Free Republic

ussian President Vladimir Putin has scheduled an operational meeting with members of the Russian Security Council, as rumors swirl that Russia and Belarus are moving toward a unification process. "On Friday, the president will hold an operational meeting with the permanent members of the Security Council in the middle of the day or in the afternoon—it will depend on other events," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted by Russia's state-run news agency TASS as saying. -snip- Russian political scientist and publicist Andrei Piontkovsky said in an interview with TSN.ua that Putin may, during Friday's meeting, sign a "pact to unite"...

Throughout his 20-plus year rule, Vladimir Putin has consolidated power through graft, intimidation, manipulation of the Russian legal system, and forcefully silencing critics. Putin’s ability to sustain subservience and loyalty to his authority is no small feat, especially in a political culture of ruthless power politics. His reputation as a master tactician abroad has also been carefully cultivated, if not exaggerated.

Temperatures would plunge in a bigger shift than the last Ice Age and crops would fail around the world after nuclear war erupted, a study has shown. The after-effects would be long-lasting with oceans taking hundreds of years to recover, and fishing devastated, the researchers warn. Professor Cheryl Harrison, of Louisiana State University, said: "It doesn't matter who is bombing whom. It can be India and Pakistan or NATO and Russia. Once the smoke is released into the upper atmosphere, it spreads globally and affects everyone." In all the simulated scenarios, nuclear firestorms would release soot and smoke into the...

Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said Wednesday that a breakthrough had been reached in the agreements and a coordination center would be established in Turkey that will oversee the comings and goings of merchant vessels. Officials from Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the U.N. will be involved in the coordinating efforts, the minister said. According to the preliminary plan, Russia would agree to a cease-fire to allow three Ukrainian ports to be opened in the Black Sea to allow for safe passage, first reported by the Wall Street Journal. The merchant ships would be escorted by Ukrainian naval vessels which would...

My sources have already confirmed to me that one of the two convicted persons is Konstantin Nikitenko, a shooter on an armored car carrier, and the other is a machine gun shooter known as "Frost".Information on the fate of the two Ukrainian prisoners seems to be fairly certain, all the more so as their detention in the Elenovka detention center in Donetsk has been confirmed by several sources.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine, ordered the Ukrainian military to re-establish control over coastal regions in southern Ukraine. Ukraine is amassing a million-strong fighting force in order to achieve this goal.Source: Oleksii Reznikov, Ukraine’s Minister of Defence, in an interview for The Times [of London]Details: "Ukraine is massing a million-strong fighting force equipped with western weapons to recover its southern territory from Russia," The Times wrote.Reznikov said that President Zelenskyy had ordered Ukraine’s military to retake occupied coastal areas which are vital to the country’s economy.Quote from Reznikov: "We understand that, politically, it’s very necessary for our country. The president...

Republican James E. Risch (Idaho) was in Ukraine, touring the country. He was escorted by Ukrainian forces because the State Department refused to provide him security once he crossed the Ukrainian border. He met with Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv, and came away with the conclusion that the current U.S. strategy has not properly adjusted to the latest phase of the fighting.Russian forces are pummeling Ukrainian civilian and military targets in the Donbas with their superior artillery. Ukrainian forces are still not receiving enough of the weapons that might give them the advantage — including long-range air defenses, longer-range artillery, heavy...

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stormed off and headed home early after being snubbed by other diplomats at the G20 summit — who refused to take a group photo with him over his nation’s invasion of Ukraine. Foreign ministers who gathered in Bali, Indonesia, this week, did not pose for a traditional “family”-style group photo, after several of them reportedly refused to be pictured with Vladimir Putin’s chief envoy. The Japanese news agency Kyodo reported that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken led the photo-op boycott.

VLADIMIR Putin health fears have escalated after the tyrant appeared to fall asleep during a meeting at the Kremlin with his defence minister. The Russian leader appeared bloated and is rumoured to be undergoing debilitating cancer treatment. He was seen slumped over and bleary-eyed in the incredible footage - which mysteriously cut away as he appeared to drift off. Putin, 69, is seen in the Kremlin hunched over his desk as he unenthusiastically congratulates his troops on "liberating" the eastern Ukrainian region of Luhansk. Sitting in a staged televised meeting with Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, a worn-out Putin tells his...

Jews have been fleeing Russia in droves | Natalia Kolesnikova/AFP via Getty Images As Vladimir Putin’s war rages on for the fifth month in Ukraine and repression suffocates civil liberties back home, Russian Jews are worried they’ll soon become the Kremlin’s targets. Jews have been fleeing Russia in droves; those who’ve stayed behind are terrified of directly criticizing the war, which Putin has cynically claimed he launched to “de-Nazify” Ukraine. “In our congregation, we don’t talk about any political issues,” said a Moscow rabbi who asked not to be named. He added that after a 2011 crackdown on protests linked...

Putin announces operational pause after capturing towns in the east Russian President Vladimir Putin celebrated the Russian seizure of Lysychansk and the majority of the Luhansk regional border in eastern Ukraine by appearing to direct his military to conduct an “operational pause”, the Institute for the Study of War reported on Monday. Putin and Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu called the recent Russian gains in the Luhansk region as a major victory for Russian forces in Ukraine. The Russian president also stated that the Russian units that participated in the battle for Lysychansk should rest to increase their combat capabilities,...

Kyiv Pride was never supposed to be held outside of Ukraine's capital, but among the rainbow flags at Warsaw Pride in neighboring Poland, Ukraine's ubiquitous blue and yellow stood out. "I'm here because I can't go to Pride in Ukraine," one participant said. "We're all people regardless of who you love." Central Europe's biggest Pride march kept a focus on Ukraine's fight against Russia, as well as its LGBTQ+ community's fight for equal rights. ...

Alexander Lukashenko said on Saturday that if Belarus were to come under “attack”, its army would respond immediately. The West has speculated over the level of involvement of Belarus in Russia’s ongoing “special military operation” in Ukraine since late February. Lukashenko said his state stood fully behind Russia in its invasion as part of its commitment to a “union state” with Moscow. But he has previously suggested his own armed forces will not themselves enter Ukraine, pointing to Minsk’s potential role of helping to create a peace deal instead. The Belarusian President was, however, clear that his country would not...

Ukraine's military has confirmed that the eastern city of Lysychansk has fallen to Russian forces. "After heavy fighting for Lysychansk, the defence forces of Ukraine were forced to withdraw from their occupied positions and lines," the army general staff said. Earlier Russia's Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said his forces had captured Lysychansk and taken full control of Luhansk region. Its general staff said that "in order to preserve the lives of Ukrainian defenders, a decision was made to withdraw".

The serial number proves that the Tochka-U missile that fell on Kramatorsk belonPhotos taken by Western journalists with Kiev's permission prove that the Tochka-U missile that attacked Kramatorsk was Ukrainian. This drew the attention of the Donetsk TV channel "Union", as well as several Telegram channels specializing in military topics. "The serial number of the Tochka-U missile, which fell on the eve of the railway station in Kramatorsk. Rocket 9M79-1, serial number SH91579. Earlier, Ukrainian militants used missiles from the same series, "the TV channel said in a statement.gs to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

A fearsome Russian general has been linked to the deadly railway station strike that killed dozens of fleeing civilians that was branded a 'crime against humanity' within the international community. Western officials believe Captain General Aleksandr Dvornikov, a Russian commander who oversaw devastation in Syria, is likely to have ordered yesterday’s fatal air strike on the station in Kramatorsk. Graphic images on Friday from the eastern Ukrainian city showed bodies strewn across the floor, lying amongst luggage and children's prams outside the city's busy station. Some had already been put into green body bags, while other photos showed smoke rising...