Free Republic

Let’s debunk the biggest fake widely used by kremlin to justify the russian invasion in Ukraine. You hear it from russian media, you read it in the commentaries left by russian bots, but what do the official numbers say? Let’s check out the report of the OHCHR that russians themselves are often referring to. ----- InformNapalm’s database of russian regular units identified in Donbas between 2014-2021: https://informnapalm.org/db/russian-aggression/#lang=en&page=m_unit ----- StopFake’s investigation on the staged russian shelling in Donietsk:https://www.stopfake.org/en/fake-ukrainian-military-shelled-bus-station-in-donetsk/ ----- Bellingcat’s research on russian artillery shelling Ukrainian forces across the border in 2014:https://www.bellingcat.com/news/uk-and-europe/2015/02/17/origin-of-artillery-attacks/The research on russian propagandists forging videos:https://www.bellingcat.com/news/uk-and-europe/2015/02/17/origin-of-artillery-attacks/Debunking dubious footage forged...

6 cruise missiles hit the border of Poland and Ukraine. At least six cruise missile strikes were carried out on a base of foreign mercenaries just 10 kilometers from the Polish-Ukrainian border. As a result of the strikes, facilities that could contain several hundred foreign mercenaries, as well as ammunition and Western weapons delivered a few days ago, were destroyed. The blows, among other things, became indicative for Poland - Warsaw was directly pointed out to the fact how active support for Kyiv could end. On the presented video frames, you can see the moment when six cruise missiles of...

The warning comes amid soaring tensions with the Nato-member country after Moscow claimed it has removed a Polish flag from a memorial site commemorating the killing of thousands of Poles in the Soviet Union. Russia's defence ministry says its troops have killed "up to 80" Polish fighters in "precision strikes" in the eastern Donetsk region. It said in a statement: "Up to 80 Polish mercenaries, 20 armoured combat vehicles and eight Grad multiple rocket launchers were destroyed in precision strikes on the Megatex zinc factory in Konstantinovka". And the mayor of Smolensk, where the Polish flag was removed Andrei Borisov,...

A senior official in the Russian-installed administration of Ukraine’s occupied Kherson region was killed in an apparent assassination on Friday, the deputy head of the administration told Reuters. Dmitry Savluchenko, head of the families, youth, and sports department of the Kherson Military-Civilian Administration, was killed in a bomb blast. Russia's TASS news agency said there were two burnt-out cars in a courtyard of Kherson, the regional capital where the blast took place, and that the windows of one four-storey house had been shattered. An adviser to the Ukrainian governor of Kherson told Ukraine's public news network Suspilne that the assassination...

Reportedly the first footage of American HIMARS MLRS being used by Ukraine in combat.

Baltimore Ravens linebacker Jaylon Ferguson has died at the age of 26, the team confirmed on Wednesday. The Ravens did not give a cause of death. “We are profoundly saddened by the tragic passing of Jaylon Ferguson,” the team said in a statement. “He was a kind, respectful young man with a big smile and infectious personality. We express our heartfelt condolences to Jaylon’s family and friends as we mourn a life lost much too soon.”

Lithuania has extended the blockade on goods heading for Kaliningrad sanctioned by the EU to also include road transports and not just rail. The U.S. has announced that it is backing Lithuania in its spat with Russia over the blockade.

Perhaps foreseeing a Russian win or stalemate in Ukraine, some foreign policy experts urge that it cede territory. French President Emmanuel Macron calls for not “humiliating” Russia. These entreaties could miss the mark. The battlefield is fluid and could turn for or against Ukraine. The West should prudently prepare for Ukrainian success as well as a less favorable outcome. A few weeks ago, euphoria reigned when Ukrainian forces pushed back Russian attempts to seize Kyiv, Kharkiv and Odesa — Ukraine’s three largest cities. Now, pessimism is ascendant. President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks of “very fierce” fighting in eastern Ukraine and high...

Holy cow thats a big explosion. Can anyone in the know comment on what is likely to make a mushroom cloud that big thats non nuke?

French bishops conclude synod by sending petition to Rome calling for female deacons, married priestsThe whole synodal exercise in France rested on the shoulders of a national team surrounding Bishop Alexandre Joly and locally appointed regulators of discussion groups; and the 150,000 or so Catholics who voiced their opinions. ANALYSISFrance (LifeSiteNews) — The French bishops’ conference has decided to send a national synthesis of synodal consultations that were held throughout the country since October to Rome without modifying some of its most revolutionary aspects. Pleas for the recognition of women’s work within the church, including by the ordination of a...

A Russian lawmaker called for Lithuania's independence to be repealed, submitting a draft bill claiming the Baltic republic illegally left the Soviet Union more than three decades ago. The proposed legislation was submitted to the Russian lower house, the Duma, on Wednesday by Yevgeny Fyodorov, a member of the ruling United Russia party. In March 1990, Lithuania became the first republic to announce it intended to restore its independence from the disintegrating USSR, under whose control it had been for five decades after the Soviet army occupied it in 1940.

Russian president Vladimir Putin was humiliated on Friday when a cyberattack forced him to delay a key speech to an economic forum dubbed 'Russia's Davos'. The Kremlin said the St Petersburg Economic Forum had suffered from a denial of service attack, forcing the Russian tyrant to delay a scheduled address by an hour. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a call with reporters that specialists were working to fix the problem caused by a DDOS attack that began on Thursday, and that Putin's keynote address had been moved back to 3pm (1300 BST). 'Problems arose with the distribution of badges...

As the situation in Donbass (East Ukraine) worsens for Ukrainian forces, as reports are now leaking from Kyiv that Ukraine is losing 1,000 troops a day, the State Department has essentially admitted American mercenaries have been captured by Russian forces in-country. Alexander John-Robert Drueke, 39, from Tuscaloosa, Alabama and Andy Tai Ngoc Huynh, 27, from Hartselle, Alabama are currently “missing” from the battlefield, however, their precise fate is as yet unconfirmed, according to a State Department official, reported Zero Hedge.White House national security spokesman John Kirby didn’t confirm the reports, but strongly hinted that it’s the administration’s belief they were...

This morning the CPI (Consumer Price Index) report came out and was higher than expected (Inflation stayed red-hot in May as CPI spiked 8.6% — highest since 1981). (Article by Stan Szymanski republished from EncouragingAngels.org) It is kind of like telling someone who is buried on the beach up to their neck in sand that the tide is coming in but not as fast as you think it is. Most of the food prices I see are up at least 15-33% from what I was used to paying. I know that the standard government numbers say that food inflation is...

Former Department of Energy (DoE) Under Secretary Paul Dabbar and Columbia University energy researcher Matt Bowen have published a report warning that America’s energy crisis could soon get a whole lot worse if Russia stops selling enriched uranium to nuclear power plants. If supplies get cut, they say, then many United States nuclear power generation facilities would be forced offline within a year. The result would be much less energy availability and sky-high prices even beyond current inflation figures. Nuclear power accounts for more than 20 percent of all U.S. electricity generation capacity, and nearly half of the country’s 56...

When Vladimir Putin unleashed an unprovoked invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, the Ukrainian media, public and policymakers almost unanimously began calling the Russian president and the state he leads “rashyst.” The term is a hybrid of a derogatory moniker for Russia – “rasha” – and “fascist.” Ukrainians did so for two reasons. First, they were countering Putin’s absurd insistence that the Ukrainian authorities – including Ukraine’s Jewish president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy – were Nazis and that Ukraine needed to be “de-Nazified.” Since Ukraine’s tiny number of right-wing extremists are about as influential as the Proud Boys in the United...

Sanctions are hitting Russian families at the grocery store as food prices rise amid surging inflation, which is already running at double the rate of the West. Consumers are falling further behind as wages stagnate in a slowing economy. The situation is expected to get worse as inventories run down, sanctions take effect and buyers adopt strategies that could push inflation higher.

Former Vice President Mike Pence was heckled with calls of “traitor” at a conservative conference Friday as he continues to draw criticism from members of the Republican base for his role in Congress’s certification of President Biden's Electoral College victory. “It is great to be back with so many patriots dedicated to faith and freedom and the road to the majority,” Pence said to applause at the Faith & Freedom Coalition summit before the heckling began. “I’m a Christian, a conservative and a Republican, in that order,” Pence continued, as the hecklers in the audience began to grow louder, yelling...