Free Republic

RIGA, Latvia — When a Hamas delegation visited Moscow in late October, Russian diplomats handed them a list of eight Russian-Israeli citizens being held hostage in Gaza — captives Russia wanted the Palestinian militant group to set free. Hamas immediately signaled that the list would get special attention, state-run media reported. SNIP The special treatment for the abducted Russians is a new manifestation of the growing alignment between the Kremlin and Hamas, a relationship in which President Vladimir Putin is seeking to present himself as a leader and champion of a new “multipolar world order” and the Palestinian militant group...

After nearly 10 months of war, but referring to the brutal invasion of Ukraine instead as “a special military operation,” Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday finally called it a “war” for the first time, setting off an uproar among antiwar Russians who have been prosecuted for merely challenging the Kremlin-approved euphemism. “Our goal is not to spin this flywheel of a military conflict, but, on the contrary, to end this war,” Putin said during a televised news conference following a government meeting on Thursday. “This is what we are striving for.” ...Putin has alternately said that he is seeking...

Bluntly challenged by Indian Prime Minister Nerandra Modi over the war in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday said that Russia would strive to stop the conflict “as soon as possible” but then blamed Ukraine for refusing to negotiate, though Putin ordered the invasion and his troops are still occupying a large swath of Ukrainian territory. Putin’s remarks came during an appearance with Modi, in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, where they are attending a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. In a stunning public rebuke, Modi told Putin: “Today’s era is not an era of war, and I have spoken to...

Russia is scrambling to recruit men to fight in Ukraine after major losses in the early months of the war left the army stretched thin and some soldiers disenchanted. The Kremlin has so far declined to order a general mobilization of draft-age soldiers, because this could signal that the war is not proceeding as well as depicted in the Russian media and threaten to stir grass-roots resistance to the military campaign.

Pentagon said Tuesday, after the breakaway region of Transnistria bordering Ukraine said explosions over the past two days hit a radio center and a security headquarters. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the blasts. A Moldovan government body warned Monday of possible attempts to “create pretexts for straining the security situation in the Transnistrian region,” and the Ukrainian Defense Ministry called the blasts a “planned provocation by the Russian special services.” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday that Russia doesn’t know who was responsible for the attacks but suspects an attempt to “destabilize the situation.” His comments followed a statement...