Free Republic

Ukrainian forces killed 49 elite Russian paratroopers in a single day in an operation to prevent them from being deployed to a key section of the war’s southern front line. The members of the 7th Guards Mountain Airborne Division were embroiled in a brutal fight after Ukrainian fighters pinned them down near the village of Staromaiorske in the eastern Donetsk region, Russian military bloggers reported. Troops from the 247th VDV regiment were sent in to retrieve the soldiers’ bodies after Russian commanders refused to oversee their recovery, one report said, citing an audio recording of a Russian soldier. Ukrainian counter-offensive...

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited Romania on Monday to underscore Western support for a key NATO ally that borders Ukraine and also for neighbouring Moldova, which has looked especially vulnerable since Russia's invasion last year. Moldovan President Maia Sandu, who accuses Moscow of fomenting unrest in her tiny former Soviet republic, met Scholz and Romanian President Klaus Iohannis in Bucharest, pressing for support to speed up Moldova's accession to the European Union. Russia denies causing trouble in Moldova, which is situated between Romania and Ukraine. Scholz's visit to Bucharest comes a day after German armsmaker Rheinmetall (RHMG.DE) announced it was...