Free Republic

May 9 parades across other regions in Russia have been cancelled this year over 'security concerns'. VLADIMIR Putin paraded nuclear missile launchers, tanks and thousands of war-ready troops this morning ahead of his triumphant Victory Day event. -snip- Ahead of the patriotic event, Russia's fearsome intercontinental nuclear missiles were pulled through the capital's streets in a show of force to the West. Huge columns of troops marched towards the Red Square and even children in oversized battledress joined in the military festivities. The real events will be held on Thursday under intense security, with reports suggesting that Moscow's centrepiece show...

Last night, Ukraine was targeted yet again by another one in a seemingly endless series of massive strikes with missiles, drones and glide bombs. As it has been the case lately, the strikes seem to have primarily targeted the energy grid – including in the capital Kiev. The Tripolskaya thermal power plant is the largest in the Kiev region, and it supplied energy to Kiev, Cherkasskaya and Zhytomyr regions. According to Ukrainian officials, it has been completely destroyed….. All day long the air force bombed the complex of buildings of the vocational school, turned into an important defense point. All...

Putin Re-Elected in Historic VictoryPutin reportedly secured a monumental win with 87% of the vote, becoming Russia's longest-serving president post-Stalin.Remote electronic voting sees a world record 94% turnout, according to the territorial Election Commission.Source:… pic.twitter.com/LwfcBenHZZ— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) March 17, 2024

MOSCOW, March 9. /TASS/. French neo-Nazi leader Cesar Aujard, who fought on the side of the Ukrainian military, has been liquidated near Avdeyevka, sources have told TASS. "A ringleader of French neo-Nazis, Cesar Augharome, who was taking part in hostilities on the side of the Ukrainian army, has been liquidated near Avdeyevka," the sources said. There is confirmed evidence of his connections with French secret services. Earlier, the head of the Main Operational Directorate, first deputy chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Sergey Rudskoy, said that NATO military personnel, disguised as mercenaries, were operating air defense...

No synopsis of the video was offered. Russian language transcript at the link.

The goals of the Ukrainian army’s offensive in the summer of 2023 and the size of combat groups formed to carry it out are to a certain extent comparable with what the German military fielded for its Operation Citadel in 1943. This gives us the grounds for calling Kiev’s offensive in the summer of 2023 Operation Citadel 2.0. Considering its military-political consequences, the collapse of Citadel 2.0 meant not simply the Ukrainian army’s military-strategic defeat but also the collapse of the consolidated West’s hybrid blitzkrieg. We can state boldly that the so-called counteroffensive attempted by the Ukrainian military in the...

WASHINGTON — Then-Vice President Joe Biden allegedly told Russian billionaire Yelena Baturina and her husband, ex-Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, to “be good to my boy” during a 2014 speaker phone conversation, according to a former Hunter Biden business associate who was interviewed Friday in the House impeachment inquiry. Jason Galanis, a federal inmate who defrauded an American Indian tribe, said from his Alabama prison that on May 4, 2014, the sitting vice president called into a party in southern Brooklyn featuring his son, business partner Devon Archer and the Russian power couple. “I was present when Hunter Biden called his...

Vladimir Putin taunted the West by taking a joyride in a modernised supersonic Tu-160M strategic nuclear bomber today - as the Kremlin threatened nuclear war. The despot's stunt - which lasted around 40 minutes - appeared to be intended to enhance his macho ratings as he stands for re-election next month -snip- Putin was seen taking off in Kazan a day after he visited a factory in the city where the Tupolev bombers are manufactured.

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh says the PA is still seeking unity with Hamas terror group and may hold talks with the group in Moscow on February 26. “Russia has invited all Palestinian factions who will be meeting on the 26 of this month in Moscow. We will see if Hamas is ready to come to the ground with us,” he says at the Munich Security Conference. “We are ready to engage. If Hamas is not then that’s a different story. We need Palestinian unity,” he says. He adds that Hamas needs to meet certain prerequisites. Asked about making...

Sunday’s centenary of the death of Vladimir Lenin, one of the most influential leaders of the 20th century, will largely go uncelebrated in his home country of Russia this weekend, where the revolutionary leader stands accused of laying a “timebomb” underneath Russia and Ukraine that has exploded in the past decade. There will be no parades or stirring speeches in Red Square. The obvious reason is that one of Lenin’s most strident critics is Vladimir Putin, who appears far more enamoured with the empire that Lenin’s revolutionaries overthrew. Often portrayed in official Soviet culture as a grandfatherly, nurturing figure who...

Vladimir Putin's police state has become so repressive that a popular joke from Soviet times has resurfaced and been repurposed for those Russians today who dare to acknowledge the truth about the autocratic regime they are living under. It tells the story of two FSB (successor of the KGB) agents who are having a beer after work. The first one, Ivan, says to his colleague, 'Tell me, Dmitry. What do you really think about Putin?' and Dmitry replies, 'The same as you do.' Ivan thinks for a moment and says: 'In that case, it is my duty to arrest you.'

<p>On January 7th, Orthodox Christians in Russia and Ukraine celebrated Christmas - there was no ceasefire this year. The weather has become very cold in Ukraine with the ground expected to freeze until March. This week has been noteworthy for things that are anticipated as well as things that have actually happened. The International Criminal Court is hearing South Africa’s case of genocide against Israel (for the murders in Gaza) and we are unlikely to get a verdict before this is published. The Ukrainian mobilization Bill will not become law just yet because it breaks several sections of the constitution and has been withdrawn for revision.</p>

It gives me no joy to declare Vladimir Putin the geopolitical winner of the year. His position looks immeasurably stronger than a year ago. Kyiv’s much-vaunted counteroffensive has stalled; Mr. Putin’s economy has withstood Western sanctions; European resolve is fading; American support is fracturing. He took a wholly innocent and honorable Wall Street Journal reporter prisoner and will doubtless be rewarded for this piracy with another villain-for-hostage swap.

America’s recent troubles in the Red Sea have ramifications that go beyond backtracked cargo and skirmishes with Islamic militias. At stake is global dominance of maritime trade — and the consequent dominance of global politics. As The New American has documented, U.S. naval forces are embroiled in conflict with Iran-backed Houthi militants in the Red Sea in order to prevent this Yemeni militia from targeting Western commercial vessels. Attacks from the Houthi have set back supply chains and prompted big firms such as CGM, Hapag-Lloyd, and BP to avoid the Suez Canal over safety concerns.But while the United States and...

Former TV journalist Yekaterina Duntsova was disqualified on Saturday from running against President Vladimir Putin in an election next March because of alleged flaws in her application to register as a candidate. Video from a meeting of the central electoral commission showed members voting unanimously to reject the candidacy of Duntsova, who had wanted to run on a platform to end the war in Ukraine and release political prisoners. -snip- The head of the electoral commission, Ella Pamfilova, offered words of consolation to Duntsova after her rejection. "You are a young woman, you have everything ahead of you. Any minus...

Russia has launched its biggest drone attack on Kyiv since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine began last year, the city's mayor has said. Residents were woken by explosions before dawn on Saturday, and for more than six hours, the booms of Kyiv's air defences echoed through the city. There was wave after wave of attacks from the north and east. Officials said that more than 75 Iranian-made Shahed drones were fired at the capital, and 74 were shot down. With Russia's dwindling missile stocks, Shahed drones are seen as a cheap alternative. They are slower than ballistic missiles and have...

The fall of the Berlin Wall was indeed a watershed in the collapse of the Soviet Empire, yet one could argue the true death knell came two months before at a small grocery store in Clear Lake, Texas.. he fall of the Soviet Union is sometimes remembered as Nov. 9, 1989, the day the Berlin Wall symbolically collapsed. While the physical barrier endured for some two more years, on that day, East German Communist Party officials announced they would no longer stop citizens of the German Democratic Republic from crossing the border. The fall of the barrier that scarred Germany...

-snip- The changes Putin greenlighted limit coverage of Central Election Commission sessions to registered media outlets, which could exclude freelancers or independent journalists, according to the reports on Tuesday. The amendments prohibit media from reporting on the commission’s actions at military bases or in areas under martial law without advance clearance from regional and military authorities. They also bar the publication of any campaign content on “blocked sources”, referring to restricted websites and social media services. Under an intensifying crackdown on the opposition and the flow of information, Russia has banned an array of websites and services, including Facebook and...

For Moscow to finally let go of its imperial ambitions, it must lose the war it has been waging in Ukraine. As the history of the last few hundred years shows, this is the only way Russia will change. The idealogue at the head of Putinist Russia, Vladislav Surkov, has made his vision of an ideal Russia very clear. In his view, Russia is a country that “having stopped falling, has begun to rebuild itself and returned to the natural and only possible state of a great, growing and land-collecting community of nations." Surkov says that Russia makes "no promise"...

Ukraine is “not winning” its war against Russia, according to a close advisor of President Volodymyr Zelensky. Despite the difficult situation on the ground, Zelensky’s belief in an outright Ukrainian victory is said to be unmovable, according to a new report by Time. The close aide said: “He deludes himself. We’re out of options. We’re not winning. But try telling him that.” Zelensky is said to feel abandoned by the West which he believes has provided Ukraine with enough support to stop Russia but not to outright win the war. he President is dead set against a truce or peace...