Free Republic

Russian language transcript at the link. Synopsis: Pro-Russian political scientist Sergey Markov states that Russia was ill prepared for their war against Ukraine. The discussion gets very heated as it progresses.

MOSCOW (Reuters) -Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin dismissed as complete nonsense remarks by U.S. President Joe Biden that Russia would attack a NATO country if it won the war in Ukraine, adding that Russia had no interest in fighting the NATO military alliance.The war in Ukraine has triggered the deepest crisis in Moscow's relations with the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, and Biden warned last year that a direct confrontation between NATO and Russia would trigger World War Three.In a plea to Republicans not to block further military aid earlier this month, Biden warned that if Putin was victorious...

"Russia lost 360,000 people in the war, according to Putin," Matveev wrote. "244 thousand mobilized. 486 thousand volunteers. And there are only 617 thousand at the front. Entertaining military mathematics from Putin. "The losses were 113 thousand people," he continued. "But there was also the invasion group and those who were recruited before mobilization. And this is around 250 thousand. That is, Putin literally admitted irretrievable losses in the amount of 363 thousand people.".. The figure does come close to the 315,000 claimed Russian troop casualties that were revealed in a leaked declassified U.S. intelligence document this week. The General...

Some Moscow residents claim egg prices have doubled, as Russia continues to battle persistent inflation and Western sanctions. Surging egg prices, against a backdrop of high inflation and economic sanctions, are worrying the Russian authorities, especially as eggs are a symbolic and central ingredient of the festive season. -snip- In November, the average price of eggs in Russia rose by 40.29% year-on-year, according to the Russian Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat). Muscovite consumers report even steeper rises. "Before, I used to buy eggs for 70 roubles a dozen. Now they cost between 130 and 140 roubles - twice as much,"...

38,261 Russian casualties corroborated by publicly available data as of 1 DecemberMediazona, in collaboration with BBC News Russian service and a team of volunteers, continues gathering information on the Russian military casualties in Ukraine. The figures we provide are sourced from publicly available information, including social media posts from family members, local media coverage, and official statements from local authorities. However, these figures represent only a partial account and do not reflect the full extent of the casualties.The actual death toll is likely significantly higher. A joint data investigation by Mediazona and Meduza estimated in July that by the end...

Russian citizens say they are living relatively normal lives despite the imposition of worldwide sanctions following the country’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, according to a new poll.A Gallup survey found that 56% of Russian respondents believe their local economies are improving, while 46% agree that living standards are also improving — a record since the poll began in 2006.The upbeat sentiment comes as Western countries are losing the motivation to continue supporting Ukraine’s defense efforts, with many analysts now saying that Russia has the upper hand in the war.Most Russians feel that war efforts are benefiting them, according to a...

The Ukrainian Armed Forces later confirmed that it had successfully targeted the shipyard. The Askold is a compact missile ship, designed to carry up to eight Kalibr missiles. Military experts say that neutralizing such a ship significantly improves Ukraine's security.

Ukies reportedly not in a position to feel good about losing entire munitions depots...

Ukrainian media outlets said Kyiv was behind two blasts in Russia's far east within 24 hours. The railway provides an important supply line for logistics coming from China and North Korea. Putin is increasingly relying on the two countries for military support in the war... In the first incident [on Nov. 30], a freight train caught fire while passing through the nine-mile Severomuysky Tunnel on the Baikal-Amur Mainline in the Republic of Buryatia on Wednesday night, forcing 50 carriages carrying diesel and jet fuel to stop. Telegram channel Baza reported that 16 tanks at the front of the train were...

However, a poll by the research group Chronicles indicates that, ahead of the 2024 election, Putin might have an uphill battle in maintaining the population's support for the war as they feel its economic consequences. The survey found that pro-war Russians are a minority and were outnumbered by those who favor peace. It found that the core of support for the war was only 12 percent, compared with 22 percent in February, one year after the start of what the Kremlin calls a "special military operation.".. More than half (52 percent) of respondents said they experienced anxiety or depression, an...

Lavrov said on Thursday that Moldova, an Eastern European country and former Soviet republic, is putting itself in harm's way in its desire to join the European Union. In June 2022, the EU and its member states offered unwavering support for Moldova and granted it candidate status. The support was reaffirmed in March of this year, with the EU and its members promising to continue to provide security and economic support to Moldova as it awaits its path to accession... On Thursday, the Moldova Foreign Ministry issued a rebuke to Lavrov's comments, calling Russia's invasion of Ukraine "brutal" and saying...

Russia's main rail link to China has been left paralyzed after Ukraine's Security Service blew up a tunnel in the Russian republic of Buryatia, it has been reported. The explosions in the Severomuysky Tunnel were masterminded by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), "paralyzing the only serious route of railway communication between the Russian Federation and China," news outlet RBC-Ukraine reported on Thursday, citing sources with knowledge of the matter. Ukraine's SBU told Newsweek that officially, it can "neither confirm nor deny involvement" in the incident, but added that "death is the only prospect we can offer to the occupiers"...

Pro-Ukrainian saboteurs hacked into Russian television channels in Crimea overnight to air President Volodymyr Zelensky’s speech vowing to liberate the occupied peninsula. In a further humiliation to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s regime, the pranksters renamed all 20 channels in Crimea’s IPTV network “Putin is a d—head,” as seen in videos shared online. In his brief address to the people of Crimea, who have lived under Moscow’s control since the region was illegally annexed in 2014, Zelensky promised that the occupiers’ presence there “will not last forever.”

Russia has launched its biggest drone attack on Kyiv since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine began last year, the city's mayor has said. Residents were woken by explosions before dawn on Saturday, and for more than six hours, the booms of Kyiv's air defences echoed through the city. There was wave after wave of attacks from the north and east. Officials said that more than 75 Iranian-made Shahed drones were fired at the capital, and 74 were shot down. With Russia's dwindling missile stocks, Shahed drones are seen as a cheap alternative. They are slower than ballistic missiles and have...

Average age of ukie soldiers is now around 43Ukie army apparently is now a sort of an old folks home...