A new gym craze? Well, the Russian army has been using kettlebells for years and they could revolutionise your workouts.   

A Dutch art sleuth best known for identifying works looted from Jewish owners by the Nazis says he has helped German police recover two massive bronze horse sculptures crafted for Adolf Hitler.

There'll be a few eyebrows raised in the Kremlin, though.…

The Russian Army might not be the first people you think of when you want to have a laugh.

Vladimir Putin is channelling his inner Trotsky through his dealings and attitudes towards Ukraine. Surely a day of reckoning will soon come, writes Yuliya Tymoshenko

Russian military forces have been spotted in both major rebel-held cities in eastern Ukraine, an official said, prompting Ukraine to declare it now has to fight the Russian army, not just the separatists.

Ukrainian forces said that one of their fighter jets has been shot down by a Russian missile in combat against Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.

Ireland agreed to ban Soviet airlines from the tarmac at Shannon, just 10 days before nuclear catastrophe was narrowly avoided during the Cold War.

US president George Bush sent a stern warning to Russia today that it cannot lay claim to two breakaway provinces in neighbouring Georgia, a US ally, and said there was no room for debate on that point.

FIFTY battered Russian army trucks and armoured personnel carriers made their way down the highway toward the capital Tbilisi, making it clear that a day-old ceasefire would not keep Russia from moving freely through Georgia.

Fighting continued tonight between Russia and Georgia with thousands dead or fleeing their homes and towns left smouldering ruins despite a cease-fire declaration.

US AMBASSADOR Zalmay Khalilzad exchanged sharp remarks with the Russian ambassador yesterday, accusing Moscow of resisting attempts to make peace with Georgia after days of fighting have left hundreds of civilians dead.

Russia sent hundreds of tanks and troops into the separatist province of South Ossetia and bombed Georgian towns today in a major escalation of the conflict that has left scores of civilians dead and wounded.

A Lithuanian carpenter who served in the Russian Army has been given a five sentence at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court for possession of firearms and drugs in his home.

Authorities in Belarus today reburied the remains of more than 200 soldiers of Napoleon’s army who died in a major battle in 1812.

GUNSMITH Mikhail Kalashnikov says he designed the assault rifle that bears his name to fend off the German invasion of the Soviet Union.

MILITARY prosecutors and top officers promised a thorough investigation into one of the most brutal bullying incidents reported in the Russian military in years - a soldier who underwent several amputations because of beatings and torture by fellow servicemen.

An emotional wreath-laying ceremony was held at the Soviet War Memorial in London today as the loss of 27 million soldiers and civilians from the former USSR in the Second World War was commemorated.

President Mary McAleese is to join world leaders at Auschwitz in Poland to mark the liberation of the Nazi death camp, it emerged today.

Russian security officials accused Shamil Basayev of planning the seizure of the school with al-Qaida financing, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported today.

RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin's rise was powered largely by a pledge to defeat Chechen separatists.

Suicide attackers seized a packed school in Russia’s troubled Caucuses region today and threatened to kill 50 children for every gunman “destroyed".

Two deserters from the Russian army shot and killed two police officers who stopped their stolen car at a traffic checkpoint in southern Russia, officials said today.

FBI agent Robert Hanssen - who became a Russian spy - has been jailed for life without parole.

Afghanistan’s interim Prime Minister, Hamid Karzai, has vowed to arrest Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar, who has reportedly escaped from the Baghran district despite being surrounded by anti-Taliban forces.

Chechen rebels have killed at least 10 Russian soldiers in the past 24 hours in a series of attacks throughout the breakaway republic.

The Russian President, Vladimir Putin, has warned America that it will not back an Afghan invasion.

Russian Army commandos have stormed a bus that was hijacked by suspected Chechen rebels earlier today.