Free Republic

Voting in internationally criticised referendums for four Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories to become part of Russia has continued into its third day despite shelling by Ukrainian forces. ...

The Russian front is falling apart. Ukrainian troops are confidently pushing the invaders from the Oskil River, which became possible after the liberation of the Izyum direction. Lyman is expected to be retaken soon. War correspondent Bogdan Miroshnikov announced this on his Telegram blog. "The situation on the Lyman-Oskol front for the Armed Forces of Ukraine is becoming more and more favorable," the journalist said. He clarified that there are already three Ukrainian bridgeheads on the left bank of the Oskil, from where the counteroffensive is coming. One of them is in the area of liberated Kupyansk. Miroshnikov also announces...

Vladimir Putin has fired the general charged with managing the Russian military's faltering logistics operations in Ukraine. Gen Dmitry Bulgakov, a deputy defence minister, was removed from his role on Saturday, the defence ministry said on Telegram. The ministry said the 67-year old was "released" to transfer into a new role. He will be replaced by Col Gen Mikhail Mizintsev, who managed Moscow's brutal siege at the port city of Mariupol. Gen Bulgakov has run the military's logistics operations since 2008 and was responsible for keeping Russian troops supplied after their deployment to Syria in 2015. ...Gen Bulgakov's dismissal comes...

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia has thrust himself more directly into strategic planning for the war in Ukraine in recent weeks, American officials said, including rejecting requests from his commanders on the ground that they be allowed to retreat from the vital southern city of Kherson. A withdrawal from Kherson would allow the Russian military to pull back across the Dnipro River in an orderly way, preserving its equipment and saving the lives of soldiers. But such a retreat would be another humiliating public acknowledgment of Mr. Putin’s failure in the war, and would hand a second major victory...

Vladimir Putin can call up all the troops he wants, but Russia has no way of getting those new troops the training and weapons they need to fight in Ukraine any time soon. With his invasion of Ukraine faltering badly, the Russian President on Wednesday announced the immediate “partial mobilization” of Russian citizens. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Russian television that the country will call up 300,000 reservists. If they end up facing Ukrainian guns on the front lines, they are likely to become the newest casualties in the invasion Putin started more than seven months ago and that...