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Was Vladimir Putin preparing a major announcement on Russia's offensive in Ukraine? Would he declare some kind of victory? Or signal an escalation? In the end, he did neither. In his Red Square address to Russian troops - and the Russian nation - the Kremlin leader repeated his frequently voiced justification for attacking Ukraine: an argument that appears to blame everyone but Russia for what's happening. He criticised (as usual) America, Nato and the government in Kyiv, claiming that their actions had put the security of Russia itself in danger. He made references (as usual) to "neo-Nazis" in Ukraine. We hear that a lot from Russian officials, who regularly voice the baseless claim that Ukraine has been overrun by fascists, ultra-nationalists and Nazi sympathisers. President Putin admitted that Russia had suffered military losses, but he gave no details. The last official figures released by Russia's defence ministry were 1,351 Russian soldiers killed. But that ...

Eleven Colombian ex-soldiers are giving details about extrajudicial killings carried out by the army during Colombia's armed conflict. They are taking part in a public hearing of the special court examining crimes committed during the conflict. More than 6,400 civilians were killed by the military and falsely passed off as enemy combatants between 2002 and 2008, an inquiry revealed last year. But this is the first time those involved have given detailed accounts. "We murdered innocent people, farmers," former soldier Néstor Gutiérrez told relatives of victims. 'I robbed children of their fathers' About a hundred relatives were present at Tuesday's hearing of the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) court, which was set up as part of a peace deal between left-wing rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) and the Colombian government signed in 2016. "It's not easy being here," Mr Gutiérrez said. "I executed, I killed the rel...

Russia's decision to cut off gas exports to Poland and Bulgaria is an "instrument of blackmail", the EU says. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said the move showed Russia's "unreliability" as a supplier. But the Kremlin said Russia had been forced into the action by the "unfriendly steps" of Western nations. Europe depends on Russia for more than a third of its gas needs and state energy giant Gazprom holds a monopoly on pipeline supplies in Russia. While many European countries have taken steps to wean themselves of Russian oil imports since it invaded Ukraine, Russia has continued to supply large amount of gas to many European countries. After Western powers placed financial sanctions on Russia in response to its invasion, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that "unfriendly" countries would have to pay for gas in Russian currency. Gazprom said this was why it had suspended supply to Bulgaria and Poland. Poland ...