Free Republic

And so we’ve come to the point of the war in Ukraine in which the west’s ‘Knight in Shining armor’, the ‘defender of democracy’ Volodymyr Zelensky has outrun his Constitutional Presidential mandate, and is now in power only by virtue of the martial law he enacted. That is just the most dramatic of the absolutely disheartening (for Kiev) series of developments. To begin with, a series of videos have surfaced showing how the streets of Ukraine now are deserted, with men hiding from conscription into the army – and somehow, everyone else seemed to have stayed at home, too. Watch:...

Russian President Vladimir Putin phoned Iran's new interim president on Monday as Moscow made clear its desire to preserve and build on its deepening relationship with Tehran despite the sudden death of President Ebrahim Raisi. The Kremlin said Putin expressed his condolences to interim president Mohammad Mokhber and to the whole Iranian people over Raisi's death in a helicopter crash, describing Raisi as a "reliable partner who made an invaluable personal contribution" to bilateral relations. "Both sides emphasised their mutual desire to further consistently strengthen comprehensive Russian-Iranian interaction for the benefit of the peoples of the two countries," the Kremlin...

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi was a "true friend" to Russia and was admired both at home and abroad, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a message on Monday, after it was confirmed that Raisi died in a helicopter crash a day earlier. Raisi "was rightly highly respected by his compatriots and enjoyed great prestige abroad," Putin said in a condolence message to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that was released by the Kremlin. "As a true friend of Russia, he made an invaluable personal contribution to the development of good neighbourly relations between our countries and made great efforts...

Tyrants and terrorists have been mourning the death of Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi after his surprise death in a helicopter crash on Sunday. The Hamas terror group, Lebanon's Hezbollah militia, Iraq-based armed groups and the Syrian government - all members of the so-called 'Axis of Resistance' against Israel and its Western allies - expressed their condolences on Monday. Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a statement released by the Kremlin, meanwhile described Raisi 'as a true friend of Russia'. Iran has been supplying Russia with munitions and drones to support its continued invasion of Ukraine that have wreaked havoc across the...

A Russian victory is an Iranian victory. Moscow and Tehran have formed a military bloc with the aim of defeating the United States and its allies in the Middle East, Europe, and around the world. Russian and Iranian military forces have been fighting alongside one another in Syria for nearly a decade.

In a conversation with the First Vice President, the special assistant to the Russian President stated that, by Putin's order, two advanced aircrafts with special helicopters and 50 professional mountain rescue personnel will be dispatched to Tabriz, Iranian media reported on Sunday overnight.

Extremists plotting to wreak havoc at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) include a Missouri man charged with spying for Russia, sparking fears the Kremlin could seek to unleash chaos at the conference. Police are already braced for massive protests at the August convention, with agitators threatening a throwback to 1968 when the event turned into a bloodbath. In recent weeks, clashes at university campuses over the Israel-Hamas conflict have raised concerns that the far left is ramping up plans for a major show of force. But DailyMail.com can now reveal that those plotting to bring chaos to the streets of...

Watch the moment a strike hits the Russian oil depot. THIS is the moment a Russian oil depot exploded in a huge fireball in yet another humiliating blow to Putin. Plumes of black smoke could be seen rising into the sky in Vyborg after the explosion at the oil refinery near the Nato border with Finland. Dramatic footage showed the oil depot engulfed in a raging inferno. Leningrad regional governor Alexander Drozdenko denied a Ukrainian kamikaze drone had hit the facility. He also denied there was a fire and claimed "there was a bang due to the use of pyrotechnics"....

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky rejected calls from French leader Emmanuel Macron for a truce with Russia during the Paris Olympics and criticised the West for seeking a swift end to the war. The ancient tradition stretching back to Ancient Greece of a truce during the games will likely not be observed during this year’s Olympics in Paris, which will be held from July 26th to August 11th in the French capital.

The outlets include Voice of Europe, which was foiled as a Russian influence operation by Czech secret services in March. The European Union has announced a ban on four media outlets accused of spreading pro-Kremlin propaganda and "destabilising" Ukraine's neighbouring countries. The four blacklisted outlets - Voice of Europe, RIA Novosti, Izvestia and Rossiyskaya Gazeta - are "under the permanent direct or indirect control" of Russia and have been "instrumental" in fostering support for its illegal invasion of Ukraine, the European Council said in a statement on Friday. "The Russian Federation has engaged in a systematic, international campaign of media...

WARSAW, Poland (AP) – Poland is investing about $2.5 billion to step up security and deterrence on its border with Russia and its ally Belarus, the prime minister said Saturday. Donald Tusk said work on the Shield-East project which includes building proper military fortifications has already begun. Poland is on the eastern flank of NATO and of the European Union and Tusk stressed it bears additional responsibility for Europe’s security.

Iranian authorities have sentenced a Jewish man to die — and they plan to carry out the execution as soon as Monday, sources told The Post. The case has sent a shockwave through the tiny Jewish community in the Islamic Republic, and Iranian Jewish expats and others in the Jewish community in New York and Israel are sounding the alarm that it is a clear miscarriage of justice. Arvin Ghahremani, 20, was working out at the gym in the Iranian city of Kermanshah, about 500 miles outside of Tehran, in November 2022 when he was ambushed by seven men, one...

Iran will send a batch of eggs to Russia for the first time next week, said Hamidreza Kashani, chairman of the republic's poultry farmers' union. "The first batch of eggs (to Russia) will be sent next week," said Hamidreza Kashani. Kashani hopes that Iran's exports to Russia will get better thanks to Islamic Republic President Ebrahim Raisi's visit to Moscow on 7 December and the signing of an agreement to establish a free trade zone between the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) countries and Iran. This is reported by IRNA, a partner of TV BRICS. He noted that now "strict quarantine...

As you’ve probably heard, the populist Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico was shot five times by a crazed pro-Ukrainian, radical left-wing activist in a foiled assassination attempt. ... In today’s era of violent, pro-war leftists, advocating for peace has become dangerous—and potentially deadly. Fico was vehemently against supporting Ukraine in the dustup with Russia. The Slovakia anti-Ukraine history runs long and deep, as this 2023 article explains. Politico: Slovakia’s new leader Robert Fico made waves during the country’s recent election campaign by warning that he would not send “another bullet” to help Ukraine fend off the Russian invasion. His dramatic...

Kyiv says it has had some success pushing back against a renewed Russian offensive, but Ukraine's defences are in dire need of resupply. A massive Ukrainian drone attack on Crimea early Friday caused power cutoffs in the city of Sevastopol and set a refinery ablaze in southern Russia, Russian authorities said. The drone raids marked an attempt to strike back during Moscow's renewed offensive in northeastern Ukraine, which has added to the pressure on outnumbered and outgunned Ukrainian forces as they await delayed deliveries of crucial Western weapons and ammunition. Ukraine has not commented on the attack nor claimed responsibility...

A vaunted 'new era' of strategic partnership between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his counterpart Xi Jinping may not exactly have been sealed with a kiss, but it did lead to rare hugs between them. Underscoring the importance of Xi's support for the Kremlin, Putin headed to Beijing earlier this week in what was his first trip abroad since his March re-election and the second in just over six months to China. Russia, grappling with Western sanctions after its invasion of Ukraine, is increasingly reliant on its booming trade with China, which is challenging US supremacy in areas from quantum...

Ukrainian drones attacked the only large oil refinery on Russia's Black Sea coast on Friday morning, authorities said. The attack on the Rosneft-owned refinery in the southern Russian town of Tuapse was reported by local authorities, who said a fire had broken out at the facility and that emergency services were working to extinguish the blaze. -snip- The Russian Black Sea naval port of Novorossiysk and Crimea's Sevastopol were also targeted a the massive aerial assault, which Russia's defense ministry said involved at least 100 drones.

A woman and a child killed in a Ukrainian drone attack near the southwestern city of Belgorod... Russia expelling the British defense attaché in Moscow... South Africa pushing its case against Israel at the International Criminal Court. Israel accused of "genocide"... The Russian Aerospace Forces in Syria attacking three jihadist bases... The Biden Administration Justice Department deeming marijuana to be a less dangerous drug... Walmart with strong numbers in its first quarter comparable sales rising 3.8 percent... During his corruption trial in federal court New Jersey Democrat Senator Bob Menendez disclosing that his wife... A new Fox News poll puts...

Russia: State Duma Committee on Defence recommends the nullification of the previously passed law which exempted from mobilization fathers of at least three children.