Free Republic

Russian forces occupied Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv, for just under a month. Across those 29 days in early 2022, they committed acts of such barbarity that this Ukrainian town will forever be synonymous with war crimes; this conflict’s Srebrenica. Residents were killed and tortured in their hundreds; more than 100 were buried in a mass grave outside the Orthodox Christian church. Others were murdered as they fled. The basement of a children’s summer camp was converted into a torture chamber where women and children were systematically raped. Soldiers slashed throats, mutilated victims and killed parents in front of...

Moldova's electoral commission barred a pro-Russian party from participating in this weekend's parliamentary elections on Friday, a vote beleaguered by widespread claims of Russian interference. The outcome of Sunday's high-stakes vote could determine whether Moldova, a former Soviet republic and a candidate for EU membership, will continue on a path towards the West or be brought back into Moscow's orbit. The Heart of Moldova party is one of four parties in the Russia-friendly Patriotic Electoral Bloc (BEP), which is viewed as one of the main opponents of the ruling pro-Western Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS). The Central Electoral Commission's...

Russia has said it believes NATO is plotting a "landing" in Ukraine as part of a bid by the European Union to "occupy" Moldova. The Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) claimed NATO military units were massing in Romania close to the Moldovan border and were also planning a "landing" in Ukraine's Odesa region, according to TASS, Moscow's state news agency. Why It Matters Moldova goes to the polls on Sunday in a critical parliamentary election. The vote is seen as a stark choice for the country between a path to EU membership or closer ties with Moscow. Following Russia’s invasion...

Poland has barred pro-Russian Moldovan politician Irina Vlah from entering the country for five years, the foreign ministry said on Thursday, accusing her of helping Moscow interfere in Moldova’s upcoming parliamentary elections. "Irina Vlah, a Moldovan politician who is assisting Russia in interfering with preparations for the parliamentary elections in Moldova, will be banned from entering Poland," the Polish foreign ministry said in a statement. Moldova is set to hold a high-stakes parliamentary vote on Sunday that could determine its European path. Officials in Chișinău and Western capitals have accused Moscow of trying to sway the outcome and undermine the...

The Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs has recommended that its citizens immediately leave Belarus and refrain from traveling to the country, the Polish embassy in Minsk reported. “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs recommends refraining from any travel to the Republic of Belarus and calls on Polish citizens currently in the Republic of Belarus to immediately leave its territory, using available commercial and private means“, the embassy's press service said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday personally supervised the joint Russian-Belarusian military exercises Zapad-2025, the Kremlin said. Putin arrived at the Mulino training ground in the Nizhny Novgorod region wearing a military uniform as he is also commander-in-chief of the Russian army. Addressing the participants, the president said the goal of the exercises is to practice defending the Union State – a name for the alliance between Russia and Belarus – from any aggression. "The purpose of this exercise is to train all necessary elements for unconditional protection of sovereignty, territorial integrity, and defense against any aggression towards the Union...

Security officers have “neutralized” a drone over government buildings in central Warsaw, and two Belarusian citizens have been detained, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Monday amid heightened regional tensions following recent airspace violations. “A moment ago, the Government Security Service neutralized a drone operating over government buildings (Parkowa Street) and Belweder,” Tusk posted on the X platform. The Belweder Palace is one of the Polish president’s official residences. “Two citizens of Belarus have been arrested,” Tusk added. “Police are investigating.” “Two citizens of Belarus have been arrested,” Tusk added. “Police are investigating.” The incident comes with Poland on...

The closure of the Polish-Belarusian border has frozen a key route for Chinese exports to the European Union, prompting Beijing to put pressure on Warsaw to reopen it and restore the freight link, which is worth €25 billion a year. Poland took the decision to close its frontier with Moscow-allied Belarus ahead of joint Russian-Belarusian military exercises, codenamed Zapad 2025, which started on Friday. Following last week’s Russian drone incursion into Polish airspace, officials said the border closure would be in force until further notice. Three freight rail crossings, one for cars and another for trucks have been shut. The...

Poland’s Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski told his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on Monday that Poland opposes Beijing’s indirect support for Moscow in its war with Ukraine – which Beijing refers to as “the Ukrainian crisis”. During the meeting, which took place in Helenow, located close to the Polish capital Warsaw, Sikorski also urged for more Chinese engagement on ending the war various media reported. Tensions have also been rising along Poland’s eastern border. Last week, Warsaw closed the Małaszewicze border crossing with Belarus, effectively halting a key artery of Sino-Polish and Sino-EU trade. -snip- According to diplomatic sources cited by...

Russia and Belarus began a major joint military exercise on NATO's doorstep on Friday at a time of heightened tension with the Western alliance, two days after Poland shot down Russian drones that crossed into its airspace. The "Zapad-2025" exercise, a show of force by Russia and its close ally Belarus, is taking place at training grounds in both countries, including close to the Polish border. It was scheduled well before the drone incident, which marked the first known occasion that a NATO member had fired against incoming Russian targets in the course of the 3-1/2-year war. WHAT WILL THE...

Grocery stores in Belarus could be fined if they don’t keep enough potatoes in stock, as the country grapples with shortages, high prices and poor-quality spuds. The new regulation imposes penalties of up to €2,200 (8,400 Belarusian rubles) for failure to supply the staple, widely regarded as Belarus’ national vegetable. The decree, signed into law on Saturday by President Alexander Lukashenko and officially published on Wednesday, puts the onus on both shops and wholesale suppliers to ensure that common ingredients are delivered to stores, especially in the off-season. Belarus has been hit by an apparent potato crisis this year, with...

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Tuesday downplayed US President Donald Trump's threat to impose 100 per cent tariffs on Russia and its trading partners, asserting that Moscow is well equipped to withstand additional sanctions. -snip- "We would like to understand what is behind this statement after about 50 days. Earlier, there were also deadlines of 24 hours and 100 days; we’ve seen it all and really would like to understand the motivation of the US president," he said. Lavrov also said the SCO countries have reiterated their commitment to Iran’s legitimate right to peaceful uses of nuclear energy. "We...

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, an opposition leader in Belarus, hadn’t heard from her husband Siarhei in more than two years. Not since Belarusian authorities placed him in “incommunicado” detention, in full isolation. And then he called her. “My dear wife,” he said. “I’m free.” He had been released from prison after negotiations between authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko and Trump administration officials, and was at the border between Belarus and Lithuania. He and 13 other political prisoners were heading to the American embassy in Vilnius. Tsikhanouskaya and Siarhei have since reintroduced him to their children, traveled to a solidarity rally in Poland and...

The Belarusian ruler’s price controls have backfired. Alexander Lukashenko’s stubborn grip on the Belarusian economy plunged the potato-happy country into a spud shortage this spring. Critics of the authoritarian ruler, who in January grabbed a seventh term in power, say he has warped the economy with strict price controls on staples like potatoes — while encouraging citizens to snitch on grocery stores that flout regime rules. The limits, launched by Lukashenko in October 2022 as he aimed to keep prices low and stave off inflation, instead made potatoes far less profitable for farmers to produce. Opponents say that decisions made...

Russian special forces troops moved many of Saddam Hussein's weapons and related goods out of Iraq and into Syria in the weeks before the March 2003 U.S. military operation, The Washington Times has learned. John A. Shaw, the deputy undersecretary of defense for international technology security, said in an interview that he believes the Russian troops, working with Iraqi intelligence, "almost certainly" removed the high-explosive material that went missing from the Al-Qaqaa facility, south of Baghdad. "The Russians brought in, just before the war got started, a whole series of military units," Mr. Shaw said. "Their main job was to...

Russia's former president said that the production of nuclear weapons in Iran will continue Russia's former president said that multiple countries are poised to provide Iran with nuclear warheads after the U.S. launched strikes against three Iranian nuclear facilities. The enrichment of nuclear material — and, now we can say it outright, the future production of nuclear weapons — will continue," Dmitry Medvedev, now the deputy chairman of the Security Council of Russia, said in a Sunday X post. "A number of countries are ready to directly supply Iran with their own nuclear warheads," Medvedev said. Medvedev did not list...

Belarus has freed Sergey Tikhanovsky, a key dissident figure and the husband of exiled opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, following a rare visit by a senior US official, Tikhanovskaya’s team announced on Saturday. Tikhanovsky, a popular blogger and activist who was jailed in 2020, arrived in Vilnius, Lithuania, alongside 13 other political prisoners, his wife’s team said. The release came just hours after Belarusian authorities announced that authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko met with US President Donald Trump’s envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, in Minsk. A video published on his wife’s official Telegram account showed Tikhanovsky disembarking a white minibus, with a...

WASHINGTON -- Just when the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) thought it had its hands around the Iranian nuclear program, NewsMax has learned from intelligence sources that Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps is completing a secret, underground uranium enrichment plant that should begin operating in October 2006. Work on the new plant, located 50 miles outside the northeastern Iranian city of Mashad, was begun with help from Russian engineers in 2003, Iranian intelligence sources said. The facility has been built 150 meters below ground in a rugged highlands valley some 38 kilometers southeast of the city of Nishabour. The nearest inhabited...

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko engaged in dialogue with U.S. special envoy Keith Kellogg, according to a report by the state news agency Belta on Saturday. The discussions between Lukashenko and Kellogg focused on the current global political landscape and the intricate bilateral relations shared by Belarus and the United States. This meeting underscores the continued diplomatic efforts aimed at addressing international issues and fostering cooperation between the two nations.

Russia - Masque Of The Red Death Vladimir Putin has been hailed perhaps as the pivotal post cold war Russian leader. He has executed a skillful dog and pony show, convincing both the Bush and Blair administrations that the former Soviet Union was not only no longer a military threat to the West but was indeed now becoming a close ally. Obviously Russia's cooperation with the French and German UN delegation's intransigence in dealing with Iraq has done much to throw cold water on this heretofore-budding union. It's important to note that such a relationship offered hope, though ultimately unfounded,...