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Hamas has called Russia its "closest friend" with the terror group promising to track down eight Russian-Israeli dual citizens taken hostage so they can be freed on Moscow’s request, according to Russian state media. -snip- Earlier this month, Vladimir Putin was thanked by Hamas for Russia's "tireless efforts" to stop Israel's "aggression" against the Gaza territory in a bizarre twist during the ongoing conflict. A statement from the terrorist group posted on Telegram and circulated in Russian state media read: "We in Hamas appreciate the position of Russian President Vladimir Putin regarding the ongoing Zionist aggression against our people."

Russia’s foreign minister said that Israel’s retaliation against Hamas terrorists in Gaza is against international law, and will lead to a crisis that will last decades. Sergei Lavrov made his comments — the Kremlin’s most critical of Israel so far — in an interview with Belarus’s state news agency Belta reported Saturday. “While we condemn terrorism, we categorically disagree that you can respond to terrorism by violating the norms of international humanitarian law, including indiscriminately using force against targets where civilians are known to be present, including hostages that have been taken,” Lavrov told the news agency. “If Gaza is...

amzan Kadyrov, the leader of the Chechen Republic, offered on Sunday to send military forces from his country to help Russian President Vladimir Putin ward off attacks in the Belgorod region. Belgorod has been the site of numerous attacks in recent weeks. The region's governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, and other Russian officials have blamed the attacks on Ukraine, but Kyiv has denied responsibility while two anti-Putin paramilitary groups—the Russian Volunteer Corps and the Freedom for Russia Legion—have claimed credit for them. Though Belgorod has experienced brief conflicts since Putin ordered his invasion of Ukraine more than 15 months ago, the recent...

Russian forces have likely seized the center of the hotly contested city of Bakhmut, where they are threatening an essential supply route for Ukrainian forces in the west, British intelligence said Friday. The eastern city is one of the last urban areas of Donetsk that has withstood Russian incursion. Now mostly reduced to rubble, the city center has been the focus of intense fighting for months. “Ukraine’s key 0506 supply route to the west of the town is likely severely threatened,” the British intelligence update warned. Ukrainian military expert Vladyslav Selezniov previously said that forces will have to retreat if...

Ramzan Kadyrov has expressed his outrage at the unfolding events in Moscow, where hundreds of people have come to a popular rally against the possible construction of a mosque. According to him, the Russian land must be defended on a daily basis, and Muslims are also involved in this difficult task. “If all these participants of the rally wholeheartedly have the idea of ​​​​defending Russian land, then go into the trenches with a machine gun,” Ramzan Kadyrov wrote in his Telegram channel.

Chechnya leader Ramzan Kadyrov suggested that opponents of the construction of a mosque in the Kosino-Ukhtomsky district in eastern Moscow go “to the trenches with a machine gun”. About this Kadyrov writing in your telegram channel. Previously, the possible construction of a mosque had provoked protests from local residents and a discussion on social networks. “If all these participants of the meeting wholeheartedly and wholeheartedly have the idea of ​​​​defending Russian land, then advance into the trenches with a machine gun! Take a machine gun, push back the Muslim who is fighting for you today in the Russian Donbass, and...

The Muslims in Moscow are planning to construct a huge new mosque on the shores of the Holy Lake. It is planned to be built large enough to fit more than 60,000 Muslims during prayer time. The initial blueprints show a size 4 times larger than Moscow’s Christ the Savior Cathedral. This has upset many local Orthodox Christians, who live and have lived near the shores of the Holy Lake for many generations. They do not agree with the majority migrant population of Moscow’s Muslims purchasing vast amounts of property nearby, building up the area and turning it into the...

Chechen warlord and close Putin ally Ramzan Kadyrov has signalled his intent to invade Poland next should Russia be victorious in Ukraine. ‘I have repeatedly stated that the fight against Satanism should continue throughout Europe and, first of all, on the territory of Poland,’ he said on Telegram. Kadyrov added: ‘What if, after the successful completion of the NMD (National Missile Defence), Russia begins to denazify and demilitarise the next country? ‘After all, after Ukraine, Poland is on the map! I will not hide that I personally have such an intention.’ Elsewhere this week, Kadyrov, 46, was awarded the title...

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov on Thursday criticised a prohibition on Russian soldiers wearing beards, joining Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin in the two men's latest outburst against the Russian military leadership. In an interview with the RBC news site on Wednesday, Viktor Sobolev, a retired lieutenant general and member of Russia's parliament, defended the ban on beards, personal smartphones and tablets as an "elementary part of military discipline". Writing on Telegram, the bearded Kadyrov, who has talked up the role of his troops in Russia's war in Ukraine, wrote: "Apparently, Lieutenant General Viktor Sobolev has a lot of free time...

Nearly 20 years after the collapse of the atheistic Soviet Union, a recent poll found that 82 percent of Russians classify themselves as religious believers. But far fewer subscribe to organized religion. By Fred Weir, Correspondent / May 6, 2011 Moscow Two decades after the collapse of the USSR, history's most atheistic state, the vast majority of Russians attest to a belief in God – more than in any other European country – according to a new opinion poll. The survey, carried out in April by the independent Public Opinion Fund (FOM), found that 82 percent of Russians say they...