Anti-Ukrainian sentiment in Russia

At least four people were killed and nine were wounded in Russian strikes on the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, the governor of the region said.
An air threat was announced in the Mykolaiv, Kirovohrad and Dnipropetrovsk regions of Ukraine, as well as in parts of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions that are controlled by Kyiv.

BELGRADE - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has received a New Year and Christmas greeting card from Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"In spite of the uneasy situation in the world, the relations between Russia and Serbia, based on centuries-old traditions of friendship and spiritual closeness, are developing in a constructive spirit," Putin's greeting card read.

Day 667 of the invasion of Ukraine. Summary of key events in the last 24 hours:

Vladimir Putin has almost casually announced that he will run for the presidency of Russia again in mid-2024. After a ceremony honoring soldiers in the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin announced in mid-December what everyone expected: that he would run for the fifth time in the presidential elections in Russia.

Day 661 of the invasion of Ukraine. Summary of key events in the last 24 hours:

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday promised "harsh" punishment for foreign interference in next year's election, where he will seek to extend his decades-long grip on power into the 2030s.

President Vladimir Putin voiced renewed confidence yesterday in Russia's offensive in Ukraine, as he staged a marathon press conference a week after announcing plans to stay in the Kremlin until at least 2030.

"If (Russian President Vladimir) Putin wins in Ukraine, he stands on NATO's doorstep. And as I said the other day, if you think the cost of supporting Ukraine is high now, think about how much it will be not only in money, but in American blood if we have to start acting on our Article Five obligations," White House National Security Adviser John Kirby said at a press briefing.

Deputy President of the Security Council of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev, said that the threat of direct conflict between Russia and NATO countries has never been more real than it is now.
"Never since the Cuban Missile Crisis has there been such a real threat of direct conflict between Russia and NATO leading to World War III," he wrote on Telegram.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday after visiting the United Arab Emirates, making a rare trip abroad as Moscow seeks to reassert itself on the global stage.