Free Republic

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...

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...