Natasha Lebedeva

5 days ago | nbcnews.com | Keir Simmons |Natasha Lebedeva |Jennifer Jett |Peter Guo

/ Updated MOSCOW — Russia marked the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s World War II victory over Nazi Germany on Friday with a parade attended by Chinese President Xi Jinping, as the two countries vowed to strengthen ties and “firmly” counter U.S. influence. Amid tight security after Ukrainian drone attacks on Moscow this week, thousands of Russian troops marched on Red Square, with military units from China and 12 other countries also taking part.

1 month ago | nbcnews.com | Keir Simmons |Gabe Joselow |Natasha Lebedeva |Victor Sema

By , , , and KORENEVO, Russia — The carcass of a burned-out American military Humvee lies outside a hotel in this front-line town. This is where Ukraine’s forces were halted amid heavy fighting in August last year, locals tell NBC News. Since then, Russia's fight back bore fruit. The destroyed vehicle is a drop in the ocean of the $66.5 billion in military aid that the U.S. has provided to Kyiv for its war effort.

2 months ago | nbcnews.com | Keir Simmons |Courtney Kube |Natasha Lebedeva

President Donald Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine and Russia was excluded from high-level talks on ending the war after the Kremlin said it didn't want him there, a U.S. administration official and a Russian official tell NBC News.  Retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg was conspicuously absent from two recent summits in Saudi Arabia — one with Russian officials and the other with Ukrainians — even though the talks come under his remit.

2 months ago | nbcnews.com | Keir Simmons |Natasha Lebedeva |Matthew Bodner

By , and RYLSK, Russia — Air raid sirens are greeted with a shrug in the small town of Rylsk in Russia’s southwestern Kursk oblast, where residents carry on with their day unconcerned as loud speakers warn, “Attention, missile danger, proceed to shelter.”Nearby, soldiers stand around smoking cigarettes or jump from vehicles to pick up packages from the Ozon store, a Russian equivalent of Amazon, in the thousand-year-old town.

2 months ago | nbcnews.com | Keir Simmons |Natasha Lebedeva

By and MOSCOW — From where President Vladimir Putin is sitting, it looks like Russia is now winning a yearslong struggle with the United States and the West. And the result may be more war. President Donald Trump’s announcement overnight that the United States would immediately halt military aid to Ukraine was welcomed by the Kremlin on Tuesday, and his decision appears to vindicate Putin’s visceral dislike of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.