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Russian President Vladimir Putin has continued his deranged nuclear warnings to the West, warning Prime Minister Rishi Sunak that London's iconic No.10 Downing Street is on a hit list. Russian president Vladimir Putin has today ordered nuclear missile firing drills and warned not even Downing Street will be safe. He told defence minister Sergei Shoigu to prepare exercises in the near future "in order to increase the readiness of non-strategic nuclear forces to fulfil combat missions." A Russian defence minister said it would involve land, air and naval forces. A ministry spokesperson said: "A set of measures will be taken...

Russia plans to hold drills simulating the use of tactical nuclear weapons, the Defense Ministry announced Monday, days after the Kremlin reacted angrily to comments by senior Western officials about the war in Ukraine. The drills are in response to “provocative statements and threats of certain Western officials regarding the Russian Federation,” the Defense Ministry said in a statement. It was the first time that Russia has publicly announced drills involving tactical nuclear weapons, though its strategic nuclear forces regularly hold exercises. Tactical nuclear weapons have a lower yield compared to massive warheads that arm intercontinental ballistic missiles intended to...

Russia has blamed the "hostility" of Baltic states for them severing most of their ties with the country. "Because of the openly hostile line of Vilnius, Riga and Tallinn, all interstate, interdepartmental, regional and sectoral ties with Russia have been severed," said Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharov on Sunday. She warned Moscow would respond with asymmetric measures, though did not specify exactly what the Baltics had supposedly done. "We will also respond to the hostile actions of the Baltic states with asymmetrical measures, primarily in the economic and transit spheres," Zakharov detailed. Russia's 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine has...

OPINION China’s recent outcry over the alleged breach of ‘Gentleman’s Agreement’ with the Philippines reveals a profound irony, given the history of its coercion and deceit There is a huge amount of insincerity and gall involved in the Chinese complaint that the Philippines had torn up the bilateral ‘Gentleman’s Agreement,’ between Beijing and Manila. While the term ‘Gentleman’s Agreement’ has an implicit assumption of ‘trust’ as a fundamental tenet besting a relationship, which may otherwise not be legally binding -- to even imagine that there has been any element of ‘trust’ between these two sparing countries, is to put oneself...

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...

Tanks and columns of troops are massing in Moscow ahead of Russia's annual Victory Day - timed this year to coincide with Vladimir Putin's latest presidential inauguration after another election victory denounced as a 'sham'. The despot is set for another six years in the Kremlin after emphatically and unsurprisingly winning March's presidential poll, with his new term formally beginning on Tuesday. -snip- Last year's Victory Day parade featured just a single tank, a Second World War-era T-34.

There is no need for an international investigation into the explosions on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 natural gas pipelines, Sweden’s Foreign Ministry has told RIA Novosti news agency. Last week, China’s deputy envoy to the UN, Geng Shuang, called for a probe into the September 2022 blasts that ruptured the pipelines, which were built to deliver Russian gas to Germany and the rest of Europe. Countries should work together on an investigation “to bring the perpetrators to justice in order to prevent the reoccurrence of similar incidents,” Geng said. When asked about Beijing’s proposal by RIA Novosti on...

In the wake of Tucker Carlson's much-publicized interview with Vladimir Putin and his subsequent display of what can only be described as “clueless man babbles one-dimensional nonsense in admiration for Russia in a supermarket,” we find ourselves confronted with an important issue: Either Carlson is a master in controlled opposition, skillfully playing his part in a grand geopolitical chess game, or he is just masterfully milking the easily-misled for clicks, views, attention and money. Even the most astute among us can fall victim to a well-crafted deception, and I fear that this is precisely what is happening to Carlson and...

Every semester, the largest classroom at Northwestern University in Chicago is filled with hundreds of students who are eager to take a course devoted to Russian literature. The answer as to why comes down to the who. That says something not only about the class, but about the professor who happens to be my guest today. Professor Gary Saul Morson, welcome to Thinking in Public. Gary Saul Morson:Oh, it’s my pleasure to be here. Albert Mohler: Professor, I just want to tell you right up front, this was one of the most significant reading experiences I have had in a...

Russia has issued arrest warrants for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as well as several high-ranking former officials including former President Pyotr Poroshenko. The wanted list published by Moscow’s Interior Ministry was updated on Tuesday to include President Zelensky. The arrest warrant states that the Ukrainian leader is wanted over a violation of the Russian Criminal code, however, the exact alleged offence has not been published.

China and Russia are working on a joint invasion of Taiwan, US intelligence officials fear. 'We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognising that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn't,' Avril Haines, Director of US National Intelligence, told the US Congress on Thursday. Her warning on the potential cooperation between the countries on Taiwan, which China has long claimed as its own territory to be annexed by force if necessary, was echoed by Lieutenant General...

Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov is siting in Moscow’s Lefortovo prison, and that spells trouble for his boss Sergei Shoigu. -snip- In his latest job overseeing military construction, Ivanov was in charge of some of Russia’s most prestigious projects, including a giant military-themed cathedral and patriotic theme park on the outskirts of Moscow and, more recently, reconstruction work in the ruined city of Mariupol in occupied Ukraine. His access to astronomic funds earned him the nickname “Shoigu’s wallet.” Rather than hide his wealth, Ivanov flaunted it. For years, tabloids and independent journalists documented his love for women, opulent real estate,...

A bipartisan majority in the U.S. Congress recently took the noble and necessary action of devoting a fresh round of aid worth $61 billion to Ukraine. Now that the U.S. has stepped up militarily, the West needs to ramp up a line of effort that has been lacking in its Ukraine strategy: intensifying economic warfare. It’s a tactic that President Ronald Reagan and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher would have embraced — and one that will undermine the Russian military and the Vladimir Putin’s regime’s stability. Reagan came into office perceiving the Soviet Union’s economic weakness, and resolved early in...

Russian President Vladimir Putin's meeting with an ally of the Wagner Group signals his struggle to address setbacks in the Ukraine conflict. Russian President Vladimir Putin is taking decisive steps to address growing challenges as he seeks to regain control over his struggling military campaign in Ukraine. On May 2, Putin met with Alexei Dyumin, the governor of Russia's Tula Oblast, and a known associate of the Wagner Group, at his Novo-Ogaryovo residence in Moscow Oblast. The meeting has raised questions about the stability of Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu's position, signalling Putin's increasing desperation in the face of unmet...

This is the moment more than 100 Russian troops are believed to have been killed in an ATACMS tactical ballistic missile strike on occupied Luhansk. A military training ground was seen being hit by multiple explosions typical of an ATACMS strike in footage captured by a drone flying high above. The strike targeted a group of 100-plus soldiers who were seen in aerial images, say OSINT analysts in what would be the single largest loss of Russian stories in months. The ATACMS (Army Tactical Missile System) showered the troops with hundreds of M74 APAM mini-bombs which are carried by the...

Its early Friday morning in the UK results beginning to come in for the local government elections... Turkey (Türkiye) halting all trade with Israel... Eight Syrian soldiers wounded in an Israeli attack tonight in a Damascus suburb... A massive fire tonight in Moscow.. In the Uk 45 people arrested resisting efforts to detain illegal immigrants for transfer to Rwanda... Swedish authorities granting permission for a Quran burning rally on May 10th in Malmo... "If the Russians were to break through the front line, if there were a Ukrainian request--which is not the case today--we would legitimately have to ask ourselves...

The five-month wait before US Congress approved $61 billion in military aid to Ukraine may have caused lasting damage that will be felt on the frontlines for months to come. Russian forces have used the “artillery drought” hampering Ukraine’s defenses since December to push forward on the eastern front near Avdiivka, making the largest advance since the early months of the war. Moscow’s progress has prompted warnings from senior Ukrainian military officials of a possible threat to Kyiv’s supply lines and hubs in the east, which are now perilously close to being in range of superior Russian firepower. The bleak...

Russian military personnel have entered an air base in Niger that is hosting U.S. troops, a senior U.S. defense official told Reuters, a move that follows a decision by Niger's junta to expel U.S. forces from the country. The military officers ruling the West African nation have told the U.S. to withdraw its nearly 1,000 military personnel from the country, which until a coup last year had been a key partner for Washington's fight against insurgents who have killed thousands of people and displaced millions more. A senior U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Russian forces were...

Arecent discovery in Minnesota has unveiled a helium reservoir with astonishingly high concentrations of the gas, surpassing initial estimations and potentially opening doors for commercial extraction. Pulsar Helium, an exploration company, revealed the discovery of helium reserves in late February 2024, following drilling activities near Babbitt, northern Minnesota, reaching depths of 2,200 feet (670 meters). Initial findings displayed helium concentrations of 12.4%, described by Thomas Abraham-James, the president and CEO of Pulsar Helium, as “a dream” in an interview with CBS News.[1] The discovery represents an unprecedented opportunity to gain access to helium at concentration levels dramatically exceeding the normal...

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.