Free Republic

Moscow has warned Donald Trump against resuming the testing of nuclear weapons when he takes office, saying it would “not rule anything out” in response to US aggression. Sergei Ryabkov, Russia’s deputy foreign minister who oversees arms control, noted that Mr Trump refused to ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty during his first term. Referencing this refusal, Mr Ryabkov said: “American policy in its various aspects is extremely hostile to us today.” “So the options for us to act in the interests of ensuring security and the potential measures and actions we have to do this - and to send politically...

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad flew out of Damascus for an unknown destination on Sunday, as rebels said they had infiltrated the capital with no sign of army deployments. Syrian army units abandoned their positions on the outskirts of Damascus on Saturday night, fleeing the advance of rebel forces. The military said it was “reinforcing” defensive lines around the capital, which appeared to have collapsed. Mohammed al-Rahmoun, the Syrian interior minister, earlier said there was a “very strong security cordon on the outskirts of Damascus and no one can break it”. But the Syrian opposition fighters early on Sunday disproved this,...

Dozens of Syrian government troops have been filmed surrendering to rebels after they were abandoned by their comrades at a town south of Aleppo. The men are filmed being led at gunpoint by rebel fighters who shout at the prisoners and chant, “Allahu Akbar”. The prisoners, who are not wearing military uniforms, run across sand dunes towards a group of buildings with their hands behind their heads. They were captured after being left behind by retreating Assad forces near the town of Khanaser, some 50 miles southeast of Aleppo, which was seized by rebels on Saturday. Since the shock rebel...

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...