Sounds like Russia is up to no good with these ludicrous proclamations about WMDs. I hope this is nothing more than gaslighting and fearmongering, but Putin's history of prior atrocities can't be discounted.

WASHINGTON, 30 April. /TASS/. The Russian embassy on Friday urged the United States to "think its head and refuse" to prepare provocations with the use of weapons of mass destruction in Ukraine.

“We drew attention to the next groundless accusations against us, voiced by the US Deputy Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Bonnie Jenkins. We are once again unreasonably credited with the presence of undeclared chemical weapons and their use. We would like to remind Bonnie Jenkins that during the special operation of the Ministry of Defense The Russian Federation received irrefutable information that the United States was preparing provocations to accuse the Russian Armed Forces of using weapons of mass destruction in Ukraine. among the civilian population, while the State Department has already determined the order of "investigation" and appointed officials,responsible for its implementation," the commentary published inTelegram channel of the embassy.

"We call on Washington to change its mind and refrain from provocations that could lead to the death of tens of thousands of Ukrainian citizens and cause an environmental and humanitarian catastrophe," the Russian diplomatic mission stressed.

Jenkins, in an article published on the website of Newsweek magazine on Friday , made harsh statements against Russia, attributing to it the presence and use of undeclared chemical weapons. According to the deputy head of the State Department, the United States, in turn, "is moving towards the fact that by September 2023" to destroy all of its "fully declared stocks" of chemical weapons. Now this program is completed in the US by 97%, and in the world by almost 99%, she stressed.

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Last week in Gettysburg, a far-right Christian conference called “Patriots Arise for God and Country” drew State Sen. Doug Mastriano, a GOP front-runner for Pennsylvania governor; Teddy Daniels, a candidate for lieutenant governor; Maryland gubernatorial candidate Dan Cox; Liz Harrington, a spokesperson for former President Donald Trump; and former Trump campaign attorney Jenna Ellis.

About 25 minutes into the two-day conference, organizers played a video claiming the world is experiencing a “great awakening” that will expose “ritual child sacrifice” and a “global satanic blood cult.”

Followers of QAnon believe a global cabal of Democrats and elites are trafficking children for sex and engaged in other demonic activity — but that all of this will soon be exposed. Images associated with the conspiracy theory were on display during the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol attack.

The video showed Friday featured a kind of greatest hits of conspiracy theories that have circulated for decades. It showed images of the Twin Towers collapsing on 9/11 — with the label “false flags.” It claimed John F. Kennedy was assassinated because he “knew too much” and posed a “high risk of cabal exposure,” that vaccines amount to “genocide therapy,” and that Hitler faked his death (bolding mine). It offered other conspiracy theories about the atomic bomb, the Spanish flu, 5G, the 2008 financial crisis — and, of course, the 2020 election.

Putin meets UN secretary general António Guterres in the Kremlin. The long table is back!

Putin says Russia won't sign a peace deal with Ukraine unless it first agrees to "solve the issues of Crimea and Donbas" at least on the working level, meaning accepting losing those parts of its territory for good.

Julia Ioffe: So we shouldn’t expect any protests, even if more coffins come back from Ukraine?

(Olga Mutovina, one of the founders of Lyudi Baikala, or “The People of the Baikal,” a publication focused on the two Russian regions that sandwich Lake Baikal, the deepest lake in the world) Of course not. There won’t be any protests, not economic protests, not mothers’ protests, and the reason for this is very simple: the propaganda machine has been turned all the way up and it’s swallowing people whole. All the entertainment programs are gone. Now it’s either news of the war or talk shows about it, where the propagandists are methodically painting a picture for people that squelches any questions they might have: It’s all done by the Nazis, it’s all crisis actors, et cetera. It’s a very simple picture of the world. If you watch TV, you have no chance. Unfortunately, a lot of people watch TV here, even young people. It’s a very simple way to press a button and have everything explained to you.