Russia is supplying weapons to Damascus via contracts signed since the conflict in Syria began in 2011, as well as under earlier deals, says president Bashar al-Assad.

George Blake, the former British spy who was a double agent working for the Soviet KGB, has spoken about his career with pride and called himself an “exceptionally lucky man”.

Two exiled Kremlin adversaries refused to answer key questions posed by Russian authorities probing the poisoning death of former security agent Alexander Litvinenko, a Russia investigator said in an interview published today.

Sailors in dress uniforms stood rigid on a ship deck today as wreaths were tossed into the sea to honour 118 of their comrades who perished five years ago when the nuclear submarine Kursk sank.