Free Republic

The referendum ascertains three sequential decisions: secession of territories from Ukraine; formation of an independent state; and its entry into the Russian Federation as a subject. The referendum on September 23-27 in the Donbass and southern Kherson and Zaporozhye regions of Ukraine on their accession to Russian Federation is, prima facie, an exercise of the right of self-determination by the native population who reject the Western-backed regime change in Kiev in 2014 and the ascendancy of extreme nationalist forces with neo-Nazi leanings in the power structure. But it has other dimensions, too. In all probability, the referendum will overwhelmingly opt...

Starting last month Ukrainian lawmakers began seeking to implement severe consequences for those participating in Russia-sponsored referendums in occupied territories of Ukraine. For example, a law is being pushed through parliament which criminalizes obtaining a Russian passport in temporarily occupied territories, Ukrainian sources reported last week, according to Yahoo News. Proposed possible punishments have included losing Ukrainian citizenship, or even lengthy jail sentences. But other officials have argued for a more compromising approach given the necessity of survival in occupied areas. But now the Ukrainian government has reiterated its willingness to impose steep penalties for even participating in any Kremlin-sponsored...

It seems that one continent can’t seem to catch a break. After the chaotic mess that was summer travel, Europe is preparing for a cold, hard winter. There is an impending energy crisis looming over the continent and as the demand surges in the colder months, European countries will have a hard time supplying much-needed power and the costs to heat and light homes and workplaces will soar. Already, it is estimated that the energy prices are 10 times higher than the five-year average. Countries are scrambling to store energy and advising measures to people to navigate through difficult times...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6v1_39yAQkI The Duran Russian economy strengthens. EU economies in tatters Alex: All right, Alexander, let's take a look at the Russian economy. We haven't done an update in regards to the Russian economy for a while now. And my question to you is has it collapsed yet? Has the Russian economy collapsed as we have been hearing? Ursula von der leyen in her State of the Union address, the EU State of the Union address thing that they do. She said, and she actually said this, that the Russians are removing chips from their dishwashers and using them in military...

Biden’s speech at the UN this morning will mark the first time in history an American president was translated to ENGLISH. ...

Multiple pro-Moscow officials in Ukraine on Tuesday announced their intent to stage referendums on joining Russia, including the head of the Donetsk People’s Republic Denis Pushilin, as well as the Russia-installed official over the southern Kherson region, Vladimir Saldo. “I think that people have long been waiting for a referendum here and it will probably be a political move that will help ensure the safety of civilians,” Pushillin said Tuesday. ...

Chinese President Xi Jinping addressed the Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party on Wednesday, stressing China's military readiness after the Army ''fully implemented the strategy of reforming and strengthening the military','' as reported by CCTV.The media wrote that Xi said the country should ''grasp the new situation and [...] focus on preparing for war,'' without providing further details on what conflict he referred to.Beijing and Moscow recently underwent joint military exercise, however, the situation around Taiwan is also becoming more intense, with the Taiwan's Defense Ministry today stating that 12 Chinese aircraft crossed the median line of the...

Many have noted the suspicious and very convenient timing regarding Azerbaijan-Armenia hostilities which serve as an additional distraction for Russia amid its special military operation in Ukraine and its ongoing operations in Syria. In addition to a recent visit by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Armenia, anti-CSTO protests promoted by US government-funded media organizations in Armenia point toward events being much more than convenient timing and instead similar to US-engineered unrest seen in Ukraine in 2014.

For a country that ISN”T overrun with Nazis and Nazi sympathizers, Ukraine sure does seem to contain lots of folks sporting Nazi tattoos or patches on their clothing. The latest to be revealed is one of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s bodyguards, who was spotted during a visit to the recently liberated eastern Ukrainian city of Izyum sporting a so-called Totenkopfverbande patch, celebrating the guards who ran Nazi concentration camps and later made up Hitler’s personal guards. Jimmy and The Dive’s Jackson Hinkle wonder at the regularity with which Nazi sympathies crop up in a country that we’re told doesn’t have...

The invisible government of the Deep State has long worked with the Nazis to accomplish its nefarious objectives, going back to the rise of Hitler. =============================================================== Witness Osh, Kyrgyzstan, a modest outpost in Central Asia. Boiling clouds enliven the sky as a breeze lazily strums the tall grass. Meanwhile a farmer tends his yaks, as clouds of gnats move across a meadow in a body like a mournful specter. Life here has gone on in a relatively unbroken pattern for thousands of years. But peasants have noticed something unusual appearing in the soil of late: train tracks. The construction is...

The drought across Europe has caused substantial problems. In Germany, the Rhine has all but evaporated. Freights have been forced to reduce their loads across the river, but some are foregoing the route altogether. German authorities have not closed the river but are permitting shippers to cross at their own risk — and it is a risk many are not willing to take. Shipping vessels have been sailing half to a quarter full, according to Reuters, adding to the supply chain bottleneck. Numerous companies are shifting to railway transportation but that will take time. Around 80% of all goods transported...

Latest update from The New Atlas focusing on the realities of Ukraine's recent tactical victory vs. the enormous structural cost that likely leads to speeding up to Ukraine's eventual strategic failure. Ukraine lost 5-7 brigades (20,000 to 28,000 men) in just that short 10 day period of "counter offensive." Makes the interesting point that Russia's decision to withdraw eliminated Ukraine's ability to significantly reduce Russia's manpower or weaponry. By enticing Ukraine to come out of their covered defensive positions and into the open it has provided an easier target for Russia to attack by air and artillery Ukraine's stretched out...

According to The Financial Times, US senator Sen. Marco Rubio said that Apple is “playing with fire” with its plans to use chips from a controversial Chinese government-associated company. A report from a South Korean publisher revealed Apple’s plans to collaborate with Yangtze Memory Technologies Co. (YMTC) for the new lineup of iPhones. “If [Apple] moves forward, it will be subject to scrutiny like it has never seen from the federal government,” Rubio told the Financial Times. Another senator, Rep. McCaul, shared that YMTC has extensive ties to the Chinese Communist party and military. “Apple will effectively be transferring knowledge...

What is the scale of the energy challenge?We got a very shocking sense of the staggering numbers involved in the existential, crippling European crisis earlier today when Norwegian energy giant Equinor echoed what Zoltan Pozsar said in March, warning that “European energy trading risks grinding to a halt unless governments extend liquidity to cover margin calls of at least $1.5 trillion." As Bloomberg put it, in its best non-Zoltan imitation, "aside from inflating bills and fanning inflation, the biggest energy crisis in decades is sucking up capital to guarantee trades amid wild price swings. That’s putting pressure on European Union...

When Donald Trump was elected president in 2016, many Americans believed he would turn off the life support system that sustains the D.C. swamp of corrupt politicians, contractors, bureaucrats, and litigators. Instead, Washington’s wealthy ruling political class triumphed with help from the Federal bureaucracy. Trump, the disruptor, the carnival barker, was subverted, obstructed, and forced from office. A time-honored article of faith for both parties in Washington, D.C., is that American citizens are too shortsighted and uninformed to make good policy choices. Washington’s ruling political class must act for them. But the widespread expectation in both political parties of a...

While European nations are struggling to prepare for a cold winter with natural gas supplies choked off by Vladimir Putin’s Russia, reports have begun to trickle in that Gazprom, Russia’s state-owned gas company, is burning off massive amounts of natural gas daily. The BBC has reported the natural gas plant of Portovaya, near the Finnish border with Russia, is burning off an estimated $10 million worth of gas each day. According to the report, experts say that gas previously would have been exported to Europe. Miguel Berger, Germany’s ambassador to the UK, told BBC News that the European Union’s efforts...

Israel didn't start to gather safety data until a year into the vaccine program. They gathered 6 months worth of data and found that the vaccines weren't safe so they lied to the world about it. This is the most important article on my Substack (which has over 700 articles). This one article should bring down the house of cards if there is just one honest person in a position of authority in the world.

After the first Ukrainian attempt to push towards had failed it is now reinforcing that failure. As I describe the move: The only 'successful' attack was across the Inhulet river near Andriivka in the direction of the dam and river crossing that closes off the Kakhovka Dnieper reservoir. The troops were cut off and mostly destroyed. On the western side of the salient a Russian unit crossed the Inhulet towards north and attacked the Ukrainians on that side. It soon had to pull back and the Ukrainians used the Russian crossing to reconnect with the cut off units in the...

There’s nothing a stodgy, old RINO loves more than war.They have a special fondness for foreign wars, which just so happens has been a major tenant of the Republican Party before Donald Trump emerged with his Make America Great Again agenda.Before Trump, the Bush-era Republicans constantly pushed for more war funding while destroying the U.S. economy and adding to the national debt in the process. Not to mention, the countless American lives that were lost to do the Republican (and Democrat) Middle East war lust.Obama was no different. He spent trillions upon trillions of taxpayer money on high-tech drones used...

Once the full scale of Ukrainian losses in their counter offensive becomes widely known, the political divisions within the Zelensky government are likely to grow. There is a video online in Ukrainian with a Ukrianian General stating that Ukrainian losses are “hundreds of thousands.” This is a fact that will not remain hidden and will add to the turmoil swirling around Zelensky. How long will the Ukrainian people continue to support a policy where their husbands and sons are being used as cannon fodder? That is a critical indicator to monitor during September.