Free Republic

Former Navy SEAL Daniel W. Swift was killed in Ukraine on Wednesday, a Navy official told NBC News Friday. Swift had been in active deserter status since March 11, 2019, the Navy Absentee Collection and Information Center said.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Friday morning that the United States will support Ukraine “for as long as it takes” a day after the U.S. announced another multibillion-dollar assistance package for the country. The U.S. announced late Thursday evening that it has approved another military aid package to Ukraine for $2.5 billion dollars, bringing up total U.S. military assistance to Ukraine since the beginning of 2021 to $27.5 billion. The U.S. announcement called it “significant” and “unprecedented.” So far, the U.S. has allocated more than $100 billion in aid since the conflict began in February 2022.

A former American Navy SEAL was killed this week during Russia’s assault on eastern Ukraine while fighting alongside Ukrainian forces, a Navy official tells TIME.Daniel Swift, a Navy Special Warfare Operator First Class who had gone AWOL, died Jan. 18 after suffering injuries with a unit under attack by Russia, the official said.

Coast guards rescued three divers off the northern coast of Poland over the weekend whose dubious explanation of their night-time dive near critical energy infrastructure, along with their mysterious identities, has reportedly sparked a cross-agency investigation. The three men, who told authorities they were Spanish nationals, were rescued near the Polish coastal city of Gdansk on Saturday night after their small motorboat broke down and they couldn't return to shore. Since then, doubts over their intentions have mounted. They were rescued not far from the Naftoport facility at the Port of Gdansk, which receives tanker shipments of oil and other...