Russia's Vladimir Putin will hold a signing ceremony on Friday to annex four more areas of Ukraine after self-styled referendums condemned by Ukraine and the West as a sham.

The Russian gas pipelines earlier suffered a suspected sabotage attack

The alert added, “Russian authorities have arrested US citizens who have participated in demonstrations.”

Russian proxies in occupied Ukrainian regions were expected to ask Moscow to make good on the claimed results as early as Wednesday.

'This is not an earthquake,' says seismologist after dual blasts

Energy giant Gazprom announced Friday that construction of the controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, set to double natural gas supplies from Russia to Germany by bypassing Ukraine, has been completed.

Vladimir Putin on Monday granted US fugitive Edward Snowden a massive lifeline — but authorities have warned he could end up in even deeper trouble.

President Vladimir Zelensky’s chief of staff has told mobilized troops to surrender or be killed

Who benefits from Russia mentioning the “nuclear” issue? Clearly, Russia does this to drive a new cycle and to shift the focus on Ukraine to a focus that is all about deterring or talking to Moscow.

The identity of the attacker and the motive for the shooting in Izhevsk, about 970 km (600 miles) east of Moscow, were not clear.

Washington will respond in kind if Moscow uses WMDs in Ukraine, Biden's national security adviser promised

The legal changes introduce the concepts of “mobilization, martial law and wartime” to the Russian Criminal Code for the first time. 

Kiev plans to reduce Tehran’s diplomatic presence, accusing it of selling attack drones to Russia

The US will target Russia’s economy over the votes in Donbass and two Moscow-controlled regions, the president says

The EU must take Vladimir Putin's threats he could use nuclear weapons in the conflict in Ukraine seriously, the bloc's foreign policy chief has said.

The moves followed months of conflicting signals from Moscow and separatist officials about the referendums that reflected the shifts on the battlefield.

Former Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi has defended Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, saying Russia's leader was "pushed" into the conflict.

Russian-backed officials in four occupied regions of Ukraine are holding self-styled referendums on joining Russia.

Ukraine's recent rout of Russian forces left the Kremlin with no good options

Russian president also warned West not to intervene