Free Republic

A little over a year ago, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Putin’s former cook and the founder of the notorious Wagner private military company, launched a coup attempt that fizzled quickly. But, significantly, the Russian military and security services did nothing to stop it. They just watched — hardly a sign of their loyalty to Putin. A few days ago, Georgy Zakrevsky, another head of a private military company, effectively called on Russians to get rid of the “Great” Putin (his modifier, not mine). When the guys with the guns start making fun of your greatness, it may be time to read the...

Dramatic video Thursday showed a Ukrainian drone attack on a military airfield in southern Russia as Kyiv launches an expanding wave of strikes deep inside its neighbor's territory. Through the huge plumes of smoke filling the sky above the air base, three small explosions can be seen as a man driving through the flat landscape points his camera at the fire and delivers an expletive-laden rant. “There it is flying by, f---. F---ing flying over again. ... It’s a serious tragedy, folks. This is serious stuff. It’s all f---ing on fire," he says. "That’s really something else. And all the...

A ferry loaded with fuel tanks sank in the Russian port of Kavkaz in southern Krasnodar region on Thursday after a Ukrainian attack, local authorities said. The ferry carrying 30 fuel tanks, as confirmed by Fyodor Babenkov, district head of the town of Temryuk which includes the port, sustained significant damage as a result of the attack, which caused a fire. Seventeen crew members were rescued from the ferry, the Krasnodar region governor said on his Telegram channel. The rescue operation is ongoing, and the whereabouts of two additional crew members was unknown, he said. Ukraine has not immediately commented...

Ukraine has destroyed a key bridge in Russia’s Kursk region and struck a second one nearby, less than two weeks into its stunning cross-border incursion, disrupting Russian supply routes and possibly signaling that its troops are planning to dig in. Russia’s pro-Kremlin military bloggers have acknowledged that the destruction of the first bridge, which spanned the Seim River near the town of Glushkovo, will impede deliveries of supplies to Russian forces repelling Ukraine’s incursion, although Moscow could still use pontoons and smaller bridges in the area. Ukraine’s air force chief, Lt. Mykola Oleshchuk, on Friday released a video of a...

Ukraine said on Monday its biggest cross-border assault of the war had captured 1,000 square kilometres (386 square miles) of Russia's Kursk region and that Russian President Vladimir Putin would have to be forced into making peace. With Russia still struggling to repel the surprise assault a week after it began, Ukraine's top commander Oleksandr Syrskyi briefed President Volodymyr Zelenskiy by video link and said the advance into Russian territory was ongoing. "We continue to conduct an offensive operation in the Kursk region. Currently, we control about 1,000 square kilometres of the territory of the Russian Federation," he said in...

Ukrainian troops have advanced up to 30km inside Russia, in what has become the deepest and most significant incursion since Moscow began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Russia's defence ministry said its forces had engaged Ukrainian troops near the villages of Tolpino and Obshchy Kolodez, as the offensive in the Kursk region entered a sixth day. Foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova accused Kyiv of "intimidating the peaceful population of Russia". (snip) While Ukrainian-backed sabotage groups have launched intermittent cross-border incursions, the Kursk offensive marks the biggest co-ordinated attack on Russian territory by Kyiv's conventional forces. “We are...

Aleksander Lukashenko surprised the residents of Vitebsk on Saturday by paying a visit. The Belarusian leader suggested that another president might soon lead the country. "You should get used to the fact that the president will be different," he said. Aleksander Lukashenko has been ruling Belarus since 1994. The leader, however, is entirely dependent on the Kremlin in his actions. He does everything Vladimir Putin orders him to maintain his power. It's no wonder, since Russian troops are stationed in Belarus, and nuclear weapons have been deployed there. (snip) Aleksander Lukashenko used a mysterious statement during his Saturday visit to...

In recent weeks, reports have emerged from Russia suggesting a dramatic shift in allegiances involving Ramzan Kadyrov's Chechen forces. Military bloggers and analysts are abuzz with claims that Kadyrov’s troops have betrayed Russia and struck a covert agreement with Ukraine, raising serious questions about the loyalty and actions of these units, according to Ziare. According to military bloggers known for their "Z" commentary, Kadyrov's Akhmat unit allegedly backstabbed Russian forces by deliberately avoiding confrontation with Ukrainian troops during an offensive in the Kursk region. A former Wagner mercenary, who goes by the name Alex Parker, has shared on his Telegram...

Ukrainian soldiers have removed a Russian flag from a council building in the Kursk region, as Kyiv continues its attacks on the border region. In a video shared online, two soldiers who appear to be dressed in Ukrainian uniform, break down the flag in Sverdlikovo and throw it on the ground. Another video circulating shows destroyed military vehicles lining the side of the road – inside some are injured or dead soldiers. President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed last night that his military was now pushing the war onto “the aggressor’s territory” and thanked his country’s “warriors”. A senior Ukrainian security official...

HUMILIATING video shows the moment despot Vladimir Putin looked slack-jawed as he's told by military chiefs that Russia has been invaded. The tyrant was ashen-faced in a crunch meeting with top generals where they told him 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers had made their way over the border. Putin lashed out on Wednesday, raging against Ukraine's "large-scale provocation" in the border region of Kursk. Russian military boss General Valery Gerasimov was forced to face the despot in a meeting and admit how a significant portion of territory in the region had been lost. The ageing despot, 71, looked quietly furious as he...

Four days into Ukraine’s surprise invasion of Russia’s Kursk Oblast, just across Ukraine’s northern border with Russia, the number of confirmed Ukrainian brigades in and around the invasion zone has grown to at least five: four army mechanized brigades and one brigade from the independent air assault force. Altogether, these units could oversee as many as 10,000 troops and 600 armored vehicles. Additional artillery, air-defense, drone and reconnaissance units are playing critical supporting roles. To put into perspective the scale of the Ukrainian force in and around Kursk, recall that Kyiv formed a corps with a dozen new brigades to...

Russia’s bloody invasion of Ukraine continues to claim lives, as the Kremlin’s military leadership resorts to increasingly brutal tactics against civilians—including a ghastly attack on a children's hospital in Kyiv and other sites across Ukraine. In their comments on state television, prominent propagandists often reiterate that Moscow’s campaign of senseless brutality is designed to prompt Ukrainians to overthrow their government. Russian talking heads also resort to nuclear threats, which is always a sign that things on the battlefront are not going well. Indeed, Russian propagandists and military experts are tacitly acknowledging sinking morale and widespread lying in their military. Despite...

A network of Russia-based websites masquerading as local American newspapers is pumping out fake stories as part of an AI-powered operation that is increasingly targeting the US election, a BBC investigation can reveal. A former Florida police officer who relocated to Moscow is one of the key figures behind it. It would have been a bombshell report - if it were true. Olena Zelenska, the first lady of Ukraine, allegedly bought a rare Bugatti Tourbillon sports car for 4.5m euros ($4.8m; £3.8m) while visiting Paris for D-Day commemorations in June. The source of the funds was supposedly American military aid...

Into the depleted field of journalism in America, a handful of websites have appeared in recent weeks with names suggesting a focus on news close to home: D.C. Weekly, the New York News Daily, the Chicago Chronicle and a newer sister publication, the Miami Chronicle. In fact, they are not local news organizations at all. They are Russian creations, researchers and government officials say, meant to mimic actual news organizations to push Kremlin propaganda by interspersing it among an at-times odd mix of stories about crime, politics and culture. While Russia has long sought ways to influence public discourse in...

Sweden officially joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Thursday, a historic shift that highlights how Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine is transforming European security in ways he may not have foreseen. At a meeting in Washington, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson deposited the final paperwork with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the last step needed for the former militarily nonaligned nation to become NATO’s 32nd member. Sweden’s neighbor, Finland, joined last year. To justify his aggression in Ukraine, Putin cited the possibility of NATO expansion. Now, in one of the conflict’s many twists, his war has brought a...

Moldova and France will sign a defence cooperation accord on Thursday as part of the West's efforts to strengthen the former Soviet state's capabilities amid what they fear are increasing efforts by Russia to destabilise Moldova. Moldova, a western neighbour of Ukraine, has a tiny defence budget and has long had tense relations with Moscow, which have worsened as Chisinau backs Ukraine in the war against Russia. Russia has troops and peacekeepers based in Transdniestria, a breakaway statelet of Moldova that has maintained its autonomy for three decades with the Kremlin's support. The French presidency said in a statement on...

Ukraine said Tuesday it had sunk a Russian patrol ship off the coast of occupied Crimea, claiming another victory over the Kremlin's forces in the hotly contested waters of the Black Sea. Moscow did not confirm the claim, which would represent the latest blow to its naval power as Kyiv strikes targets deep behind the war's front lines, even as its army suffers setbacks on the battlefield. Ukraine’s military intelligence agency said that it had used high-tech sea drones in an overnight attack on the large patrol ship Sergey Kotov near the Kerch Strait, which separates the annexed peninsula’s eastern...

For one day at least, Russia’s opposition came alive to mourn its lost leader. The funeral of Alexei Navalny on Friday almost did not happen at all. But thousands ultimately turned out — braving the snow, heavy security and weeks of Kremlin efforts to derail the event — so that they could pay their respects to the man who challenged President Vladimir Putin with a vision for a democratic Russia. Bearing flowers, candles and placards, the crowd chanted Navalny’s name as his body was first delivered to a church in southern Moscow for a brief funeral and then to a...

Today, we mark two years since Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine. Starting the biggest war in Europe since World War Two. Let me begin by honouring all those brave Ukrainians who have fallen or been wounded in defence of their homeland. The situation on the battlefield remains extremely serious. President Putin’s aim to dominate Ukraine has not changed. And there are no indications that he is preparing for peace. But we must not lose heart. Ukraine has demonstrated remarkable skill and fierce determination again and again. Ukraine did not collapse in weeks, as many feared it would. You have recaptured...

The Ukrainian Air Force said its fighters on Friday shot down a Russian A-50 military spy plane, the second of the prized aircraft that Kyiv has claimed to destroy this year. The Beriev A-50 is an airborne early warning and control jet used by Russia to help monitor Ukraine's air defenses. The aircraft typically fly with a crew of up to 15 personnel and are estimated to cost over $300 million to produce. According to Russian and Ukrainian reports, an A-50 was brought down over the Sea of Azov late Friday. Kyiv officials took credit for the jet's destruction, although...