Free Republic

As the Russian advances accelerate for fourth straight month, Ukrainians have lost the strongholds of Donetsk region’s Toretsk and Chasov Yar, and the Russians have also entered the city of Kupyansk, on the northern Kharkov region. In the meantime, the siege of Pokrovsk continues, and even Kiev regime leader Volodymyr Zelensky had to confirm that ‘small groups’ of the Russian Armed Forces are ‘breaking through’ to Pokrovsk. As August arrives, the attackers advanced on the Sukhetsky suburb north of Rodinsky. Slavyangrad reported: “At the moment, it seems that the deepening of the defense crisis of the Armed Forces of Ukraine...

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...

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov commented on Thursday regarding threats issued by U.S. President Donald Trump to BRICS, an organization comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates. Trump claimed the group has "anti-American policies" and said he will impose tariffs on it and its allies, with Peskov replying that BRICS "does not respond to threats" and is not aligned against any country, News.Az reports citing foreign media.

Indian state refiners have temporarily ceased purchasing Russian crude oil this week, primarily due to concerns over potential secondary tariffs threatened by U.S. President Donald Trump and reduced discounts on Russian oil. This decision by state-controlled refiners, which represent over 60% of India’s refining capacity, marks a shift from their regular imports of Russian oil since 2022. Indian refiners are now seeking alternative crude supplies from the Middle East and West Africa and have requested urgent guidance from the Indian oil ministry regarding future Russian oil flows.

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!”

Podnosova once said that women weren’t into Putin during their uni years. RUSSIA'S top judge and Putin’s former university pal has died today - just 15 months after taking the helm of the country's supreme court. -snip- Podnosova had revealed in 2001 how a gawky Putin was not fancied by girls at discos at Leningrad State University where they both studied in the law faculty in the Soviet era. “I well remember the last New Year [at university] - everyone dressed in masquerade costumes, and Volodya [Vladimir] came in a modest suit. "He commented: ‘This is Stierlitz’s outfit," in reference...

The draft memorandums on resolving the conflict that Moscow and Kyiv exchanged earlier would be the focus of the third round of direct talks between Russia and Ukraine, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday. "The subject of talks is rather complicated; apart from other issues, the draft memorandums that the parties exchanged in the second round will also need to be discussed," he pointed out, News.Az reports, citing TASS.

Vladimir Putin today vowed to back Iran and condemned 'groundless' aggression against its ally after the U.S. joined Israel in striking nuclear facilities on Sunday. 'This is an absolutely unprovoked aggression against Iran,' Putin told Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who travelled to Moscow seeking support in mediation. Putin called recent strikes 'unjustified' and added that Russia was 'making efforts to provide assistance to the Iranian people.' Araghchi on Monday thanked Putin for condemning U.S. strikes on Iran, telling him Russia stood on 'the right side of history'.

NATO scrambled its war planes today in self defence amid Vladimir Putin’s heaviest strikes on Ukraine in months, leading to multiple civilian deaths including three children. Russia was also hit hard with Ukrainian strikes, leading to the Kremlin’s air defences firing in panic - but missing - an Airbus A320-251N packed with its own tourists from Turkish resort Bodrum, according to reports. At least 10 Russian government aircraft used for high-ranking state and military officials fled Moscow flying east. It was not immediately clear if the exodus was a drill for an emergency evacuation or the real thing amid an...

Russian air strikes hit the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, on Sunday, killing one person and injuring three others, while the death toll from Friday’s devastating attack on Kryvyi Rih rose to 19, including nine children. The Kyiv victim was found near the epicentre of the strike in the Darnytskyi district, where fires broke out in multiple non-residential areas, causing severe damage to buildings and cars. In a statement on social media, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky suggested the intensifying Russian attacks showed there is still insufficient international pressure on Moscow. He said Russia has launched more than 1,460 guided aerial bombs, nearly...

Vladimir Putin’s Russian Space Agency boss has been fired after a “catastrophic” number of launch failures of missiles, satellites and rockets in recent years. Yury Borisov, 68, an ex-deputy premier and close ally, was replaced at the space agency, known as Roscosmos, by deputy transport minister Dmitry Bakanov, 39 -snip- A key failure for both men was the doomsday Sarmat - aka Satan-2 - missile, Russia's largest weapon. Under Borisov, also a former deputy defence minister, a test in September 2024 exploded on the launch at Plesetsk cosmodrome leaving a 200ft wide crater. A year earlier, Borisov had reported to...

On Monday’s broadcast of Newsmax TV’s “Rob Schmitt Tonight,” President-Elect Donald Trump responded to a question on his strategy to end the Russia-Ukraine war by stating that “there’s only one strategy, and it’s up to Putin. And I can’t imagine he’s too thrilled with the way it’s gone, because it hasn’t gone exactly well for him either.” Host Rob Schmitt asked, “You’ve said you want this war ended in six months. What is the strategy to do that? Can you give us any insight?” Trump answered, “Well, there’s only one strategy, and it’s up to Putin. And I can’t imagine...

US President-elect Donald Trump said that a meeting was being set up between him and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday. "He wants to meet, and we are setting it up," Trump said in remarks before a meeting with Republican governors at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida.

Russian foreign ministry claimed on X that the Soviet Union’s invasion of Poland prevented genocide in Western Belarus and Western Ukraine. History shows, and Germany pointed out, they are wrong The Hitler-Stalin pact was a secret agreement between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, carved Poland into zones of control for both powers, setting the stage for the start of World War II. Images courtesy: Wikimedia Commons Germany reacted with disbelief after Russia defended its 1939 invasion of Poland, claiming it was a move to protect Ukrainian and Belarusian populations, not an act of aggression. Marking the 85th anniversary of...

Vladimir Putin has awoken to one of the largest bombardments on Moscow and other parts of Russia after 30 months of bloodshed. Ukraine unleashed 144 drones, targeting three airports in the capital and lighting up residential buildings in the region of Moscow, during what the Kremlin called a ‘terrorist attack supported by the UK and US’. Debris from aircraft damaged at least two high-rise buildings in the Ramenskoye district in the early hours of Tuesday, setting several flats on fire. A 46-year-old woman was killed and three people were injured, governor Andrei Vorobyov said on Telegram. He added that 43...

This is the moment Ukrainian troops destroyed a pontoon bridge in the Kursk region with a HIMARS strike, which could leave thousands of Russian troops stranded. The pontoon crossing in the border region was built by Putin's army after Ukrainian forces destroyed at least three permanent bridges over western Russia's Seim River in recent attacks. Video footage showed drones chasing down trucks and blowing them up. Drones can also be seen crashing into stationary military vehicles, while aerial footage showed the pontoon bridge being decimated. The footage came as Vladimir Putin accused Ukraine of trying to strike a nuclear power...

Russian firefighters are battling a three-day inferno in the southwest of the country, after a Ukrainian drone attack on an oil storage depot ignited the facility's diesel reserves. On Saturday Rostov Oblast Governor Vasily Golubev said that Russian air defense forces had repelled an attack by a Ukrainian UAV in the town of Proletarsk, located around 150 miles from the Ukrainian border. A day later, however, Golubev said that fallen debris from the UAV had landed on the industrial warehouses at the Proletarsk state reserve fuel facility, igniting a fire which Russian authorities have since struggled to contain. Golubev also...

Rumours of Vladimir Putin body doubles have been circulating for a while and now speculation is rife about the Russian president again. Putin visited Baku, Azerbaijan, between August 18 and 19 to discuss Armenian settlement with the President of Azerbaijan. But some people have noticed there is a problem with Putin’s face in comparison to a meeting he held with the Russian security council just a few days prior. This includes Anton Herashchenko, a former advisor to Ukraine’s government, who is convinced Putin appeared as a body double in Baku. He posted: ‘Putin in Baku looks different from Putin at...