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California gained an embassy in Russia last weekend, at least in the eyes of those who have promised to seek a statewide vote on secession, nicknamed "Calexit," in 2018. Louis Marinelli, a San Diego resident who is the leader of the group promoting an effort to turn the state into an independent country , organized the Moscow event that was publicized on social media. "We want to start laying the groundwork for a dialogue about an independent California joining the United Nations now," he said in an email Monday.

Vladimir Putin has been left humiliated after Ukrainian drones penetrated Russian air defences for the fourth successive day. Moscow and the surrounding regions were under siege as Ukrainian forces unleashed more than 100 aircraft, targeting multiple buildings in the early hours of this morning. Footage circulating on Russian pro-war Telegram channels shows several explosions leaving homes shaking and windows shattered. Chaos also engulfed four of the capital’s airports – Sheremetyevo, Vnukovo, Domodedovo and Zhukovskiy – with as many as 134 flights having to be redirected. By 10am local time, only two remained closed to air traffic – Vnukovo in the...

UKRAINE unleashed chaos at Moscow’s four airports with a fourth successive drone blitz rocking the city. Hundreds of passenger planes had to be diverted as waves of flying bombs converged on the Russian capital. Footage showed explosions as Russian air defences attacked incoming unmanned planes in Zelenograd, a district 23 miles northwest of the Kremlin. Ukraine has stepped up assaults since Donald Trump reportedly told Ukrainian president Volodymr Zelensky it was time to make Russians feel “the pain” of war. Russia's defence ministry claimed to have downed 93 Ukrainian drones overnight across nine regions - 19 of them over the...

A black woman who moved from the US to Russia to escape ‘discrimination’ and ‘racism’ revealed on social media that the entire plan backfired on her in a disturbing way. In a heartbreaking video, Francine Villa claims both she and her baby were brutally attacked by racist neighbors in Moscow. The fact that the attack occurred in her homeland is an extra painful blow. Villa had previously spoken about her move back in the 2020 documentary “Black in the USSR” which aired on the Russian State Media channel, RT. After a year of living in Moscow, she told RT, “I...

Even as war rages in Iraq, federal agents have begun to unlock the secrets of an unlicensed, unregistered Islamic charity in upstate New York that allegedly pumped millions of dollars into Baghdad. Flouting U.S. economic sanctions, the group shipped cash out of Syracuse, laundered it in banks in Jordan and then illegally funneled it into Iraq, according to an unsealed federal indictment. Operating under the name Help the Needy, the organization described itself as a tax-exempt nonprofit that provided food and humanitarian assistance to the "starving children and suffering Muslims of Iraq." But it lacked charitable status, misrepresented itself in...

Belarusian Telegraph Agency reports that a one-of-a-kind artifact was found during excavations near Moscow's Church of the Icon of the Mother of God -- a lead seal dating to the rule of Ivan III (reigned 1462–1505). It was among the 3,000 objects that have been uncovered at the site in recent years. The sixteenth-century seal is the first grand ducal seal ever found in the city and the last known example made of lead. Soon after these items, which were fixed to important political documents, began to be made from wax. One side of the seal depicts an image of...

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Moscow on Sunday for critical diplomatic consultations with Russian officials, as tensions continue to escalate in the region following recent U.S. strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities. According to Iran’s official news agency IRNA, Araghchi is scheduled to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin and other senior officials to discuss regional and international developments in light of the ongoing conflict. The visit comes on the tenth day of the Israel-Iran war and follows what Tehran has described as coordinated U.S. and Israeli military aggression. The Iranian foreign ministry emphasized the importance of dialogue with...

Iran’s foreign minister will head to Moscow late Sunday night to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the wake of U.S. strikes on Tehran’s nuclear facilities. The Daily Telegraph reports Abbas Araghchi confirmed Iran “reserves all options to defend its security, its interests, its people…All options are on the table” while applauding Russia as “a friend of Iran.” The report notes Araghchi said he will speak to Iran’s key ally on how to proceed. “We always consult with each other,” he added in a press conference in Istanbul. The trip comes after President Donald Trump announced Saturday evening U.S....

Sergei Shoigu, secretary of Russia’s Security Council, traveled to Pyongyang on Tuesday under the direct orders of Russian President Vladimir Putin, signaling a deepening of strategic military cooperation between North Korea and Russia. The visit, Shoigu's second in less than two weeks and third meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in just three months, comes as Moscow seeks to draw Pyongyang closer in its protracted war effort in Ukraine. Observers say the visit suggests a bid by Russia to leverage shifting global attention — particularly the West’s growing preoccupation with escalating tensions between Israel and Iran — to secure...

Newly released CIA memoranda suggest the tech gurus behind the Alfa Bank hoax also tracked Donald Trump’s movements to devise another collusion conspiracy theory. Newly released CIA memoranda suggest the tech gurus behind the Alfa Bank hoax also tracked Donald Trump’s movements to devise another collusion conspiracy theory. While smaller in scale than other aspects of Spygate, the Yotaphone hoax represents an equally serious scandal because it involved both the mining of proprietary information and sensitive data from the Executive Office of the President (EOP) and the apparent surveillance of Trump’s physical movements. When Special Counsel John Durham charged former...

A Russian Orthodox priest has sparked controversy with his provocative claim that Russian Muslims could be mobilized to commit violence against Christians. The statement was made as Moscow's Muslim community celebrated the holy festival of Eid al-Adha on Sunday. Schema-abbot Gavriil, during his sermon, referred to the Muslims congregating on Peace Avenue in Moscow for the festivities: "The entire space is covered with people. And these are healthy men, who do not drink alcohol, who wrestle and go to gyms for training." He made an alarming assertion: "This is a whole army. And if, one fine day, a mullah orders...

Ukraine says it has handed Russia a “memorandum” on a proposed ceasefire, urging Moscow to do the same in return, as fresh talks next week emerge as a possibility. Russia has proposed a second round of Moscow-Kyiv talks for Monday June second, calling Istanbul “the central location for talks”. The Secretary of the Russian Security Council Sergey Shoigu thanked Turkey for its “significant efforts” to support talks, saying on Thursday they had ensured “security and creating favorable conditions for the delegations’ work”. Should these talks materialise, they would come over two weeks after the historic but unproductive first set of...

A monument to Soviet dictator Josef Stalin erected in Moscow's metro is stirring debate, with some Russians welcoming it as a historical tribute, but others saying it's a mistake to commemorate someone who presided over so much suffering. -snip- Nearly 700,000 people were executed in Stalin's 1937-38 Great Terror amid show trials and purges of his real and perceived enemies. Many other Soviet citizens were sent to the Gulag, a grim network of prison camps, spread across the world's largest country. The Moscow metro said in a statement that the new version of the monument, which was presented to the...

Drone warfare once again forced Moscow into lockdown on Wednesday as three of the capital’s four airports abruptly suspended operations. Panic rippled through Domodedovo, Zhukovsky and Sheremetyevo as incoming flights were turned away and departures stalled. Sirens blared as air defences scrambled to intercept the latest wave of Ukrainian drones breaching Russian skies. Mayor Sergei Sobyanin confirmed multiple drones were shot down on approach, with emergency crews deployed to the crash sites. Ukraine launched a large-scale drone offensive overnight, targeting multiple regions in Russia. One since-deleted clip from Oryol shared by a Kremlin-aligned Telegram channel appeared to show a flaming...

Going Entebbe on the hostage-taking dictator, right in front of his patron, Vladimir Putin. For Venezuela's fraudulently elected Nicolas Maduro, in Moscow to pay tribute to his patron Vlad Putin, yesterday was kind of embarrassing for both of them. Way under the radar, Secretary of State Marco Rubio had been busy, figuring out a way to make both of them look like weaklings, and with perfect timing, he succeeded: The U.S. welcomes the successful rescue of all hostages held by the Maduro regime at the Argentinian Embassy in Caracas. Following a precise operation, all hostages are now safely on U.S....

Russia will restrict internet access across several regions, including Moscow, during its May 9 Victory Day celebrations this year, as the Kremlin imposes ever-tighter controls over its population. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday that mobile internet restrictions would be in place in several regions while foreign leaders are in Moscow for the celebrations marking the surrender of Nazi Germany in World War II. Peskov said the restrictions are because Russia has "dangerous neighbors." "These are not disruptions, but restrictions for obvious reasons," he said. "We want the glorious Victory Day to be celebrated at the appropriate level."

The leaders of Cuba, Mongolia and Venezuela arrived in Moscow Wednesday ahead of attending Russia's Victory Day celebrations. Victory Day, which is celebrated in Russia on May 9, has become the country’s most important secular holiday. -snip- Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel are on the guest list which also includes Chinese President Xi Jinping and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

The Kremlin said on Wednesday that Russia was doing everything necessary to ensure the security of upcoming events to mark the victory of the Soviet Union and its allies in World War Two after a series of attempted Ukrainian drone attacks on Moscow. The centerpiece of the commemorations - a military parade on Moscow’s Red Square - is due to be held on Friday and the Kremlin has said it is expecting 29 world leaders to attend, including Chinese President Xi Jinping. Moscow’s mayor Sergei Sobyanin said earlier on Wednesday that Russian air defense forces had downed 14 Ukrainian drones...

Ukraine launched a devastating drone attack on Russia overnight as Vladimir Putin prepares to welcome foreign leaders to celebrate VE Day. The strikes hit Moscow and surrounding Russian regions ahead of a large military parade in the capital on Friday, May 9, commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of WW2 in Europe. One target hit by Ukrainian drones was Kubinka military airfield in the west of the city, from which aircraft will launch in a scheduled Red Square flypast. The airfield holds Russian MiG-29 and Su-27 fighter jets as well as Putin’s aerobatic team and is often used for...

Moscow closed all four of its main airports for several hours into Tuesday after state media reported the military had shot down 105 Ukrainian drones overnight. Sergei Sobyanin, the mayor of Moscow, said that at least 19 drones were destroyed on their way to the capital as it prepares for Victory Day celebrations this week. Debris fell on a major avenue in the city's south without causing injuries, Sobyanin wrote on Telegram. Governors in other Russian cities, including Penza and Voronezh, said they had also been targeted by Ukrainian drones. It was the second night in a row that Russia...