The US raid on Venezuela has exposed the limits of ties between Moscow and Caracas – while pointing the way for potential strategic opportunities for Russia’s Vladimir Putin in Washington’s new era of gunboat diplomacy.

Pavel Talankin was a school events coordinator and videographer. When Russia overhauled the curriculum to make students into patriotic soldiers, he kept his camera rolling. The footage became an Oscar-nominated film.

After a weekslong chase across the Atlantic, the U.S. took over the Bella 1 in an operation that defied Russian warnings.

Donald Trump is growing increasingly frustrated with Vladimir Putin and sees him as a bigger obstacle to peace in Ukraine than Volodymyr Zelensky, according to sources.

Russia has strongly condemned the U.S. seizure of an oil tanker. It heralds a new chill in relations between Moscow and Washington that could spread to other areas and affect President Donald Trump’s efforts to persuade Russia to end its nearly four-year war in Ukraine.

President Vladimir Putin attended an early Wednesday Russian Orthodox Christmas service and hailed his troops' “holy mission” to defend Russia, pairing the ceremony with a holiday address on unity, charity and support for the armed forces.

President Trump's actions in Venezuela also are causing unease in Western nations and giving the Kremlin fresh talking points to defend its war in Ukraine.

Exiled journalist Evgeny Safronov, 38, fled Russia amid Vladimir Putin's crackdown on press freedom - and has now been found dead after falling from the window of his flat

A studio official said the president's appearance in Prostokvashino would be a form of "soft power" that would help promote Russia and its culture.

President Vladimir Putin's launch of an Oreshnik hypersonic missile appears aimed at intimidating Ukraine and sending a signal of Russian military might to Europe and the United States at a crucial juncture in talks to end the war.

Trump has pushed Russia out of Latin America and seized tankers while conceding nothing in Europe.