Russian commanders feel Putin's wrath after being sacked for 'poor Ukraine performance'

Gareth Gates has posted an emotional tribute to his “dear friend” Darius Danesh, who has died aged 41. Danesh was a Scottish singer and actor who rose to fame on Popstars and Pop Idol, where he competed against Gates in the latter in 2002.

Rylan Clark and Lorraine Kelly are among the first stars to pay tribute to Darius Danesh after the singer and actor who rose to fame on Popstars and Pop Idol died at the age of 41. The Scottish star’s family confirmed on Tuesday (16 August) that Danesh had died on 11 August.

Russia's despotic President Vladimir Putin.Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, the Conservative MP for South West Norfolk, is battling it out with former Chancellor Rishi Sunak for the keys to Number 10 Downing Street. The winner – if you can call them that – will take over from Boris Johnson on September 6 and have to contend with a whole host of issues, not least the war in Ukraine.READ MORE: Over 400 MPs claim £420k expenses to pay their energy bills as the rest of UK suffersBut earlier this year, that seat might not have even existed thanks to the words of Liz Truss on national television.

Russian underwear has been labelled as the “best contraception ever” by raucous Twitter users. The strange pants – which carry the infamous Z symbol on the front – were spotted in a local market in Tver, Russia.

Brittney Griner's legal team has appealed against the American basketball star's guilty verdict and nine-year prison sentence on drug smuggling charges in Russia, the lawyers said on Monday.Griner was arrested for carrying vape cartridges containing with marijuana in a Moscow airport in February amid soaring tension between Washington and Moscow, and just before Russian leader Vladimir Putin launched his ongoing assault on Ukraine.The athlete was on her way to Yekaterinburg, in western Russia, to play for a local team during the WNBA's off-season.Griner pleaded guilty to the charge but sought leniency, saying that she packed the cartridges inadvertently and marijuana was prescribed to her by a doctor in the U.S. to help her cope with pain from injuries sustained during her basketball career. In early August, a court in the Moscow region found her guilty.Before her trial began in July, the State Department designated her as being «wrongfully detained,» moving her case under the supervision of its special presidential envoy for hostage affairs — effectively the U.S.

Russia and Ukraine after the latter's president has promised to attack Russian troops who refuse to leave a nuclear plant.The Russians have ignored calls to demilitarise the Zaporizhia nuclear plant they have seized as atomic energy chiefs say the actions of Vladimir Putin's troops have caused the risk of a repeat of the nuclear disaster that occurred in 1986.Russia was accused of "nuclear blackmail" by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and has warned Putin that his soldiers will have no option but to attack the Russians should they continue firing at citizens.READ MORE:Three fighter Brits in Ukraine face death penalty in disgraceful Russian secret trialsZelenskyy called the Russian troops "special targets" as 500 of them are currently placed at the nuclear plant since storming the site in March while Ukrainian technicians continue to run reactors.Petro Kotin, the boss of the company that run the plant, said that there are 174 containers of radioactive material currently in danger of being hit, in a situation that could become reminiscent of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster that was rated at seven on the International Nuclear Event Scale, which is the maximum severity of a nuclear event.He said: “We could have a radiation cloud.

Sarah the Duchess of York has said she will not refrain from speaking out against the ongoing conflict following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The Duchess, 62, along with her charity, Sarah's Trust, visited Poland where she met Ukrainians who had fled their home country following Vladimir Putin's invasion on February 24, 2022.But despite members of The Royal Family often remaining neutral when it comes to political topics, the Duchess has said she will not remain silent on the "dreadful" invasion.READ MORE: Princess Beatrice's celeb pals – Hollywood stars, supermodel and X Factor judgesDuring an exclusive chat with the Daily Star, the mum-of-two admitted she has realised "how lucky" she is to have a stable and loving family at home.Speaking about the political issues surrounding the war, the Duchess told us: "I think this goes beyond politics.

Vladimir Putin’s closest allies may have revealed the next country on Russia's hitlist, according to an expert. Ever since the despot launched his invasion of Ukraine in February this year, there have been fears that Putin’s aims may reach further afield.

Russian journalist Marina Ovsyannikova, who became a symbol of fearless dissent when she interrupted a live TV broadcast in March to protest her country’s invasion of Ukraine, has been placed under house arrest in Moscow pending a trial related to a fresh anti-war protest in July.

Steven Seagal has been seen visiting a Russian prison camp in Ukraine, days after an explosion killed 50 prisoners.The actor, who is a vocal supporter of President Vladimir Putin, was photographed this week looking through the bars of the Russian-controlled camp at the prisoners inside.On 29 July, the prison – which is based in Olenivka in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine – was the site of an explosion that killed 50.As reported by the Mail Online, Ukraine’s military claimed Russia had ‘deliberately planned’ the transfer of some prisoners to new premises before the explosion.They suggested it was evidence of the ‘planned nature of this crime and its commission by the, Russian side.’However Russia claims Ukraine ordered the attack to stop prisoners from giving information to their captors.Seagal has a special relationship with Russia and often praises its leader, who this year ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine which has devastated the country.In 2016, the Under Siege actor was made a special envoy of Russia and given an exceptional passport to the country.Seagal had hailed Putin as ‘one of the greatest world leaders, if not the greatest world leader, alive today,’ and called his annexation of Crimea ‘reasonable’.Following the comments and special treatment from Russia, Seagal was banned from entering Ukraine for five years from 2017.Now however, the actor has been seen in the eastern region of the country as he checked out the damage done to the prison.The actor was pictured staring at the prisoners, his hands gripping the bars of the cage.He was later pictured standing inside the prison, seemingly musing over the massive damage done by the explosion, and sitting on a bench examining shrapnel.To view this

Homes across Britain could face four days of blackouts this winter as the Government prepares for cold weather gas shortages.

Russia has warned 'Armageddon' could be on the horizon in a terrifying warning aired on state TV.The ominous message was released after tensions around the Zaporizhzia atomic power plant grew this week. Ukrainian leaders accused Russia of “deliberately shelling” the plant, which is the biggest in Europe.

prisons to recruit 1,000 convicts to his bloodthirsty Wagner mercenary group to help with the war in Ukraine, claims a Russian opposition website. Russian oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin gained the strange nickname after he was pictured serving Vladimir Putin dinner in a chef's uniform, according to Independent.ie.

Vladimir Putin's closest aides has warned him that the West is seeking to “destroy Russia ”. The worrying message came from former-president Dmitry Medvedev, and was part of a rant about using nuclear weapons in Ukraine.He is now the deputy head of the Russian security council.

“I think he’s done quite a good job. Speaking to Daily Star, she added: “I know him because he lived in Islington so I used to see him all the time so I am a bit of a Boris fan."She ruffled a few feathers last month when the panellist defended the Prime Minister live on air. The star announced she was “sad” that Boris would be retiring. The Birds of a Feather star said on the show: "I’m really sad because I have been a bit of a Boris fan as everyone knows."I think the public should have had some say in this."I don’t think it should have just been up to the politicians. “We all have a right to have a say in it as well."She joked later on that she had two spare bedrooms if he needed somewhere to stay after leaving 10 Downing Street. It’s not the first time the 64-year-old has caused a stir with ITV viewers, however. Following the news of the Ukraine war outbreak in February, Linda confessed that she didn’t watch the news. Linda was joined by fellow hosts Kaye Adams, Nadia Sawalha and Judi Love.It was for a Friday instalment of Loose Women where they discussed the latest news at the time about Russian President Vladimir Putin invading Ukraine. The former actress told the panel she did not read newspapers or watch the news. She confessed she did not realise the extent of the crisis until she was informed in the morning meeting before going on air. Linda explained: "I mean, I don't watch the news and don't read newspapers or anything. "So I was sort of a bit oblivious to how serious it was really."She later admitted: "It was only when I got into work today and we were all talking in the meeting that I realised how serious it was. "And talking to some of our young boys who work on the show, one said he was really anxious."

Russian solidiers" are burning the bodies of dead Ukrainians in mobile incinerators on the frontline to mask the amount of civilians they have slaughtered, according to a report.British war correspondent David Patrikarakos reported on Saturday that Vladimir Putin's forces in Kherson, in Kherson Oblast in the south of Ukraine, are burning Ukrainians "day and night" to mask the amount of civilian casualties.Putin’s soldiers are trying to do away with mass graves because they “leave behind evidence of war crimes," Patrikarakos added. READ MORE: Rugby star 'caught ex giving oral sex to teammate before punching window'“Vladimir Putin’s paranoid soldiers are burning the corpses of Ukrainian citizens tortured and murdered on suspicion of helping the resistance,” wrote Patrikarakos in a report for the Daily Mail.“The incinerators fill Kherson with the reek of charred flesh,” he continued.

Ukrainian forces to use inflatable dummy tanks to lure Vladimir Putin’s forces into an ambush.The T-72 decoys are covered with camouflage nets to look real and left in an open area to ensure Russian forces see them.Then President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s troops wait to draw their prey into what the SAS call the “kill grid”.READ MORE: Putin may beg Kim Jong-un for support as 100,000 soldiers set to help Russian war effortA senior military source said: “This is a classic tactic, a come-on, which allows you to lure your enemy to a position where you attack from a position of strength.“This is an ideal deception move as well. You make the enemy think you have armour in that area and change his plans.”Meanwhile, The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) raised grave concerns on Saturday (July 6) about the shelling the previous day at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, saying the action showed the risk of a nuclear disaster.Both sides accused each other of engaging in "nuclear terrorism".

Prince Charles' charity received a whopping £300k donation from an "unsavoury character" and it's emerged that a Russian oligarch forked out the sum as part of a £3million pledge.The Prince’s Foundation was the beneficiary of the sum from a charity run by Viatcheslav Moshe Kantor in 2020, despite the fertiliser billionaire being named on a "Putin list" released by the US Treasury two years earlier. The sum was paid before the war in Ukraine.

Uri Geller has issued a warning to Russian president Vladimir Putin, saying he will use ‘every last molecule of my Mind Power’ to prevent him from launching a nuclear attack.The spoon-bender and TV personality waded into international politics on Tuesday with a video he posted to Twitter, highlighting a letter he said he had sent to the Russian powers that be.Published with the caption ‘Read my warning which I sent to the Kremlin’, the 75-year-old stood in front of a screen showing Putin and a nuclear mushroom cloud.Discussing international nuclear powers, the illusionist, who bought a Scottish island where he believes witch bones are buried, shared his worry that Scotland was at risk, due to its naval bases.‘This is serious stuff and I have a warning for you, Putin,’ he added.Geller then approached the camera to loom closely into the lens, continuing: ‘I urge you all to read my warning, all of you, and I’m serious about it.

Vladimir Putin's former aide has been pictured in hospital partially paralysed and unable to close his eyes amid rumours of a possible poisoning. Anatoly Chubais, 67, was once the Kremlin's chief-of-staff and Russia's deputy prime minister.

A woman heading up the Thornhill-based HALO Trust’s demining task force in Ukraine admits a tough job got even harder after Vladimir Putin launched his invasion of the country.