Free Republic

Ukraine’s military has destroyed a Russian A-50 surveillance aircraft, Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk said on Friday. “The A-50 with the call sign ‘Bayan’ has flown its last!” Oleshchuk wrote on the Telegram messaging app. Developing

The Ukrainian air force claimed it has shot down 10 Russian warplanes in 10 days: nine of the Russian air force’s best Sukhoi Su-34 and Sukhoi Su-35 fighter-bombers and also a rare Beriev A-50 radar plane. -snip- The Ukrainian defense ministry announced this month’s ninth and tenth shoot-downs—both involving Su-34s—on Tuesday. “Oops, we did it again!” the ministry quipped. “And now it's 10 destroyed Russian planes in 10 days!” How the Ukrainians are shooting down so many jets is unclear. It’s possible the Ukrainian air force has assigned some of its American-made Patriot missile launchers to mobile air-defense groups that...

Russia has approved a temporary ban on the export of gasoline, a representative for the country's Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told local media on Tuesday. Beginning May 1, Russia will impose a six-month ban on gasoline exports to allow the country to "offset the booming demand for petroleum products," the official told Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin in an internal letter in January, publication RBC reported. Fuel shortages have been reported nationwide in Russia, which is one of the world's biggest producers of oil and gas. Wholesale fuel prices have soared across the country, and Ukraine has ramped up...

Letter to Congress from American Veteran in Ukraine Jake Broe [I am a United States Air Force veteran who served as a Nuclear and Missile Operations Officer (13N). 437K subscribers 2-24-2024 17:00 Minutes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eg49VcsWvd8 Excerpt: "Jake is sharing an opinion piece from an American Service veteran currently in Ukraine. An American Veteran plea arm Ukraine or Surrender Freedom. This man's name is John Roberts call sign name is Jackie Not everyone has and uses social media. Not everyone wants to be on camera. So today, I'm going to use my platform and my voice to share his message. This is...

Alexei Navalny's mother has been told to agree to a "secret" burial for the Putin critic within three hours, his spokeswoman says. If Lyudmila Navalnaya did not agree, he would be buried at the prison where he died a week ago, the spokeswoman said a Russian investigator had told her. On Thursday, Ms Navalnaya said she was made to sign a death certificate saying her son died of natural causes. Mr Navalny's widow has said he was killed by Russian authorities. The Kremlin has denied the allegations, calling Western reaction to the death "hysterical". Mr Navalny died in a prison...

Tucker Carlson once again leaped to the defense of Russian President Vladimir Putin and claimed that anyone who thinks the brutal strongman was responsible for the untimely death of his main political opponent Alexie Navalny 'are idiots.' Carlson, 54, was speaking with fellow former Fox News host Glenn Beck on the latter's BlazeTV network when he made his remarks. 'Navalny’s death during the Munich Security Conference, in the midst of disputes about aid to Ukraine, is definitely not beneficial for Russia. People who say Putin killed him are idiots,' Carlson said. -snip- Speaking about having been asked to comment about...

Tens of Russian soldiers have died close to the front lines in eastern Ukraine after Kyiv attacked a training ground with U.S.-supplied HIMARS, according to a Ukrainian official and media reports. -snip- Around 65 Russian soldiers were killed at the training ground near the village of Trudivske, Bratchuk said in a post on the Telegram messaging app. The Ukrainian military used two missiles in the strike, the BBC's Russian service reported on Tuesday, citing several anonymous sources. Units of Russia's 39th Separate Guards Motorized Rifle Brigade were stationed near Trudivske, Bratchuk said. -snip- Bratchuk posted two videos he said showed...

For many months, President Biden has been rallying global leaders to provide more military aid to Ukraine and pressing Congress to pass a multibillion-dollar aid package to help the country beat back Russian aggression. Former President Donald J. Trump has been undermining that effort, pressing Republicans to thwart it. But on Wednesday, Mr. Trump tried to flip the script, suggesting that he would do more to protect Ukraine than Mr. Biden, who he said would effectively cede Ukraine as a gift to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. Speaking at a campaign event in North Charleston, S.C., Mr. Trump said...

Ivan Sechin, the son of Russian state-owned oil giant Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin, died on February 5 at the age of 35, it has been reported. -snip- The VChK-OGPU outlet, which purports to have inside information from Russian security forces, also reported on Sechin's death. Citing an unnamed source, it said that at approximately 4.30 a.m. on February 5, Sechin "complained that he felt bad and was suffocating." "The man fell on the bed and lost consciousness. Those around him carried Ivan to the floor and tried to provide primary resuscitation measures," the Telegram channel said, adding that an ambulance...

Alexei Navalny's widow Yulia Navalnaya has had her account suspended on social media platform X. It is unclear why her account was suspended by the social network, formerly Twitter - which is owned by Elon Musk. "Account suspended," a notice said on the site. His Anti-Corruption Foundation tagged Mr Musk in a post on X, asking him to "please explain exactly which rules were violated" by Ms Navalnaya for the suspension. Less than an hour later, X restored Ms Navalnaya's access to the social media platform.

Ukraine's armed forces have shot down six Russian fighter jets in just three days, according to the country's Ministry of Defense. The ministry said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter, that Ukraine on Monday destroyed two Russian jets—an Su-34 fighter-bomber and an Su-35S fighter jet. "Russian planes continue to fall! This morning, defenders of the sky shot down two russian planes in the eastern direction—a Su-34 fighter-bomber and a Su-35 fighter," it said. "In 3 days, Ukraine destroyed 6 russian jets." The news comes after the Commander of the Air Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Lieutenant General...

Russian investigators will not hand over the body of dead Russian opposition leader Alexi Navalny for 14 days, his team have revealed, after his widow claimed he had been poisoned by Novichok. Yulia Navalnaya has accused the Russian authorities of hiding Navalny's body in order to wait for traces of the nerve agent to disappear. And today, Ivan Zhdanov, the director of Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation, said that Navalny's body would not be given to his mother for 14 days while a chemical examination takes place.

Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Fatah, and the Palestine Liberation Organization, were all invited to the meeting in Russia. Russia has extended invitations to various Palestinian factions, including Hamas and Fatah, for discussions on the Israel-Hamas conflict and broader issues in the Middle East. Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov announced the initiative on Friday, highlighting Moscow's desire to engage with all major players in the region amid heightened tensions. The invitation included a dozen Palestinian groups and is slated for "inter-Palestinian" talks scheduled to commence on February 29. Bogdanov, serving as President Vladimir Putin's special envoy for the Middle East,...

“Are we having a talkshow or a serious conversation?” Vladimir Putin asked Tucker Carlson at the start of their interview on Thursday. By the end of the two-hour conversation, the answer was clear: neither. Instead, viewers got a lesson in Russian history, going all the way back to Prince Rurik – a Scandinavian who came and dished out a good kicking in the region in 862 – and taking in the reign of Yaroslav the Wise, the circa-1300 threat of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Russia going to war with Poland in the mid-1600s. -snip- “So that you don’t...

Vladimir Putin once again appeared to be unable to control a twitchy leg during his lengthy interview with US right-wing journalist Tucker Carlson earlier this week. The Russian president spent half an hour of the sit-down chat on an almost uninterrupted ramble covering 1,200 years of Eastern European history. But some viewers were distracted by his apparent need to physically push down his knee to prevent his leg from moving around. It’s been an odd habit of Putin’s for a while – stretching back at least as far as September 2022, when the appendage started twitching during a speech in...

🔴 STREAMING VIDEO - 5334 Viewers Started streaming 71 minutes ago A Russian ship exploded and rapidly sank of the coast of Crimea today in a shocking upset for the Russian navy. Ukrainian naval forces soon released frone footage showing that they attacked and destroyed the vessel. Ukraine is continuing to fight the Russians in Avdiivka, and were able to inflict high losses on attacking forces. Near Vulhedar a similar large battle was won by Ukraine.