Free Republic

Ukraine began evacuating its soldiers on Wednesday from the embattled city of Severodonetsk, the strategic eastern city that Russia has been battling to take over in a bid to control the Donbas region, local officials said. Ukrainian forces retreated after suffering big losses in the city that’s now about 80% controlled by Russian forces, Luhansk regional governor Serhiy Haidai said Wednesday. “This is not a betrayal,” Haidai wrote in a post on Telegram. The governor said the retreat across the river to Severodonetsk’s twin city, Lysychansk, was part of their strategy

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield warned on Sunday that Russia's menacing military buildup on the Ukraine border signals the Kremlin's "intentions to use them."Thomas-Greenfield's comment on Sunday in an interview with ABC's "This Week" anchor George Stephanopoulos came on the eve of an open U.N. Security Council meeting she requested to discuss Russia's aggression toward Ukraine and what to do about it."You don't amass 100,000 troops if you don't have intentions to use them," Thomas-Greenfield said.She said Monday's U.N. Security Council meeting "is one more opportunity to find a diplomatic way out for the Russians." She added...