Free Republic

An entire batch of Russian low Earth orbit satellites, intended to help create Moscow's version of Starlink, has failed to reach or remain at their anticipated altitudes just over a month after launch. The 16 Rassvet-3 satellites, launched on July 19, were originally supposed to orbit the Earth at an altitude of roughly 500 miles, according to the company developing the constellation, Bureau 1440. But publicly available US Space Force data shows that, as of Tuesday, the Rassvet-3 satellites are instead orbiting at altitudes of between 190 miles and 250 miles. Atmospheric drag at that altitude significantly shortens a satellite's...

Germany’s Foreign and Interior Ministers spoke publicly in Berlin on Sep. 1, 2026, to publicly announce new measures the German government will take against Russia in light of “police investigations” and “intelligence findings” which conclude that a “low-level” Russian agent was behind the drone incidents at Leipzig in August. Security services were first alerted to a potential threat when a quadcopter drone was discovered on the airport tarmac next to a parked Antonov An-124 belonging to the Ukrainian state-owned Antonov Airlines. 800 grams of explosives were attached to the drone, which CCTV footage showed impacting the wing of the aircraft...

Moldova's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has criticized Moscow's plan to open additional polling stations for elections to the Russian State Duma in the unrecognized Transnistrian region. According to Ukrinform, NewsMaker stated this in an article. "The opening by Russia of an additional 16 polling stations in the Transnistrian region for elections to the Russian State Duma is unacceptable without the consent of Moldova's constitutional authorities," the diplomats said. The Moldovan Foreign Ministry was responding to a statement by Vadim Krasnoselsky, leader of the unrecognized Transnistrian region, who said that 17 polling stations would be opened in Transnistria for the Russian...

More than 113,000 Russians crossed into Georgia via the Upper Lars checkpoint last week amid growing fears the Kremlin is preparing to announce a new mobilization wave, Politico reported on Aug. 28. The spike in border crossings comes as the Kremlin undertakes increasingly aggressive recruitment measures, expands data collection on military reservists, and broadens the mandate for the National Guard, all of which have fueled speculation of an imminent call-up. Earlier, Ukraine's Presidential Office issued a warning on Aug. 27, saying that Russia plans to mobilize 600,000 recruits over 2026 and 2027, with 300,000 to be called up this year...

U.S. President Donald Trump and leaders from around the world sent messages of support to Ukraine on Aug. 24, the nation's Independence Day. This year's holiday marks Ukraine's fourth Independence Day since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022. "The people of Ukraine have an unbreakable spirit, and your country's courage inspires many," Trump said in a letter of support posted to social media by President Volodymyr Zelensky. "As you mark this important day, know the United States respects your fight, honors your sacrifices, and believes in your future as an independent nation."

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s son, Conor Kennedy, has been named on Russia’s international wanted list for fighting alongside the enemy in the Ukraine war, according to reports. The Basmanny District Court of Moscow authorized the younger Kennedy’s “arrest in absentia,” accusing him of acting as a mercenary for the Ukrainian armed forces, Russian state outlet TASS reported last week. He faces seven to 10 years in prison if captured, according to the outlet.

Andrei Klepach, the chief economist at Russian state development corporation VEB.RF, was reportedly fired on Aug. 16, a day after Russian media widely circulated his warnings that Russia was losing its economic and technological competition with the West. Russian independent media outlet The Bell reported Klepach’s dismissal on Aug. 16, citing two people familiar with the matter. The report came two days after The Moscow Times published excerpts from Klepach’s May remarks, which were subsequently picked up by other Russian media. Speaking at an event organized by the Moscow Exchange’s Nikitsky Club, Klepach reportedly said Russia would be unable to...

Every August, the anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Georgia is accompanied by familiar reflections about missed warning signs, intelligence failures, and a supposedly unexpected turning point in European security. The language has become so standardized that it obscures a far more uncomfortable reality. Georgia did not reveal a new Russia. It exposed a Russia that had been behaving consistently for nearly two decades while much of the West continued searching for evidence that Moscow had fundamentally changed after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Describing the failure to recognize this trajectory as a collection of mistakes understates what actually occurred....

State-owned VEB.RF (Vnesheconombank) has stated that Russia cannot win the economic confrontation with the West as long as Western countries continue to support Ukraine. According to him, the Russian economy is facing rising costs, falling investment, and technological lag, reports The Moscow Times. The bank's chief economist, Andrei Klepach, said during a session of the Nikitsky Club that sanctions and the Western blockade are increasing the costs of the Russian economy, and that Ukrainian strikes on ports, infrastructure, chemical plants, and oil refineries are causing ever-greater damage to Russia. Klepach stated that Russia is losing the technological and economic competition...

Terrifying footage shows a Russian drone hunting a street vendor in Ukraine – as Moscow intensifies its drone and missile attacks against the country. The nerve-wracking video, which has sparked allegations of war crimes from Ukrainian officials, shows a vegetable vendor being chased around his van stand by the low-flying craft before it explodes just as he dives behind his vehicle. The vendor, a man in his 50s, survived the blast but suffered shock and shrapnel injuries, officials said. An explosion occurring between two vehicles, with the Ukrainian National Police emblem visible in the corner.A Russian drone taunted and hunted...

Ukrainian and US Presidents Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Donald Trump discussed the production of Patriot air defense systems during their meeting and also revived the negotiation track, according to an informed source. "The meeting was very positive, no less than 8 out of 10. The highest priority was securing licenses for Patriot production; other areas are also being worked on. We managed to revive the negotiation track," the source said.

Russia’s air defenses shot down 571 Ukrainian drones overnight on July 24 over 15 regions of Russia, occupied Crimea, and the Sea of Azov and Black Sea, the Defense Ministry reported. Ukraine’s attack was one of the largest of the year, according to the Russian state news agency TASS. TASS put the year’s biggest strike at June 26, when the Defense Ministry reported destroying 660 drones overnight. The total number of Ukrainian drones that targeted Russia on June 26 and July 24 remains unknown. The Defense Ministry only reports how many it shoots down. For the fourth time this week,...

In the skies over eastern Ukraine, an aging F-16 fighter jet has reportedly scored a rare victory against one of Russia’s most advanced warplanes, the Su-35. The US has finally confirmed what the Ukrainians claimed earlier this month: a Ukrainian F-16 fighter, donated by NATO, may have downed a Russian Su-35 Flanker-E, the backbone of the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS). “I want to highlight the incredible work that the Ukrainian industrial base is doing. It ranges from their surface-to-air capabilities to their air-to-air capabilities. I’ll note that recently we had the first air-to-air kill where a Ukrainian F-16 shot down...

Ukrainian drones have hit warehouses belonging to Russia's biggest online retailer again, injuring 15 people, according to the company's founder and regional governors. Logistics hubs run by Wildberries in two south-west cities were impacted by overnight attacks and workers evacuated, the founder said. It is the second time Ukraine has attacked the firm's facilities in four days, with warehouses in Tambov and Elektrostal hit over the weekend, killing eight people. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday that Ukraine had hit logistics hubs in the Krasnodar and Stavropol regions "involved in providing the Russian army with drone components, navigation equipment...

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday fired Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi as commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s armed forces and named his replacement, following days of mass protests in Kyiv, the country’s capital, and other cities across the nation demanding his removal.... Zelenskyy appointed Mykhailo Drapatyi as the new army chief, according to a statement on social media.... The Ukrainian leader said he made the decision after a series of meetings with military commanders. They began shortly after protests broke out demanding the reinstatement of former Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, seen by demonstrators as a driver of military modernization, and...

A satellite image has confirmed the destruction of the Russian border patrol ship Izumrud, Ukraine's Navy announced on July 14. The service published the imagery on its official Telegram channel, showing the vessel wrecked alongside a quay wall. "We continue to reduce the potential of the Russian aggressor at sea," the Navy wrote. Ukrainian forces struck the Izumrud with a Sargan-3000 uncrewed maritime system near Novorossiysk. The Navy reported that members of the Russian crew were killed and wounded, without disclosing precise figures. Launched in 2014, the Izumrud was a second-rank border patrol ship operated by Russia's Federal Security Service....

Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces (SBS) carried out a large-scale overnight strike on July 6, hitting 47 Russian military targets, including two fuel tankers transporting gasoline to temporarily occupied Crimea, two S-400 Triumf air defense launchers, an oil depot in Kerch, and a Nebo-U radar system. SBS Commander Robert “Madyar” Brovdi on June 6 described the operation as one of the most significant recent strikes against Russian military infrastructure. According to Brovdi, among the most significant targets were two tankers from Russia's so-called shadow fleet operating in the Sea of Azov. The vessels were transporting fuel from the area of Taganrog...

"As NBC News reports, the account is called "ZnotluvuiSamez," and features the Ukrainian flag as its profile picture. The account made multiple big bets surrounding the Russo-Ukrainian war, including $409,000 on a contract that asks if "Putin out as President of Russia by December 31, 2026?" According to users' overall bets, there's currently a "11 percent chance" that Putin will be out by the end of the year. Of course, a massive bet is far from a guarantee that Putin will no longer be president, whether through an ouster or a decision to step down. For one, Putin isn't up...

The Kremlin is planning an armed incursion on Polish land to test Nato's response, according to Washington. The provocation could see Putin's troops cross over into Poland, and vital infrastructure could be targeted by missiles and drones. Sources close to Polish President Karol Nawrocki told news outlet Onet that the US had been warning Warsaw about the plan for a while. Russia's plan aims to start a crisis to scare Western nations into stopping their support for Ukraine. Polish security experts also warned that Russia and Belarus might send a small number of troops across the Nato border. Power stations...

A Russian military commander has appealed directly to Vladimir Putin to threaten an armed uprising with help from top military brass if the country isn’t told the “truth” about the war. In an Instagram video that quickly racked up millions of views Thursday, Alexander Lunin addressed the Russian president to warn of “very serious consequences” if his demands were ignored. The 39-year-old father of two went on to say he’d been asked to “deliver a message” to Putin by unnamed military officials and members of the security services. They told him to demand a meeting with Putin at the Kremlin...