Myron Brilliant, Executive VP & Head of International Affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, explains how increased U.S. LNG exports could impact Russia's standoff with Ukraine.

Stephen Yates, CEO at DC International Advisory, says the sanctions that have slapped on Russia have not been hard-hitting at all.

Antonio Fatas, Professor of Economics at INSEAD, says it is unlikely that the West will impose hard-hitting economic sanctions upon Russia.

Saudi Arabia and Russia aim to inflict pain on American producers, forcing them to shutter wells and give up the market share.

Russia is now the world's fifth-most infected country with more than 187,800 cases, surpassing Germany and France, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

Russia marks 75 years since the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two on Saturday.

Samuel Greene, director of the Russia Institute and reader of Russian politics at King's College London, speaks to CNBC about new U.S. sanctions on Nord Stream 2.

Two of Europe’s worst affected countries begin careful process of opening up societies again

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Spain and Italy, two of the European countries hardest hit by coronavirus, are beginning to emerge from lengthy and strict lockdowns as Russia and Afghanistan reported their biggest one-day rises in new infections.

In Spain, where 217,466 cases of Covid-19 and 25,264 deaths have been confirmed, adults were allowed back on to the street to exercise for the first time in seven weeks this weekend.

Epidemics of infectious diseases behave in different ways but the 1918 influenza pandemic that killed more than 50 million people is regarded as a key example of a pandemic that occurred in multiple waves, with the latter more severe than the first. It has been replicated – albeit more mildly – in subsequent flu pandemics.

France confirms lockdown-easing from Monday as WHO warns on domestic violence

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Another record rise in coronavirus infections has propelled Russia past Germany and France to the fifth highest tally in the world, as the French government confirmed the country would start gradually lifting its strict eight-week lockdown from Monday.

With much of Europe now easing itself out of confinement, Russia has become the continent’s new Covid-19 hotspot. More than half of the country’s 177,160 cases are in Moscow and the capital’s mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, said research suggested the actual number was nearer 300,000, more than triple the official figure.

Related: Covid-19 puts Putin's power plans on hold and economy in peril

Coronavirus cases in India have risen past 50,000, according to the country’s health ministry, with the pace of infection showing no sign of abating.

A new report suggested January’s Sundance film festival, the annual gathering of cinephiles in Park City, Utah, may have been a key early coronavirus hub in the US.

Iran said on Thursday its coronavirus outbreak was “relatively stable” as it announced more than 1,000 infections for a fourth straight day.

Poland has postponed Sunday’s presidential election. The postal-only ballot will now take place as soon as possible, but probably not before June.

Mayors in many of the world’s leading cities have said there can be no return to business as usual in the aftermath of the coronavirus crisis if humanity is to escape catastrophic climate breakdown.

Italy’s government and Roman Catholic bishops signed an agreement to allow the faithful to attend mass again from later this month.

We go to Moscow for an update on the pandemic in Russia, where the coronavirus is spreading rapidly, with at least 10,000 new cases a day and the second-highest infection rate in the world, and more than 100 medical workers have died fighting the virus, and many have reported lack of personal protective equipment. Meanwhile, three Russian healthcare workers mysteriously fell from hospital windows over the past two weeks. Two died, and the one who is hospitalized had posted a video online to note the lack of medical equipment and said he had to keep working despite testing positive. We speak with Joshua Yaffa, Moscow correspondent for The New Yorker magazine.

I’m finally getting around to reading a book that a kind Hatter got me almost a decade ago (thanks, Andrei!), Stalin’s Children: Three Generations of Love, War, and Survival by Owen Matthews, and am enjoying it greatly; the first chapter has material of clear LH interest: I spoke Russian before I spoke English. Until I […]

Mercenaries from the Wagner Group, a Russian paramilitary organization seen as being close to Vladimir Putin, are fighting in Libya, UN diplomats said Wednesday, citing an experts' report on the country's arms embargo.

Russia marks 75 years since the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two on Saturday, but the coronavirus outbreak has forced it to scale back celebrations seen as boosting support for the Kremlin.

Russian media pours scorn on Europe, but the only progressive way forward for our common continent is together

In the early 1990s Russia used to have a strong sense of belonging in Europe. This began to change: the post-Soviet shock therapy reforms were a punishing transition to a free-market society, when a kilogram of sausage cost about the same as a monthly pension and many families experienced malnutrition and hunger. The sudden shift to a more “westernised” way of running the economy left many impoverished, which was eventually capitalised on – after the oligarchic power wars – by a new political leader who embraced a conservative, nationalist rhetoric: Vladimir Putin.

Today, Russian television presenters feed us stories about a European continent in decay, where “aggressive migrants” run amok, where social services take children away from their parents for being “slapped”, where “sexual minorities” destroy traditional families.

Belarus leader holds parade prompting safety concerns as other nations curb WW2 events; Russia records 10,000 new Covid-19 cases; Spain’s daily death toll continues to fall. Follow the latest updates

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3.54pm BST

A child was among sixteen migrants rescued four miles off the coast of France when their makeshift vessel bound for Britain ran into difficulties in the middle of the night, authorities said.

The group was picked up 3.8 miles off the French port of Calais after calling for help, French maritime authorities confirmed to AFP. A French maritime surveillance vessel rescued the migrants at around 5am and transported them to the Channel port of Dunkirk, where they were handed over to border police.

3.21pm BST

Vladimir Putin has told Russians they are invincible when they stand together, as he sought to send a message of unity after the country’s tally of Covid-19 cases reached the fifth highest in the world.

Addressing the nation in a speech as he presided over Victory Day celebrations, a sombre Putin invoked the memory of the country’s veterans who fought in the second world war.

We are united by our shared memory, hopes and aspirations, as well as a sense of shared responsibility for the present and the future. We know and strongly believe that when we stand together, we are invincible.”

On Thursday, the country reported its largest one-day increase in new cases of 11,231 — yet President Putin already has his eyes on reopening.

The United States on Friday accused China and Russia of stepping up cooperation to spread false narratives over the coronavirus pandemic, saying Beijing was increasingly adopting techniques honed by Moscow. "Even before the COVID-19 crisis we assessed a certain level of coordination between Russia and the PRC in the realm of propaganda," said Lea Gabrielle, coordinator of the State Department's Global Engagement Center, which tracks foreign propaganda. The Global Engagement Center earlier said thousands of Russian-linked social media accounts were spreading conspiracies about the pandemic, including charging that the virus first detected last year in the Chinese metropolis of Wuhan was created by the United States.

Former director of national intelligence James Clapper in 2018 said that he hadn't seen evidence that the Trump presidential campaign colluded with Russia to win the 2016 general election.Clapper was responding to a query from then-representative Tom Rooney, a Florida Republican, during an interview before the House Intelligence Committee. The transcript of the interview was released on Thursday."I never saw any direct empirical evidence that the Trump campaign or someone in it was plotting [or] conspiring with the Russians to meddle with the election," Clapper said."That's not to say that there weren't concerns about the evidence we were seeing, anecdotal evidence…[redacted]," Clapper added. "But I do not recall any instance when I had direct evidence of the content of these meetings. It's just the frequency and prevalence of them was of concern."Rooney then asked Clapper, "At what time is collusion collusion, and at what time is it just people that may have an affiliation with the campaign meeting or talking with… the Russian ambassador or somebody that's of Russian origin, and when should that be taken as something that rises to the level of an Intelligence Community concern?""I really can't answer it other than the sort of visceral reaction to why all these meetings with the Russians," Clapper responded. Clapper admitted that it would be "legitimate" for incoming Trump administration officials to meet with representatives of Russia, "but I think there is a line…between that and violating the principle that in this country we traditionally have one President and one administration at a time."The interview was part of a set of 53 transcripts of interviews held by the House Intelligence Committee as part of the Russia investigation. Current committee chairman Adam Schiff had called for the release of the transcripts in 2018.However, after 43 transcripts had been reviewed and redacted by intelligence agencies as of June 2019, Schiff refused to relase the completed transcripts to the public. Current acting DNI head Richard Grenell informed Schiff on Wednesday that all the transcripts were ready for publication.

Abayev and members of his search team rummage the steppe for remains of the Red Army soldiers who fell in the autumn of 1942 in fierce fighting with Nazi troops pushing toward the Caspian Sea south of Stalingrad. Stiff resistance by the Red Army stopped the Wehrmacht onslaught in the steppes of Kalmykia, and months later the enemy's forces were encircled in Stalingrad and surrendered, a major defeat for the Nazis that marked a turning point in World War II.

Footage of last year's Red Square military parade play on TV as the pandemic mutes celebrations.

As coronavirus spreads in the provinces, more and more health workers are getting sick - and dying.

The Red Square parade was cancelled because of the pandemic, but in neighbouring Belarus the parade went ahead as planned.

The secret moment between two gay Russian lovers that defied haters.

Sometimes in life it is the smallest things that have the biggest consequences. In the case of Russia forward Eder Lima, it was a simple red card that led to him preparing to face Iran in the semi-final of the FIFA Futsal World Cup Colombia 2016 on Tuesday. 

Russia booked their place in the FIFA Futsal World Cup Colombia 2016 final after outlasting Iran 4-3 in Tuesday’s semi-final in Medellin.