January, President Vladimir Putin’s “special military operation” in Ukraine will have dragged on longer than the war on the Eastern Front that ended with the fall of Berlin in May 1945.

The Kremlin leader kept his speech short, spoke only briefly about the fighting in Ukraine, and did not mention U.S.-mediated talks on ending the war.

A top Russian official on Monday issued personal threats against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after Russia claimed that Ukraine launched a drone attack on one of Russian President Vladimir Putin's official residences.

Russian commanders told Putin during an inspection visit that Moscow's forces had captured towns in Ukraine's eastern region of Donetsk.

Between January and November, more than 2,300 Ukrainian civilians were killed and more than 11,000 were injured, the United Nations said earlier in December. That was 26% higher than in the same period in 2024 and 70% higher than in 2023,

Russian President Vladimir Putin lied when he claimed earlier this week that Ukraine tried to kill him in a massive drone attack targeting one of his residences, according to US intelligence.

MOSCOW, Dec 29 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin on Monday told his army to press on with a campaign to take full control of the Zaporizhzhia region in southern Ukraine after a Russian commander said Moscow's forces were 15 kilometres (9.3 miles) from its biggest city.

From gigantic submarines lurking in the depths of British waters to mysterious drones probing our allies airports, there is new and worrying evidence that Moscow’s appetite for wider conflict is about to be unleashed,