Free Republic

More than two million Russian and Ukrainian troops have been killed or wounded in the four years that Russia has been waging war against its neighbor, according to a new study, a bleak milestone as Russia’s assault grinds on. The study, published on Wednesday by the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said Russia has borne the heavier toll, with 1.4 million troops killed or wounded since February 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine. Of that total, 450,000 were killed, a number that is four times greater than U.S. fatalities in all wars combined since World War II. Ukrainian...

Vladimir Putin has admitted Russia is facing fuel shortages as Ukraine steps up its long-range drone campaign, with repeated strikes setting oil refineries ablaze and forcing multiple regions to introduce unprecedented petrol rationing. Speaking to Russian state television late on Sunday, the Russian president acknowledged for the first time that Ukrainian attacks on energy infrastructure were affecting domestic fuel supplies. “Of course, they create problems, that’s obvious,” Putin said. “Right now we’re observing a certain shortage, but it’s not critical.” Putin said Moscow would seek to ease the shortages by boosting fuel imports, while redoubling efforts to protect refineries from...

Ukraine is seeking an additional $20 billion in military funding from its allies, Defence ​Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said on Wednesday at a joint ‌press conference with his Dutch counterpart. A Ukrainian defence source told Reuters last week that Ukraine would make the request on Thursday at a meeting ​of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, an alliance of ​more than 50 countries also known as the Ramstein ⁠group that provides financial and military aid for Kyiv. Fedorov ​said that of the nearly $40 billion funding already announced, Ukraine saw $24 ​billion in the supply schedule. He added that Ukraine has been...

The European Union announced it would resume membership talks with Ukraine and Moldova on Monday. “All member states agreed to open the first accession negotiations cluster with Ukraine and Moldova,” EU President Antonio Costa said in a social media post on Friday. The announcement came after the new government in Hungary agreed to drop its longstanding veto against Kyiv. The European Union formally opened entry negotiations with Ukraine back in June 2024, kickstarting a complicated undertaking that usually takes years and involves negotiations on anything from agriculture to the rule of law. Launched as a powerful statement days after Russia’s...