Vasily Astrov, expert on the Russian economy at the Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, told Newsweek that "inflation has really subsided markedly over the past few months. The outcome of this policy has been a marked cooling of domestic demand, with the welcome side effect of rapid disinflation.

Russia's Foreign Ministry on Wednesday accused Italy of discrimination and said it had caved into misplaced Ukrainian lobbying after Italian authorities cancelled a classical music concert by Russian conductor Valery Gergiev.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is stalling over a ceasefire. Meanwhile, Trump has changed his mind about sending weapons to Ukraine.

China supports russian terrorism – thus, China directly supports the fight against Europe. The new russian drone consists almost entirely of Chinese components, — GUR. The intelligence agency has published data on the drone, which the russians use as a decoy, reconnaissance… pic.twitter.com/1mpwMf9Kkh

Russia faced a penetrating barrage of drones from Ukraine over the weekend that caused all four of Moscow's major airports to close amid the intensifying war.

Anti-government protests have broken out in Kyiv as hundreds flocked to the streets to oppose a decision to curb the powers of two anti-corruption agencies. Ukraine has toughened restrictions on the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office.

The backward-looking inquiries are taking place even national security agencies are confronting global threats.

Tensions between Russia and the neighbouring Caucasus republic of Azerbaijan are escalating against the backdrop of Moscow's war in Ukraine. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned Baku not to jeopardize relations between the two countries because of the war.