Russian soldiers call the practice a sacrifice to Baba Yaga, a fearsome witch from Slavic folklore who feasts on her victims.

The Kremlin has been in a state of high alert for some time, and President Putin has been eager to reassert Russia's nuclear threat to the West.

Russian heavy metal and goth music fans in Russia could face prison after Vladimir Putin banned "satanists". The Kremlin's top court has outlawed the "international satanism movement" as an extremist and terrorist group - despite no such group existing.

On July 22, U.S. and Canadian jets under NORAD command intercepted a formation of two Russian Tu-95 nuclear-capable bombers and two Su-35 fighters after they entered the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone.

Putin's summer offensive is stalling as Ukraine puts up a heroic defense leaving Russia resorting to teens to fill the ranks

Ukrainian drones targeted St. Petersburg on Sunday, Russian authorities said, forcing the airport to close for five hours as Vladimir Putin marked Russia’s Navy Day in the city, despite the earlier cancellation of its naval parade due to security concerns.

Lithuania, a tiny Nato nation of just two million people on Russia's doorstep, is said to be drawing up war plans for a possible invasion from Mad Vladimir Putin's forces