Free Republic

AFP) — Pressure is mounting on Ukrainian forces as fighting for the eastern frontline city of Bakhmut is getting ever more brutal with Russia losing hundreds of troops a day, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Tuesday. As the battle raged, Moscow said it shot down Ukrainian drones targeting civilian sites in Russian territory while another one crashed near the capital. AFP aerial footage released Tuesday showed almost all buildings in Bakhmut in ruins and smoke rising over the city once known for its sparkling wine production and salt mines.

ABOARD THE USS LAKE CHAMPLAIN, May 1, 2006 – There's a "ring of steel" around one of the most important economic targets in the world. A supertanker fills up at the Al Basra Oil Terminal in the Northern Arabian Gulf. Coalition forces are protecting the terminal from attack. Photo by Jim Garamone  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. That's the way Royal Navy Cmdr. Steve Dainton, the captain of HMS St. Albans, described the coalition maritime protection around Iraqi oil terminals in the Northern Arabian Gulf. The terminals generate some $18,000 a second for Iraq as they pump crude...