A submarine base in Balaklava was once a Soviet secret, then it reopened as a tourist museum. Now, observers claim the base is being revived once more for warfighting Russian vessels.

Pete Hegseth faces backlash for refusing to call Russia the aggressor in the Ukraine war, despite past Fox News remarks labeling Putin an authoritarian and Moscow's actions an invasion.

President Trump wants Russia to get back into the Group of 7 economic forum of top democratic economies from which it was suspended following the 2014 annexation of Crimea.

The Russian gas giant could once bring countries to their knees by cutting off energy supplies, until Europe stopped buying its product.

Industry experts say Western companies will need to weigh potential access to oil and gas riches against political risks and other hazards of doing business in Russia.

In the Soviet era, thousands of dissenters were hospitalised for political reasons, based on the premise that only someone mentally ill would oppose the Communist state. Among the best known cases were those of dissident Vladimir Bukovsky and Nobel prize-winning poet Joseph Brodsky.