"Members of my family, the little ones, speak Chinese fluently," Putin told students at a secondary school in Kyzyl, Tuva.

Russia complained about Ukraine advances into the Kursk region, calling the people there "peaceful." The comment is ironic, given the attack is part of a war that Russia began.

A Marine who became a corporate security executive, Paul Whelan, 54, had been detained in Russia since 2018 — among the longest-held and most high-profile of the Americans detained in Russia.