Free Republic

VLADIMIR Putin's brutal war machine was dealt another blow today as Moscow confirmed the death of another top Russian military chief. Russian authorities have confirmed the death of Colonel Sergei Ilyin, commander of Russia's notorious 155th Marine Brigade. Telegram news channel Astra reported the Colonel's death on Friday, citing a now-deleted post from officials, the Moscow Times has reported. Ilyin had died "during the special military operation" according to a post attributed to the Urmarsky district administration. "Special military operation" is the euphemism used by Kremlin authorities when referring to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It follows speculation that the...

Russian state media has launched a barrage of criticism against U.S. President Donald Trump after he accused Russia's Vladimir Putin of saying "a lot of bulls***" about the war in Ukraine, the exiled news outlet Agentstvo reported Wednesday. -snip- Prominent pro-Kremlin television host Vladimir Solovyov on Tuesday chastised Trump on his flagship talk show for addressing Putin in what he described as a disrespectful tone. “Trump has started to speak rudely,” Solovyov said. “It seems to us that he’s undergoing a ‘Bidenization.’ His belief that he’s the only person able to speak with Putin has made him transform into another...

Russian President Vladimir Putin has appointed a new Minister of Transport, APA’s Moscow correspondent reports. By Putin’s decree, Andrey Nikitin — former Governor of the Novgorod Region and Deputy Minister of Transport — has been appointed as the new Minister of Transport. Note that Roman Starovoyt, former Governor of the Kursk Region, who was appointed to this position in May of last year, was dismissed by Putin yesterday. Just a few hours after his dismissal, his body was found with a gunshot wound in the Odintsovo district, where he resided. It is reported that Starovoyt committed suicide.

Mr. President, we know you understand that the primary obstacle to peace in Ukraine is Russia’s aggression. You said you were “disappointed” in the conversation with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, and that you “don’t think he’s looking to stop.” Putin again insisted he was unwilling to commit to a ceasefire until the “root causes” of the conflict were addressed. For Vlad, the “root cause” is the existence of Ukraine. He followed your call with the largest drone and missile strike of the war, killing at least one. So why, Mr. President, is your administration punishing Ukraine? The Pentagon has halted...

Vladimir Putin has claimed in a phone call with Donald Trump that Russia played a role in the formation of the United States. Speaking a day before America celebrates Independence Day, the Russian leader reportedly congratulated Mr Trump about its national holiday, held on July 4. According to a report by Tass, a state-owned news agency, Yury Ushakov, the Russian presidential aide, said during the call “it was noted from our side that Russia played an important role in the formation of American statehood including during the War of Independence 250 years ago, and then during the Civil War, which...

Major General Mikhail Gudkov, the deputy head of the Russian Navy who also led a brigade fighting against Ukraine, has been killed in Russia's Kursk region, Oleg Kozhemyako, governor of a far eastern Russian region, said on Thursday. Unofficial Russian and Ukrainian military Telegram channels had earlier reported that Gudkov had been killed along with 10 other servicemen in a Ukrainian attack on a command post in Korenevo in the Kursk region, which borders Ukraine. He is one of the most senior Russian military officers to have been killed by Ukraine since Moscow launched its full-scale war against Ukraine in...

Until today, there have been no confirmed reports of Storm Shadows being deployed since November last year. VLADIMIR Putin's officers have been killed in droves in the first British-made Storm Shadow strike in months, reports claim. Bombshell footage showed the damage in Donetsk amid claims of “massive casualties among Russian officers” and the “crippling” of a mad Vlad fighting force. If confirmed, it would be the first use of the British-supplied missiles in months. Red-faced Russian authorities admitted only that a woman had died and three people were wounded, including a teenager. A building collapsed in the combined missile and...

The Kremlin said on Saturday it wanted a definitive response from Ukraine to Russian President Vladimir Putin's offer of a three-day ceasefire next week, criticising the reaction so far as ambiguous and historically wrong. Putin on Monday declared a three-day ceasefire to mark the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Soviet Union and its allies over Nazi Germany in World War Two. The Kremlin said the 72-hour ceasefire would run on May 8, May 9 - when Putin will host international leaders on Moscow's Red Square, including Chinese President Xi Jinping - and May 10. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy...

An unmanned Ukrainian sea drone shot down a Russian SU-30 fighter jet near the port of Novorossiysk - home to the Kremlin's Black Sea Fleet. The downing of the £38 million jet was carried out by Group 13 on May 2, a special unit within Ukraine's military intelligence. The sea drone was reported to be equipped with a R-73 air-to-air missile, which struck the jet in midair. The SU-30 crashed into the sea. Reports suggest that the crew were able to eject from the stricken jet and were later picked up by a civilian cargo ship. In a statement confirming...

Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, said on Saturday that nobody could guarantee that the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv would survive to see May 10 if Ukraine attacked Moscow during World War Two victory celebrations on May 9.

Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, said on Saturday that President Donald Trump's assertion that the U.S. had done more than any other country to win World War Two was "pretentious nonsense". Trump posted on social network Truth Social late on Thursday that "nobody was close to us in terms of strength, bravery, or military brilliance" in both world wars, and that "we did more than any other country, by far, in producing a victorious result in World War II." -snip- "Trump recently announced that the U.S. made the biggest contribution to victory in World War Two and...

Russian military-affiliated sources have acknowledged the loss of a combat jet following a Ukrainian sea drone attack near the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk. The pro-Russian Telegram channel Rybar reported the incident late Friday, writing, “Unfortunately, the enemy attack did not go unanswered. Yesterday evening, a Su-30 naval aviation fighter was hit 50 kilometers west of Novorossiysk by a drone boat carrying an R-73 surface-to-air missile.” While official channels in Moscow have not released a formal statement, additional details were provided by Russian propagandist Ilya Tumanov, who runs the well-known Fighterbomber aviation blog. According to Tumanov, the aircraft crew ejected...