Free Republic

Until today, there have been no confirmed reports of Storm Shadows being deployed since November last year. VLADIMIR Putin's officers have been killed in droves in the first British-made Storm Shadow strike in months, reports claim. Bombshell footage showed the damage in Donetsk amid claims of “massive casualties among Russian officers” and the “crippling” of a mad Vlad fighting force. If confirmed, it would be the first use of the British-supplied missiles in months. Red-faced Russian authorities admitted only that a woman had died and three people were wounded, including a teenager. A building collapsed in the combined missile and...

Hardliners close to Vladimir Putin have demanded Russians "take up arms" in a furious response to the US attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities. US President Donald Trump sanctioned the bombings of three nuclear sites in Iran overnight, escalating the Middle East crisis further. Missiles were dropped from American B-2 stealth bombers, including on Iran's Fordow nuclear site, which has caused some Russian oligarchs to demand military support for Tehran. Oligarch Konstantin Malofeev, who runs propaganda empire Tsargrad, demanded: “It's high time we helped Tehran with satellite intelligence, air defence, and missiles.” He accused Trump of mocking Putin by “pretending to...

Vladimir Putin is demanding urgent potato imports from Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus, while he delays supplying the ally with promised notorious Oreshnik horror missiles. Putin has made the shameful admission that he has run out of spuds - one of his country’s leading food staples - amid economic meltdown during his war with Ukraine. It now appears Belarus will not get the lethal missiles until after Lukashenko supplies Putin with new exports of potatoes which have spiralled in prices in Russia. The Minsk tyrant has even cancelled sanctions against imports from the EU to stock up to supply Russia. -snip-...

Russia has accused Donald Trump of falling victim to 'emotional overload' at a 'crucial moment' after the US President labelled Vladimir Putin 'absolutely crazy' for his brutal missile attacks on Ukraine. When asked about Trump's explosive remarks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov hit back but also thanked the President for helping to enable ceasefire talks. 'We are really grateful to the Americans and to President Trump personally for their assistance in organising and launching this negotiation process,' he said. 'Of course, at the same time, this is a very crucial moment, which is associated, of course, with the emotional overload of...

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...

Vladimir Putin’s top security official has vanished during efforts to end the war in Ukraine, amid swirling health rumours and claims he could be caught up in a corruption probe. Sergei Shoigu, 69, is a Russian army general and currently the secretary of the powerful Russian Security Council. He served as defence minister for most of the war in Ukraine before being replaced one year ago, and is a very well-known member of Putin's entourage. Speculation is swirling in Moscow after he missed the Red Square parade on Friday amid claims his absence was health-related. But an explanation that he...

DICTATOR Vladimir Putin has showed off his private chapel and his favourite drink in a bizarre tour of his Kremlin apartment. The Russian tyrant gave the public a glimpse into his home in an interview marking the 25th anniversary of his first inauguration as president. The bizarre footage shows Putin giving his favourite interviewer, Pavel Zarubin, a tour of the apartment while answering his questions. When asked about his grandchildren from daughters Maria, 39, and Katerina, 37, Putin says they occasionally visit him unexpectedly in his austere apartment. He said: “They can, they can. “But still everyone understands that I...

PUTIN henchman and Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov is "preparing to flee Russia" - as he has put his son in charge of the police. The infamous leader of Chechnya has already made several moves to prepare for his escape - and his efforts have sparked a conflict with Kremlin cronies. The 48-year-old dictator is a vocal supporter of Russian tyrant Vladimir Putin, and has sent tens of thousands of troops to support the bloody war in Ukraine. He has also been accused of violating human rights, including involvement in kidnapping and torture. But relations between Putin and Kadyrov have soured...

NATO fighter planes were scrambled today amid a brutal Russian missile and military drone onslaught on civilian, energy and military sites in Ukraine. Harrowing footage showed residents in Poltava screaming after a strike destroyed ordinary apartment blocks triggering fires amid the debris of smashed buildings. The wave of attacks by Vladimir Putin - which led to power cuts in multiple regions - came soon after Donald Trump announced in the Oval Office that his administration was actively talking to Moscow. “We are having very serious discussions about that war, trying to get it ended,” said the US president. On whether...

Watch the historic moment the sea drone takes down an aerial target. DRAMATIC footage shows the moment Ukraine claimed the historic downing of a Russian M-8 military helicopter off the coast of occupied Crimea by a missile-firing sea drone. Kyiv's military intelligence announced the strike in the Black Sea with a Magura V5 and included a clip of the historic moment. In the black-and-white footage taken from the sea drone, bursts of water can be seen around the drone launching into the air as Vladimir Putin's chopper attacked. Viewers can quickly spot the Russian aircraft in the top right-hand corner...

AT least one person has died after a Russian oil tanker split in two, with a second ship damaged in the Black Sea. Footage shows one of the tankers split completely in half, with its bow vertically in the water, upturned and rapidly sinking. An emergency rescue operation is currently underway to desperately evacuate both crews in yet another blow to Putin. The Volgoneft-212 and Volgoneft-239 are wrecked in the Kerch Strait amid fears for at least 27 sailors, with the damage reportedly resulting in a devastating oil spill. Russian investigators say they have opened two criminal cases to look...

A leading Putin missile scientist has reportedly been gunned down in a Moscow park by a Ukrainian military assassin. Mikhail Shatsky, the Deputy Chief Designer at the Mars Design Bureau, which develops and manufactures onboard guidance systems for the Russian military and space industry, was allegedly eliminated by an unknown assassin in Kuzminsky forest park, at Kotelniki, eight miles southeast of the Kremlin. Reports say the scientist, an associate professor, was working actively on upgrading the Russian Kh-59 cruise missile to the Kh-69 level, which Russian troops use to strike Ukraine. There was immediate speculation that he was assassinated by...

Ukrainian long-range missiles have struck a major military centre inside Russia which is home to Vladimir Putin's 'Flying Kremlin' doomsday plane. The strikes hit Taganrog, a city of about a quarter of a million people in the Rostov region, causing ten loud explosions and bright flashes. Initial reports said there were two possible targets - the Beriev Aircraft Company, which maintains some of Putin's most important planes, and the Krasny Hydropress plant, which makes key missile elements and is part of Russia's Tactical Missile Weapons Corporation. Putin's Ilyushin Il-80 Maxdome plane - for use in nuclear war - is maintained...

Vladimir Putin's new 'wonder-weapon' caused little damage when he unleashed it on Ukraine, satellite pictures show, despite Russian claims that a defence plant in Dnipro was 'erased to dust'. Furious Russian pro-war military pundits are questioning if they have been misled by Putin's boastful claims over the 'unstoppable' Oreshnik.

The Kremlin has rushed out a statement denying Vladimir Putin has health problems after the Russian leader admitted undergoing regular examinations at a top Moscow hospital. The Russian despot, 72, was speaking in a televised session with his health minister Mikhail Murashko aimed at encouraging people to have flu jabs when he admitted getting "all sorts of regular examinations". He said: "Doctors at the Central Clinical Hospital, where I undergo all sorts of regular examinations, also recommend getting vaccinated with domestically produced drugs." The admission appears to have sparked speculation that Putin may have some kind of medical condition -...

Vladimir Putin is ready to share sovereignty of Crimea with Ukraine, according to an astonishing 'new peace plan'. The dictator sent his trusted interior minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev to the US with new proposals to end the war that the dictator started, say sources in both Moscow and Kyiv. Despite being sanctioned, Kolokoltsev was allowed into the US ostensibly to attend a UN meeting of police chiefs. But this was a ruse allowing him to travel to Washington on a VIP plane from Putin's presidential fleet to transmit to the US government the dictator's real demands for a peace deal, it...

Dramatic footage shows the moment a suspected Ukrainian plane-type UAV explodes as it was targeted at a Russian plant assembling Iranian Shahed drones used in the war. There was a huge blast and fireball near Yelabuga, deep in Russia, at least 660 miles from the closest Ukrainian territory. A total of three strikes were reported in the area. Russian sources say it hit a dormitory for workers in the Alabuga economic zone in the Republic of Tatarstan, where it is believed the deadly Iranian drones are assembled. It is unclear so far if there was also damage to the drone-making...

Voting for Russia's presidential elections was disrupted today in the border region Belgorod amid new shelling and incursions of anti-Kremlin Russian groups from Ukraine that forced 'thousands' of people to evacuate. Polling was suspended in Belgorod city after it came under artillery fire, with clips circulated by Russian news channels on the Telegram messaging app showing trucks and cars blown to pieces by the shelling. Election officials were seen wearing bulletproof gear as they monitored voting on the first day of a three-day election expected to return Putin by a landslide. Meanwhile, footage appears to show anti-Putin pro-Ukrainian partisan paramilitary...

Four oil tanks hit by Ukrainian 'drone strike' at naval port in annexed Crimea Video shows huge fireball raging and Russia says fire will not be out until tonight A huge ball of fire is raging in Crimea after a suspected Ukrainian aerial drone strike hit a major fuel depot in the heart of an annexed naval port Sevastopol today. Footage showed a fireball with huge flames and a mushroom-like black cloud from a major fire triggered by two explosions in Cossack Bay, in the Crimean Peninsula. The blasts came at 4:20am and 4:21am local time (2.20am and 2.21am UK...

The 'scar' was seen as Putin attended a midnight Easter service in Moscow A prominent diagonal line is seen upwards from left to right on the despot's neck Intrigue has surfaced over a prominent 'scar' that was seen on Vladimir Putin's neck, adding to further speculation that the despot may be ill with cancer. The marking was seen as he clasped a candle at a midnight Orthodox Easter cathedral service in Moscow at the weekend. It has led to web discussion on whether it represents proof of credible claims initially made by Proekt [Project] media one year ago that Putin...