Free Republic

Even after the Ukraine war ends, Russia will continue to pose a threat to its neighbours unless the world works to “change the Regime” in Moscow, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday morning. Russia’s leadership is mentally “stuck in another era” and rejects the “post World War Two” world order, warned President Zelensky as he called for regime change against Moscow to remove the threat permanently. Addressing an Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) conference remotely by a video link plagued with technical difficulties, when he could be heard the Ukrainian leader decried fresh overnight airstrikes by...

The National Anticorruption Bureau of Ukraine has long been a battleground in Ukrainian politics, where graft is rifeKYIV, Ukraine—Youthful protesters at the biggest demonstration here since Russia’s 2022 invasion were championing a cause that, at first glance, seemed unusual in a country known for its revolutions: the power of a law-enforcement agency.In a country that has spent more than three decades of its independence fighting the dual scourges of Russian aggression and crippling corruption, the establishment of the agency under U.S. pressure in 2015 was seen as a watershed that could boost Ukraine’s economy and accelerate its integration with the...

Ukrainian forces are holding back Russia’s concerted summer push to break through defenses along parts of the front line, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says. “They are not advancing. It’s very tough for our guys out there. And it’s tough everywhere,” Zelenskyy told reporters on Thursday, in comments embargoed till Friday. “It’s also very hard for the Russians — and that’s good for us.” With the war now in its fourth year after Russia’s February 2022 invasion of its neighbor, the effort is draining resources on both sides, although Russia has more resources and people to sustain its fight. Ukraine is...

Activists on Wednesday called for more protests of a new law that they say weakens Ukraine’s anti-corruption watchdogs, following the first major anti-government demonstration in over three years of war. The legislation, which has also drawn rebukes from European Union officials and international rights groups, has put increased pressure on President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and endangered his public support at a critical phase of the war. Also on Wednesday, delegations from Russia and Ukraine met in Istanbul for a third round of talks in as many months. The talks appeared to have lasted less than an hour and yielded no breakthroughs....

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday submitted a new bill that would restore the independence of Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies in an effort to defuse tensions following his approval earlier this week of a controversial law that weakened their autonomy. The previous bill was seen as undermining the agencies’ independence and sparked a public outcry and protests, the first major demonstrations since the war began, as well as sharp criticism from the European Union. Zelenskyy said parliament would review the new bill, which “guarantees real strengthening of Ukraine’s law enforcement system, the independence of anti-corruption bodies, and reliable protection of the legal...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is facing the first major protest across Ukraine since the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war — over Zelensky’s suspicious push to dismantle anti-corruption watchdog agencies. Large crowds of protesters gathered in Kyiv on Thursday, along with the city of Lviv and smaller groups in Dnipro and Odesa, to protest a recently passed bill. On Tuesday, Zelenskyy enacted a contentious piece of legislation, recently approved by parliament, which places the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and its counterpart, the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO), under the direct authority of the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO). The anti-corruption watchdog agencies...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday urged national unity as demonstrators took to the streets of more than a dozen cities nationwide to protest a controversial bill that critics said will neuter two key anti-corruption agencies. Ukrainian media estimated that thousands of people gathered near the presidential office in the capital Kyiv on Wednesday evening, despite a nightly curfew and the ever-present threat of Russian drone and missile strikes. Those gathered were protesting a controversial law approved by parliament and signed by Zelenskyy on Tuesday. The bill will bring the Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and its partner organization, the Specialised Anti-Corruption...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is set to introduce new legislation that will restore the independence of anti-corruption agencies in Ukraine after fierce public opposition and international condemnation over signing a law that targeted Ukraine’s independent anti-corruption institutions. In a sudden turn of events, Zelenskyy posted a video on X in which he said, "Of course, everyone has heard what people are saying these days – on social media, to each other, on the streets. It's not falling on deaf ears. We analyzed all concerns, all aspects of what needs to be changed and what needs to be stepped up. "I...

The ‘defender of democracy’ is now openly challenged by his own citizens. Many were caught by surprise by yesterday’s protests in Kiev, Lvov, Odessa, and other parts of Ukraine – after all, these are the absolute first since the war began three and a half years ago. But here at TGP we have been closely following the escalating tensions inside the war-torn country. Four days ago (19), we reported that Amid Collapsing Morale, Ukrainians ‘Lost Faith’ in Zelensky, With 70% Convinced That Kiev Regime Leaders Are Using the War to Enrich Themselves: REPORT. The following day (20), there was this...

Last week, we warned of a coming anti-democratic backslide. Now, we see it happening. A parliamentary vote, led by President Volodymyr Zelensky’s lawmakers, today took away the independence of Ukraine’s key anti-corruption bodies — the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO). Zelensky signed it into law the same day. Under the new law, the prosecutor general, a notoriously non-independent figure, will now oversee anti-corruption investigations — in a complete overturn of the system that was set up to be independent from other law enforcement bodies. In reality, it means that Zelensky’s office will be able to...

Thousands of people gathered in the streets of Kyiv, Ukraine, on Tuesday night to protest moves by President Volodymyr Zelensky’s government to weaken anticorruption institutions, in the country’s first major antigovernment demonstration in 3½ years of war. The protest outside the president’s office in central Kyiv, including civilians and soldiers, was the most significant fracture so far in the national unity that has helped Ukraine survive a grueling and bloody fight against a Russian invasion. The government did not immediately make a statement on the gathering. “My husband is in the trenches and this is not what they are fighting...

Ukrainians have had enough of Zelensky.During the three and a half years of the war in Ukraine, the western Globalist politicians and the obedient mainstream media have painted Volodymyr Zelensky as the defender of democracy, a historical, mythological figure comparable to WW2’s Winston Churchill.Then, of course, came Donald J. Trump, calling him ‘a moderately successful comedian’, ‘the greatest salesman on earth’, and ‘a dictator, with no elections’.Now, even as Trump promised Kiev air defenses with new Patriot batteries and is threatening Russia’s Vladimir Putin with sanctions, a Spectator article shows Ukraine about to be ‘engulfed in a critical military, political...

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that Kyiv has sent Moscow an offer to hold another round of peace talks next week, and that he wanted to speed up negotiations for a cease-fire. Ukraine and Russia have held two rounds of talks in Istanbul over the past five months. They have agreed to swap prisoners but made no breakthroughs in ending almost three and a half years of conflict that started with Russia’s 2022 invasion. “Everything should be done to achieve a cease-fire,” Zelensky said in his evening address to the nation. “The Russian side should stop hiding from...

Donald Trump this week boosted Ukraine’s air defences with new Patriot batteries, threatened Vladimir Putin with sanctions if he does not agree to a ceasefire, and even reportedly gave tacit approval to more Ukrainian strikes on Moscow. Trump’s newfound support for Ukraine is a welcome lifeline. The question is whether his help will be enough to stop Russia’s relentless attacks before Ukraine is engulfed in a critical military, political and social crisis that threatens to destroy it from within. Putin chose war over peace this spring because his spies and generals told him that Ukraine is on the brink of...

After weeks of speculation, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced a government reshuffle with economist Yulia Svyrydenko as prime minister and Justice Minister Olga Stefanishyna as the next US ambassador. Svyrydenko played a key role in concluding a natural resources agreement giving Washington preferential access to Ukraine's mineral wealth. -snip- Svyrydenko, who was confirmed by Ukraine's parliament on Thursday, is known for finalising a natural resources deal with the United States that nearly derailed ties between the countries. "She was the key and the only person leading these negotiations. She managed to prevent them from unravelling," said Tymofiy Mylovanov, a former...

President Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky may have more in common than meets the eye, the Ukrainian president suggested Wednesday in an exclusive interview with The Post. “First of all, we are the choice of our people … and we definitely share the same values with our people,” Zelensky said of the similarities between himself and Trump during a sit-down in Kyiv. Those shared American-Ukrainian values include a desire to defend freedom, family and the homeland, the 47-year-old explained. “I think that these are absolutely clear things. Our most important values, family things — I think the American people perceive it...

Unbelievably, it's worse than top leaders' use of organized child rape as a rite of passage; they threaten assassination of anyone who doesn't cooperate, no matter how high--"I'll hit you so hard, I'll kill your whole family". A new idea in the Epstein saga: A commentator to the article here "The System Isn't Broken, It's Working Exactly As Intended. Why You Hear About Ritualized Sexual Abuse of Children, But No Big Names Ever Go to Jail" https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/4327792/posts , shines the spotlight on the calculated depravity at its depth: candidates for high office, including the highest, "willingly commit an unspeakable crime...

Pope Leo is meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday, the Vatican said, in the second in-person encounter between the two leaders since Leo was elected May 8 as head of the global Catholic Church. Zelenskyy is in Italy to attend a July 10-11 international aid conference on Ukraine. The Ukrainian president is expected to travel for the meeting to Castel Gandolfo, a small Italian hill town about an hour's drive from Rome, where Leo is taking two weeks of vacation.

US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy have reportedly discussed replacing Ukraine’s current ambassador to Washington, Oksana Markarova, during their most recent phone call on Friday, Bloomberg reported on Monday, citing a source familiar with the matter. According to the report, Zelenskyy has asked Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry to begin consultations with US officials regarding a potential successor. Among the leading candidates to replace Markarova are high-profile Ukrainian officials, including Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanishyna, Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, and Energy Minister German Galushchenko.

@Mylovanov Trump: We had a strong, strategic call with Zelenskyy — we continue our support. The situation is tough. My call with Putin was disappointing. He seems determined to keep the war going. Not good.