Free Republic

@DougAMacgregor HERE IS WHAT THE MEDIA WILL NOT TELL YOU.. Ukrainian forces are on the verge of collapse, they are totally demoralized. They've all been killed, it's OVER.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky declared that he will not participate in any peace negotiations with Vladimir Putin until Russian forces have left the occupied Donbas region and the Crimean Peninsula. Casting doubt on the prospect of bringing the conflict in Ukraine to an end in the foreseeable future, President Zelensky stated that his country will not entertain a diplomatic solution until Ukraine’s 1991 borders are re-established, meaning that Russia would have to retreat from its heavily entrenched positions in the Donbas and Crimea.

KYIV, Ukraine — For Ukraine’s counteroffensive to progress faster, Gen. Valery Zaluzhny, the top officer in Ukraine’s armed forces, says he needs more — of every weapon. And he is telling anyone who will listen, including his American counterpart Gen. Mark A. Milley as recently as Wednesday, that he needs those resources now....So it “pisses me off,” Zaluzhny said, when he hears that Ukraine’s long-awaited counteroffensive in the country’s east and south has started slower than expected......“Without being fully supplied, these plans are not feasible at all,” he added. “But they are being carried out. Yes, maybe not as fast...

On Kremlin state TV they admitted to taking horrendous losses of their junior officers and they have been graduating military cadets early as well as giving field promotions to sergeants in order to make them into officers and make up for their losses.

The Biden administration is actively considering sending cluster munitions to Ukraine to help Kyiv’s counteroffensive punch through Russia’s defenses, two U.S. officials and a person familiar with the debate said. The discussion to send dual-purpose improved conventional munitions has intensified in recent days as Ukraine’s effort to break through Russia’s frontline has stalled. The belief among some senior U.S. officials is that the munitions could be one of many tools that makes Ukraine’s campaign more successful. Late last year, the administration said it had “concerns” about delivering the munitions to Ukraine, mainly for humanitarian reasons and also the U.S. didn’t...

The notorious Wagner mercenary group that grabbed headlines over the weekend did more than carry out an attempted mutiny, it drew a serious psychological blow to Russia’s elite airborne command and control, the U.K. defense ministry assessed Thursday. In its move to advance north of Rostov-on-Don towards Moscow Saturday, Wagner forces shot down a "high value" Russian IL-22M airborne command post aircraft outside the town of Bugaevka, killing its crew and destroying one of the 12 "special mission aircraft." "The loss of this aircraft is likely to have a negative impact on Russian air and land operations. In the short...

Prompting claims it's a body double Russian president lapped up praise from a fervent crowd in Dagestan last night It is the first time since before the pandemic he has attended such an event His uncharacteristic behaviour has fuelled speculation it was a body double Vladimir Putin is consolidating support in Russia following last week's short-lived rebellion by Wagner group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin in a rare meet-and-greet that saw him mobbed by a crowd as he posed for selfies with young girls. Stunning footage from the event - a presidential appearance during a trip to the city of Derbent in...

A top Russian general has 'vanished' amid claims he had advance knowledge of the weekend armed revolt which threatened Vladimir Putin's regime. One theory is that General Sergei 'Armageddon' Surovikin is under interrogation over a plot to oust defence minister Sergei Shoigu amid a hunt to purge the enemies within. Surovikin, 56, is the second-in-command of the Russian armed forces. He has known links to 'coup leader' Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Wagner mercenary army chief. US officials briefed on American intelligence said a top Russian general had advance knowledge of Prigozhin's plans to rebel against Shoigu and chief of the armed...

Vladimir Putin’s handling of a mercenary mutiny shows the Russian president remains firmly in control, Viktor Orbán said in an interview — putting the Hungarian leader, once again, at odds with his Western partners. “When it is managed in 24 hours, it’s a signal of being strong,” Orbán told Axel Springer, POLITICO’s parent company. Referring to the Wagner paramilitary group’s recent rebellion, which put troops and armored vehicles dangerously close to Moscow, the Hungarian prime minister said he did not “see any major importance to that event,” separating him from numerous Western officials who, while remaining cautious, have said the...

Social media users are appreciating the solidarity of the teenagers in Russia as they stand together and sing Shaman's I Am RussianTeenagers singing in Russia (Photo Credit: Twitter/paulholding)In this video, teenagers sing “I am Russian” (“Я Русский”) and enjoy every moment.

The armed uprising against Russia’s military command was called off just as quickly as it first began, but the fate of Yevgeny Prigozhin—the leader of the Wagner mercenary group who led the mutiny and incurred the enmity of Russian President Vladimir Putin—is now uncertain. On Saturday, Prigozhin reportedly agreed to leave Russia for an “early retirement” in Belarus after withdrawing his troops from marching on Moscow in a deal mediated by the neighboring country’s autocratic leader, Aleksandr Lukashenko, a close ally of Putin’s. “Realizing all the responsibility for the fact that Russian blood will be shed from one side, we...

Hacker Kim Dotcom has offered his take on the “Wagner Coup” in Russia, intimating that Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin may have collected billions from the CIA to stage a coup, and then aborted the coup. “This started as a power struggle between Prigozhin and (Russsian Minister of Defence Sergei) Shoigu. In the beginning of the Special military operation Shoigu and his team made mistakes and Prigozhin became of strong critic of Shoigu. Prigozhin then had success in Bakhmut with Wagner Group presenting himself as a better military leader than Shoigu. In my view Shoigu then provoked Prigozhin by limiting ammunition...

During World War II, German soldiers marveled at how skillfully Red Army troops used a shovel.At battles such as Stalingrad, the Soviets proved to be masters of entrenchment and camouflage. German commanders said that a Red Army bridgehead had to be counterattacked and destroyed quickly because once the Soviets were dug in, they would be a nightmare to dig out.Poor military performance in Ukraine has punctured Russian President Vladimir Putin's fantasy of reviving the Soviet empire. Yet Russian engineers seem to have lost none of their skill. They have created a dense system of fortifications that may stymie Ukraine's counteroffensive."Russian...

Commenting on the course of counteroffensive operations in Ukraine, Pentagon believes that the Ukrainian forces have the necessary assets for their actions to be successful.According to the correspondent of European Pravda, Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh expressed this assessment on Tuesday.According to Singh, hostilities in Ukraine are "turning into protracted battles every day, as was the case in Bakhmut.""We know that the battles will be difficult. We know that it will take time. And we are sure that the Ukrainians have what they need. They have the combat power and the ability to succeed in counteroffensive operations," she emphasised.The Pentagon representative...

Russia is funneling "significant" resources into protecting its control of the annexed Crimean peninsula as Ukraine's counteroffensive makes further gains, according to the U.K. government. Russia is putting "significant effort" into building defensive lines in rear areas in southern Ukraine, the British Defense Ministry said on Wednesday. Moscow is focusing on areas on the way to the Crimean peninsula, the U.K. government added. Moscow's military command likely believes Kyiv's fighters are "capable of directly assaulting Crimea," the government department said in a daily intelligence update posted to social media.