Free Republic

Russia on Thursday wrapped itself in patriotic pageantry for Victory Day, as President Vladimir Putin celebrated the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II by hailing his forces fighting in Ukraine and blasting the West for fueling conflicts around the world. Even though few veterans of what Russia calls the Great Patriotic War are still alive 79 years after Berlin fell to the Red Army, the victory remains the most important and widely revered symbol of Russia’s prowess and a key element of national identity. Even though few veterans of what Russia calls the Great Patriotic War are still...

Synopsis: The diminutive Russian dictator is inaugurated for the fifth term of his permanent presidency. Russia 1 state television covers the event. State media has also anointed Putin as "Vladimir the Terrible", an imperial title.

In September 1943, as the tide of the Second World War was turning in the Soviet Union’s favour, the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin called a meeting at the Kremlin. Alongside the foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov and the head of the secret police Vsevolod Merkulov were three men in Stalin’s office for the first time: Metropolitan Sergius, Metropolitan Aleksey, and Metropolitan Nikolay, three of the few Orthodox Church hierarchs left in the Soviet Union. The fact of such a meeting taking place is naturally surprising. Even those who know little about the Soviet Union are familiar with its anti-religious policies, especially...

🔺Russia itself and only itself will determine its own fate; 🔺Russia will pass through the difficult, milestone period with dignity and become even stronger, it must be self-sufficient and competitive; 🔺The key priority for Russia is the people's safeguarding, preservation of age-old values and traditions; 🔺Russia is ready to strengthen good relations with all countries, with the world majority; 🔺Russia will continue to work with partners on the formation of a multipolar world order;

May 9 parades across other regions in Russia have been cancelled this year over 'security concerns'. VLADIMIR Putin paraded nuclear missile launchers, tanks and thousands of war-ready troops this morning ahead of his triumphant Victory Day event. -snip- Ahead of the patriotic event, Russia's fearsome intercontinental nuclear missiles were pulled through the capital's streets in a show of force to the West. Huge columns of troops marched towards the Red Square and even children in oversized battledress joined in the military festivities. The real events will be held on Thursday under intense security, with reports suggesting that Moscow's centrepiece show...

Russia 1 state television commentators propose a resumption of Soviet-era psychiatric practices in which anyone opposed to the regime would be subjected to psychiatric torture.

dolf Hitler never won a majority in a free and open national election. He never received more than 37% of the vote in a free and open national election, but he argued that 37% represented 75% of 51%, and demanded political power. It was the political calculus by which the Nazi leader disabled, then dismantled, the Weimar Republic. Hitler exploited his 37% to gridlock legislative processes, to cudgel or crush the political opposition, and ultimately to undermine the country’s democratic structures. When Hitler had vowed in court, in September 1930, to destroy democracy through the democratic process, a judge asked,...

U.S. intelligence agencies signal that Russian President Vladimir Putin may not have planned for Alexei Navalny to have died when he did, a new report said. The Wall Street Journal report said U.S. agencies have determined that Putin likely didn’t order Navalny to be killed in February, but it doesn’t entirely excuse him from responsibility. The determination has been shared and agreed upon by officials at the Central Intelligence Agency, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the State Department’s intelligence unit. Navalny, a Russian opposition leader, rose to prominence for his campaign against corruption and Putin. When...

VLADIMIR Putin has been forced to cancel Russia's triumphant annual Victory Day parades over fears of Ukrainian kamikaze drone attacks. The trembling tyrant, 71, has axed most of the May 9 celebrations - the most sacred day in the Russian calendar - because he couldn't guarantee the safety of his citizens. The patriotic military parades are held throughout Russia as a means of celebrating the country defeating Nazi Germany in World War 2. These events are usually used by Putin to showcase the might of the Russian military machine. and garner national pride - led by a giant parade in...

Apparently taking the example of Washington, London committed Tuesday to deliver more military hardware and another £500 million in aid to Kyiv as UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak warned that Vladimir Putin will seek to expand further into Europe if Ukraine loses to Russia. Britain will supply Ukraine with 60 boats, 400 vehicles, over 1,600 missiles, and nearly four million rounds of ammunition as well as £500 million in additional military funding, in the largest single aid package from the UK since the Russian invasion of 2022 and taking the country’s total contributions to £3 billion during this financial year,...

Vladimir Putin is no stranger to rumours about his own health – but now the health of one of his closest allies has been called into question. Exiled newspaper Novaya Gazeta Europe claims that Chechen warlord Ramzan Kadyrov, 47, is suffering from pancreatic disease and has ‘no hope of recovery’. The news outlet says Kadyrov – a leading ally of the dictator’s war against Ukraine – has been living with ‘pancreatic necrosis’ for more than five years, which explains his frequent absences from the public stage. An extraordinary new picture shows the Chechen warlord looking unusually bloated. Novaya Gazeta Europe...

Polish director Besaleel’s film will feature an AI-rendered Russian president and footage shot by Ukrainian film-makers during the Russian invasion. The “world premiere” of a new biopic of Russian president Vladimir Putin featuring an AI-rendered central character, has been announced for 26 September. In a statement released via PR Leap, Polish studio AIO said the film, titled Putin, will be released in 35 countries, and describes itself as “up close and personal with the Kremlin leader’s story”. -snip- Originally titled The Vor in Law (a term used for elite organised crime figures), the film also incorporates footage shot by Ukrainian...

WASHINGTON, April 18 (Reuters) - Donald Trump said on Thursday the survival of Ukraine is important to the United States, a shift in tone days before the Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives is due to vote on a $61 billion aid package.

-snip- Putin made the remarks in a phone call with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Tuesday. The leaders discussed what the Kremlin called “retaliatory measures taken by Iran” after an Israeli attack on the Iranian consulate in the Syrian capital, Damascus, on April 1. -snip- Russia, which has forged close ties with both Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, and several Arab leaders, has repeatedly scolded the West for ignoring the need for an independent Palestinian state within 1967 borders. “Both sides stated that the root cause of the current events in the Middle East is the unresolved Palestinian-Israeli conflict,” the...

A Chinese specialist on Russia has delivered a grim forecast for Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine: that it is doomed to fail. Peking University professor Feng Yujun is also cooling on the future of Beijing-Moscow relations, writing in a recent op-ed in The Economist that the two nations have diverging visions of the future of global affairs.

Iran is reportedly getting a terrifying arsenal from Russia, including anti-aircraft launchers and fighter jets — and is threatening to fire weapons it has never before used in “a severe, extensive and painful response” to the “slightest action” by Israel. Abolfazl Amouei, a spokesperson for the Iranian Parliament’s National Security Committee, told a local news station Monday that the Islamic Republic “will confront any Israeli aggression and respond to it.” “We are ready to use weapons that we have not used before,” the official told Al-Mayadeen News, according to the Economic Times. “We have plans for all scenarios, and we...

So what changed the policy in Tehran? Mikhail Podolyak, the head of the Ukraine Presidential Office, blamed Iran for agreeing to be "directly complicit in the mass murder of Ukrainians." Why?, he asked: "Russia offered something important to Iran in exchange for killer drones and a ballistic missile contract. It is one of these options: uranium and other materials; nuclear technology; regional guarantees from the Russian Federation."

.....De Croo said that Belgian agencies are working closely with the Czech authorities after a pro-Russian influence operation was uncovered there. He said that probe showed that members of the European Parliament were approached and offered money to promote Russian propaganda.

Here are 10 key reasons experts say U.S. support for Ukraine should be continued: 1. Putin's aggression must be stopped. 2. Putin's atrocities need a response. 3. Russia is targeting evangelical Christians for persecution. 4. Ukraine wants only to regain its sovereign territory. 5. Russia has not "won" the war. 6. Russia is rearming for a larger war. 7. Most Ukraine aid goes to U.S. contractors. 8. Europe fears a coming attack on NATO. 9. Support for Ukraine signals to China: Do not invade Taiwan. 10. Give Ukraine aid to let Trump bring peace.

How Putin is selling Russians a bitter pill in sweet coating - NEW TAXES WILL BE FAIR FOR THE POOR! Half hour of monologue, rest will be Q&A with comments. Details of growing up in Russia, 1991 collapse of USSR, taxes in Russia and what it goes to in USSR.