Free Republic

NATO fighter planes were scrambled today amid a brutal Russian missile and military drone onslaught on civilian, energy and military sites in Ukraine. Harrowing footage showed residents in Poltava screaming after a strike destroyed ordinary apartment blocks triggering fires amid the debris of smashed buildings. The wave of attacks by Vladimir Putin - which led to power cuts in multiple regions - came soon after Donald Trump announced in the Oval Office that his administration was actively talking to Moscow. “We are having very serious discussions about that war, trying to get it ended,” said the US president. On whether...

Conservative commentator Tucker Carlson has stirred controversy once again by alleging that the Biden administration attempted to assassinate Russian President Vladimir Putin. In a provocative statement made during his Monday podcast, The Tucker Carlson Show, the former Fox News host suggested that the U.S. government had tried to eliminate Putin without offering any supporting evidence. "The Biden administration did, they tried to kill Putin," Carlson boldly claimed. When his guest, journalist Matt Taibbi, expressed surprise, Carlson insisted, "Yes, yes, they did, which is insane." His remarks, made in a casual tone, sparked immediate backlash, given the lack of any concrete...

LONDON (Reuters) - Russian prosecutors are seeking to recover nearly $33 million of funds that they say were allocated for the defence of the western Kursk region, invaded by Ukraine last year, but stolen instead by corrupt officials. Ukrainian troops stormed across the border in a surprise attack on Aug. 6 and seized a chunk of Russian territory, some of which they still hold - a valuable bargaining chip for Kyiv in any peace talks with Moscow. A lawsuit filed by the office of Russia's Prosecutor General orders the head of the Kursk Regional Development Corporation, his deputies and a...

The Russian Federation forces have unstoppable momentum in the Donetsk region, with a string of victories and the noticeable weakening of the Ukrainian defenses.Since they took the important rail and logistics hub of Kurakhovo, the Red Army has been on a roll. Just in January, they took Nadiya, Dachenskoye, Shevchenko (with lithium mine), Kalinovo, Peschanoye, Terny and Neskuchnoye, Ukrainka, Slavyanka, Petropavlovka and Vremevka, Vozdvizhenka, Novoyegorovka, Volkovo, Zapadnoye, Solyonoe, Timofeyevka and Zelenoye – most of these towns and villages in Donetsk, some in northern Kharkov.The list below may seem just a bunch of strange Slavic names, but the Fact is: it’s...

he arrests and firing of several high-profile associates of former Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu by Kremlin authorities have sparked deep anxieties among members of the Russian elite connected to the current head of Moscow's Security Council, according to a new report. Newsweek has reached out to the Russian Defense Ministry for comment via email. WHY IT MATTERS A slew of well-known figures working in the Russian government and the military were arrested and axed from their posts last year. Western analysts have noted that schisms within the Kremlin's upper echelons are increasingly catching international attention as the grinding war...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed that Kyiv's army is now larger than Moscow's during a joint press conference with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Wednesday. He said that Ukraine's military now has 880,000 soldiers, while Russia's forces are comprised of 600,000 troops.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his generals have an artful knack for keeping the Russian military bear off-balance. On Sunday, they renewed their offensive in the Russian Kursk Oblast, once again catching the Russian high command, Kremlin, and many pundits by surprise. Reports of a demoralized Ukrainian army fighting to retain terrain captured during the August Kursk offensive — of which at least 40 percent has been lost — have circulated among western media and Russian milbloggers since November. So too reports that Ukraine’s 155th Mechanized Brigade — trained and equipped by France — was under-resourced in “first person view...

A top Iranian general has accused Russia of lying to Tehran by saying its jets were attacking Syrian rebels while they were instead bombing the open desert. In a rare break from Iran's diplomatic line on Syria, Brig. Gen. Behrouz Esbati partially blamed Moscow for the fall of Bashar Assad's government during a speech at a mosque in Tehran. An audio recording of the speech was published on Tuesday by Abdullah Abdi, a journalist in Geneva who reports on Iran. "We were defeated, and defeated very badly. We took a very big blow, and it's been very difficult," Esbati said...

US president-elect Donald Trump has pushed back his campaign pledge to end the war in Ukraine in “24 hours” to several months, in a shift European partners have interpreted as a sign that his administration will not immediately abandon support for Kyiv. -snip- The incoming administration was also wary of comparisons being made with Joe Biden’s calamitous US withdrawal from Afghanistan, which was something the Trump camp would not like to see repeated in Ukraine, the official added. -snip- Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who met Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort last week, has ruled out that Washington would “abandon”...

Syria’s former media chief and top aide to Bashar al-Assad said that Russian President Vladimir Putin may have “tricked” the ousted Syrian president in his final days as leader. Speaking to Mazeej Studios, a podcast produced by Saudi channel Al Arabiya, Kamel Saqr said that Assad was in Moscow in late November, just over a week before Syrian rebels captured Damascus. According to him, the rebels had already captured much of Aleppo by the time Assad met Putin on Friday 29 November. There, Saqr said Assad asked for Putin’s support in helping Iran transport equipment and support to strengthen his...

Ukraine targeted five of Russia's air defense systems worth an estimated $350 million in a single day, serving a blow to Russian President Vladimir Putin's exhausted military in the nearly three-year-old war. Russia lost two Pantsir-S1 anti-aircraft missile and gun systems and one OSA air defense system, as well as two S-300 air defense systems, according to Ukraine's military and a war reporter. Newsweek has reached out to the Russian government for comment via email. Ukraine has frequently zeroed-in on Russia's advanced air-defense systems, and Monday's reported loss marks a success for Kyiv's military as both sides continue to sustain...

An article featuring statements from Ukrainian soldiers about American Abrams tanks was published on Business Insider. Although the war with Russia has shown that they are not invincible, their capabilities and equipment have been rated much better than Soviet-era and even newer Russian tanks. "It's better than T-72, T-62, and even Russian T-90," said a Ukrainian Abrams tank commander quoted by Business Insider. The Ukrainians pointed out that the Soviet-era T-series tanks are smaller and lighter than Abrams tanks. As a result, they are somewhat harder targets, but on the other hand, they have weaker armour and do not provide...

Vladimir Putin’s embrace of Islam reflects a broader ‘Red-Green Axis’—a dangerous alliance between authoritarian regimes and Islamic movements. Russia’s descent into deeper Islamization under Vladimir Putin’s leadership signals a dangerous convergence of authoritarianism and religious extremism, forming a “Red-Green Axis” that imperils the nation’s cultural integrity and security. This troubling alliance between Putin’s regime and Islamic authorities, exemplified by a decree from Russia’s highest Islamic council allowing religious polygamy, should alarm anyone concerned with the preservation of secular governance and national stability. Polygamy by Stealth: Eroding Russian Law Despite Russia’s legal prohibition of polygamy, Grand Mufti Ildar Alyautdinov’s recent decree...

Moscow has warned Donald Trump against resuming the testing of nuclear weapons when he takes office, saying it would “not rule anything out” in response to US aggression. Sergei Ryabkov, Russia’s deputy foreign minister who oversees arms control, noted that Mr Trump refused to ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty during his first term. Referencing this refusal, Mr Ryabkov said: “American policy in its various aspects is extremely hostile to us today.” “So the options for us to act in the interests of ensuring security and the potential measures and actions we have to do this - and to send politically...

Russia’s aviation chief said Friday that a Ukrainian drone attack was under way in the region of Chechnya at the time an Azerbaijani airliner attempted to land before diverting to Kazakhstan and crashing there earlier this week... Yadrov, the Russian aviation chief, said that as the plane was preparing to land in Grozny in deep fog, Ukrainian drones were targeting Grozny, prompting authorities to close the area for air traffic. Yadrov said that after the captain made two unsuccessful attempts to land in Grozny, he was offered other airports as an alternative but decided to fly to Aktau across the...

Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed unwavering confidence in Russia's triumph in its conflict with Ukraine, asserting that divine support is on Moscow's side. Speaking to reporters on Thursday after attending the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council (SEEC) meeting in St. Petersburg, Putin’s remarks stirred fresh debate amid ongoing speculation about US mediation efforts. When asked whether Russia would secure victory by 2025, Putin said, “I believe in God. And God is with us.”

More evidence is piling up that Russia's military-industrial complex is nearing the brink after nearly three years of fighting in Ukraine. President Vladimir Putin mobilized the economy for Russia's invasion, resulting in massive amounts of state funds for defense contractors along with low unemployment as working-age people build weapons in factories or serve on the front lines. But that also stoked inflation, which has hit 9% and even forced Putin to acknowledge that it's "alarming." Russia's central has hiked its benchmark rate to 21% to rein in prices, but businesses are feeling the strain of all that monetary tightening. In...

A Russian cargo ship that Ukraine claims was sent to Syria to collect weapons has sunk in the Mediterranean Sea, according to officials in Moscow. Two crew members are missing after an engine room explosion sank the Ursa Major between Spain and Algeria, the foreign ministry said. Fourteen other crew were rescued and taken to Spain. Ukraine's military intelligence claimed yesterday that the ship, previously called Sparta III, had been sent to Syria to remove weapons and military equipment after the fall of Bashar al Assad.