Free Republic

Denis Pushilin, the head of the Donetsk region, wrote on Telegram that the city of Donetsk was subjected to heavy strikes on New Year's Eve, while a statement from the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the assault on the city a "terrorist act" and alleged Kyiv's forces had targeted civilian infrastructure. Meanwhile, Ukrainian journalist Andriy Tsaplienko reported in a Telegram post that members of the Russian "elite" based in occupied Donetsk were attending a New Year's dinner with guests from Moscow at the time of the attack... Pro-Ukrainian X user (((Tendar))) wrote that "accurate readings on what the casualties...

A Russian cargo ship that Ukraine claims was sent to Syria to collect weapons has sunk in the Mediterranean Sea, according to officials in Moscow. Two crew members are missing after an engine room explosion sank the Ursa Major between Spain and Algeria, the foreign ministry said. Fourteen other crew were rescued and taken to Spain. Ukraine's military intelligence claimed yesterday that the ship, previously called Sparta III, had been sent to Syria to remove weapons and military equipment after the fall of Bashar al Assad.

Vladimir Putin has been alerted that Russian military personnel and equipment are now "stranded" in Syria following the dramatic downfall of Bashar al-Assad's regime. The dictator escaped Damascus over the weekend and was flown to Moscow at Putin's personal request. However, Anastasia Kashevarova, a Russian blogger known for her criticism of her country's military leadership - but not Putin himself - warned the President about the precarious situation left behind. In a post on Telegram, she detailed: "Bashar al-Assad is in Moscow, and our military is stuck and blocked in Syria, Libya, Africa." She added: "Our bases have been completely...

Just over a year before United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson was murdered this week in Midtown Manhattan, a lawsuit filed against the insurance giant he helmed revealed just how draconian its claims-denying process had become. Last November, the estates of two former UHC patients filed suit in Minnesota alleging that the insurer used an AI algorithm to deny and override claims to elderly patients that had been approved by their doctors. The algorithm in question, known as nH Predict, allegedly had a 90 percent error rate — and according to the families of the two deceased men who filed the...