Free Republic

Russian forces managed to capture around 68 square miles of Ukraine in April. But it cost them 4,800 vehicles and more than 36,600 dead and wounded troops, according to one statistician who collects data mostly from official Ukrainian sources including the general staff in Kyiv. In the same month, Ukrainian losses were “minimal,” concluded analyst Konrad Muzyka of Rochan Consulting in Poland. Ukraine sprawls across 233,000 square miles, 19% of which is under Russian occupation. At the current rates of advance and loss, the Russians would capture the rest of Ukraine in the year 2256 at the cost of 101...

A Russian intelligence-gathering vessel caught fire and temporarily lost control off the Syrian coast on Janaury 23, according to Associated Press (AP). The Kildin, a Russian spy ship equipped with surveillance technology, was seen emitting black smoke and flames as it drifted, prompting an urgent maritime radio warning to nearby vessels. The Associated Press obtained audio of the broadcast, as well as video and photographs of the incident. “Warship on your course,” the Russian Captain said. “I am drifting. I’m not under command.” The videos, taken by three NATO military officials, were collected by a nearby NATO vessel. These officials...

NATO fighter planes were scrambled today amid a brutal Russian missile and military drone onslaught on civilian, energy and military sites in Ukraine. Harrowing footage showed residents in Poltava screaming after a strike destroyed ordinary apartment blocks triggering fires amid the debris of smashed buildings. The wave of attacks by Vladimir Putin - which led to power cuts in multiple regions - came soon after Donald Trump announced in the Oval Office that his administration was actively talking to Moscow. “We are having very serious discussions about that war, trying to get it ended,” said the US president. On whether...

Conservative commentator Tucker Carlson has stirred controversy once again by alleging that the Biden administration attempted to assassinate Russian President Vladimir Putin. In a provocative statement made during his Monday podcast, The Tucker Carlson Show, the former Fox News host suggested that the U.S. government had tried to eliminate Putin without offering any supporting evidence. "The Biden administration did, they tried to kill Putin," Carlson boldly claimed. When his guest, journalist Matt Taibbi, expressed surprise, Carlson insisted, "Yes, yes, they did, which is insane." His remarks, made in a casual tone, sparked immediate backlash, given the lack of any concrete...

LONDON (Reuters) - Russian prosecutors are seeking to recover nearly $33 million of funds that they say were allocated for the defence of the western Kursk region, invaded by Ukraine last year, but stolen instead by corrupt officials. Ukrainian troops stormed across the border in a surprise attack on Aug. 6 and seized a chunk of Russian territory, some of which they still hold - a valuable bargaining chip for Kyiv in any peace talks with Moscow. A lawsuit filed by the office of Russia's Prosecutor General orders the head of the Kursk Regional Development Corporation, his deputies and a...

Satellite imagery shows clear indications that Russia’s increasingly anticipated withdrawal of forces from its Tartus naval base in Syria has finally started. Complete loss of access to the facility, where Russian vehicles and materiel have been massing there for weeks already, would be a major blow to the Kremlin. The Russian military has already been steadily drawing down its posture at Khmeimim Air Base in Syria amid persistent questions about the future of its presence in the country as a whole since the sudden fall of dictator Bashar Al Assad last year. Satellite imagery taken on January 25 that TWZ...

Late on Friday afternoon, people slowly gather at Freedom Square in Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, to protest against the government of Prime Minister Robert Fico. This isn't the first rally of its kind being held in Bratislava. The latest series of protests began on December 23, a day after the prime minister's surprise trip to Russia, and have been held at regular intervals ever since. The protesters here agree on one thing: Slovakia does not belong to Russia. And many feel that Fico's pre-Christmas meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow was an act of treason. Fighting for...

A manhunt is underway for three North Korean soldiers who allegedly ‘murdered’ five Russian servicemen during friendly fire. The wanted men were sent to fight with Russia as part of an estimated 11,000-strong contingent dispatched to bolster Vladimir Putin’s armed forces in the war, according to reports. The three are accused of shooting their Russian comrades – all marines – then going on the run with their army weapons. The report could not be immediately independently verified, but a poster appearing to show the photos of the wanted North Korean men has been spread online. They have been missing for...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed that Kyiv's army is now larger than Moscow's during a joint press conference with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Wednesday. He said that Ukraine's military now has 880,000 soldiers, while Russia's forces are comprised of 600,000 troops.

US president-elect Donald Trump has pushed back his campaign pledge to end the war in Ukraine in “24 hours” to several months, in a shift European partners have interpreted as a sign that his administration will not immediately abandon support for Kyiv. -snip- The incoming administration was also wary of comparisons being made with Joe Biden’s calamitous US withdrawal from Afghanistan, which was something the Trump camp would not like to see repeated in Ukraine, the official added. -snip- Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who met Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort last week, has ruled out that Washington would “abandon”...

A top Iranian general has accused Russia of lying to Tehran by saying its jets were attacking Syrian rebels while they were instead bombing the open desert. In a rare break from Iran's diplomatic line on Syria, Brig. Gen. Behrouz Esbati partially blamed Moscow for the fall of Bashar Assad's government during a speech at a mosque in Tehran. An audio recording of the speech was published on Tuesday by Abdullah Abdi, a journalist in Geneva who reports on Iran. "We were defeated, and defeated very badly. We took a very big blow, and it's been very difficult," Esbati said...

Russian President Vladimir Putin has asked for his initials to be engraved on chains of crosses that will be given to the participants and the commanders of Russian military units in the operation in Ukraine, the Kremlin spokesperson said, Interfax reports. "I believe our friends will be honored to receive these symbols of faith which were consecrated by the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia during the festive liturgy on [Orthodox] Christmas Eve," Dmitry Peskov quoted the Russian leader as saying. At Putin's request and in his presence, Patriarch Kirill held the consecration ceremony of these crosses and icons for...

Ukraine targeted five of Russia's air defense systems worth an estimated $350 million in a single day, serving a blow to Russian President Vladimir Putin's exhausted military in the nearly three-year-old war. Russia lost two Pantsir-S1 anti-aircraft missile and gun systems and one OSA air defense system, as well as two S-300 air defense systems, according to Ukraine's military and a war reporter. Newsweek has reached out to the Russian government for comment via email. Ukraine has frequently zeroed-in on Russia's advanced air-defense systems, and Monday's reported loss marks a success for Kyiv's military as both sides continue to sustain...

An article featuring statements from Ukrainian soldiers about American Abrams tanks was published on Business Insider. Although the war with Russia has shown that they are not invincible, their capabilities and equipment have been rated much better than Soviet-era and even newer Russian tanks. "It's better than T-72, T-62, and even Russian T-90," said a Ukrainian Abrams tank commander quoted by Business Insider. The Ukrainians pointed out that the Soviet-era T-series tanks are smaller and lighter than Abrams tanks. As a result, they are somewhat harder targets, but on the other hand, they have weaker armour and do not provide...

A Russian cargo ship that Ukraine claims was sent to Syria to collect weapons has sunk in the Mediterranean Sea, according to officials in Moscow. Two crew members are missing after an engine room explosion sank the Ursa Major between Spain and Algeria, the foreign ministry said. Fourteen other crew were rescued and taken to Spain. Ukraine's military intelligence claimed yesterday that the ship, previously called Sparta III, had been sent to Syria to remove weapons and military equipment after the fall of Bashar al Assad.

Russia has begun withdrawing ships from its naval base in Tartus, Syria, after a rapid advance by Islamist rebel forces that the Syrian army, led by President Bashar al-Assad, is unable to contain, according to Naval News. On December 2, the tanker "Yelnya," crucial for supporting Russian forces in the Mediterranean, departed Tartus. Other vessels may have left the base along with it. The Russian naval group in Syria consists of five ships and one submarine, including two "Admiral Gorshkov" class frigates, one "Admiral Grigorovich" class frigate, an upgraded "Kilo" class submarine, and two auxiliary vessels. If Russia decides to...

The reverberations from the Oreshnik ballistic missile strike on Dnipro continue to echo two weeks after the event, mainly because President Putin keeps making public statements about what an effective weapon Oreshnik is. These are duly repeated by the media in Russia and abroad. The use of an intermediate range ballistic missile with conventional warheads was a world first. Containing no explosive, the thirty-six submunitions inflict damage by kinetic energy, “like a meteorite falling,” as Putin put it. The shower of artificial meteorites looked impressive, but the evidence suggests that it did little actual damage. The strike was more of...

BRICS countries show little interest in Moscow’s proposal for an alternative financial system. Browsing through the official photos of the annual BRICS summit in the Russian city of Kazan last month yields intriguing surprises. In several of them, Russian President Vladimir Putin holds a mock-up banknote featuring the flags of the five core BRICS countries—Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. Looking at the pictures, one could be forgiven for assuming that the BRICS had just launched a common currency. This is exactly what Moscow would like the world to think as part of its bid to demonstrate that Russia...

The Russian rouble has plunged to its lowest level against the dollar since the immediate aftermath of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in March 2022. The ruble hit 113 against the US dollar on Thursday. On Wednesday, Russia's central bank announced it would stop foreign-currency purchases to try and strengthen the currency and ease pressures on financial markets. The ruble has been sliding since late summer, falling by more than a third since August. Oil prices have fallen in the same period, hitting Russia's earning capacity from its most important commodity. That has piled pressure onto a war economy already...

Ukraine appears to have hit Russia with cluster Atacms missiles for the first time since Joe Biden lifted a ban on long-range weapons.Kyiv hit Khalino airfield near Kursk city overnight, Ukrainian military bloggers said, sharing geolocated photos of the site.The airfield is no longer used by Russian aviation, but they said the facility still contained a command headquarters, ammunition depots and a drone launching area.A video of the strike showed hundreds of small explosions typical of cluster munitions hitting the airport. Atacms come in two forms: as cluster munitions or a unitary warhead that hits a more specific target.It was...