How Far Do Putin’s Imperial Ambitions Go?; Humiliation for Maniac Leader as Russian Weapon ‘BOOMERANGS and blows up own troops’; Ukraine needs ‘fire parity’ with Russia to defend Luhansk region; Outgunned Ukrainian Forces Work to Avoid Becoming Surrounded in Donbas, LIVE UPDATES and MORE

How Far Do Putin’s Imperial Ambitions Go?

The Russian president and his inner circle speak openly about retaking the vast lands that Moscow once controlled. As the war continues in Ukraine, Russia’s neighbors are taking the threats seriously.

At a ceremony honoring young geographers in 2016, President Vladimir Putin asked one boy about the capital of Burkina Faso and then quizzed another about where Russia’s borders end.

“At the Bering Strait with the United States,” the 9-year-old boy ventured hesitantly. Mr. Putin, who chairs the board of the Russian Geographic Society, contradicted the boy to triumphant applause. “The borders of Russia,” he pronounced, “never end.”

The scene, years before Mr. Putin’s invasion of Ukraine unleashed the biggest war in Europe since World War II and triggered a breakdown between Russia and the West, illuminates a conviction deeply held by many in Moscow’s establishment: that Russia has the natural right, and the existential need, for territorial expansion.

Until recently, this imperial belief was often couched in language that is more acceptable in the 21st century, such as security concerns about NATO’s expansion or apprehension about alleged discrimination against Russian-speaking minorities. Since the war began, however, calls for seizing new lands have become much more explicit.

Earlier this month, Mr. Putin said that he views Ukraine as just the first step, with many other territories potential targets. On June 9, he held court in front of a sign proclaiming “Peter the Great, the Birth of the Empire” at an exhibition honoring the 350th anniversary of Russia’s first emperor. With a smile, Mr. Putin explained that when Peter conquered from Sweden the area of today’s St. Petersburg and the city of Narva, currently in Estonia, “he was merely returning what is ours, and strengthening it,” even though nobody else at the time recognized the legality of Russia’s land grab. —>READ MORE HERE

Humiliation for maniac leader as Russian weapon ‘BOOMERANGS and blows up own troops’

VLADIMIR PUTIN faces fresh humiliation after video emerged capturing the moment a Russian surface-to-air missile system ‘BOOMERANGS and blows up own troops’.

The bizarre footage show the weapon as it fires on itself in a crazy malfunction.

The missile can be seen shooting into the sky – before turning mid-air and slamming back into where it came from in an enormous explosion.

The short clip was reportedly shot in the Ukrainian city of Alchevsk in the Luhansk region, which is under the occupation of pro-Russian separatist forces and is on the front line of the war in Ukraine.

It was filmed in the early hours of Friday morning when Russian troops reportedly launched a missile to intercept an oncoming Ukrainian plane. —>WATCH and READ MORE HERE

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