A devastating Ukrainian missile attack struck the headquarters of Russia‘s Black Sea Fleet today. 

The Sevastopol HQ building is understood to have been hit with a Storm Shadow missile, the type supplied by Britain and France capable of holding a warhead of nearly 1000 lbs. 

Russia’s defence ministry has claimed that one person is missing, after initially claiming they had died in the strike. Initial reports suggested that six people had been wounded. 

Dozens of ambulances were reported at the headquarters in Sevastopol, the naval port in occupied Crimea.

The HQ building was on fire, had partially collapsed and suffered ‘severe damage’, according to one report.

Debris from the missile attack on the headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet was scattered over hundreds of metres.

Russia’s defence ministry claimed that five other missiles were shot down, but one made it through its defences.  

‘According to preliminary information, people who were on the street at the time of the attack on the Black Sea Fleet headquarters were not injured,’ said Putin appointed Sevastopol governor Mikhail Razvozhayev.

A fire continued to burn at the headquarters building, admitted the governor.

Police cordoned off two blocks around the missile-hit building.

‘The enemies launched a missile attack on the fleet headquarters,’ said Razvozhayev. 

He warned of the risk of a second attack and urged locals to stay away from the city.

‘A fragment [of a missile] fell close to the Lunacharsky Theatre. All emergency services arrived at the scene.

‘Information about the victims is being clarified. Please remain calm. And do not post photos and videos.’

The occupation official said: ‘Another attack is possible. Please do not travel to the city centre. Don’t leave buildings.

‘At the sound of the siren, everyone who is near the fleet headquarters should proceed to shelters.

‘Employees of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations are working on the spot.

‘Firefighters are taking all measures to put out the fire as quickly as possible. The build-up of forces and means continues.’

Prominent Russian pro-war blogger Vladimir Rogov said: ‘The headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol was attacked by Ukrainian missiles.’

He said the attack was carried out ‘by British Storm Shadow missiles’, though this was not immediately confirmed.

The strike was one of the most significant of the entire war, as was the sinking of the Black Sea fleet’s flagship, the Moskva cruiser, last year. 

The Black Sea Fleet has been responsible for multiple missile attacks on Ukraine, and is central to Putin’s subjugation of around one-fifth of Ukrainian territory.

Other explosions hit elsewhere in Crimea including around peninsula capital Simferopol.

Ukraine has previously used Storm Shadow and Neptune missiles to target Crimea as well as kamikaze drones.

Drones were downed today in Sevastopol harbour.

The attack came as Vladimir Putin held a meeting of his security council on relations with neighbouring countries.

He was heard skirting around the attack, only mentioning ongoing developments with ‘relations with our closest neighbours and partners.’

The first pictures have emerged showing the devastation of a Russian strike submarine caused by a Storm Shadow missile. 

The £250 million Kilo-class attack vessel Rostov-on-Don was hit on 13 September in a repair shipyard in the Russian-held Black Sea port of Sevastopol, in annexed Crimea.

The images, obtained by Conflict Intelligence Team’s investigative journalists, show the scale of the damage dealt to the submarine as it sat in the dry dock. 

It appears to have been hit twice by missiles supplied to Ukraine by Britain and France, both of which left gaping holes in the hull and wrecked the internal mechanics. 

The CIT report suggests that the submarine’s living compartments and other areas were also damaged, meaning the Rostov-on-Don will likely take no further part in the war.

One large hole ‘is located on top of the bow of the submarine’ as indicated by previous satellite images of the stricken vessel which has been used by Putin to strike Ukraine during the war.

‘The second hit was on the starboard side of the boat in the area behind the command point.

‘It, unlike the first one, cannot be recorded from satellite images,’ the report said. 

The shipyard strike also caused severe damage to the large landing ship Minsk.

Some Ukrainian sources have claimed Russia has concealed the deaths of 24 people in the strike. 

On the same day, a ‘Sea Baby’ kamikaze drone damaged Russian missile hovercraft Samum near Sevastopol harbour, while a marine drone also damaged the Vasily Bykov patrol ship.

The strikes on the Black Sea port come as the European Union gears up for a fight over what should be included in its 12th package of sanctions over Russia’s war in Ukraine, Bloomberg News reported on Monday.

The new measures, which could be presented as early as next month, would likely include the EU’s version of the upcoming G7 ban on purchases of Russian diamonds and possibly a long-awaited proposal to use the profits generated by frozen central bank assets to aid Kyiv, the report added citing people familiar with discussions.

Meanwhile in Russia, China’s top diplomat is heading to Moscow to discuss military and security cooperation between the two nations. 

Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who simultaneously holds the ruling Communist Party’s top foreign policy post, will be in Russia from Monday to Thursday for China-Russia strategic security consultations, the Foreign Ministry said in a brief statement.

The U.S. and China are at odds over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 

China has refrained from taking sides in the war, saying that while a country’s territory must be respected, the West needs to consider Russia’s security concerns about NATO expansion. 

It has accused the U.S. of prolonging the fighting by providing arms to Ukraine, weaponry that the U.S. says is needed to defend against Russian aggression.

Wang’s trip to Moscow comes a day after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un left Russia following a six-day visit that included talks with President Vladimir Putin at a far eastern spaceport, visits to aircraft plants and inspections of nuclear-capable strategic bombers and an advanced warship. 

China and Russia have grown closer as relations with the West have deteriorated for both, and China is looking for support as it seeks to reshape the U.S.-led international order into one that is more accommodating to its approach. 

Last month, it helped engineer an expansion of the BRICS partnership, which invited six more countries to join what has been a five-nation bloc that includes China and Russia.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning called Wang’s visit to Russia a routine one to hold in-depth talks on major strategic security interests.

Wang stepped down as foreign minister at the end of last year, taking on the more senior position of Communist Party foreign affairs chief, but was called back as foreign minister in July after his successor, Qin Gang, disappeared from public view. 

It’s unclear what happened to Qin, but he may have fallen out of favour with the leadership.

More recently, China’s defence minister, Li Shangfu, also has not been seen in about three weeks, sparking speculation about his fate. 

It’s unusual for two sitting Cabinet members to disappear from sight, although it doesn’t appear to signal any obvious change in defence or foreign policy.

The Chinese government has said nothing about Li’s disappearance. Asked about it on Monday, Mao, the Foreign Ministry spokesperson, said she was not aware of the situation.

Vladimir Putin‘s invasion of Ukraine ‘is just the beginning’ and ‘the war will not stop there’, a Russian general recently promoted by the Kremlin has warned.

Colonel General Andrey Mordviche also said he expects future conflicts with European countries during an appearance on the state-run TV channel Russia-1.

The Russian president’s invasion in February 2022 raised fears of a wider global conflict, with some warning it was a precursor to a third world war, pitting Russia and its allies against NATO and the West.

While Ukraine has managed to pin Moscow‘s armies back in the east, Russian commentators have intensified their anti-NATO rhetoric, regularly calling for Putin and his generals to launch strikes on other European nations while spreading pro-Kremlin propaganda to the Russian people, as well as neighbouring countries.

Mordvichev’s comments provide some insight into what plans are being shared with Moscow’s high-ranking military officials, hinting that Putin intends on continuing his war for years to come, and possibly even push further West.

When asked on Russia-1 if Ukraine was just a ‘stepping stone,’ Mordvichev – who is the commander of the Russian Central Military District – said last year’s invasion was just the beginning of Russia’s military ambitions.

‘I think there’s still plenty of time to spend,’ he said. 

‘It is pointless to talk about a specified period. If we are talking about Eastern Europe, which we will have to, of course then it will be longer. 

‘It is only the beginning. The war will not stop here,’ he added.

‘I think that all kinds of ideologists and instigators of this war will not stop here.’

Mordvichev, whose comments came in a video of him speaking to a Russian reporter while walking through forests and riding in a tank – seemingly in Ukraine, was promoted last week to the rank of colonel general. 

The top commander is well-placed, in charge of the Central Military District, and a close ally of Vladimir Putin crony Ramzan Kadyrov, the warlord leader of Chechnya.

Kadyrov has labelled the general Russia’s ‘best commander’.

As such, Mordvichev is in a position to know Kremlin thinking on the war.

Some pro-democracy advocates fear Putin is working to widen his political sphere of influence to eventually make a move against the West beyond Ukraine’s borders.

The Russian despot has outlined his vision to reunify territories that once fell under the now-defunct Russian empire and the Soviet Union, while claiming – in his attempts to justify his brutal invasion – that Ukraine should not have independence.

He also claims Russia is working to ‘denazify’ Ukraine and to protect Russian-speakers in the country from ‘genocide’. There is no evidence to support Moscow’s claims that Ukraine is a Nazi state, or committing any form of genocide.

Some of Putin’s most outspoken supporters, particularly on his propaganda-spreading TV channels, have even called for the Russian president to also launch assaults on NATO countries, including Poland and others in Eastern Europe.

They have done so while Russia’s official line claims the invasion of Ukraine was done for defensive reasons, citing the expansion of NATO.

NATO and its members say Putin’s invasion is nothing but an imperialistic land grab and an attempt to overthrow a pro-Western, democratically elected government.

Were Russia to attack any NATO member, the alliance’s Article 5 would be triggered.

The article states that if any NATO ally ‘is the victim of an armed attack, each and every other member of the Alliance will consider this act of violence as an armed attack against all members.’

In such an event, NATO would ‘take the actions it deems necessary to assist the Ally attacked,’ the article states.

This would mean 31 armies – including those belonging to Britain, the United States, France and Germany – would be brought against Putin’s forces.

While Russia’s army was once considered among the world’s most advanced, Putin’s faltering invasion of Ukraine has highlighted its many weaknesses.

Ukraine’s smaller military, albeit heavily backed by modern Western weaponry and equipment, is currently carrying out a counteroffensive in the east of the country, working to push Russia’s armies back.

While progress in this year’s counteroffensive is proving slow, last year Kyiv’s forces were able to push Putin’s armies back from the capital before liberating vast swathes of land in both the north and south.

If Putin does want to launch an invasion beyond Ukraine’s borders, he’ll first have to find a way of defeating Kyiv’s armies that are inching closer to his own land.

The war has sown devastation across swathes of eastern and southern Ukraine, killed or injured hundreds of thousands and triggered the biggest rupture in Russia’s ties with the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. 

Russia controls about 18% of Ukrainian territory, including Crimea which it annexed in 2014 and a swathe of eastern and southern Ukraine which it took control of in 2022 when it first invaded.

For several months, Ukraine has been battling to try to regain some of that territory and has retaken some villages but not yet made significant territorial breakthroughs against heavily fortified Russian lines which are strewn with thousands of landmines.

Ukraine says it will not rest until every last Russian soldier is ejected from its land. The West says it wants to help Ukraine defeat Russia – an aim Kremlin officials say is an unrealistic pipedream.

Speaking on Tuesday, Putin said that Ukraine was only likely to start peace talks when it ran out of resources and would use any potential cessation of hostilities to rearm again with Western help.

During an appearance at an economic forum in Russia’s Pacific port city of Vladivostok, he said Ukraine’s counteroffensive against Russian forces had so far failed and that the Ukrainian army had sustained heavy losses.

‘I have the impression that they want to bite off as much as they can and then, when their resources are close to zero, to achieve a cessation of hostilities and start negotiations in order to replenish their resources and restore combat capability.’

Putin said many potential mediators had asked him if Russia was ready to stop fighting, but he said that Russia could hardly stop fighting when it was facing a Ukrainian counteroffensive.

For there to be any chance of talks, said Putin, Ukraine would first have to cancel its self-imposed legal ban on peace talks and explain what it wanted.

‘Then we shall see,’ Putin said.

He also said that the West’s decision to supply Ukraine with cluster bombs and depleted uranium munitions was a crime, but that while such supplies might prolong the war they would not change its ultimate outcome.

He also criticised the West’s decision to supply Ukraine with F-16 jets.

Asked if Russia needed to introduce a new compulsory mobilisation, Putin said that 1,000 – 1,500 Russians were signing voluntary contracts to join the military daily.

Over the past six or seven months, 270,000 people had signed voluntary contracts, Putin said – a figure slightly lower than the 280,000 that former president Dmitry Medvedev stated earlier this month. 

One of Putin‘s commanders used two military helicopters to transport his pet cat, according to a pilot who defected.

The animal was transported in a multimillion-pound helicopter, while the other aircraft covered for around an hour, the New Voice of Ukraine reported, citing an interview between Maksim Kuzminov, 28, a former Russian serviceman, and Ukrainian journalist Volodymyr Zolkin.

Kuzminov is set to be handed a £398,000 reward for defecting and Ukraine’s intelligence department said he is now urging others in Russia to follow in his footsteps.

When asked if there have been any irrational or illogical uses of pilots and aviation, Kuzminov said that there have been ‘numerous cases’.

He said: ‘Our commander needed to transport a cat, which had some impressive pedigree.

‘To do this, two Mi-8 and Mi-24 [helicopter] crews were assigned. So, two helicopters transported this wonderful animal, so to speak, from Rostov to Yeysk [air base] — the Mi-8 was flying the cat in, while the Mi-24 was circling to provide cover.’

Kuzminov said there were six military personnel on board and the flight took around an hour.

‘We burned a lot of fuel, resources; furthermore, the crews aren’t always allowed to rest,’ he said, adding that the Russian Air Force ‘lacks trained pilots’.

He said this was just one example of senior commanders in the Russian military who ‘live for their own pleasure’.

Kuzminov added that, in general, Russian troops are ‘left to their own devices’ and the commanders ‘never have time to deal with it — they have their own problems’.

On August 23, Kuzminov landed a Russian Mi-8 helicopter in Poltava Oblast, in central Ukraine, and handed it to the enemy.

Official sources later confirmed that this was the end point of an operation by Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence spanning six months. 

As well as the helicopter, the transfer also included spare parts for Su-30 and Su-27 fighter jets. 

Now Kuzminov insists that there are no Nazis in Ukraine, as Moscow has claimed, and he has accused Vladimir Putin of the ‘genocide’ of both Ukrainians and Russians in the war. 

Appearing on television in an interview on Sunday night, Kuzminov, who sported a black T-shirt with the Ukrainian trident on it, said: ‘The truth is, there are no Nazis or fascists [in Ukraine]. It’s a real disgrace what is happening here. Murder, tears, blood. People are simply killing each other. 

‘That’s all I can make of this and I don’t want to be a part of it. What is going on now is simply the genocide of the Ukrainian people. Both Ukrainian and Russian.’

He said he defected to take a stand against ‘genocide’ and called on others in the Russian military to do the same.

Kuzminov said it was his idea to switch sides, adding: ‘I got in touch with representatives of the Ukrainian military intelligence and explained my situation to them.

‘They offered me a deal to promise me safety, new documents and a reward.’

Two of Kuzminov’s fellow crew members did not know that he planned to fly into Ukraine and were ‘eliminated’ when the helicopter landed, said Kyrylo Budanov, 37, head of Ukrainian intelligence.

‘We would prefer [to take] them alive, but it is what it is.’

Speaking of the audacious flight, Kuzminov said he was flying near to the border with north-eastern Ukraine and got in touch with his handlers to suggest that it was the right moment to leave.

He said: ‘I flew on at the lowest possible altitude with radio silence. No one really knew where I was.’

He also noted that his commanders most likely took a few days to notice that he had fled.

Kuzminov served in the 319th separate helicopter regiment of military unit 13984 in the Primorsky region of eastern Russia.

He and his family are now in Ukraine, having been evacuated from Russia in advance.

‘We found an approach to this Russian pilot. We were able to quietly take out his entire family, and then created the conditions for the flight of the aircraft,’ Budanov said. 

‘Now the pilot feels great, he is doing well.’

A disagreement between Russian units in the occupied Zaporizhzhia region descended into a full-blown conflict in which at least 20 of Putin‘s troops died after shooting at each other with automatic weapons, it has been claimed.

Ukraine’s National Resistance Centre – an organisation that helps to coordinate the operations of pro-Ukrainian movements in occupied territory – reported that Russian fighters from Dagestan clashed with a unit of Chechen troops operating under orders from the head of the Republic of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov, a close Putin ally. 

A disagreement between the groups, who encountered each other in the Ukrainian town of Mykhailivka near Melitopol, led to some of the troops getting embroiled in a fist-fight. But the scrap quickly spiralled out of control.

One fighter was stabbed, at which point the violence immediately escalated and the troops drew their guns, blasting each other with automatic weapons and even grenades, according to NRC sources.

The conflict was sparked when troops from Dagestan – a poor, mountainous region of southern Russia disproportionately affected by the Russian army’s conscription drive late last year – took umbrage with the arrival of the ‘Kadyrovites’, who are particularly vocal on social media and were allegedly in town to film propaganda clips. 

Around 8pm local time, a fight broke out between the two groups. 

The NRC said: ‘During the quarrel, one of the occupants opened fire in the air from a small automatic weapon.

‘In the course of the fight, one of the occupiers was inflicted with numerous stab wounds which were fatal. 

‘This led to an open confrontation between units using under-barrel grenade launchers GP-25 Koster hand grenades and small automatic weapons.’

Some 20 Russian troops slaughtered each other in the impromptu war, with the Chechen crew ultimately being overpowered by the Dagestanis, according to the NRC.

More than 40 were allegedly wounded. 

The reports of Chechen units active in the Zaporizhzhia region corroborate the account of Britain’s Ministry of Defence whose intelligence update this week recognised Kadyrov’s praise of his troops’ work there.

‘In an online post on August 10, 2023, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov acknowledged the efforts of the Chechen Vostok Akhmat Battalion in the heavily contested Orikhiv sector in Zaporizhzhia Oblast. 

‘Kadyrov’s comments highlighted the continuing role of one of the premier Chechen units in this key area. Vostok officially comes under the command of the Southern Military District’s 42nd Motor Rifle Division which has been active around the village of Robotyne.

‘Chechen forces comprise a relatively small but high-profile component of Russian forces in Ukraine. Kadyrov likely heavily promotes his units’ roles partially to burnish his credentials as a Putin loyalist.’

The town of Orikhiv, where Kadyrov claims his troops were instrumental in fighting Ukrainian counterattacks, sits a mere 25 miles from Mykhailivka. 

The report of Russian troops turning on one another comes as pictures from the frontlines showed Ukrainian artillerymen raining fire down on Vladimir Putin‘s invaders amid Kyiv’s counter-offensive. 

The Ukrainian military said it had pushed Russian forces out of pockets of territory along the front lines in the east and south of the country, building on the gruelling counter-offensive launched two months ago.

The gains – announced by Ukraine’s deputy defence minister – came as Russia claimed its forces had progressed in the eastern Kharkiv region, undermining Kyiv’s highly anticipated campaign.

Ukraine kicked off its counter-offensive against Russian forces in June after building up assault battalions and stockpiling Western-donated weapons.

But progress has been hampered by widespread Russian-laid minefields and strong fortifications, Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said.

Nevertheless, the Ukrainian military had pushed forward around the village of Staromaiorske, around 60 miles southwest of Russian-held Donetsk, and was pressing on two fronts in the south, Maliar said. She said troops were fighting for control of the neighbouring settlement of Urozhaine.

A Moscow-installed official in an occupied part of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region said on Sunday that Kyiv was attempting to pierce Russian lines by gaining a foothold in both villages which stand in the path of Ukraine’s goal of reaching the Sea of Azov.

‘Hostilities are taking place in the vicinity of Urozhaine and the fight is for this particular locality,’ Maliar said in a statement to an official military platform. ‘There is some success on the southern and southeast axes in the vicinity of Staromaiorske.’

Maliar also said Kyiv’s army had conducted ‘certain tasks’ on the left bank (or eastern bank) of the Dnipro river in the Kherson region.

The river was rendered the de facto front line between Ukrainian and Russian forces in the region after Kyiv recaptured the territory’s main city, also called Kherson, in November.

In a recent intelligence update, the British defence ministry noted ‘an uptick in small-scale combat’ along the lower Dnipro river, where it said Ukrainian forces were attempting to conduct raids and set up new bridgeheads.

A Russian general who was keeper of secrets about Vladimir Putin‘s £1 billion Black Sea palace has died mysteriously in jail.

General Gennady Lopyrev, 69, suddenly became ill on Monday – gasping for breath – and was told by doctors he had previously undiagnosed leukaemia.

There are now suspicions he was poisoned just as he became eligible for parole.

The general was jailed for ten years in 2017 by a military court accused of bribe-taking and illegal possession of ammunition – charges he always denied.

Serving in the Federal Protection Service [FSO], he personally oversaw the construction of Putin’s gargantuan clifftop Gelendzhik Palace, a private residence allegedly built with state cash.

He was also responsible for the dictator’s official residence Bocharov Ruchei in Sochi.

Up to his jailing he had been one of Putin’s closest security aides, and was seen with the Russian president and then British premier Tony Blair in Moscow in 2002.

It comes as another Russian general, who led the invasion of Ukraine until he was purged by Putin, also met a suspiciously sudden end this week.

Having been healthy on Sunday when he spoke to his son Alexander, Gen Lopyrev suddenly became ill on Monday complaining of speaking and breathing difficulties, reported Telegram channel VChK-OGPU.

‘He could not breathe and had a hoarse voice,’ said the channel likening the symptoms to those of Putin foe Alexei Navalny who was poisoned with nerve agent Novichok.

Lopyrev was taken on Monday from penal colony number 3 in Ryazan region to two hospitals.

He told his son Alexander by phone: ‘I was taken to Skopin [hospital] first, and they found nothing conclusive.

‘Now they brought me to Ryazan regional hospital, and said I had leukaemia.’

The son said: ‘But isn’t leukaemia a cancer… Surely it couldn’t catch you in just two days?’

Speaking to media, Alexander said: ‘I also spoke to the chief of their medical unit, who said his heart check returned normal, and lungs were clear.

‘It is hard to say what exactly happened. We were getting ready to apply for his parole, because it was time [to apply]… And now this call [to say he had died].

‘It’s all very strange, and way too fast.’

His father was extremely fit and routinely practised gymnastics while in the penal colony, Alexander claimed. 

‘Everything was fine on Sunday,’ he said. ‘We had a chat via a payphone, there wasn’t a single complaint about his health.

‘His voice was energetic, he spoke about his usual sports like gymnastics and stretching. Every day he walked 15km [9 miles].

‘On Monday he called with his voice suddenly sounding hoarse. By evening on Monday… he called from [hospital in] Ryazan, saying he felt really unwell…he said he struggled to breathe.’

Viktor Boborykin, chairman of the Public Monitoring Commission for the region, said there was ‘nothing criminal’ in his death.

Navalny had earlier identified Gen Lopyrev as being responsible for Gelendzhik and knowing all the secrets of its funding.

Putin’s Black Sea palace includes a pole-dancing hookah boudoir, casino, and ‘aqua disco’.

It has a 16-storey underground complex which has been compared with the lair of a James Bond villain.

A mining engineer who worked on the construction it had indeed been built for the president and ‘there is a whole anthill in the rock under the house’ including a nuclear shelter.

The subterranean maze includes a cliff face loggia overlooking the sea and a vast wine cellar.

The death of Gen Lopyrev followed that of Col-Gen Gennady Zhidko, 58.

Zhidko briefly led the invasion of Ukraine as commander of the Southern Grouping of Forces before giving way to General Sergei ‘Armageddon’ Surovikin in October.

The 58-year-old also served as the Chief of Staff of the Russian Armed Forces in Syria in 2016, and in 2018 was appointed Commander of the Eastern Military District.

The high-ranking official – who was awarded the highest honorary title, the Hero of Russia, for his service in 2017 – later became deputy minister of defence in 2021.

Zhidko was ousted from his role in Ukraine in October 2022 – as commander of Putin’s ‘special military operation’ – after the failure to grab the city of Kharkiv.

He had been seen as in charge since April after taking over from ousted General Alexander Dvornikov, aka the ‘Butcher of Syria’.

The role led to Western sanctions against Zhidko.

Surovikin, who replaced him, was later demoted from the role by chief of the general staff Valery Gerasimov.

Surovikin remained his deputy but is believed to have been detained in June amid suspicion he knew of plans to stage a coup against Putin’s regime by Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin.

Little had been seen of Zhidko in recent months.

His death was confirmed by the loyalist governor of Khabarovsk region Mikhail Degtyarev, who expressed his condolences, but there was no official announcement.

The reports did not say where Zhidko died. He was seen as having one of the best military brains in Russia.

The deaths of Generals Lopyrev and Zhidko are just the latest in a long line of suspicious fatalities among the upper echelons of Russia’s military and business elite in recent months.

Major General Vladimir Makarov, 67, was in charge of ‘combating extremism’ in Russia and was found shot dead in February.

He reportedly led the hunting down and suppression of opponents of the Russian president, as well as journalists deemed hostile to the Kremlin.

Makarov also took action against young people who protested against Putin.

Putin issued a decree to fire him in January, though his reasons for doing so remain unclear.

Makarov’s wife Valentina was in a country house with her husband in Golikovo village near Moscow at 7am when she heard a gunshot, local reports said.

Some reports said a Berkut-2M hunting rifle was found nearby. Other accounts said a pistol was discovered.

His wife summoned a family member and called an ambulance but paramedics could not save Makarov, said reports, and he was pronounced dead.

The dead general’s family were being interrogated by the Russian Investigative Committee, reported Moskovsky Komsomolets, a Moscow-based daily newspaper.

The publication said that firearms were kept inside the house. 

Relatives said he ‘did not know what to do’ after Putin axed him.

VChK-OGPU Telegram channel cited a source saying Makarov had been in ‘deep depression’ following his ousting.

He had been deputy head of the Interior Ministry’s Main Directorate for Combating Extremism, which was also responsible for countering terrorism.

From December 24 to 26, there was a string of four particularly mysterious deaths. 

On December 26, Pavel Antonov – the richest deputy of the Russian Duma (parliament) and a Putin critic – died in India falling out of a hotel window.

His companion Vladimir Bidenov was found dead in the same hotel four days earlier.

Aleksey Maslov, 69, the former chief of Russian Ground Forces, died in hospital on 25 December while Aleksandr Buzakov – head of Russia’s ‘admiralty shipyards’ for a decade – died on December 24.

Last July, retired Major General of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation Yevgeny Lobachev, 76, was found dead in Moscow. His death was also ruled as suicide.

Other recent deaths have included the editor of a popular Russian propaganda magazine, the vice-president of Gazprombank and a senior Gazprom official.

One man burned alive after falling asleep with a lit cigarette in Moscow, another fell from a balcony, and another fell down a flight of stairs.

Suspicious deaths of notable Russians have not been confined to Russia’s borders, either. In April, Sergey Protosenya – Former Deputy Chairman of Novatek – was found hanged from a handrail. His wife and daughter were found killed with stab wounds.

Businessman Mikhail Watford was found dead at his home in Surrey, England, while another – Vladimir Bidenov – died in France after hitting his head on a railing.

The moment a Ukrainian experimental kamikaze drone hit Vladimir Putin‘s £3 billion bridge linking Russia to Crimea and triggered a huge explosion has been revealed for the first time.

Ukrainian secret service agency SBU today shared a video of the audacious attack by the ‘Sea Baby’ drone which saw huge explosions rip through the 12-mile crossing last month. 

The footage, seen by CNN, shows the naval kamikaze drone armed with up to 850kg of explosives sailing towards the bridge under the cover of darkness before it smashed into the crossing, sending debris flying through the air.

Separate footage footage released by the SBU and Ukrainian sources showed the scale of the explosion from other angles as the strike hit the crossing which has separate road and rail links.

It marks the first time the SBU has openly claimed responsibility for the attack that was conducted by the Ukrainian navy. 

The new footage appears to show that Russian defences failed to detect two drones, reported Agenstvo.

One is seen approaching the road crossing, and a second apparently exploded on the rail section as a train was crossing. There is known to be less damage to the rail part of the bridge.

The new ‘Sea Baby’ drone has been in development for months and SBU chief Vasyl Maliuk warned Moscow of more attacks to come. Ukraine today released footage of the naval drone for the first time.

The deadly unmanned boat was loaded with up to 850kg of explosives when it detonated.

The Ukrainian-designed marine drone – reportedly constructed without Western help – was also used to strike two Russian vessels – the assault ship Olengorskiy Gornyak and tanker SIG, putting both out of commission.

‘We are working on a number of new interesting operations, including in the Black Sea waters. I promise you, it’ll be exciting, especially for our enemies,’ Maliuk told CNN.

‘Sea surface drones are a unique invention of the Security Service of Ukraine.’

He explained: ‘Using these drones we have recently conducted a successful hit of the Crimean bridge, the big assault ship Olengorskiy Gornyak and SIG tanker.’

Both of these vessels were struck in a drone attack this month, causing major gashes in their sides and are now out of commission.

A couple were killed and their 14-year-old daughter was seriously injured following the blasts on the Crimean bridge, which is a major supply line for Russian troops fighting in Ukraine and a prestige project that was personally opened by Putin. 

A section of the crossing was destroyed in the double strike, with pictures showing twisted metal barriers, debris and a damaged car in a major blow to Moscow’s war effort.

Drivers were seen in dash cam footage braking sharply after the explosions destroyed parts of the crossing and sent debris flying towards them.  

Speaking of the attack on the bridge, Maliuk said: ‘At the final stage of the preparation we could not even think about sleep or food… We were fully concentrated on the operation.

‘The final last days were quite nervous. When the explosion happened, we were so happy and started congratulating one another.

‘This was a very emotional moment for all of us and our victory, which will definitely come soon.’

Maliuk insisted that Ukraine’s Western partners are not involved in Kyiv’s attacks on the Russian-built bridge opened by Putin in 2018, or warships. 

It comes after the Kremlin blamed Britain and the US for orchestrating the drone strike on the bridge – without providing any evidence to support their outlandish claims.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova also accused Ukraine of carrying out the attack with the involvement of Britain and the US. 

Maliuk said the bridge linking Russia to Crimea was a ‘legitimate’ target for Ukraine. 

The SBU chief also claimed responsibility for an earlier strike on the bridge on 8 October last year involving a truck, but declined to give details.

The strike on the Crimean bridge left Russian politicians furious, with former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev saying Putin should ‘blow up’ the homes of Ukrainians in response to the drone strike.

A ranting Medvedev said at the time: ‘The world and our own experience shows that it is impossible to fight terrorists with international sanctions, intimidation or exhortations.

‘They only understand the language of power. Only personal and completely inhumane methods.

‘Therefore, it is necessary to blow up their own houses and the houses of their relatives.

‘Look for and eliminate their accomplices, abandoning the insipid idea of a trial against them.

‘But the main thing is to destroy the top leadership of terrorist formations, in whatever cracks these insects hide. It’s difficult but possible.’

Pundits on Russian state TV have been pushing American regime change amid Democratic President Joe Biden‘s support for Ukraine, talking up a 2024 ticket consisting of former President Donald Trump and ex-Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard.   

The Daily Beast reported Monday that state TV host Evgeny Popov recently declared the time had come to ‘again help our partner Trump to become president.’ 

Another pundit, Russian ‘Americanist’ Malek Dudakov, suggested Trump should be invited to the coastal Ukrainian city of Mariupol – once Russia wins that territory. 

‘The most banal approach I can think of is to invite Trump – before he announces he’s running for president – to some future summit in liberated Mariupol,’ Dudakov floated Thursday night. 

Dmitry Drobnitsky, another ‘Americanist’ on the panel, took it a step further, suggesting former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard get an invitation alongside Trump.

‘Tulsi Gabbard would also be great. Maybe Trump will take her as vice president?’ Drobnitsky mused, according to The Daily Beast. 

Gabbard, who made waves during the 2016 race to back democratic socialist candidate, Sen. Bernie Sanders, in the Democratic primary over the more mainstream Hillary Clinton, more recently has embraced the American political right.   

She gave a keynote speech in February at the Conservative Political Action Conference. 

The Beast reported that she recently has become a fixture on Russian state TV, and referred to as a ‘Russian agent’ by the Kremlin’s propoganda machine. 

Clinton, a former U.S. secretary of State, suggested in 2019 that the Russians were ‘grooming’ Gabbard. 

Gabbard later sued the former Democratic nominee for defamation.   

Trump denied any coordination between his 2016 campaign and Russia – what Special Counsel Robert Mueller was investigating in the Russia probe – but made complimentary remarks about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s strategy in the run-up to the war. 

Dudakov also suggested that Russia’s interference in upcoming U.S. elections was in its early stages, but more will be accomplished after the invasion of Ukraine is over. 

‘When things thaw out and the presidential race for 2024 is firmly on the agenda, there’ll be moments we can use,’ he said.  

He spoke of Russia trying to make the U.S. even more polarized.   

‘With Europe, economic wars should take priority. With America, we should be working to amplify the divisions and – in light of our limited abilities – to deepen the polarization of American society,’ Dudakov said. 

‘There is a horrific polarization of society in the United States, very serious conflicts between the Democrats and Republicans that keep expanding,’ he noted. You’ve already mentioned that America is a dying empire – and most empires weren’t conquered, they were destroyed from within.’ 

‘The same fate likely awaits America in the near decade,’ Dudakov. ‘That’s why, when all the processes are thawed, Russia might get the chance to play on that.’

The conversation on Russia state TV is happening as U.S. intelligence officials are warning that Putin may use Biden’s support for Ukraine to meddle in future elections. 

The Associated Press reported Saturday intelligence agencies have yet to find evidence of Putin ordering election meddling – like he did in 2016 and 2020 to assist Trump – but he may see the U.S.’s backing of Ukraine as a reason to do so. 

Vladimir Putin has been consolidating support in Russia following last week’s failed Wagner rebellion with a rare meet-and-greet that saw him cheered by a crowd as he posed for selfies with young girls.

Footage from last night’s event – a presidential appearance during a trip to the city of Derbent in the Dagestan region of southern Russia – showed how he dived into a nighttime crowd like a Hollywood actor at a red carpet show.  

Seemingly imbued with fresh energy after averting a small scale civil war last week, the normally stoic and isolated Putin was uncharacteristically personable, shaking hands and planting kisses on the head of a young teenage girl who gushed over him and pleaded with her mother to snap a photo of her with the president.

In another bizarre moment he shakes hands with – and appears to adjust something on the uniform of – an officer carrying what may be his nuclear briefcase.

He has not greeted his security apparatchiks in such a way previously.

The scene was markedly different to the extreme measures of the last few years which have enforced strict quarantines for anyone outside of Putin’s close circle before meeting with him.

His transformative behaviour – described as ‘astounding’ by the Kremlin on Thursday – has led many, including senior Russian figures, to fuel speculation that the Putin greeting adoring fans in Dagestan was in fact a body double.

Moscow has insisted that Putin’s long rule has not been weakened after Wagner mercenaries marched hundreds of miles – almost reaching Moscow – and captured military facilities in southern Russia, appearing to gain some support. 

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said of Putin’s visit: ‘In Derbent, there was an astounding demonstration of support and happiness of the local population.’

He said Putin ‘could not refuse’ greeting the crowd.

It comes as a recent picture of Putin with Chechen republic head Ramzan Kadyrov showed the president appearing bloated with mottled skin.

Putin is rarely seen meeting ordinary Russians, especially since the Covid pandemic, which saw him observe strict isolation rules, some of which are still in place. 

For this reason, many eyebrows were raised about the public appearances.

A longtime Moscow diplomat said today: ‘It is getting impossible to believe that there is only one Putin.

‘There are several – very good lookalikes, yet they behave somewhat differently.

‘This one diving into the crowd in Dagestan behaves differently to the traditional Putin.’

Commentator Viktor Alksnis, a Soviet military tactician and politician who is now a Western-based analyst known as the Black Colonel, said: ‘Why is Putin meeting with visitors in the Kremlin after their two-week quarantine and at a great distance, while in Derbent is calmly into the crowd and even hugs and kisses some citizens?

‘How can the physical security of the president be ensured under such conditions?

‘Something is not right here. It looks like a theatrical production in which Putin is not really Putin.’

And pro-war Russian nationalist and former FSB colonel Igor ‘Strelkov’ Girkin declared for certain that it was a Putin double in Dagestan some 1,250 miles south of Moscow.

‘A person vaguely resembling the president – and not at all requiring compliance with the two-week quarantine necessary to get an appointment with [Putin] – was walking around Derbent,’ he said.

Another explanation may be that Putin flew to the remote region in the Caucasus to visit a city where a presidential tour is a major occasion and the crowd would be highly enthusiastic.

His former speechwriter Abbas Gallyamov said: ‘Putin needs a picture surrounded by people so much now that for this he even forgot about Covid, quarantine and social distance….

‘Apparently, it was impossible to provide an enthusiastic reception in Moscow or any other Russian region, so he had to fly to [Dagestan].

‘Here….it is easier to organise an enthusiastic crowd.’

Independent news outlet Agentstvo said it was the first time since before the pandemic that Putin had been seen in such a crowd.

‘For the first time since March 2020, the president did not keep his distance and even kissed the child,’ said the outlet’s Telegram channel.

‘At the same time, two weeks ago, all the guests who met with him continued to strictly observe quarantine.’

Kirill Martynov, editor of independent Novaya Gazeta Europe, said: ‘This is all very strange.

‘The place of meeting is strange, as is Putin hugging people all of a sudden. He normally doesn’t do that. Where is the [long] table? It’s a riddle.

‘I really don’t like stupid conspiracy theories but the feeling that there are two Putins is growing.

‘It might be the same person, but different behaviour models. One sits in quarantine, one can be hugged in Derbent.’

Malyuta Skuratov Telegram channel reported: ‘It is much easier to believe that this is a double than that Putin dared to approach a crowd of people who apparently were not in quarantine.’

Yet it was also possible that the entire rent-a-crowd had been quarantined ahead of his visit.

Telegram channel General SVR – which claims almost all recent Putin appearances have been by body doubles due to him suffering from cancer and other health problems – said: ‘The doppelgänger hugged and kissed with absolutely unfamiliar old women and young ladies, including, apparently, minors, and the number of handshakes of the president’s double with strangers exceeded all reasonable limits…

‘In general, the show was a success, ”Putin” in Derbent was greeted more emotionally than Kim Jong-un.’

The channel claims that actors have undergone plastic surgery to resemble Putin and are being deployed when to meet crowds of people or when the president is incapacitated.

While Putin – or his double – makes the rounds in Russia, across the border in Ukraine his forces are suffering from counterattacks.

Kyiv said on Thursday that its forces were making slow gains around Bakhmut and were engaging in ‘fierce’ fighting with Russian forces around the embattled east Ukraine town.

‘We have advances near Bakhmut and are continuing. We are moving,’ the commander of Ukraine’s ground forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, said in a post on social media.

Russian forces, aided by fighters from the Wagner mercenary group, announced their capture of Bakhmut in May after months of gruelling warfare for the now-destroyed town that once was home to some 80,000 people.

Ukrainian forces have since been posting painstaking grains around the flanks of the city after announcing a highly-anticipated counter-offensive earlier this month.

Deputy defence minister Ganna Malyar separately said on Thursday that Ukrainian forces had seized the ‘operational advantage’ around Bakhmut and were on the offensive.

‘Our troops are gnawing away at every meter of the enemy’s land in this fierce battle,’ she said in a statement, adding: ‘They are making progress’.

‘The enemy is trying to hold their positions, conducting counter-attacks but is gradually retreating after suffering losses’.

The Russian defence ministry has not recently conceded any lost ground around Bakhmut and said in its latest military briefing that it was repelling Ukrainian attacks in the eastern Donetsk region.

The complete capture of the industrial territory is now Moscow’s main military goal in the invasion launched last February. The Kremlin has claimed Donetsk and three other Ukrainian regions are part of Russia.

Moscow said last week that Ukrainian forces were taking advantage of an aborted uprising by Wagner forces inside Russia to prepare attacks around Bakhmut.

A shocking video has shown Russian barrier troops appearing to shoot their fellow soldiers as they attempt to flee the field of battle, Ukrainian sources have claimed.

Captured by a Ukrainian drone and posted to online messaging platform Telegram, the footage shows three Russian soldiers aiming weapons in the direction of at least seven comrades, and seemingly firing off rounds.

The brutal clip emerged as Ukraine stepped up its counter-offensive, with Kyiv’s forces claiming they have liberated at least four front-line villages – amid reports that Russian troops are being killed fleeing through their own minefields.

There have also been reports of Russian troops retreating as Ukraine breaks through Moscow’s defensive lines, with a number of other videos posted online appearing to show dozens of soldiers running across fields as they abandon their positions.

The latest clip was first posted to a channel called ‘Look for Your Own’, a project created with the backing of Ukraine’s Ministry of Internal Affairs to share photos of Russian invaders captured or killed in Ukraine, to help their relatives identify them.

The 14-second video shows the three armed Russian soldiers appearing out of a treeline and confronting the retreating troops who are running towards them across an area of open ground, marked by vehicle tracks.

The fleeing soldiers appear exhausted, barely able to stand as it is. Some can be seen dropping their helmets to the ground as they see the trio appear.

It’s possible they were relieved to see fellow Russian troops, but that is not clear.

Quickly, however, the scene changes. The three Russian barrier troops push two of the fleeing soldiers back, and fire their rifles in the air as a warning.

Some of the fleeing soldiers drop to the ground and begin to crawl the other way.

But as they do so, the barrier troops appear to open fire. 

The flash of a muzzle is seen about nine seconds into the clip, and two of the soldiers fall to the ground. They are not seen moving again in the footage.

One of the three barrier troops moves over to where the other soldiers were. 

While it is not clear from the footage whether he opens fire, the soldier is seen aiming a rifle in their direction, and more of the fleeing troops stop moving.

As the clip ends, the three Russians are seen moving between the prone bodies on the floor, seemingly checking for any sign of life.

It was not clear from the footage whether the fleeing troops were killed, injured or just told to lie prone on the ground.

MailOnline was not able to verify the authenticity of the footage, with the Telegram channel only saying a ‘barrier unit’ had shot Russian military personnel.

Ukrainian Independent Information Agency (UNIAN) said on Monday that it had confirmed the authenticity of the video, the Kyiv Post reported.

Barrier troops are units tasked with preventing soldiers running away from the field of battle, using lethal forces if necessary.

According to the Kyiv Post, such troops have been deployed by Russia to Ukraine for months, as Moscow desperately tried to make advances.

In November, Britain’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) reported that Russia had ‘probably started deploying ‘barrier troops’ or ‘blocking units’ in Ukraine.

It said this was ‘due to low morale and reluctance to fight’.

‘These units threaten to shoot their own retreating soldiers in order to compel offensives and have been used in previous conflicts by Russian forces,’ the MoD added in its intelligence update at the time.

‘The tactic of shooting deserters likely attests to the low quality, low morale and indiscipline of Russian forces,’ the update added.

Such reports also emerged from the Kremlin’s months-long assault on the eastern city of Bakhmut, which saw the Wagner mercenary group employ ‘human wave’ tactics in an attempt to overwhelm the city’s defences.

This resulted in tens of thousands of deaths.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of Wagner, publicly threatened to execute deserters. 

At least two Wagner deserters, who joined the Ukrainian side but were later captured by Moscow’s armies, were executed with a sledgehammer to the head.

It is likely the shocking ‘barrier troop’ practice will become even more commonplace as Kyiv’s counter-offensive continues, and Russia works to defend its positions.

There have been frequent reports about Russian soldiers suffering from poor morale as Ukraine inflicts heavy losses on Vladimir Putin’s armies.

Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin used ‘barrier troops’ in the Second World War as part of his ‘No One Turn Back’ order. 

While Ukraine’s troops are fighting to protect their homeland, Russians are battling on foreign soil in an invasion that many thought would be over in a matter of days.

According to Ukraine, Russia has suffered more than 200,000 casualties since Putin ordered the invasion on February 24, 2022 – a high attrition rate for what many only recently considered to be the second most powerful military in the world.

Jason Jay Smart, a political adviser on post-Soviet and international politics, told Newsweek that ‘Russians shooting their own troops has a long tradition in Russian military history, and it has been commonplace throughout this war’.

He said the incident captured by the drone footage, which he said shows ‘a total lack of concern or interest in preserving human life’, is the epitome of ‘how the Russian military thinks and behaves’.

Meanwhile, at least ten people have been killed and dozens wounded after missiles hit civilian buildings in an overnight attack in the central city of Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine, a regional governor said on Tuesday.

Serhiy Lysak, of the Dnipropetrovsk region, said the strike involving cruise missiles hit a five-storey residential building and the area was engulfed in fire.

Kryvyi Rih mayor Oleksandr Vilkul said that one person is still believed to be trapped under the rubble and 28 others were wounded.

The devastation in president Volodymyr Zelensky’s home town is the latest bloodshed in Russia’s war in Ukraine, now in its 16th month.

Meanwhile, the head of Ukraine’s ground troops said the country’s forces were ‘moving forward’ outside the city of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region.

Oleksandr Syrskyi wrote on Telegram that Russian forces are ‘losing positions on the flanks’ while Ukrainian troops were conducting ‘defensive’ operations in the area.

For weeks, Ukrainian officials have been reporting small gains west of Bakhmut, which was largely devastated in the war’s longest and bloodiest battle before Moscow’s forces took control last month.

Over the last day in Ukrainian-held areas of Donetsk, nearly a dozen frontline towns and villages came under increased shelling as Ukrainian troops pushed forward, Mr Zelensky’s office said.

Also on Tuesday, the Russian Defence Ministry published a video showing what it said was a German-made Leopard 2 tank and US-made Bradley fighting vehicle captured from Ukrainian forces.

According to the ministry, the video was shot by Russian soldiers after fierce fighting in the southern Zaporizhzhia, and a soldier is seen pointing at the immobilised vehicles. It wasn’t immediately possible to verify the video’s authenticity.

Like the Bakhmut area, battle zones in Zaporizhzhia are one of several places along the roughly 1,000-kilometre front line where Ukrainian forces have been intensifying their counter-offensive operations.

Vladimir Rogov, an official with the Moscow-appointed administration for parts of Zaporizhzhia that Russia controls, alleged that the Ukrainian counter-offensive had failed, and told state news agency RIA-Novosti that Ukrainian forces ‘continue to suffer colossal losses when they make new attempts to advance’.

He did not elaborate, and his claims could not be immediately verified.