PUTIN

Scenes of jubilation Tuesday greeted Russian pilots on their return from Syria in Russia when they arrived at their air bases.

The Islamic State group has been losing its grip on territory and increasingly leaning on child soldiers, a U.S. spokesman said Monday.

The surprise move, following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s withdrawal announcement on Monday, comes as Syrian peace talks enter their second day in Geneva.

State-owned TV and officials portrayed the troop withdrawal as a testament to an effective bombing campaign.

As the civil war in Syria, which has left more than 250,000 dead, reaches the five-year mark, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday he had achieved his goals and was ready to remove his forces.

The Syrian government said Saturday it would not discuss presidential elections at peace talks in Geneva this week.

Russia’s economic problems, fueled by low oil prices and Western sanctions, are causing misery as well as some new opportunities in the country’s mid-sized manufacturing towns.

Nadezhda Savchenko, the female Ukrainian pilot held in a Russian jail, has started to drink water on the personal request of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.

Nadezhda Savchenko, held in Russia since 2014, said she could die while on hunger strike before a Russian judge reaches a verdict.

The latest unrest, linked to the ongoing trial of Ukrainian pilot Nadezhda Savchenko, could worsen relations between Russia and Ukraine.

Although violence has dwindled with the cessation of hostilities, shelling and clashes continue around Aleppo and the Turkish border.

Russian authorities said anything Gulchekhra Bobokulova says should be understood as coming from someone mentally unwell.

If the Russian president wins the next presidential election in 2018, it would be his fourth term as leader of the country.

Slumping oil prices and Western sanctions make it likely that its crisis-hit economy will contract for a second consecutive year.

In an interview with German television, Syrian President Bashar Assad promised full amnesty to opposition fighters who lay down their arms.

The meeting, scheduled to take place Tuesday, comes at a time when Russia’s oil-dependent economy is reeling under recession.

One year on from the murder of Boris Nemtsov in Russia, his friends and relatives say the perpetrators are being shielded from justice.

The 11th sanctioned Republican debate will air at 9 p.m. EST Wednesday on Fox News Channel.

The Medium Extended Air Defense System might be part of the country’s solution to growing spillover from the Syrian civil war.

Secretary of State John Kerry said Tuesday that the U.S. wants Syrian President Bashar Assad out of power as a condition to moving forward.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s address on national television about the latest Syrian ceasefire deal suggests the Kremlin is committed to its implementation.