Vladimir Putin has purged all the officers in his Baltic Sea fleet citing corruption

Isis fighters shot down a Russian helicopter above Syria, killing both pilots on board.

Over 500 passengers were left stranded for seven hours after one woman's impromptu decision to change her relationship status.

It's one thing to be attracted to bad boys and alpha males. But it's another thing entirely to fall in love with one of the world's most notorious serial killers.

The New Zealand Olympic Committee says it has not been told of any plan to ban Russian athletes from Rio for doping.

US defence official says Russia's might could annihilate Nato in three days, as a stand-off between them escalates in the region.

Russian "AIDS experts" say the best form of protection is to "be in a heterosexual family where both partners are loyal to each other".

Vladimir Putin may have unleashed his worst enemy when Nadia Savchenko was freed from Russian prison.

An Aucklander adopted from a Russian orphanage 19 years ago has been reunited with her birth sister - live on Russian television.

Diplomats tell us what Kiwis need to know about their homelands.

Reports by two consortiums of investigative journalists purport to have exposed the dealings and offshore accounts of some of Putin's closest associates.

Safely tucked away from prying eyes, Bunker 42 was Joseph Stalin's expansive nuclear facility built by the Soviet Union during the Cold War

Wendi Deng, 47, is rumoured to be seeing Russian President Vladimir Putin. But the Kremlin has denied any relationship between the two.

The former wife of the media mogul is reportedly in a "serious" relationship with the world leader.

US President Barack Obama welcomes world leaders to Washington today for a summit on nuclear security.

The excruciating moment a man miraculously hauls himself and his dog out of a frozen lake after they fell through the ice, has been caught on camera.

WATCH: Astonishing footage shows a Boeing 737 being blown right around on the ground by ferocious winds.

COMMENT: I bet every Western leader was privately impressed with Putin's tactical agility.

Putin's announcement that Russia will begin withdrawing the "main part" of its military from Syria is a surprise potential end to a six-month intervention.

Russia's surprise military withdrawal from Syria does not mean free-trade talks are back on the table, Prime Minister John Key says.

A Russian man is being prosecuted for writing a post on social media that equated the Bible to a "collection of Jewish fairytales".

Russian's plan is "the best opportunity the Syrian people have had over the past five years for lasting peace and stability".

Vladimir Putin is purposefully creating a refugee crisis in order to "overwhelm" and "break" Europe, Nato's military commander in Europe has warned.

More material branding the US president as a mass killer has shown up in Moscow.

The Turkish government, in league with Saudi Arabia, made a tentative decision to enter the war on the ground in Syria, writes Gwynne Dyer.

The use of sanctions against Russia are a symbolic reminder that the Putin leadership had seriously misread the international situation, writes Robert Patman.

Putin sell-off likely to be a flop, writes Ben Wright.

A leading member of a Russian opposition party has told how he believes he was poisoned in a "politically motivated" attack.