Free Republic

The deputy head of the Russian administration, Vladislav Surkov -- who serves as a designated mouthpiece for the policies of President Vladimir Putin -- has begun advocating the creation of a heftier opposition to the ruling United Russia party. Talk surfaced Thursday of a suggested merger between the nationalist-socialist Rodina (Motherland) Party, the Party of Life, and possibly the Party of Pensioners into a new opposition party in the Russian Duma. ...The two-party system is only being created for the benefit of Putin's (or his successor's) administration. The new party would serve the function of a loyal opposition to United...

The Syrian army has uncovered a clandestine plant in Eastern Ghouta that was used by the terrorists to produce military-grade agents, with equipment of Saudi origin and materials presumably made in Western countries having been found at the building, local media reported on Tuesday. The plant is located in al-Shefounieh town in the area of Duma. Among other toxic chemicals, chlorine was found at the site, the SANA news agency reported, adding that the papers of the Jaysh al-Islam militant group were also discovered. A Syrian field commander said that high-tech equipment was found at the plant, which indicates that...

The official website of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia had announced that it will be putting forward a motion in the Russian State Duma to relieve Ilya Ponomarev of his duties as an MP. Ponomarev became the only lawmaker out of 446 who voted against ratification of the treaty annexing Crimea. "On April 7th, the faction will introduce a motion before the State Duma to recognize that Ilya Ponomarev had lost the authority of a deputy, because he opposed the interests of the state, blindly obeying the Nazis who want to split the country " – was said in...

(IsraelNN.com) On election night, December 7, rocks were thrown through two windows of Bryansk's Jewish school, and its main entrance was daubed with a swastika and the words "Death to the kikes," according to a December 9 report by the AEN (Agency for Jewish News). Five youths were arrested soon afterwards thanks to a security guard who called the police after hearing the glass shatter. The city's chief rabbi, Itskhak Roytman, suggested to AEN that the attack was linked to the Duma elections: "The results of the just completed elections are a worrisome sign of a rise in nationalistic sentiment...

Investigators fear the shooting is part of a surge in inter-ethnic tensions between Chechens and the Ingush. Vladimir Putin is facing a potentially serious outbreak of inter-ethnic violence, after a former Chechen and Ingush politician was seriously wounded by a gunman at his home just outside Moscow. Sherip Alikhadzhiev, an aide to Russian State Duma Deputy Vladimir Shamanov, was rushed to hospital with two bullet wounds and is recovering in intensive care. Russia's Investigative Committee said the gunman fired at least four times at the victim’s house in the village of Lapino near Odintsovo, before fleeing the scene. Mr Alikhadzhiev...

Amidst the backdrop of escalating tensions and mounting security concerns, the recent statement by the State Duma, Russia’s lower house of parliament, echoes a growing sentiment of alarm regarding a series of terrorist attacks targeting the nation. These incidents, characterized by their profound impact on critical infrastructure and civilian populations, have reignited suspicions of foreign interference, with Russian officials squarely implicating the United States. As allegations of U.S.-sponsored covert aggression against Russia continue to proliferate, the State Duma’s call for heightened vigilance underscores the imperative for transparency and accountability in confronting these significant security threats. The gravity of the situation...

Russia's parliament is considering new legislation which would give the state the power to seize the property of people convicted for defamation of the armed forces or for calling publicly for actions that undermine state security. -snip- The move has drawn comparisons with the witch hunts of the 1930s under Soviet dictator Josef Stalin with their 'enemy of the state' rhetoric, and could affect thousands of Russians who have spoken out against Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. The speaker of the State Duma lower house of parliament, Vyacheslav Volodin, a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, has dubbed the new bill...

Russian lawmakers have passed legislation changing the age categories for those called up for the military potentially meaning that older troops could be sent to fight in Ukraine. With President Vladimir Putin's forces reportedly facing heavy losses in his invasion of Ukraine, Russia's parliament, the Duma, has this week passed a raft of measures to help with mobilization, including tougher fines for those who avoid the draft as well as extending upper age limits for reserves. The State Duma said Tuesday it had adopted a law raising the maximum age by half a decade for those who had already completed...

Russian President Putin has recently been discussing with his inner circle the options for canceling the presidential election in 2024 and dissolving the State Duma at the end of this year switching to a two-party (one-party) system and electing a president in parliament. A new constitutional reform is just around the corner.

MOSCOW, Nov 24 (Reuters) - Russia's parliament approved on Thursday a bill that widens a prohibition of "LGBT propaganda" and restricts the "demonstration" of LGBT behaviour, making any expression of an LGBT lifestyle almost impossible. Under the new law, which still needs the approval of the upper house of parliament and President Vladimir Putin, any action or information that is considered an attempt to promote homosexuality - whether in public, online, or in films, books or advertising - could incur a heavy fine. Previously, the law had outlawed only promotion of LGBT lifestyles aimed at children. The new bill also...

Russia's two most senior lawmakers on Sunday addressed a string of complaints about Russia's mobilisation drive, ordering regional officials to get a handle on the situation and swiftly solve the "excesses" that have stoked public anger. President Vladimir Putin's move to order Russia's first military mobilisation since World War Two triggered protests across the country and seen flocks of military-age men flee, causing tailbacks at borders and flights to sell out. Multiple reports have also documented how people with no military service have been issued draft papers - contrary to Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu's guarantee that only those with special...

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...

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. ...

Municipal deputies for the Smolninskoye District in St. Petersburg plan to submit a petition to the State Duma (the Russian parliament) to charge Russian president Vladimir Putin with high treason for unleashing the war in Ukraine. Deputy Dmitry Palyuga announced the intention on Twitter. According to Palyuga, “the majority of deputies in attendance supported the decision.” In conversation with The Insider, he specified that seven out of ten voted in favor of the initiative. According to its sponsors, Putin’s actions since the beginning of the “special military operation” fall under Article 93 of the Russian Constitution, which stipulates for the...

Irina Yarovaya emphasized that the President's decision to conduct a special military operation made it possible “to suspend the Pentagon's dangerous military-biological activities on the territory of Ukraine.” She recalled that for the effective work of the Commission, there were created four working groups: on medicine, law, security, information and a scientific advisory council, that would help to discuss important issues in various formats with experts, interested ministries and departments and analyze documents and materials. “I want to present to you the materials that have already been studied by the Commission. These are documents that we had analyzed in the...

The nation’s leading expert on protecting the electric grid from attack urges governors to take the lead because the Biden administration won’t. In a new alert, Peter Vincent Pry, the executive director of the EMP Task Force on National and Homeland Security, said concerns are growing that Russia, North Korea, and Iran are inching closer to testing an electromagnetic attack on the U.S. grid, or parts of it. He noted the current crisis in Ukraine could spark a Russian attack, and he cited state media making the threat in the past. “In April 2021, during the previous big crisis between...

Russia has three ways to influence the US. One of them is a nuclear warning strike on a test site in Nevada. You can even use missiles strategically.This proposal was made on the air of the National Course YouTube channel by State Duma deputy from United Russia Yevgeny Fedorov.“This is a training ground where the US military is located , there are no civilians there, and if you warn two or three days in advance, then it’s quite a good action to demonstrate the seriousness of intentions, ”the deputy expressed his opinion.Fedorov noted that Russia can afford such actions and...

For the first time ever, the Russian State Duma honored the martyred Tsar Nicholas II and all the victims of the civil war with a minute of silence during its plenary session yesterday, the 101st anniversary of the martyrdom of the Royal Family. “Today we propose to honor the memory of the last Russian tsar, to honor the memory of those innocently killed—all who died in the crucible of the civil war,” Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin tld his colleagues, who, hearing such words, rose from their seats, reports TASS. The motion to honor the Tsar was raised by the head...

Four years after three Palestinian Arabs were killed in a fire in the village of Duma in Samaria, a neighbor has gone on record denying that Jews were responsible for the deadly blaze. One July 31st, 2015, a fire broke out in the home of the Dawabsheh family in the village of Duma in the middle of the night, killing 18-month old Ali, and leaving three other members of the family injured. Weeks later, both of the parents, Said Muhammaned Hassan Dawabsheh and Riham Hassand Dawabsheh, succumbed to their injuries. Hebrew graffiti was found at the site, including the word...

WARNING! Today, the MO of France has published an interesting report on the subject of chemical weapons in Syria. The document is compiled on the basis of open information and declassified data of French intelligence services and dated April 14, 2018. The main point in the report is that the analysis of evidence of the use of chemical weapons in the city of Duma on April 7, 2018 shows the absence of traces of installation and forgery on the records. The analysis of the situation shows that, with a high degree of probability, chemical weapons against the civilian population were...