Free Republic

The families of Russian men drafted under President Vladimir Putin's partial mobilization last year have planned mass protests demanding their return home, amid reports that soldiers are being prohibited from leaving the military. The soldiers' relatives published a manifesto on the Telegram channel The Way Home on November 12 demanding that their men be allowed home, and inviting Russians nationwide to participate in rallies on November 19. Since 2014, protesters in Russia have faced punishment for holding demonstrations without the permission of the authorities. The RAND Corporation, an American think tank and research institute, said in a report in June...

The State Duma deputies supported the idea of ​​return of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul to the Orthodox Church. This was stated by Chairman of Committee on Property, coordinator of inter-factional parliamentary group on the protection of Christian values ​​Sergei Gavrilov, TSN reports. Today, when the Russian-Turkish relations are undergoing “endurance trial,”the mutual friendly initiatives and proposals are of special importance, Gavrilov says. “The Russian side deems it possible to recur to the ancient shrine of the Christian world, located in Turkey, Istanbul - St. Sophia (Hagia Sophia) of Constantinople –an ancient Byzantine cathedral, which is associated with the history of...

A pregnant journalist was recovering in hospital last night after a pro-Kremlin political leader in Russia told two male aides to ‘violently rape’ her. Nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky launched his extraordinary tirade after reporter Stella Dubovitskaya asked him an innocuous question about sanctions against Ukraine. The 67-year-old MP’s outburst came before a deadly gunfight at a Ukraine checkpoint controlled by pro-Russian separatists tore apart an Easter truce.

MOSCOW, March 28. /ITAR-TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has submitted a proposal to the State Duma on terminating the legal effect of a number of Russian-Ukrainian agreements on the parameters of division of the Black Sea Fleet that were signed on May 28, 1997, as well as on the status and conditions of the Russian Black Sea Fleet’s deployment on the territory of Ukraine, on reciprocal payments in connection with the Russian Black Sea Fleet’s deployment in Ukraine, and on the stationing of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Ukraine (the latter agreement signed April 21, 2010). A report on...

MOSCOW, March 20. /ITAR-TASS/. The Russian State Duma has adopted in first reading and a whole the federal constitutional law on Crimea’s admission to the Russian Federation and on creating new sub-federal entities — the Republic of Crimea and the city of federal significance Sevastopol. In the final reading, 445 parliamentarians casted affirmative votes and one deputy voted against the bill submitted by the president. The only lawmaker that did not support the document was member of A Just Russia party Ilya Ponomaryov. The lawmakers have also ratified the interstate treaty on the admission of Crimea into Russia. The treaty,...

Seven parties have been allowed to field candidates for parliament this year - down from 11 in 2007. Voting for representation in the country's 450-seat chamber takes place across Russia's nine time zones with polls closing at 1700GMT on Sunday. As people in European Russia were going to bed, polls were opening in the far east. In Vladivostok, sailors from Russia's Pacific fleet were among those queuing to vote. Warrant Officer Nikolai Ponomaryov said he was voting for United Russia, because the party was supporting the armed forces. The outgoing parliament, or State Duma, is dominated by Mr Putin's party,...