Vladimir Putin has just claimed the world has no place for “dictatorship, double standards or lies” – more than two years after he invaded Ukraine and a day after his most prominent critic was laid to rest.

The Russian president was speaking the day after the funeral of Alexei Navalny, who died under mysterious circumstances in a Russian penal colony in the Arctic circle last month.

The Russian prison service claimed Navalny felt unwell and then fell unconscious while on a walk, and medics were not able to revive him.

He was serving a lengthy sentence on charges widely seen as politically motivated at the time.

Putin has not directly addressed Navalny’s passing even though it has become an international news story.

Leaders across the West have also blamed Russian president for his critic’s death – US president Joe Biden said he has “no doubt” it was the “consequence of something that Putin and his thugs did”.

But speaking on Saturday to the participants of the World Youth Festival, Putin bizarrely praised equality and justice, according to a report from the Russian state news agency TASS.

Putin claimed: “I know that these values are shared by the vast majority of the Earth’s inhabitants.

“This is why we must take care of them and defend them together, fulfil our dreams together, and help each other to make the lives of billions of people – let me stress this – billions of people better.

“This world has no place for racism, dictatorship, double standards or lies, and people are free to speak their language and follow the beliefs and traditions of their ancestors.”

It’s worth remembering Putin has been called a “dictator” by Biden in the past and the Russian president’s brutal actions in Ukraine have left the country pretty isolated on the world stage.

Having suppressed his most vocal political opponents over the years, Putin is also a shoo-in to win the upcoming presidential election in Russia. He has already spent more than two decades in power.

The Kremlin has been cracking down on any kind of public dissent in Russia in recent years, too.

Independent media and human rights defence group, OVD-Info reported that more than 400 people were detained at events across 32 Russian cities in the first few days after Navalny’s death – including journalists.

Mourning supporters of the outspoken Kremlin critic were even prohibited from laying flowers in his memory.

Navalny’s family also claimed they struggled to find a venue to host his funeral in Russia, with many refusing once they found out who the funeral was for.

However, thousands still turned out to show their support for Navalny on Friday, chanting “no to the war” and “Putin is a murderer”.

According to the US-based think tank, the Institute for the Study of War, the Kremlin likely allowed this unusual show of rebellion to happen to “avoid prompting wider outrage”.

The experts suggested: “The Kremlin likely did not order large crackdowns against displays of anti-war sentiment in order to avoid prompting wider outrage while also projecting confidence in public support for Russian President Vladimir Putin and his war effort in Ukraine ahead of presidential elections on March 17.”

Russian sources are “concerned” over Ukraine’s activity in the occupied region of Kherson, according to a US think-tank.

The Ukrainian oblast of Kherson was illegally annexed by Moscow in September 2022 – but a flurry of military activity in the region is causing a stir as Kyiv fights to retrieve the land.

Last weekend, Russia shelled Kherson alone more than 200 times, according to the regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy also confirmed that these attacks had disrupted the region’s electricity and water supply.

But Ukrainian forces are now said to be crossing the region’s part of the Dnipro river – where one bank is controlled by Ukraine, the other by Russia – according to a prominent Russian military blogger named as “Rybar” by Sky News.

In its most recent update, the think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW) explained that these worries are becoming more widespread.

It said: “Russian sources expressed pronounced concern about ongoing Ukrainian activity on the east bank of Kherson Oblast and framed these activities as part of a potential larger Ukrainian operation.”

Ukraine has previously struggled to reclaim any of this area.

Rybar claimed on Tuesday night that Ukrainian formations near the destroyed Antonisky bridge had moved forwards, and occupied a village.

Increasing its presence on the other side of the river would enable Kyiv to send troops, tanks and artillery across, and apply more pressure to the Russian forces on that long frontline.

The Russian ministry of defence has acknowledged Ukrainian operations too, according to ISW, claiming they stopped four Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance groups near Kherson City.

ISW also reported: “The milblogger reacted to the reported [Ukrainian] assault on the night of October 17 to 18 by accusing the Russian MoD of not taking the threat of a Ukrainian crossing seriously.”

In another indication that Ukraine’s progress in Kherson is troubling Moscow, the Russian president Vladimir Putin recently described Ukrainian activity in Kherson as the “next counteroffensive”.

But, as ISW noted, the Russian president has also “continued his typical rhetorical line by painting all Ukrainian offensive operations as a failure”.

The think tank has a policy of not forecasting Ukrainian actions though, so it did not speculate over the possibility that Kyiv will launch an offensive over the Dnipro river any time soon.

Still, ISW added: “It is noteworthy that prominent and generally reliable Russian sources are discussing Ukrainian activities on the east bank as occurring at a larger scale than previously documented.”

Russia is trying to recruit troops from neighbouring countries in an attempt to replace those injured or killed on the front line in Ukraine, according to UK officials.

Online adverts offering thousands of pounds to those who sign up to fight have been published in Armenia and Kazakhstan.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said there had also been “recruitment efforts” among the ethnic Russian population in Kazakhstan’s northern Qostanai region.

That is in addition to attempts to persuade central Asian migrants to fight for Russia in Ukraine by offering them fast-track citizenship and salaries of up to £3,300.

“There are at least six million migrants from central Asia in Russia, which the Kremlin likely sees as potential recruits,” the MoD said in its latest update posted on X, formerly Twitter.

“Russia likely wishes to avoid further unpopular domestic mobilisation measures in the run up to the 2024 Presidential elections.

“Exploiting foreign nationals allows the Kremlin to acquire additional personnel for its war effort in the face of mounting casualties.”

It emerged last week that thousands of Russian troops are being prosecuted for refusing to return to fight in Ukraine amid plummeting morale.

Nearly 100 Russian soldiers a week after being convicted for refusing to go into battle as the war drags on.

“If this trend continues, there will be approximately 5,200 convictions a year for refusing to fight,” the MoD said.

Russia is also failing to hit its army recruitment targets despite a massive rise in forces’ pay.

The country is estimated to have suffered more than 200,000 casualties so far in the Ukraine war.

The MoD revealed last month that up to half of Russian fatalities in the war could also have been prevented “with proper first aid”, while crude battlefield medical treatment is causing a huge number of preventable fatalities and amputations.

Meanwhile, at least half of the elite 30,000 Russian paratroopers deployed to Ukraine have probably been killed or wounded.