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Alexander Avilov / Moskva News Agency Thousands of conscription-age Russian men appeared to be attempting to flee the country Wednesday as others planned how to avoid being sent to the front after President Vladimir Putin declared a partial military mobilization for the war in Ukraine. “I don't want to be cannon fodder,” one 30-year-old Muscovite who asked for anonymity to speak freely told The Moscow Times. The most obvious way for men to avoid conscription is to leave the country and Wednesday’s direct flights from Russia to Armenia, Turkey and Azerbaijan — nearby countries that allow Russians to enter...

Russia’s State Duma stated that enacted "military" laws do not mean the announcement of a general mobilization. It was stated in "Parlament newspaper" by Andriy Kartapolov - Head of the State Duma Defense Committee and one of the authors of the amendments to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation introducing the concepts of "mobilization," "martial law" and "wartime", informs Censor.NЕТ. "There will be no general mobilization. The president has said this more than once, and directly says it through the mouth of his press secretary Dmitry Peskov and many other politicians at the federal level. "The law" does not...

[G]athered in a basement on a quiet, tree-lined street, the Belarusians preparing to leave Warsaw to join the Ukrainian army look more like a bunch of computer programmers getting ready for a long car trip. Maybe that’s because they are a bunch of computer programmers—or anyway, some of them are—gathered in a basement on a quiet, tree-lined street, getting ready for a long car trip...If they are identified, members of their families could be visited, harassed, even arrested by the Belarusian police. “Our relatives are hostages,” one of them told me. Already, mothers of Belarusian soldiers fighting in Ukraine have...

The UK is significantly expanding a training programme in Britain to turn potentially tens of thousands of Ukrainian recruits into frontline soldiers to fight Russia, Sky News has learnt. The combat course is being extended in length to five weeks from three weeks, keeping more of the training in the UK, away from the threat of Russian missile strikes - a hazard for anyone learning how to become a soldier at sites inside Ukraine, it is understood. Some 4,700 personnel have already been through the training at military bases in the north, southwest and southeast of England since it began...

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24 prompted almost immediate predictions from U.S. officials that Kyiv would fall within days, aligning with prior assessments of Moscow’s military prowess and seemingly cementing an inevitable occupation of its former Soviet territory. Six months later, Kyiv remains under the control of the government of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and news reports have instead focused this week on Moscow, where a car bomb killed an influential member of Vladimir Putin’s inner circle, shocking top officials in the Kremlin with what they themselves say was a brazen attack orchestrated by Ukraine, however unlikely so. It...

The Army’s top “other ranks” soldier says troops must be ready to fight Russia – and should alert loved ones to a potential conflict. The time had come to prepare “families and loved ones” for the possibility of being sent to the East. WO1 Carney – the Army’s highest ranked Warrant Officer – wrote in Soldier magazine: “I want us all to check we are physically fit for operations. And it is also important we prepare loved ones and families, who often have the hardest role in our absence. “My ask is that you have discussions about a potential deployment...

Clad in mismatched fatigues, Ukrainian Marine recruits sprawled on the grass, cocking their assault rifles and aiming at targets. Then, to the surprise of their American instructors, one by one they started squeezing the trigger. “Cease fire!” yelled Steven Tomberlin, 62, a retired police officer from Colorado overseeing this part of the training. “Until I give the command. You. Do. Not. Do. Anything.” When the firing resumed, bullets hit the dirt berm, often far off the mark. “Most of these people have just been mobilized. They were electricians or tractor drivers yesterday, and many have never held a weapon in...

Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine, ordered the Ukrainian military to re-establish control over coastal regions in southern Ukraine. Ukraine is amassing a million-strong fighting force in order to achieve this goal.Source: Oleksii Reznikov, Ukraine’s Minister of Defence, in an interview for The Times [of London]Details: "Ukraine is massing a million-strong fighting force equipped with western weapons to recover its southern territory from Russia," The Times wrote.Reznikov said that President Zelenskyy had ordered Ukraine’s military to retake occupied coastal areas which are vital to the country’s economy.Quote from Reznikov: "We understand that, politically, it’s very necessary for our country. The president...

Faced with a deepening personnel crisis within its military, Russia is scrambling to find fighters for its war in Ukraine and recruiting heavily from its North Caucasus region to form new units along ethnic lines who are then deployed with minimal training. Regional officials from Daghestan, Ingushetia, and Kalmykia have announced plans to form rifle companies that are each made up of soldiers from a particular Russian republic. According to reporting by Caucasus.Realities, a regional news outlet of RFE/RL’s North Caucasus Service, these national units are formed primarily of contract soldiers who have previous military training and have been targeted...

More than a dozen women in Russia's Republic of Buryatia have recorded a video statement urging the head of the Siberian region to recall their husbands from Ukraine where they are serving with the Russian armed forces. One of the women, Vera Partilkhayeva, told RFE/RL on June 28 that the women's husbands were deployed in what were officially called military drills in January. But since February, they have been taking part in what Russian officials call the "special military operation" in Ukraine. "Since February 24, they have been taking part in the special operation. They have been exhausted both morally...

The Russian army is suffering high casualties in the war against Ukraine and Vladimir Putin badly needs fresh troops. He wants to avoid a general mobilization, so the military is relying on other methods. -snip- The hidden mobilization has been particularly intense in Buryatia. The army has been using the messenger service Viber to send attractive offers, which include generous salaries, social benefits and a healthy pension – the complete package. "They have called everyone I know: Don’t you want to participate in the special operation?" reports one woman from the region who asked to remain anonymous. "As if it...

Two Americans volunteering in Ukraine’s armed forces were wounded by artillery fire during combat in southeastern Ukraine on Wednesday, April 27. US Army veterans Paul Gray and Manus McCaffrey were on a mission to destroy a Russian tank near Orikhiv, a small city in the path of Russia’s ongoing military offensive in the south and east of Ukraine. The pair were waiting for a Russian tank to appear on a road when an artillery round struck nearby at roughly 2:35 p.m., Gray told Coffee or Die Magazine via text message. McCaffrey suffered serious shrapnel wounds to his face, head, shoulders,...

“If the Ukrainians hadn’t fought back, the world would’ve been a much darker place.” [In an interview with the Polish magazine Polityka, prominent American scholar of Central and Eastern Europe Professor Timothy Snyder explains Putin’s ultimate goal, why Russia’s war against Ukraine is akin to genocide, why Putin has a more radical perspective than Stalin and why only Hitler had a similar plan, and why the fact that Ukrainians are fighting is so important for the whole world.] Putin’s goals and philosophy Sławomir Sierakowski: What is Putin’s ultimate goal in this war? Timothy Snyder: That’s no big secret: to destroy...

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine released operational information on the Russian invasion as of 6:00 am on April 26. Thus, the sixty-second era of the heroic opposition of the Ukrainian people to the Russian military invasion began. The enemy continues to conduct full-scale armed aggression against Ukraine. The enemy is advancing in the Eastern Operational Zone to defeat the Allied forces, establish full control over the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, and secure a land corridor between the territories and the occupied Crimea. It is noted that in the Volyn and Polissya directions the state, position, and...

Violent protesters descended on Portland late Saturday, an almost weekly occurrence, this time rioting over President Joe Biden's administration reopening a controversial migrant center designed to house minors who illegally entered the United States without their parents. What happened? Violent protesters, who were reportedly associated with Antifa, marched down the streets of Portland's Pearl District smashing cars and vandalizing businesses. More from KOIN-TV: Businesses in the district have been coated with graffiti decrying police and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Demonstrators also broke windows at some businesses. A Chipotle on Northwest Lovejoy Street had its windows smashed out at around 9:30...

AIPEI (Taiwan News) — As tensions continue to simmer on the Sino-Indian border, a video surfaced on Sunday (Sept. 20) showing People's Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers crying as they are allegedly deployed to the border. On Sunday, Pakistani comedian Zaid Hamid uploaded a video showing several PLA recruits crying on a bus as they are allegedly "transferred to Ladakh Border to face Indian Army [sic]." Hamid then wrote that China's one-child policy is "seriously hurting the motivation level of our Chinese brothers." He then added, "We Pakistani support you China. Stay Brave." Although Pakistan is an ally of China, Hamid...

**SNIP** In Sterling Heights, three teen girls from Chippewa Valley High School - Mary Vucaj, Angel Santana and Ariana Belyue - planned and lead a 4,000-person protest along the Golden Corridor on June 6. In Detroit, 16-year-old Stefan Perez has become a leader among the daily Black Lives Matter protesters. Meanwhile, 17-year-old Rockwood teen Taylor Martin held her own Detroit protest along the Dequindre Cut. So, what is inspiring local Gen Z teens to stand up against police brutality and speak out in support of equality more so than teens of past generations? We spoke with Taylor Martin to find...

Coming soon to a home near you. A Missouri mob of looters/protestors was very lucky not to be legally shot as a well-armed couple defend their home from the mob that broke through their perimeter gate. Video shows the armed couple facing down the mob. The important aspect is here the mob was not on a public street; the mob represented a clear threat; and Missouri has strong Castle Doctrine laws that do not require a duty of the homeowner to retreat from the threat. This mob was very fortunate the couple were well disciplined in their use of firearms....

THEN-PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE BARACK OBAMA: “We cannot continue to rely on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives we’ve set. We’ve got to have a civilian national security force that’s just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded.” I don’t know how anyone will respond to the facts I am going to present, because they really haven’t responded to any of our questions or challenged any of the facts in our last few shows other than “Hey, don’t call him a ‘czar!’” But I can’t make this piece of the puzzle fit, unless this piece is about...

State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert withdrew her name from consideration for the U.N. ambassador nomination, the department said Saturday. “I am grateful to President Trump and Secretary Pompeo for the trust... Developing story