Free Republic

At North Korea’s new beach resort, the white sand glistened against the crystal-clear waters. Ten minutes of Wi-Fi cost $1.70. Food arrived in abundance, albeit with the same three beverage choices: water, tea or beer. The weeklong trip cost roughly $2,000. The catch? All travelers had to be Russian. Welcome to North Korea’s Wonsan Kalma coastal complex, a megaresort built by the regime to portray the country as modern and affluent. It is opening to foreign vacationers for the first time, as part of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s drive to attract more tourism to his cash-strapped country and...

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Thursday told U.S. President Donald Trump to remember that Moscow possessed Soviet-era nuclear strike capabilities of last resort after Trump told Medvedev to "watch his words". -snip- "If some words from the former president of Russia trigger such a nervous reaction from the high-and-mighty president of the United States, then Russia is doing everything right and will continue to proceed along its own path," Medvedev said in a post on Telegram. Trump should remember, he said, "how dangerous the fabled 'Dead Hand' can be," a reference to a secretive semi-automated Russian command system designed...

President Trump warned Russia’s former president Dmitry Medvedev that he risks entering “dangerous territory” after he slammed the US deadline for a cease-fire in Ukraine as “a step towards war.” “Tell Medvedev, the failed former President of Russia, who thinks he’s still President, to watch his words. He’s entering very dangerous territory!” Trump said regarding Russian President Vladimir Putin’s top ally on Truth Social Thursday morning.

US President Donald Trump on Thursday took a sharp jab at India and Russia -snip- Russia and the USA do almost no business together." He added, "Let’s keep it that way, and tell Medvedev, the failed former President of Russia who thinks he’s still President, to watch his words. He’s entering very dangerous territory!”

The Kremlin said on Wednesday it continues to monitor statements by U.S. President Donald Trump regarding sanctions against Moscow, but that Russia had acquired immunity to such measures thanks to long experience. -snip- "We have been living under a huge number of sanctions for quite a long time, our economy operates under a huge number of restrictions," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. "Therefore, of course, we have already developed a certain immunity in this regard, and we continue to note all statements that come from President Trump, from other international representatives on this matter." Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria...

United States President Donald Trump confirmed on Tuesday that his new deadline for Russia to reach an agreement with Ukraine is ten days from today. "Ten days from today ... and then, you know, we're going to put on tariffs and stuff, and I don't know if it's going to affect Russia, because he [Russian President Vladimir Putin] wants to obviously, probably, keep the war going, but we're going to put on tariffs and the various things that you put on. It may or may not affect them, but it could," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on his...

The Kremlin said on July 29 it had “taken note” of a statement by US President Donald Trump that he was shortening his deadline for Moscow to sign up to a ceasefire in Ukraine or face sanctions. Mr Trump set a new deadline on July 28 of 10 or 12 days for Russia to make progress towards ending the war in Ukraine or face consequences, underscoring frustration with President Vladimir Putin over the 3½-year-old conflict. Asked about Mr Trump’s statement on July 29 during a conference call with reporters, the Kremlin kept its remarks short. “We have taken note of...

Monday that he has always had a "great" relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but that he is "not so interested" in talking to Putin. He said a negotiated solution to the war in Ukraine will "still happen, but it's very late down the process." He repeated that he is "disappointed" with Putin and said that every time he thought the war might end, Putin "kills people." Trump claimed that Putin talks about a trade deal with the US "all the time" and that Russia could be "so rich right now" if it was not spending "all its money on...

For the first time in its history, Russia is fighting alone against the entire West, so we cannot afford weakness. This was stated by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov․ "We have a lot to do. The most important of them is to defeat the enemy. For the first time in its history, Russia is fighting alone against the entire West. In the First and Second World Wars, we had allies. Now we have no allies on the battlefield. Therefore, we must rely on ourselves," Lavrov said.

A pro-Ukraine hacker group claims to have carried out a major cyberattack on Russia’s biggest airline, Aeroflot. Silent Crow has claimed responsibility for the attack on Aeroflot’s IT infrastructure, which caused the airline to cancel dozens of flights on Monday. -snip- Aeroflot, Russia’s national carrier, said it had cancelled more than 40 flights following the IT “failure”, without saying how long it would take to be resolved. This included journeys to airports across Russia, plus the capital of Belarus, Minsk, and the capital of Armenia, Yerevan, the Reuters news agency reported. Aeroflot has not responded to the hacking claims and...

Russian occupiers attempted to eliminate the leadership of the Ukrainian Armed Forces' unmanned units simultaneously. This likely occurred during a meeting in the Donetsk region, according to Robert Brovdi, call sign Madyar, commander of the Ukrainian Armed Forces' Unmanned Systems Forces. Madyar said that he held a working meeting with the commanders of the unmanned units Phoenix, K-2, Madyar's Birds, Rarog, and Achilles. He addressed the Russians, stating that we have assessed your attempt to stab us all at once yesterday. Madyar did not disclose any other details. Robert Brovdi, known as Madyar, became the new commander of the Ukrainian...

Officials in three of the five Russian regions bordering Ukraine have been accused of embezzling funds for border defenses. -snip- The border fortification embezzlement cases seem in part to be aimed at quelling anger among Russians in the border regions over Moscow’s failure to protect them from Ukrainian attacks, especially after Ukrainian forces occupied part of the Kursk region. The charges imply that the border with Ukraine would have been better protected had local officials not stolen the money for the defenses, claims that also deflect blame from the Kremlin. The legal actions attracted attention this month when Russia’s transportation...

Putin's summer offensive is stalling as Ukraine puts up a heroic defense leaving Russia resorting to teens to fill the ranks. Despite Putin’s promises, Russian 18-year-olds are being press ganged into the army straight out of school and sent into the meatgrinder on Ukraine’s battlefields. The Russian despot has made repeated promises to his people that no 18-year-olds will be called up to serve but evidence is emerging that at least 245 teens have been killed in Ukraine in the last couple of years. New government rules mean those fresh out of school can bypass military service and instead sign...

An RAF signals intelligence aircraft has been deployed over the Black Sea to monitor the movements of the Russian military across the region. The operation, conducted under the watchful eye of NATO and Russian air defence units, comes as the war in Ukraine shows no signs of abating in the near future. The plane being used is an RC-135W Rivet Joint, a modified Boeing aircraft, considered to be one of the most technologically sophisticated in the world. Equipped with an array of sensors, its sensors ‘soak up’ electronic emissions from communications, radar and other systems to build a picture of...

Russia's navy has been forced to cancel its annual flagship event in St Petersburg, in a humiliating blow for Vladimir Putin. Navy Day is a major national holiday and is held on the last Sunday of July, celebrated by the public and military alike. The event is used by the Kremlin to show off its latests ships and technology, as it attempts to project its naval power to the watching world. As the maritime capital of Russia, St Petersburg holds a Main Naval Parade along the River Neva, which is normally attended by the Russian president. Usually ships from the...

The delegations of Russia and Ukraine have concluded the third round of talks in Istanbul. "It’s over," he said, News.Az reports citing TASS. The talks between the two countries’ delegations kicked off at 8:37 p.m. local time (5:37 p.m. GMT) and lasted for about 40 minutes.

The latest round of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine has started at the Ciragan Palace in Istanbul, RT reported on Wednesday. According to the report, heads of the two countries' delegations are currently holding bilateral talks at the venue. The Russian delegation is headed by presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, while National Security and Defense Council Secretary Rustem Umerov is leading the Ukrainian delegation.

A Ukrainian delegation, which arrived in Türkiye for talks with Russia, is holding a meeting with the President of the Republic of Türkiye, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The meeting in Ankara has already commenced, Caliber.Az reports, citing Ukrainska Pravda. No further details have been provided. To recall, Ukrainian and Russian officials are set to meet in Istanbul on July 23, for the third round of peace talks, their first meeting in over seven weeks amid ongoing U.S. efforts to secure a cease-fire. The talks will be held at the Çırağan Palace. Ukraine's delegation will be led by former Defence Minister and...

The Russian-controlled territories of Donetsk and Luhansk in Ukraine's east are teetering on the brink of a severe humanitarian crisis, with certain locales having been parched for four months straight. The dire water scarcity is attributed to rampant corruption and gross mismanagement by the Kremlin-backed leadership. Donetsk and Makiivka are bearing the brunt of the crisis, inciting residents' fears of potential disease outbreaks. In response, local officials have rolled out emergency water rationing for the nearly 1.3 million inhabitants of both cities. Andrey Chertkov, the interim head honcho of the self-proclaimed DPR government, cautioned citizens about the new tri-weekly water...

The goal of the upcoming Istanbul talks between Russia and Ukraine is to work through the draft memoranda exchanged during earlier stages, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday, after confirming Moscow's delegation, again led by presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, had departed for Istanbul. The talks will "mainly focus on the draft memoranda exchanged during the second round," Peskov noted, calling them central to the peace proposal process. He added that reconciling these texts is essential groundwork before any high-level summit can be scheduled so that the leaders would not have to do the technically complex work themselves. Peskov also...