Free Republic

I was scrolling through the tele yesterday going from Fox News , then to MSNBC, then to FSTV, then AJAM (Aljazeera America), and the words "Occupy Kiev" were on TV. It was followed quickly by a reporter saying that the Maidan protesters won't do what the Kiev gov't told them yo do, and this was soon after Poroskenko was elected. They won't dismantle their large tent city, refuse to, and have drug out an old favorite - DRUMS - and on the TV....they were banging on them... McCain was there Dec. 2013 with them. Why not now, too? Same people,...

The crisis in Ukraine appears to be over. Not that Ukraine itself is cruising toward democracy and prosperity. That road is littered with obstacles: The country is crippled with debt, mired in corruption, and quaking with instability. But after the May 25 presidential election and the overwhelming victory of Petro Poroshenko, the dangers of a Russian invasion—and an escalation of tensions leading to an all-out East–West confrontation—have receded. Poroshenko seems to be the right man for the times: a billionaire chocolate manufacturer and media mogul who has aspirations of an alliance with the European Union but also huge commercial interests...

Andrei Illarionov is a former economic policy advisor to Vladimir Putin but presently is one of his harshest critics. Tyzhden.ua sits down with him to discuss the upcoming Ukrainian presidential election, the likelihood of a new World War and to share his view on new geopolitical conflicts. (Article published May 24, 2014 in the Ukrainian weekly Tyzhden, interviewed by Alla Lazareva) Tyzhden.ua: Mr. Illarionov, do you think that Russia will try to disrupt the upcoming Sunday vote? I don’t think Putin will do that. Overall his position is as follows: Ukraine either has to be Putin's (be it under Yanukovych,...

GORLUVKA, Ukraine (BNc) — A Bible training building doubling as a worship location was taken over by armed insurgents this morning (US time) during worship, Howell Ferguson, Stateside Coordinator of the Bear Valley Bible Institute of Denver, said on Facebook. Howell preaches with the North Jackson church of Christ in Jackson, Tenn., and works with the extension program of BVBID. The building is used for the Bear Valley Bible Institute of Ukraine and for Christian worship and activities of the Central church of Christ in Gorluvka. They were given only hours hours to remove personal property. “I have had no...

Two days before the election, Vladimir Putin publicly backtracked on his pledge to honor the results of the election. In the days and weeks that follow, it will become evident that he never meant to recognize the results of the Ukraine presidential election. [....] Putin’s assertions of “no control over separatists” have become even more unbelievable as pro-Russian separatists openly flaunt their Russian citizenship, contract fighting in Chechnya (with possible war crimes), their Russian military-intelligence backgrounds, and their common ties to a mysterious Russian oligarch. (For examples, see; Radio Liberty May 23, MKRU May 16, Fontanka May 21). I suppose...

The Russian government is planning to sign a contract to build up to eight new nuclear reactors in Iran, according to sources close to the negotiations speaking to Reuters. The news follows reports that Russia had planned to build two new nuclear reactors for the country. The source told Reuters that the plan would include two nuclear reactors but could grow, depending on negotiations, to up to eight. "Russia and Iran may sign an intergovernmental agreement this year on building from four to eight nuclear reactors, and, under the deal, the contract for the construction of the first two...

As we head into the Memorial Day weekend celebrations, there are a lot of awkward news stories out there that aren’t getting much coverage, thank goodness. This one, for example, about the leader of the once-free and richest nation on earth becoming the butt of jokes – in Russian no less! “I dismiss you, golubushka, you may leave now.” Putin made the comments during an on-stage interview at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum as CNBC host Geoff Cutmore was telling him Obama had 'accused you, as you know, of untruths when it comes to supporting some of the separatists...

There is a growing consensus that Vladimir Putin has abandoned his campaign to take control of east Ukraine. The fog of war, such as the killing of nearly 20 Ukrainian soldiers yesterday, is obscuring the distinct turn in the tide. Putin’s goal has changed from dismantling Ukraine as a united state to destabilizing Sunday’s presidential election in the east. Ukraine has a chance for a third lease on life.

In Shanghai, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping signed a spectacular energy deal — $400 billion of Siberian natural gas to be exported to China over 30 years. This is huge. By indelibly linking producer and consumer — the pipeline alone is a $70 billion infrastructure project — it deflates the post-Ukraine Western threat (mostly empty, but still very loud) to cut European imports of Russian gas. Putin has just defiantly demonstrated that he has other places to go. The Russia-China deal also makes a mockery of U.S. boasts to have isolated Russia because of Ukraine. Not even...

Right Sector leader Dmytro Yarosh has said that representatives of his organization will contribute to ensuring security at voting stations in eastern Ukraine. ...

Russia criticized Prince Charles' reported comparison of President Vladimir Putin to Adolf Hitler and protested the matter Thursday in a face-to-face meeting with British officials. Charles, the eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II, reportedly compared Hitler's 1939 invasion of Poland with Russia's annexation of Crimea in a private conversation during his trip to Canada earlier this week.

Prince Charles has sensationally likened Vladimir Putin to Adolf Hitler. In a withering verdict on the actions of the Russian president in Ukraine, he told a woman who lost relatives in the Nazi Holocaust: ‘And now Putin is doing just about the same as Hitler.’

Amid a bitter crisis in relations with the West over Ukraine, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has turned to China to form a new alliance. Putin, who called Russia’s biggest neighbor his “reliable friend”, is in Shanghai to agree on a widely anticipated multibillion-dollar natural gas sale. A deal would give Moscow an economic and political boost at a time of Western sanctions, although China has been warned by the US to avoid taking steps that might offset the ban. …

The US/CIA/NATO have stepped up their military operations and continue to actively wage their secret war in Ukraine against the Ukrainian people in an extremely dangerous poorly planned operation that is failing and carries with it the real threat of sparking off a full-fledged war, if not World War III, against an unwilling Russian Federation which continues to attempt to deal with the aggressive-in-your-face-threat to its security through diplomacy and peaceful means. The recent capture and killing of 25 CIA officers in Ukraine only shows the desperation of the US effort and the complete disregard for not only international law...

In an interview with Bloomberg News [URL at link], Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov asserted that Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland had meetings with the Ukrainian neofascist group Right Sector in Washington DC. The Right Sector has been involved in numerous killings including the burning of pro-Russian supporters in Odessa. ... Whether Nuland met with Artyomenko or any other representative of the Right Sector to help with fundraising and support is unknown. What is known is that the US is supporting the gang in Kiev's "interim government" which includes Svoboda an openly neofascist party...

Russia's President Vladimir Putin has ordered troops near Ukraine's border to withdraw, the Kremlin says.

Twitter blocked the account of Ukraine's ultranationalist Right Sector group in Russia. ...

"... thousands of steelworkers fanned out Thursday over the city of Mariupol, establishing control over the streets and routing the pro-Kremlin militants who seized control several weeks ago."

That might very well be the best position to take: Don't support Putin, but realize that Obama has the fecal touch on foreign policy issues. Libya (Benghazi). Syria (he thought about arming Syrian "rebels"). Egypt (the Muslim Brotherhood came to power and before that the WH said they were "largely secular"). Ergo - no interventionism of any kind in Ukraine, be it NGO's, mercs, etc. Don't support the Commies in Ukraine, but don't support Right Sector, or Svoboda, either. Angela Merkel and Hollande have both said that unlawful acts were carried out against those who were burned up in Odessa,...

GOOGLE TRANSLATION: "Russian President Vladimir Putin has called into question the STATUS of the Crimean Tatars as an indigenous people of Crimea. According to the Russian service Bi -bi -si, a statement he made at a special meeting of the Crimean Tatar communities in his Sochi residence. Thus, in response to the proposal of veteran nationalist movement Ayder Mustafayeva provide Crimean Tatars that status Putin said that this "issue requires careful consideration." According to the Russian president, on the peninsula were other repressed peoples in the Soviet era. "They (the Greeks) were there before us. Why we need the most...