Free Republic

Russia struck an American business with cruise missiles overnight in one of the largest aerial attacks of the war so far, Ukraine has said. The Ukrainian air force said some 574 drones and 40 missiles were fired overnight, primarily targeting western regions of the country – far from the battlefield’s front line in the east and south of the country. The strikes killed one person and injured 15 more and struck a “major American electronics manufacturer”, according to Andrii Sybiha, Ukraine’s foreign minister. Video footage showed a large fire at the premises of Flex Ltd, a multinational firm headquartered in...

Russian forces advanced further into Kursk in a major operation to encircle Ukrainian soldiers, pro-Kremlin war bloggers said. Ukraine has occupied the Russian region since a surprise offensive last August and hoped to use it as a bargaining chip in any negotiations. Last week, Vladimir Putin’s forces launched a counter-offensive in Sudzha, seven miles inside Russia, while simultaneously crossing the border into Ukraine’s Sumy region. It was a pincer movement aimed at surrounding thousands of Ukrainian troops. On Monday, Russian troops were reported to have cleared the village of Ivashkovsky as they advanced from seven directions. Ukraine had been hoping...

During his national address, Putin blamed Western governments for the war in Ukraine, accusing them of ‘letting the genie out of the bottle’ and plunging the world into chaos. He said Ukraine and the West started the war and Russia was “using force to stop it”. "Ukraine and Donbas have become a symbol of total lies," Putin said.