Free Republic

The news of municipal deputies from Russian districts signing a petition demanding Putin resigns was shared by Ksenia Torstrem, a member of the St. Petersburg municipality Semenovsky, who published the statement on Twitter. She urged other municipal deputies to join the statement. “We, the municipal deputies of Russia, believe that the actions of President V. V. Putin are detrimental to the future of Russia and its citizens.” “We demand Vladimir Putin’s resignation as President of the Russian Federation!” reads the text of the petition, signed by about 20 deputies.

Raging Russian nationalists called on Sunday for President Vladimir Putin to make immediate changes to ensure victory in the Ukraine war after troops were forced to retreat amid a series of strong Ukrainian counterattacks. Ukraine's troops on Saturday stormed east out of second city Kharkiv, smashing through Russian lines and liberating huge swathes of territory, including the key strategic city of Izyum along with several key transport and logistics hubs supporting Putin's men in the Donbas. The news prompted Chechen leader and Putin ally Ramzan Kadyrov to publish an 11-minute-long rant on the Telegram messaging app, declaring that 'changes must...

Panicked Russian soldiers are abandoning their tanks, weapons and even clothes as they "literally run from their positions" in the face of a shock Ukrainian offensive, soldiers have told The Telegraph. A Ukrainian intelligence unit on the front line said the Russian chain of command was broken and soldiers were fleeing without putting up a fight, many of them changing into civilian clothes to avoid detection. A drone operator returning from the front line on Sunday also told The Telegraph that the speed of the offensive had even taken their own army by surprise, with troops struggling to recover the...

Russian nationalists called angrily on Sunday for President Vladimir Putin to make immediate changes to ensure ultimate victory in the Ukraine war, a day after Moscow was forced to abandon its main bastion in northeastern Ukraine. The swift fall of Izium in Kharkiv province was Russia's worst military defeat since its troops were forced back from the Ukrainian capital Kyiv in March. (snip)Moscow's almost total silence on the defeat - or any explanation for what had taken place in northeastern Ukraine - provoked significant anger among some pro-war commentators and Russian nationalists on social media. Neither Putin, who is Russia's...