Free Republic

Tell us how you really feel, Vladimir Putin. The Russian leader, who recently annexed Crimea from Ukraine, dissed Alaska today in his annual marathon question-and-answer session. Asked by a Russian woman if the U.S. state could be his next conquest, Putin seemed disinterested in adding it to his growing empire. "What would you need Alaska for?" he asked, adding that Russia already has enough cold territory. Russia sold Alaska to the United States in the 19th century for $7.2 million in gold.

Thousands of residents gathered for a rally in Donetsk unity "With prayer for Ukraine." PHOTOREPORTS + Live Broadcast Rally "With prayer for Ukraine" started in Donetsk. As of 18:00 in the park near the Donetsk City Palace of children's creativity were about 1.5-2 thousand people, reports Tsenzor.NET referring to the island. People with flags of Ukraine and Ukrainian symbols keep coming . Ukrainian flags very much. Among the protesters are so many young people. Read also " Tsenzor.NET ": In Stakhanov wife policemen stood a human shield , protecting the police department of the assault. To militants reinforcements arrived -...

Secretary of State John Kerry reacted to a report Thursday that Jews in one restive Ukrainian city were sent notices telling them to register, a development he called "grotesque." Kerry's comments follow a report in Israel's Ynet News that a leaflet was circulating in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk, demanding that Jews register -- as well as provide a list of property they own -- or else face deportation and revocation of citizenship. Pro-Russian activists have asserted partial control over some government buildings in that city. Ynet reported that the notices, sent as the Passover holiday began, were signed...

(CNN) -- Diplomats meeting for emergency talks on the crisis in Ukraine issued a joint statement Thursday aimed at de-escalating the tensions and ensuring the security of all Ukrainians. The statement -- which appears to be the biggest step toward calming the situation in days -- followed talks lasting several hours between U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, his acting Ukrainian counterpart, Andriy Deshchytsia, and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton. The pact calls for all illegal armed groups to be disarmed, all illegally seized buildings to be returned to their legitimate owners and all...

Despite calls for a peaceful dialogue in the document on Ukraine adopted in Geneva, the coup-imposed Ukrainian Foreign Minister said it will not affect the “anti-terrorist” operation in the East of the country and the troops will remain there. Soon after the Geneva document, adopted at a four-side meeting between Ukraine, the US, the EU and Russia, was published, Ukraine’s acting Foreign Minister Andrey Deshchytsa said Kiev is not bound by its recommendations. According to Deshchytsa cited by RIA Novosti, “the troops in the East of the country are carrying out a special operation and can remain where they are.”

Ukraine may submit an application for membership in the EUROPEAN UNION – European Parliament

Photo of the day 92 -year-old veteran of World War II came to the headquarters of the National Protection enroll in recruits. Paragraphs recording volunteers into the ranks of special units to protect public order come even veterans who have more than 90 years. It is reported with reference to Ukrinform. 92 -year-old WWII veteran Nikolai Ostashevsky came to the headquarters of the National Protection Dnipropetrovsk region recruits enroll in Dnipropetrovsk, April 17, 2014," - said "volunteer ready once again to defend homeland." Source : http://censor.net.ua/p281605 See also " Tsenzor.NET " : Thousands of people gathered for a rally in...

(GENEVA) — Top diplomats from the United States, European Union, Russia and Ukraine reached agreement Thursday on immediate steps to ease the crisis in Ukraine. The agreement, reached after seven hours of negotiation in Geneva, requires all sides to refrain from violence, intimidation or provocative actions. It calls for the disarming of all illegally armed groups and for control of buildings seized by pro-Russian separatists during the protests to be turned back over to authorities. It also gives amnesty to protesters who comply with the demands, except those found guilty of committing capital crimes. Monitors with the Organization of Security...

Moscow, April 16, Interfax – Humanity deserves the new “Flood,” but Russia is called to be the Noah’s Ark, head of the Department for Church and Society Relations Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin believes. “If suddenly something like the Flood happens, it will be justified. If the Lord with human hands punishes big cities it will even more justified. But we still believe and hope that time for repentance will be prolonged and an example of spiritual resurrection and renovation of the whole nation will be shown in the history before the end of times, and thus sin will be condemned and...

Commenting on the recent recognition that NATO bombed Serbia without the permission of the UN Security Council , the Serbian president said yesterday that it is reasonable to expect that Serbia should be back on her feet by and with a compensation made ​​for injustice. Marking that the NATO bombing of Serbia 1999 was uncivilized method precedent " for ever , and for ages " , something which would shame even d barbarous nations from pre-Christian period , Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic in yesterday's speech on the occasion of the Day Of Army of Serbia at the central celebration in...

The U.S. is sending helmets, sleeping bags and generators to support the Ukrainian military -- but stopped short of approving other items the interim government reportedly says it needs to stand up to the might of Moscow, saber-rattling on its doorstep. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced Thursday that the U.S. will send the additional non-lethal military aid. The additional aid was announced as fighting between Ukraine's military and pro-Russian factions intensified in the eastern part of the country. Hagel, speaking at a press conference at the Pentagon with his Polish counterpart, said the approved aid would include medical supplies, helmets,...

WATCH LIVE RUSSIAN ANTI-USA RALLY AT DIGNITAS NEWS!

<p>Russia is “the only country in the world capable of turning the U.S.A. into radioactive dust.”</p> <p>That was the declaration made recently on a major Russian state TV channel by the popular anchorman Dmitry Kiselyov. The coarse tone in which he delivered this message was every bit as menacing as the actual words...</p>

According to the Information of resistance, near a military unit in Mariupol is a battle. At the moment Ukrainian soldiers repulsed two attacks using weapons to kill. Part of the storming "green men". However, according to our data, this is not Russian soldiers and fighters from local separatists in basic military training, dressed in the appropriate form but without insignia. They are the representatives of GRU HEADQUARTERS ARMED FORCES of the RUSSIAN FEDERATION.

If you’re wondering why this otherwise prosaic Bloomberg piece about Pence’s national future begins with a mention of the Koch brothers, it’s probably because the guy who wrote it worked for Paul Sarbanes and, briefly, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz before resuming his career as an impartial reporter.But never mind that. Is Pence the dark horse? “I have no doubt that he would make a great president,” said Steven Chancellor, the chief executive officer of Evansville, Indiana-based American Patriot Group, the parent of a company that makes ready-to-eat rations for the Pentagon. “He certainly distinguished himself in the House” and is “off...

-snip- The operation that the government said would confront pro-Russian militants in the east unraveled Wednesday with the entire contingent of 21 armored vehicles surrendering or retreating. -snip- One of the armored columns stopped when a crowd of people, many of whom were drinking or yelling taunts, gathered on the road before them. Later in the day its commander agreed to hand over the soldiers’ assault rifles to the very separatists they were sent to fight. Another column from the same unit, the 25th Dnipropetrovsk paratrooper brigade, surrendered not only its weapons but also the tracked and armored vehicles it...

First Sign That Geneva Discussions are Making Progress The foreign ministers of Ukraine, Russia, the U.S. and the European Union are working on a joint statement, in a sign that talks in Geneva may have made progress, according to two officials involved in the talks on Thursday. Both officials said it wasn't yet clear whether a joint statement would eventually be agreed among all four governments. No details were immediately available. Thursday's meeting, which started late morning in Geneva, is the highest-level direct talks between Moscow and Kiev since Russia's annexation of Crimea.

NATO's anti-Russian political rhetoric has surpassed the propaganda of the times of the aggression against Yugoslavia, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday. In recent time, NATO issued some publications, in which the Alliance tried to present causes of the crisis in Europe in its usual tendentious manner, traditionally shifting responsibility to Russia, the ministry noted. Russia not afraid of NATO expansion - Putin Russia never evaded cooperation with the North Atlantic Alliance, proposing to build it on the basis of equality. "Despite disagreements (NATO expansion, deployment of missile defense systems and the alliance’s non-compliance with international laws), Russia during...

Opportunities for the West to hurt the Russian economy are limited, President Vladimir Putin said Thursday. Europe cannot stop buying Russian gas without inflicting pain on itself, and if the US tries to lower oil prices, the dollar will suffer. If the West tries to damage Russia’s influence in the world energy market, efforts will likely backfire, the Russian President said during his twelfth annual televised question and answer session. To really influence the world oil market a country would need to increase production and cut prices, which currently only Saudi Arabia could afford, Putin said. The president added he...

MOSCOW -- President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia emphasized on Thursday that the upper chamber of the Russian Parliament had authorized him to use military force if necessary in eastern Ukraine, and also stressed Russia's historical claim to the territory, repeatedly referring to it as "new Russia" and saying that only "God knows" why it became part of Ukraine. Speaking in a televised question-and-answer show, Mr. Putin also admitted for the first time that Russian armed forces had been deployed in Crimea, the disputed peninsula that Russia annexed last month immediately after a large majority of the population voted in...