Sanctioning Putin's mistress Alina Kabaeva would deal heavy blow to Kremlin, expert says

Vladimir Putin has flexed his military supremacy and arsenal of nuclear weapons in a chilling new threat to the West.

Vladimir Putin looks set to use the Russian public holiday - marking the country's victory over Nazi Germany and the end of WW2 in Europe - to send a warning to the West by showing off the thermonuclear RS-24 Yars ballistic missile.Weighing 49.6 tonnes, the powerful missile is a weapon of mass destruction that experts believe can carry up to 10 warheads, and is capable of striking London or New York within minutes by travelling at a speed of 24,500km/hr. The nuclear missile was driven past rows of armed guards on a 16-wheeler vehicle on Saturday's rehearsal for the actual Victory Day parade on Monday, followed closely by several Iskander-M missile launchers.

Vladimir Putin's plans to ramp up efforts to invade Ukraine has been met with fierce push back from Ukrainian forces, with Russian troops suffering huge casualties over the past weeks.Now, Putin has been hit with another major blow after the Ukraine Security Service reportedly captured 11 Russian snipers, who had been firing on Ukrainian troops from various positions.The capture was reported by independent Ukrainian media service Hromadske Int, which tweeted: "Security Service informed of daily special operations throughout Ukraine. During such an operation in Kharkiv Oblast, 11 Russian snipers were captured who fired on Ukrainian positions, @ServiceSsu reported."The tweet added that 140 enemy groups were eliminated with 4,000 collaborators also being exposed.In another tweet, the Ukraine Security Service (@ServiceSsu) wrote: "The heroic resistance of Ukrainian defenders in the Kharkiv region demoralised the enemy.

Vladimir Putin's superyacht dream appears to have sunk after a luxury vessel said to be owned by the Russian president was set to be seized by Italian authorities. The $700 million (£570 million) Scheherazade, which is more than 450ft long and boasts spas, "countless" swimming pools, a sauna, theatre, ballrooms, gym and two helicopter landing pads - plus a hospital - has been recommended for impoundment as part of sanctions against Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.

A group led by Todd Boehly, who also owns a stake in the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Los Angeles Lakers, dick clark productions and who is currently the caretaker CEO of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, has agreed to terms to acquire the English soccer club Chelsea in a deal worth almost $5 billion.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin is suffering severe health problems which are rumoured to be Parkinson’s disease of some form of abdominal cancer. Since it became clear that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was turning into an embarrassing failure, those rumours have been joined by speculation that Putin could be held solely to blame for the disaster and ousted by Kremlin bosses.

Vladimir Putin by creating an application to show users live updates of how many Russian soldiers are dying in the war with their country's forces.And to add insult to injury, the name of the app makes reference to a now iconic quote made famous when a small Ukrainian unit on Snake Island told a Russian warship to "f*** off" when offered safe passage in return for their surrender.The app, which the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine created in concert with Alty, a Ukrainian tech company, is called “Russian ship, go f*** yourself".Leonid Goriev, the CEO of Alty, said the company created the app to help bring Ukraine a victory sooner.“We were inspired by the daily work of the specialists of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, who diligently formulated information on the damage of enemy personnel and the Russian Federation technology in their infographics,” Gorev said in a statement shared by the Ukrainian military. “Therefore, on a volunteer basis, we created a handy app with a set of beautiful widgets to track the occupant's losses and bring our victory closer.”Approximately 24,700 Russian troops have died since the beginning of the war, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said Thursday, May 5.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is running out of missiles as he desperately tries to secure victory in Ukraine, according to the UK's Chief of the Defence Staff. Admiral Sir Tony Radakin reckons that Putin's invasion is proving far tougher than he expected, taking a greater toll on his supplies than the Russians thought it would.He also claimed that 25% of Russian forces have already been wiped out and that they are "struggling" in their fight for the Donbass region in the East.He told TalkTV: "He potentially has a problem, because the rate of expenditure and the toughness of the fight is totally different to the one that he perceived on the 24th of February."I think there are several wars going on.

Vladimir Putin's desperate reign could soon be ended could by his own shadowy generals and KGB officials, it has been claimed.The Russian President, who has survived many assassination attempts, is said to be "bracing for a coup" as powerful groups close to the despot are supposedly planning to remove him.According to various sources and media, the plan would be to oust Putin to end the bloody war in Ukraine as top individuals are increasingly frustrated with the lack of progress, The Mirror reports.Andrei Soldatov, a Russian security expert at The Center for European Policy Analysis, said: "This is the very first time the siloviki are putting distance between themselves and the president which opens up all sorts of possibilities."The Russian President has been bracing for a coup for some weeks as has faced fierce criticism over his 'special operation' in Ukraine and he has purged around 150 of his spies over the constant failures."The silovarchs are a particular group of the Russian power elite that rose to the top through business success in the 1990s. They are the meeting point of state and business power.Professor of political science at the University of California, Los Angeles, Daniel Treisman coined the term in 2006 with it being used as an umbrella for a particular group of powerful elites.The word itself is a combination of siloviki and oligarch.

Adolf Hitler. In a bizarre outburst on Italian TV on Monday (May 2), foreign minister Sergei Lavrov accused Ukrainian President Zelenskyy of being a “Nazi” and referenced the fringe theory that the WW2 dictator had Jewish relations.

Vladimir Putin may be bracing for a coup as favour for his invasion of Ukraine dwindles inside the Kremlin, experts have claimed.Several generals and the Federal Security Service (FSB) are said to be gravely concerned over the lack of military progress and economic issues created by western sanctions. Some local media outlets say that the FSB has contacted military officials about these concerns, with several former generals rumoured to want Putin gone.

Vladimir Putin’s sex-mad girlfriend has warned that the absence of Russians in gymnastics will cause the sport to fall into “degradation”.Russian gymnasts are currently not allowed to partake in international competitions following a ban by the International Gymnastics Federation due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Athens 2004 all-around champion Alina Kabaeva, 38, has been vocal in opposing anti-Russian sporting sanctions, previously calling the backlash “the most disgraceful page in the history of world sports”.Kabaeva, who is rumoured to be the hidden girlfriend of Putin and allegedly has three children with the warlord, has now warned that the sport will suffer in Russia’s absence.The 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics torchbearer told Russian media outlet TASS that the current rules "already limit the possibilities and development of world rhythmic gymnastics”.Kabaeva added: "This sport was born in our country and until now Russia has been a trendsetter in rhythmic gymnastics.“The absence of Russia in this sport will lead the world rhythmic gymnastics to degradation.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has been branded "the main war criminal of the 21st century" after allegations of rape and torture following his invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine's Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova also said she was "sure" that rape was a deliberate tactic deployed by Russian soldiers as she visited the devastated city of Irpin on Tuesday (May 3).

Ukraine will only come to an end when bonkers Vladimir Putin has died, according to a top military spy chief. The claims come amid reports the Russian President’s health has rapidly deteriorated and is showing signs of terminal cancer.Major General Kyrylo Budanov, one of Kyiv’s top officers, agreed it was “unrealistic” to expect Putin to retreat when asked if the former KGB officer would die before fighting ends.

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Playboy model who Vladimir Putin once sacked for nude snaps has moaned Russia's war on Ukraine cancelled her birthday plans. Anna Anufrieva was hoping to celebrate her 30th birthday away from her native Tyumen, Siberia but has instead been forced to find a more local alternative.The former civil servant was left homeless in 2019 when bosses saw racy photos she sent to Playboy magazine and fired her from a 'secret' day job. Since the stressful nightmare she found herself in, Anna has shown off to her 7,000 Instagram followers exotic holiday photos including a sun-drenched trip to Cuba.

Russian political commentator has claimed that it is the Russian people, rather than President Vladimir Putin, who are bloodthirsty for the war in Ukraine. Since Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine over two months ago, there have been consistent reports of low morale among young soldiers who have been conscripted to fight against their neighbouring country.This has led Russian State TV to go into patriotic overdrive, with one anchor warning that the Russian despot is more likely to start World War Three by using nuclear missiles than accept defeat in Ukraine.And, in one baffling recent address, political scientist Sergey Mikheyev criticised the Russian leader for not being more brutal during the invasion.Unleashing a tirade on Russian State TV – which was translated and shared online by journalist Julia Davis – Sergey emphasised the Russian people’s desire for conflict.“In our country, many are a lot more radical-minded than President Putin,” he asserted.

Vladimir Putin has seemingly snubbed one of the world's most important religious figures. The despotic president, who launched an invasion on Ukraine in February, was offered an invitation to meet Pope Francis.

Vladimir Putin’s propaganda mouthpiece Dmitry Kiselyov took his wife to Dubai after threatening that Russia could “plunge Britain into the depths of the sea” with a hypersonic Satan-2 missile.The Russian state TV anchor was pictured with his eighth wife Maria at the five star Jumeirah Al Qasr hotel.Senior Ukrainian diplomat Olexander Scherba, ex-ambassador to Austria, posted: “One of Putin’s chief propagandists Dmitry Kiselyov, a guy who breeds hate & threatens the world with nuclear war on a weekly basis, was sighted in Dubai. Enjoying life where he’s not banned yet.”The 68-year-old warmonger, who has been sanctioned by the UK and EU, has not yet been hit by sanctions in Dubai.Ukrainian citizens have been left outraged by Dubai's more relaxed mood over the Russia-Ukraine war as one social media user said: "Ukrainian special forces should make plans.”A reply read: “Well, I would know where to send Ukrainian special agents....

Vladimir Putin has been left with yet another disaster on his hands after a 34,000sqm building went up in flames after a large explosion.The explosion and subsequent fire was captured on video in the Bogorodsky region, East of the Russian capital, Moscow, where images were captured of the building going up in flames.The fire can be seen pouring out of a huge industrial storage unit, which is believed to house paper and cardboard products for a pro-Kremlin publishing house.Publishing house Prosveshchenie is said to have used the location to store its printed materials, with the building rocked by an explosion earlier this morning.Eastern European media platform NextaTV took to Twitter and shared footage of the blast, which showed huge clouds of smoke billowing from the location.In the tweet, they said: "There is a large fire at the warehouse of the Pro-Kemlin 'Prosveshchenie' publishing house near Moscow. Almost 34 thousand square metres are burning."Around midnight a hanger in Bogorodskoe district, where printed materials were stored, burst into flames."Emergency services on the scene said there was a partial collapse of the burning warehouse as well as an immediate danger to the neighbouring warehouse located 10 metres away.Firefighters eventually managed to bring the blaze under control, Newsweek reports, and it is unclear yet if there were any casualties due to the explosion and fire.

Russian "troll factory" based in an old arms factory is peddling support for Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine by targeting the social media accounts of politicians and TikTokkers, the UK government has said.According to research funded by the UK government, the trolls are tasked with targeting western media outlets and politicians, using varied techniques to put a positive spin on the bloody war.The study breaks down how the scheme tries to manipulate public opinion on social media, as well as in the comments sections of major media outlets.Boris Johnson, the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz; and the EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell are all targets, the study said.Musicians including Daft Punk, David Guetta, Tiesto and Rammstein also appear to have been targeted.Top TikTok stars were also paid to peddle a positive narrative about the Kremlin, the study added.Activities on Twitter and Facebook were detected, but were found to be particularly concentrated on Instagram, YouTube and TikTok.The troll farm, in St Petersburg, is said to recruit and hire salaried workers openly, justifying the work as “patriotic activity” in support of the “special military operation” in Ukraine.For more of the latest showbiz and TV news from the Daily Star, make sure you sign up to one of our newsletters here.The British foreign secretary, Liz Truss, said: “We cannot allow the Kremlin and its shady troll farms to invade our online spaces with their lies about Putin’s illegal war.“The UK government has alerted international partners and will continue to work closely with allies and media platforms to undermine Russian information operations.” The culture secretary, Nadine Dorries, said: “These are insidious attempts by Putin and his