Free Republic

WASHINGTON — Russia’s strategy to win the war in Ukraine is to outlast the West.But how does Putin plan to do that?U.S. officials said they are convinced that Putin intends to try to end U.S. and European support for Ukraine by using his spy agencies to push propaganda supporting pro-Russian political parties and by stoking conspiracy theories with new technologies.The Russia disinformation aims to increase support for candidates opposing Ukraine aid with the ultimate goal of stopping international military assistance to Ukraine.Russia has been frustrated that the United States and Europe have largely remained united on continued military and economic...

It is increasingly difficult for the Zelensky regime to hide, if not exact numbers, but the truly enormous scale of losses in the ranks of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, suffered not only during the so-called counter-offensive, famous for “meat assaults,” but in general during the period of hostilities on the Ukrainian front. According to the Russian side, the Ukrainian army lost about half a million people killed and wounded during the conflict. Even in the West, including at the official level, there is a figure of at least three hundred thousand military personnel who will never return to the front.

Ukraine says it has destroyed a sophisticated Russian air defence system in occupied Crimea. Kyiv's security service (SBU) and navy carried out the attack on a Russian facility near Yevpatoriya using cruise missiles and drones, a Ukrainian intelligence source told the BBC. Video footage on social media showed a fire and smoke near the city, in the west of the Russian-occupied peninsula. Moscow has yet to directly comment on the claim. (snip) According to the BBC's intelligence source, the Ukrainian operation used drones to take out radar equipment, then cruise missiles to hit air defence missile launchers. "After disabling the...

Ukraine war will end up being the most costly and perhaps corrupt foreign operation ever carried out by the United States If the Ukraine war ended tomorrow, the United States still would need to send hundreds of billions in aid to that country. The bill includes continuation of military assistance, budget support for the Ukrainian government and reconstruction assistance. President Biden has just asked for another US$24 billion to support Ukraine, primarily for military equipment but also budget support ($7.3 billion). While Congress is increasingly skeptical about another huge chunk of money to fund an endless conflict, this is peanuts...