Free Republic

A NUCLEAR armageddon will see "Russians go to heaven and the West banished to hell", a Kremlin propagandist has said in a bizarre TV rant. Top Putin crony Andrey Lugovoy - who is accused of assassinating former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko on British soil - said the dictator could "end human history" with his hypersonic nuclear arsenal. -snip- The propagandist then went on to say Putin would destroy the entire world and "end the human race" in case of a nuclear war. And that the West will go to hell. He added: "[Nuke war] will be the end of human...

BIZARRE footage showing Vladimir Putin’s legs twitching wildly at a public event sparked new health rumours yesterday amid claims he has Parkinson’s Disease. The 72-year-old Russian tyrant appeared unable to control movement in his legs and heels while standing at a podium in Astana, Kazakhstan.

Russia has recruited hundreds of Yemeni mercenaries to reinforce its lines in Ukraine under the false promise of high salaried work and Russian citizenship, sources claim. Recruits say they have already been sent to the frontlines after being inducted into the Russian military with help from a Houthi-linked company. Many of those heading to Russia claim to have been press-ganged into the military under the promise of a well-paid career away from the frontlines, recruits told the FT. Yemenis expecting substantial salaries and safe employment in manufacturing roles say they were threatened and taken to Ukraine with little training after...

Ukrainian officials expect a counteroffensive in western Russia to begin in the coming days as North Korea’s troops train with Russian forces. -snip- The Russian military has assembled a force of 50,000 soldiers, including North Korean troops, as it prepares to begin an assault aimed at reclaiming territory seized by Ukraine in the Kursk region of Russia, according to U.S. and Ukrainian officials. -snip- North Korea has sent more than 10,000 troops to fight with Russia in Kursk, American officials say. The troops are wearing Russian uniforms and have been equipped by Moscow, but they will probably fight in their...

US President-elect Donald Trump plans to dramatically increase sanctions against Iran due to the Islamic Republic’s support for terrorist militias, the expansion of its nuclear program, and a recently unveiled plot to assassinate him, sources briefed on Trump’s early plans told The Wall Street Journal on Friday. -snip- Sources briefed on the plan said that once he’s in office, Trump would try to recreate the strategy of his first term by quickly cutting off Iran’s oil income, including pursuing any organization that handles Iranian oil. 'Iran is definitely in a position of weakness' “I think you are going to see...

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday signed a treaty on the country's strategic partnership with North Korea which includes a mutual defense provision, enacting it into law. The accord, announced by Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in June after a summit in Pyongyang, calls on each side to come to the other's aid in case of an armed attack.

This is the moment a smug Vladimir Putin is taken down a peg by one of his top energy officials in a dispute during a tense discussion about Russia's Arctic infrastructure projects. Director General of Russia's state atomic energy corporation Rosatom Alexei Likhachev yesterday visited the Kremlin where he delivered a presentation about the company's performance and ongoing projects under Vladimir's steely gaze. After a lengthy speech in which he boasted of Rosatom's 24 per cent annual revenue growth and lauded the successes of the company's work to establish Russia as a major player in nuclear energy globally, the director...

North Korea claims more than a million young people have signed up to join or rejoin the army this week, state media reported, after accusing South Korea of sending propaganda drones to Pyongyang and blowing up border roads. The official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Wednesday that 1.4 million young people, including students and youth league officials, signed the petition to join the army. “Millions of young people have turned out in the nationwide struggle to wipe out the ROK scum who committed a serious provocation of violating the sovereignty of the DPRK through a drone infiltration,” KCNA...

Some 18 North Korean soldiers are believed to have deserted the Russian frontline, with Kremlin fighters reportedly searching for them. The troops were deployed in Russia's Kursk and Bryansk oblasts, about four miles from the border with Ukraine, when they deserted, the public broadcasting company of Ukraine, Suspilne, reported. Intelligence officials cited by the broadcaster said the Russian military is searching for the North Korean soldiers, while commanders are trying to conceal the desertion from their higher-ups. It comes after reports that Moscow was planning to assemble a battalion of troops sent over by Kim Jong Un to help push...

Since last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin has postponed several official visits to Turkey. A multitude of reasons have been offered by officials. Some have said Putin has been avoiding any countries that were not part of the Soviet Union since the Ukraine war began. Others have put it down to the Russian elections earlier this year. However, sources familiar with Russian thinking told Middle East Eye that Putin’s conditions to visit Ankara are the primary reason for the constant delay. Putin would like to fly to Turkey with Russian fighter jet escorts, the sources said, possibly concerned by Ukraine's...

Huge plumes of smoke and fierce fires erupted into the skies above the Russian city of Voronezh last night. Local residents in the southwestern Russian city recorded the devastating aftermath of an overnight Ukrainian drone strike. Videos showing a large fire in which explosions can clearly be heard were shared across Telegram. The explosive attack reportedly blew up an ammunition depot - the second time a drone strike has hit an ammunition depot in Voronezh in just two weeks. At the end of August, Ukrainian drones managed to blow up almost 5,000 tonnes of Russian weapons. Following this attack, explosions...

President Vladimir Putin announced a compensation plan for citizens in the Russian region that came under attack by Ukraine. Russians "who need it" will be eligible for a one-time payout of 10,000 rubles, Putin said during a video call with Kursk's acting governor, Alexey Smirnov, per the Kyiv Post's translation. That shakes out at about $115. "Other damage will also need to be assessed," Putin said. Around 3,000 people have been evacuated from Kursk, the western Russian border region attacked by Ukrainian forces this week, officials have said. Speaking to Putin, Smirnov said that extra trains were scheduled to take...

Acting Iranian foreign minister Ali Bagheri held conversations about the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh with his counterpart in Russia, as well as in Arab countries on Thursday, the ministry announced on X. According to the ministry's twitter, Bagheri emphasized "that the Zionist regime has crossed the red line" and said that the "Islamic Republic of Iran has a legitimate right to defend itself" in a phone call with Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov. Bagheri also thanked Russia for its support, and asked for continued cooperation between the two in stopping "the aggressive actions of the Zionist regime."

President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that South Korea would be making "a big mistake" if it decides to supply arms to Ukraine and that Moscow would respond to such a move in a way that would be painful for Seoul. Putin, who was speaking at a news conference in Vietnam, was reacting to a report from Yonhap news earlier on Thursday which said South Korea would review the possibility of supplying weapons to Ukraine after Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un signed a mutual defence pact a day earlier. He warned Seoul against moving to supply weapons to...

Vladimir Putin faces yet another military farce after Russian bomber planes mistakenly dropped four bombs on a Russian village near the Ukrainian border - and it is far from the first time this has happened. Vladimir Putin's military force dropped four glide bombs intended for attacks on Ukraine's Kharkiv region on the Russian village of Shebekino instead last week. Shebekino is a village in the border region of Belgorod region, which has often borne the burnt of Ukrainian drone strikes. The Belgorod region houses several Russian military bases and training grounds. It has recently been rocked by near-daily explosions as...

An ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin fell for a joke on live TV that circulated in the wake of the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi. -snip- Not long after the reports emerged, a reporter for a French TV station mistakenly reported as a rumor a joke on Telegram and X, formerly Twitter, that Raisi's helicopter had been piloted by a Mossad agent named "Eli Kopter." State TV host Vladimir Solovyov, one of the most-prominent figures in Kremlin-backed media, appeared to fall for the joke during a live broadcast on channel Russia-1. The Daily Beast's Julia Davis shared an...

Tucker Carlson’s representative denied reports Tuesday that Carlson launched a show on Russian-owned state television Monday night, telling Forbes the reports were “pure nonsense,” indicating Carlson was not involved with the show that is listed on the website for a Russian state television channel. Arthur Schwartz, a representative for Carlson, told Forbes in an email “it’s pure nonsense” in response to questions about Carlson’s show being aired in Russia with Russian voice overs and whether it was licensed by Carlson. Neil Patel, CEO of the Tucker Carlson Network, said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the...

Conservative TV host Tucker Carlson has launched his own show on a Russian state television channel. The former Fox News anchor is presenting the program Tucker on the rolling news channel Russia 24, with the first episode now available online, Russian state newspaper Rossiskya Gazyeta reported. The paper said that the show is part of a joint project with Carlson TV, in which he will interview figures and politicians who have "alternative views to the mainstream." -snip- This is a breaking story. More to follow.

A senior Russian commander who criticized the Russian military and its war effort in Ukraine has been arrested, Russian state media reported on Tuesday. Major General Ivan Popov, who had headed up Russia's 58th Army, was "arrested on suspicion of fraud," Russian state news agency, Tass, reported, citing a law enforcement spokesperson. In July 2023, Popov was removed from his command of Russian troops in Ukraine's annexed southern Zaporizhzhia region after he criticized the Russian Defense Ministry for failing to provide sufficient support for the country's troops. Popov condemned what he called a "lack of counter-battery combat," too few resources...

The Russian government has instructed Gazprom, once Russia's biggest company by revenue, not to pay out dividends, following record losses and a plummeting share price. Earlier this month, Gazprom Group, which also includes oil and power businesses, announced a net loss of 629 billion rubles [$6.9 billion] for last year—the first since 1999. A decree on the government website, dated May 18, ordered Gazprom not "to provide for the payment of dividends on ordinary registered shares," for 2023.