Free Republic

Russian forces are pushing hard to take the Ukrainian stronghold of Avdiivka. But why? In this video, we do a deep analysis on Russia's staggering losses, including infantry, tanks, and heavy equipment. We talk about why Russia wants the city so badly, what Vladimir Putin's stake in it is, and how it all connects back to Russia's invasion of Crimea and the War in the Donbas.

THE PEOPLE are protesting against Moscow and being dispersed, suppressed, beaten and arrested in Bashkirostan. This is the first event of this kind since Wagner's mutiny in June 2023.

Russians have clashed with riot police in a rare, large protest after an activist was sentenced to four-years in a penal colony. Fail Alsynov appeared in court on Wednesday accused of making a racist comment in a speech against plans to mine gold in the central Bashkortostan region using migrant workers. Despite temperatures of -20C (-4F), thousands gathered outside the courtroom in Baymak demanding his freedom after the sentence was passed down. Videos shared on social media showed a bus and three heavy police trucks, alongside crowds of protesters who squared up to officers who were holding shields and wearing...

UFA, Russia - Here on the southwestern edge of the Urals, a popular uprising against a regional government is posing one of the most significant challenges yet to President Vladimir V. Putin's political control, raising the possibility that civic protest may be spreading into Russia from its periphery. Heartened by the political upheavals in two of Russia's neighbors, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan, thousands here have staged a series of demonstrations since February calling for the ouster of the president of the Bashkortostan region, Murtaza G. Rakhimov. An ally of President Putin, he has served as the leader of this largely Muslim...

This week, over 200 protesters from the Russian Republic of Bashkortostan gathered in Moscow to call for the dismissal of Bashkir President Murtaza Rakhimov. Bashkortostan’s opposition accuses the president and the republic’s authorities of human-rights abuses and corruption. But its demands are likely to fall on deaf ears.