Free Republic

Ukrainian counterattacks have ousted Russian forces from some positions in the besieged eastern city of Bakhmut, but the situation remains "difficult", a top Ukrainian general said in comments released Monday. During the past few months the battle for Bakhmut has become the fulcrum of a conflict that has seen little shift in front lines since late last year, leaving both sides looking for a breakthrough. "The situation is quite difficult," said Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, the commander of ground forces, in a statement on Telegram. "At the same time, in certain parts of the city, the enemy was counterattacked by...

Moldova's parliament adopted a declaration on Thursday condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine which has contributed to a rise in tensions between Moscow and Chisinau. A narrow majority of 55 lawmakers in the 101-seat assembly voted for the declaration, which stated that Moscow's invasion began with the seizure of the Crimea peninsula in February 2014 and demanded the withdrawal of all Russian troops from Ukraine. The declaration said Russia was waging an illegal, unprovoked and unfounded war of aggression in Ukraine that violated the principles of international law, and echoed calls by Kyiv for an international tribunal to prosecute war...

Russia told the West on Friday that it would view as an attack on itself any actions that threatened Russian peacekeepers in Moldova's breakaway Transdniestria region, one day after Moscow accused Ukraine of planning an invasion. In Kyiv, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy rejected Moscow's assertion that Ukraine wanted to take over the region, while Moldova reiterated there was no truth to the allegations. The warning comes amid increased concerns in Moldova, a small ex-Soviet republic bordering Ukraine, of a possible Russian threat. Its pro-European President Maia Sandu this month accused Moscow of plotting a coup. On Thursday, Russia accused Kyiv of...

Basic services were being restored in Ukraine's capital Kyiv on Saturday after the latest wave of Russian air strikes on critical infrastructure, as residents navigated a city gripped by fog and girded for a holiday season marked by uncertainty. Mayor Vitali Klitschko said a quarter of Kyiv remained without heating but that the metro system was back in service and all residents had been reconnected to water supply by early morning. Only around one-third of the city remained without electricity, he said, but emergency outages would still be implemented to save power. "Because the deficit of electricity is significant," he...