By Vladimir Soldatkin MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday ordered his top officials to draft proposals for a possible test of nuclear weapons, something Moscow has not done since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.

Officials in Washington say the U.S. has identified key targets inside Venezuela that are tied to drug trafficking operations.

Putin announced successful Poseidon nuclear drone testing as President Donald Trump urged Russia to end the Ukraine war instead of testing missiles on Monday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has instructed senior officials to consider whether Moscow should start preparing to conduct nuclear weapons tests.

President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday praised some of Russia's newest weapons, describing them as faster and more effective, capable of ensuring security and strategic parity and even of use in rare metals extraction and lunar missions.

Rebels in Sudan claimed to have shot down a Russian-made transport plane as it flew over territory under their control. The IL-76 plane belonged to Sudan's Airforce and crashed near the town of Babanusa after coming under fire from the paramilitary group the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Her name was Kira. Invited to speak as a “hero’s child,” she broke from the carefully prepared script. In front of the cameras, she told Putin that her uncle, wounded in the arm, had been sent back to the front without proper treatment.

MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday ordered the Russian cabinet to draw up by December 1 a road map for the extraction of rare earth minerals which are used in smartphones, electric vehicles and weapons systems.