As Russian President Vladimir Putin explores a potential peace settlement to end the war in Ukraine, hawkish anti-Western nationalists at home are waging a campaign to keep the conflict going.

Satellite imagery has revealed an increase in Russia's military activity near its border with Finland signaling its intention to beef up its troops by NATO 's eastern flank.

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The UK Defense Ministry said a combination of bad handling and storage practices were "highly likely" to have caused the catastrophic blasts in April.

Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski says is ordering the closure of Russia’s consulate in the southern city of Krakow after Polish authorities said Russia was responsible for a fire that destroyed a shopping center in Warsaw last year.

As Russia celebrates its 80-year-old victory over Nazi Germany, Putin wants the world to see that despite the new conflict in Europe, he still has friends in high places.

Chinese President Xi Jinping stood next to Vladimir Putin in Moscow as thousands of Russia troops and military vehicles participated in the Victory Day parade.

NATO's eastern flank has grown increasingly nervous that Moscow's forces could quickly rebuild after a ceasefire in Ukraine.

The Russian economy is in an increasingly precarious state as a result of a shift to a war mode and of Western sanctions over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, a report by the Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics (SITE) said on Tuesday.