Free Republic

Russia reserves the right to use nuclear weapons in the event it faces aggression by Western countries, Moscow's top security official, Sergei Shoigu, was quoted as saying in an interview with the TASS state news agency on Thursday. -snip- Shoigu, who served for over a decade as Russia's defence minister until he moved to head its powerful security council in a government reshuffle last year, cited amendments to Moscow's nuclear doctrine approved by President Vladimir Putin last November. Under the new terms, Russia could consider a nuclear strike in response to a conventional attack on Russia or its ally Belarus...

Air defence units were in action early on Thursday in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, against a combined attack by drones and missiles, with officials reporting fallen fragments and fires in various districts. Reuters witnesses reported a series of loud explosions in succession. "A combined attack is proceeding. The danger remains high," Timur Tkachenko, head of the city's military administration, wrote on Telegram. Tkachenko said fires and fallen fragments had been recorded in two districts on the west bank of the Dnipro River bisecting the city. Mayor Vitali Klitschko said drones were flying over central districts. He ordered teams of medics...

Russian President Vladimir Putin said his nation’s troops are still experiencing some weapons shortages despite increases in production demands. Before a meeting of Russia’s Military-Industrial Commission on Wednesday, Mr. Putin confirmed that the country had met all of its defense production goals last year. However, those goals may not have been enough, with Mr. Putin adding that some Russian military members lack the necessary equipment. “I know very well, and many here who are participating in our meeting today know it as well as I do: There are still not enough of these weapons,” he said. “Not enough.”

VLADIMIR Putin launched a massive drone and missile attack on Ukraine as soon as the 30-hour Easter Truce was over. He also reportedly flouted the truce period almost 3,000 times with attacks during his own-imposed mini ceasefire. Russia hammered the border regions of Sumy and Kharkiv with aerial bombs soon after the midnight end of the so-called truce. Explosions were also reported in the Mykolaiv, Kherson, Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk regions. The truce, lasting little over a day, was proposed by Putin from 6pm on Saturday to midnight on Sunday, for what he called "humanitarian considerations". President Zelensky accused...

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law ratifying a strategic partnership treaty with Iran, Russian state news agency RIA reported on Monday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday, April 20, said Russian forces were continuing their shelling and assaults along the front line despite Russian President Vladimir Putin announcing a surprise but brief Easter truce. The 30-hour truce starting Saturday evening would be the most significant pause in the fighting throughout the three-year conflict. But on Sunday, Zelensky accused Russia of having maintained its attacks on the front line after the truce started at 4 pm Paris time Saturday. "Across various frontline directions, there have already been 59 cases of Russian shelling and five assaults by Russian units," Zelensky said on social...

MAD Vladimir Putin's top stooge has raged that European troops in Ukraine would "return in coffins" as plans are drawn up for a peacekeeping force in the war-torn country. French President Emmanuel Macron, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US envoy Steve Witkoff began their meeting in Paris on crafting a ceasefire to finally end the bloody war. As Ukrainian officials discuss deploying troops in Volodymyr Zelensky's nation with their British, French and German counterparts, Putin's puppets have been raging over the talks. Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev made a clear warning to the West of sending...

The former governor of Russia's Kursk region, parts of which were seized by Ukrainian forces in August 2024, has been detained and charged with embezzling money earmarked for building defences, Russia's interior ministry said on Thursday. Alexei Smirnov was head of the western region when Ukrainian troops smashed across the border in a large-scale incursion. -snip- In the first hours of Ukraine's August incursion into Kursk, Smirnov repeatedly offered assurances that the situation was under control, even as Russian border guards were left reeling and in retreat by the surprise attack.

The European Commission is working on a proposal to cut off Russian oil and gas imports after facing criticism for heavy dependence on Russian President Vladimir Putin for energy. A vote on the proposal is expected on May 6, though the exact date may change, a spokesperson for the commission told Fox News Digital. "It will be a comprehensive plan to phase out Russian fossil fuels from the European energy market," spokesperson Anna-Kaisa Itkonen said, declining to share any further details. The deal may include increasing U.S. natural gas imports, as Commissioner Ursula von der Leyen has suggested in the...

“I think it was terrible and I was told they made a mistake, but I think it’s a horrible thing,” Trump told reporters on-board Air Force One on Sunday evening. “I think the whole war’s a horrible thing.”Moscow’s recent missile strikes in Ukraine that killed dozens of civilians show Russian President Vladimir Putin is “mocking” President Donald Trump, Poland’s Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski has said. WHY IT MATTERS Ukrainian authorities said that Russia launched two ballistic missiles at the Ukrainian city of Sumy as residents attended church services marking Palm Sunday. Ukraine’s state emergency service said late Sunday that 34...

A Russian missile strike on a Ukrainian city killed more than 20 people as civilians gathered to celebrate Palm Sunday, officials said. Two Russian ballistic missiles struck the city of Sumy at around 10:15 a.m., according to Ukrainian officials. Images from the city show a building blasted to rubble, vehicles on fire in a street and several bodies on the ground. "On this bright Palm Sunday, our community has suffered a terrible tragedy," Acting Mayor Artem Kobzar said in a statement on social media. "Unfortunately, we already know of more than 20 deaths." An initial investigation determined at least 21...

Drones swarmed the museum-grade GAZ-69 trucks. All along the front line, vehicle losses are spurring a swift de-mechanization of the Russian army. A few weeks after first appearing in significant numbers along the front line in Ukraine, Russian GAZ-69 trucks—museum pieces from the 1950s—seem to have participated in their first direct assault on Ukrainian positions. “We are an inch away from the GAZ-69 sturm,” open-source intelligence analyst Moklasen predicted on April 1, using slang for “attack.” They were right. The Thursday assault outside Bilohorivka, at the juncture of Luhansk and Donetsk Oblasts in eastern Ukraine, ended badly for at least...

Since April 1, Russian President Vladimir Putin has been notably absent from public view, sparking speculation as to his whereabouts. However, today may mark his return as he's rumored to meet with Donald Trumps envoy Steve Witkoff in St Petersburg. -snip- Despite daily television broadcasts showing a weary-looking Putin, now 72, engaging with local officials and other domestic agendas, these appearances are assessed by experts as likely "canned"suggesting they were pre-recorded. The enigmatic Russian leader has once again vanished from the public eye, marking the second time this year he's been absent for over a week, fueling widespread speculation about...

Estonian authorities detained and boarded a ship in the Baltic Sea that belongs to Russia’s shadow fleet, Prime Minister Kristen Michal said Friday. The vessel, which Michal said did not sail under any nation’s flag but was previously registered to Djibouti according to publicly available records, was detained near Tallinn Bay in an operation involving helicopters. “Early this morning, the Estonian Navy detained a sanctioned vessel with no flag state,” Michal said in a post on social media. “Our authorities are currently on board, inspecting its legal status and safety.” The ship was heading to the port of Ust-Luga, a...

THIS is the moment daring Ukrainian tanks storm Putin's dragon's teeth frontline as they invade Russia again. The Ukrainian forces seized Vlad's land in the Belgorod region, leaving the Russian tyrant humiliated. The footage shows Ukrainian forces on the border between the two countries close to the village Demidovka. The tanks can be seen ramming through Russia's frontline - which gets its name from its striking resemblance to dragon's teeth. The attack comes as Russia's gains are in Ukraine are slowly grinding to a halt.

-snip- Urals crude, Russia’s main export blend, has plunged this week to its lowest level since 2023, at about $52 per barrel — roughly 30 percent below the $70 benchmark used in Russia’s 2025 budget planning. The slide followed a sharp drop in international oil markets after Trump’s tariffs on China took effect and after a surprise OPEC+ decision to increase production. Oil exports make up about 30 percent of the country’s budget revenue and have been key in propping up Russia’s war machine three years into the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The decline in prices is edging close to...

PUTIN has stayed deafeningly silent after Kyiv claimed that two Chinese nationals were captured fighting in Ukraine. Beijing responded to Zelensky's call for answers and vowed to investigate the alleged reports of Chinese involvement in the conflict. Russia has chosen to stay silent on the matter, sparking fresh fears that Putin has been working with China all along. Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said: "I cannot comment on this information in any way." Zelensky demanded an official response from Beijing after claiming that Kyiv captured two Chinese nationals fighting in the Donetsk region of Ukraine. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman...

The Russian economy has slowed sharply in recent months, according to the latest economic data, and may be at further risk if a fall in oil prices and global market turmoil persist. Russia's growth, fuelled by spending on the three-year-old war in Ukraine, exceeded 4% in the past two years, but a labour shortage across many other sectors has contributed to a wage-price spiral that has pushed inflation above 10%. In response, the central bank has raised its key interest rate to 21%, the highest level since the early 2000s, prompting howls from business leaders who say it is stifling...

Russia's economy is facing further turmoil as the price of its flagship Urals crude oil plummets to its lowest value since early 2023. On Friday, Russian Urals oil prices fell to about £43 per barrel ($53), with projections suggesting they could dip to £40 ($50) if the downward trend in global oil prices continues. -snip- The oil price crisis comes just as Russia faces rising domestic inflation, with everyday goods, such as food and fuel, becoming increasingly expensive. Ordinary Russians feel the impact, with the cost of basic goods, including bread, milk, and potatoes, rising dramatically. The country now finds...

Russia's flagship Urals crude grade has tumbled alongside all major oil benchmarks in the global market rout and is close to the $50 per barrel threshold for the first time in nearly two years. The Urals price was at around $52 per barrel at the Baltic Sea port of Primorsk on Friday, according to data from Argus Media cited by Bloomberg. The price of Urals further dropped on Monday as oil prices continued to fall, with WTI Crude, the U.S. benchmark, down to $60 per barrel, and Brent Crude prices at $64. - snip- As the price of the flagship...