Free Republic

House conservatives have stymied proposed supplemental funding packages for Ukraine since the fall. But their justifications for further delays in delivering military aid to Kyiv got little oxygen during an April 17 defense budget hearing before a key appropriations panel. “With Mr. Putin saying very openly and repeatedly that he wants to restore the old Soviet Union, all of the nation states, in Eastern Europe especially, are looking to us,” House Armed Services Committee Chair Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) said, referring to the Russian leader’s demands seeking no further NATO expansion, no missiles on Russia’s borders, and a return of...

Throughout his 20-plus year rule, Vladimir Putin has consolidated power through graft, intimidation, manipulation of the Russian legal system, and forcefully silencing critics. Putin’s ability to sustain subservience and loyalty to his authority is no small feat, especially in a political culture of ruthless power politics. His reputation as a master tactician abroad has also been carefully cultivated, if not exaggerated.

Temperatures would plunge in a bigger shift than the last Ice Age and crops would fail around the world after nuclear war erupted, a study has shown. The after-effects would be long-lasting with oceans taking hundreds of years to recover, and fishing devastated, the researchers warn. Professor Cheryl Harrison, of Louisiana State University, said: "It doesn't matter who is bombing whom. It can be India and Pakistan or NATO and Russia. Once the smoke is released into the upper atmosphere, it spreads globally and affects everyone." In all the simulated scenarios, nuclear firestorms would release soot and smoke into the...

Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said Wednesday that a breakthrough had been reached in the agreements and a coordination center would be established in Turkey that will oversee the comings and goings of merchant vessels. Officials from Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the U.N. will be involved in the coordinating efforts, the minister said. According to the preliminary plan, Russia would agree to a cease-fire to allow three Ukrainian ports to be opened in the Black Sea to allow for safe passage, first reported by the Wall Street Journal. The merchant ships would be escorted by Ukrainian naval vessels which would...

Russia's Vladimir Putin may yet be humiliated in his scramble to declare a victory in Ukraine by the symbolically important 9 May - even as he prepares to double or even treble his number of forces in the eastern Donbas region. Following his troops' failure to capture Ukrainian capital Kyiv and other parts of the country's north after more than six weeks' of fighting, the Russian president has withdrawn some of his forces. Mr Putin is now beginning to redeploy some of those troops towards the Donbas, parts of which are already controlled by Russian-backed separatist groups. He is said...

KYIV, Ukraine — The suspected Russian missile hit the tall apartment building, engulfing it in flames and smoke. It killed at least four people, including elderly residents, and shattered the lives of a close-knit community. For lawmaker Oleksii Goncharenko, the tragedy was yet another example of potential Russian war crimes. “They are just hitting residential buildings in these areas,” said the Ukrainian parliament member, who arrived at the scene shortly after the explosion two weeks ago. “You can walk around, you will not find any military targets, or any military people. This is just terror.” Yet a few minutes later,...

When we look at damage being inflicted on the Russian people and businesses by the economic sanctions being placed on them by the West, it’s clear that they’re feeling more pain than we are. But as Joe Biden noted, the sanctions are causing food shortages across the globe. He also said the sanctions would influence Russia in the long-term. Is he right? Probably not. Even though Russians are feeling more of an impact than we are, they are also much more prepared to handle it. Both Russia and China have four things going for them that the West does not...

Fears of sanctions related to Putin's war on Ukraine drove the decision to end the project.

COMMENT #1: Thank you for trying to tell the truth about Zelensky. He is not defending his own people. We elected him because he promised the opposite. Why does the West only listen to this traitor?…. This is clearly a war against Russia and it has been the dream of the Neocons. It is hard to imagine why Zelensky is putting his entire country at risk over simply honoring the Minsk Agreement and lettering the Donbas to vote on their separation. Zelensky has been part of the corruption – all Ukrainians thought they were getting rid of no doubt. Zelensky...

ransomnote: The Expose is over the target and taking flak, banned and censored - even Paypal turned against them in an effort to deprive them of funding. Please pray that the Expose receive the funds it needs to keep serving the public.Quoting Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann, Ukrainian Channel 24 TV presenter, Fahruddin Sharafmal, called for his countrymen to destroy the Russian nation by killing their children, and urged Ukrainians to “kill at least one Moskal” – a derogatory term for Russian – each.Eichmann was a senior SS officer who played a key role in setting up the Nazi death...

...Already nearly 15,000 people have been detained in Russia for participating in demonstrations against the war. What future awaits these brave citizens, as well as Ukrainians captured in the occupied territories? Since its occupation of Crimea in 2014, Russia has escalated the punishments for people exercising their right to freedom of speech and assembly. The most recent manifestation of the clampdown on civil rights is the law rushed on to the statute books to punish citizens spreading “fake news” about the military, with custodial sentences of three and a half to fifteen years. Marina Ovsyannikova, who held up an anti-war...