Russia

A week after the nerve agent attack on a former Russian spy in Salisbury, hundreds of people who went to the city’s Zizzi restaurant or the Mill pub have been told to wash their clothes and possessions. The risk is very low, but some members of the public want to know why the advice wasn’t issued earlier.

The Home Secretary has given more details about the investigation into the attempted murder of Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter – revealing that police are looking at more than 240 pieces of evidence. Following an emergency Cobra meeting on the suspected nerve agent attack in Salisbury, Amber Rudd said over 200 witnesses have been identified.

Last year was one of the safest in aviation history. This year is already looking less promising. Today 71 people are feared dead after a plane crash in Russia.  The plane from Saratov Airlines disappeared shortly after taking off from an airport in Moscow and reportedly came down near the town of Argunovo about 50…

Andrey Zvyagintsev is a household name in Russia. One of the country’s most acclaimed film directors his portrayals of life in Putin’s Russia are unflinching, unremitting and unforgettable. No wonder the authorities have fallen out of love with him. They refused to help fund his latest film Loveless about a divorced couple in a bleak…

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been arrested after his supporters staged demonstrations against the forthcoming presidential election. In chaotic scenes which were caught on camera, he was bundled into a police van. Earlier police used an angle-grinder to break into his online TV channel and make arrests. Navalny is barred from standing in the…

Russia has been banned from competing at next year’s Winter Olympics in South Korea. But its athletes who can prove they are clean will be allowed to take part in the Games as neutrals. The International Olympic Committee decision, made in the last hour, followed claims that Russian officials ran a covert doping operation for…

Jim Walden, Grigory Rodchenkov’s lawyer, responds to accusations from the Russian state that the doping scandal was in fact all Dr Rodchenkov’s doing.

Donald Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn has admitted lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russian officials during the transition. Earlier, I spoke to Masha Gessen, journalist and long-time critic of Vladimir Putin, who has written a book called The Future is History, which argues that totalitarianism has reclaimed Russia. I started…

Now stop me if this sounds familiar: a rich, reality television star is running for president – underestimated by the powers that be. This, though, is the celebrity journalist and socialite Ksenia Sobchak – who’s running for the Russian presidency against Vladimir Putin. The 36 year old hails from a well known political dynasty –…

London’s Saatchi Gallery has been transformed into a Russian-style prison through immersive theatre. Political artist and Pussy Riot founder Nadya Tolokonnikova devised the show, she spent two years in a Russian jail after her group’s anti-Putin protests, and is now fighting for prison reform. Before he worked on this programme Channel 4 News’ Kieron Bryan…

Welcome to Hamburg, where after all the anticipation, all the intrigue, all the build-up, Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin have finally held their first face-to-face talks, their encounter lasting more than two hours. They emerged with news of a ceasefire deal for Syria.

The Russian president enjoys approval ratings Western leaders can only dream of, even as they dismiss him as an isolationist and authoritarian leader. What is the secret of Putin’s appeal?

In Syria, tensions have once again escalated after American forces brought down a Syrian government jet near the contested city of Raqqa. Moscow, which backs the Assad regime, has retaliated by suspending an agreement with Washington, aimed at avoiding clashes and says it will in future regard US planes as potential targets.

Why IS the weather so bad? Please can you fill in the potholes? What about that problem with Turkish tomatoes? Why haven’t you got married again? Did you really mess with the American election? Yes – today was the annual Putin phone-in, as the Russian President fielded questions from a nation getting everything, or ALMOST…