Free Republic

As President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia has pursued enemies abroad, his intelligence operatives now appear prepared to cross a line that they previously avoided: trying to kill a valuable informant for the U.S. government on American soil. The clandestine operation, seeking to eliminate a C.I.A. informant in Miami who had been a high-ranking Russian intelligence official more than a decade earlier, represented a brazen expansion of Mr. Putin’s campaign of targeted assassinations. It also signaled a dangerous low point even between intelligence services that have long had a strained history. “The red lines are long gone for Putin,” said...

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s recent adamance about Ukrainian forces’ early success in the country’s highly anticipated counteroffensive is clashing with mounting evidence that Russia’s invading forces are taking new ground. “We have no lost positions,” Zelenskyy stressed in his nightly video address on Sunday. “In some areas, our warriors are moving forward. In some areas, they are defending their positions and resisting the occupiers' assaults and intensified attacks.” But, he concluded, “We have no lost positions. Only liberated ones. They have only losses.” Zelenskyy’s positive assessment aligns with the need of any embattled government to maintain national morale and to affirm...

Russian citizens who criticize the Kremlin could find themselves on the receiving end of a nasty visit from Chechen forces, according to an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Putin’s attempted "partial mobilization" of fighting-aged Russians into the war in Ukraine has prompted a wave of social displeasure, including a mass exodus of apparent draft dodgers and protests in the outlying regions where people are bearing the brunt of the war. Russian lawmaker Adam Delimkhanov, an ethnic Chechen politician known for threatening to decapitate the relatives of a human rights activist, warned university students against any display of disrespect. “I...

A stunning series of photos and videos shows the violent impact of the explosion that tore through Russia’s prized Kerch Strait bridge to Crimea early Saturday morning. A monstrous fireball bloomed over all four of the bridge’s vehicle lanes at 6:07 a.m. as a passenger car and a freight truck drove side by side up the incline to its towering arch. The flames appeared to reach across the water, enveloping the twin railroad bridge about 100 feet away.

Fox News host Tucker Carlson's long-running quest to blame the Biden administration for the war in Ukraine hasn't borne much fruit, despite his prominent perch on the most-watched cable news channel. We know very little about what happened to the pipelines, which carry natural gas from Russia to Europe, or who was responsible if the explosions were due to sabotage, which authorities say is likely. Anything seems possible at this point. But Carlson's supposed evidence for this being a U.S. operation is decidedly weak. Nonetheless, Carlson continued, that's where some people are pointing. "The Washington Post got right to it,"...

European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen said deliberate disruption would meet the "strongest possible response". The EU has previously accused Russia of using gas supplies as a weapon against the West over its support for Ukraine. But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed accusations of sabotage as "predictable, stupid and absurd The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he thought the leaks would "not have a significant impact on Europe's energy resilience". Neither pipeline is transporting gas at the moment, although they both contain gas. Mr Blinken did not directly accuse Russia - but said it would be in...

You gotta see this... Making an art form out of messing people's minds... Roughly, 'This winter's going to be really serious, see ya in the spring.....' А зима будет большая, Вот, гляди-ка, за рекой Осень тихо умирает, Машет желтою рукой. Плачут мокрые осины, Плачет дедушка Aрбат, Плачет синяя Россия, Превратившись в листопад. И, сугробы сокрушая, Солнце брызнет по весне, А зима будет большая - Только сумерки да снег.

The Russians on the "Southern Front" received large reinforcements for half a day via the Crimean bridge The elite Ukrainian units that attempted the "Kherson counter-offensive" for the past six days did not achieve anything, and they paid for that with huge casualties and losses. They briefly took over Blagodatnoe and another smaller settlement and wedged themselves into Russian positions southeast of Suho Stavok, 3-4 kilometers away, but the counterattack was so powerful that they had to return to their starting lines with two captured positions. In the last 24 hours, the Ukris had 230 casualties, and they also lost...

Liz Truss has been made Prime Minister of Britain. This was expected, but also the darkest day possible for Britain. Previously, UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace had backed Liz Truss’ view that Russian forces must be pushed out of “the whole of Ukraine” – and suggested this should include Crimea. Even the Guardian at the time had accused Liz Truss’ position was “recklessly inflaming Ukraine’s war to serve her own ambition.” Meanwhile, in Russia, this was playing out on TV endorsing World War III. Everything that can possibly point to war is unfolding before our eyes. There are no peacemakers...

Russian and Ukrainian officials tentatively agreed on a potential peace deal during negotiations back in April 2022, according to a Foreign Affairs article by Fiona Hill and Angela Stent that cited former US officials. The article reads: “According to multiple former senior US officials we spoke with, in April 2022, Russian and Ukrainian negotiators appeared to have tentatively agreed on the outlines of a negotiated interim settlement.” The terms of that settlement would have been for Russia to withdraw to the positions it held before launching the invasion on February 24. In exchange, Ukraine would “promise not to seek NATO...

Vladimir Putin showed further signs of his allegedly failing health as his legs twitched manically while giving a brainwashing history lesson to Russian children yesterday. The Russian leader squirmed in his chair and looked ill at ease as he gripped an armrest with one hand before gesticulating with a tightly clenched fist, while the other hand clutched firm to the microphone. Such are his health fears, Putin had ordered each of the high-achieving children to quarantine from Covid for two weeks before the meeting in Kaliningrad. The president has been plagued with rumors of his ill health and has been...

The surreal scene shows a Kremlin meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Viktor Zolotov, 68, who is director of the Russian National Guard and has lost thousands of his men in the war. A grimacing Vladimir Putin was seen tightly gripping his desk as his most trusted general reported to him that invaded Ukrainians are showing their “support” for occupying Russian soldiers. The surreal scene shows a Kremlin meeting between Russian President Putin and Viktor Zolotov, 68, who is director of the Russian National Guard and has lost thousands of his men in the war. It is not the...

Total collapse of US/EU/NATO policy both military and economic, damage to European society may be irreparable

The war currently underway in Ukraine, which pits Ukraine as a proxy for the collective West against Russia, is primarily an ideological or religious one, with Russia representing what is left of Christian Europe, and “the West” representing a totalitarian ideology that abhors religion in general and Christianity in particular. This statement may sound strange, given the fact that some Westerners – though fewer every day – still see “the West,” (basically Europe and North America) as Christian, and Russia as Communist, or crypto-Communist.

People’s militia officers in the Donetsk People’s Republic killed a US national, Alan Joshua, who had been fighting for Ukraine, in combat on August 23, the DPR’s ombudsperson Darya Morozova said on Telegram on Saturday. The DPR has notified US officials and the head of the UN monitoring mission in Ukraine, Matilda Bogner, of his death, she added. "In combat near Yegorovka on August 23, DPR people’s militia officers killed another foreign mercenary who had been fighting for Ukraine. Fleeing Ukrainian militants left his body on the battlefield. Documents identifying the killed person as US national Alan Joshua, born in...

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...

Disclaimer: The Kyiv Independent is publishing this investigation to shed light on the alleged abuse of power in the leadership of one wing of the International Legion – a legion created for foreign fighters dedicated to defending Ukraine. The members of the Legion’s unit say that they reported their commanders’ misconduct to Ukrainian law enforcement, the parliament, and President Volodymyr Zelensky’s Office, but saw no proper reaction and thus turned to journalists as a last resort. Soldiers who pointed at the problems within this unit of the Legion claim they received threats for speaking up. For their safety, we do...

Vladimir Putin is determined to shape the future to look like his version of the past. Russia’s president invaded Ukraine not because he felt threatened by NATO expansion or by Western “provocations.” He ordered his “special military operation” because he believes that it is Russia’s divine right to rule Ukraine, to wipe out the country’s national identity, and to integrate its people into a Greater Russia. He laid out this mission in a 5,000-word treatise, published in July 2021, entitled, “On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians.” In it, Putin insisted that Belarusians, Russians, and Ukrainians are all descendants...

Europe faced the prospect of a radiation disaster on Thursday when a Russian-occupied nuclear plant was disconnected from Ukraine's power grid, President Volodomyr Zelensky has said. It was only due to back-up electricity kicking in that the Zaporizhzhia plant was able to operate safely, he added. Fires had earlier damaged overhead power lines, cutting the plant off. There is growing concern over fighting near the complex, which is the largest nuclear plant in Europe. "If the diesel generators hadn't turned on, if the automation and our staff of the plant had not reacted after the blackout, then we would already...

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a major buildup of his country’s military forces Thursday in an apparent effort to replenish troops that have suffered heavy losses in six months of bloody warfare and prepare for a long, grinding fight ahead in Ukraine. The move to increase the number of troops by 137,000, or 13%, to 1.15 million by the end of the year came amid chilling developments on the ground in Ukraine. (snip) Putin’s decree did not specify whether the expansion would be accomplished by widening the draft, recruiting more volunteers, or both. But some Russian military analysts predicted heavier...