard unit in Donbas.

Russia's despotic president Vladimir Putin are ramping up, as a Russian intelligence source has claimed that he has just three years to live.The FSB office has claimed that Putin has a “severe form of rapidly progressing cancer”.The Mirror reports how the unnamed spy also told that Putin is beginning to go blind.He said: “He has no more than two to three years to stay alive.“We are told he is suffering from headaches and when he appears on TV he needs pieces of paper with everything written in huge letters to read what he’s going to say.“They are so big each page can only hold a couple of sentences. His eyesight is seriously worsening.“And his limbs are now also shaking uncontrollably.” And the comments were backed up by the Chief of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, Major-General Kyrylo Budanov.

Vladimir Putin has worked hard to maintain a masculine, hardman appearance – but pictures have exposed his steady decline from athletic KGB agent to a feeble nutter who struggles to hold his arm out.After the dictator seized the job of Russian President in 2000, he has carefully controlled his public image with a series of shots showing him in a range of physical activities, from winning judo tournaments to riding horses topless.But Putin’s macho looks have slowly evaporated from him over the past three years and his slim face has now been replaced by a bloated look.The physical power associated with the Russian leader has also vanished recently, with clips showing him resting his arms on a table and shaking as he speaks. It has led to suggestions that Putin himself is aware of his deteriorating health and that this is one of the reasons for his brutal invasion of Ukraine.

Vladimir Putin, 69, has come under scrutiny after two politicians in Russia called on the president to halt their offensive in Ukraine in a rare show of public dissent. Russia's three-month military campaign in Ukraine shows no signs of abating, despite thousands of people being killed and wounded and millions more displaced because of the invasion.Public loyalty of the country's political parties and government officials is commonplace but, during a meeting of the legislative assembly of the Primorsky Krai region yesterday (May 29), a lawmaker and a member of the Communist faction broke ranks."If our country does not halt the military operation then there will be even more orphans in our country," Leonid Vasyukevich, 69, read from the statement, according to a video of the meeting."During a military operation, people became disabled.

Russian despot Vladimir Putin may already be dead, British intelligence chiefs believe.Senior MI6 bosses say the Russian president has been seriously ill and that if he had died, his cronies would hush it up to keep power for as long as possible.A source told the Daily Star Sunday that Putin’s recent media appearances had very probably been pre-recorded.A body double may also have been used at public events, like the Moscow Victory Day Parade earlier this month.One intelligence source said: “Putin is very ill and when he dies his death will be kept secret for weeks, if not months.“There is also the possibility that he is already dead. It’s impossible to know.

Russian soldiers in Ukraine – including him firing a rocket launcher into a tank and rescuing an injured comrade. Heroic Ben Grant rushed to the eastern European country to take up arms against evil Vladimir Putin’s brutal invasion.The 30-year-old Brit, whose mum is an MP for Maidstone, could be seen in a group of well-trained fighters as they fired deadly launchers at the Russian military vehicle.Terrifying videos showed the troops in a 15-hour mission that reportedly killed 38 enemy soldiers.Rockets triggered the tank’s live ammunition before it exploded in another blow to the Kremlin’s army in Ukraine.In another clip fearless Ben, who served for over five years in the Royal Marines before leaving for Ukraine, could be heard shouting at his team: "We've got to move now or we're gonna die!"The dad-of-three is seen ducking Russian bullets whilst treating fellow fighter and former Grenadier Guardsman Dean Arthur, who was raced to hospital in Kyiv where doctors medics saved his leg.Bold Ben told The Telegraph his unit was ambushed whilst getting ready to hit another target.He explained: "I think we must have been spotted by drones beforehand and they had set up their lines… so as we went in the mass firefight broke out…"I was terrified but driven to complete my most important goal, which at the time was getting him and my team out of the danger."What was so scary was being so limited by trying to carry someone, when I can't pull my weapon up, while there are attack helicopters overhead and tanks firing through the woods.

Putin has ordered troops to fire a terrifying and “unstoppable” new hypersonic missile at targets in the White Sea, Moscow claims.The destructive Zircon weapon has been developed over a period of at least four years and is capable of hitting locations a whopping 620 miles away at a speed of 7,000mph.Russia ’s Ministry of Defence told Kremlin-backed news organisation TASS: "Today, the lead frigate of Project 22350 Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Gorshkov fired a Tsirkon hypersonic cruise missile at a sea target position in the White Sea from the Barents Sea.” They boasted their missile was able to go "so high that it prevents the opponent's air defence system from detecting its impact in time". It comes as the evil Russian President intensifies his invasion of Ukraine with a horrific “scorched earth” policy that aims to eliminate opposition in the eastern European country.

Russia's despotic President Vladimir Putin has ramped up his invasion of Ukraine, and is now employing a “scorched-earth policy”, according to a top Ukrainian commander. Petro Kuzyk has been leading the National Guard Rapid Reponse brigade in the fight to defence the embattled city of Severodonetsk.The area has become Putin's main target of violence in recent weeks, as he attempts to save face in the invasion which has gone on around three months longer than he had originally planned.Commander Kuzyk told local media that around 500 Russian shells were hitting the city every hour.He said, in a video interview showing him sitting on the floor, smoking a cigarette while surrounded by supplies: “We have intelligence that huge columns of tanks are moving in the direction of Severodonetsk.“This tactic has been tested, it does them little good, but thanks to massive shelling, they can move forward — because they are destroying positions, trenches and buildings step by step.“They did not capture Rubizhne — they wiped it off the face of the earth.“We are catastrophically short of artillery-systems, accurate, counter-battery systems that destroy enemy artillery from a long distance.“Here, they still have an advantage in artillery.”The Eastern city has become the new focus of Putin's troops.The area is now being dubbed the “new Mariupol”, after Putin's forces levelled that city early on into the invasion.Commander Kuzyk added: “We do not have enough multiple launch rocket systems that hit the target.“We need to more or less close the sky — it’s either serious air defence systems, or fighter aircraft.

Ukraine invasion, Brits would have to start eating each other. The bizarre claim – on a channel owned by a Vladimir Putin supporter – quoted presenter Jeremy, 62, joking earlier this month it would be only a matter of time before “people eat their neighbours”.

Vladimir Putin’s nuclear “doomsday arsenal” could obliterate life on Earth – but the Russian President may not be able to deploy the missiles alone, an expert has claimed. With the war in Ukraine having dragged on for over three months, the threat of Putin deploying his nuclear missiles has so far prevented NATO forces from intervening directly in the conflict.

Russian president Vladimir Putin has given the green light to stage nuclear missile drills as the war-mongering nation continues to flex its military muscles.New footage shows hypersonic ballistic missile launchers being transported through a forest in the Ivanovo region days, after Dmitry Rogozin, the head of Russia's space agency Roscosmos, claimed the country has 50 new nuclear missiles.The Yars and Topol M missiles are some of Russia's deadliest weapons, with the thermonuclear Yars missile hitting targets at 15,000mph and carrying six warheads.Rogozin boasted Russia is set to deploy 50 of its "unstoppable" Satan-2 nukes. Standing at the colossal height of a 14-storey tower block, the 208-ton RS-28 Sarmat missile is capable of striking targets at almost 16,000mph.

Judge Rinder has taken to Twitter in the hopes of retrieving his lost AirPods, and has even offered a reward.The TV judge, 43, lost his headphones in central London on Monday when according to Judge Rinder - full name Robert Michael Rinder - someone mistook the Apple accessories for their own. After tracking the location of his AirPods he told his 200,000 followers that they had been taken to Hermitage Street, near Hyde Park in Paddington, London. He added that a reward would be given for their safe return and also the promise that the "kind person" who gave them back would not be prosecuted for theft.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s removal from being a dictator is reportedly being discussed by the Russian elite, according to an incriminating new report.

Vladimir Putin's bluff after suggesting over half of their nuclear missiles "do not work". The news comes after a fresh threat to the West this week, with the head of Russia's space agency claimed the country has 50 new nuclear missiles.Dmitry Rogozin, the head of Roscosmos and a close allay of the Russian president, said an array of Sarmat-2 missiles – measuring 14 storeys tall and weighing 208 tons – will be deployed by the autumn to remind the world of Russia's capabilities.But in March, three US officials with intelligence on Russian warheads claimed that around 60 percent of Moscow's missiles are in fact inoperative.Fears of a nuclear-armed conflict have been one of the main themes of the debate about how to deal with Russia after the Kremlin ordered its invasion of Ukraine back in early February.

Morgan Freeman is part of Russia’s permanently banned list, as it was revealed by the Eastern European country, in a list of 1,000 Americans that also includes President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.The Hollywood star was added to the list following his involvement in a promotional video for an organization called ‘The Committee to Investigate Russia’ where the actor said, “We have been attacked,” adding “We are at war.”Freeman was described on the list as “a well-known film actor who in September 2017 recorded a video message accusing Russia of conspiring against the United States and calling for a fight against our country,” stating that he accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of using “cyber warfare to attack democracies around the world,” and to his “sworn enemy, the United States.”The updated list includes former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, President’s son Hunter Biden, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, former White House press secretary Jen Psaki, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar and Ayanna Pressley.The country states that many of the people on the list “incite Russophobia,” emphasizing that “the hostile actions taken by Washington, which boomerang against the United States itself, will continue to receive a proper rebuff.”And while politicians, journalists and celebrities on the list have yet to share their thoughts after appearing on the list, former federal prosecutor Norman Barbosa declared, “at least I’m still in good company,” while US ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe wrote, “What an

Vladimir Putin’s closest allies has issued a bizarre vision of a "new world order" to the UN. Since Russian President Putin invaded Ukraine in February he’s been blacklisted by almost every major country, except a handful, such as Belarus.Now the country's president Alexander Lukashenko has sent a letter to UN Secretary-General António Guterres to explain Putin’s sordid reasoning for violating Ukraine’s sovereignty.According to Belarussian TV, the letter, dated May 18, urged the UN to welcome in a "new world order" where all sovereign states have "security guarantees" and warned that the Ukraine conflict would have "devastating consequences" if not.Lukashenko repeated Putin’s threat that, unless “security guarantees” were forthcoming, the Ukraine war would become “protracted with devastating consequences”.He reportedly said: “Belarus calls on the countries of the world to unite and prevent the regional conflict in Europe from escalating into a full-scale world war.”He went on to stress that the US and NATO were violating Putin’s grand ‘new world order’ by sending weapons to Ukraine.He continued: “Together and each in our role, we can do a lot today: refrain from the supply of weapons.”“Today, the world, unfortunately, forgets that Belarusians have never been a threat to any of their neighbours.“We are not aggressors, as some states try to present us.