Free Republic

As the war in Ukraine passed a landmark 100th day this week, front-line fighters and volunteers say they are grappling with a dark and discouraging reality. Despite pledges of tanks, artillery and — this week — U.S. rocket systems capable of hitting enemy Russian targets as far as 500 kilometres away, the Ukrainian front lines continue to be populated by at times dangerously ill-equipped fighters. They are lacking bullets and extra magazines for their rifles, one Canadian fighter said. They charge into battle in running shoes and mismatched uniforms, according to an American turning Ukrainians into combat medics. Fighters with...

Russian oil and gas sales could hit $285 billion this year, outstripping last year's takings by 20%. Europe is a major buyer of Russian energy products, accounting for about 50% of its crude oil exports and 75% of its natural gas exports in 2021. Germany was the biggest buyer of Russian energy in the first two months of the war. Russia's invasion of Ukraine is entering its 100th day on Friday, with no clear end to the war in sight. Despite intensifying sanctions, Russia could still rake in $800 million a day from oil and gas revenues this year amid...

In February 2021, by order of President Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine shut down three domestic television channels, accusing them of spreading Russian “propaganda.” Three months later, Zelenksky arrested Viktor Medvedchuk, who was at the time leading the second-biggest party in Ukraine’s national parliament, the pro-Russia and Eurosceptic Opposition Platform for Life (OPZZh). Zelensky didn’t have trouble incinerating vaunted democratic norms well-before Russia crossed the Rubicon into Ukraine this year. So it was no surprise when he did it again amid the war in late March, invoking emergency powers under martial law to nationalize TV channels and ban 11 opposition parties, including...

@RepGosar Calling us names is not a logical position. I have no principle to follow but the path of peace and non-intervention. My grown children have known nothing except American war and intervention for naught. RE: @marklevinshow 1. For the Putin ass-kissers out there who say why don’t we focus on the baby formula crisis rather than Ukraine, the baby formula problem pre-dates the Russian invasion of Ukraine. And it’s not about federal funding but government incompetence. Damn fools.

Senior Democratic Party politicians are the chief "ideologists" of America's illegal operations in biolabs operating throughout Ukraine, and have involved major multinational biotech companies in their activities, Igor Kirillov, the head of Russia's Radiation, Chemical and Biological Defence Troops, has indicated. Citing an MoD analysis of seized documents, the RCB Troops chief said the profits politicians earn for the US private biotech sector helps to pay for their reelection via campaign donations. According to Kirillov, the US executive branch has also worked to create a "legislative framework to finance military biological research directly from the federal budget," with "funds of...

Russia’s state-run RIA Novosti news agency is reporting for the first time Wednesday that the Russian military occupied southern Ukrainian city of Kherson will soon petition the Kremlin to become part of the Russian Federation. It was in late April that a pro-Moscow “military-civilian administration” was installed after Kherson fell to the invading forces, complete with a local transition to the Russian ruble. While the news hasn’t been officially confirmed by the Kremlin, it’s significant that the report surfaced through RIA and not Ukrainian or opposition sources, suggesting such referendums or even simple declared annexations in captured regions could be...

The House overwhelmingly supported sending $40 billion in aid to Ukraine on Tuesday, 368-57, prompting a harsh reaction from critics given the multiple crises that are going unaddressed at home. Particularly, conservatives took issue with the 149 Republicans who joined every single Democrat in passing the bill while inflation continues to soar, the border crisis is ongoing, and our nation’s most vulnerable population—infants—can’t get the food they need.

Reports are surfacing of military equipment of the United States and other NATO countries on the Russia-Finland border. U.S. and NATO armored vehicles were spotted on the border, along with Finnish tanks and armored personnel vehicles, according to a translation of a Shraibikus News report. There have been reports of military exercises in Finland, but Russian intelligence reportedly suspects the military buildup will remain until Finland joins NATO. The report also indicates Finnish authorities are anticipating Finland joining NATO within a few months. Russian analysts consider the military presence on the Russia-Finland border to be a threat, particularly as NATO...

Russian forces have riddled Ukrainian fields with mines and destroyed equipment in areas they once occupied, in what returning farmers and the Kyiv government allege is a campaign by Moscow to hobble the country’s agricultural industry. Russia’s invasion already has decimated shipments of corn, wheat and sunflower oil from what was until recently one of the world’s biggest food exporters. Prices have soared, adding to global food-price inflation and heaping misery on developing countries that had been dependent on imports from the region. The extent of damage to some farms, together with port disruption and a shortage of fertilizer, demonstrates...

Despite the clear intentions of western government to cripple Russian energy production, loadings of Russian oil have so far been surprisingly resilient, so much so that Russia’s current account balance is at all time highs. According to JPMorgan, shipments in the seven days to April 16 hit 7.3 mbd, only 330 kbd below the 7.58 mbd averaged in February before the start of the war. Remarkably, JPM calculates that Russian crude exports are averaging 360 kbd above pre-invasion volumes, while exports of oil products like fuel oil, naphtha, and VGO have declined by 700 kbd (full report available to pro...

MSNBC contributor Donny Deutsch called Fox News host Tucker Carlson is a “ratings *****” Tuesday on MSNBC’s “Deadline.” Anchor Nicolle Wallace said, “I don’t know if you were there that day, Donny, but I remember Trump saying to Joe, you know, we do bad things too, and Joe said Putin is a killer. I mean, has Trump’s embrace of Putin and Tucker following his lead or leading him now, I don’t know who leads who this the Tucker-Trump relationship, but has that made it harder for any American president now to lead this country in terms of a challenging Russia...

https://www.bitchute.com/video/sE2PCEDfunjm/

Subtitle: Under the new chief of staff, H.R. McMaster and Steve Bannon have gone to the mattresses. General John Kelly may be trying to institute military-style discipline in the West Wing, but that hasn’t put a stop to the civil war happening over President Donald Trump’s National Security Council. If anything, the dawning of the Kelly era may have accelerated that war. The national security adviser, H.R. McMaster, has removed three NSC aides loyal to Trump aide Steve Bannon in the last three weeks. Bannon allies inside and outside the administration have fired back, starting rumors that McMaster is on...

Americans who have bought into this globalist agenda blindly and are trying to replace Americanism with Cultural Marxism and Islamo-fascism Western Europeans have been watching the vitriolic opposition to President Trump with great personal interest, wondering if Americans have lost their minds. Being the inveterate leftists that they are, even in the face of demographic suicide, they were rooting for a like-minded female socialist who vowed to turn the U.S. into the European basket case model of failed multiculturalism and diversity, flooding their countries with more and more Islamists in order to forever change the western culture into a Caliphate....

An Islamist gunman, who has confessed to the killing of 39 people at an Istanbul nightclub on New Year's Day, told a court that he had aimed to kill Christians during his attack, Hurriyet newspaper said on Monday, citing testimony given this weekend. Abdulgadir Masharipov initially planned to attack the area around Taksim Square but switched to the upscale Reina nightclub due to the heightened security measures around the square, Hurriyet said, without saying how it had obtained the document. "I did not take part in any acts before the Reina event. I thought of carrying out an act against...

A new collection of transportation agencies and universities is taking one small step toward transforming the Rust Belt into a place associated with the future instead of the past. Eleven agencies and institutions located in Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania have formed the Smart Belt Coalition, which will spur joint efforts on the testing and deployment of autonomous and connected cars. The collaboration comes on the heels of a legislative overhaul of Michigan regulations last month, which have been relaxed to spur the testing of self-driving technology on the state’s public roads. Ohio and Pennsylvania do not have laws on the...

London (AFP) - Britain's Prince Charles warned against intolerance towards refugees fleeing religious persecution on Thursday, saying the rising tide of populism was reminiscent of the "dark days" of the 1930s. "The suffering doesn't end when they arrive seeking refuge in a foreign land," the heir to the throne told BBC radio. "We are now seeing the rise of many populist groups across the world that are increasingly aggressive towards those who adhere to a minority faith." The 68-year-old, in his third broadcast for the "Thought for the Day" section of popular news programme Today, added: "All of this has...

Speculation that John Bolton is being considered as Deputy Secretary of State is causing some consternation among Republican Senators. Senator Rand Paul has already publicly stated his opposition. And now, according to the New York Times Senate Foreign Relations Chair Bob Corker is also expressing misgivings. Behind the scenes, Condoleezza Rice, Stephen Hadley and Robert Gates (three Bush administration veterans) are reportedly lobbying Senators against his confirmation. Meanwhile, those same three bigwigs are publicly endorsing Trump’s pick for Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.So what’s their issue with John Bolton? He is, of course, a well known hawk. He’s consistently...

For Hillary Clinton, the UN remains a useful instrument to advance her “progressive internationalist” agenda Hillary Clinton is planning to hold “a number of bilateral meetings” during this week’s gathering of world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, where climate change and the rights of migrants and refugees will top the agenda. Hillary loves the United Nations. She said while serving in the Senate, for example, that “a strong United Nations is in America’s interest.” As Secretary of State, she declared that the UN “remains the single most important global institution.” She added, “We are constantly...

Seattle taxpayers are footing the bill in the latest left-wing indoctrination efforts regarding so-called “white privilege.” In this particular circumstance, the focus is actually on “white fragility,” and it is part of a set of “racial equity” workshops that Seattle’s Office of Arts and Culture is hosting in August and September. According to Seattle's city website, white fragility is defined as the “inability for white people to tolerate racial stress.” The scheduled workshops, organizers say, will help to address and correct that inability, as they will provide “the perspectives and skills needed for white people to have more constructive cross-racial...