The Kremlin has denied reaching out to a Moscow-based property developer and his son who arranged a meeting between a Russian lawyer and Donald Trump Jr to discuss allegedly compromising information about Hillary Clinton.

US President Donald Trump's eldest son was reportedly told that the Kremlin was behind supposedly damaging information he received about Hillary Clinton.

Latest: The US has seen chemical weapons activity at a Syrian air base used for a sarin gas attack in April, the Pentagon said.

Russian president Vladimir Putin and Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe have discussed joint economic projects on disputed islands which could pave the way for the countries to finally sign a peace treaty.

Analysis of samples taken from a deadly sarin gas attack in Syria earlier this month "bears the signature" of President Bashar Assad's government and shows it was responsible for the deadly assault, France's foreign minister has said.

Russian-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine have said they are taking over scores of factories and mines in the region, many of them belonging to a tycoon whose foundation has been the largest provider of humanitarian aid to the war-battered population.

The Kremlin has denied reports of intercepted phone calls between Russian intelligence officials and members of Donald Trump's presidential campaign.

Russian authorities have extended a residence permit for US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, who leaked thousands of secret documents from the National Security Agency.

The unwillingness of the United States to work with Russia in Syria contributed to the loss of the ancient city of Palmyra to the Islamic State group, a Moscow spokesman has said.

Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov has warned Syrian rebels in Aleppo that they will be wiped out unless they agree to stop fighting and quit the besieged city.

Russia has hit back at the head of MI5's claims that Moscow is adopting an "increasingly aggressive" approach to pursuing its foreign policy goals, including cyber-attacks.

Dutch-led criminal investigators say they have solid evidence that a Malaysian jet was shot down by a Buk missile moved into eastern Ukraine from Russia.

A Russian transport helicopter was shot down in opposition rebel territory in northern Syria yesterday and all five crew and officers onboard were killed, the Kremlin said. 

Even though it isn’t officially out there yet, over 1m people are playing the game in Russia, writes Ilya Khrennikov

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed into law controversial counter-terrorism amendments that have sparked alarm among rights activists.

Turkey’s president has apologised to Moscow after a Russian jet was shot down at the Syrian border, Russian and Turkish officials said yesterday, a move that could open the way for easing a bitter strain in Russia-Turkey ties.

The Kremlin yesterday dismissed allegations that Russia had run a sophisticated doping programme at the last winter Olympics as treacherous slander, calling the ex-head of the country’s anti-doping laboratory “a turncoat.”

Three men blew themselves up outside a rural police station in southern Russia after trying to gain entry to the building as part of an unsuccessful attack.

The head of a major Russian state-owned bank dismissed as nonsense reports that President Vladimir Putin is linked to as much as €2bn in offshore transactions allegedly involving people close to the Kremlin leader.

The offshore financial dealings of the rich and famous have been exposed by a cache of 11.5 million leaked records, an international coalition of media outlets said.

Azerbaijan’s defence ministry has announced a unilateral ceasefire against the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh, a claim that rebel forces there promptly rejected.

The Syrian president has assured Russia’s Vladimir Putin of Damascus’ commitment to a Russia-US proposed truce, even as a spokesman for a Saudi-backed alliance of Syrian opposition and rebel factions expressed “major concerns” about the ceasefire, due to begin this week.

Britain and France criticised Russia’s role in Syria’s war and said Moscow must stop the conflict rather than fuelling it, after missile strikes killed dozens of civilians on Monday.

Russian officials have rebuffed claims that warplanes from the country struck a hospital in northern Syria.

The leader of Russia's Chechnya republic has posted a video that appears to show the country's former prime minister Mikhail Kasyanov in the crosshairs of a rifle - a video Mr Kasyanov is calling a murder threat.

Russia has sharply criticised the conclusions of a UK inquiry into the 2006 poisoning death of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko.

Irish investors among team examining crash site in Egypt.

The Russian plane that crashed in Egypt was not struck from the outside and the pilot did not make a distress call before it disappeared from radar, a source in the committee analysing the flight recorders said yesterday.

A spokesman for Vladimir Putin has denied the Russian president spoke by telephone to Elton John, contradicting an earlier claim by the British singer that the two men had a conversation.

SCOTLAND: A mascot from the first Commonwealth Games held in Scotland almost half a century ago has been uncovered.

The Kremlin has accused US presidential contender, Hillary Clinton, of making unfounded remarks by including Russia among countries she said were sponsoring hacking.

Russia is willing to consider giving financial aid to Greece, a Russian government official said, ahead of talks between the leaders of the two countries.

Ukraine has accused two Russian servicemen it said it captured of being part of a special forces group that had killed and wounded Ukrainian servicemen in fighting in its eastern regions and said they would be prosecuted for “terrorist acts”.

Russia has said it will be at least six months before it can deliver a missile system to Iran, but the Kremlin confirmed a barter deal to supply Russian goods in exchange for Iranian oil was already being implemented.

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.

Russian state television aired what it said was footage of President Vladimir Putin working at his residence outside Moscow yesterday, a first appearance since he dropped out of sight days ago, triggering rumours he was ill or sidelined by internal conflict.

Russia’s top investigative body is looking into several possible motives for the killing of prominent opposition figure Boris Nemtsov, including an attempt to destabilise the state, Islamic extremism, the Ukraine conflict and his personal life.

A leading Russian opposition politician, former deputy prime minister Boris Nemtsov, has been shot dead, Russian officials say.

Fighting in eastern Ukraine has intensified ahead of much-anticipated peace talks, with both sides claiming significant advances and the government accusing rebels of shelling a town far behind the front line.