Free Republic

Russians have been told to grow their own bananas as a shortage looms, days after President Vladimir Putin issued a ban on imports from Ecuador, its largest supplier of the fruit, seemingly over an arms shipment spat. Oleg Knyazkov, the head of the industry expertise center at Rosselkhoznadzor, the Russian consumer watchdog, told local news outlet Gazeta that he predicts there will be a nationwide shortage of bananas in a month. He advised Russians to start growing them domestically. His comments come after Putin suspended banana imports from five Ecuadorian companies on February 2, saying the decision was made due...

Senior Democrats are suggesting that a discharge petition could be introduced to bring a $95-billion overseas aid bill to a vote in the House of Representatives if Speaker Mike Johnson refuses to introduce it. On Tuesday the bill passed the Senate in a 70-29 vote, but it must also be approved by the House before President Joe Biden can sign it into law. Johnson has refused to say he would bring the bill to the floor of the House, potentially halting its passage. On Monday he criticized the legislation, which would provide an additional $60 billion of military aid for...

In recent years, a movement among sections of Chinese nationalists has emerged, asking that Russia return Vladivostok to China. These claims have been intensified by Putin's interview, in which he contrasted the alleged historical foundation of the Russian state, which he said dated back to the 9th century, with the "invention" of Ukraine in the 20th century. "According to history, Russia should return us Vladivostok and vast territory stolen 100-something years ago," Robert Wu, a social media user from China, said on X, formerly Twitter... Another Chinese nationalist on Weibo pointed out that Russia has territories that imperial Chinese dynasties...

... The Russian president argued that Poland was to blame for Hitler's decision to invade, claiming the Warsaw "went too far" by balking at the annexation of part of its territory. Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski suggested in a post to X, formerly Twitter, on Friday that Putin was "paranoid" and called it "shocking" that Carlson "enabled" the Russian president by giving him a platform to spread his false claims and rhetoric. Sikorski .. also noted that Hitler was joined in invading Poland by the Soviet Union, which was an ally to Nazi Germany for nearly the first two years...

Russian authorities denied an emergency in Russia's Udmurt Republic, as videos show a huge fireball over a weapons plant that produces nuclear weapons components and ballistic missiles. Massive explosion was reported on Wednesday on the grounds of the Votkinsk weapons factory, which produces weapons including the RS-24 Yars intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) & strategic ballistic missiles for the Topol-M and Iskander systems. The factory is located some 30 miles from the capital of the Udmurt Republic, Izhevsk. Videos filmed by residents showed a huge fireball over the area and a massive glow in the sky. Locals reported hearing explosions before...

The Kremlin confirmed on Wednesday that former Fox News host Tucker Carlson interviewed Russian President Vladimir Putin during his visit to Moscow, but disputed a claim he made that Western journalists hadn't attempted to interview the leader throughout the war. -snip- Peskov said Carlson is "wrong" by suggesting that Western journalists haven't attempted to interview Putin—an assertion the former Fox News host made in a lengthy video announcing his interview with the Russian leader. "He, in fact, cannot know this. We receive many requests for interviews with the president," Peskov said. -snip- Many Western journalists have interviewed Ukrainian President Volodymyr...

T Tucker Carlson's interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin could see the conservative pundit targeted by European Union lawmakers, current and former members of the European Parliament have told Newsweek.Carlson visited Russia this week, and on Tuesday revealed he would "soon" be releasing an interview with the Russian leader.

The reported appearance of former Fox News host Tucker Carlson in the Russian capital has sparked intense speculation over the purpose of the conservative media personality's visit to Moscow. Carlson arrived in Moscow on February 1, and was spotted attending the Bolshoi Theater in the capital, according to Russian outlet Mash. Questions quickly swirled over why the TV anchor would have traveled to Moscow, and whether he intended to interview Russian President Vladimir Putin during the visit.

The disappearance of top Russian generals dating back to September has sparked questions about their whereabouts amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. Russian and Ukrainian forces have presented different public findings since the purported death of Russian Admiral Viktor Sokolov, who Kyiv said was one of 34 Russian officers killed in late September by a missile strike executed against the headquarters of the Russian Navy's Black Sea fleet in annexed Crimea. Sokolov was viewed by Ukrainian forces as a high-value target. The lack of visibility by Russia's top general, Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, has additionally caused wonderment regarding...

Russian opposition leader challenging Vladimir Putin in March's presidential election can expect to be poisoned or imprisoned, according to prominent Putin ally Vladimir Solovyov. Boris Nadezhdin, a former State Duma member who is known for opposing Russia's war in Ukraine, announced on Wednesday that he was filing papers to challenge Putin in the election. The announcement came after a successful campaign to collect at least 100,000 voter signatures required to appear on the ballot. Solovyov, the host of a popular Russian state television show known for pushing Kremlin propaganda, warned Nadezhdin during a broadcast a short time later that his...

Donald Trump has suggested he may choose a new lawyer to represent him when he appeals his damages verdict in a case brought against him by E. Jean Carroll. On Friday, a New York City jury ordered that the former president must pay $83.3 million in damages to Carroll for statements made in 2019. He said she was lying about allegations he sexually assaulted her inside a Manhattan department store dressing room in the 1990s. That amount includes $7.3 million in compensatory damages, $11 million for reputational repair, and $65 million in punitive damages. *** The Republican was represented by...

Moscow and Tehran will strengthen their security partnership and team up to counter sanctions imposed by the West, a key architect of Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine has said. Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of Russia's Security Council, announced closer cooperation between the allies after a meeting with the head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Ali Akbar Ahmadian. Ties between Tehran and Moscow have deepened since the start of the war in Ukraine, with Iran supplying Russian forces with Shahed unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) which have wreaked havoc on Ukrainian infrastructure.

Russian forces are contending with Ukrainian "gamers" using first-person-view (FPV) drones across the front line against Russian strongholds, a top Russian official has said, as uncrewed vehicles gain an ever higher profile in the 23 month-old war. Ukrainian unmanned vehicle operators carried out a "continuous raid" on Russian positions for several days at an undisclosed location along the front line, said Dmitry Rogozin, former head of the Russian Space agency, who is now a Moscow-installed official in the annexed Zaporizhzhia region of southern Ukraine. "In four hours, 24 FPV drones flew to the stronghold of only one of our volunteer...

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a new decree relating to Moscow's historic real estate holdings abroad, a move interpreted by ultranationalist bloggers as a foundation for future revanchism against Russia's neighbors—and even the U.S. The decree, signed by the president late last week, allocates funds for the search, registration, and legal protection of Russian property abroad, including property in the former territories of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. This would include Alaska, swathes of eastern and central Europe, large chunks of central Asia, and parts of Scandinavia. Russia's Foreign Ministry and its presidential administration's Foreign Property Management...

While speaking at a United Nations Security Council meeting in New York City on Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused the United States of providing Ukraine with "old junk" weapons while building up its military complex. In November, The Washington Post reported that of the $68 billion in military aid Congress approved for Ukraine, nearly 90 percent went back to the U.S. to build new weapons or replace ones sent to Ukraine from American stockpiles. The Post wrote that a Ukrainian official said "every single state in the U.S. contributes to this effort," thus creating more American jobs. The...

Ukraine's successful suppression of the Russian Black Sea fleet has resulted in Kyiv's grain exports rising to their highest levels since the invasion by Moscow began. -snip- Russia's Black Sea fleet flagship Moskva was destroyed by Ukraine in the early days of the war. The losses have continued since then, with British Defence Secretary Grant Shapp saying last month that Russia had lost 20 percent of its Black Sea fleet over the course of four months. Significant recent losses include the December destruction of large Russian landing ship Novocherkassk and last week's revelation that Ukrainian drones sank a Tarantul-class corvette...

Supporters of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' now suspended campaign are sending a warning to Donald Trump, threatening to withhold their votes from him should he win the GOP nomination this summer. A number of DeSantis backers expressed their frustrations with Trump supporters, whom they tangled with during the nomination race, and signaled that they could be holding a grudge that has the potential to cost the GOP the general election. Another pro-DeSantis account, @KaladinFree, warned Trump supporters that their candidate of choice "can't afford to lose ANY" DeSantis fans. It said that if Trump lost the 2020 election, presumably with...

It is now abundantly clear that Russia has defeated the Western sanctions regime that was intended to cripple its economy and force its withdrawal from Ukraine. Instead of collapsing, the Russian economy is growing rapidly. Russia's GDP grew by an impressive 5.5 percent in the third quarter of 2023. Russian GDP growth for all of 2023 should exceed 3 percent. Ironically, the Russians are doing rather better than those who imposed sanctions on them. In 2023, the U.S. economy grew by 2.4 percent while the German economy shrank, and the EU as a whole grew by less than 1 percent....

Nikki Haley and Donald Trump are neck-and-neck in the New Hampshire GOP primary, with the former South Carolina governor the preferred Republican candidate among male voters, according to a poll. An American Research Group Inc survey of 600 likely voters showed that Haley and Trump are both tied on 40 percent when respondents were asked who they want as the Republican 2024 presidential nominee, with Haley getting more support than the former president from men, voters aged under 49 and undeclared/independent voters.

Russian-state television pundit Aleksandr Sytin recently warned that life "keeps getting worse" in Russia amid its war with Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, claiming to seek the "denazification" of the Eastern European country's government and hoping for a quick victory. Nearly two years later, Ukraine's stronger-than-anticipated defense effort has blocked Russian advances, and both sides continue fighting for control of eastern Ukrainian territory. The Russian military has faced myriad challenges amid the conflict, including troubles recruiting and maintaining well-trained, disciplined troops. Military analysts have noted that Putin's troops lack motivation, and questions...