Putin

Former PM calls for heavy weapons supplies and brands Russian nuclear threats as 'nonsense' in Davos appearance.

[who stood down as prime minister in July after the Partygate scandal](https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/jul/07/boris-johnson-resigns-as-conservative-leader-after-cabinet-revolt), at the gathering of the world’s elite in the Swiss Alps, will lead to further questions about his political ambitions amid speculation that the MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip is plotting a comeback. “People argue that we should not escalate and should be wary of doing things that further provoke Putin,” he said. There’s absolutely nothing to be lost.” [Vladimir Putin](https://www.theguardian.com/world/vladimir-putin) wants to present it as a nuclear standoff between Nato and Russia, but the west should call his bluff. [“open for business”](https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/jan/18/starmer-davos-labour-britain-open-business) under a Labour government. “Nonsense,” he said.

Ukraine's President Zelensky has questioned the mortality of Vladimir Putin · Speaking in Davos, Zelensky said he was not sure whether Putin is alive still ...

The ice hole froze right in front of us. You have to feel it. I swim in any weather. You get more buzz. A Russian Orthodox priest takes a dip in the ice cold water of a pond during the celebrations of the Orthodox Epiphany holiday, in Moscow, Russia, January 18, 2023 Russian Orthodox believers take a dip in the ice cold water of a pond during the celebrations of the Orthodox Epiphany holiday, in Moscow, Russia, January 18, 2023

The ex-PM compared the Russian president to 'the fat boy in Dickens' during an event on Ukraine at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

He continued: “What we’ve got to focus on is supporting Ukraine and giving Volodymyr Zelensky the tools he needs to finish the job. He’s never going to do it.” This puck is going to Ukrainian victory, so let’s skate there.” [Dickens](/topic/dickens), he wants to make our flesh creep. He’s not going to use nuclear weapons, OK. He’s like the fat boy in

The Kremlin is acutely aware of its toll of "irretrievable losses" and wants to hide the scale of deaths of mobilised troops from everydays Russians - so ...

It's been hard - and very hard. Not everyone will succeed… “As a result, according to the president, the losses must be ‘smeared over time’, and the crematoriums have been ordered for this.” It claimed that the Russian dictator "is not embarrassed by the colossal losses” from the war he inflicted on Europe - but the scale is “disturbing” to ordinary people. “Twenty-one mobile crematoriums have been ordered by the Russian leadership in China,” said the channel. Telegram channel General SVR warns that the Kremlin is ready for its toll of “irretrievable losses” in the war to rise to 220,000 by 1 May.

Russia has already lost an estimated 100,000 soldiers since the invasion started last February, but there are rumours Moscow is preparing for the death toll to ...

Pictures purportedly show one graveyard full of dead fighters, and the mobile crematoriums have allegedly been brought in to obscure the true death toll. [40,000 prisoners](https://metro.co.uk/2022/09/16/leaked-video-shows-russian-prisoners-being-offered-pardons-to-fight-in-ukraine-17387075/) have reportedly been recruited by the mercenary outfit, which is run by Putin crony Yevgeny Prigozhin in collusion with the GRU Russian military intelligence agency. It is thought a significant number of them are convicts released from prison to fight for the ‘Putin has been informed that the order is ready and will be delivered to Russia via third countries in the near future.’ ‘As a result, according to the president, the losses must be “smeared over time”, and the crematoriums have been ordered for this,’ they added. [Russia](https://metro.co.uk/tag/russia/) has already lost an estimated 100,000 soldiers since the invasion started last February, but there are rumours Moscow is preparing for the death toll to more than double to 220,000 by May.

Ukrainian media is citing President Volodymyr Zelensky as questioning whether Russian President Vladimir Putin is even alive and who is responsible for ...

[Join the discussion](#join-discussion) ADVERTISEMENT "I don't quite understand if he is alive or whether he makes decisions, or whoever else makes decisions there.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy questioned whether Putin was still alive as he described how confusing Russian decision-making appears to be.

The technique can be used to make someone appear as if they were in or speaking from a different location. "I don't quite understand that he is the guy," Zelenskyy said of Putin. I'm not sure that Russia's president, who sometimes appears against the chroma key is really him,"

Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky has expressed doubt about whether Vladimir Putin is alive amid ongoing speculation about his health.

[check our news page](https://metro.co.uk/news/). [Ukraine’s first lady pleads for international response to Russian aggression](https://metro.co.uk/2023/01/18/ukraine-first-lady-olena-zelenska-calls-for-end-to-russia-threat-18118227/?ico=more_text_links) [deteriorating for the past five years](https://metro.co.uk/2022/05/21/vladimir-putin-investigation-claims-he-has-been-ill-for-five-years-16684670/) and that [he had two surgeries in two weeks](https://metro.co.uk/2022/05/25/kremlin-officials-are-already-choosing-vladimir-putins-successor-16705109/). [Vladimir Putin has ‘no doubt’ Russian victory against Ukraine is ‘inevitable’](https://metro.co.uk/2023/01/18/vladimir-putin-has-no-doubt-victory-against-ukraine-is-inevitable-18124149/?ico=more_text_links) [Ukraine](https://metro.co.uk/tag/ukraine/?ico=auto_link_news_P3_LNK1) and [Russia](https://metro.co.uk/tag/russia/?ico=auto_link_news_P3_LNK2), and yesterday’s helicopter crash in the capital, Kyiv, in which 14 people died. [Volodymyr Zelensky](https://metro.co.uk/tag/volodymyr-zelenskyy/?ico=auto_link_news_P1_LNK1) has casted doubt whether dictator [Vladimir Putin](https://metro.co.uk/tag/vladimir-putin/) is alive amid ongoing speculation about his health.

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, an ally of Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin, warned the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on Thursday that.

[grim New Year’s Eve message](https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N33L06W&linkedFromStory=true) describing the West as Russia’s true enemy in the war on Ukraine, Putin has sent several signals that Russia will not back down. officials said at the time. Vladimir Putin is the ultimate decision maker on the use of nuclear weapons. Washington has not detailed in public what it would do if Putin ordered what would be the first use of nuclear weapons in war since the United States unleashed the first atomic bomb attacks on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. He has [despatched hypersonic missiles](https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N33P20W&linkedFromStory=true) to the Atlantic and appointed his [top general](https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N33X1WM&linkedFromStory=true) to run the war. “The defeat of a nuclear power in a conventional war may trigger a nuclear war,” Medvedev, who serves as deputy chairman of Putin’s powerful security council, said in a post on Telegram.