A Tu-134 aircraft carrying Russian Navy Commander-in-Chief Vladimir Masorin has crashed in Ukraine’s Crimea Region. Several navy officers suffered burns as a fire broke out on the plane.

Occupation command reports of death of Chechen Republic Ichkeria’s vice-president Shamil Basayev. There no details have been reported.

Feared by his people, his neighbours and the West, Russia’s President Putin is ruthlessly rebuilding the Soviet Empire. The tragedy, as he hosts his country’s first ever G8 summit this week, is that we are letting it happen.