Free Republic

Hungary’s reputation as the troublemaker of Europe will be burnished on Wednesday as its parliament begins debating a contentious issue: whether to give Finland and Sweden the green light to join NATO. Along with Turkey, Hungary has yet to ratify the applications of Finland and Sweden to join the transatlantic defense alliance more than eight months after NATO leaders signed off on their membership bid at a summit in Madrid. Máté Kocsis, head of Orbán’s nationalist Fidesz party caucus in parliament, said last week that a “serious debate” had now emerged over the accession of the two countries. Hungary now...

@RonPaul Defend America: Ron Paul As President Wouldn't Be Fomenting Wars With Major Nuclear Powers 2 Min Clip...

BREAM: "We're about $200 billion [in Ukraine aid] so far. There are questions about where the U.S. commitment ends..." KIRBY: "We're going to support Ukraine for as long as it takes."

If you are still wondering why the United States failed to prevail in Iraq and Afghanistan, especially Afghanistan, all you need to do is watch today’s press conference of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group in Brussels, Belgium. What a veritable clown show! The remarks by Lloyd Austin and General Mark Milley revealed two guys with an iron grip on delusion and a total lack of self-awareness.The audacity of these two failed military leaders to pretend they are qualified to offer advice to Ukraine on how to fight a first world military when their own dismal military records show they failed...

Ukrainian Army continues to grow and have started forming additional brigades within the Ground Forces. * 23rd Mechanized Brigade – a new brigade of Ukrainian Ground Forces, currently at the stage of formation. * 31st Mechanized Brigade – another new mechanized brigade. According to the volunteers on social media, the first battalion is already deployed to the front, while the rest of the brigade is still being formed. * 32nd Mechanized Brigade is a completely new mechanized brigade of Ukrainian Ground Forces, currently at the stage of formation. * 48th Artillery Brigade is a new artillery brigade being formed in...

The former commanding US general in Europe, Ben Hodges, has told DW that the West should provide Kyiv with fighter jets. He said that providing Ukraine with the planes could lead to a victory for Kyiv within the year. The former commanding general of the United States Army in Europe, Ben Hodges, said that Ukraine could achieve a quick victory if the West provided swift help with fighter jets. He predicted that the defeat of Russia could otherwise take three to five years, given the current level of Western support. What the former general said "The sooner we deliver them...

Israel is exploring the possibility of supplying Ukraine with its state-of-the-art Iron Dome anti-missile defense system, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday. "The issue of arms supplies was considered and rejected by the previous Israeli government. I will study this issue and answer this matter in the most adequate manner," Netanyahu said in an interview with the French LCI channel. He, however, said that Israel has to review its options and to take into consideration its interests in the region. Israel's "contribution will probably be in other areas," the Israeli premier added.

A European financial research company has sent me one of their quarterly research letters. It is a 'contrarian review of political and military ramifications' of the war in Ukraine. It analyzes 'winners and losers' of the war.It is contrarian only in the sense that it counters the false views of 'western' mainstream media with reality. The losers of the war are all on the 'western' side with the only two winners being the owners of the U.S. defense industry and Russia.I was sent the courtesy copy because, as the company writes, the discussions at Moon of Alabama were "immensely helpful"...

The dramatic fight for Soledar, part of the Battle of Bakhmut, is over — although Ukraine's leadership is still reluctant to acknowledge the loss.As a result of a localized offensive operation in January, Russian forces managed to gnaw through Ukrainian defenses and, after fierce urban fighting, seize what's left of the industrial town of 10,000.Although fighting in the area continues, The Kyiv Independent sources, as well as international monitors, all fully agree Ukraine doesn’t control the town.It's the first noticeable Russian success since their forces captured Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk after fierce fighting in June and July.

America’s infatuation with Ukraine and Zelensky (the Cocaine Comedian) is starting to wane, but most politicians and the public continue to believe the lie that Ukraine is an innocent country being bludgeoned by a communist Russia ruled by a dictator. Oh yeah. Don’t forget. Russia is suffering massive military and economic losses and just can’t live without U.S. investment and Europe’s technology. It is all nonsense, but if you are living in the United States and try to have a reasoned discussion with the fan boys and girls cheering for Ukraine, you would find more success talking to a brick...

Meet Ryan O’Leary. He currently is in the Bakhmut area of operations fighting under the command of Ukrainian officers. Mr. O’Leary is not happy. He is a 34 year old alumni of Carroll High School in Iowa and a National Guard veteran who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, He reports that his unit is undermanned and lacking in heavy weapons because “they’ve gone missing.” In other words, the weapons are being sold on the black market. O’Leary blames the logistics problems on the corrupt, criminal behavior of his Ukrainian chain of command — from the Major General to his Captain....

KYIV, Ukraine -- There will likely be further strikes into Russian territory, Ukraine's military intelligence head, Kyrylo Budanov, told ABC News in an interview from Kyiv, without specifically saying whether Ukraine would be behind them. Ukraine has not claimed responsibility for the Dec. 26 attack on Russia's Engels Air Force Base, which is located more than 800 miles from the Ukrainian border, but Budanov admitted he was "glad to see it." He added the attacks would come "deeper and deeper" inside of Russia... ...Budanov also said they are expecting U.S. Bradley Armored Fighting vehicles to be sent to Ukraine soon:...

Attacks come just hours after the Kremlin rejected Zelensky's peace proposals . .....Air raid sirens rang out across Ukraine this morning as Russia unleashed around 120 missiles in a savage barrage which targeted the capital Kyiv and several other major cities. 'A massive air raid. More than 100 missiles in several waves,' presidential office adviser Oleksiy Arestovych wrote on Facebook, while another adviser Mykhailo Podolyak claimed more than 120 missiles had been fired at Ukraine. Mayors of the capital Kyiv, Ukraine's second city Kharkiv and the western city of Lviv all reported that Russian missiles had caused a series of...

Russian forces have been attempting to seize Bakhmut in Ukraine’s Donetsk region for at least seven months. But in recent weeks, the battle in and around the city has become one of the fiercest of the nine-month war in Ukraine. Bakhmut, which sits above a vast salt mine and is famed for its Soviet-era winery, has been badly damaged — and in parts totally destroyed — by constant shelling. Russia’s determination to take Bakhmut has puzzled many observers, who question Moscow’s huge commitment of resources to the fight despite the city’s relative lack of strategic significance. The Moscow Times considers...

Update from Ukraine | Finally Leopard 2 tanks delivery to Ukraine | Ruzzia advances to Bakhmut https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXoLg55VUvM&list=RDCMUCpr-NNORb2UQYDD3k-w-OFg&start_radio=1 Follow on Instagram up to date uploads. https://www.instagram.com/denys_pilot/ SUMMARY & MAPS Military maps & comment here: Invasion Day 288 – Summary https://militaryland.net/news/invasion-day-288-summary/

Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked war on Ukraine and the resulting global response will set Russia’s economy back by at least 30 years — close to old Soviet Union times — and lower its standard of living for at least the next five years, according to economists, investors and diplomats. The sweeping Western sanctions are designed to inflict maximum pain on the country’s economy by expelling it from global markets and freezing assets around the world. From the moment they took effect three weeks ago, the sanctions have opened a new chapter in Russia’s economic history.

A large explosion was reported to have taken place during the morning of December 5, 2022, at Engels-2, an air base used by Russia for deploying strategic bombers to perform cruise missile attacks on Ukraine. Around the same time, an explosion happened at Dyagilevo, another strategic bomber base in Ryazan region. Reports published to Russian social media channels claim the explosion at Engels was a drone attack and at least two aircraft were damaged. Telegram channel “Mobilizatsiya. Volgogradskaya Oblast,” which reports local news, posted a short video which appears to have been filmed by a CCTV camera. A large explosion...

The Russian military clearly assesses that Ukrainian forces could cross the Dnipro River and conduct counter-offensive operations in eastern Kherson Oblast, possibly threatening all of the critical ground lines of communications (GLOCs) from Crimea to the mainland. Russian forces have been digging trench lines and concentration areas in eastern Kherson since early October 2022 in obvious preparation for the withdrawal from the west bank of the Dnipro River and Kherson City. Russian troops are preparing either to defend in depth or to conduct operational or strategic delay operations. Russian forces clearly do not expect to be able to prevent Ukrainian...

NATO allies the UK and Belgium are at loggerheads as Belgium's green party coalition is using Brexit rules to block the export of critical nuclear arms technology to the UK. The technology at the centre of the row plays a vital role in the maintenance of the UK's nuclear deterrent, with Belgium insisting the UK needs an 'export licence' to obtain it post-Brexit. However, though both nations are NATO allies, Belgium's deputy prime minister Georges Gilkinet, member of the green coalition-member Ecolo party has blocked the licence due to 'opposition to nuclear weapons and the arms industry,' ...

Tsarizm wrote earlier about the approaching winter in Ukraine and how the government was not prepared to handle the coming humanitarian disaster. BREAKING: SOURCE – US Aid Not Reaching Ukrainian People. 40% Without Power. Government Not Doing Anything For People, No Generators, Tents, Heat, Etc. Kyiv Blackout Tonight. Riots Could Ensue.As we stand today, sources tell Tsarizm the power is only on for 2 hours every 10 hours in the capitol city of Kyiv. There is no heat in much of the city, especially in high rise apartment complexes. The only generators working are in the supermarkets, which lack product....