Free Republic

Now Russia appears to be scouting Germany as a potential target for sabotage, intelligence officers told Bild. Sources told the newspaper that a flying object was detected flying over the industrial area in Brunsbütte, on the northern coast of Germany, last night. Drones have been flying over the area, home to a nuclear power plant, an Liquefied Natural Gas terminal and several chemical plants, since at least August 8, and have been attributed to Russian agents who are likely launching them from civilian ships in the North Sea.

After almost 500 days of unjust captivity, The Wall Street Journal’s Evan Gershkovich was released from a Russian prison Thursday, as were fellow prisoners including Paul Whelan, Vladimir Kara-Murza and Alsu Kermasheva and 12 others in a massive multinational prisoner swap with Russia. Gershkovich and Kermasheva are journalists, Kara-Murza a critic of the Ukraine war and Whelan a former Marine. Not criminals or spies or other malefactors. It comes, as was expected, at an enormously high cost. Washington traded three prisoners back to Russia: Roman Seleznev, Vladislav Klyushin and Vadim Konoshchenock. All are crooks of the highest order: a cyber...