Free Republic

The Kremlin is suddenly concerned with saving face ahead of an imminent Ukrainian counteroffensive. After spending the last year reassuring Russians that victory is inevitable in the war against Ukraine, the Kremlin is now frantically working to lower expectations—and rolling out a contingency plan to lessen the impact of a humiliating defeat. A new manual prepared by Russia’s presidential administration and distributed to the Kremlin’s army of propagandists contains some surprising instructions: Do not “underestimate” Ukraine’s impending counter-offensive and do not spread the idea that Kyiv is somehow “not ready” for it. That’s according to the independent news outlet Meduza,...

Russian’s Vladimir Putin sparked the wrath of his own people by drafting hundreds of thousands to join the war against Ukraine, and now it seems some of those men were sent not to fight the so-called “enemy” but to “snuff out” any of the Russian troops who dare to retreat. Ukrainian intelligence on Thursday released an audio recording that appears to capture in disturbing detail the mayhem and internal rifts between Russian troops on the battlefield. In the five-minute clip, described as an intercepted phone conversation between a Russian soldier and his wife, the man says he and the other...

Russia is said to be canceling plans to send new troops to Ukraine as more of its service members are reportedly refusing to fight following humiliating losses on the battlefield. Ukrainian intelligence reported Wednesday that members of the 5th Separate Tank Brigade of the Russian Armed Forces are surrendering their military benefits in order to resign for their refusal to fight. “At the same time, a catastrophic shortage of personnel is seen in the units taking part in the war against Ukraine,” the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said. ... In the latest audio released by Ukraine’s defense...