• Putin proposed a missile "duel" between the Oreshnik and US-made air defenses.
• He said Ukraine could concentrate its anti-missile systems in one spot and try to counter the new munition.
• In response, Ukraine's Zelenskyy called him a "dumbass."

Russian leader Vladimir Putin suggested on Thursday that an experimental "duel" be held between Moscow's newly unveiled Oreshnik missile and Western-made air defenses.

Speaking at his annual press conference, Putin slammed the idea that the Oreshnik could be shot down by anti-missile defenses.

"If the experts in the West think so, well, let them come up with a proposal to us, and to the US. They can suggest a kind of technological experiment, a kind of high-tech fighting duel of the 21st century," Putin said, per a translation of the conference.

Putin said both parties could agree upon a target in Kyiv, where Ukraine could "concentrate all of their air defense and anti-missile defense."

"We will strike it with Oreshnik and we will see what's going to happen. We are willing to conduct such an experiment," he said.

He also suggested that it could benefit the US by allowing the Pentagon to glean information from the strike.

"So let's conduct this duel and look at the outcome. It's going to be interesting because it's going to be useful both to us and the American side," he added.

Russia initially fired the Oreshnik in late November, hitting the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro.

The new missile, which appears to have its roots in the RS-26 Rubezh intermediate-range ballistic missile, was described by Putin as flying as fast as Mach 10, or 10 times the speed of sound.

That velocity makes it extremely difficult for anti-missile defenses to counter. The Oreshnik is also believed to deploy a cluster payload and is capable of carrying nuclear warheads.

Additionally, the missile's purported range allows it to hit any target in Europe. Russia has, in recent weeks, touted it as a new class of weapon in the Ukraine war.

Shortly after Putin's comment, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy took to X to voice his disapproval of the "duel" proposal.

"People are dying, and he thinks it's 'interesting,'" Zelenskyy wrote on X on Thursday evening. "Dumbass."

US defenses vs Russian missiles

Ukraine has placed great emphasis on its need for US-made Patriot systems to protect its skies, and Zelenskyy has said his nation needs at least 25 of them. It's unclear exactly how many Patriot batteries Ukraine fields now, but it's been confirmed to have at least four systems donated by NATO members and another five on the way.

They're expensive to use. Each Patriot missile costs up to $6 million and even then, may struggle against advanced weapons maneuvering at the speeds Putin is advertising. These munitions, often called hypersonic missiles, have been a key concern for the Pentagon.

Notably, the Kinzhal, a previously much-hyped missile, was also touted by Russia as hypersonic and "unstoppable." But it has reportedly been downed dozens of times by Patriot batteries in Ukraine.

Still, the Kinzhal appears to be less advanced in maneuverability and glide potential than the Oreshnik and China's Dongfeng hypersonic missiles.

Meanwhile, Western experts still question how many Oreshnik missiles Russia has in its inventory, and the US calls it an experimental weapon. Moscow's strike on Dnipro was largely seen as a show of force, and the Pentagon has said it may launch a similar strike on Ukraine soon.

On Monday, Putin told state media that serial production of the Oreshnik would begin soon.

• Russian President Vladimir Putin caps each year with an hours-long, choreographed Q&A session.
• Key moments on Thursday covered Russia's fragile economy, the invasion of Ukraine, and Donald Trump.
• Putin sought to project an image of a powerful, thriving Russia, despite heavy challenges before him.

Russian President Vladimir Putin held his marathon annual press conference on Thursday.

During the event, Putin fielded questions from members of the Russian public and journalists on issues ranging from spiking food prices to the war in Ukraine and global instability.

Here are some telling moments.

1) He acknowledged that Russia's economy is in a bad place

Putin opened the phone-in to discuss Russia's economy, acknowledging the inflation and high interest rates pummeling the country.

Russia's key interest rate stands at 21%, while inflation is at 8.9%.

Putin sought to ready the Russian people for more pain, saying inflation could hit 9.5% in 2025.

He said price rises — especially for food — had been an "unpleasant and bad" outcome.

Soaring prices — particularly of eggs — prompted a rare apology from Putin last year.

2) He didn't take all the blame, though

Putin didn't take total responsibility for the economic situation.

Per Reuters, he said both the central bank and the Russian federal government — which is formally run not by Putin but by the Russian prime minister — could have done better to stop the economy overheating.

He denied Western sanctions were having a significant impact on the Russian economy.

"They are not a key factor," Putin claimed.

3) Putin couldn't say when he would retake captured Russian land

Putin was bullish on his invasion of Ukraine, boasting of recent territorial gains by Russian forces there.

But, unlike last year, he also had to contend with the reality of Ukrainian troops continuing to occupy Russian soil in the Kursk region.

The Kursk attack was the first foreign military incursion into Russia since World War II, and a huge embarrassment for the Kremlin.

One caller to Putin asked when she could return home to Kursk — and Putin couldn't answer.

"For sure, we will get rid of them" Putin said. He declined to give a date, saying that it would put Russian soldiers at risk.

Troops would "try to deliver on that without regard for their own lives," he said of what would follow if he gave specifics.

4) He boasted about Russia's new missile

The Russian president once again claimed that Russia had developed a new ballistic missile that Western defenses were incapable of intercepting.

Russia fired the powerful Oreshnik missile last month at Dnipro, Ukraine. Analysts saw the attack as a thinly disguised threat to the West after the US and its allies allowed Ukraine to strike Russia with long-range missiles.

Ukrainian officials said at the time that the missile was unusually powerful, and Putin claimed Thursday it travels at Mach 10, or ten times the speed of sound.

Western air defenses "stands no chance" of intercepting it, Putin said.

Some analysts were more measured in their assessment of the strike. The UK's Royal United Services Institute wrote in a recent analysis that the deployment of the Oreshnik was "more about political signalling than military utility in the war."

5) Putin was on the back foot over Syria's collapse

In response to a question by NBC News, Putin lengthily sought to rebut the idea that the collapse of the government in Syria leaves Russia weakened.

Putin had been a major international backer of the ousted Syrian president Bashar Assad, who fled to Moscow in the face of a rebel advance.

Business Insider reported that the swift collapse had caught Russia off guard, as well as Iran, Assad's other major supporter.

Putin defended Russia's support for Assad, claiming that its interventions there succeeded in preventing Syria from becoming a "terroristic enclave" like Afghanistan.

6) He left the door open for Trump

Putin said he was willing to meet President-elect Donald Trump but had not been contacted by Trump's team about a meeting.

"I am ready to meet him if he wants it," he says.

Trump has claimed he'll bring peace to Ukraine by forcing Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to negotiate.

It remains unclear what concessions either Ukraine or Russia might be willing to make to end the war.

7) Putin loved touting his friendship with China

The Russian president said that relations between Russia and China have never been better.

"We'll do nothing that will undermine the confidence" China has in Russia, said Putin. He described China's leader, Xi Jinping, as his friend.

Putin went on to describe how Russia fought alongside Chinese forces during World War II against Japan invaded.

"We stood side by side with China then and we stand side by side them now," Putin said.

Xi has spoken similarly warmly of Putin. But beneath the bromance vibes there are significant tensions.

China has provided key diplomatic and economic support to Russia in its Ukraine invasion.

But analysts say Putin likely resents being a junior partner to Xi, which vastly outstrips Russia in its population and economy.

The U.S. on Wednesday issued fresh sanctions against several Russian-linked entities and individuals involved in the building of Nord Stream 2, the massive undersea gas pipeline linking Russia to Germany.

The State Department said it has re-imposed financial penalties against entities and individuals involved in the construction of Nord Stream 2, including project operator, Nord Stream 2 AG, and a Russian-based insurer that worked with companies involved in the pipeline's construction. 

Others included in the sanctions were a Russian-owned maritime rescue service, a Russian-based water transport logistics company, and more than a dozen vessel owners that were either formerly under sanctions designations or were being sanctioned for the first time.

State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters Wednesday that the U.S. remains opposed to Nord Stream 2 as well as any efforts to revive it.

'WRONG-HEADED': ENERGY INDUSTRY LEADERS BLAST BIDEN ADMIN REPORT ON NATURAL GAS EXPORTS

Officials also cited Russia’s ongoing efforts to weaponize its energy resources, including throttling its piped gas supplies to Europe shortly after the start of its war in Ukraine in 2022.

"We're going to continue to work and ensure that Russia is never able to weaponize its energy resources and its energy positioning for political gain," Patel said of the new sanctions.

News of the new sanctions designations comes after both the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines linking Russia to Europe were hit by a series of explosions in late September 2022. 

To date, no one has taken responsibility for the blasts, which U.S. and other Western leaders have described as an act of potential "sabotage." 

Russia has dismissed suggestions that it would blow up its own pipeline, with Russian President Vladimir Putin describing such a move as "idiotic."

PENTAGON ANNOUNCES NEW COUNTER-DRONE STRATEGY AS UNMANNED ATTACKS ON US INTERESTS SKYROCKET

Though neither pipeline was operational at the time, both lines were filled with gas under pressure.

Prior to Russia's war in Ukraine, the Nord Stream 1 pipeline had supplied roughly 35% of the European Union’s total Russian gas imports before Moscow halted supplies indefinitely citing "maintenance" needs. Nord Stream 2 was expected to double that capacity.

In the years since Russia’s war in Ukraine began, the EU has scrambled to offset its reliance on Russian energy supplies, including by purchasing more liquefied natural gas from the U.S. and other suppliers, by devoting more resources toward nuclear power and by building more regasification terminals, among other things.

• Trump's return to power comes as Ukraine struggles to stop Russia's advance.
• Trump says he'll move quickly to end the war, but Russia may be disinclined to negotiate now.
• Here are four scenarios for how the war could play out.

With the Russia-Ukraine war nearing its fourth year, attention is turning to President-elect Donald Trump and how his return to power may affect the conflict.

Trump looms as a distressing question mark for Ukraine, which has leaned into personal diplomacy to make its case in the weeks since his election. As a candidate, Trump called the war "a loser" and vowed to end it in 24 hours without saying how he would do so.

The US has provided the bulk of international security assistance to Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, committing more than $60 billion so far. Drastic cuts or zeroing of this could enable Russia to achieve the decisive breakthrough it has so far been denied.

As both Kyiv and Moscow scramble to place their respective sides in the best possible position ahead of any changes Trump's administration may bring, Business Insider has taken a look at four ways the war could play out.

A cease-fire deal and frozen lines

The possibility of a temporary halt to the fighting has received renewed attention with Trump's reelection.

Trump, who has pledged to bring the war to a swift end when he returns to office, took to Truth Social on December 8 to call for an immediate cease-fire and the start of negotiations.

"Zelenskyy and Ukraine would like to make a deal and stop the madness," he said, adding: "It can turn into something much bigger, and far worse. I know Vladimir well. This is his time to act."

In November, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who has long rejected the idea of ceding land to end the war, suggested such a deal could be achieved if unoccupied parts of Ukraine came "under the NATO umbrella."

"If we want to stop the hot phase of the war, we should take under the NATO umbrella the territory of Ukraine that we have under our control," Zelenskyy said, adding that Ukraine could then "get back the other part of its territory diplomatically."

John Lough, an associate fellow at Chatham House's Russia and Eurasia Programme, told Business Insider that Ukraine was seemingly moving away from its "maximal position" of getting back all its occupied territory but that it would want "credible security guarantees from the West."

However, with Western nations reluctant to provoke Russian President Vladimir Putin with binding commitments to Ukraine, the most likely outcome was the war being "frozen" roughly where it is now, he continued, adding that a "settlement is just too ambitious at this stage."

Many analysts say any peace deal is likely to be fragile. Russia seized Crimea in 2014 by force before launching a broader invasion in 2022. Putin, furthermore, has repeatedly called Ukraine's independence fictional, and many observers worry a pause of a few years will allow Russia to train more troops and stockpile more weapons ahead of another offensive.

Mark Cancian, a senior advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), told BI that any peace deal brokered by Trump would likely involve some form of territorial concession.

"It's hard to imagine that it would be stable," Cancian said. "It's easy to imagine another war in a couple of years."

Long-term war

Another possibility is that Russia refuses to compromise and the fighting continues. War experts with the Institute for the Study of War think tank, for example, have repeatedly argued that Russian leaders believe they are winning on the battlefield and are not likely to seriously pursue negotiations while that continues.

In such a scenario, Ukraine would require significant levels of continued Western aid, which could be a hard sell for Kyiv. Both Trump and the vice president-elect, JD Vance, have been openly skeptical of US support for Ukraine under the Biden administration.

It would also put further strain on Ukraine's manpower as well as its economy, which is already facing "intensifying" headwinds, as the International Monetary Fund said in a September update.

While Russia, too, is facing its own economic issues — the Russian central bank raised its key interest rate to 21% in October in an effort to combat high inflation — some analysts have said Moscow could go for years before it has to confront its overspending.

"For Ukraine, the long war is nothing short of disastrous," James Nixey, the director of Chatham House's Russia and Eurasia Programme, wrote in February. "The country cannot recruit anything like the numbers Russia can press into service. It also places greater value on human life than its opponent, meaning it inevitably suffers more from a protracted war of attrition."

However, a long war is likely to strain Russia's military resources. Moscow is losing armored vehicles at what may be an unsustainable pace, and it may need another round of mobilization to continue replacing its troop losses.

Russian victory

Putin wanted a swift military victory when his forces launched the full-scale invasion.

Almost three years later, that goal has been well and truly quashed, but Moscow could still claim victory — which would likely mean occupying more of Ukraine and toppling Zelenskyy in favor of a deferential head-of-state.

For Kyiv, a worst-case scenario would see its forces' frontlines collapse due to a lack of resources or a shift in international support, Cancian said.

In such an instance, Ukraine would likely be forced into ceding large chunks of territory, with "everything east of" the Dnipro potentially coming under Russian control through either annexation or effective oversight, he added.

Russian forces have been advancing in eastern Ukraine in recent months, straining Ukrainian defenses and compounding Kyiv's much-reported manpower shortage.

While Russia itself continues to suffer high casualties, it has been able to draw on vastly superior numbers while also adding extra recruits from North Korea to support its offensives.

Moscow has also appeared intent on avoiding distractions and keeping its focus on events in Ukraine, putting up little support to help its ally Bashar Assad as his regime collapsed in Syria — despite Russia's important military bases in the country.

In addition, Kyiv is now facing serious uncertainty in the form of Trump's imminent return, with some fearing he could cut aid to the country.

In a recent interview with Time Magazine, the president-elect said he wanted to "reach an agreement" rather than abandon Ukraine, but he added that he strongly disagreed with Biden's decision in November to allow the use of US-supplied long-range weapons to strike Russia, which Kyiv had long coveted.

"I disagree very vehemently with sending missiles hundreds of miles into Russia," Trump said. "Why are we doing that? We're just escalating this war and making it worse."

Ukrainian victory and Russian retreat

Ukrainians had harbored hope of winning the war after some notable early successes, such as the liberation of Kharkiv in 2022, Ukrainian journalist Svitlana Morenets said.

And while Putin's grip on power seems strong, the conflict has exposed some of the largest fissures since he came to power, such as the armed rebellion by Wagner mercenaries and protests over mobilization.

Russia's government is "authoritarian and it has control over the media, but it's still sensitive to public opinion," Cancian said, adding that it had likely avoided another round of mobilization as it did not want to "stir up domestic opposition," despite needing the manpower.

Washington has also pointed to North Korea's involvement in the war as a sign of the Kremlin's "desperation" and "weakness."

But with Trump's goal of achieving a quick end to the fighting, Russia's continued gains in the east, and Kyiv facing dwindling resources and drooping morale, an outright Ukrainian victory seems off the cards for now.

Seth Jones, the president of the Defense and Security Department at CSIS, previously told BI that as long as Putin is in charge, it would be highly improbable that Russia's forces would retreat entirely. A Russian defeat, however, may threaten Putin's hold on power.

• FIFA, soccer's world governing body, is facing backlash over a map it showed of Ukraine.
• The map appeared to show Ukraine without Crimea as part of it.
• A spokesperson for Ukraine's Foreign Ministry demanded a public apology from FIFA.

FIFA, soccer's world governing body, is facing backlash after showing a map that appeared to omit Crimea from Ukrainian territory.

The map, which was shown during a 2026 World Cup qualifying draw earlier this week, was designed to show countries that cannot be drawn to play against each other for geopolitical reasons, such as Ukraine and Belarus.

However, the graphic appeared to highlight Ukraine but without Crimea as part of it.

In response, Heorhii Tykhyi, a spokesperson for Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, wrote on X: "Are you OK, @FIFAcom?"

"By redrawing international borders in yesterday's broadcast, you not only acted against international law, but also supported Russian propaganda, war crimes, and the crime of aggression against Ukraine," he continued, adding that Ukraine expected "a public apology."

He said they had also "fixed" the map for FIFA and shared another version of it with Crimea highlighted.

In a statement to Business Insider, FIFA said it was "aware of an issue, which affected one of the graphics displayed during the draw and addressed the situation with the federation."

"The segment has been removed," it added.

The Ukrainian Association of Football (UAF) said it had written to FIFA Secretary General Mattias Grafström and UEFA Secretary General Theodore Theodoridis about the matter.

"We are writing to express our deep concern regarding the infographic map of Europe shown during the TV broadcast of the European Qualifiers draw," the letter reads.

"We emphasize that the version of the map presented by FIFA during the global broadcast to a multi-million audience is unacceptable," it continues. "It appears as an inconsistent stance by FIFA and UEFA on this crucial issue, especially in light of the ongoing destructive invasion initiated by Russia against Ukraine in the 21st century, in the heart of Europe."

Business Insider contacted the UAF for comment.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has long vowed to end Russia's occupation of Crimea, which Moscow annexed in 2014.

The peninsula — the home of Russia's Black Sea Fleet — holds great strategic importance for the Kremlin, and it has been a major target for Kyiv since Putin launched his full-scale invasion in 2022.

The 2026 World Cup is set to take place across the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

Ukraine is in qualifying group D, where it is set to face off against Iceland, Azerbaijan, and the winners of the France vs. Croatia Nations League quarter-final.

FIFA this week confirmed that Saudi Arabia will host the 2034 World Cup.

• Igor Krasnov, Russia's prosecutor-general, says the country's bribery problem is getting worse.
• He told state media that 30,000 officials were disciplined for corruption in 2024.
• Bribes are up at least 30% since 2023, with hundreds of companies fined for offering payoffs, he said.

Russia's prosecutor-general said on Monday that detections of corruption among officials have jumped this year, with a 30% increase in bribery cases compared to 2023.

Igor Krasnov told state media that almost 30,000 Russian officials were caught and disciplined for breaking anti-graft rules in 2024.

Of that total, 500 were fired for "loss of trust," Krasnov said.

Krasnov said that at least half of all corruption cases involved bribery and that almost 19,000 such crimes were discovered in the first nine months of 2024.

That's nearly as many as the 20,300 bribery cases his office found in 2023, Krasnov added.

"This year, the number of such crimes has increased by more than 30%, exceeding 6,600 cases," he said.

According to Krasnov, about 760 billion rubles worth of funds and property have been confiscated in the last five years from officials accused of corruption. That's worth about $7.6 billion today.

About 200 companies were fined in the first half of 2024 for trying to bribe officials, the prosecutor-general also said.

Analysts from the Washington-based think tank Institute for the Study of War said systemic corruption in Russia is likely to exacerbate its economic burdens from fighting the Ukraine war.

"Russia's mounting economic pressures stemming from the war, paired with widespread corruption, labor shortages, and inefficiencies in Russia's DIB, will likely compound the cost of Russia's war and further undermine its ability to effectively sustain DIB operations while maintaining economic stability," wrote the ISW.

DIB refers to the defense industrial base, a network of companies and manufacturers that provides governments with weapons and military equipment.

The ruble has already weakened considerably since the war began and now trades at about 100 against the US dollar, compared to about 75 against the dollar before March 2022. With international sanctions hemming Russia in, the country's leader, Vladimir Putin, has pushed its economy and government spending heavily toward defense manufacturing, recruitment, and payments to families of troops.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin estimated on Saturday that Russia has "squandered" over $200 billion on invading Ukraine.

"Russia has paid a staggering price for Putin's folly," Austin said at the Reagan National Defense Forum.

He also said the war has killed or wounded at least 700,000 Russian troops.

Russia's defense ministry has historically struggled with corruption. While the extent of graft within the organization is difficult to determine, it emerges to the fore sometimes when top officials are ousted.

In June, for example, five senior figures in the Russian military, including a former deputy defense minister, were arrested on corruption charges.

The charges came just after Sergei Shoigu, the country's longtime defense minister, was replaced.

Some analysts, such as Mark Galeotti, a senior researcher at the think tank Royal United Services Institute, told Business Insider at the time that they believed the arrests could be connected to Shoigu's replacement.

Syrian dictator Bashar Assad, who fled the country Saturday as rebels closed in on the capital of Damascus, has arrived in Moscow and has been granted asylum by the Russian government, according to Russian News Agency Tass.

Speculation about where Assad might land has been widespread since the longtime dictator fled the country, with allies such as Iran and Russia being at the top of the list.

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Assad was forced to flee the country after a coalition of largely radical Islamist groups led a sweeping offensive across Syria, culminating in the capture of the country's capital city and the fall of Assad's regime, which had seen his family rule Syria for over 50 years.

The offensive was the latest development in a bloody civil war that has ravaged Syria for almost 14 years, a war that also led to the rise of the Islamic State terrorist organization and yearslong interventions by countries such as the United States, Russia, Iran and Turkey.

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Assad has been a longtime ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who had for more than a decade dedicated military resources to the defense of Assad's regime and its government forces.

Assad now arrives in Russia with his family, according to an Interfax news agency report, citing a Kremlin source.

"President Assad of Syria has arrived in Moscow. Russia has granted them (him and his family) asylum on humanitarian grounds," the source told the outlet.

• Syrian dictator Bashar Assad has resigned and fled his country.
• Rebel forces said they seized control of the capital, Damascus.
• The collapse of Assad's government could have major global implications.

Syrians around the world celebrated as rebels, after more than a decadelong fight, finally toppled the country's longtime leader, Bashar Assad, on Sunday.

The Russian foreign ministry said on Sunday that Assad had resigned from his position as Syrian president and left the country. Russian state news reported that Assad had arrived in Moscow, where he's been granted asylum.

Syrian anti-government forces announced early on Sunday morning that they had advanced into Damascus, Syria's capital.

In a post on social media, rebel commander Hassan Abdul-Ghani said: "We declare Damascus free from the tyrant Bashar al-Assad."

"Today 8-12-2024 Syria is officially free," he added in a later post.

Hassan Akkad, who fled Syria in 2015 and is now based in the UK, posted to X, "Syria is free. Syria is free. Syria is free. Syria is free. Syria is free. Syria is free. Syria is free."

World leaders react

President-elect Donald Trump said on Truth Social on Sunday that Assad had "fled his country" after losing Russia's support.

"Assad is gone," Trump wrote. "His protector, Russia, Russia, Russia, led by Vladimir Putin, was not interested in protecting him any longer."

In a press briefing on Sunday, President Joe Biden called the fall of Assad's government "a fundamental act of justice" and "a moment of opportunity for the long-suffering people of Syria to build a better future for their proud country."

Biden said the US would support Syria's neighbors Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, and Israel "should any threat arise from Syria during this transition." Biden said the United States would also "maintain our mission against ISIS" inside the country, referring to the terrorist group operating in the region.

The US military conducted at least a dozen airstrikes inside Syria on Sunday, "targeting ISIS camps and ISIS operatives," Biden said.

The United States will also support Syria through the United Nations to create a new government through a process determined by the Syrian people, Biden said.

"The United States will do whatever we can to support them, including through humanitarian relief, to help restore Syria after more than a decade of war and generational brutality by the Assad family," Biden said.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in a Sunday statement, echoed the president's sentiment, saying the US "will support international efforts to hold the Assad regime and its backers accountable for atrocities and abuses perpetrated against the Syrian people, including the use of chemical weapons and the unjust detention of civilians such as Austin Tice."

The Syrian people, Blinken added, "finally have reason for hope."

Kaja Kallas, the European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, called Assad's resignation "a positive and long-awaited development."

"It also shows the weakness of Assad's backers, Russia and Iran," Kallas said in a statement. "Our priority is to ensure security in the region. I will work with all the constructive partners in Syria and in the region."

Geir Pedersen, the UN's Special Envoy for Syria, said in a statement, "Today marks a watershed moment in Syria's history."

How rebels took control of Aleppo

In late November, the coalition of rebel groups launched a surprise offensive led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, which traces its origins to the Al Qaeda terrorist network. It has more recently promoted more moderate views.

The rebels quickly took control of Aleppo, one of Syria's largest cities, Hama, and the strategic city of Homs, which sits at an important crossroads linking Damascus to the coast.

Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, the leader of HTS, is a Syrian who fought against US occupation in Iraq with Al Qaeda. He is believed to have cut ties with the terrorist organization in 2016 but is still designated a terrorist by the US, which has placed a $10 million bounty on his head.

Al-Jolani has sought to portray himself as a more moderate leader and promoted messages of religious and ethnic inclusivity as HTS pushed toward Damascus. Still, HTS has a reputation as a hardline Islamist faction.

"This victory, my brothers, is a victory for the entire Islamic nation," Al-Jolani said in a speech to his followers this weekend, per a translation by CNN. "This new triumph, my brothers, marks a new chapter in the history of the region."

What Assad's ousting means for Russia and Iran

The collapse of Assad's government could have significant global implications, especially for Russia and Iran, which have been two of Assad's strongest allies.

Moscow operates two major military facilities in Syria — the Hmeimim airbase and the Tartus naval base — which have given its forces crucial access to the Mediterranean Sea and a base to launch operations into Africa.

Losing access to these bases would scupper many of Russian President Vladimir Putin's plans in the region, Zineb Riboua, a research fellow and program manager at the Hudson Institute's Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East, wrote on X: "Without a strong Russian military base in Syria, all of Putin's plans collapse."

While Russia intervened to prop up Assad in 2015, its priorities have since shifted to the war in Ukraine, and it had appeared reluctant to divert any significant resources to help Assad this time around.

On Sunday, Russia's foreign ministry said there was no security threat to its military bases in Syria but that they were on high alert.

For Iran, Syria has been part of an important land corridor stretching from Tehran to Baghdad, Damascus, and Beirut, helping it support key regional proxies such as the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

"For Iran, Syria is absolutely essential in order to maintain its proxy network," Natasha Hall, a senior fellow with the Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, previously told Business Insider.

But Tehran, too, has been distracted by its conflict with Israel, while Hezbollah has been left in disarray after Israel killed its longtime leader and wounded thousands of its fighters with exploding pagers and walkie-talkies.

In a separate post on TruthSocial on Saturday, Trump called on the United States to stay out of the situation in Syria, writing: "Syria is a mess, but is not our friend, & THE UNITED STATES SHOULD HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. THIS IS NOT OUR FIGHT. LET IT PLAY OUT. DO NOT GET INVOLVED!"

This story is being updated as the situation unfolds.

• Romania's constitutional court on Friday ordered a new presidential election.
• Allegations of Russian social media interference in favor of Calin Georgescu prompted the decision.
• An expert told BI the move was "unprecedented" in Romanian democratic history.

Romania's constitutional court ordered a new presidential election on Friday, just two days before the second round of voting was due to be held.

The decision follows claims that Russia coordinated a social media campaign to boost far-right candidate Calin Georgescu, the surprise winner of the first round last Sunday. Moscow has denied the accusations.

Intelligence documents declassified this week by the outgoing president said online interference took place from abroad "with the aim of influencing the correctness of the electoral process."

They also said a "candidate for the presidential elections benefited from a massive exposure due to the preferential treatment that the TikTok platform granted him by not marking him as a political candidate," in a reference to Georgescu.

On Thursday the European Union ordered TikTok to suspend content related to the Romanian elections.

Georgescu, who largely ran his campaign on the social media platform, is sceptical of Nato and called Russian President Vladimir Putin a "patriot and a leader" in an interview with BBC News on Thursday, before adding: "But I am not a fan."

He also told BBC News he would end all support for Ukraine if elected. Romania shares a border with Ukraine and is a member of both Nato and the EU.

The government is yet to announce a date for a new election.

The constitutional court's decision is "unprecedented in the democratic history of Romania," political researcher Costin Ciobanu told Business Insider.

"It is difficult to assess what the impact of the constitutional court decision is, but given the long history of Russian interference in different elections, it doesn't sound impossible that Russia was trying to use its tools to promote a candidate whose narratives were closer to what Russia is promoting."

Ciobanu said the constitutional court may annul the parliamentary elections also held on Sunday and could bar Georgescu from standing in the fresh poll.

Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said the court's decision to annul was the "correct solution" following the release of the intelligence reports, which show that the first-round results were "blatantly distorted as a result of Russia's intervention."

• Russia carried out airstrikes in Syria after rebels launched an offensive against the Syrian government.
• Russia and Iran have supported Syrian President Bashar Assad for years.
• Here's why Syria is so important for both Moscow and Tehran.

Russia has been carrying out airstrikes on Syrian rebel fighters who are advancing through the country as part of an offensive that has seen them seize control of Aleppo, one of Syria's largest cities.

The surprise offensive, led by Islamist militants from the opposition group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, marks the most significant escalation in the Syrian civil war in years — and the outcome has serious implications for both Russia and Iran.

Russia's gateway to the Mediterranean

Syria holds strategic importance for Moscow and Tehran, which have both supported Syrian President Bashar Assad's embattled regime.

For Russia, which operates two major military bases in the country — the Hmeimim airbase and the Tartus naval base — Syria offers a key foothold in the region, giving its forces crucial access to the Mediterranean Sea and a launching pad for operations in Africa.

Russia has sought to extend its influence across the Middle East and Africa in recent years as a counterweight to the US, forging closer ties with key Middle Eastern players like Iran and Saudi Arabia and reportedly providing African governments with security assistance through the Wagner mercenary group.

Natasha Hall, a senior fellow with the Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Business Insider that Russian President Vladimir Putin cannot afford to lose a Russia-friendly government in Syria for fear of losing the airbase and warm water port crucial to maintaining its influence in the region.

"It's used that port and the base as a launching pad to move into Africa," Hall said. "At one point, there were at least 30 Russian warships in the Mediterranean, whereas just a few years prior, there were none."

Zineb Riboua, a research fellow and program manager at the Hudson Institute's Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East, said losing Syria would be "a big deal for Russia."

"Most of its plans in the Sahel and Libya revolve around supporting Russia's access to the Mediterranean, without a strong Russian military base in Syria, all of Putin's plans collapse," Riboua wrote on X.

Putin's support for Assad helped boost his popularity in Africa, Riboua continued, adding that losing Syria would "make Putin not just look weak, but look unreliable to many African countries that rely today on Wagner."

Iran's network of proxies

Syria also provides Iran with access to the Mediterranean via a land corridor that extends from Tehran through to Baghdad, Damascus, and Beirut, connecting its proxies in the region.

"For Iran, Syria is absolutely essential in order to maintain its proxy network," Hall said. "It now has this unimpeded route from Tehran all the way to Lebanon."

Syria is particularly important for Iran's ability to support the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, which for over a year has been embroiled in conflict with Israel. Israel has recently thrown this top Iranian ally into disarray, killing its longtime leader and wounding thousands of its fighters with exploding pagers and walkie-talkies. A cease-fire agreement was reached between Israel and Hezbollah last week.

"Iran is deeply invested in Syria with dozens of military bases and other facilities because the country is critical to Tehran's support for Hezbollah," wrote Steven Cook, the Eni Enrico Mattei senior fellow for Middle East and Africa Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations think tank.

Syria provides Tehran with a place to manufacture weapons and a route to transport them, as well as a command post for Iranian commanders who work with Hezbollah, Cook said.

But Israeli strikes on the militant group have impacted Iran's corridor and put its position in the region under pressure.

Tehran may, therefore, see the Syrian conflict as a way to reimpose itself in the region, Riboua said in another post on X.

"Weakened in Lebanon and Gaza, Iran now views the conflict in Syria as an opportunity to reassert its influence by joining the Assad regime against its opposition," Riboua said. "Tehran likely sees this renewed involvement as a chance to restore its legitimacy and strengthen its control over its proxies."

Latest conflict is 'no surprise'

Russian ties with Syria trace back to the Cold War-era when Moscow supplied arms to the country.

The two countries grew closer under the leadership of Putin and Assad, as the former sought to expand and defend Russian interests in the Middle East.

In 2015, this resulted in Russia directly intervening in the country's civil war, which began in 2011, to prop up Assad.

Over the following years, Moscow steadily built up its military presence in Syria, and by 2018, the Russian Ministry of Defense said that more than 63,000 Russian troops had "received combat experience" in the country.

But following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Moscow's Syrian operations were put on the back burner, and it reportedly redeployed some troops, mercenaries, and military equipment from Syria to Ukraine.

Iran and Syria, meanwhile, have had strong relations since the 1979 Iranian revolution.

Iranian troops are also reported to have fought alongside Syrian government forces in 2015.

But like Russia, Iran's priorities have shifted in recent months, with Tehran locked with Israel in a series of escalating long-range strikes.

For the US, that meant the latest offensive seemingly came as no great shock.

Speaking to NBC News, national security advisor Jake Sullivan said that Assad's three key backers, Iran, Russia, and Hezbollah, had all "been distracted and weakened by conflicts elsewhere."

"So it's no surprise that you see actors in Syria, including the rebels, try to take advantage of that," he added.

For Russia and Iran, the fall of Aleppo will nevertheless come as a humiliating blow, Hall said.

It shows "how weak their ally is, even after 13 years of war," she added.

• Putin ordered the assassination of Sergei Skripal in the UK in 2018, a UK intelligence chief said.
• Skripal reportedly knew about the Russian president's secret wealth.
• The attempted assassination of Skripal sparked a diplomatic crisis.

Vladimir Putin likely ordered the assassination of former spy Sergei Skripal because he knew about sources of the Russian president's illicit wealth, according to UK officials.

In 2018, Skripal and his daughter Yulia fell ill in Salisbury, UK, after being poisoned with the nerve agent Novichok in an attack the UK government blamed on Russia. Moscow denied any involvement.

The Skripals narrowly survived the poisoning. Police said that Dawn Sturgess and her partner Charlie Rowley in nearby Amesbury became ill after handling a perfume container with traces of Novichok. Sturgess survived while Rowley died.

Speaking at the Dawn Sturgess Inquiry in London, Jonathan Allen, the director general of defense and intelligence at the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office, said the order to poison Skripal and his daughter "would have gone to President Putin," according to Politico.

Allen also told the inquiry that he took at "face value" Skripal's claim that he was likely targeted because he knew about the Russian president's sources of wealth, according to the Guardian.

Skripal, a former official with the Russian military intelligence agency the GRU, had reportedly told UK officials that he had information about Putin's involvement in illegal activity regarding the disposal of rare metals and embezzlement of funds from aluminium sales.

"It makes sense that if he [Skripal] was working as a senior member of the GRU he would have access to secret information," Allen said, according to the report.

"There have been numerous open-source works which link senior figures in the government, including the president, to control of natural resources, to control of the sources of Russian wealth and suggestions they profited from those," he added.

Representatives for the Kremlin not immediately respond to a request for comment by Business Insider.

Skripal turned double agent in 1995 when he was recruited by the UK's Secret Intelligence Service, MI6.

A Moscow military court said that he passed information to MI6 agents between 1995 and December 2004. It sentenced him to 13 years in prison for spying for Britain.

He was released in 2010 as part of a spy exchange between Russia and the US, and was granted asylum in the UK, where he lived in Salisbury under his real name.

His poisoning in 2018 sparked a diplomatic crisis, with the UK and 28 other countries expelling hundreds of Russian diplomats, and Russia responding by expelling British diplomats.

Putin's wealth has long been the source of rumor, with reports stating that the Russian president owns vast palaces by the Black Sea and in northern Russia, luxury yachts, and expensive foreign properties.

• Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been pushing this week for NATO to invite Ukraine to join its alliance.
• He said on Sunday that NATO's self-defense pact wouldn't have to apply to Ukraine's occupied territory.
• His proposals come amid anticipation that Trump's incoming team will stall Ukraine's NATO accession.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday that his country could join NATO without the alliance's collective self-defense agreement applying to its territory occupied by Russia.

That suggestion means that Article 5, which states that an attack on one member state is an attack on all, wouldn't automatically drag the rest of the alliance into war with Moscow if Ukraine joins.

Speaking at a press conference in Kyiv, Zelenskyy said that any invitation for Ukraine to join NATO still has to recognize all of its territory as Ukrainian, including areas occupied by Russia.

He said his reason was that NATO/the alliance couldn't extend an invitation to only a "part of the territory of Ukraine," per Ukrainian media.

Zelenskyy added that Ukraine "would never accept" an accession plan that says otherwise.

"But we understand that Article 5, when you're a member of NATO, cannot apply to the entire territory of Ukraine during wartime, as countries are against the risks of being drawn into the war," he said.

Such a proposal could essentially split Ukraine into two regions as far as NATO is concerned. The region that includes all of Ukraine's current territory, like Kyiv and Kharkiv, would have to be defended. There would be no obligation for the rest, which is the Ukrainian territory seized by Russia in the east.

Ukraine launched a campaign this week to pressure NATO into extending an invitation to Kyiv, a move the alliance already promised in 2008 would eventually happen. NATO has not provided a specific timeline for when that invitation might be extended.

On Friday, Zelenskyy told Sky News that he would be willing to freeze the front lines if whatever territory Ukraine still holds is placed under the "NATO umbrella."

"If we want to stop the hot phase of the war, we should take under the NATO umbrella the territory of Ukraine that we have under our control," he said at the time.

This indicates that Ukraine would cede its occupied land, at least temporarily, in exchange for a cease-fire with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

It's a concept that Zelenskyy has adamantly rejected before.

In April, he called a land swap for peace a "very primitive idea." Discussion of such a plan emerged that month because of reports that President-elect Donald Trump was thinking of championing it. He was still running for president at the time.

Now, the Ukrainian president is recalibrating his conditions for NATO membership. This reconsideration comes as US support for Ukraine sits on the cusp of extreme change. His renewed effort to join the alliance comes amid anticipation that Trump and his advisors would pressure Kyiv into negotiating a quick end to the fighting while withholding membership indefinitely.

There are, however, fears that Russia may renege on a cease-fire — as Putin has done several times in the past — or that such a deal could create a split of Ukraine reminiscent of Cold-War Germany.

Many who want an immediate resolution to the fighting in Ukraine hope that it will relieve the economic strain the war has brought to the globe.

Ukraine is a major supplier of corn and wheat, and while a US-led corridor has allowed it to start selling much of its accumulated stock, its exports are estimated to take several years to hit pre-war levels.

Meanwhile, European reliance on Russian energy has led to a complicated situation, where Ukraine is still allowing Russian gas to transit through its borders to Western customers despite the war.

That arrangement, agreed upon in 2019, is set to expire at the end of the year. Both Moscow and Kyiv have said they're not ready to renew the contract, though there is talk from Ukraine of extending it.

Several European countries, including Slovakia and Hungary, expressed concern that their energy markets could be skewered by a nonrenewal, though many are starting to replace their gas by buying from the US and Canada instead. Hungary, in particular, hopes a pipeline through Turkey will help to sustain its supply of Russian gas.

• Russian President Vladimir Putin has provided more details on the "Oreshnik" missile.
• The hypersonic ballistic missile was first used by Russia in Ukraine in November.
• Putin said the missile's destructive elements hit temperatures of more than 7,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

Russian President Vladimir Putin shared more details on Russia's "Oreshnik" missile during a state visit to Kazakhstan.

Russia first used the Oreshnik missile in Ukraine last week, striking a munitions factory in Dnipro.

Putin said at the time that his forces had tested "a non-nuclear hypersonic ballistic missile," named the Oreshnik, in response to Ukraine's use of US and UK-supplied long-range weapons.

Speaking to the media in Kazakhstan on Thursday, Putin detailed some more of the Oreshnik's characteristics.

Putin called the missile a "high-precision and high-power weapon" and said that it was "not equipped with a nuclear explosive device, thus they do not cause environmental contamination."

He added that the destructive elements inside the missile's warheads hit temperatures of over 4,000 degrees Celsius (more than 7,000 degrees Fahrenheit).

"The damage is substantial," he continued. "Everything at the centre is reduced to ash, breaking down into its elemental components, and objects located at a depth of three or four, possibly even more, floors below are affected."

Putin also reiterated that the Oreshnik could be as powerful as a nuclear strike if multiple were fired at once.

The UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) said on Friday that the Oreshnik was likely a variant of the Rubezh RS-26 ballistic missile — a solid-fueled, road-mobile ballistic missile.

The ministry said that the missile's payload observed in the strike on Dnipro was "six groups of six warheads," which it said travel at hypersonic speeds before impact.

The missile's potential range is particularly important and has already attracted a great deal of expert commentary.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Missile Defense Project lists the Rubezh RS-26 as having a range of up to 5,800 km (around 3,600 miles), meaning it could strike targets across Europe and the UK.

Former Australian Army Maj. Gen. Mick Ryan said Russia's use of a missile with such a potential range was a clear message to the West, writing on X: "Putin isn't only messaging Washington D.C. here."

"This is a message to Europe, not only about their support for Ukraine, but also about Russia's capacity and willingness to influence policy related to defence and security well beyond Ukraine," he said.

• Russian President Vladimir Putin has at least two daughters he rarely talks about.
• He has two daughters with his ex-wife Lyudmila Shkrebneva: Maria and Katerina, both in their 30s.
• Various unconfirmed reports say he has at least three other children, who he fiercely guards from the limelight.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is famously secretive about his personal life.

Putin has long tried to shield his personal life from the spotlight.

He has rarely publicly acknowledged his children, though media outlets have for years reported that he has two daughters with his ex-wife.

Putin is also rumored to have had relationships that may have produced other, secret children, including two boys by one mistress and a girl from a later rumored affair.

Putin's family affairs are so secretive that reports of exactly how many children he may have fathered have varied over the years, as have their names.

Most recently, in November 2024, Ukrainian media reportedly tracked down one of Putin's alleged daughters, who was living in Paris and working as a DJ.

Putin had two daughters with his first wife Lyudmila Shkrebneva, a former flight attendant

Sources: Vladimir Putin, Reuters, Business Insider

Their daughters' names are Maria and Katerina. Maria was born in St. Petersburg in 1985, and Katerina was born in Germany in 1986.

Sources: Vladimir Putin, Reuters, Newsweek

Both girls are named after their grandmothers. Maria's nickname is Masha, and Katerina's nickname is Katya.

Masha and Katya are common Russian shortenings for Maria and Katerina.

Sources: Vladimir Putin, Reuters, Newsweek

When the family moved to Moscow in 1996, the girls attended a German-language school. The children were reportedly removed from school when Putin became acting president, and teachers educated them at home.

Source: Newsweek

"Not all fathers are as loving with their children as he is," Lyudmila said in an undated quote on Putin's government website. "And he has always spoiled them, while I was the one who had to discipline them."

Source: Vladimir Putin

But as Putin gained political power, his children saw him less and less, according to one of his early biographers.

His first official biographer, Natalya Gevorkyan, interviewed him and his family in 1999.

The family was soon isolated and surrounded by security after Putin became prime minister for the first time, she said.

His daughters told her that they admired their father and were proud of him, but it appeared they didn't get to see him much, she said.

Source: BBC Sounds

Putin's marriage may also have been loveless. Lyudmila "was not a happy woman" and Putin wouldn't "hold" her, his biographer said.

"I understood that [Lyudmila] was not a happy woman. She was not," the biographer Gevorkyan said, speaking of her interviews conducted in 1999.

Gevorkyan said she had the impression Putin did not love her. She recalled Lyudmila as saying: "There are women who are admired by men, I think I am not that kind of woman. He will not hold me in his hands."

Gevorkyan said Lyudmila's tone was "more with respect" to her husband.

"I had the feeling that she really loved him," she added. "And I had a feeling that she was not that much loved back. I didn't have the feeling that it was a successful marriage for her."

Source: BBC Sounds

Putin and Lyudmila announced their divorce in 2013, although they were likely living separate lives long before that.

Lyudmila had become "almost invisible" in Putin's public life, according to Nina Khrushcheva, a professor of international affairs at New York's New School. 

Putin was rumored to be seeing Olympic gymnast Alina Kabaeva, while Luydmila was believed to have begun dating businessman and triathlete Arthur Ocheretny by around 2010. 

Sources: BBC, Proekt, Politico.

Meanwhile, the daughters were growing up. Maria studied biology before medical school, while Katerina majored in Asian Studies in college. Both girls attended university under false identities.

Sources: Reuters, Newsweek

There are no official current photos of the women. For Katerina, we found the slightly varying first names of "Katerina," "Katya," and "Yekaterina," and the last names "Putina," "Tikhonova," and "Shamalov."

Sources: Reuters, Newsweek

Maria is a medical researcher. According to reports, she married Dutch businessman Jorrit Faassen, although it's unclear exactly when.

Maria appears to have a lower public profile than Katerina. Here, she is seen presenting at a 2022 pediatrics conference. 

An investigation found that between 2019 and 2022, she earned $10.7 million from her role at New Medical Company (NOMEKO). 

Sources: Current Time, Reuters, Newsweek, Bloomberg

Maria and Faassen reportedly have a child — Putin told filmmaker Oliver Stone in 2017 that he was a grandfather. When Stone asked if he played with his grandchild, Putin replied: "Very seldom, unfortunately."

Sources: Reuters, The Independent, Bloomberg, Daily Mail

Katerina, an accomplished acrobatic dancer, is a tech executive.

She has been reported to head up Innopraktika, one of Moscow State University's initiatives to foster young scientists, as well as being deputy director of a mathematical institute there.  

In 2022 she was given a role overseeing Russian import substitutions.

Sources: Reuters, Bloomberg, CNN, The Moscow Times.

Here she is in her dancing days at the 2013 Rock 'n' Roll World Championship in Winterthur, Switzerland, representing Russia.

 

She took fifth place at that year's final. 

Source: WRRC

Katerina married Russian billionaire Kirill Shamalov in 2013, though they are reportedly no longer together. Their wedding was a lavish affair at the Igora resort in St. Petersburg.

The wedding was highly secure and included a laser show, an ice-skating display, and a mock Russian village, according to Reuters. 

A 2023 investigation found that the couple, though married by a priest in an elaborate ceremony, never formalized their vows at the registry office, as required by the Russian Orthodox Church. The report suggested this was connected to the structure of the family's vast and secretive property holdings. 

By 2018, the pair had split, according to Bloomberg. 

Sources: Reuters, The Guardian, Proekt   

Shamalov prospered during the marriage, racking up lucrative business interests. By the time he and Katerina split in 2018, the divorce papers revealed they were worth $2 billion.

As early as 2016, the couple were hardly corresponding, and Shamalov had seen lucrative shares in energy company Sibur returned to Putin's friends, a 2023 investigation reported. 

Sources: Reuters, Bloomberg, Proekt

Katerina made her debut on Russian state TV as a biotechnology expert in December 2018.

Her appearance did not include comments on her being related to Putin. The link was briefly made public in the course of a dance competition, but later retracted.

Source: Business Insider, Reuters

She has at least twice joined an event known as Russia's answer to Davos, and in 2024, Maria was also there. Both were rare appearances.

In June 2021, Katerina addressed the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum — but nobody called her Putin's daughter, apparently out of fear of reprisal from the Kremlin.

At the same event in 2024, Katerina appeared virtually, commenting on the "technological sovereignty" of the nation's military.

The following day, Maria spoke in person on a panel about biotech innovations. Programming listed her as a member of the Russian Association for the Promotion of Science, according to CNN.

Source: CNN

In 2022, it emerged that Katerina had begun a clandestine relationship with German ballet star Igor Zelensky and had a daughter with him.

Zelensky — no relation to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy — has served as the director of the Bavarian State Ballet and the Munich State Ballet. 

The relationship was revealed by a 2022 investigation that examined Katerina's flight records, showing that she traveled with members of Putin's presidential secret service.

Per the report, Katerina secretly flew to Munich more than 50 times to see Zelensky between 2017 and 2019, with their daughter in tow.

Sources: Important Stories, Der Spiegel

Meanwhile, Maria Vorontsova split with Faassen and had a child with businessman Evgeny Nagorny, independent Russian media reported.

A post shared by Barkli_rus (@barkli_rus)

 

Nagorny — who formerly showed an interest in opposition politics — has been flying around the world with Vorontsova since at least 2016, according to a joint investigation by Russian outlets Meduza and Current Time.

They had a child together, and Nagorny became the manager of major gas company Novatek, the outlets reported. 

In 2020, per the outlets, Nagorny bought a luxury Moscow apartment in the building pictured above.  

Sources: Meduza, Current Time.

There are rumors that Putin has other children with ex-girlfriend and former Russian rhythmic gymnast Alina Kabaeva.

It's unclear exactly when Putin began dating the famed gymnast, but rumors were swirling long before he and Lyudmila announced their divorce. 

In a 2008 news conference in Italy, a reporter asked him about the chatter, which Putin dismissed, adding: "I always disliked people who go around with their erotic fantasies, sticking their snot-ridden noses into another person's life."

Reports have varied over the years on what children they have, with tabloid reports of the birth of a daughter in 2015.

More recently, however, an investigation reported that they have two sons. 

Neither the relationship nor the reported children have been confirmed by Russia. 

Source: New York Post, Proekt, NPR

A bombshell investigation in 2024 said that Putin and Kabaeva have 2 sons who live in seclusion and extreme luxury.

The boys are named as Ivan, born in 2015, and Vladimir Jr, born in 2019.

Business Insider could not independently verify the report. 

At Ivan's birth, according to the investigation, Putin was so happy that he shouted: 'Hurray! Finally! A boy!'

Extreme secrecy surrounds them — per the investigation, they have used "cover documents since infancy, which are mostly made for intelligence officers and people under state protection."

Source: Dossier Center

 

 

 

No publicly available images exist of Ivan and Vladimir Jr.

In its investigation, the Dossier Centre declined to publish images of the boys, both of whom are still children. 

The boys live at Putin's heavily protected lakeside palace at Valdai, in western Russia, according to the report. 

Source: Dossier Centre

In 2024, Ukrainian armed forces said they had flown a drone over Valdai palace, where Kabaeva and the children reportedly live.

The drone was on its way to attack a St Petersburg oil terminal as part of a spate of attacks on Russian energy facilities, Oleksandr Kamyshin, Ukraine's minister of strategic industries, said. 

An unnamed special services official said that it had managed to evade the extensive defenses at Valdai. 

A few months later, it emerged that Russia's armed forces had moved much-needed air defenses closer to the palace to protect it. 

Source: Kyiv Independent, RBC Ukraine, Radio Liberty

 

Reports have also claimed that a former cleaning lady, Svetlana Krivonogikh, once had an affair with Putin and moved into one of St. Petersburg's wealthiest neighborhoods.

Independent investigations have reported that the pair had a close friendship between the late 1990s and the end of the 2010s, which resulted in a daughter.

In that time, Krivonogikh went from a former cleaning lady to the billionaire owner of one of Putin's favorite ski resorts.

Sources: Proekt, Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project

Krivonogikh's daughter, who was born in 2003, is named Elizaveta Vladimirovna Rozova and goes by Luisa. Identity papers do not indicate a father, but her middle name means "daughter of Vladimir." She has not confirmed any relationship.

A Proekt investigation remarked on Elizaveta's "phenomenal resemblance" to Putin and many connections between the president and her mother. Images reportedly from her social profiles show a striking resemblance to Putin. But no relationship has been proven.

In a 2021 magazine interview, Elizaveta's face was not depicted. 

Asked about the resemblance, she agreed, but said "there are a lot of people similar to Vladimir Vladimirovich," using an alternative, respectful name for Putin.

Sources: Proekt, Russian GQ

Elizaveta appears to have led a vibrant life as a DJ and fashion businesswoman in Moscow and Paris.

In a bizarre turn of events, Andrey Zakharov, the journalist who first reported on Elizaveta, got added to a Clubhouse chat with her in 2021.

"I live in my own bubble," she reportedly said, adding that she doesn't pay attention to the news.

"I watch fashion shows, I buy copies of Vogue, and I love to go to the nearby restaurant and eat tasty pasta, dishing with friends about the latest gossip and investigations."

Source: TSN, Meduza

But at the start of the invasion of Ukraine, commenters reportedly mobbed her social media — which she then deleted.

An investigation published in 2024 reported that she went suddenly off-grid, changing her name to Elizaveta Olegovna Rudnova. 

An Elizaveta Rudnova was registered to study at a private art and culture management school in Paris between 2020 and 2024, the report said. 

In November 2024, Ukrainian media reportedly tracked down Rudnova, who was living in Paris and working as a DJ.

Business Insider was unable to independently verify the report. 

Source: TSN, The Telegraph

 

In late 2020, Putin announced Russia had finalized its COVID-19 vaccine. He said he gave the shot to one of his daughters, but wouldn't specify which one.

Sources: Business Insider, BBC, Politico

In February 2022, Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. No statement came from Katerina or Maria, but scrutiny of their families ramped up.

In March 2022, an activist broke into a property owned by Katerina's ex-husband Kirill Shamalov in Biarritz, France, saying he was going to use it to host Ukrainian refugees.

More than a year later, as the war dragged on, Dutch authorities seized land belonging to Maria's ex-husband Jorrit Faassen, who was under suspicion of evading sanctions. 

Sources: Insider, The Insider, The Guardian

In April 2022, the US sanctioned Maria and Katerina, saying that they had "enriched themselves at the expense of the Russian people."

A White House statement said: "This action cuts them off from the US financial system and freezes any assets they hold in the United States."

The UK quickly followed suit, saying it was targeting Maria and Katerina's "lavish lifestyles." 

The announcement also contained more details about their work.

Tikhonova's work supports Russia's government and defense industry, while Vorontsova's genetics research programs are personally overseen by Putin, the White House said.

Source: White House, ABC News

 

 

The US said it believed the women were hiding assets for Putin, which was its rationale for sanctioning them. The Kremlin suggested the move was anti-Russian.

"We believe that many of Putin's assets are hidden with family members and that's why we're targeting them," a senior Biden administration official said, according to ABC News.

Dmitry Peskov, Putin's top spokesperson, said the Kremlin found the decision "difficult to understand" and framed it as part of a "rabid" Western animosity toward Russia.

Since 2022, the list of countries that have slapped sanctions on Maria and Katerina has only grown.

The US, UK, European Union, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan have all imposed sanctions on them.

Sources: ABC News, Reuters, Associated Press, Reuters, Reuters, Japan Times, New Zealand Herald

 

In July 2022, as sanctions began to bite in Russia, Katerina was given a top post overseeing import substitutions.

Tikhonova was appointed to a position at the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, known as RSPP.

Putin critics speculated that the shakeup at RSPP, a key Russian business lobby, was done to help bolster the country's lagging economy, which remains heavily dependent on foreign imports and has suffered from the bevy of international sanctions imposed due to the war in Ukraine. 

State media reporting on Tikhonova's appointment didn't mention her relationship to Putin.

Sources: RBC, Fortune

In the summer of 2022, the US added Kabaeva to its sanctions list, citing her "close relationship" with Putin.

The US government had initially held off sanctioning Kabaeva on the basis that it would be too personal a provocation to Putin — a reservation that suggests the White House, at least, is in no doubt about their relationship.

But Kabaeva was finally sanctioned in August 2022 over her ties to the Russian government. 

Sources: The Wall Street Journal, US Treasury

Svetlana Krivonogikh was the last woman connected to Putin to feel the weight of sanctions.

In February 2023, the UK sanctioned Krivonogikh. 

The UK government made no specific reference to a personal connection to Putin, although it did say she was one of five people "connected to Putin's luxury residences," including his luxury compound at Valdai.

It also said that she is "a shareholder in Bank Rossiya and the National Media Group, that consistently promotes the Russian assault in Ukraine."

Source: UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

 

In early February 2023, Kabaeva made a rare speech, where she said Russia's media is as powerful as a Kalashnikov rifle in war.

Kabaeva made the speech to the National Media Group.

Her praise of "war correspondents" came just a couple of weeks ahead of the first anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. 

Sources: Insider, Newsweek

 

In March 2023, the Innopraktika Institute, headed up by Katerina, scolded Russian youth for not being patriotic enough online.

The report, which examined young people's social media activity, likened the drop in patriotism to a hybrid special military operation waged against Russia by foreign countries — using language more associated with how Putin characterizes his own invasion of Ukraine. 

Sources: The Moscow Times, Rozkomnadzor

• Russian President Vladimir Putin said the ruble's plunge to two-year lows was no cause for panic.
• The Russian currency hit its lowest level against the dollar since March 2022 this week.
• Analysts say Russia is under pressure from inflation, military spending, and falling oil prices.

Russians shouldn't stress about the ruble tumbling to two-year lows, Vladimir Putin said Thursday. Analysts told Business Insider there was plenty of cause for concern.

The Russian leader told reporters that the "situation is under control" and that "there are absolutely no grounds for panic," according to a Google translation of a report from the RIA Novosti news agency.

Putin attributed the ruble's fluctuations "not only to inflation but also to budget payments and oil prices," along with many seasonal factors.

The Russian currency traded at 114 to the dollar on Wednesday, its weakest level since March 2022, shortly after the Ukraine invasion began. It was about 84 in early August, meaning the currency has depreciated by 36% in under four months. A greenback was worth about 108 rubles on Friday.

Russia's central bank stepped in to shore up the floundering ruble on Wednesday. It suspended purchases of foreign currency on the domestic market for the rest of this year to reduce volatility.

A Wednesday headline in the state newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta read, "Panic attack for Russia's currency market." The Kommersant newspaper warned readers to "buckle up your rubles."

The ruble's latest plunge follows the US sanctioning Gazprombank, one of Russia's largest lenders. The restrictions limit the bank's ability to access global financial markets and handle energy payments.

Russia also fired a hypersonic missile into Ukraine last week after its opponent launched missiles at targets inside Russia for the first time. The escalation has raised concerns of further economic disruption.

A weakening ruble benefits Russian exporters by making their goods more competitive in global markets. But it threatens to accelerate inflation by raising the cost of imports, leaving sellers little choice but to increase their prices. Stubborn inflation has already spurred Russia's central bank to raise the main interest rate to 21%, the highest level since 2003.

The Russian economy has suffered from Western sanctions imposed since Putin's invasion of Ukraine, with energy revenue tanking by almost a quarter last year. Other countries, such as India, have snapped up Russian oil instead, tempering the impact of price caps and other penalties.

Mounting pressure on Russia

Robin Brooks, a senior fellow focused on the global economy and development at the Brookings Institution, posted on X that the ruble's collapse shows how vulnerable Russia is to sanctions.

He also said the European Union's reluctance to impose certain penalties might have staved off economic disaster in Russia.

George Pavel at the trading platform Naga.com told BI the ruble's dive had been driven by rising inflation and a widening budget deficit fueled by heavy military spending.

"Russia's economic path looks unsustainable barring major changes," he said, ticking off concerns such as slowing growth, stubborn inflation, a tight labor market, and the massive cost of the Ukraine war.

Brent crude is trading at just over $70 a barrel, and sliding oil prices pose an existential threat to Russia, said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB.

"Russian income is shrinking at the same time as defense spending is surging as the war with Ukraine enters a more intense phase," Brooks said. "While President Trump may go some way to ending the Russia-Ukraine war, his policy on energy and plans to get the US pumping even more oil could weigh on the oil price further in 2025, which is bad news for Russia."

• Putin says Trump is a "smart and experienced person" and can "come up with a solution" to the Ukraine war.
• Trump said on the campaign trail this year that he would end the war in 24 hours if elected.
• In 2022, Trump also said that he "knew Putin very well" and got along "great" with the Russian leader.

Russian President Vladimir Putin believes President-elect Donald Trump will be able to put an end to the ongoing war in Ukraine.

"President Trump, a smart and experienced person, will come up with a solution, especially given that he has gone through quite an ordeal of fighting to reclaim the Oval Office," Putin told reporters in Kazakhstan on Thursday.

Putin was speaking at the sidelines of a security summit in Kazakhstan's capital, Astana, when he was asked about President Joe Biden's recent decision to give Ukraine long-range missiles.

Representatives for Putin and Trump did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.

Trump talked about ending the Russia-Ukraine war in Ukraine while on the campaign trail. In July 2023, he said on Fox News that he would end the war within 24 hours if elected.

"I would tell Zelenskyy, no more. You got to make a deal. I would tell Putin, if you don't make a deal, we're going to give him a lot. We're going to give more than they ever got if we have to," Trump said.

Both Ukraine and Russia have been dismissive of Trump's proposal.

However, Putin's praise for Trump comes just weeks after the pair reportedly spoke over the phone. Trump also took a separate call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in November.

Putin and Trump talked about resolving the war in Ukraine and achieving peace in Europe during their call, The Washington Post reported on November 10, citing people familiar with the matter.

The Kremlin denied the call had taken place, while a spokesperson for the Trump campaign said they "do not comment on private calls" between Trump and other foreign leaders.

Putin's admiration of Trump appears to be mutual.

Shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Trump called Putin's move "genius" and "wonderful." He also said without substantiation that the reason Putin chose to invade Ukraine during Biden's presidency instead of his was because he had a better relationship with Putin.

"I knew Putin very well. I got along with him great. He liked me. I liked him," Trump said during a February 2022 appearance on the "Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show."

Meanwhile, in February, Putin told the state-owned television channel Russia-1 that he would "work with any US leader whom the American people trust."

• The comments were made by Kurt Campbell, the US deputy secretary of state.
• China may fear the alliance could bring US allies in East Asia closer together.
• North Korea is providing crucial support to Russia in Ukraine, and is getting favors in return.

China is increasingly concerned about the alliance between Kim Jong Un's North Korea and Vladimir Putin's Russia, according to Kurt Campbell, the US deputy secretary of state.

The US believes that more than 11,000 North Korean troops have deployed to Kursk in Russia, where Putin is attempting to take back territory that Ukrainian forces captured.

Meanwhile, Russia is providing North Korea with economic and diplomatic support.

"The topic that is becoming increasingly uncomfortable for Chinese interlocutors is the DPRK [North Korea] engagement with Russia," Campbell said at a talk for the Center for Strategic and International Studies last week, according to The Guardian.

"In some of the discussions we have had, it seems we are informing them of things that they were unaware of with regard to DPRK pursuits, and they are concerned that Russian encouragement might lead the DPRK to contemplate either actions or military actions that might not be in China's interests."

He added that China has not directly criticized Russia, "but we do believe that the increasing coordination between Pyongyang and Moscow is unnerving them," he said.

Russia and North Korea are among China's closest international allies, but analysts say Beijing is wary of the potential impact of an alliance between the authoritarian powers.

The support Russia is giving North Korea could upset the delicate balance of power on the Korean peninsula, where North and South Korea have for decades been locked in a frozen conflict.

South Korea has already threatened to hand weapons to Ukraine in response to North Korea's support for Russia, and the tensions could spill into East Asia.

The Russia-North Korea alliance could weaken China's influence in East Asia, and draw US allies in the region closer together.

Some observers also believe that President-elect Donald Trump could seek to drive a wedge between China and Russia, the US' two most powerful rivals, when he takes office in January.

"China likely regards deepening ties between Russia and North Korea with some wariness," Ali Wyne, an analyst with the Crisis Group, told Business Insider in June.

"It worries about the possibility of Russia's providing military assistance that could advance North Korea's nuclear and missile programs."

However, China has considerable leverage over both Russia and North Korea. It provided the Kremlin with crucial economic and diplomatic support in the Ukraine war and has maintained close economic and political ties with North Korea for decades.

If it chose, it could likely use that leverage to restrain the North Korea-Russia alliance, say experts.

Others believe that the alliance benefits China. "Officially, they might not really welcome it; they might see it as an alarming situation," Jagannath Panda, head of the Stockholm Center for South Asian and Indo-Pacific Affairs, previously told BI.

"But the Chinese are waiting for an opportunity where North Korea, Russia, and China can come stronger together, and I think North Korea sending the troops to Russia is a testimony to that."

Panda said that China's strategic goal is to build an authoritarian nexus that would undermine the current world order. The growing alliance between North Korea and Russia, he said, is a step toward that.

• Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law on debt forgiveness for certain recruits on Saturday.
• It allows for up to $96,000 in debt forgiveness for those who sign a minimum one-year contract to fight in Ukraine.
• It comes amid soaring Russian combat losses.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law allowing debt forgiveness for certain troops who sign up to fight in Ukraine.

Putin on Saturday signed off on legislation that, from December 1, allows recruits who sign a minimum one-year contract to fight in the war forgiveness of up to 10 million rubles of debt arrears (around $96,000), Russia's Interfax news agency reported.

The legislation applies where debt collection proceedings were opened before December 1, 2024, the report says.

Russia's State Duma approved the bill earlier this week.

The new law, which also extends to the spouses of recruits, comes amid mounting Russian combat losses in Ukraine.

Responding to the news on X, Carl Bildt, cochair of the European Council on Foreign Relations Council and a former prime minister of Sweden, said that the move showed Russia's attempts to replenish its losses were evidently becoming "more and more difficult."

"In addition to huge lump sum of money offered there is now also debt write off not only for those enrolling but also for their families. It tells," he wrote.

As Bildt alluded to, it would not be the first time Russia has attempted to use financial incentives to increase its troop numbers.

In July, Russia began offering bonuses of $22,000 to military recruits in Moscow.

The UK's Chief of Defence Staff, Tony Radakin, said earlier this month that Russia had suffered a daily average of more than 1,500 killed or injured troops in October, its worth month of the conflict so far.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said in late October that Russian forces had suffered more than 600,000 wounded or killed since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

In a post on X on Saturday, Ukraine's Ministry of Defense shared figures from the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces that put Russian combat losses since the start of the war at more than 729,000.

Russian forces were somewhat bolstered by the arrival of thousands of North Korean troops in October.

The latest legislation follows President Joe Biden's decision to allow Ukraine to strike Russia with US-provided long-range missiles.

The US's major policy shift comes as Biden scrambles to provide Ukraine with increased support ahead of President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration in January.

Ukraine also reportedly fired British-made long-range Storm Shadow missiles at targets inside Russia for the first time this week.

• Russia fired what it said was a new type of ballistic missile at Ukraine this week.
• Putin called the missile the "Oreshnik" and said it had a "non-nuclear hypersonic warhead."
• Ukraine described the attack as a "severe escalation."

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday said his military had fired a new type of missile at Ukraine, describing it as a test and also a warning to the West.

Putin called the missile the "Oreshnik" and said it had a "non-nuclear hypersonic warhead" and had hit a military-industrial site in Ukraine's eastern city of Dnipro.

He also said it was capable of traveling at Mach 10 — ten times the speed of sound.

The missile, described by the US as experimental, appears to have the range to hit targets elsewhere in Europe.

Here's what we know about the missile and what it could mean for the war and the West.

An experimental missile

Putin said the "Oreshnik" missile can't be stopped, though he and Russian officials have made similar claims in the past about other weaponry that proved anything but infallible.

Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh called the missile "experimental" as it was the first time it had been seen deployed on the battlefield in Ukraine.

She said it was an intermediate-range ballistic missile based on Russia's RS-26 Rubezh model, and that it had a non-nuclear payload but could be refitted to carry different types of "conventional or nuclear warheads."

Some military analysts contest the RS-26's classification as an intercontinental ballistic missile, arguing it falls between an ICBM and an intermediate-range missile. As BI previously reported, an ICBM has never been used in combat.

Missile experts said the "Oreshnik" appeared to have a MIRV, or multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle, payload, which can carry multiple warheads.

A larger range

The missile's possible range is important. According to the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, medium-range missiles can travel up to 1,860 miles, while intermediate-range missiles can travel up to 3,410 miles.

The RS-26 has a range of up to 3,728 miles, The Financial Times reported.

Matthew Savill of the UK's Royal United Services Institute told the Associated Press the range was "way beyond any of that seen in the conflict so far and possibly the first ever use in combat."

Meanwhile, former Australian Army Maj. Gen. Mick Ryan described the attack as "a political strike not a military one" but wrote on X that an intermediate-range missile could "be used against almost any target in Europe and the United Kingdom."

The first missile attack, however, was minimal. The local mayor said it had damaged a rehabilitation center, knocking out the windows and destroying a boiler room.

A threat to the West

It's not clear how much of an escalation this latest strike represents in practical terms.

An unnamed US official told the BBC that Russia likely only has a handful of these missiles. And they said Ukraine had already faced significant missile attacks, including ones with much bigger warheads than this.

Jakub Janda, director of the European Values Center for Security Policy, told BI that the move was Russia's attempt to intimidate the West into not giving Ukraine more support at a "critical" time.

"From the Russian side, this is just a cognitive warfare move," he said.

Meanwhile, Pavel Podvig, a senior researcher at the UN Institute for Disarmament Research, wrote on X that "using these kinds of missiles, whether RS-26 or a true ICBM, in a conventional role does not make a lot of sense because of their relatively low-accuracy and high cost."

"But this kind of a strike might have a value as a signal."

A nuclear hint

Putin described the strike as a response to Ukraine using US and UK-provided missiles on Russian soil this week.

He said Russia "had the right" to strike countries that gave Ukraine weapons that hit Russia.

But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called it "a clear and severe escalation" and called for worldwide condemnation.

"Russia must be forced into real peace, which can only be achieved through strength," he added.

At the same time, the strike may have been intended to hint at a nuclear threat.

Fabian Hoffmann from the Oslo Nuclear Project told Reuters that Russia chose a missile with a MIRV payload "for signaling purposes" because "this payload is exclusively associated with nuclear-capable missiles."

Ryan, the former Australian officer, said Putin wanted to send a message to Europe about Russia's capacity, and to signal to the US ahead of the presidential transition that it should not give Ukraine advanced capabilities.

But in a statement to BI, NATO spokesperson Farah Dakhlallah said Russia's strike "will neither change the course of the conflict nor deter NATO allies from supporting Ukraine."