Free Republic

Russians left homeless following floods have directed their frustration towards President Vladimir Putin and local officials. Over a hundred individuals sought aid from Putin on Monday after the city or Orsk was struck with the worst flooding ever recorded, expressing their discontent with local authorities whom they accuse of insufficient assistance. An emergency was declared in the Orenburg region near Kazakhstan, as the Ural River, Europe’s third longest, surged several meters in mere hours last Friday, breaching a dam embankment in the city. Large portions of Orsk, situated 1,800 km east of Moscow with a population of 230,000, now lie...

Hundreds of residents in southwestern Russia’s Ural region staged a rare protest Monday, demanding compensation for the flooding of their homes after a dam gave way because of rising floodwaters. The protest took place in the city of Orsk, located in the Orenburg region near the border with Kazakhstan. Chanting “Putin help us” and “shame,” the locals affected by the floods defied Russian laws that prohibit demonstrations without the permission of authorities. They gathered in front of the city’s administrative building Monday, demanding emergency assistance as the floods swallowed more than 10,000 homes. Denis Pasler, governor of the Orenburg region...

The wreckage of a sinking Russian warship was left smouldering in a Ukrainian port on Friday after the country's navy scored a direct hit on the vessel the day before, incredible satellite images showed. The Ukrainian navy said Thursday that it had struck the Orsk, a 370ft Russian Alligator-class tank carrier, as it was sitting at anchor in the captured port of Berdyansk, in the south of Ukraine. Satellite images taken today from above the port showed a huge plume of thick smoke rising into the air from the blackened wreckage of the destroyed ship that appeared to be sinking...

A Russian Navy amphibious landing ship was destroyed while docked in the Russian-occupied port of Berdyansk in southern Ukraine on Thursday, the Ukrainian navy said hours after photos emerged of a large ship engulfed in flames in the region.

A Russian airliner carrying 71 passengers and crew has crashed after vanishing from radar screens as it left a Moscow airport for the Urals, media say. The Saratov Airlines An-148 regional jet was en route to the city of Orsk when it went missing.