Free Republic

"You can't go anywhere at all, not even to Uzbekistan or Belarus for the May holidays," said one source. -snip- Russia is making overseas travel harder for some officials due to fears that foreign powers may try to gain access to state secrets during the worst crisis in relations with the West for more than 60 years, nine sources told Reuters. The Federal Security Service (FSB) is putting pressure on employees across government ministries not to leave Russia at all, even to visit so-called 'friendly' countries that have not imposed sanctions against Moscow, the sources said. Foreign travel was highly...

In August 1961, during a period when tensions between Washington and Moscow were at a high point, Admiral Konstantin I. Derevyanko penned a letter to Premier Krushchev. His purpose was to alert Krushchev to what the Admiral called the “nuclear romanticism” of the Soviet General Staff. The Admiral’s words still carry the force of logic and common sense and are still worthy of our attention today: Which planet do these people [the Soviet General Staff] intend to live on in the future, and to which Earth do they plan to send their troops to conquer territories?... By this indiscriminately massive...

The future of Cuba and the trajectory of communism are under threat, with citizens fighting back against the regime. Protesters are taking to the streets amid an ongoing economic crisis, making their concerns heard. Cuba’s communist leadership is facing a fierce backlash that has not been seen since similar protests in July 2021. Since the 2021 protests, it is estimated that nearly 500,000 Cubans have sought refuge in the United States. In this Sky News Digital Originals, we explore whether Cuba’s communist leadership could be about to tumble. “The Cuban regime knows the Cuban people are getting smarter and they're...

Russell Bentley, an American who fought against Ukrainian forces, is missing in the Russian-controlled Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, police there said Friday, adding that a search was underway. Bentley went missing on April 8, according to police. The online news outlet Mash said he had disappeared after a district in the city of Donetsk was shelled by Ukrainian forces. Mash cited his wife as saying he had gone to see if anyone needed help but had not returned. She was quoted as saying she had found his car with his baseball cap in it along with his smashed mobile...

Iran warned United Nations Security Council envoys to expect retaliation against Israel’s apparent bombardment of a diplomatic facility in Syria that killed several Iranian military commanders. “The Islamic Republic of Iran has exercised considerable restraint, but it is imperative to acknowledge that there are limits to such forbearance,” Iranian envoy Zahra Ershadi, the regime’s deputy representative to the United Nations, said Tuesday afternoon. “The occupying regime must bear full responsibility for its consequences. Iran reserves its legitimate and inherent right under international law and the United Nations Charter to take a decisive response to such reprehensible acts.” -snip- “Do not...

The Biden Regime canceled its plan to refill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve because oil is “way too expensive.” Biden drained the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve to its lowest level in 40 years. Now, the Biden administration is CANCELLING their plans to refill it because oil is "way too expensive." pic.twitter.com/NYqEZ2Aosa — RNC Research (@RNCResearch) April 3, 2024 This comes as gas prices are once again skyrocketing. Recall that Biden drained the SPR to its lowest level in 40 years. Biden sold the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserves (SPR) to Europe, India and China. Joe Biden depleted the SPR to help China....

Gasoline production in Russia has fallen after a series of strikes by Kyiv on the country's oil refineries, figures show. Rosstat, Russia's Federal State Statistics Service, said that in the week ending March 24, the nation's production of motor petrol fell by approximately 7.4 percent to 754,600 tons compared to the week prior, when production was at 815,300 tons, local media reported. Moscow depends on its oil exports and energy industry, which make up some 30 percent of the country's budget revenues and are crucial for the funding of the war in Ukraine. Kyiv ramped up its attacks on Russian...

Covert allies? What is the relationship between ISIS-K* and the US? Recent data reveals that the perpetrators of the heinous massacre on Crocus City Hall were allegedly recruited via a Telegram channel administered by members of 'Wilayat Khorasan'*, also recognized as ISIS-K*, per a Sputnik source. As we delve deeper into the motive behind this branch of ISIS*, Sputnik has put together essential facts and clues linking the US to these notorious jihadists.

The next summit meeting of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is set for July of this year in Washington, D.C., following the 75th anniversary of the alliance’s founding on April 4. The organization’s leading lights will discuss “important issues” and “provide strategic direction” for NATO. The NATO website also explains to curious readers that the organization is devoted to an “understanding” and “awareness” of the “security environment.” Those of us who have grown skeptical of NATO and its intentions can only imagine what this press release verbiage might mean, as an organization established to counter the Soviet threat during...

W5 takes an in-depth look into who Russia's oligarchs are, and whether sanctioning them would stop President Vladimir Putin's invasion in Ukraine. ...... Follow along using the transcript.

Putin Re-Elected in Historic VictoryPutin reportedly secured a monumental win with 87% of the vote, becoming Russia's longest-serving president post-Stalin.Remote electronic voting sees a world record 94% turnout, according to the territorial Election Commission.Source:… pic.twitter.com/LwfcBenHZZ— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) March 17, 2024

Using duplicity, deception and secret alliances, the U.K.’s inner circle of top elites led by Nathaniel Rothschild, King Edward VII, and Lord Alfred Milner backed the German Kaiser into a corner and intentionally set the Germans up to blame them for starting the First World War, when in fact it was the British who provoked the Germans to the point where war was the only option. German generals were caught strategizing several weeks ago on how to bomb Russia’s main bridge to Crimea. This would be an act of aggression that Russian President Vladimir Putin described as guaranteed to draw...

As the calendar barrels into another year and we tick away the days of February, notable anniversaries are marked off in sequence. It is now 2/22/2022 +2: two years since Putin’s address on the historic status of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions, followed on 2/24/2022 by the commencement of the Special Military Operation and the spectacular resumption of history. The nature of the war changed dramatically after a kinetic and mobile opening phase. With the collapse of the negotiation process (whether thanks to Boris Johnson or not), it became clear that the only way out of the conflict would be...

MOSCOW, March 9. /TASS/. French neo-Nazi leader Cesar Aujard, who fought on the side of the Ukrainian military, has been liquidated near Avdeyevka, sources have told TASS. "A ringleader of French neo-Nazis, Cesar Augharome, who was taking part in hostilities on the side of the Ukrainian army, has been liquidated near Avdeyevka," the sources said. There is confirmed evidence of his connections with French secret services. Earlier, the head of the Main Operational Directorate, first deputy chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Sergey Rudskoy, said that NATO military personnel, disguised as mercenaries, were operating air defense...

Synopsis: A panel of Russian commentators on Russia One (official Russian state television) discuss conducting nuclear first strikes against Western nations. Nuclear war is then discussed not as an option, but as an inevitable aspect of Russia's war to conquer Ukraine. Various Western cities are discussed as potential targets for Russian nuclear weapons and the panel laughs as they consider these options. The video ends with Solovyov voicing his regrets that the Soviet Union disintegrated in 1991 and he refers to the USSR as "we" meaning he sees no difference between the USSR and the Russian Federation, they are one...

If NATO is so much against sending troops to Ukraine, why doesn’t NATO demand that the soldiers already there be sent home? On Monday, February 26, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that Germany would not provide its Taurus long-range cruise missiles to Ukraine because doing so would require German troops to be sent there to operate them, just as the British are operating the Storm Shadow air-launched cruise missiles. The British cried foul and accused Scholz of a “flagrant abuse of intelligence” – meaning that Scholz confirmed what everyone already knows, that NATO officers and trained personnel are in Ukraine...

No synopsis of the video was offered. Russian language transcript at the link.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree to re-establish the Moscow and Leningrad Military Districts, according to the document posted on the government’s legal information web portal on Monday.

Vladimir Putin taunted the West by taking a joyride in a modernised supersonic Tu-160M strategic nuclear bomber today - as the Kremlin threatened nuclear war. The despot's stunt - which lasted around 40 minutes - appeared to be intended to enhance his macho ratings as he stands for re-election next month -snip- Putin was seen taking off in Kazan a day after he visited a factory in the city where the Tupolev bombers are manufactured.

MOSCOW/VILNIUS, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Russian police have put Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, Lithuania's culture minister, and members of the previous Latvian parliament on a wanted list for destroying Soviet-era monuments, according to the Russian interior ministry's database. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Kallas was wanted for the "desecration of historical memory". Russian state agency TASS said the Baltic officials were accused of "destroying monuments to Soviet soldiers", acts that are punishable by a five-year prison term under the Russian criminal code. *snip* The Baltic governments regard the monuments as propaganda tools constructed by their former imperial overlords. "The...