Free Republic

Fighting in Russia's Belgorod region entered a second day on Tuesday, and its governor told residents who fled after a cross-border incursion of armed fighters from Ukraine that it was still not safe to return to their homes. Monday's incursion, apparently involving armoured vehicles, was the biggest raid into Russia since the war began 15 months ago, though details including the number of fighters involved, their affiliation and the extent of any clashes, could not be independently confirmed. Russian authorities evacuated residents from the region's Graivoron district after the raiding forces claimed to have captured the border town of Kozinka...

Ukraine launched an operation into Russia in the morning of May 22 focused on the outskirts of Belgorod, where the Ukrainians initially took three settlements. A Russian border crossing in the Belgorod oblast was reportedly destroyed by artillery shelling from the territory of Ukraine. After that, the incursion of troops supported by armored vehicles from Ukraine into the Belgorod oblast began. This operation had both a political and strategic objective. The political objective was to embarrass the Russians, who were very slow to respond to the incursion and to take attention away from the huge Ukrainian army failure in Bakhmut....

Russian authorities have ordered residents of nine villages in the Belgorod region bordering Ukraine to evacuate their homes after anti-Putin rebel groups began capturing territory on Russian soil. The Kremlin's order comes hours after a pair of explosions rang out in the city of Belgorod overnight amid drone attacks on the FSB security service building and Interior Ministry offices. Regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov confirmed the aerial bombing raid had caused fires at government buildings and urged citizens to take shelter amid the rebel attacks. Ukrainian military intelligence said two armed Russian opposition groups, the Freedom of Russia Legion and the...

Russian authorities have ordered residents of nine villages in the Belgorod region bordering Ukraine to evacuate their homes after anti-Putin rebel groups began capturing territory on Russian soil. The Kremlin's order comes hours after a pair of explosions rang out in the city of Belgorod overnight amid drone attacks on the FSB security service building and Interior Ministry offices.Regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov confirmed the aerial bombing raid had caused fires at government buildings and urged citizens to take shelter amid the rebel attacks....snip...Russian authorities on Tuesday afternoon said its armed forces had beaten back the insurgency.'In the course of the...

Seriously argued theories fingering every party to the Ukraine War for the Nord Stream blast have been made since underwater explosive charges took out the key route for importing natural gas from Russia to Europe last year. Yet according to a new report published by a group of European broadcasters and publications, Germany’s FBI-equivalent the Federal Criminal Police Office (Bundeskriminalamt, BKA) is now looking into leads that implicate Ukraine. In a summary of the claims made by outlets including Germany’s Süddeutsche Zeitung, Sweden’s Expressen, and Denmarks Berlingske published by German broadcaster Tagesschau it is reported a yacht rented from a...

that he was seriously ill. The Belarusian outlet, Pul Pervogo, posted the photo of the 68-year-old on its Telegram channel - which is known for reporting on the president - after his whereabouts were unknown for almost a week. The channel said the president was working at a central air force command base. In the post, he is standing stern-faced as he receives a salute with a bandage tied to his left hand. Mr Lukashenko had not been seen in public since last Tuesday (9 May) at Victory Day events in Moscow, and later in the Belarusian capital, Minsk. The...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy praised Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni for her financial and military support for Ukraine. Germany has announced billions in new military aid to Ukraine. DW has the latest. Meloni promised Italy's full support to Ukraine in its efforts to repel Russia's "brutal and unjust aggression." Speaking alongside Zelenskyy, she said Italy would continue to supply Ukraine with weapons and back his country for as long as necessary. "We are betting on Ukraine's victory," Meloni added. The Italian prime minister also restated her backing of Ukraine's EU bid.

Ukraine used newly acquired American Patriot defense systems to shoot down a Russian hypersonic missile over Kyiv this week, its Air Force said Saturday. It marked the first known time that Ukraine has been able to intercept one of Moscow’s most modern missiles — and the first time Ukraine is known to have used the Patriot defense systems.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Friday avoided commenting on the statement by the head of the private military company Wagner threatening to withdraw from the battlefield in the Ukrainian town of Bakhmut, saying the matter is related to a "special military operation" of Russia. "We have seen it in the media, but I cannot comment on it because it concerns the course of a special military operation," Peskov told reporters at a press briefing in Moscow.

The difficulty of training and massing the necessary troops, as well as a serious shortage of ammunition and military equipment, will probably keep the Kiev regime from attaining the goals for their much-hyped ‘spring offensive’.This harsh assessment, apparently based on human and signals intelligence, was released as part of the ongoing massive leak of US classified documents that has sparked investigations of the Pentagon and DOJ.The Washington Post reports:“Labeled ‘top secret,’ the bleak assessment from early February warns of significant ‘force generation and sustainment shortfalls,’ and the likelihood that such an operation will result in only ‘modest territorial gains.’ It’s...

The difficulty of training and massing the necessary troops, as well as a serious shortage of ammunition and military equipment, will probably keep the Kiev regime from attaining the goals for their much-hyped ‘spring offensive’. This harsh assessment, apparently based on human and signals intelligence, was released as part of the ongoing massive leak of US classified documents that has sparked investigations of the Pentagon and DOJ. The Washington Post reports: “Labeled ‘top secret,’ the bleak assessment from early February warns of significant ‘force generation and sustainment shortfalls,’ and the likelihood that such an operation will result in only ‘modest...

Russian President Vladimir Putin was waiting on a "wink" from former U.S. President Donald Trump to seize parts of Ukraine—years before Russia launched a full-scale invasion—according to a new interview. Written correspondence between former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort and Kremlin aide Konstantin Kilimnik discussed Putin claiming part of Ukraine, saying that a "wink" from the Republican former president was needed to "make this work," former Mueller prosecutor Andrew Weissmann has said. Speaking with PBS' Firing Line and host Margaret Hoover, Weissmann said this was "such a clear indication of what Vladimir Putin was trying to do."

Top secret US documents that have been leaked to the public show that corporate media is blatantly lying about the level of death and overall casualties experienced by Russian military forces in their special operation in Ukraine and that the US government is using artificially low numbers provided by the Ukrainian government to cover up that nation’s true battlefield death tolls. The Ukraine leak represents the largest US intelligence leak since a decade ago, when computer intelligence consultant Edward Snowden proved to the world that the United States government was spying on its own citizens, under the guise of national...

Ukrainian forces have for months been holding at bay a gruelling Russian offensive in battered towns and heavily shelled trenches spanning the eastern front line.But now, with the Kremlin's forces running out of steam after making only incremental gains over the winter onslaught, Ukraine is preparing to hit back."If our senior military staff say we have enough troops, enough shells -- enough everything -- to attack, then we're ready," a Ukrainian serviceman, who identified himself as Mark, told AFP in the Donetsk region this week.Russia was beaten back in embarrassing defeats near the capital Kyiv, Kharkiv and Kherson last year...

Governors of two Russian regions have cited security concerns in scrapping military parades next month, although one theory suggested the cancelation was due to a lack of military equipment caused by the war in Ukraine. Victory Day parades on May 9 are held throughout Russia and parts of the former Soviet Union to commemorate the defeat of the Nazis in World War II, which is widely known as the Great Patriotic War. The most prominent event takes place in Moscow's Red Square in which a march past of troops and military equipment provides a colorful display of Russian military might,...

Russian forces pounded frontline cities in eastern Ukraine with air strikes and artillery attacks, while U.S. officials stepped up efforts to locate the source of a leak of classified U.S. documents, including those on Ukrainian counter-offensive plans. The Russians pressed on with their offensive in the eastern Donetsk region where several cities and towns came under heavy bombardment, Ukraine's general staff said on Tuesday. Ukrainian forces repelled several attacks, it said, as the Russian military kept up its effort to take control of Bakhmut. A top Ukrainian commander accused Moscow of using "scorched earth" tactics.

Yesterday, Russian President Vladimir Putin, for the most part, listened to the recommendations of the attending physicians and rested almost all day. In the evening, Putin held a meeting with representatives of the leadership of the power and military blocs in video communication mode, but if the image of the meeting participants was present on the president's monitor, then on the monitors of the meeting participants themselves, the image of the president was absent, only a voice was heard. This format of communication happens in cases of poor health of the president. During the meeting, the president was informed about...

Russia is ready to introduce electronic military draft papers for the first time in its history in an effort to make it harder for men to avoid being drafted after the lower house of parliament gave its backing to the move. The State Duma, the lower chamber, gave its backing to the necessary legislation in two separate votes. Some lawmakers complained the changes were being rushed through without giving them enough time to scrutinise the changes. -snip- NO SECOND MOBILISATION Peskov dismissed suggestions that the digitalisation plans might spark a further wave of panic and emigration among young male Russians...

Top Secret documents detailing the state of readiness of Ukraine’s forces as well as detailed planning information around equipment inflow, weather, ammunition expenditure, training and much more have been circulating on Telegram and Twitter. The documents titled "Russia / Ukraine | Status of the Conflict as of 1 Mar" appears to be a daily briefing document with a classification higher than top secret, giving clues to the sources of the information within it, and a caveat of "NOFORN," which means No Foreign Dissemination, so for US eyes only. Some of the pages have lesser classifications and are designed for release...

The US Air National Guard is preparing for the largest movement of forces across the Atlantic Ocean in its history. The service will send 100 aircraft to the US to take part in the Air Defender 2023 military exercise. Here's What We Know The upcoming exercise will take place from June 12 to 22. They are designed to demonstrate the US Air National Guard's ability to quickly deploy and use forces across Europe in the event that war in Ukraine spreads to NATO countries. Lieutenant General Michael Loh made the announcement. The United States will send approximately 100 aircraft to...