Free Republic

Ukraine has opened a new front in its battle to drive out the Russian invader - in Russia. But it is oddly coy about admitting that it has sent troops, fired artillery, and flown drones into its neighbor’s territory. The operations of Russian citizens, carrying Ukrainian military ID, wearing Ukrainian uniforms and attacking from Ukraine, remain officially opaque. It is Kyiv’s contribution to what’s become known as “hybrid warfare” in the “grey zone” of contemporary conflict. The two terms provoked books and a tsunami of excited opinion from an army of pundits when Russia first invaded Ukraine in 2014. Back...

Two Russian men who claim to be former Wagner Group commanders have told a human rights activist that they killed children and civilians during their time in Ukraine. The claims were made in video interviews with Gulagu.net, a human rights organization targeting corruption and torture in Russia. In the video interviews posted online, former Russian convicts Azamat Uldarov and Alexey Savichev – who were both pardoned by Russian presidential decrees last year, according to Gulagu.net – describe their actions in Ukraine, during Russia’s invasion. CNN cannot independently verify their claims or identities in the videos but has obtained Russian penal...

My friend and I sometimes argue about media outlets like CNN and MSNBC. Why do they spread misinformation? A. Are they grossly uninformed? B. Do they know the truth but tell falsehoods anyway? C. Do they think we are stupid or naïve? My buddy feels that the media outlets know the truth but lie about it. To me, it is more complicated. The nice-looking journalists who read the teleprompters are genuinely ignorant. On the other hand, the news producers probably know the truth but spread misinformation anyway. Producers are the ones who select the topics, construct the programs, and hire...

New York(CNN) Rupert Murdoch, the chairman of Fox Corporation, acknowledged in a deposition taken by Dominion Voting Systems that some Fox News hosts endorsed false claims that the 2020 election was stolen. Murdoch's remarks were made public in a legal filing as part of Dominion's $1.6 billion lawsuit against Fox News. In his deposition, Murdoch rejected that the right-wing talk network as an entity endorsed former President Donald Trump's election lies. But Murdoch conceded that Sean Hannity, Jeanine Pirro, Maria Bartiromo, and former host Lou Dobbs promoted the falsehood about the presidential contest being stolen. "Some of our commentators were...

While President Biden was in Ukraine on Monday, Russia tested an intercontinental ballistic missile that appears to have failed, according to a report. US officials told CNN on Tuesday that Russia used a deconfliction line to notify the US in advance of the missile test, which reportedly did not pose a risk to the country. According to the officials, the US did not view the test as an anomaly or an escalation. The test was of a nuclear-capable heavy SARMAT missile, dubbed Satan II by NATO, and classified as a “superweapon” by the head of Russia’s aerospace research agency. US...

During his national address, Putin blamed Western governments for the war in Ukraine, accusing them of ‘letting the genie out of the bottle’ and plunging the world into chaos. He said Ukraine and the West started the war and Russia was “using force to stop it”. "Ukraine and Donbas have become a symbol of total lies," Putin said.

Russia carried out a test of an intercontinental ballistic missile that appears to have failed while President Joe Biden was in Ukraine on Monday, according to two US officials familiar with the matter. Russia notified the United States in advance of the launch through deconfliction lines, one official said. Another official said that the test did not pose a risk to the United States and that the US did not view the test as an anomaly or an escalation. The test of the heavy SARMAT missile – nicknamed the Satan II in the West and capable of delivering multiple nuclear...

The war in Ukraine is at a stalemate, but that doesn’t mean it’s not changing. General David Petraeus predicts the war will look different this year with significant offensives likely staged by the two sides. Bergen: Who’s winning the war? Petraeus: It is not Russia. Russia has, after all, lost the Battles of Kyiv, Sumy, Chernihiv, and Kharkiv; failed to take the rest of Ukraine’s southern coast (not even getting through Mykolaiv, much less to the major port at Odesa). It has lost what it had gained in Kharkiv province. And it has had to withdraw its only forces west...

NEW YORK (AP) — Time was, a television reporter assigned to “democracy issues” would have a quiet time on election night sets, occasionally popping up to talk about broken voting machines at a polling place or two. That’s not the case in 2022. Between election deniers and threats to voting rights, news organizations have emphasized the beat. That will continue next Tuesday, with coverage plans for the midterms rounding into shape. CBS News will have its first-ever “Democracy Desk” to look at those issues and how law enforcement is dealing with threats. NBC News’ “Vote Watch Unit” is looking at...

There's something infecting right-wing circles, and it's showing no sign of letting up: a fixation on Hillary Clinton that I'm calling"Hillary Clinton Derangement Syndrome," or "HDS" for short. The symptoms of this persistent ailment include an unhealthy obsession with the former secretary of state -- from spreading lies about her past actions to blaming her for events with which she has no connection -- combined with an insatiable longing to see her run for president again in 2024. A new HDS variant apparently emerged last week when special counsel John Durham, who has been investigating the origins of the FBI's...

Fox's obsession with Hillary Clinton is only growing more fierce. The right-wing talk channel, which has in recent days dishonestly twisted a court filing from special counsel John Durham to accuse Clinton of nefariously spying on Donald Trump, mentioned Clinton's name nearly 200 times Thursday, according to a search of rush TV transcripts. The escalation in the network's already-manic coverage of the former presidential candidate came after she delivered remarks at the New York Democratic convention.

The coronavirus that emerged from Wuhan, China, last year is causing alarm across the world, with fear that this could become the next pandemic. Late last month, the World Health Organization declared the virus, named COVID-19, a "Public Health Emergency of International Concern" and urged an immediate international response. It advised its member states to put in place national preparedness plans and procedures for identifying and responding to any COVID-19 cases that might present. The death toll of more than 2,600 people far exceeds that of the SARS outbreak nearly 17 years ago.

CNN host Don Lemon doesn’t believe his show — or his network — are “liberal.” The CNN star offered up the assessment at an industry event on Thursday. Shortly after the remarks made their way to Twitter, many were quick to express their shock and surprise at the remarks. “Don Lemon says CNN and his show aren’t ‘liberal’ — what do you think?” Ken Fisher tweeted. The responses came in fast. …

A CNN executive fired back after Buck Sexton, a former commentator for the network, criticized CNN’s coverage of Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s DNA test on Wednesday. The feud began with Sexton quote tweeting CNN on Warren, saying, “It’s a good thing CNN wasnt blatantly complicit in the massive, unforced error Warren pulled yesterday. That would’ve been really embarrassing. Oh, wait a minute.”

RUSH: I want to reread to you Kimberley Strassel’s tweets about Lisa Murkowski. Lisa Murkowski… By the way, this is another one that CNN obviously is nervous about because earlier today Lisa Murkowski was a definite “no” on Kavanaugh, and in announcing her definite “no” she said, “He’s just not the right man for the Supreme Court right now.” “…just not the right man…” So Kimberly Strassel says now she’s changing… **SNIP** Another interesting thing. Hang on. Another new development. But hang on here just a second. Here’s a second tweet before it Kimberley Strassel: Lisa Murkowski, Republican, Alaska, today...

So what's the big deal? Brett Kavanaugh was accused of being involved in gang rape but why does he have to act so upset about that? I mean, that accusation was just politics. Who would make such absurd analysis? Well, a good bet would be a CNN anchor, specifically Jim Sciutto because that's what he did on Thursday's Newsroom when analyzing Kavanaugh's understandably angry reaction to being accused of gang rape.

Upon hearing that Judge Brett Kavanaugh had the votes be confirmed, a CNN panel at the 4:00pm EST hour responded as you would expect, with hysterical tirades against the “sexism” and “racism” of America, adding that the Founding Fathers would be upset today, and this confirmation would energize women to vote against Republicans at the midterm elections this November. . . . Begala added that “women are going to be furious!” while Republican men, satisfied with Kavanaugh’s nomination will stay home and “watch football” instead of vote.

Conditions reached DEFCON-1 over at CNN on Thursday afternoon following a tense White House press briefing filled with questions about the administration’s credibility. These frenzied inquiries were sparked by Rudy Giuliani's stunning admission that the President reimbursed Michael Cohen for the Stormy Daniels hush payment.  CNN political director David Chalian and senior political reporter Nia-Malika Henderson went ballistic over Sanders having "lost credibility with the American people” and bolstered the lewd claims about Sanders made by Michelle Wolf at Saturday’s White House Correspondents Dinner.   CNN Goes Nuclear on Sanders After WH Briefing; ‘She Has Lost Credibility’ with the Country This...

RUSH: I want to run two things by you here that seem somewhat contradictory. I want to get your opinion on something, since it’s Open Line Friday. The first story here chronicles the first quarter television ratings tanking for CNN and ESPN. CNN is continuing to lose audience. Now, MSNBC is doing better, and it kind of mitigates my question a bit because MSNBC is radical left, and it is attracting an audience. It’s radical left insane, and it’s attracting an audience. It’s not outperforming Fox or anywhere close to it. Fox is still far and away numero uno. But...

With stunning poise and steely confidence, Cameron Kasky, a junior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, confronted U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., live on CNN on Wednesday evening. “Can you tell me right now that you will not accept a single donation from the (National Rifle Association)?” he demanded. In the arena where the town hall event was held, the crowd of some 7,000 — most of them connected to the school community that was shattered when a gunman killed 17 during a Feb. 14 rampage — stood and cheered for more than 20 seconds. After a bit of back-and-forth,...