Free Republic

The top Kremlin-installed official in the oblast, Yevgeny Balitsky, said Russia should also have its eye on the Baltic states, as well as Poland and Finland, all five of which are NATO countries... In the interview shared by Russia watcher Julia Davis, Balitsky seemed ready to take on the alliance as he spoke of how the Russian Empire that ended with the 1917 revolution had "lost its footing" as well as "great numbers of people." "I'm not even talking about territories. I understand that it includes Warsaw, Helsinki, also known as Helsingfors," he said... "I don't believe in any diplomacy...

A Russian propagandist has called for the reinstatement of the Russian Empire, saying that's the country's ultimate goal. As Russia continues its military offensive against Ukraine, Russian propagandist Sergey Mardan alluded to a misconception that Russia wishes to restore the USSR, which collapsed in 1991, and instead suggested the country could rewind the clock back beyond the days of the Russian Empire. His comments come as President Vladimir Putin announced a new Russian holiday, the "Day of Unification," on September 30, to mark the illegal annexation of the Dontesk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine. Putin declared them to...