Free Republic

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy calls on partners to respond seriously to Russia's constant attacks, which undermines international efforts to end the war. Source: President's evening address Quote: "Last night, [Russia launched – ed.] 172 attack drones, more than 100 of which were Shaheds. In fact, large-scale drone assaults persist on a daily basis, as do missile threats and ballistic missiles. It should be apparent to our partners that these Russian strikes target not only our people, but also all international efforts and diplomacy aimed at bringing this war to an end. Russia is striking at the positions of all those...

Russia has acknowledged the deaths of several of its conscripts in Ukraine. Russian media reports that these soldiers have been sent to the front without training. Source: BBC News Russian, citing relatives and close friends of the dead soldiers Details: BBC journalists identified three out of five soldiers [whose deaths were reported by the Chelyabinsk Oblast military commissariat on Thursday, 13 October]: Anton Borisov, Igor Yevseev and Timur Akhmetshin. They were conscripted by the Korkino military commissariat [in Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia] between 26 and 29 September. A total of almost 1,000 people were conscripted around that time, the relatives of...

The defence minister of Ukraine Oleksii Reznikov believes that Belarusian soldiers have no motivation to enter the war with Ukraine, and if ordered by their authorities to fight, they would lay down their weapons. "I don't understand what would motivate Belarusians to consciously go to war with Ukraine, kill and die for no one knows what, even if they are officers who are under oath obliged to follow orders. If they go on the attack with their units, they could cross the Belarusian border, raise their hands, lay down their weapons and say, ‘Ukrainians, we are your syabry. [Belarusians] are...