Free Republic

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has continued for as long as Nazi Germany’s war against the Soviet Union, with Moscow failing to achieve any decisive gains over more than three years. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy drew the comparison in his evening address on January 11. “We are not dragging out time, unlike Russia. They have dragged things out enough, to be honest. Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine has now lasted as long as Nazi Germany’s war against the Soviet Union,” Zelenskyy said. He noted that, as of January 11, the war has entered its 1,418th day and said Russia had...

KYIV, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Ukrainian forces said they had retaken parts of the northeastern town of Kupiansk and had encircled Russian troops there as President Volodymyr Zelenskiy visited the area and praised the operation, saying it strengthened Ukraine diplomatically. With U.S.-backed peace efforts underway, Moscow has said it is advancing on all fronts and that it has seized Kupiansk and the strategic city of Pokrovsk in the east. Kyiv has denied this, saying that the fighting is continuing.

Ukraine's recapture of the city of Izyum has brought multiple allegations of atrocities under Russian occupation. Among the accounts emerging is that of a group of Sri Lankans held captive for months. Here, they tell their story. "We thought we would never get out alive," says Dilujan Paththinajakan. Dilujan was one of seven Sri Lankans captured by Russian forces in May. The group had just set out on a huge walk to safety from their homes in Kupiansk, north-eastern Ukraine, to the relative safety of Kharkiv, some 120km (75 miles) away. But at the first checkpoint they came across, they...