Free Republic

Russian federal agents have allegedly shut down a "My Little Pony" convention in Moscow after it was deemed to be “LGBT propaganda” by the government. According to the Russian outlet The Insider, the raid was conducted to break up, "Mi Amore Fest." The event was organized by fans of the "My Little Pony" series.

Russia and Iran will speed up work on a "major new interstate agreement", the Russian foreign ministry said on Tuesday. -snip- Iran is the main backer of Israel's enemy Hamas. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke by phone with Putin on Sunday and voiced "robust disapproval" of Russia's "dangerous" cooperation with Iran. Iranian authorities have said military cooperation with Russia is expanding day by day. Iran said last month it had finalised arrangements for Russia to provide it with Su-35 fighter jets, Mi-28 attack helicopters and Yak-130 pilot training aircraft.

Until June 24 the combined air forces of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) are conducting their largest operation against Russia in the 74-year history of the alliance. The plan has been to disguise F-16 fighter jets as if they are piloted by Ukrainians, and pretend they are launched from Ukrainian territory. In response, Russian artillery, missile and fighter-bomber forces have been disabling and destroying Ukrainian airfields, and every Ukrainian aircraft being flown from them. Then on Friday, President Vladimir Putin dismissed the NATO pretence, warning that if an F-16 threatens to attack a Russian target, it would be “burned”,...

The 15-year-old Ukrainian schoolgirl was taken one warm morning last October. Like everyone else in Kherson, a city on the estuary of the Dnipro river in southern Ukraine, Yevheniia's family were still adjusting to life under Russian control. Putin's tanks and troops had poured into the city seven months earlier, soon after the invasion of Ukraine began. Now there were checkpoints, military police, rumours of Russian brutality; of women being raped. Ukraine was fighting to get the city back and there was a constant risk of shelling. Few people went out after 5pm. In the apartment where the teenager lived...

Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, has said that the army units continue to advance along the flanks in the suburbs of Bakhmut.Source: Syrskyi, quoted by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of UkraineQuote: "Despite the fact that we now control a small part of Bakhmut, the importance of its defence does not lose its relevance. This provides us with opportunities to enter the city in case of a change of circumstances. And this will certainly happen.We continue to advance along the flanks in the suburbs of Bakhmut and are...

In late October a Ukrainian Sukhoi-27 Flanker, Soviet-era fighter, was shot down by a long-range air-to-air missile (LRAAM) – the R-37M. This is not the first Ukrainian aircraft to be shot down since Russia’s invasion commenced in February, but it is nevertheless a significant feat for the Russian Air Force because the R-37M took down the Ukrainian Sukhoi-27 from a range of 217km (about 140 miles). This would make the kill the longest on record. The R-37M is a hypersonic long-range air-to-air missile (LRAAM) reportedly capable of reaching Mach 6 and striking targets up to 400km (250 miles) away. The...

Graham Phillips reports for Lugansk, Russia, showing footage of Wagner forces flying the Russian flag over various parts of what was Bakhmut.

In a solemn ceremony held at the RF Northern Fleet submarine base in Gadzhievo, Murmansk region, two portable iconostases were consecrated and handed over to crews of two nuclear submarine strategic missile cruisers: Knyaz Oleg and Novosibirsk, the fleet's press service reported. An iconostasis is a wall of icons, used to divide the Altar from the rest of the church space. Portable iconostases for sailing warships are made of wood, but for submarines, they use fabric. Such icons do not take up much space in the very limited space. On church feast days, canvases with icons are unpacked and mounted...

Ukraine 5 (vanity) The onslaught of Biden/media war propaganda, for a war America is not fighting, is setting the table for continued Russian sanctions, additional Ukraine funding and further widening of the rift between Russia and America. In order to help counter the Biden/media propaganda, I signed up for the Russian social media app called Telegram. It is a cross between Twitter and WhatsApp, IMO. The main account to follow is “Intel Slava Z” and also “ASB Military News” is good too. These accounts have first hand images and videos from the front lines and they say and show the...

Russia will increase its Black Sea fleet with more than 80 new warships by 2020 and will complete a second naval base for the fleet near the city of Novorossiysk by 2016, its commander said on Tuesday.