Free Republic

One consideration for the Ukrainians, the official said, is how much they continue to pour into defending Bakhmut at a time when they are preparing for an offensive to try to drive the Russians out of areas they hold in southern Ukraine.….

South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham (R) urged the west to send tanks to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky after he traveled to Ukraine over the weekend. Graham visited Ukraine along with Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI). While in Ukraine, the seniors held a press conference in Kyiv where Graham called on Germany and the United States to send tanks to help Zelensky fight back against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s assault on Ukraine. “All three of us, one Republican and two Democrats, share the same goal — for Ukraine to drive the Russians out of Ukraine. To achieve that...

President Joe Biden’s Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, announced another $2.5 billion in military aid for Ukraine on Thursday and said the United States “will stand united with Ukraine for as long as it takes.” The most recent aid package comes after Congress awarded $45 billion to Ukraine in the massive $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill that Biden signed into law last month, bringing the total amount of U.S. aid sent to Ukraine to over $110 billion. Interestingly, the $45 billion Congress awarded was $8 billion more than the $37 billion that Biden’s administration requested. “Pursuant to a delegation of...

Consolidated from US news sources ( hard to find the complete list on western MSM). “ DOD has announced the largest single US military aid package, via presidential “drawdown” authority for Ukraine worth $3bn ($24.2 billion so far). DOD said it welcomes Germany’s new commitment to provide Ukraine with one Patriot air defense battery (in coming months). The United States has already committed one Patriot battery to Ukraine(several months away). “The Biden administration will continue to encourage Allies and partners to make additional donations of air defense systems, artillery, combat vehicles, and other critical capabilities to support Ukraine in defense...

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has congratulated Republican politician Kevin McCarthy on becoming Speaker of the House of Representatives, telling him Ukraine is counting on his “continued support” and more U.S. aid. “Congratulations to [Kevin McCarrthy] on his election as the Speaker of the [United States] House of Representatives,” Zelensky wrote on social media. U.S. support in all fields has been vital for [Ukraine’s] success on the battlefield. We’re counting on your continued support and further U.S. assistance to bring our common victory closer,” he added.

The United States has allocated a new $3 billion military aid package to UkraineVarious funds worth $2.8 billion will be provided directly from the Pentagon’s reservesThe US authorities are allocating another package of military assistance to Ukraine in excess of $ 3 billion. White House Press Secretary Karin Jean-Pierre said this at a regular briefing on Friday.“Today, the United States will demonstrate its continued unwavering support for Ukraine’s ability to defend itself by announcing a new tranche of military aid for Ukraine in excess of $3 billion,” Jean-Pierre said.According to her, various funds worth $2.8 billion will be provided directly...

The Biden administration will send $3.75 billion in new military assistance to Ukraine and other countries related to Russia’s war that has lasted more than 10 months. We’ll share what’s in it plus details on a trip two U.S. senators took to Ukraine, the new U.S. sanctions targeting Iran and a day of remembrance on the second anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol Building.

.. OK, back to business for the first SitRep of 2023. Here’s what’s on tap for the day: an inside look at whether Russia’s military mobilizations will make a difference on the battlefield, France’s decision to supply Ukraine with light tanks, and how the vote-a-rama drama over the U.S. House speaker race affects national security. ...When quantity is a quality of its own. Still, the mobilization could pay off in the long run if Russia can sort out how to effectively train and resupply a steady stream of new troops—still a big “if.”...

Watters startling, ironic report about on FTX Fraud: "This is a Campaign Finance Scandal"

On Wednesday it was revealed that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s government is prepping to participate in January’s World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, and that the Ukrainian leader is in talks with BlackRock CEO Larry Fink regarding rebuilding efforts following the war with Russia.According to Bloomberg, Zelensky said in an evening address to the nation, "Specialists of this company are already helping Ukraine to structure the fund for the reconstruction of our state." Zelensky reportedly had a video call with Fink in September. He did not reveal whether he would be attending the WEF in person or virtually.According to a...

As Republicans prepare to take power in the House, the Democrats will be lying in waiting for them. We're headed into the third year of the Biden administration and I'm afraid another year of rampant, unbridled herd impunity, where a few power brokers in Washington, DC will be deciding what your life and mine will be like for the next 365 days. That in itself is nothing new. We have a long history of ceding power to ideologues who routinely use howitzers to swat flies - imposing huge unmanageable solutions to solve our country's problems. We needn't go too far...

*snip* Cheney will not depart Congress empty-handed. During her six years in Congress, she has become very wealthy. Breitbart News reported in August that Cheney’s net worth ballooned from an estimated $7 million when she first took office in 2017 to possibly more than $44 million in 2020. Depending on the specifics of her latest financial disclosure form, Cheney’s net worth could have skyrocketed up to 600 percent in Congress. According to her 2020 Personal Financial Disclosure form, Cheney declared a net worth between $10,422,023 and $44,140,000, stemming from assets valued between $10,432,024 and $44,155,000. She reported no earned income,...

We are all playing a rigged game against an all powerful Ai that most of us don’t even know exists. This is a zero-sum game where “we the people” lose every time. Did you know, when you invest in stocks, bonds, the real estate market and beyond, you are now betting against an AI with trillions of data points you and I will never even have access to? This AI is so powerful it now controls every company in every industry, every bank, financial institution and even the Federal Reserve. Aladdin tracks and monitors everything in our lives. And it’s...

Ukraine has a new Western backer. It’s not a nation-state, or a military contractor. It’s the financial firm BlackRock.Ukraine announced Wednesday that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had a video teleconference with BlackRock Chief Executive Officer Larry Fink. The pair apparently struck a deal to coordinate investment efforts to rebuild the war-torn nation.A readout of the meeting on the Ukrainian president’s website boasted BlackRock’s involvement, calling the firm “one of the world's leading investment managers” and noted that it “manages client assets worth about 8 trillion dollars.”“Zelenskyy and Larry Fink agreed to focus in the near term on coordinating the efforts...

Dear Ukrainians! This year began on February 24. Without prefaces and preludes. Sharply. Early. At 4 o'clock. It was dark. It was loud. It was hard for many and scary for some. 311 days have passed. It can still be dark, loud, and complicated for us. But we will definitely never be afraid again. And we'll never be ashamed. It was our year. Year of Ukraine. Year of Ukrainians. We woke up on February 24. Into another life. Being another people. Another Ukrainians. The first missiles finally destroyed the labyrinth of illusions. We saw who was who. What friends and...

What a twisted society we have become. We stir up wars in other people's countries and praise ourselves for doing it. But there is no political reward for protecting our own people against crime and disorder on their streets and in their homes. It is no longer clear if anyone is governing the country at all, so busy are we putting other nations to rights. Burglaries go unprevented, uninvestigated and unpunished, in colossal numbers. Our capital city seethes with uncontrolled knife crime and stinks of marijuana. Christmas brings news of terrible ultra-violent crimes in supposedly peaceful suburban areas. Migrants stride...

BREAKING: Explosions reported in Kursk, Belgorod, Voronezh and Rostov moments ago. The picture is from Rostov. Happy New Year’s Eve to Russia from Ukraine.

If you were to ask any Democrat or Republican politician in D.C. about their reasons for supporting Volodymyr Zelensky and Ukraine, their reductive reply is likely to be ‘to defend freedom and democracy.’### Since the beginning of the war, Zelensky applied draconian measures to restrain the press such as threats of criminal prosecution and fines against media outlets and journalists critical of the government.Zelensky also banned many media outlets claiming they were carrying Russian propaganda. But reports suggest these outlets were merely holding Zelensky accountable. Also, all television channels in Ukraine have been shut down except for the one controlled...

Following Ukraine’s successful offensives in the fall, the Russia-Ukraine war has shifted into a transitional phase, with both sides engaged in positional battles characterized by incremental gains and attrition. Although the tempo of fighting appears to have slowed down, in part due to the onset of winter, it remains intense along several parts of the front. The coming months could determine the course of events well into 2023. This phase may be transitional and is not necessarily how the winter will play out, as Ukraine is likely eyeing opportunities for another offensive operation, but the broad contours of Russia’s and...

According to former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, the Biden administration rates as “the most corrupt and dangerous” in the history of the country. During an appearance on FNC’s “Hannity” on Thursday, Gingrich made the declaration and warned of a “constitutional crisis” stemming from the Biden administration’s desire to wage war on its own people. “Oh, look, I think they’ll do a lot, and I think this is just a childish game by the Biden team,” he said. “The fact is on the third or the fourth, the Republicans who will run the committees no matter who the speaker...