Russia

CPAC Tweets Support For Putin’s Ukraine Annexation

Mediaite reports: The CPAC Twitter account earned outrage after tweeting — and quickly deleting — a message referring to “Ukraine-occupied territories” and referring to President Joe Biden’s “gift-giving” to the country as it deals with an invasion from Russia. Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton blasted the outrage stemming from the tweet, but did acknowledge it was “awkwardly-worded.” Radio host Erick …

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WH Unveils New Sanctions Over Russian Annexation

Via press release from the White House: The United States condemns Russia’s fraudulent attempt today to annex sovereign Ukrainian territory. Russia is violating international law, trampling on the United Nations Charter, and showing its contempt for peaceful nations everywhere. Make no mistake: these actions have no legitimacy. The United States will always honor Ukraine’s internationally recognized borders. We will continue …

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Zelensky Pushes For “Accelerated” NATO Membership

The Washington Post reports: Ukraine is applying for “accelerated ascension” into NATO, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday, in an apparent answer to Russia’s move to illegally annex four of the country’s partially occupied regions. The remarks were more symbolic than practical: The speedy admittance of Ukraine to the alliance would require members to immediately send troops to fight Russia, under …

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Putin Holds Ceremony On Annexing Ukraine Regions

The Associated Press reports: Russian President Vladimir Putin has opened a Kremlin ceremony to start the process of absorbing parts of Ukraine into Russia, defying international law. The annexation ceremony in the Kremlin’s opulent white-and-gold St. George’s Hall will feature Putin and the heads of the four regions of Ukraine signing treaties for them to join Russia, in a sharp …

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Fleeing Russian Men Get Draft Notices At Borders

The New York Times reports: The Kremlin has dispatched still more forces to shore up its faltering war effort, but the units are headed not to Ukraine but to Russia’s borders with other countries, where on Tuesday they were confronting young Russian men trying to join an exodus out of the country. As the avenues for Russians to escape a …

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US Warns Russia May Conscript Dual US/Russia Citizens

Via press release from the State Department: On September 21, the Russian government began a mobilization of its citizens to the armed forces in support of its invasion of Ukraine. Russia may refuse to acknowledge dual nationals’ U.S. citizenship, deny their access to U.S. consular assistance, prevent their departure from Russia, and conscript dual nationals for military service. Commercial flight …

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Russia Claims Victory In Ukraine Annexation Vote

The Associated Press reports: The Kremlin paved the way Tuesday to annex more of Ukraine and escalate the war by claiming that residents of a large swath overwhelmingly supported joining with Russia in stage-managed referendums the U.S. and its Western allies have dismissed as illegitimate. Pro-Moscow officials said all four occupied regions of Ukraine voted to join Russia. According to …

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Kazakhstan Offers Sanctuary To Russians Fleeing Draft

The Moscow Times reports: Kazakhstan will ensure the care and safety of Russians fleeing a “hopeless situation,” the president of the Central Asian country said on Tuesday, as Russian men fled the Ukraine military call-up. “Recently we’ve had many people from Russia coming here,” Kassym-Jomart Tokayev was quoted as saying by his press service. “Most of them are forced to …

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Russia Issues Another Threat To Use Nuclear Weapons

Reuters reports: An ally of President Vladimir Putin issued a stark new nuclear warning to Ukraine and the West on Tuesday as referendums billed by Russia as a prelude to it annexing four Ukrainian regions entered their fifth and final day. Tuesday’s nuclear warning by Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, is one of several issued by Putin …

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Putin Grants Russian Citizenship To Edward Snowden

The Associated Press reports: President Vladimir Putin has granted Russian citizenship to former U.S. security contractor Edward Snowden, according to a decree signed by the Russian leader on Monday. Snowden is one of 75 foreign nationals listed by the decree as being granted Russian citizenship. The decree was published on an official government website. Snowden, a former contractor with the …

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13 Dead, 23 Injured In Russian School Shooting By Nazi

ABC News reports: A gunman opened fire in a school in central Russia on Monday, killing 13 people and wounding 23 others before shooting himself dead, authorities said. The shooting took place in School No. 88 in Izhevsk, a city 960 kilometers (600 miles) east of Moscow in the Udmurtia region. Russia’s Investigative Committee identified the gunman as 34-year-old Artyom …

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US Vows To Respond “Decisively” If Russia Uses Nukes

Reuters reports: The Kremlin said on Monday it was in “sporadic” contact with the United States on nuclear issues, a day after Washington warned of “catastrophic consequences” if Moscow used nuclear weapons to protect Ukrainian regions it looks set to annex. U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Sunday the United States would respond “decisively” to any Russian use …

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Kremlin Rounds Up Ukrainian Men To Fight Ukrainians

The New York Times reports: As military officers across Russia race to enlist hundreds of thousands of men to fight in Ukraine, the Kremlin is also looking to bolster its flagging recruitment efforts by dragooning Ukrainians in occupied territories to fight against their own nation. In two regions, Kherson and Zaporizka, the Russian occupiers are beginning to round up men …

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Zelensky: Russian Army Deserters Will Be Treated Fairly

The BBC reports: Russian soldiers who surrender to Ukraine will be treated in a “civilised manner”, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said. In his nightly address, Mr Zelensky appealed to Russians to run away or surrender once at the front. It comes after Vladimir Putin signed a law doubling the punishment for Russian soldiers who desert or disobey orders. Speaking …

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Russia Vows “Full Protection” To Annexed Ukraine Areas

Reuters reports: Russia has sought to defend its seven-month old war at the United Nations, with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov saying that regions of Ukraine where widely-derided referendums are being held would be under Russia’s “full protection” if annexed by Moscow. The referendums in four eastern Ukrainian regions, aimed at annexing territory Russia has taken by force since its invasion …

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Republicans Unveil “Commitment To America” Plan With Video Featuring Stock Images From Russia And Ukraine

The Huffington Post reports: House Republican leaders on Friday unveiled their “Commitment to America” agenda for 2023 ― and with it, an inspirational video full of scenes presented as exceptional imagery of America that were actually stock footage from Russia and Ukraine. The GOP’s video, “The Preamble to the Commitment to America,” opens with a narrator highlighting aspects of what …

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Exodus Escalates As Russian Men Flee Conscription

The Associated Press reports: Military-aged men fled Russia in droves Friday, filling planes and causing traffic jams at border crossings to avoid being rounded up to fight in Ukraine following the Kremlin’s partial military mobilization. Queues stretching for 10 kilometers (6 miles) formed on a road leading to the southern border with Georgia, according to Yandex Maps, a Russian online …

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Moscow Aviation Official Dies After “Falling Down Stairs”

Yahoo News reports: The former head of a Kremlin-linked engineering institute died Wednesday in an apparent accident, according to CNN — adding to the long list of Russian CEOs and officials who have met a mysterious end this year. Russian news outlet Izvestia reported that Anatoly Gerashchenko “fell from a great height” down numerous flights of stairs inside the Moscow …

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US Warns Russia Against Using Nukes In Ukraine

The Washington Post reports: The United States for several months has been sending private communications to Moscow warning Russia’s leadership of the grave consequences that would follow the use of a nuclear weapon, according to U.S. officials, who said the messages underscore what President Biden and his aides have articulated publicly. The State Department has been involved in the private …

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Voting Begins In Ukraine Annexation Referendums

The Associated Press reports: Voting began Friday in Moscow-held regions of Ukraine on referendums to become part of Russia, Russian-backed officials there said. The Kremlin-orchestrated referendums, which have been widely denounced by Ukraine and the West as shams without any legal force, are seen as a step toward annexing the territories by Russia. The vote, which asks residents if they …

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