EMMA BURROWS

FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, listens to Sergey Mironov, 70, the leader of political party A Just Russia in Moscow, Russia, on Feb. 14, 2023. A Russian lawmaker and staunch supporter of President Vladimir Putin, Mironov has denied media allegations that he adopted a 2-year-old girl who was seized from a Ukrainian children's home and changed her name in Russia. (Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)

Russian lawmaker disputes report saying he adopted a child taken from a Ukrainian children’s home

A Russian lawmaker and staunch supporter of President Vladimir Putin has denied media allegations that he adopted a 2-year-old girl who was seized from a Ukrainian children’s home and changed her name.

In this photo released by The State Duma, Russian lawmakers attend a session at the State Duma, the Lower House of the Russian Parliament in Moscow, Russia, on Friday, Nov. 17, 2023. The lower house of Russia's parliament, the State Duma, has passed a record federal budget which aims to increase spending by around 25% in 2024, with record amounts going to defense. (The State Duma, the Lower House of the Russian Parliament via AP)

Russian lawmakers approve a budget with a record amount devoted to defense spending

The lower house of Russia’s parliament has approved a federal budget Friday that increases spending by around 25% in 2024 and devotes a record amount to defense.

Russian soldier back from Ukraine taught a school lesson and then beat up neighbors, officials say

A Russian soldier recently returned from fighting in Ukraine went to teach schoolchildren about Russia’s military campaign there before later beating up his neighbors, Russian news outlet Ostorozhno Novosti reported on its Telegram channel.

In this photo released by The State Duma, speaker of the State Duma, the Lower House of the Russian Parliament Vyacheslav Volodin, right, arrives to attend a session at the State Duma, in Moscow, Russia, on Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023. Russia's State Duma passed a record federal budget in its second reading which aims to increase spending by around 25% in 2024, with record amounts going on defense. (The State Duma, the Lower House of the Russian Parliament via AP)

A record Russian budget will boost defense spending, shoring up Putin’s support ahead of election

Russia’s State Duma passed a record federal budget in its second reading which aims to increase spending by around 25% in 2024, with record amounts going on defense.

FILE - Sergei Khadzhikurbanov, accused of the murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya, awaits the judge's verdict in a glass cage, at the Moscow City Court, Russia, Wednesday, May 21, 2014. A lawyer for Khadzhikurbanov said Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2023, that he received a presidential pardon after doing a stint fighting in Ukraine. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin, File)

A man convicted in the 2006 killing of a Russian journalist wins a pardon after serving in Ukraine

A lawyer for a man convicted in the 2006 killing of Russian investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya received a presidential pardon after a stint fighting in Ukraine.

FILE - A soldier stands guard next to a wall of a prison in Olenivka, in an area controlled by Russian-backed separatist forces, eastern Ukraine, July 29, 2022. A Russian news agency is reporting that the country is preparing to send a battalion of Ukrainian prisoners of war to the front lines in their homeland to fight on Moscow's side in the war. The Associated Press could not immediately confirm the authenticity of the report or if the POWs were coerced. (AP Photo, File)

Russia reportedly is using Ukrainian POWs to fight in their homeland on Moscow’s side

A Russian news agency is reporting that the country is preparing to send a battalion of Ukrainian prisoners of war to the front lines in their homeland to fight on Moscow’s side in the war.

In this photo released by the Khabarovsky Krai region government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, looks at a military jet cockpit while visiting a Russian aircraft plant that builds fighter jets in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, about 6,200 kilometers (3,900 miles) east of Moscow, Russia, Friday, Sept. 15, 2023. (Khabarovsky Krai region government via AP)

North Korea’s Kim gets a close look at Russian fighter jets as his tour narrows its focus to weapons

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspected Russia’s most advanced fighter jet at an aircraft factory on his extended visit to the country.

FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, dances with then Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl as he attends the wedding of Kneissl with Austrian businessman Wolfgang Meilinger in Gamlitz, southern Austria, Saturday, Aug. 18, 2018. Kneissl has announced on Telegram on Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023, she has moved to Russia to work for a think tank she has set up in St. Petersburg. (Alexei Druzhinin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)

She danced with Putin at her wedding. Now the former Austrian foreign minister has moved to Russia

A former Austrian foreign minister who had invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to her wedding and danced a waltz with him at the 2018 reception says she has moved to St.

FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin, foreground right, attends the launch ceremony for the first technological line for liquefying natural gas on gravity bases as part of the Arctic LNG2 (Liquefied Natural Gas) project at the Center for the construction of large-tonnage offshore structures (CSCMS) of Novatek-Murmansk company in the village of Belokamenka, about 1700 km (1063 miles) north of Moscow, Murmansk region, Russia, Thursday, July 20, 2023. The U.S. is sanctioning a newly established UAE company, which provides engineering and technology that Western corporations previously offered, to Russia’s Arctic liquefied natural gas project, as well as multiple Russian companies involved in its development. (Alexander Kazakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)

New US sanctions target workarounds that let Russia get Western tech for war

The United States is sanctioning more than 150 businesses and individuals as it tries to crack down on evasion and deny Russia access to technology, money and financial channels that fuel Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

The special train of North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un is seen at the railway station upon his arrival by in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, about 6200 kilometers (3,900 miles) east of Moscow, in the Russian Far Eastern Amur region, on Friday, Sept. 15, 2023. (AP Photo)

Kim Jong Un arrives in Russian city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur for expected visit to fighter jet plant

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has arrived in Komsomolsk-on-Amur in far eastern Russia where he is expected to tour a Russian aircraft plant that builds fighter jets.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un, seen center left, examine a launch pad of Soyuz rockets during their meeting at the Vostochny cosmodrome outside the city of Tsiolkovsky, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) from the city of Blagoveshchensk in the far eastern Amur region, Russia, on Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023. (Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Kim Jong Un’s trip to Russia provides window into unique North Korean and Russian media coverage

The world is largely relying on North Korean and Russian media for information about the meeting between the nations’ leaders Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin at a space facility in Russia’s Far East.

Website of the Russian newspaper Kommersant and TV channel Rossiya 1 showing news that Wagner Group mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin had reportedly been killed in a plane crash are displayed on phone and computer screens in St. Petersburg, Russia, Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023. World media speculates on Prigozhin's presumed death, as Russian state media shies away. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)

While world media speculates on Wagner chief’s presumed death, Russian state media shies away

News that Russia’s Wagner mercenary chief was believed dead in a plane crash has dominated world reports, along with speculation that it might be linked to his June mutiny.

A portrait of the owner of private military company Wagner Group Yevgeny Prigozhin lays at an informal memorial next to the former 'PMC Wagner Centre' in St. Petersburg, Russia, Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023. Russia's civil aviation agency says mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin was aboard a plane that crashed north of Moscow. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)

US intelligence says an intentional explosion brought down Wagner chief Prigozhin’s plane

A preliminary U.S. intelligence assessment concluded that an intentional explosion caused the plane crash presumed to have killed a Russian mercenary leader.

In this image taken from video released by Razgruzka_Vagnera telegram channel on Monday, Aug. 21, 2023, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the owner of the Wagner Group military company speaks to a camera at an unknown location. (Razgruzka_Vagnera telegram channel via AP)

Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin said to be recruiting Wagner ‘strongmen’ for Africa

Posts on Russian social media channels indicate that Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin has published his first recruitment video for the Wagner Group since organizing a short-lived mutiny against defense officials in Russia.

This photo released by the Roscosmos State Space Corporation on Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023, shows an image of the lunar south pole region on the far side of the moon captured by Russia's Luna-25 spacecraft before its failed attempt to land. Russia's Roscosmos state corporation said Sunday that the Luna-25 crashed into the moon after it spun into an uncontrolled orbit. The authorities have opened an inquiry into the possible cause. (Centre for Operation of Space Ground-Based Infrastructure-Roscosmos State Space Corporation via AP)

Russian space agency chief blames decades of inactivity for Luna-25 lander’s crash on the moon

The head of Russia’s space agency says the Luna-25 spacecraft crashed into the moon after its engines failed to shut down correctly.

A man walks past a currency exchange office in Moscow, Russia, Monday, Aug. 14, 2023. Russia’s central bank made a big interest rate hike of 3.5 percentage points on Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2023, an emergency move designed to fight inflation and strengthen the ruble after the country's currency reached its lowest value since early in the war with Ukraine. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

Russia’s ruble hits its lowest level since early in the war. The central bank plans to step in

The Russian ruble has reached its lowest value since the early weeks of the war in Ukraine as Moscow increases military spending and Western sanctions weigh on its energy exports.

In this photo taken from video and released by Roscosmos State Space Corporation, the Soyuz-2.1b rocket with the moon lander Luna-25 automatic station takes off from a launch pad at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Russia's Far East, on Friday, Aug. 11, 2023. The launch of the Luna-25 craft to the moon will be Russia's first since 1976 when it was part of the Soviet Union. The Russian lunar lander is expected to reach the moon on Aug. 23, about the same day as an Indian craft which was launched on July 14. (Roscosmos State Space Corporation via AP)

Russia is back on the lunar path. A rocket blasts off on its first moon mission in nearly 50 years

A rocket carrying a lunar landing craft has blasted off on Russia’s first moon mission in nearly 50 years, racing to land on Earth’s satellite ahead of an Indian spacecraft.

Ukrainian soldiers fire a self-propelled howitzer towards Russian positions at the front line in Donetsk region, Ukraine, Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2023. (AP Photo/Libkos)

Russia’s military push on the eastern front prompts Ukraine to evacuate thousands of civilians

Ukrainian authorities have ordered a mandatory evacuation of nearly 12,000 civilians from 37 towns and villages in the Kupiansk district of Ukraine’s eastern Kharkiv region.

In this photo provided by the Zaporizhzhia administration Press Office, rescuers work on the scene of a building damaged after Russian missile strikes in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2023. (Zaporizhzhia administration Press Office via AP)

2 dead in a Russian attack on a Ukrainian city while a blast near Moscow kills 1 and wounds dozens

Ukrainian officials say a Russian rocket attack has killed two people and wounded at least seven others in Zaporizhzhia.

This satellite photo from Planet Labs PBC appears to show the damaged Russian landing vessel Olenegorsky Gornyak leaking oil while docked at Novorossiysk, Russia, Friday, Aug. 4, 2023. Ukraine said its sea drones struck a major Russian port Friday and damaged the warship in an attack that underlined Kyiv's growing capabilities as the Black Sea becomes an increasingly important battleground in the war. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)

Ukraine says its drones damaged a Russian warship, showing Kyiv’s growing naval capabilities

Ukraine says its sea drones have struck a major Russian port and damaged a warship. The attack underlined Kyiv’s growing naval capabilities as the Black Sea becomes an increasingly important battleground in the war.

Investigators examine an area next to damaged building in the "Moscow City" business district after a reported drone attack in Moscow, Russia, early Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023. Ukrainian drones again targeted Moscow and its surroundings early Tuesday morning, the Russian military reported. Two of three launched were shot down outside Moscow, while one crashed into a skyscraper in the Moscow City business district, damaging the building’s facade. (AP Photo)

Drone attacks in Moscow’s glittering business district leave residents on edge

The glittering towers of the Moscow City business district were once symbols of the Russian capital’s economic boom in the early 2000s.

Investigators examine an area next to a damaged building in the "Moscow City" business district after a reported drone attack in Moscow, Russia, early Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023. Ukrainian drones again targeted Moscow and its surroundings early Tuesday morning, the Russian military reported. Two of three launched were shot down outside Moscow, while one crashed into a skyscraper in the Moscow City business district, damaging the building’s facade. (AP Photo)

Russia accuses Ukraine of striking same Moscow building that was hit by drone days ago

Russian authorities have accused Ukraine in yet another drone attack on Moscow and its surroundings.