Free Republic

Four years after the liberation of Bucha, the town remains a central reference point for understanding the nature of the war in Ukraine and the limits of current diplomatic efforts. The events that followed the withdrawal of Russian forces in March 2022, when hundreds of civilians were found dead across the Kyiv suburb and the wider region, continue to shape how Ukraine defines both security and peace. Bucha has become more than a historical episode. It functions as a political and moral benchmark in discussions about any future settlement. Ukrainian authorities report over 400 civilian deaths in the town itself...

U.S. INTERCEPTED UKRAINE MESSAGES OF PLOT TO ROUTE MONEY TO BIDEN CAMPAIGN “The United States government, the National Security Agency, intercepted conversations of President Zelensky's government in Ukraine in 2022...conspiring with federal workers at the USAID to come up with a plan to take $200 million dollars of USAID money, that is your money folks, taxpayer money, route it through a series of transactions, move it into the United States, and launder it into Joe Biden's 2024 campaign and the Democratic National Committee.” - 2 min video https://x.com/realamvoice/status/2037292005105996157?

Even while faced with a Russian invasion of their nation, some elements in the Ukrainian government were plotting to help the Biden re-election campaign — with U.S. taxpayer money. That was the gist of an explosive article Thursday from the Washington-based website Just the News, citing a declassified intelligence report. And Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard is reportedly on the case. The Just the News report was authored by website founder John Solomon, a veteran, highly respected D.C. journalist, and Just the News chief investigative correspondent Jeff Dunleavy. It claimed that U.S. intelligence intercepts had revealed that personnel in...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made a surprise visit to Saudi Arabia on Thursday amid a wider effort to lend Ukraine’s drone defense expertise to the U.S. and Gulf States. Zelensky had offered his country’s expertise in defense against kamikaze drone attacks, cultivated in its grinding war against Russia, just days after the war began. These promised personnel arrived in the Middle East recently, with Zelensky saying last week that 201 personnel had been deployed, and another 34 were on their way. Drones were at the top of the agenda of Zelensky’s visit. In a post on X, he stated that...

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office reached out to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to request a phone call, an Israeli official tells The Times of Israel. The official does not say what Netanyahu wishes to discuss. According to Ynet, Netanyahu wants to discuss cooperating on countering Iranian drones, which Ukraine has been facing for years.

Russia is providing Iran with intelligence to help it strike American military forces in the Middle East, the Washington Post reported Friday, citing U.S. officials familiar with the matter. One official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, described the information sharing as a “pretty comprehensive effort,” though the full extent of Russia’s assistance remained unclear, the newspaper noted. The targeting information is said to have included the locations of U.S. warships and aircraft. Iran’s own ability to locate American forces has been degraded since the United States and Israel began launching devastating attacks on the country this weekend, the officials...

During a Friday appearance before the press on the White House lawn, President Donald Trump warned that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “is gonna have to get moving, otherwise he’s gonna miss a great opportunity” because “Russia wants to make a deal.”Responding to a reporter who questioned whether the president will still “demand” that Zelensky “hold elections before summer,” Trump said, “Well, Zelensky is gonna have to get moving. Russia wants to make a deal, and Zelensky’s gonna have to get moving, otherwise he’s gonna miss a great opportunity. He has to move.”Late on Wednesday, Zelensky told reporters that he has...

Russia launched a mass aerial attack on Ukraine overnight Jan. 24, killing at least one person and injuring others, while causing widespread damage to energy infrastructure. In Kyiv, one person was killed and four others injured during the attack. Explosions were first heard at 1:20 a.m. local time, according to Kyiv Independent journalists on the ground, who reported blasts throughout the night, including the interception of a ballistic missile. The Ukrainian Air Force tallied 396 aerial weapons, including 21 missiles and 375 drones. Hypersonic "Tsirkon" missiles, ballistic Iskander missiles, and Kh-22/Kh-32 cruise missiles were used. The attacks continued Russia’s targeting...

Collecting snow for water at home; sleeping in gloves, coats and hats; heating bricks on gas stoves for warmth; erecting tents indoors - Kyiv residents are doing everything they can to survive the coldest, darkest winter of the war. "When there is no electricity, there is no heating: it means the apartment freezes," said ​Anton Rybikov, father of three-year-old David and two-year-old Matvii, speaking to Reuters in their home, where he and his wife Marina have stocked up on backup batteries and sleeping bags. The 39-year-old military ‌chaplain said one of his sons recently contracted pneumonia after temperatures in the...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Tuesday he was worried US President Donald Trump's push to take Greenland could be diverting attention from Russia's invasion, now approaching its four-year mark. "I'm worried about any loss of focus during a full-scale war," Zelensky told reporters. He added, however, that the dispute surrounding the autonomous Danish island and Ukraine should not be seen as "interchangeable".

KYIV, Jan 16 (Reuters) - A majority of Ukrainians would strongly oppose withdrawing troops from the part of the eastern Donetsk region still controlled by Kyiv in exchange for European and U.S. security guarantees, a poll released on Friday indicated. Ukraine, wary of unmet commitments in the past, is pushing for legally binding security guarantees to prevent any future Russian aggression.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov says 200,000 soldiers are absent without official leave — AWOL — and that 2 million are "wanted" for avoiding military service. "I don't want to be a populist — I want to be a realist," Fedorov said. "The Ministry of Defense is coming into my hands with a [$6.9 billion] shortfall, 2 million Ukrainians who are wanted and 200,000 who are AWOL," Fedorov said Wednesday in an address to Parliament. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appointed Fedorov, 34, at the start of the year. The former head of Ukraine's digital transformation policies is credited with spearheading the...

For those who understand the basics of attrition warfare, the outcome of the fight in Ukraine was obvious a long time ago. Russia's superior logistical position along with its grinding offensive tactics have worn down Ukraine's defenses and left the country with a desperate manpower shortage. The recent capture of the vital hub of Pokrovsk has now opened the door to an accelerating Russian advance. The Russian offensive is gaining significant ground from Pokrovsk to the north, all the way to Kupiansk. The strategic city of Siversk is now largely under control of Russia according to geo-location mapping. Myrnohrad, also...

Military analyst Denys Popovych said on Radio NV that Russian troops are currently encircled near Kupyansk and explained how Ukrainian forces carried out a successful operation there on Dec. 13. There are now encircled Russian army units in the city that are clearly in the final stage of their presence there. Cleanup operations are ongoing, and it is impossible to predict when they will end. Why do the Russians make such statements about capturing Kupyansk? They are taking territory on credit. They need it to demonstrate that they are advancing and achieving success. They lost Kupyansk during our Kharkiv counteroffensive,...

President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday shared a video of himself rallying troops at Kupyansk, a city Russia claimed to have taken control of. In the video, the city limit sign for Kupyansk is visible in the background, with intermittent explosions audible. The Kremlin claimed to have captured the city in late November and invited journalists to visit it alongside Russian troops. Zelensky rallied troops and said battlefield gains could influence ongoing peace talks.

Zelenskyy Compromises – He Is Ready to Hold Elections... But Under Certain Conditions🤝 MS2025.12.10

It has been a rough week for everyone in Kiev.Electricity is available only intermittently. Most nights there is a drone or missile strike. And the weather is gloomy and overcast.For president Volodymyr Zelensky, it has been particularly unpleasant. In the past seven days he has lost his chief of staff, the Russians claimed to have taken the strategic city of Pokrovsk, and the Americans have stepped up demands that he make humiliating territorial concessions to buy peace.On Tuesday morning, opposition MPs in Ukraine’s parliament mobbed the speaker’s chair to block Zelensky’s proposed budget and demand the government resign.The reality is...

Putin gambled on Western hesitation, and now a war born of miscalculation grinds on because neither Moscow nor NATO is willing—or able—to force a decisive end. Why did the war in Ukraine start in 2021?As in 2008 and 2012, but unlike 2017 to 2021, Vladimir Putin sensed an American president would not or could not deter him, so he invaded a former Soviet republic. Under past presidents, Putin saw no downside to grabbing Ossetia, the Donbas, and Crimea. Putin was also led to believe the West or Joe Biden would not challenge him following the recent humiliating U.S. withdrawal from...

President Trump issued a chilling warning to Vladimir Putin Monday after the Russian tyrant boasted about testing his country’s new “invincible” nuclear missile. “They know we have a nuclear submarine, the greatest in the world, right off their shore,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Monday as he prepared to travel to Japan. He was speaking after Putin on Sunday hailed an 8,700-mile, 15-hour test flight for Russia’s “unique” nuclear-powered missile, dubbed a “flying Chernobyl,” which the country says could strike targets in the US. The Burevestnik missile is a “unique product, unlike anything else in the world,”...

President Trump no longer plans to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin for a second in-person summit “in the immediate future” after Russia rejected his demand to stop the war in Ukraine along the current battle lines. The White House announcement followed a Monday call between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, which a source familiar with the conversation said demonstrated the Kremlin’s unwillingness to commit to Trump’s strategy for peace. -snip- Trump exhorted both sides to lay down their arms following the third White House meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky since Trump returned to...