Free Republic

A Russian state television host complained that "Europeans didn't freeze" this winter after energy prices on the continent skyrocketed due to international sanctions on Russia over the Ukraine war and President Vladimir Putin's army attack on the country's critical energy infrastructure. After experiencing stalled progress on the battlefield, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure for several months. Russia on Thursday launched fresh missile strikes on critical infrastructure in Lviv, in western Ukraine, away from the frontlines in the east.

Asenior member of the state Duma, Russia's parliament, said that any U.S. states that want to break away from the country and instead join the Russian Federation will be considered. The comments come only a week after Russia declared that four regions of Ukraine had become Russian territory, following referendums that were widely criticized by Ukrainian and Western officials as being sham. These were Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine and Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in the south. The votes supported the regions changing from Ukrainian to Russian territory. State Duma deputy Alexander Tolmachev was responding to an online poll that...

A video posted online Monday appears to show a group of Ukrainian troops shooting captured Russia soldiers dead outside a village west of Kyiv.The New York Times verified the video, which was shared on the social messaging app Telegram, on Thursday. The apparent killing of prisoners of war, which would be forbidden under the Geneva convention, comes as Ukraine has accused Russia of multiple war crimes since it invaded in February."He's still alive. Film these marauders. Look, he's still alive. He's gasping," a man in the video says while an apparent Russian soldier with a jacket covering his head, is...

Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold a cabinet meeting on Monday with senior officials, amid concerns about Ukraine's High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) from the United States that Western officials claim hamper Moscow's war efforts. The rocket systems first arrived in Ukraine in June from the U.S and have been seen as crucial to helping Kyiv's forces repel the Russian military. The Russian state-backed TASS news agency reported on Monday that Putin will hold the cabinet meeting via videoconference on Monday, with the main topics being the development of air transport and aircraft manufacturing. Deputy Prime Minister and Trade...

Thousands of supporters of far-right Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro have descended on Brazil's economic and political capitals, hoping to rally behind the embattled president, sparking fears of a military coup. Bolsonaro is expected to address packed Independence Day rallies in Brasilia and Sao Paulo on Tuesday. The president has called for support for his attacks on the country's Supreme Court that has raised fears around South America's largest democracy. Bolsonaro on August 14 called on the Senate to bring charges against two Supreme Court justices, warning Brazil could face a political "institutional rupture" if the charges were not brought. One...