President Vladimir Putin

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Putin warns of nuclear war if NATO sends troops to Ukraine

7:56pm February 29, 2024

by Charles Maynes

Russian President Vladimir Putin issued explicit nuclear threats to the West, even as he assured Russians their country could both win the war in Ukraine and thrive economically.

Russian President Vladimir Putin gets off a Tu-160M strategic bomber after a flight in Kazan, Russia, on Thursday.

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Putin remains defiant as ever 2 years into Russia's war in Ukraine

6:08pm February 24, 2024

by Charles Maynes

The Russian leader had a busy week, one that saw him exude confidence about Russia's military and economic resilience as Ukraine has increasingly struggled on the battlefield.

Boris Nadezhdin, a liberal Russian politician who was disqualified from the March presidential election, awaits a meeting of Russia's Central Election Commission in Moscow, Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024.

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Why a disqualified Russian candidate remains a critic of Putin

7:15am February 21, 2024

When asked whether his political activities put him in danger, Boris Nadezhdin quoted a proverb, "If you are afraid of wolves, you should not go to the forest."

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Russian President Vladimir Putin visits a factory on Thursday.

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Putin's regime is 'running out of fuel,' a Russian opposition activist tells NPR

6:54pm February 19, 2024

If the Russian president continues to burn through his reserves of oil and gas money, ordinary people will become a threat to his power, according to one outspoken activist.

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Yulia Navalnaya, wife of late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, attends the Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, on Feb. 16, on the day it was announced that Alexei Navalny had died.

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Widow of Alexei Navalny takes center stage in Russia's opposition

4:09pm February 19, 2024

by Charles Maynes

Yulia Navalnaya appeared on her late husband's YouTube channel in a forceful challenge to Russian President Vladimir Putin, accusing him of murder. Navalnaya says she will carry on her husband's work.

Protesters light candles on Friday in front of the Russian Embassy in Prague after the announcement that the Kremlin's most prominent critic, Alexei Navalny, had died in an Arctic prison.

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Alexei Navalny is the latest Putin critic to die in suspicious circumstances

3:06pm February 16, 2024

The death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in prison was shocking, but hardly surprising. It follows a long line of fallen critics and opponents of Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

Yekaterina Duntsova looks on after submitting her documents as a presidential candidate for the upcoming election. She secured a nomination from a group of more than 500 supporters as required by Russian electoral law.

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A pro-peace Russian presidential hopeful is blocked by election commission

1:37pm December 23, 2023

by The Associated Press

Yekaterina Duntsova is a former journalist-turned-politician who opposes the Ukraine war and hopes to challenge Putin, but her efforts to run stalled after election officials rejected her nomination.

In this image taken from video, smoke rises from the crash of a private jet near the village of Kuzhenkino in the Tver region of Russia, on Aug. 23. Mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner Group, and his top lieutenants were among the 10 people killed in the crash northwest of the Russian capital.

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Grenade fragments were found in bodies in Prigozhin's plane crash, Putin claims

3:06pm October 05, 2023

by The Associated Press

Russian President Vladimir Putin says hand grenade fragments were found in the bodies of people who died in the Aug. 23 crash of mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin's plane.

In this pool photo distributed by Sputnik agency, Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un visit the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Amur region on Wednesday.

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Kim Jong Un vows full support for Russia as Putin pledges space tech for North Korea

11:45am September 13, 2023

by Anthony Kuhn

In a summit in Russia, President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un showed how geopolitical tensions have brought the two neighbors isolated by the West into closer alignment.

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Church personnel inspect the damage inside the Transfiguration Cathedral in Odesa, Ukraine, Sunday, following Russian missile attacks.

Latest on Ukraine: As Russia pounds Odesa, Moscow and Crimea become targets

1:21pm July 24, 2023

by Alex Leff

Catch up on key developments and the latest in-depth coverage of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.