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Vladimir Putin has deployed air defence systems around Moscow, suggesting the despot fears an attack from Ukraine. He has deployed lethal S-400 defence missiles to two locations in the capital, designed to destroy aircraft, cruise and ballistic missiles, including medium-range missiles. Local residents say the deployments are new to the Russian capital. The tyrant's latest move comes after two drone strikes on Russian two air bases in Saratov and Ryazan in December, both suspected to be from Ukrainian forces. One S-400 air defence system has been deployed in fields belonging to the Russian State Agricultural University in the northwest of...

The White House on Wednesday expressed shock at the arrest of a former GOP candidate in New Mexico in connection with shootings targeting the homes of state Democratic officials, calling it an illustration of the dangers of conspiracies and political violence. “The allegations here are shocking and horrifying, and it’s a miracle here no one was hurt,” said press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. “The president has spoken out repeatedly and emphatically about how our nation rejects violence as a political tool. That is a bedrock principle of our democracy.”

The George W. Bush Institute is calling on the United States and its allies increase their aid to Ukraine and address the ongoing refugee crisis. The institute released a series of policy recommendations to the Biden administration and Congress on Wednesday, including international proposals regarding the war in Ukraine and domestic recommendations about immigration laws and education. The organization recommended sending more aid to Ukraine, like tanks, fighter jets and missile and air defense systems, saying the aid the U.S. has already sent to the country is “not enough.” “Helping Ukraine push out all Russian occupying and invading forces from...

The bill bans hate speech and incitement based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Link with details at https://flipboard.com/article/ukraine-passes-bill-banning-lgbtq-hate-speech-in-media/f-7732075dcf%2Flgbtqnation.com

An accidental grenade blast in a Russian region bordering Ukraine has led to at least seven deaths, the Interfax news agency reported Tuesday. "Four dead have been found among the missing. The number of victims has increased to seven people," the emergency services told Interfax. It added that the search for four more people was continuing. Over the weekend a sergeant in the southern Belgorod region "unintentionally" detonated a hand grenade inside a dormitory at a location for military personnel, Interfax said, citing emergency services. According to Interfax, the grenade triggered an ammunition blast and subsequent fire, killing three servicemen...

The Ukrainian Armed Forces claimed Tuesday to have "liquidated" about 900 Russian servicemen in fighting over the past day and said that about 117,000 Russian soldiers have been killed so far since the beginning of the invasion. The General Staff of the Ukrainian Army has said in a message on its account on the social network Facebook that 870 Russian servicemen have died in combat during the last 24 hours, bringing to "about 116,950" those killed since the invasion broke out, unleashed on February 24 on the orders of Russian President Vladimir Putin. He also stressed that since the beginning...

The U.S. military’s new, expanded combat training of Ukrainian forces began in Germany on Sunday, with a goal of getting a battalion of about 500 troops back on the battlefield to fight the Russians in the next five to eight weeks, said Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Milley, who plans to visit the Grafenwoehr training area on Monday to get a first-hand look at the program, said the troops being trained left Ukraine a few days ago. In Germany is a full set of weapons and equipment for them to use. Until now the Pentagon...

Why Belarus Might Invade Ukraine Too

Hollywood celebrity Rob Reiner, who vigorously campaigned for Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election, is now helping to perform damage control for the president in the wake of damaging revelations that Biden kept classified documents from his time as vice president in unsecured locations, including his Delaware car garage next to his prized Corvette. In a tweet on Sunday, Rob Reiner declared that President Biden is a “decent law abiding person,” comparing him unfavorably to former President Donald Trump, whom he called a “pathologically lying criminal.”

The days of Vladimir Putin’s energy blackmail driving up energy prices and testing Western unity are quickly coming to a close amidst a string of underappreciated but significant energy victories for the Biden Administration, ranging from bringing down gasoline prices for drivers to supplying enough LNG to keep Europe warm this winter. Instead of shivering in distress, European leaders are now considering plans to supply Ukraine with advanced battle tanks.

Ukraine reported a fresh wave of attacks on key infrastructure facilities on Saturday, a day after Russia claimed to have captured the ravaged eastern town of Soledar following a long battle. Victory in Soledar would be a rare achievement for Moscow after an embarrassing series of military setbacks — although Kyiv insisted fighting was still ongoing in the city on Saturday. Ukrainian infrastructure once again came under fire on Saturday as winter deepened, officials said. "Today, the enemy fired at energy facilities again," energy company Ukrenergo said, adding that it was working on "eliminating the consequences" of the strikes. In...

Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Friday on FNC’s “The Story” that the United States giving Ukraine weapon systems to fight off Russia’s invasion was “just common decency.” Anchor Martha MacCallum asked, “A lot of people say Putin’s army is nowhere near what everybody thought it was. He is going to lose this. Why are we spending all of this time and money on Ukraine? This is the argument some of them put forth. When we have other concerns here at home and other places in the world? What do you say to them, Dr. Rice?”

A recorded meeting shows Russian President Vladimir Putin losing his temper when arguing with his deputy prime minister. In Putin's first video call meeting of the year with government ministers, he sparred with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov before humiliating him by asking why he was "fooling around" instead of securing new contracts for plane construction, a video released by RIA Novosti shows. When Manturov attempted to defend himself, Putin adopted a mocking tone before giving him one month as a deadline. The incident started with a disagreement over whether or not new contracts...

Vladimir Putin will seek to nominate his chosen successor this year amid heavy losses on the battlefield, Abbas Gallyamov, his former speechwriter, said Putin's circle no longer see him as a 'guarantor of stability' and are alarmed by the rise of Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the well-armed Wagner private army, which is so far loyal to the Kremlin but could turn on an elite seen as failing in the war, Gallyamov said. They fear being slaughtered with Prigozhin's sledgehammer - the extrajudicial punishment given to his jail convict soldiers who refuse to fight or seek to defect to Ukraine. One...

President Vladimir Putin has removed Russia's top commander in Ukraine, three months after he was installed. Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov has been appointed to lead what Russia calls its "special military operation" against its neighbour. He replaces Sergei Surovikin who has overseen Moscow's brutal attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure. The reshuffle comes as Russian forces say they are making progress in eastern Ukraine after months of setbacks. Gen Gerasimov, who has been in post since 2012, is the longest-serving Russian chief of general staff of the post-Soviet era. Gen Surovikin - now his deputy - has been...

The boss of the feared Russian Wagner mercenary group has gloated to Ukraine by posing in a salt mine in a key battleground. Yevgeny Prigozhin stood defiantly alongside Vladimir Putin's private paramilitary fighters in the Soledar pit as he claimed his mercenaries have single-handedly taken control of the eastern Ukraine town, which has been razed by brutal fighting. However, the claim prompted the Russian army to issue a statement saying fighting for the town is still on-going, thus denying Prigozhin's brazen claim. The unusual contradiction from Moscow raises questions over whether the Russian president has lost control of the Wagner...

Vladimir Putin has shown his rage at Russia's collapsing economy and failing war effort, as he publicly humiliated his deputy prime minister during an angry rant. The fuming dictator blasted Denis Manturov in a government video conference for failing to procure military and civilian planes. He accused him of "fooling around" after the politician, a deputy PM and Trade and Industry Minister, flew on holiday to Turkey over New Year. The Kremlin leader also shook up his high command once again, promoting a number of loyalist generals. A video of Putin's furious rant showed the president declaring: “There are no...

CBS broke the bombshell news that President Biden had stored a trove of government documents, including some two-dozen classified documents, in a private office in Washington that Biden used as part of his think tank relationship with the University of Pennsylvania, where he was an honorary professor from 2017 to 2019. “The documents were discovered when the President’s personal attorneys were packing files housed in a locked closet to prepare to vacate office space,” Richard Sauber, special counsel to President Biden, said in a statement, adding, “The President periodically used this space from mid-2017 until the start of the 2020...

Russia is using prisoners and freshly mobilized troops to absorb heavy Ukrainian fire along the war's front lines in order to clear the way for its better trained forces to take ground, a US official said, calling the move a classic Russian tactic. Prisoners recruited by the Wagner Group — a notorious paramilitary organization with close ties to the Kremlin — and others have recently been deployed to the forefront of fighting around eastern Ukraine's war-torn city of Bakhmut, which has become the epicenter of hostilities between Moscow and Kyiv. These recruits have been forced to "take the brunt" of...

A cease-fire proposal seemingly aimed at splintering Western unity has instead been met with Western escalation, underscoring Moscow’s diplomatic struggles. ...Analysts typically share this view, saying that such proposals tend to come when a pause would most benefit Russia’s battlefield position, not when they might further peace talks or aid civilians. Sure enough, even as President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia promised a unilateral pause in some areas, there was little indication of such on the ground, where fighting continued as normal. This offer was also probably intended as an act of propaganda, aimed at the Russian public and particularly...