Free Republic

The Kremlin celebrated bringing fresh hell to Ukraine on Friday with a wave of early morning missile strikes that killed at least 22 civilians, including four young kids. “The strike has achieved its goal,” Defense Ministry spokesman Lt. Gen. Igor Konashenkov crowed of the first large-scale cruise missile bombardment in nearly two months. “All the designated facilities have been hit,” the Kremlin official said, claiming without evidence that the struck buildings housed Ukrainian military reserve units awaiting deployment. Images instead showed deadly devastation in a number of cities across Ukraine, including a nine-story apartment block in Uman with a huge...

The head of Russia's private Wagner militia said on Thursday that Ukrainian forces were not leaving the city of Bakhmut and fighting was continuing in the western part of the city. "It must be said clearly that the enemy is not going anywhere," Yevgeny Prigozhin said on his Telegram channel. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had on Wednesday raised the prospect of a possible withdrawal from the city, saying Kyiv would take the "corresponding" decisions if its forces in the city risked being encircled by Russian troops. The months-long battle for Bakhmut, one of the last urban centres in Ukraine's eastern...

The U.S. National Security Council spokesman has suggested the best way for Moscow's tankers to avoid the British depleted uranium munitions being sent to Ukraine would be to retreat back across the border. London announced on Monday that it would send depleted uranium tank rounds—which are particularly effective in piercing enemy armor—along with the Challenger 2 main battle tanks being provided for Kyiv's use. The news touched off a furious reaction in Russia, where President Vladimir Putin falsely equated the munitions to nuclear weapons. NSC spokesman John Kirby on Wednesday dismissed the Kremlin's concerns about the depleted uranium munitions during...

The analogy with the present crisis in Ukraine and the story of the Chinese Tangut kingdom

The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) are preparing for a counteroffensive, which will begin in about two months, Mykhailo Podolyak, advisor to the head of the presidential office has said. “We are not in a hurry, we will reorganize over the next two months. We will exhaust the Russians in Bakhmut and then focus elsewhere,” Podolyak said in an interview published today by the Italian newspaper La Stampa. Ukraine is pursing two main goals in its defense of Bakhmut: to gain time to replenish its forces, and to inflict heavy losses on the Russian army. Russia is losing five to...

University student Olesya Krivtsova has been missing a lot of classes. That's because 20-year-old Olesya is under house arrest. She has an electronic tag on her leg. Police can monitor her every move. Her alleged crime? Olesya was arrested for anti-war posts on social media. One of them concerned last October's explosion on the bridge linking Russia to annexed Crimea. "I posted an Instagram story about the bridge," Olesya tells the BBC, "reflecting on how Ukrainians were happy with what had happened." She had also shared a friend's post about the war. Then the drama began.

Russia says it will deploy musicians to the front lines of its war in Ukraine in a bid to boost morale. The defence ministry announced the formation of the "front-line creative brigade" this week, saying it would include both vocalists and musicians. ... But they questioned whether the new brigade would actually distract troops, who have been primarily concerned about "very high casualty rates, poor leadership, pay problems, lack of equipment and ammunition, and lack of clarity about the war's objectives". ... The new unit will be tasked with maintaining "a high moral, political and psychological state [among] the participants...

By attacking the energy infrastructure of Ukraine, Russia is trying to 'flood' Europe with a new wave of refugees, Ukrainian PM Denys Shmyhal told French broadcaster TF-1 on Dec. 12. Shmyhal was arguing for Ukraine to be given access to Patriot anti-air systems, suggesting the batteries are needed to protect the country from Russian attacks, which routinely leave millions of Ukrainian without power, water, or heating.

“The leader’s entourage has not ruled out that he will lose the war, be stripped of power, and have to urgently evacuate somewhere.” Putin’s inner circle first considered a plan to evacuate to China, Gallyamov said, but later thought better of it, fearing the chances of “cooperation” from the Chinese were slim, especially since they despise “losers.” Now, he said, the focus has shifted to either Argentina or Venezuela, with Putin ally Igor Sechin currently overseeing an evacuation plan for the latter country. The plan is so far along, Gallyamov said, that Sechin’s “right-hand man” at Rosneft “formally resigned” from...

Russian authorities have banned public discussions of a wide range of non-classified military subjects that activists say will effectively prevent the public from learning crucial information about the Armed Forces. The 60-point Federal Security Service (FSB) order, which enters into force Dec. 1, lists information that is not classified as a state secret, but which “can be used by foreign states, organizations and citizens against Russia’s security.” Among the subjects banned from discussion are the structure and size of the Russian Armed Forces. Other off-limits areas include weapons, troop deployments and training, as well as troop morale and crimes committed...

There are three reasons why Putin is losing this war. Two of them cannot be fixed. That’s why Putin doubles down on solving the third. First: Motivation. Russian army has no business in Ukraine. No number of draftees will solve this problem. In fact, it will only make things worse, because every next batch is less motivated that the previous one. Russia is simply running out of idiots. The Kremlin has just started severe ideologization and militarization of Russian education to get the young committed to fight. Most probably, it is too late. Russian young are skeptical about this war,...