Free Republic

Vladimir Putin had been due to meet with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi later this month. However, in a sign of growing Russian isolation on the world stage, an Indian government source said the meeting has now been abruptly cancelled. The move to cancel the annual face-to-face meeting was taken after veiled threats by Vladimir Putin to use nuclear weapons in the Ukraine war, according to Bloomberg News. Indian and Russian leaders have held face-to-face meetings every year for the past 21 years - except for 2020 due to Covid. An Indian official told Bloomberg that a meeting with President...

An oil depot in Russia exploded in a towering inferno this morning after a drone attack thought to have been orchestrated by Ukraine. Three tanks containing thousands of tonnes of diesel fuel caught fire around 6am local time at a site in Bryansk, a Russian region that borders Ukraine to the north. The fire began after a drone dropped explosives into one of the fuel tanks, according to Russian media. Nobody was injured in the attack. Videos taken shortly after the strike showed two fuel tanks spewing smoke and flame with at least one showing signs of blast damage, with...

Russian TV Presenter: “The decision of our MoD has become known that we are withdrawing troops from the right bank of Dnieper, that is, we are leaving Kherson… Now, if you are expecting I will explain my opinion on this, then I won’t tell you anything. But I’ll explain why. If I support this decision [to withdraw] then this turns out to be a public call for violation of the territorial integrity of Russia in our criminal code… This is several years of imprisonment. If I do not support this decision and believe that the MoD [is wrong], these are...

On 9 February 2017, European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet, a member of the Expedition 50 crew, captured a winter landscape image from the International Space Station. It was of the Dnipro River. The photograph showed a great, coursing white snake that reminded Pesquet of a Japanese ‘Hokusai painting’. The white was ice and it explains why Russian forces on the Dnipro right bank now face a ‘difficult situation’, as described by General Sergei Surovikin, the recently appointed operational commander of Russian forces in Ukraine. In winter the Dnipro freezes over, usually after a 20-day spell of sub-zero temperatures. A...

There are always people who say that the Russian army is fighting offensively, why not carry out a large in-depth assault with tanks and quickly encircle and cut off the enemy? The Russian tank forces were supposed to form up an iron barrel array on the front and gradually smash into the Ukrainian lines with fire. The Russian tank forces were supposed to form up an iron barrel array on the front and gradually smash into the Ukrainian lines with fire. Can the Russian General Staff fight a war? Now to talk about the large-scale in-depth assault and encirclement of...

Over the last week, the Russian position north of Kharkiv has collapsed. There are two explanations, and both involve an endgame for Putin’s War.Most commentary on military operations over the last week has focused on what is assumed to be the center of gravity of the Russian campaign in Ukraine, Donbas, and the siege of Mariupol. However, in my opinion, the real activity to watch has been occurring on the Ukraine-Russia border. Kharkiv had been under daily artillery and rocket fire, destroying most of it.When I saw the city center of Kharkiv, destroyed by air bombs, I was shocked. Last...

An ex-KGB agent who defected to the West has said 'paranoid' and 'insane' Putin is likely to be suffering from Parkinson's and early stage dementia, but added that members of his inner circle may be kept in the dark about his physical state. Boris Karpichkov former KBG agent who defected from Russia, told The Sun that Putin was 'insane' and becoming 'obsessed by paranoid ideas'. 'He sees literally everyone, including those inside the Russian security services and even inside his close inner circle, to be "traitors"', he said. Putin may be keeping those closest to him unaware of his health...

DERANGED tyrant Vladimir Putin shed his geeky image with the help of steroids and extensive plastic surgery to become the brute he is today. Pictures from through the years show the 69-year-old Russian President's transformation from skinny and wrinkled to bloated and bulky, which experts have claimed is down to his expensive procedures. As Putin's finger rests on the nuclear button, and his troops bombard Ukraine, the extent of his apparent vanity has been laid bare. Yesterday, former foreign secretary Lord Owen claimed Putin's aggressive Ukrainian invasion was down to his taking steroids, with the medical doctor saying changes in...

A detailed list of the destroyed and captured vehicles and equipment of both sides can be seen below. This list is constantly updated as additional footage becomes available.

Russian tanks with their tops blown off are just the latest sign that Russia's invasion of Ukraine isn't going to plan. Hundreds of Russian tanks are thought to have been destroyed since Moscow launched its offensive, with British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace on Monday estimating it had lost as many as 580. But Moscow's problems go beyond the sheer number of tanks it has lost. Experts say battlefield images show Russian tanks are suffering from a defect that Western militaries have known about for decades and refer to as the "jack-in-the-box effect." Moscow, they say, should have seen the problem...

Moldova’s president, Maia Sandu, is convening a meeting of her security council on Tuesday following a series of incidents in the breakaway Moldovan republic of Transnistria and a warning from Moscow that the Russian-backed region could be drawn into the war in Ukraine. Transnistria, which borders western Ukraine, is controlled by pro-Russia separatists and permanently hosts 1,500 Russian troops as well as a large arms depot. Last week, a senior Russian commander said the goal of Russia’s new offensive was to seize control of southern Ukraine and to gain access to Transnistria, creating worries that the small east European country...

In a conflict that is shaping up to be one of the most intense and rapidly developing of our time, drones have come to play an increasingly important role, and could well end up being one of the pivotal factors in its eventual conclusion. Thus, the delivery of at least 16 additional Bayraktar TB2 UCAVs, on top of the 18 already in Ukraine's pre-war inventory, constitutes perhaps one of the most significant instances of support to Ukraine's plight yet. [1] Now evidence has emerged that Turkey's drone contributions have not remained limited to the TB2, with new combat footage of...

On March 3, 2022, Army Recognition reported that Germany has approved the delivery to Ukraine of 2,700 SA-7 Grail 9K32 Strela-2 portable air defense missile systems (MANPADS) dating back from the armed forces of former East Germany. Citing military sources, the Strela MANPADS (Man-portable air-defense systems) delivered to Ukraine could be the model Srela-2M 9K32, NATO code designation SA-7B Grail-B that come from the former East German army. European countries and the United States continue to support Ukrainian with military equipment and weapons in the fight against Russian troops in Ukraine. The U.S. Department of Defense has confirmed that a...

'Depressed' Vladimir Putin is 'set to hold a nuclear evacuation drill' with the Kremlin's doomsday plane after moving his family to a 'secret underground city' in Siberia, 'insider' account claims Questions have been raised over health and mental state of Russia's president Fears of nuclear conflict increased when he threatened NATO with 'consequences' if it intervened in the war, and put his nuclear forces on standby Now, a source has claimed he has told his close allies to prepare for nuclear drills An element of Russian plans for a nuclear war are a fleet of 'flying Kremlins' The doomsday planes...