Free Republic

Russia has approved a temporary ban on the export of gasoline, a representative for the country's Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told local media on Tuesday. Beginning May 1, Russia will impose a six-month ban on gasoline exports to allow the country to "offset the booming demand for petroleum products," the official told Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin in an internal letter in January, publication RBC reported. Fuel shortages have been reported nationwide in Russia, which is one of the world's biggest producers of oil and gas. Wholesale fuel prices have soared across the country, and Ukraine has ramped up...

This is the terrifying moment 'drunk' Russian troops storm into a café in occupied Crimea before opening fire aiming at people's heads and hitting them with batons in a violent rampage. Vladimir Putin's mercenary troops were captured on CCTV beating men and women to the floor, leaving many injured with broken bones but fortunately there were no fatalities. Soldiers wielding Kalashnikov riffles ran into the drinking spot in the beach village of Chornomorske in the north of occupied Crimea on Friday after celebrating Russia's Defender of the Fatherland Day, also known as Men's Day. The shocking video was shared by...

This is the shocking moment a Ukrainian missile destroyed a £260mn Russian spy plane over Krasnodar on the second anniversary of Putin's bloody invasion. Video showed huge plumes of smoke billowing from the wreckage after the A-50U reconnaissance plane's wing was reportedly torn off by a hit from a revamped S-200 Soviet-era long-range air defence missile - a staggering blow to Russia's already diminishing collection. Ten crew were reported to have been found dead at the crash site in Russia's Krasnodar region, where the dictator's official Black Sea residence and private £1 billion place are located. The eventual toll is...

Ukrainian drones hit a major Russian steel factory overnight, causing a large fire, a Kyiv source said on Saturday, on the second anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The governor of Russia’s Lipetsk region identified the plant as one in the city of Lipetsk, some 400 km (250 miles) north of the Ukrainian border, that is responsible for about 18 percent of Russian steel output. He said a fire apparently caused by a drone strike had been extinguished at the plant, operated by Russian steelmaker Novolipetsk (NLMK), and there had been no casualties. The Ukrainian source told Reuters the...

Tucker Carlson once again leaped to the defense of Russian President Vladimir Putin and claimed that anyone who thinks the brutal strongman was responsible for the untimely death of his main political opponent Alexie Navalny 'are idiots.' Carlson, 54, was speaking with fellow former Fox News host Glenn Beck on the latter's BlazeTV network when he made his remarks. 'Navalny’s death during the Munich Security Conference, in the midst of disputes about aid to Ukraine, is definitely not beneficial for Russia. People who say Putin killed him are idiots,' Carlson said. -snip- Speaking about having been asked to comment about...

Tens of Russian soldiers have died close to the front lines in eastern Ukraine after Kyiv attacked a training ground with U.S.-supplied HIMARS, according to a Ukrainian official and media reports. -snip- Around 65 Russian soldiers were killed at the training ground near the village of Trudivske, Bratchuk said in a post on the Telegram messaging app. The Ukrainian military used two missiles in the strike, the BBC's Russian service reported on Tuesday, citing several anonymous sources. Units of Russia's 39th Separate Guards Motorized Rifle Brigade were stationed near Trudivske, Bratchuk said. -snip- Bratchuk posted two videos he said showed...

Tucker Carlson aired a video of him at a Russian grocery store, appearing to fawn over everything from the shopping cart mechanism to the price of groceries - skipping over the part where US dollars stretch a lot farther than the ruble. In the video, Carlson was amazed to see that the shopping carts in front of the supermarket required people to put in a ruble coin, which they'd then get back when the cart was returned. Carlson acted like he'd never seen this feature before - despite it being pretty common across the US and most of Europe. He...

The Russian prosecutor's office has warned Russians against participating in a mass protest in the centre of Moscow after the death of opposition leader Alexei Navalny. -snip- According to videos and photos on social networks, people in other Russian cities were paying their respects to Navalny after news of his death spread.