Free Republic

VLADIMIR Putin's brutal war machine was dealt another blow today as Moscow confirmed the death of another top Russian military chief. Russian authorities have confirmed the death of Colonel Sergei Ilyin, commander of Russia's notorious 155th Marine Brigade. Telegram news channel Astra reported the Colonel's death on Friday, citing a now-deleted post from officials, the Moscow Times has reported. Ilyin had died "during the special military operation" according to a post attributed to the Urmarsky district administration. "Special military operation" is the euphemism used by Kremlin authorities when referring to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It follows speculation that the...

Alex Crawford travels to the town of Irpin, north of Kyiv, where Ukraine says it has driven out Russian forces. The town has seen some of the heaviest fighting in recent weeks as Russian troops attempted to edge their way to Kyiv. However, Moscow said this week it was “cutting back” its operations in the north of the country.

The governor of Ukraine's northwestern Rivne region said Russian forces had carried out a rocket strike on an oil depot in the region on Monday. In a short video address posted online, governor Vitaliy Koval said emergency services were at the scene, but did not give further details. Earlier on Monday, Ukrainian forces had seized back full control of Irpin, a town near capital Kyiv, which has been one of the main hotspots of fighting with Russian troops, the mayor said on Monday. The United States assessed that Ukrainian forces have also retaken the town of Trostyanets, south of Sumy,...

Ukrainian police said Sunday that a U.S. video journalist was killed in the Kyiv suburb of Irpin, which has been devastated by Russian attacks as Moscow’s invasion enters its third week. Although the police statement described the filmmaker, Brent Renaud, as a New York Times staffer, he is a former contributor who was not on assignment in Ukraine at the time, according to the Times. .....