Free Republic

Russia producing very large numbers of tanks> Again this is made possible by the economic miracle of the failed and boomeranging Western sanctions policies.

On 20 March 2023, Yevgeny Prigozhin officially announced that 70% of the town of Bakhmut (Artiomovsk) was under the control of Wagner’s fighters. At the same time, Russian forces near Avdeyevka have taken control of Krasnogorovka and Petrovskoye (Stepovoye) to the north of the city, and are already attacking the south-western outskirts of the town. In a letter officially addressed to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, Wagner’s leader Yevgeny Prigozhin announced that 70% of Bakhmut (Artiomovsk) is now under the control of the “musicians”. While the city is already in a state of operational encirclement, but not yet complete physical...

Ramzan Kadyrov has repeatedly attacked the running of the war in Ukraine He has summoned UAE doctor because he 'does not trust' the Moscow doctors Chechen warlord Ramzan Kadyrov - a close ally of Vladimir Putin - is reported to be seriously ill with kidney problems amid fears of 'poisoning'. The fanatical pro-war zealot who has advocated using nuclear weapons against Ukraine is rumoured to have summoned a leading doctor from the United Arab Emirates because he 'does not trust' Moscow doctors. The kidney illness accounted for Kadyrov's surprising absence from Putin's state of the nation speech last month, several...

Engineer units of the 24th and 93rd mechanized brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces began February 27 to blow up bridges in Artemovsk (Bakhmut). By destroying railway and road bridges, the Ukrainian army wants to slow the advance of Russian forces deep into the city. First, the enemy blew up the bridge over the Bakhmutka River in the northeastern part of Artemovsk. In addition, the automobile bridge over the canal northwest of the city, which served as a communication route with the surrounding area – Chasovy Yar, Bogdanovka and Kalinovka, no longer works. Another reason for the destruction of the...

In the besieged city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, the volunteers collecting the civilian dead risk becoming casualties themselves. “Where? Where?” demands Daniel Wilk, a Canadian driver, in shaky video footage shot recently inside the city and seen by the Guardian. Wilk proceeds quickly, the anxiety of the situation visible in his movements as he is directed to a fence, cutting an uncertain path across the snow as another voice cries “no, no” repeatedly. The bodies, when Wilk gets to them, have been cut in half by the force of the explosion that took their lives, and still lie where...

Very good YouTube 17 min. video from HistoryLegends on the ongoing battle in Bakhmut. They do an excellent job (complete with pictures and maps) to spell out the pros and cons for both sides in this fierce battle. Also spells out KIA casualty figures for both sides to date in the Ukraine war. Over 100,000 KIA Ukrainians; 15,000 KIA Russians. The presenter has a sense of humor and does a good job mimicking neocons complete with accents...:-)

The first video has appeared online depicting the Ukrainian army’s ex-Slovenian M-55S tanks. The video depicts what appears to be a four-person M-55S crew training on its new-old vehicle. The thick mud—a sticky hallmark of Ukraine’s wet early winter—might confirm the video is recent. The M-55S despite its age could represent a glimpse at the Ukrainian army’s tank future. It’s all about the gun. The M-55S is a deeply modernized Soviet T-55, a tank type that first entered service in the late 1950s. In the 1990s, the Slovenian army paid Israeli firm Elbit and STO RAVNE in Slovenia to modify...

Earlier today the Russian military shut down the Ukrainian electricity network. Previous attacks had limited the distribution capacity to some 50% of demand. Controlled blackouts over several hours per day allowed to give some electricity for a few hours to most parts of the country. The attack today created a much larger problem. Not only were distribution networks attacked but also so the elements that connect Ukraine's electricity production facilities to the distribution network. All four nuclear power stations of Ukraine with their 15 reactors are now in shutdown mode. Kiev along with most other cities of Ukraine no longer...

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov argued on Thursday that Russia's latest attacks against Ukraine's power grid weren't aimed at the civilian population, urging Kiev to "end the suffering" of its people by accepting Moscow's terms to end the war. Russia's requests for ending the attacks include Ukraine proclaiming political and military neutrality, recognizing Crimea as Russian territory and granting independence to Donetsk and Lugansk.Despite millions of Ukrainians currently without power across the country, Peskov told reporters that Russia's military pays "special attention to avoid striking social targets... As for targets that are directly or indirectly related to military potential, they are...

The US is pressuring Ukraine to be open to peace talks with Russia, with a top Pentagon official saying that Kiev's forces will find it hard to recover all the territory Russia has controlled during the war.US Joint Chiefs Chairman General Mark Milley said on Wednesday that the US and allied support has not diminished but considered that Kiev's defense puts it in a better position to begin talks."The probability of a Ukrainian military victory, defined as kicking the Russians out of all of Ukraine, to include ... Crimea, the probability of that happening anytime soon is not high

Former president, who once cast himself as a liberal modernizer, says Moscow has ability to ‘send all our enemies to fiery hell’...The former president said Russia’s task in the invasion was to “stop the supreme ruler of hell, whatever name he uses — Satan, Lucifer or Iblis,” according to quotes run by the Reuters news agency. He added that Russia was fighting “crazy Nazi drug addicts” in Ukraine who are backed by Westerners with “saliva running down their chins from degeneracy.”

Not to beat a dead horse, but most of the world has a delusional image in their head of the war in Ukraine. As I have written previously, much of the fault lies with Hollywood, which through a plethora of movies has conditioned the masses to think of war as the conquest of critical territory. But that is a misleading image when it comes to Ukraine. Yes, there are strategically important pieces of territory that must be captured or defended, but there also are vast swaths of plains (we call them prairies here in the United States) that are tactically...

Abbas Gallyamov, a former speechwriter for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

More than 15,000 randy Ukrainians are literally planning to go out with a bang in the event of a nuclear attack on their country.That is the number of people who have signed up to an online invitation on the Telegram messaging service to join in an orgy on a hill outside Kyiv if Vladimir Putin reaches for the red button.The mass sex party would take place at Shchekavystsa and those attending would be invited to decorate their hands with stripes to denote their carnal preferences – three stripes would be for anal sex enthusiasts and four stripes for oral sex...

Boy, looks like I missed the hysteria. Instead of thumbing my way around the internet to catch the latest news on the complete devastation of Russia’s Kerch bridge that unites Crimea with Mother Russia, I was at a gun range being trained by a retired Delta Force operator. He is a hell of a teacher.Needless to say, my time was better spent (and cheaper) compared to what Ukraine spent on its spectacular failure to destroy the Kerch bridge. Failure? Yes. The initial images of a veritable Dante’s furnace, complete with rolling clouds of black smoke and frantic tongues of flames...

Ukrainian president and ex-comedian Volodymyr Zelensky rediscovered his comic chops in a tongue-in-cheek weather report following damage to a key strategic bridge between Russia and Moscow-annexed Crimea. The Kyiv leader poked fun at the humiliating attack on Putin's supply line, making the audacious comments in his nightly video address posted on Telegram. Zelensky said: 'Today was a good and mostly sunny day in our country. Over most of the territory, it was about 20 degrees Celsius and sunny. 'Unfortunately, it was cloudy in Crimea, although it was still warm. But however the clouds are, Ukrainians know what to do, and...

The picture was posted via Twitter by Serhiy Bolvinov, head of the investigative branch of the National Security Service in the Kharkiv region. ‘Defense of Ukraine‘, the official Twitter of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, wrote in a Tweet: “A torture chamber in Pisky-Radkivsky. Two photos. A gas mask placed on the head of a victim who was covered with a smoldering rag and buried alive. And a box of gold dental crowns. A mini-Auschwitz.” Here’s the original Tweet by Serhiy Bolvinov with some additional objects found onsite:

What a difference a decade makes. There was a time when the United States would talk to Russia with at least the pretense of respect. Remember this exchange between then Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Barack Obama?That was then. Mr. Medvedev is singing quite a different tune now. He made this public statement yesterday:It is useless and unnecessary to appeal to the prudence of our enemies in the West, the enemies must be forced to ask for mercy in the lost economic battle and end it with their complete and unconditional surrenderI do not believe that Dimitry Medvedev was drunk...

The presidential press office of Ukraine accused global media outlets of “nuclear hysteria” on Thursday for sharing remarks made by President Volodymyr Zelensky in which he asked the world for “preemptive strikes” on Russia to avoid nuclear war. Zelensky made the remarks during a question and answer session with the Lowy Institute, an Australian think tank, on Thursday, asserting that NATO had a responsibility to “make it impossible for Russia to use nuclear weapons.

Scott Ritter talks about the referendum in Ukraine to become part of Russia 28 min. interview