Russian soldiers call the practice a sacrifice to Baba Yaga, a fearsome witch from Slavic folklore who feasts on her victims.

Former Finnish President Sauli Niininsto has met Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump. DW spoke to him about diplomacy to end the Russian war against Ukraine, NATO and the 50th anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act.

The Kremlin has been in a state of high alert for some time, and President Putin has been eager to reassert Russia's nuclear threat to the West.

Russian heavy metal and goth music fans in Russia could face prison after Vladimir Putin banned "satanists". The Kremlin's top court has outlawed the "international satanism movement" as an extremist and terrorist group - despite no such group existing.

On July 22, U.S. and Canadian jets under NORAD command intercepted a formation of two Russian Tu-95 nuclear-capable bombers and two Su-35 fighters after they entered the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone.

Ukrainian drones targeted St. Petersburg on Sunday, Russian authorities said, forcing the airport to close for five hours as Vladimir Putin marked Russia’s Navy Day in the city, despite the earlier cancellation of its naval parade due to security concerns.

Lithuania, a tiny Nato nation of just two million people on Russia's doorstep, is said to be drawing up war plans for a possible invasion from Mad Vladimir Putin's forces

Austria's Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger said in an interview with Die Welt that Trump was ready to "hand over" Crimea and parts of eastern Ukraine to Russian President Vladimir Putin. But Putin chose to keep fighting.