Free Republic

Real time update on equipment losses from both sides based on videos/photos. The invaders lost 11 additional tanks in the past 24 hours for a total of 204. US estimated 1200 total tanks at the onset of war. Running total 3/13 - 204 3/12 - 193 3/11 - 187 3/10 - 164 3/9 - 156 3/8 - 149 3/7 - 140 3/6 - 120 3/5 - 108 As noted on the website: "This list only includes destroyed vehicles and equipment of which photo or videographic evidence is available. Therefore, the amount of equipment destroyed is significantly higher than recorded here."

India is stepping closer to setting up an alternative payments system to maintain its trade with Russia, identifying a potential bank, as a top panel examining the issue recommended prioritising edible oil and fertiliser imports as well as payments owed to India, an official aware of the development has said…. The top interministerial panel has been tasked with scrutinizing the impact of a barrage of economic sanctions imposed by the West on Russia on India’s economy. It is led by economic affairs secretary Ajay Seth and includes the ministries of food and consumer affairs, fertilizers, commerce, external affairs and petroleum....

**SNIP** The lithium car battery issue is twofold. First, there is clear concern around the level of virgin raw material mining needed for their manufacture. This reliance on metals and minerals as the foundation of this technology presents significant environmental and social issues. However, there are now increased efforts to reduce this through the development of new technologies. **SNIP** Most electric vehicles run on lithium-ion batteries. Each cell of a lithium battery generates electricity when its lithium ions move from one side (the anode) through an electrolyte to the other side (the cathode). The lithium in the anode is cheap...

A nuclear war would be disastrous for the earth’s climate, according to a recent piece in the Atlantic that drew harsh criticism for its focus on the harms posed to the environment by a potential nuclear exchange resulting from the current conflict in Ukraine. The Wednesday essay, titled “On Top of Everything Else, Nuclear War Would Be a Climate Problem,” was penned by Atlantic staff writer Robinson Meyer and began by noting climate change is often associated with energy policy.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said on this week’s broadcast of FNC’s “Sunday Morning Futures” that it was “deplorable” that President Joe Biden did not give fighter jets to Ukraine. Graham said, “I’m calling for the crushing of the Russian economy even though our war and fight is not with the Russian people. It is with Putin. The only way this war ends is with Putin going to jail or being taken out by his own people. How do you make that happen? You have to help the Ukrainians.”

Since February 24, when Russia invaded Ukraine, 1.68 million people have crossed the Polish-Ukrainian border into Poland, the Border Guard (SG) tweeted on Sunday morning. The SG wrote on Twitter that, on Saturday, Border Guard officers carried out 79,800 border checks on people entering Poland from Ukraine. The Border Guard also said that the number of arrivals by 7:00 a.m., on Sunday, reached 16,800 people.

Russians face two main problems: cancellations of their flights home by airlines that have stopped flying to Russia, and suspension of financial services, particularly by credit card companies that have joined sanctions against Moscow.

A military drone that apparently flew all the way from the Ukrainian war zone over three European NATO-member states before crashing in an urban zone of the Croatian capital was armed with an explosive device, Croatia’s defense minister said Sunday. The Soviet-made aircraft crossed Romania and Hungary before entering Croatia, slamming into a field near a student dormitory late Thursday. About 40 parked cars were damaged in the large explosion, but no one was injured. “Traces of explosives and clues suggesting that this was not a reconnaissance aircraft were found. We found parts of an air bomb,” Croatian Defense Minister...

The Chinese foreign minister called Moscow the "most important strategic partner" to Beijing as war rages between Russia and Ukraine for the 12th day. "No matter how perilous the international landscape, we will maintain our strategic focus and promote the development of a comprehensive China-Russia partnership in the new era," Wang Yi told reporters Monday at a news conference of the annual meeting of China’s ceremonial parliament.… The friendship between the two peoples is iron clad," he said and noted that Chinese ties to Russia constitute "one of the most crucial bilateral relationships in the world."

Ukraine says it has restored a broken power line to the Chernobyl power plant, the scene of a nuclear meltdown in 1986, which is held by Russian troops. Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko said that “heroes” from the national power grid company managed to restore the connection. The power is used to run pumps which keep spent nuclear fuel cool to prevent radiation leaks. Ukraine said Wednesday that power had been cut to the site and that there was enough diesel fuel to run on-site generators for 48 hours. The International Atomic Energy Agency played down concerns, saying it saw little...

On Saturday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Fox News Live,” Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) stated that only “the last 75 cents” of the increase in gas prices is due to Russia, but the rest is due to OPEC, oil prices will remain high until “we get the Saudis to backfill” Russian oil, and he can’t see himself supporting the Keystone pipeline. Sherman said, [relevant remarks begin around 2:45] “Well, the last 75 cents is because of what Putin has done. Prior to that, it’s what OPEC has done, constrained supply. And the fact is that the United States is...

Israel can play an important role in mediation between Ukraine and Russia, Advisor to Ukraine’s defense minister Markiyan Lubkivskyi said on Friday. “Thank you so much Israel for your support,” Lubkivskyi said. “I think that your country can play a crucial role in this story. And I think that you can be a mediator to stop Putin. This is a message [Kyiv] wants to send to you.” Soon after Lubkivskyi spoke to The Jerusalem Post, Walla News reported that Bennett is pressuring Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to accept Russian President Vladimir Putin’s demands to end the war and that Kyiv...

States among the last to lift the mandate PORTLAND — After spending a majority of the pandemic under statewide indoor face covering requirements, Washington and Oregon will be lifting their mask mandates Saturday — marking a significant step in restoring normalcy. The milestone, which comes two years after the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic, is on trend with the rest of the country as public health orders were dropped in droves. Oregon and Washington are among the last states to lift mask requirements. “We’re turning a page in our fight against the COVID virus,” Washington Gov. Jay Inslee...

Former NBA player Royce White said Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and other members of the "uniparty" have sold Americans out in an interview with Tucker Carlson. White will be challenging the incumbent Congresswoman as a Republican. "We've been misrepresented, we've been misled by the Democrats, by the liberal establishment, by the uniparty that sold us on this fantasy of globalism, which is just another way to attack the American working class," White said on Wednesday. "The telltale sign for me is the Fed," White said. "The Congress is supposed to regulate the Fed. The congress is supposed to balance this...

Whether it’s mimicking venomous creatures, or shooting jets of water at aquarium light switches to turn them off, octopuses are nothing if not resourceful. Now, an analysis of underwater images suggests octopuses are increasingly using discarded bottles, cans, and other human rubbish as shelter or as a sanctuary for their eggs. The study – the first to systematically evaluate and characterise litter use by octopuses using crowdsourced images – analysed hundreds of underwater photos posted on social media platforms and image databases, or collected by marine biologists and diving interest groups. The research, published in Marine Pollution Bulletin, documented 24...

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Defense attorneys filed papers to have Ed Buck’s convictions for providing the drugs that killed two men in his West Hollywood apartment overturned, arguing that the government “kink-shamed” the defendant by pointing the jury toward his sexual fetishes in an effort to obscure the lack of proof supporting the charges, according to documents obtained Friday by City News Service. An attorney for Buck wrote that the two men, Gemmel Moore and Timothy Dean, suffered multiple underlying medical conditions that caused their deaths, not the methamphetamine they ingested. Buck was convicted not on the prosecution’s drug distribution evidence, but on “extremely...

Central Asia Faces Financial Chaos As Russia’s Economy Collapses By Eurasianet - Mar 13, 2022, 10:00 AM CDT Russia’s war in Ukraine has sent its economy into a nosedive. Central Asian economies are highly exposed to Russia. A collapsing Russian economy risks mutating into a deadly pathogen for Central Asia. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the Western sanctions in response have left former Soviet states in Central Asia facing economic chaos. Since Vladimir Putin launched his war on February 24, the ruble has collapsed by 50 percent with no bottom in sight. Russia has enacted currency controls reminiscent of the...

https://youtu.be/e2gC37ILQmk

Russian President Vladimir Putin's “bloated” appearance could be the side effect of him taking steroids for treatment for cancer, spies have claimed. Senior figures from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States believe there is a physiological explanation for his invasion of Ukraine, it is reported. Citing sources close to the Kremlin, they are investigating reports that 69-year-old Putin’s “increasingly erratic behaviour” combined with a bloated appearance point to drug use. They are advancing theories that he may be suffering from cancer and the medical treatment he is receiving has altered the balance of his mind....