Free Republic

President Vladimir Putin has ordered Wagner fighters to sign an oath of allegiance to the Russian state after a deadly plane crash believed to have killed Yevgeny Prigozhin, the volatile chief of the mercenary group. Putin signed the decree bringing in the change with immediate effect on Friday after the Kremlin said that Western suggestions that Prigozhin had been killed on its orders were an "absolute lie".

Russia tried downplaying the destruction of one of its prized supersonic bombers. Ukraine has launched two major kamikaze drone strikes that took out one of Putin's prized nuclear bombers in a spectacular fireball and caused significant damage to a train station used to supply Russia's invasion of Ukraine. New footage of the strike on Soltsy airbase in the Novgorod region shows one of Russia's nuclear bombers being swallowed by an enormous fireball. Smoke billowing from the fireball could be seen for miles around. -snip- The attack on the prized bomber came a day before a major railway station was also...

Russia's first moon mission in 47 years failed after its Luna-25 space craft spun out of control and smashed into moon. Russia's state space corporation, Roskosmos, said it had lost contact with the craft shortly after a problem occurred as the craft was shunted into pre-landing orbit on Saturday. 'The apparatus moved into an unpredictable orbit and ceased to exist as a result of a collision with the surface of the Moon,' Roskosmos said in a statement. Moscow had earlier reported an 'abnormal situation' with the craft. 'During the operation, an abnormal situation occurred on board the automatic station, which...

Russia's first moon mission in nearly half a century may be in serious trouble. The Luna-25 spacecraft was supposed to maneuver itself into its final pre-landing orbit around the moon today (Aug. 19), ahead of a touchdown attempt on Monday (Aug. 21) or thereabouts. But the probe encountered a problem during the engine burn. -snip- If Luna-25 is indeed dead, it would be quite a blow to Russia's space program. Luna-25 is the first moon mission developed by modern Russia, and the first for it or its forerunner state, the Soviet Union, since Luna-24 in 1976.

ONE of Putin's prized war planes has been damaged after a kamikaze drone strike deep inside Russian territory. The attack, at the military airport in the Novgorod region more than 700 miles from Ukraine, witnessed a "helicopter style" drone. The ministry said nobody was hurt and the fire was quickly extinguished. The aircrafts which survived the attack are reportedly being being moved to an airfield in the Murmansk region. The Russian defence ministry admitted a strike: “The Kyiv regime carried out a terrorist attack using a copter-type UAV on a military airfield in Novgorod region." "As a result of the...

An "abnormal situation" occurred at Russia's Luna-25 spacecraft on Saturday as it was preparing to transfer to its pre-landing orbit, Russia's national space agency Roskosmos said. The Russian spacecraft is scheduled to land on the south pole of the moon on Monday, part of a big power race to explore a part of the moon which scientists think may hold frozen water and precious elements. "During the operation, an abnormal situation occurred on board the automatic station, which did not allow the manoeuvre to be performed with the specified parameters," Roskosmos said in a short statement.

Russia has launched an uncrewed spacecraft to the Moon’s south pole — its first lunar mission in 47 years. If successful, the mission would be the first to land in the region, and could mark the start of considerable activity there involving multiple countries and private companies. -snip- Luna 25 launched aboard a Soyuz rocket at 11.11 p.m. UT on 10 August from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in eastern Russia — marking a move away from Russia’s dependence on Kazakhstan, which hosts its main launch site, the Baikonur Cosmodrome. It will take around 5 days for the spacecraft to reach a...