Free Republic

A shocking video of a Russian mercenary playing with the skull of a Ukrainian fighter while declaring the objective of killing as many Ukrainian soldiers as needed to "de-Ukrainize Ukraine" was published by Ukrainian journalist and writer Denis Kazansky on Sunday. The fighter, identified as Moscow native Igor Mangushev by Kazansky, gave a speech in what appeared to be a club, holding the skull in the fashion that William Shakespeare's Hamlet held the skull of Yorick. "We're alive, and this guy's already dead," Mangushev reportedly said. "Let him burn in hell. He wasn't lucky. We'll make a goblet out of...

There wasn’t much left of Russian army Sgt. Andrei Akhromov’s body when it arrived in a zinc coffin at his hometown, a four-hour drive south of Moscow, relatives said. The 21-year-old died in April near the Ukrainian city of Chernihiv when his tank was hit by enemy fire. Sgt. Akhromov’s cousin, Sergei Akhromov, said a representative of the regional governor’s office told the family it took the armed forces three weeks to identify what remained of him using DNA analysis. Loved ones didn’t look into the casket before burying him last week, he said. “I only blame America—not Ukraine, not...

The purpose of the visit is to discuss the situation in Jerusalem On Tuesday night, a delegation of Hamas leaders arrived in Moscow to hold “important” talks with Russian officials, according to the pro-Fatah website Ma'an News. Among the delegation were Hamas’ Deputy Chairman Mousa Mohammad Abu Marzook, and two other leaders, Fathi Hammad and Hussam Badran. The purpose of the visit is to discuss the situation in Jerusalem, as clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinian worshippers erupted on the Temple Mount during the holy month of Ramadan, Jerusalem Post reported.

A little-noticed provision in the 2,232-page government spending bill passed last week bans U.S. arms from going to a controversial ultranationalist militia in Ukraine that has openly accepted neo-Nazis into its ranks. House-passed spending bills for the past three years have included a ban on U.S. aid to Ukraine from going to the Azov Battalion, but the provision was stripped out before final passage each year. {mosads}This year, though, the $1.3 trillion omnibus spending bill signed into law last week stipulates that “none of the funds made available by this act may be used to provide arms, training or other...

Russia has stepped up its propaganda war against Sweden by producing bus stop advertisements accusing the peaceful Scandinavian nation of being Nazis. The hybrid warfare strategy comes as Sweden prepares for NATO accession, abandoning decades of neutrality in light of Moscow's military aggression towards Ukraine. The provocation comes hot on the heels of Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov's incendiary comments that 'Hitler had Jewish blood', which drew demands for an apology from Israel. The campaign has seen adverts pop up in Russia depicting various Swedish national heroes as Nazis with the slogan: 'We are against Nazism, they are not.' The...

Pictures have emerged from the streets of Ukraine showing the smouldering wrecks of Russian tanks destroyed amid brutal urban fighting as Putin's invasion of his neighbour continues. Huge convoys of Russian armour have rumbled into several Ukrainian cities, only to be met with fierce resistance as well-armed troops used a mixture of their own and NATO-supplied anti-tank weapons to wreak havoc on the invaders. Some of the most shocking images of the devastation inflicted on Russian armour came from the town of Bucha on the outskirts of Kyiv, where an entire column of tanks and armoured vehicles were obliterated. Taken...