Free Republic

Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed replacing his defence minister and long-term ally, Sergei Shoigu, more than two years into the Ukraine war, the upper house of parliament said on Sunday. Putin proposed Andrei Belousov, former deputy prime minister, as the new defence minister.

Ukraine has moved to restrict consular services at its diplomatic missions for men of conscription age (18-60) who live abroad as Kyiv tries to increase troop levels in its fight to repel invading Russian forces. Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on April 23 that he ordered the restrictions because "staying abroad does not relieve a citizen of his or her duties to the Homeland." "As it looks like now, a man of conscription age goes abroad and shows his state that he does not care about its survival. He then comes back and wants to receive...

The Pentagon could get weapons moving to Ukraine within days if Congress passes a long-delayed aid bill. That's because it has a network of storage sites in the U.S. and Europe that already hold the ammunition and air defense components that Kyiv desperately needs. -snip- If about $61 billion in funding for the war-torn country gets the green light, “we have a very robust logistics network that enables us to move material very quickly,” Ryder told reporters Thursday. “We can move within days.”

"You can't go anywhere at all, not even to Uzbekistan or Belarus for the May holidays," said one source. -snip- Russia is making overseas travel harder for some officials due to fears that foreign powers may try to gain access to state secrets during the worst crisis in relations with the West for more than 60 years, nine sources told Reuters. The Federal Security Service (FSB) is putting pressure on employees across government ministries not to leave Russia at all, even to visit so-called 'friendly' countries that have not imposed sanctions against Moscow, the sources said. Foreign travel was highly...

Ukraine's government has mocked Russia on the second anniversary of the sinking of Moscow's former Black Sea flagship at Kyiv's hands, after Ukraine targeted a slew of Russia's vessels since the start of the year. The Moskva sank on April 14, 2022, less than two months after the start of Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The loss of the large cruiser, housing hundreds of crew members, was a significant strategic and propaganda blow to Russia in the opening weeks of the war. -snip- Kyiv said it used home-grown anti-ship missiles to strike the guided missile cruiser close to Snake Island,...

Up to 30 Russian personnel may have been killed and another 80 injured, according to a new report, after dramatic footage appeared to show explosions at a Russian military base in northern Crimea overnight. "About 30 Russian servicemen were killed and about 80 were wounded at the airfield in Dzhankoy," a Crimean-based Telegram channel called Crimean Wind reported on Wednesday. Crimean Wind is a pro-Ukrainian monitoring group that focuses on Crimea and generally offers reliable information. Natalia Humeniuk, spokesperson for Ukraine's southern forces, described Dzhankoy as a legitimate military target on Wednesday but declined to offer up further details. A...

-snip- Putin made the remarks in a phone call with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Tuesday. The leaders discussed what the Kremlin called “retaliatory measures taken by Iran” after an Israeli attack on the Iranian consulate in the Syrian capital, Damascus, on April 1. -snip- Russia, which has forged close ties with both Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, and several Arab leaders, has repeatedly scolded the West for ignoring the need for an independent Palestinian state within 1967 borders. “Both sides stated that the root cause of the current events in the Middle East is the unresolved Palestinian-Israeli conflict,” the...

After its drone attack against Israel, Iran seeks to continue building its partnership with Russia, which has slammed the UN Security Council's emergency meeting after the attack. Iran is hoping for Russian support in the wake of its massive attack on Israel. The Iranian Foreign Ministry praised Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday and noted a phone call between Lavrov and his Iranian counterpart, in which Russia said it would defend Iran at the UN Security Council. According to pro-Iran Al-Mayadeen media, Tehran views Russia’s comments positively. The Russians, according to the report, said the Iranian attack was coupled...

Tens of thousands of residents in the Russian city of Orenburg and neighbouring Kazakhstan have been told to evacuate immediately as flood waters inundate homes. -snip- Orenburg is home to half a million people, and the city's mayor Sergei Salmin said the situation was extremely dangerous. "Over the last 10 hours, the water level in the Ural River has risen by 40cm … these levels are dangerous," he wrote on the Telegram messenger app. He called on residents to gather essential items and to abandon their homes. Emergency workers said water levels in the Ural River were more than two...

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...

Footage showed numerous destroyed tanks, vehicles as well as multiple Russian casualties dispersed in a field. Ukraine has wiped out on of Russia's biggest tank charges since the start of the war, destroying 12 tanks in one day. Footage showed 48 Russian tanks and other vehicles coming under attack from Ukrainian drones, missiles and artillery. It shows the convoy of Russian tanks and armoured vehicles moving in the east of Ukraine alongside soldiers. Kyiv's forces then struck the convoy as it moved down a single road, taking out 12 tanks and eight armoured vehicles as well as several Russian personnel....

Ukrainian forces in a priority section of the front line near Avdiivka appear to have defeated a large Russian mechanized assault involving tanks and fighting vehicles over the weekend. -snip- On March 30, Ukrainian troops outside occupied Avdiivka fought off a Russian battalion-sized mechanized assault, the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said. ISW cited a Ukrainian serviceman who, on March 31, said that elements of Russia's 6th Tank Regiment sent 36 tanks and 12 BMP infantry fighting vehicles into a battle on the front line near Tonenke, a village east of Avdiivka. The serviceman said...

THIS is the dramatic moment Vladimir Putin's £32 million Su-27 fighter jet plunges into flames in the Black Sea. Footage shows the pilot ejecting from the burning aircraft and launching his parachute before it explodes into a fireball inferno. The plane could be seen hurtling through the sky as onlookers watched on with horror from below. The aircraft eventually smashed into the sea off annexed Sevastopol in Crimea, but not before the pilot managed to escape within an inch of his life.

Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissed warnings about a potential terror incident in Moscow just days before gunmen attacked a concert hall in the city on Friday. -snip- Earlier this month, the US embassy in Russia issued a security alert warning about a potential terror attack in Moscow and urged people to avoid crowds, monitor local media for updates, and be aware of surroundings. "The Embassy is monitoring reports that extremists have imminent plans to target large gatherings in Moscow, to include concerts, and U.S. citizens should be advised to avoid large gatherings over the next 48 hours," the March 7...

A Russian border region being pounded by Ukrainian shelling and drones is expanding its closure of schools and colleges amid a major evacuation plan, authorities announced Wednesday, as Kyiv’s forces extend their campaign of long-range strikes that aim to put the Kremlin under pressure.

Ukraine hit a key Russian airbase used for nuclear bombers in an overnight kamikaze drone strike as part of a consolidated aerial bombardment of several border regions. The 'explosions and fire' at the airbase came as pro-Putin sources also accused Kyiv of targeting a nuclear power plant in Kursk region. Explosions were heard at Engels air base in the Saratov region, home of Vladimir Putin's Tu-160 'Blackjack', Tu-95 'Bear' and Tu-22 strike aircraft, late last night. All of these planes are capable of carrying nuclear missiles but have been used to strike Ukraine with conventional bombs throughout the past two...

Ukraine launched several drones at the Slavyansk oil refinery in Russia's Krasnodar region, sparking a brief fire at the site and resulting in one person dying of a heart attack, local officials said on Sunday. "The drones were neutralised, but a fire broke out as a result of the fall of one of the devices," the operational headquarters of the region in southern Russia said on the Telegram messaging app. The fire was extinguished and there were no casualties as a result of the fire itself, the administration said. Preliminary information indicated, however, one person had died of a heart...

The governor of Russia's Samara region said on Saturday that Ukrainian drones had struck two Rosneft oil refineries in the region, causing no casualties but leaving one facility on fire. Governor Dmitry Azarov said in a statement posted on the Telegram messaging app that the Volga river region's Syzran refinery was on fire, but that an attack on the Novokubyshev refinery had been thwarted. He said workers at both plants had been evacuated, and that there were no casualties. Unverified footage published online showed what appeared to be a major fire at the Syzran refinery, with emergency services working at...

The incumbent Russian leader, Vladimir Putin, who is vying for the country’s top office as an independent candidate, has cast his electronic vote in the presidential election, APA reports quoting TASS. The published video footage shows Putin walking to a computer in his office, casting his vote and then smiling and waving at the camera. The computer monitor displayed a standard notification for a successfully cast vote.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused Ukraine of trying to disrupt his country’s presidential election by shelling Russian territory and using 2,500 soldiers to try to pierce Russia’s borders, promising to punish Kyiv for its actions. Polls opened across 11 time zones in Russia on Friday to begin three days of voting with Putin almost certain to secure his fifth term since winning his first election in 2000 with dissent in the country almost completely stifled. The shadow of the Ukraine war fell across the election with what Putin said was repeated shelling of western Russia and an attempt by...