Free Republic

NATO scrambled its war planes today in self defence amid Vladimir Putin’s heaviest strikes on Ukraine in months, leading to multiple civilian deaths including three children. Russia was also hit hard with Ukrainian strikes, leading to the Kremlin’s air defences firing in panic - but missing - an Airbus A320-251N packed with its own tourists from Turkish resort Bodrum, according to reports. At least 10 Russian government aircraft used for high-ranking state and military officials fled Moscow flying east. It was not immediately clear if the exodus was a drill for an emergency evacuation or the real thing amid an...

Russian staples including potatoes, bread and dairy are soaring in price thanks to Vladimir Putin's war against Ukraine. Russia's soaring inflation is hitting basic supermarket staples with the price of potatoes rising a staggering 64%. The increased cost of spuds has been put down to bad weather, rising production costs, wage increases and a shortage of labour amid Russia's war in Ukraine. Rosstat figures show Russians face widespread food price rises, with reports people are even stealing butter

RUSSIAN officials shut down a key bridge to Crimea and fled over fears of an attack, according to Ukrainian reports. The Crimean Bridge, which is also known as the Kerch Bridge, links the Russian mainland to the peninsula, annexed by Moscow in 2014. Some Russians dubbed the road and rail structure "Putin's bridge" as it was designed to link Crimea to Russia’s transport network. Tensions are running high in Crimea which has been the target of a number of attacks in recent weeks with air and military bases targeted. Ukrainian TV channel 24 claimed yesterday (August 16) that Moscow had...

The movement of Vladimir Putin's vessels to the port city of Novorossiysk in southern Russia comes after Ukrainian stocks of longer-range missile systems were boosted by Western allies. Ukrainian media reports Serhiy Bratchuk, adviser to the head of Odesa's Regional Military Administration, reporting news of the ships' eastward movement via Telegram. Media outlet Ukrinform reports the official as saying: "According to the information of our Navy, the enemy has redeployed a significant number of warships from Sevastopol to Novorossiysk. "Russian ships were earlier deployed in missile-proof areas in the zone covered by coastal air defence systems, as close as possible...

The 1991 spill into the Persian Gulf, which began on January 21, was purposely caused by the Iraqis in order to delay or prevent a threatened US-led invasion of Kuwait, including possible landings by US Marines. On February 23, American forces, including the 1st Marine Division, 2nd Marine Division, the 1st Light Armored Infantry, overran Iraqi defenses quickly, but expressed shock at the extent of the environmental disaster surrounding them. The US lost 148 service members in combat, 458 were wounded in the First Gulf War which lasted from August 2, 1990, to February 28, 1991, when America and its...