Free Republic

A report published yesterday which documents the routine use of torture in Izium, a small city in eastern Ukraine which was recently recaptured after months of Russian occupation. The Associated Press sent reporters to the city and spoke with residents who identified 10 locations which had been used by Russians to torture both Ukrainian military personnel and civilians.(snip)Russian torture in Izium was arbitrary, widespread and absolutely routine for both civilians and soldiers throughout the city, an Associated Press investigation has found.(snip) Based on accounts of survivors and police, AP journalists located 10 torture sites in the town and gained access...

Surrounded by prisoners dressed in black, a man identified as Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of a shadowy mercenary group, makes this pitch: Come fight in Ukraine and be rewarded with your freedom — if you can make it back alive. "Nobody goes back behind bars," Prigozhin, founder of the Russian private military company Wagner, can be seen telling men in a video from a Russian prison yard, per a translation from The Wall Street Journal's Yaroslav Trofimov. "If you serve six months, you are free. If you arrive in Ukraine and decide it's not for you, we execute you." He...

Ukraine pressed an offensive in the east of the country on Friday, seeking to cut off Russian forces as Kyiv achieved its biggest breakthrough in months of grinding combat. Over the past three days, Ukrainian forces have advanced almost 50 kilometers, or about 31 miles, in the northeastern Kharkiv region, the army general staff said Friday. Images of the Ukrainian flag being raised over local government buildings and residents greeting soldiers with tears of joy have boosted morale across the country after months on the defensive. One video showed Ukrainian soldiers in the city of Balakliya clambering on top of...