The kiwi dollar is losing ground in traditional holiday hotspots overseas but a break to Russia has become much cheaper.

The ex-KGB officer seated in front of me raised his hand to interrupt my brief monologue on Vladimir Putin's "hybrid" war in Ukraine.

President Francois Hollande has resolved a spat with Russia over the future of two advanced warships Moscow ordered from France before its annexation of Crimea poisoned relations with the West.

It was what Murray McCully called a "bad day for the Security Council" after Russia stopped an international tribunal being set up to prosecute the people who shot down MH17.

It's ranked the ninth largest in the world, and boasts an on-deck jacuzzi, six swimming pools, a gym, a helipad and a helicopter hanger.

So many Russians are being killed or injured in pursuit of the perfect selfie that police have launched a public safety campaign.

Tanks growled across Red Square and fighter jets streaked overhead as Russia celebrated the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II with a mass-ranked display of military might.

Russia has staged its biggest military parade, marking 70 years of victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.

Rich-lister Stephen Jennings has launched defamation action against Fairfax Media and a senior journalist Michael Field about Jennings' business activities in Russia and Kenya.

The Russian spacecraft that went rogue yesterday has begun an unstoppable descent into Earth's atmosphere, experts have said.

Burger King has come under fierce criticism for advertising on "tittygram" - a Russian website which displays messages across the exposed chest of a model.

Putin isn't a rich man. A man who wields near-absolute power in a country as vast as Russia doesn't need money or property.

Russia's entire Northern Fleet is on the move today as part of a show of force involving 40,000 troops, more than 41 warships, 15 submarines and 110 aircraft.

Putin appears in public again after a 10-day mysterious absence while aide attacks ‘gossip’ about a coup.

Rumours continue to swirl about Russian president’s apparent vanishing act amid claims his long-denied girlfriend has given birth.

Team NZ head Keith Turner admits the prospect of Dean Barker joining another America's Cup syndicate is worrying, and blames the media for the dispute reaching this point.

One of two men accused of murdering Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov is a decorated former soldier who once received a bravery award issued by the Kremlin.

The mood in Moscow was grim, a quiet rage running through the crowd.

Moscow police were yesterday hunting for the killers of Boris Nemtsov, the Russian opposition politician who was gunned down in the shadow of the Kremlin's towers yesterday.

Ukraine accused Russia of sponsoring a terrorist attack on a peace march in the city of Kharkiv that left two dead and at least 10 wounded.

Civilian planes flying over British airspace are at risk from Russian jets playing a highly dangerous 'game of chicken' in the skies, a former head of the armed forces has warned.

Just over one month since its last downgrade of Moscow's credit rating, Moody's said Russia "is expected to experience a deep recession in 2015 and a contraction in 2016".

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko called for an international peacekeeping mission in his nation's war-torn east.

Ukraine has appealed to the West to get tough on Russia after separatists it says are militarily backed by Moscow stormed a flashpoint town.

The 94-year-old Wellington veteran received the honour at French Ambassador Laurent Contini's home in Thorndon tonight.

More than 11 months into the crisis he unleashed, Russian President Vladimir Putin remains in charge of the dynamic, seeking to confuse and divide the West as he apparently seeks to create a damaged....

Diplomats have warned Europe could descend into war if the West does not stand up to Russia over the Ukraine conflict.

The widow of poisoned spy Alexander Litvinenko has told the public inquiry into his death that her husband accused Russian president Vladimir Putin of being a paedophile.

Another tale of Russian spooks operating in the US has emerged, described by the former CIA analyst Mark Stout as a "classic case of espionage".