Free Republic

Russia cannot defeat Ukraine or the West - and will likely lose - if the West mobilizes its resources to resist the Kremlin. The West’s existing and latent capability dwarfs that of Russia. The combined gross domestic product (GDP) of NATO countries, non-NATO European Union states, and our Asian allies is over $63 trillion.[1] The Russian GDP is on the close order of $1.9 trillion.[2] Iran and North Korea add little in terms of materiel support. China is enabling Russia, but it is not mobilized on behalf of Russia and is unlikely to do so.[3] If we lean in and...

Our nation can hardly be said to have a southern border at all anymore. Even if the border were magically to reappear tomorrow, millions of people are already in the country without anyone knowing who or what they are. One hundred sixty-nine people on the FBI’s terror watch list were caught at the border in 2023; nobody knows how many people on that watch list got across the nonexistent border without being caught.

To understand how Russian police is programmed to fail people over and over again is crucial in understanding how Russia works in general. Transcript Follow along using the transcript (link). .....

On 24 March 2024, a passenger at Moscow Sheremetyevo Airport (SVO/UUEE) claimed she had a bomb in her bag, leading to the delay of a flight to Yerevan in Armenia, reported Inkerman. Also on 24 March 2024, the London shopping centre in the Nevsky district of St. Petersburg was evacuated over a bomb threat. • During the early morning hours around 0500 hours local time, Russia launched missiles at various locations in Ukraine, especially in Kyiv and Lviv. • In Lviv, near the Polish border, around 20 missiles and 7 Shahed-type drones had been launched, with explosions recorded in Stryi,...

“Quite interesting was that one of those assailants that participated this Friday in the attack on the concert thing was there on 7 March and photographed by one of the security staff there. They matched that up and it looks a little bit as if maybe the act was intended for 8 March, when a very famous singer, Shaman, was due to sing. An icon of Russian nationalism, he’s famous for his rendition of the national anthem. It really is striking if you ever listen to it, anyway what happened was that at the time the son of the owner...

Ground zero of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war of aggression against Ukraine shifted Friday to Moscow’s Crocus City Hall. ISIS claimed responsibility for the concert shooting that killed 133 and injured 140, but all is likely not as it seems — and the Kremlin is putting the blame on Kyiv. ISIS may or may not have been involved. If the latter, the Federal Security Service (FSB) was probably behind it. ISIS often claims responsibilities for attacks it did not commit to build its reputation and exaggerate its reach. Heavily guarded Moscow feels like a heavy lift for the Islamic terrorist...

The French government is raising its terror alert warning to its highest level following the shootings on Moscow, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said on Sunday after a meeting with senior security and defence officials with President Emmanuel Macron. Attal said in a post on X that the decision, which comes months before Paris hosts the Olympic Games, was taken "in light of the Islamic State's claiming responsibility for the (Moscow) attack and the threats weighing on our country". ...

Footage of Russian forces torturing the men they arrested over the Moscow terror attack emerged tonight, with one man given electric shocks to his genitals and a second forced to eat his own ear. One image shows a suspect named as Shamsuddin Fariddun foaming at the mouth as he lies on a gym floor with his trousers pulled down and wires attached to his groin area. At the other end they are attached to a military radio powered by an 80-volt battery. Separate video sees another man, Saidakrami Murodali Rachabalizoda, having his ear severed and then spitting it out as...

Streamed yesterday, after observing the news as it broke.

Vice President Kamala Harris quickly rejected claims from Russian President Vladimir Putin that Ukraine could be involved with the terrorist attack that killed over 130 people at a Moscow concert hall on Saturday. The U.S. government and Western allies said ISIS was responsible for the attack, the largest by the group in years and the deadliest in Moscow in over a decade. “No, there is no, whatsoever, any evidence [of Ukraine involvement],” Harris said in an ABC interview with Rachel Scott on Sunday. “In fact, what we know to be the case is that ISIS-K is actually by all accounts...

Islamic State released on Saturday a photo of what it said were the four attackers behind a shooting rampage that killed at least 143 people in a concert hall near Moscow on Friday, the terrorist group's Amaq news agency said on Telegram. The publication noted that the attackers were armed with grenades, explosive devices, firearms, and knives. It was also reported that four ISIS terrorists carried out the attack - three of them were firing shots with firearms, while the fourth used explosives at the scene, Ynet reported. "The attack comes within the context of a raging war between the...

In the face of rampant skepticism, ISIS has now provided photographic evidence it was behind the massacre at a Moscow concert hall. The attack occurred on Friday evening, with gunmen entering the Crocus City Hall with AK-style weapons and explosives. Terrifying videos of the ordeal were made public showing people being gunned down in cold blood as others hid behind barriers. Russian FSB forces eventually arrived with the building already in flames. (WARNING: GRAPHIC) Watch Video HERE CLICK ABOVE ARTICLE LINK FOR THE VIDEO Within hours ISIS put out a statement of responsibility through its propaganda outlet, Amaq News Agency....

U.S. officials say American intelligence agencies had gathered information in recent weeks that ISIS was planning an attack in Moscow - but the warnings were dismissed by Russia's President Putin who described them as 'provocative'. A U.S. intelligence official described how American agencies learned how a cell of ISIS based in Afghanistan was planning an attack in Moscow and shared the information with Russian officials. Putin dismissed the alerts as an attempt to intimidate Russians. U.S. officials say that the information was privately shared as recently as three days before gunmen burst into a large concert hall on Friday night,...

False. I monitor their official networks. This is not them.

At least 40 people were killed and more than 100 injured when five gunmen dressed in camouflage opened fire with automatic weapons at people at a concert in the Crocus City Hall near Moscow, in one of the worst such attacks on Russia in years. Flames leapt into the sky and plumes of black smoke rose above the venue, Reuters pictures and video showed. Russian media reported a second blast at the venue and there were reports that some of the gunmen had barricaded themselves somewhere in the building. ... It was not immediately clear who the gunmen were. ...

Terrorist attack in Russia, Several gunmen fired shots at a concert hall in Moscow on Friday

Both sides claim to have the upper hand in the Belgorod and Kursk regions after Kyiv-loyal forces staged a counter-invasion of Russian border areas this week, which is now in its fourth day. War has come to the Russian mainland and the country will not be allowed to “live in peace” until it withdraws from Ukrainian territory, a top Kyiv official states as another announces Russian territory has become “an area of active combat actions”. Ukraine claims combat successes including the destruction of Russian military infrastructure inside Russia proper, but Moscow denies these claims out of hand, asserting its forces...

As I walk around Borovsk, two things strike me about this town 60 miles (100km) from Moscow. First, there is almost no sign of the presidential election coming up this weekend. I see few election banners or billboards and no political flyers being handed out. Not surprising, really. The absence of election preparations mirrors the absence of drama surrounding a stage-managed event that will hand Vladimir Putin a fifth term in the Kremlin. The other thing you can't help noticing in Borovsk is the street art. It's everywhere. Much of it has been created by street artist Vladimir Ovchinnikov. All...

In an unexpected twist, German MP Roderich Kiesewetter has set off a storm by suggesting attacks on Moscow’s government buildings, specifically targeting Russia’s Ministry of Defense and intelligence services. This bold proposal, shared during a ZDF debate, has ignited debates on the ethics of such aggressive actions and the potential fallout in an already tense Russia-Ukraine conflict. Kiesewetter argues for empowering Ukraine to take the war into Russian territory, aligning with German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius’s views. However, the call for direct attacks on Russian government institutions introduces a more confrontational approach, raising concerns about the ripple effects and potential...

The Embassy is monitoring reports that extremists have imminent plans to target large gatherings in Moscow, to include concerts, and U.S. citizens should be advised to avoid large gatherings over the next 48 hours.