Free Republic

Political pundit Tucker Carlson doubled down on his criticism of Israel’s strikes against Iran, rebuking several media figures, including his former colleagues at Fox News, over what he described as their push for President Trump to engage in the region. “Who are the warmongers? They would include anyone who’s calling Donald Trump today to demand air strikes and other direct US military involvement in a war with Iran,” Carlson wrote in a post on the social media platform X. “On that list: Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, Rupert Murdoch, Ike Perlmutter and Miriam Adelson. At some point they will all have...

BEHIND THE LINES: The US administration appears to fail to notice the broader alliance taking shape behind these forces, and the interconnectedness of the current assault on the West. The statement by US President Donald Trump that Iran would be held responsible for continued attacks by the Yemeni Houthi movement on shipping in the Red Sea sharply raises the temperature in the ongoing escalation between US forces and the Yemeni Shi’ite Islamist movement in that area. “Every shot fired by the Houthis will be looked upon, from this point forward, as being a shot fired from the weapons and leadership...

Kyiv has finally turned off Russia’s gas supply to Europe, ending a source of income that helped pay for Moscow’s war against Ukraine. The decades-old deal, which allowed the transit of natural gas produced by Russian energy giant Gazprom through Ukraine, ended at midnight on December 31, shutting down Russia’s last major gas corridor to Europe. Europe’s dependence on Russian energy had already drastically reduced since the invasion in February 2022, so the gesture is mostly symbolic. But it doesn’t make the decision less important or mean there are no consequences for the remaining Gazprom customers in Europe.

BBC is calculating options for Kyiv and admit that the only question is how much territory Ukraine will lose. "In eastern Ukraine, Moscow's war machine is steadily advancing kilometer by kilometer across the vast fields of Donbas. Russia is gaining momentum faster than at any time since February 2022. Ukraine appears to be losing.” - “There is a lot of talk about negotiations, but this is an illusion,” said Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the head of President Zelensky’s office. “No negotiation process can take place because Russia has not been forced to pay a high enough price for this...

Thousands of far-reaching sanctions have been imposed by dozens of countries on Russian banks, businesses and people since Moscow ordered tanks to roll across the border into Ukraine in the winter of 2022. Now, more than 1,000 days later, as President-elect Donald J. Trump prepares to take office, questions about the sanctions’ effectiveness — and future — are expected to come under renewed scrutiny. Mr. Trump has stated, “I want to use sanctions as little as possible.” And he has made clear that there will be a shift in American policy toward Ukraine, having promised to end the war in...

One of the bleakest places on Earth today is the central processing facility for the remains of dead soldiers in the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, the logistical hub of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Designed to process hundreds of corpses at a time, this sprawling mega-morgue has been hopelessly overwhelmed for many months. Footage from the inside, posted by witnesses on social media, shows hundreds of bodies in various stages of decomposition and limbs strewn across the corridor floors. In wooden boxes lining the walls from floor to ceiling, row after row after row, are the lucky ones: those whose bodies...

Donald Trump Jr. claimed Sunday that the United States’ recent aid to Ukraine is a bid by the Biden administration to start “World War 3” before his father, President-elect Donald Trump, takes office in January. Trump Jr., 46, tweeted that the “military-industrial complex” is trying to undermine his dad before he takes office by pushing the war further into chaos. “The Military Industrial Complex seems to want to make sure they get World War 3 going before my father has a chance to create peace and save lives,” he tweeted. “Gotta lock in those $Trillions. Life be damned!!! Imbeciles!”

Ukraine has enough plutonium to construct hundreds of nuclear warheads for rudimentary bombs akin to the first atomic weapons dropped on Japan by the US in 1945, a new report has revealed. A briefing paper prepared for Ukraine's Defence Ministry said Kyiv could develop small dirty bombs within months if Donald Trump pulls US military aid. Despite giving up its nuclear arsenal in 1996, Kyiv is still in control of nine operational reactors and has significant expertise on how to build the weapons. Ukraine does not have the time or resources to run the facilities required to enrich uranium needed...

Ukrainian forces foiled a massive Russian armoured assault in the Donetsk region, inflicting heavy casualties and loss of equipment. The ferocious battle took place near Vyymka in the Bakhmut district on the Siversk sector of the front and involved Ukraine's 10th Mountain Assault Brigade. The Russian assault group comprised over 120 soldiers and 22 armoured vehicles, including tanks. They were spotted by aerial reconnaissance and came under sustained and heavy artillery fire and drone attacks. Video images of the battle show Russian armoured vehicles being targeted and destroyed by kamikaze drones. As Putin's troops abandon their vehicles, a second wave...