Free Republic

Canadians should prepare for a steep decline in living standards over the next five years, warns a new federal report that forecasts a grim future for the country's middle class. Blacklock's Reporter says the report, compiled by the Privy Council’s think tank Policy Horizons Canada, paints a picture of widespread financial insecurity, eroded trust in institutions, and looming mental health challenges tied to economic despair. “Downward social mobility is the norm,” stated Disruptions On The Horizon, which placed the collapse of the middle class among the top 10 most probable national disruptions in the near future. The report, dated 2024...

THIS is the dramatic moment a Russian stealth drone is shot out of the sky by Vladimir Putin’s Su-57 warplane. The £11.5 million S-70 Okhotnik stealth drone can be seen exploding in the air in the extraordinary footage. Video of the incident shows two Kremlin military aircrafts speeding across the sky over eastern Ukraine when the trailing plane fires a missile which hits the one in front. Russian pro-war Z channels initially claimed that a Ukrainian war plane had been hit by a Russian aircraft. However, the burnt wreckage on the ground near Ukrainian-controlled Kostiantynivka had distinct Russian insignia on...

Russia appears to have launched its first major counterattack to drive Ukrainian forces out of Russia's Kursk region more than a month after Ukraine began its surprise offensive, according to Russian and Ukrainian sources as well as independent military analysts.Russian forces appeared already to have some success on Tuesday -- retaking some territory and driving a wedge into Ukrainian lines in Kursk, analysts said.Videos posted by pro-Russian military bloggers and geolocated by ABC News showed a large Russian armored column attacking toward the village of Snagost. Another video appears to show Ukrainian troops taken prisoner.The Russian counterattack is focused on...

Ukraine’s current military recruitment campaign is not going according to plan.Announced on April 16, 2024, the drive was aimed at enlisting hundreds of thousands of young Ukrainian men to help push back against a Russian invasion that has gained momentum in recent months.But the effort has been met with public skepticism, draft dodging and opposition to unpopular, heavy-handed attempts to root out those not heeding the call to sign up. It has left Ukraine struggling to fill the positions officials say are needed to beat back the invading army. Rather than solving Ukraine’s problems, the draft effort is multiplying them....

Russia has no plans to take control of Kharkov, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with students and teachers of the Harbin Institute of Technology. "As for Kharkov, there are no such plans as of today," the president said. Russia is making gains in the fighting in the Kharkov region, he also said, adding that the Russian armed forces are moving every day strictly according to plan. Putin blamed the Ukrainian forces for what was happening in Kharkov region. "They are shooting directly at the center of the city, at residential areas. And I said publicly that if...

MOSCOW (Reuters) -President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Russian forces were improving their positions every day along the front in Ukraine in all directions and that the advance was going to plan.Russia has been pushing Ukrainian forces back at various points in recent months despite hundreds of billions of dollars worth of aid from the United States and its allies.Putin, at a meeting in the Kremlin with new Defence Minister Andrei Belousov, Secretary of the Security Council Sergei Shoigu, and top generals, said the work of the military was "proceeding according to the plan" approved by the General Staff."The...

Russia's Kuibyshev mid-sized oil refinery near the city of Samara on the Volga river has halted all production following damage from a Ukrainian drone attack last week, two industry sources told Reuters on Thursday. The disruption adds to the difficulties of the Russian oil refining sector as the need for emergency repairs following numerous drone attacks claimed by Ukraine has left them struggling to deliver supplies. According to Reuters calculations, around 14% of Russia's refining capacity has been shut down by drone attacks, including Kuibyshev, and the country has this month increased gasoline imports from neighbouring Belarus to address possible...

Huge fires were burning at industrial sites in Moscow and St Petersburg after the latest round of attacks on Russian infrastructure by Ukraine. In St Petersburg, a blaze broke out at an industrial site close to the airport with footage showing towering flames and a huge column of smoke streaking into the sky. Local reports indicated that a hangar within the industrial zone was ablaze, whilst some suggested a drone had been seen nearby at the time. Meanwhile a similar blaze broke out in the suburbs of Moscow, where a construction warehouse burned to the ground. More footage showed flames...

A Russian military transport plane carrying 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war crashed near the border between the two nations Wednesday, with Moscow accusing Kyiv of shooting down the aircraft, Kremlin officials say. The Russian Ilyushin Il-76 plane was carrying 74 people, including six crew members and three guards who were set to deliver the POWs in exchange for Russian captives, according to state news agency RIA’s quotes from the defense ministry. Andrei Kartapolov, a Russian lawmaker, claimed during a parliamentary session Wednesday that the plane had been shot down by three missiles.

74 people killed in Russia plane crash, no survivor Ministry says 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war on plane that crashed

In a tragic incident, a Russian military transport plane crashed near the Ukraine border. Conflicting reports mention 65 captured Ukrainian military onboard and, separately, cargo related to air defense systems.

A giant warehouse near St Petersburg has gone up in smoke after the Russian workers there set the entire facility ablaze. The action was reportedly taken after Russian police raided the Wildberries warehouse to find people to conscript to fight the war in Ukraine. According to Russian media sources the incident is currently under investigation by the state prosecutor's office. According to APA's Russian bureau, there is currently no available information regarding the number of casualties or injuries caused by the fire. The fire took hold of the 50 thousand square metre site and required hundreds of firefighters to bring...

A massive fire near Moscow has destroyed a plant that supplies body armour for Vladimir Putin’s troops. Video footage shows flames engulfing the plant on Entuziastov Avenue, Obukhovo, in the Moscow region this morning, and no casualties have been reported. Law enforcement in Russia is investigating whether the inferno was caused by an act of sabotage or arson. The fire has destroyed 86,000 feet of a warehouse and a workshop. Workers were evacuated from the plant just as it took hold and more than 100 firefighters tried to save the key production line. It has been sanctioned by Ukraine for...

By not punishing shoplifters, looters, rioters, and other criminals, Democrat cities have turned many of their neighborhoods into food deserts. (1/5) #FoodDesert #BLM #shoplifting #riot #looting #crime #softoncrime #socialjustice #poverty #hunger #liberal #progressive #Democrat https://web.archive.org/web/20201121054539/https://old.post-gazette.com/pg/08358/937017-85.stm https://www.startribune.com/minneapolis-longfellow-neighborhood-almost-food-desert-after-riots/570928442/ https://web.archive.org/web/20200609190703/https://www.wbez.org/stories/in-chicagos-poorest-areas-recovery-may-be-long-if-it-comes-at-all/4ec11642-b45f-4c32-9e48-66ab206d14d5 https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/emails-reveal-frustration-with-city-led-sodo-food-desert/PXM5GXPPDJEBJO4J6TAJZADOPY/ https://www.ipi.org/ipi_issues/detail/those-food-deserts-may-become-food-wastelands (2/5) https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:Fk1zrva8R_wJ:https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2020/06/02/minneapolis-school-asked-people-donate-food-students-after-looting-closed-stores-miles-cars-lined-up/+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us https://komonews.com/news/local/crime-prompts-sodos-only-grocery-store-to-close https://www.fox29.com/news/looting-forces-germantown-stores-to-close-leaving-residents-with-limited-access-to-food https://chicago.cbslocal.com/2020/06/03/chicagos-south-side-left-with-few-food-options-after-weekend-violence/ (3/5) https://chicago.cbslocal.com/2020/06/02/black-girls-break-bread-steps-in-as-looting-leaves-food-deserts-even-worse-off/ https://abc7chicago.com/looted-pharmacies-grocery-stores-remain-closed-while-residents-scramble-for-essentials/6227663/ https://thesource.com/2020/06/06/chicago-food-deserts-grow-on-citys-south-side-due-to-looting-during-recent-protests/ https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Walgreens-to-close-5-more-S-F-stores-citing-16528444.php (4/5) https://www.cbsnews.com/news/walgreens-close-five-stores-san-francisco-theft-shoplifting/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/10/13/walgreens-closes-5-more-locations-san-francisco-over-shoplifting/8434183002/ https://blackdoctor.org/looters-leave-more-food-deserts-in-black-communities https://web.archive.org/web/20210601041405/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/21/us/san-francisco-shoplifting-epidemic.html https://www.marketplace.org/2020/06/04/neighborhoods-where-stores-were-destroyed-become-food-deserts-overnight/ (5/5)

Loud explosions were heard in early Tuesday hours over the Crimean town of Feodosia on the Black Sea coast, Russian news outlets on the Telegram messaging service reported. Footage posted on several Russian news outlets on Telegram showed powerful explosions and fires over a port area.

Some Moscow residents claim egg prices have doubled, as Russia continues to battle persistent inflation and Western sanctions. Surging egg prices, against a backdrop of high inflation and economic sanctions, are worrying the Russian authorities, especially as eggs are a symbolic and central ingredient of the festive season. -snip- In November, the average price of eggs in Russia rose by 40.29% year-on-year, according to the Russian Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat). Muscovite consumers report even steeper rises. "Before, I used to buy eggs for 70 roubles a dozen. Now they cost between 130 and 140 roubles - twice as much,"...

Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a rare apology on Thursday when a pensioner complained to him about the price of eggs. During Putin's end-of-year question and answer session with the media and with members of the public calling in from across Russia, pensioner Irina Akopova was shown seated at her kitchen table and addressing the president by video link. She complained that prices for eggs, chicken breasts and wings had all skyrocketed. "Vladimir Vladimirovich, take pity on pensioners! We don't get millions in our pensions. Sort this out - we have no one to turn to," she said. "I'm very...

Russian forces have ramped up attacks in eastern Ukraine in an attempt to gain ground near two key front line cities, Ukrainian military officials said Sunday.Moscow's troops have begun a push to regain territory near Bakhmut, the eastern mining city that was the site of the war’s bloodiest battle before falling into Russian hands in May, the head of Ukraine’s ground forces wrote on the Telegram messaging app.Ukraine's long-awaited counteroffensive has so far resulted in only incremental gains and heavy losses, with Ukrainian troops struggling to punch through Russian lines in the south.

A handful of tests launches of Russian President Vladimir Putin's newest nuclear-capable missiles have either been canceled or failed since June, according to a report. Independent Russian news outlet Sirena reported on Wednesday, citing a source at a rocket and space industry enterprise in the country, said at least six missile tests have been unsuccessful since June 30. The attempted tests involved Russia's next-generation "Poseidon" nuclear-capable torpedo, its Sarmat weaponry, its Yars intercontinental ballistic missile, and the Bulava, an intercontinental-range, submarine-launched, ballistic missile which is also designed to carry a nuclear warhead. -snip- Sirena reported that its source said the...

The Kremlin has dismissed fresh speculation that Russian President Vladimir Putin is ill and called rumours that he uses a body double an "absurd hoax". The comments from Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov came after the General SVR Telegram channel, which regularly alleges Mr Putin is terminally ill with cancer, claimed he suffered "cardiac arrest" on Sunday evening. "Everything is fine with him, this is absolutely another fake [story]," Mr Peskov said when asked about the reports during his regular media briefing on Tuesday morning. He then called claims that the Russian leader has a body double an "absurd hoax".