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Zelensky being thrown under the bus...

Russian President Vladimir Putin has his own version of the NATO military alliance, made up of post-Soviet states. But the Collective Security Treaty Organization, which was never as powerful or cohesive as Russia would have liked, has been increasingly creaking since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, experts told Insider. Some of its members have made unprecedented public snubs against Putin, and experts say they're conscious of Russia's poor military performance over the past year, with questions over how well Russia could protect them. Some may even fear becoming Russian targets. (snip) As Putin has become more isolated since the...

It would be hard to image a more fitting symbol of Russia’s declining military fortunes than the sight of a solitary Stalin-era tank trundling across Red Square during the country’s traditional Victory Day celebrations on May 9. For the past two decades, Vladimir Putin has used Victory Day to showcase modern Russia’s resurgence as a military superpower, with dozens of the very latest tanks typically taking part in each annual parade. This year, however, the only tank on display was a T-34 model dating back to World War II. Inevitably, the embarrassing absence of tanks at this year’s Victory Day...

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday told his country’s traditional Victory Day parade on Moscow’s Red Square that the West’s “untamed ambitions, arrogance and impunity” are driving “a real war” against Russia, while the Kremlin’s forces fired another cruise missile barrage at Ukraine. “Today civilization is once again at a decisive turning point,” Putin said at the annual commemorations celebrating the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II. “A real war has been unleashed against our Motherland.” Putin’s remarks came just hours after the Kremlin’s forces fired its latest barrage of cruise missiles at Ukraine, which Russia invaded more...

Russia is in the midst of a historic population decline as it continues to grapple with low birth rates, high emigration, staggering health statistics and a deadly war in Ukraine. The growing crisis has been described by some as a "silent war" against its own human capital. Russian President Vladimir Putin has listed Russia’s declining population as a matter of national security, but his recent war in Ukraine has not only led to hundreds of thousands of additional deaths among fighting-age men but has pushed a mass exodus among Russia's younger populations. Western defense officials have estimated that as many...

The video, originally 11 minutes long, starts with the Ukrainian forces turning off from a stretch of open land. Around the bunker are dead and dying trees. Smoke billows in the distance. The forces - claimed to be among the best trained and equipped of the volunteer corps - enter a bunker dug into the ground and speak with allied soldiers. A fallen soldier is identified and one reflects, 'yes brother, that's how it is in war'. The soldiers take a moment of respite in the trench as one - later called 'Lekha' - digs into the ground at the...

Due to heavy losses of military equipment since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia starts to deploy WWII-era equipment; in addition, the occupiers also have a shortage of manpower.Source: Western officials reported this on a briefing on Tuesday, 18 April, on the condition of anonymity, reports European Pravda, with a reference to CNNAccording to Western officials, there was no "large uptick in increasing equipment" on the battlefield from the Russian side. "If anything, the equipment they (the Russians – ed.) are using is the older generation.""They started with the T-80 and T-90 [tanks], went down to T-72,...

Russia's annual in-person commemoration of its country's World War II fighters is not going to take place this year, according to state authorities. The nixing of the face-to-face "Immortal Regiment" march comes amid reports that the nation's major national event Victory Day event, which is scheduled to take place May 9 and celebrates the Soviet Union's role in defeating Nazi Germany, may be canceled or downsized in certain regions including Crimea, Kursk and Belgorod due to ongoing security concerns resulting from the war with Ukraine. Russian State Duma Deputy Elena Tsunaeva, co-chairperson of the central headquarters of the "Immortal Regiment...

"If we lose Ukraine, we will lose peace for decades. The defeat of Ukraine could be the beginning of the end of the "golden age" of the West."

The Russian military has begun using Moscow’s vast video surveillance system to find conscripts who evade compulsory service, Moscow’s chief draft officer Maxim Loktev told state-run news agency TASS on Tuesday. Russia Says Surveillance System Helping to Find Draft Dodgers “Moscow’s video surveillance systems are being used to determine a conscript’s residence,” said Loktev. He added that workplaces and educational establishments will also provide information on those required to perform military service. Russian President Vladimir Putin last week signed a controversial law that seeks to tighten Russia’s military call-up system, replacing paper summons with electronic summons, creating a new digital...

-snip- Under the law, the Russian government now considers individuals legally summoned for military duty if a message has been sent to their personal accounts on Gosuslug, the state public services website, or if their name has appeared on a publicly available online list of those summoned. -snip- Simultaneously, the law calls for the creation of an electronic registry of all people required to serve. The registry will collect extensive personal data, such as name, address and passport details, as well as medical, education, tax, criminal, voting, and employment records from numerous government organizations, including the police and communal services...

The war in Ukraine has gutted Russia’s clandestine spetsnaz forces, and it will take Moscow years to rebuild them, according to classified U.S. assessments obtained by The Washington Post.The finding, which has not been previously reported, is among a cache of sensitive materials leaked online through the messaging platform Discord. U.S. officials attributed their assessments to Russian commanders’ overreliance on the specialized units, which have been put to use as part of front-line infantry formations. Those formations, like the Ukrainians, have suffered massive numbers of dead and wounded. snip The 22nd and two other spetsnaz brigades suffered an estimated 90...

NATO Special Forces are already present in Ukraine, leaked Pentagon documents have revealed, raising the fear of direct clash between the Russian forces and the Western military bloc. There is no clarity regarding the exact role of the NATO forces in Ukraine, but Moscow has been repeatedly saying that the military bloc is directly involved in the conflict. ...

Former President Donald Trump sits down with Tucker Carlson to discuss foreign policy and how the world has changed since he left office. ...

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov may not be able to attend when the UN Security Council meets in the United States later in April. He has not yet been granted a visa to enter the United States writes Svenska Dagbladet with reference to the Russian news agency Tass. "No visa has been issued yet. Not a single visa has been issued," Lavrov told the news agency. The Security Council has a rotating presidency, and Russia currently holds the presidency and Lavrov is the chairman. [Original text in Swedish - translation by SB]

Russia is ready to introduce electronic military draft papers for the first time in its history in an effort to make it harder for men to avoid being drafted after the lower house of parliament gave its backing to the move. The State Duma, the lower chamber, gave its backing to the necessary legislation in two separate votes. Some lawmakers complained the changes were being rushed through without giving them enough time to scrutinise the changes. -snip- NO SECOND MOBILISATION Peskov dismissed suggestions that the digitalisation plans might spark a further wave of panic and emigration among young male Russians...

Russian forces pounded frontline cities in eastern Ukraine with air strikes and artillery attacks, while U.S. officials stepped up efforts to locate the source of a leak of classified U.S. documents, including those on Ukrainian counter-offensive plans. The Russians pressed on with their offensive in the eastern Donetsk region where several cities and towns came under heavy bombardment, Ukraine's general staff said on Tuesday. Ukrainian forces repelled several attacks, it said, as the Russian military kept up its effort to take control of Bakhmut. A top Ukrainian commander accused Moscow of using "scorched earth" tactics.

A Ukrainian fintech founder and drone developer is offering about $540,000 in prize money to the winner of a race to land a drone on Moscow's Red Square. Volodymyr Yatsenko, the co-founder of Monobank, a Ukrainian online banking service, announced the competition in a Facebook post last week. The competition is open to any Ukrainian drone developers and will take place on May 9, according to the Ukrainian Military Center, a Ukrainian news outlet covering defense. May 9 in Russia is Victory Day, a time when the country celebrates the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany. Yatsenko himself is the developer...

Real senile people like Biden, whose place is not at the head of a huge power but on the grass, surrounded by their relatives with their mouths open with dementia, Ordinary Americans have no idea at all what "Ukraine" is or where it is located. Most of them can't even show this "country" on a map. Why should they suffer such inconvenience for the sake of some obscure part of Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed Belarus counterpart Alexander Lukashenko to Moscow on Wednesday for two days of talks, but in their opening public remarks both men steered clear of the war in Ukraine. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said last week the two leaders would discuss Lukashenko's call for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine. Last month Putin said Russia would deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. "I must say that we have done a lot as a result of our joint work in all areas," Putin told Lukashenko in comments broadcast by state television.