Free Republic

It has been reported that Russian tanks have been spotted moving into occupied territory in Crimea, which was seized following an operation carried out by Vladimir Putin's forces in 2014. Witnesses have reported large amounts of Russian military hardware massing near the towns of Dzhankoy and Armyansk in northern Crimea, close to the border with Ukraine. Norman Dzhelalov, deputy chairman of Crimean Tatar Mejlis – which represents the peninsula’s ethnic Tatar group, claimed on Facebook that tanks had arrived. He wrote: "Witnesses report that large groups of Russian military hardware have been massed near Armyansk and Dzhankoy. "Dzhankoy has been...

One of the fake stories kept alive by certain American politicians, with the help of western media, is that Vladimir Putin (who, they vacuously claim, is a dictator and a tyrant) wants to reconstitute the USSR, with the annexation of Crimea as the first step. Instead of listening to their gossip, let's lay out the facts. The USSR was officially dissolved on December 26, 1991 by declaration â„–142-H of the Supreme Soviet. It acknowledged the independence of the 15 Soviet republics, and in the place of the USSR created a Commonwealth of Independent States, which hasn't amounted to much....

Against a backdrop of saber-rattling statements made by leaders of State Duma factions, President Vladimir Putin delivered a reconciliatory speech Thursday in the Crimean coastal town of Yalta, arguing against excessive confrontation with the West. "We must calmly and effectively build up our country with dignity, not fence it off from the outside world," Putin was cited by Reuters as saying. "We need to consolidate and mobilize: not for war or any kind of confrontation, [but] for hard work in the name of Russia." Putin stopped short from announcing any of the decisions that were widely expected by pundits and...