Free Republic

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said two Chinese nationals fighting in the Russian army have been taken prisoner in eastern Ukraine. Zelensky said Tuesday that Ukrainian forces fighting in the Donetsk region obtained the Chinese nationals’ documents, bank cards and personal data. “We have information that there are many more Chinese citizens in the occupier’s units than just two. We are now finding out all the facts,” Zelensky said in a post on Telegram. “I have instructed the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine to immediately contact Beijing and find out how China is going to react to this.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin said during his Thursday news conference that he has “reservations” about a 30-day ceasefire proposal in the Ukraine war, saying it’s not clear how the situation would develop in the region of Kursk and elsewhere if a ceasefire was implemented. Putin lauded the US idea as “great and correct” and said Russia supports it in theory, but there are many things that still need to be discussed before a deal is agreed to. Putin went on to raise many questions about a potential ceasefire, including how it would be verified. He also said the ceasefire must...

Russia’s widespread overnight attack targeting critical energy infrastructure facilities in Ukraine was a response to strikes on Russian territory using US-made ATACMS missiles, President Vladimir Putin said Thursday. Putin claimed Russia hit 17 targets that were “military facilities, defense industry facilities and their support systems,” without acknowledging the hits to power infrastructure. “As I have said many times, there will always be a response from our side (to the use of American ATACMS),” Putin said during comments made at a security summit in Kazakhstan. Air defenses were activated across the country, with damage reported in 14 regions, according to the...