Free Republic

Ukraine’s fight isn’t merely for its existence as a nation – it’s a battle for the very fabric of the global order. Yes, it’s about safeguarding European security – a rallying cry heard in countless statements from Western officials, often accompanied by assurances of limited air defence and ammunition – but as Ukraine continues to lose ground, towns, and lives, the West’s response is tepid, with its only firm stance drawn around Nato borders, where geopolitical interests overshadow humanitarian concerns. But what if Putin dares to cross these lines, dismissing Western threats as mere bluster? What if Ukraine falls, emboldening...

Good morning, C&C, it’s Thursday, the penultimate day of May! Your essential news roundup includes: Trump trial update — hurry up and wait; Biden plays footsie with nuclear armageddon, Putin responds, and corporate media ignores him; more historic sun activity appears to be inbound next week; and the justice system provides a negative example of what not to do in court.🗞💬 WORLD NEWS AND COMMENTARY 💬🗞🔥🔥 Fox ran its Trump Trial update story at 4am this morning, headlined “NY v. Trump: Jury to continue deliberations for 2nd day in unprecedented case.” The sub-headline showed Trump’s long-enduring exasperation, explaining “'Nobody knows...

Russia has announced plans to raise taxes on businesses and the wealthy as it scrambles for additional revenue to fund its invasion of Ukraine. -snip- “The changes are aimed at building a fair and balanced tax system,” Minister of Finance Anton Siluanov said in a statement, adding that the extra funds would bolster Russia’s “economic wellbeing”. -snip- Income tax is currently 13 percent for the majority of Russians, with some higher earners paying a rate of 15 percent. The Finance Ministry said under the amendments that the 15 percent rate would apply for annual incomes between 2.4 and 5 million...

Commander Daryl Caudle said breaches are seen every week amid an 8,000% surge in Chinese migrants at the southern border...Commander Caudle said attempted infiltrations are happening 'two or three times a week' - at Navy bases alone....the perpetrators often claiming to be innocent tourists when caught...A lot of times they have passports, they have papers, but they are in no way shape or form authorized to be on our base. Operatives from Communist China have been caught scuba diving close to Cape Canaveral, wandered on to a missile launch site in New Mexico, and claimed to be looking for Holiday...

Vladimir Solovyov, media personality and ally to Russian President Vladimir Putin, recently suggested that Moscow launch a missile strike at the torch of the Statue of Liberty in New York City. Amid Moscow's ongoing full-scale invasion of Ukraine that Putin launched in February 2022, Solovyov has been a source of Russian propaganda. He has talked about Russia expanding its war, claiming that the country owns Ukraine and even parts of Europe like Poland and Finland.

Video footage of Vladimir Putin's press conference yesterday with Alexander Lukashenko. Russian President Putin Visits Belarus, Discusses Tactical Nuclear Exercises with Lukashenko

The film features an artificial intelligence depiction of the Russian President in a series of compromising positions, like an affair in his office or the floor of a hospital after soiling his diaper. Russian spies tried to curtail the making of a wild movie that shows an artificial-intelligence created Vladimir Putin in diapers, its director has claimed. 'Putin' serves as an alternative biopic about the Kremlin leader by Polish box office director Patryck Vega, who now goes by the artistic name Besaleel. -snip- Ahead of being shown at Cannes, the depiction is reportedly attracting a great deal of attention from...

With the full consent of the Cuban leadership, on May 11 of this year, our country has not only resumed work in the electronic center of Lourdes, but also placed the latest mobile strategic nuclear missiles "Oak" on the island. They did not want to do it the amicable way, now let them deal with this," Putin said.

Bjørg Hjorth Nørgaard, 19, has not finished high school yet but has already enlisted to pay a duty to her country. The young woman has volunteered for Denmark's four-month military training camp before university, fully aware that war has returned to Europe. "It's a personal journey … I have signed up at my own free will," she said. "It's no longer an argument that men fight wars, women do it as well now." Young men in the country have for a long time been conscripted based on a lottery system. If your number is called, it is compulsory to attend...

"It all started with the tragic events in the United States, in the schools of the United States," Vladimir Putin told the Valdai discussion forum in Sochi in southern Russia. As Russians struggle to come to terms with a horrific US-style school shooting in Crimea, which has left at least 20 people dead and dozens injured, Kremlin-controlled media are blaming the "corrupting influence" of the West for inspiring the attack. This person was under the strong influence of Western subculture," said Sergey Mikheyev, a political analyst speaking on a nightly current-affairs show on Russian state television. "Western subculture builds its...

U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday extended sanctions against Russia by another year, prolonging punitive measures that were first imposed over Moscow’s annexation of Crimea in 2014. In Monday’s announcement, the Trump administration stressed the “unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States” posed by Russia as the basis for renewing the sanctions.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) on Wednesday blamed Russia’s annexation of Crimea on Republicans, though the invasion took place on President Barack Obama's watch. Pelosi slammed President Donald Trump and Republicans for their alleged inability to face Russian aggression—and tied them to President Barack Obama’s appeasement of Moscow. "You just described, not only for the president, but the Republicans in Congress, dereliction of duty," Pelosi told MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace. "Undermining our own elections, undermining our commitment to NATO, giving away the store, the base, in Syria. The list goes on and on. Ignoring the annexation of Crimea,...

And so we’ve come to the point of the war in Ukraine in which the west’s ‘Knight in Shining armor’, the ‘defender of democracy’ Volodymyr Zelensky has outrun his Constitutional Presidential mandate, and is now in power only by virtue of the martial law he enacted. That is just the most dramatic of the absolutely disheartening (for Kiev) series of developments. To begin with, a series of videos have surfaced showing how the streets of Ukraine now are deserted, with men hiding from conscription into the army – and somehow, everyone else seemed to have stayed at home, too. Watch:...

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi was a "true friend" to Russia and was admired both at home and abroad, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a message on Monday, after it was confirmed that Raisi died in a helicopter crash a day earlier. Raisi "was rightly highly respected by his compatriots and enjoyed great prestige abroad," Putin said in a condolence message to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that was released by the Kremlin. "As a true friend of Russia, he made an invaluable personal contribution to the development of good neighbourly relations between our countries and made great efforts...

Russian President Vladimir Putin phoned Iran's new interim president on Monday as Moscow made clear its desire to preserve and build on its deepening relationship with Tehran despite the sudden death of President Ebrahim Raisi. The Kremlin said Putin expressed his condolences to interim president Mohammad Mokhber and to the whole Iranian people over Raisi's death in a helicopter crash, describing Raisi as a "reliable partner who made an invaluable personal contribution" to bilateral relations. "Both sides emphasised their mutual desire to further consistently strengthen comprehensive Russian-Iranian interaction for the benefit of the peoples of the two countries," the Kremlin...

In a conversation with the First Vice President, the special assistant to the Russian President stated that, by Putin's order, two advanced aircrafts with special helicopters and 50 professional mountain rescue personnel will be dispatched to Tabriz, Iranian media reported on Sunday overnight.

A vaunted 'new era' of strategic partnership between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his counterpart Xi Jinping may not exactly have been sealed with a kiss, but it did lead to rare hugs between them. Underscoring the importance of Xi's support for the Kremlin, Putin headed to Beijing earlier this week in what was his first trip abroad since his March re-election and the second in just over six months to China. Russia, grappling with Western sanctions after its invasion of Ukraine, is increasingly reliant on its booming trade with China, which is challenging US supremacy in areas from quantum...

🔹 The West turns a blind eye on Ukraine carrying out terrorist acts on Russian territory 🔹 Russia and its partners are not satisfied with the state of affairs in the world when the West prevents other nations from choosing who to cooperate with 🔹 Ukraine and its Western patrons are not ready for equal, honest and open dialogue 🔹 Western elites are trying to “punish” Russia, isolate it, and weaken it, seeking to illegally appropriate its assets

Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit China at the invitation of his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, the Kremlin press service said. "At the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin will pay a state visit to the People's Republic of China on May 16-17 as his first foreign trip after taking office," the statement said. Following the talks, it is planned to sign a joint statement by the heads of state and a number of bilateral documents, the statement read, adding that the leaders will determine the directions for further development of cooperation and...