Free Republic

Russia does not seek to absorb all of Ukraine, as the Russians have "returned" five regions and Crimea, obtaining what they need, states the US Special Envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff. The Special Envoy emphasized the importance of reaching a fair agreement for Ukraine, but stressed that the US and Western countries cannot allow this country to drag them into a Third World War. He added that this is not his personal opinion, but the policy of President Donald Trump. When asked by the journalist about the plans of the UK and several other European countries to send...

Belarus foreign minister dies suddenly - one day after meeting Pope's envoy Ante Jozić amid speculation they were discussing a secret peace plan in Ukraine. CAREER SPY Makei had been foreign minister for a decade and was due tomorrow and Monday to host Vladimir Putin's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov in Minsk. Lavrov's spokeswoman said Russia was 'shocked' at his passing. No cause of death was given - but several sources speculated that his demise could be suspicious. Makei was described as 'healthy'. He had been trained in the Soviet GRU and had a reputation as Lukashenko's 'grey cardinal'. While Lukashenko...

US President Donald Trump has decided to extend sanctions against Russia for at least another year, according to the relevant document in the Federal Register. The document emphasizes that the United States first imposed sanctions on Russia in 2014 when Russian soldiers invaded Ukrainian territory, occupying Crimea and parts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Since then, the initial executive order on sanctions, #13660 from 2014, has been repeatedly expanded by US presidents through other orders as Russia continued and escalated its aggression.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told the Izvestia newspaper in an interview published Wednesday that Russia sees "no grounds for negotiations yet" to end Moscow's war on Ukraine. President-elect Donald Trump's imminent return to the White House has revived speculation as to a possible deal to end Russia's full-scale invasion of its neighbor, which by the time Trump takes office again will be nearly three years old. Russia still occupies around 20% of Ukraine and claims to have annexed four entire regions -- Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia -- though it only partially occupies the areas it claims.

A prominent pro-Kremlin propagandist has been unmasked as a 37-year-old Navy veteran and tropical fish seller from New Jersey. Divorcee Sarah Bils is known to her 100,000 devoted fans online as 'Donbas Devushka', or Donbas Girl. She posed as a Russian Jew from the occupied Ukrainian city of Luhansk and a geopolitics expert. -snip- She left the military in November last year with an honorable discharge but only after being demoted. Bils claims she was 'kicked out' of the Navy due to her 'leftist views.'

President Vladimir Putin is massing Russia’s forces in the Luhansk province in eastern Ukraine ahead of what could be a major new offensive meant to break the stalemate in the fighting ahead of the war’s first anniversary, officials loyal to Kyiv said. “There is an active transfer of (Russian troops) to the region and they are definitely preparing for something on the eastern front in February,” Luhansk Gov. Serhiy Haidai said Wednesday. Haidai added that Moscow’s forces were expelling residents living near the Russian-held parts of the front line so they can’t provide information about Russian troop movements to Ukrainian...

NATO's head said earlier this month that Russia may want the fighting to slow, seeking a "freeze" in the fighting so it can better prepare for a bigger assault next year. "What we see now is Russia is actually trying to have some kind of 'freeze' of this war at least for a short period of time so they can regroup, repair, recover," NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said. "And then try to launch a bigger offensive next spring." The UK Ministry of Defence predicted on Monday that Russian forces will not see any big gains over the winter, even...

Update from Ukraine | Ruzzians can't hold in Luhansk region | Ukraine pushes again Denys Davydov https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjjJmu2gMVM&list=RDCMUCpr-NNORb2UQYDD3k-w-OFg&index=2 Follow on Instagram up to date uploads. https://www.instagram.com/denys_pilot/ Military maps here: https://militaryland.net/ https://militaryland.net/news/invasion-day-244-summary/ https://militaryland.net/maps/deployment-map/

Update from Ukraine | Ruzzians can't hold in Luhansk region | Ukraine pushes again Denys Davydov https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjjJmu2gMVM&list=RDCMUCpr-NNORb2UQYDD3k-w-OFg&index=2 Follow on Instagram up to date uploads. https://www.instagram.com/denys_pilot/ Also, check military maps here: https://militaryland.net/ https://militaryland.net/news/invasion-day-242-summary/ https://militaryland.net/maps/deployment-map/

Russia is preparing to evacuate senior officers in the Federal Security Service (FSB) and their families from occupied areas of Ukraine, Kyiv on Wednesday claimed. According to the National Resistance Center (NRC), which is a civilian resistance office launched by the Ukrainian government following Russia’s invasion, senior Russian officers in the FSB have been "informed about the evacuation routes." The NRC said officials in all five occupied regions – Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson and Crimea – have been notified of evacuation plans.

Oleksii tells me: "I feel safe here because we are on our land and even the ground will bring me help." That's despite the nearby sound of small-arms fire, exploding artillery shells landing within sight and the roar of Russian jets overhead. The ground he and the small team of Ukrainian troops now occupy is on the border of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The same ground that Russian President Vladimir Putin recently declared as being Russian forever. Over the past week the men of Ukraine's D1 National Guard Unit have advanced more than 20km (12 miles) east from the...

Ukrainian troops have reported outages of their Starlink communication devices on the frontline, hindering efforts to liberate territory from Russian forces, according to Ukrainian officials and soldiers. Thousands of Starlink terminals, made by Elon Musk-owned SpaceX, were purchased by the US government and crowdfunded by donors to help Ukrainian troops operate drones, receive vital intelligence updates and communicate with each other in areas where there are no other secure networks. The systems which connect a small antenna to a 35-centimetre-high terminal also provide internet for Ukrainian civilians. Some of the outages led to a “catastrophic” loss of communication in recent...

A sense of unreality continues to permeate Russia and their claims to annexation of southern Ukraine, and that may be almost literally. Newsweek reports today that the Kremlin added “fake cheers” to Vladimir Putin’s speech on Friday announcing the annexation to sell this glorious nonsense to a Russian audience that has clearly grown tired of the war. And speaking of the audience … Unedited footage from Russian President Vladimir Putin’s annexation speech in Moscow on Friday appears to show fake cheers were edited onto clips broadcast on state TV, while reports say that people were bussed in to attend the...

In less than 24 hours part of Ukraine becomes part of Russia and NATO just held a secret meeting to ramp up the war. Vladimir Putin pointed the finger directly at the U.S. for its attack on the Nord Stream pipelines. Germany is on the brink of collapse as German energy experts point to coming blackouts.

Voting in internationally criticised referendums for four Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories to become part of Russia has continued into its third day despite shelling by Ukrainian forces. ...

Four Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine are expected on Friday to begin voting in referendums on joining Russia, in a move that raises the stakes of Moscow’s invasion seven months after fighting began. The referendums, which are illegal under international law, could pave the way for Russian annexation of the areas, allowing Moscow to frame the ongoing Ukrainian counteroffensive as an attack on Russia itself. Such a move could provide Moscow with a pretext to escalate its faltering war, which has seen Kyiv regain thousands of square miles of territory this month. In an address Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin raised...

Enjoy this brief, 3.5 min Freedom YTReferendum in Donbass with huge participation of local residents

The referendum ascertains three sequential decisions: secession of territories from Ukraine; formation of an independent state; and its entry into the Russian Federation as a subject. The referendum on September 23-27 in the Donbass and southern Kherson and Zaporozhye regions of Ukraine on their accession to Russian Federation is, prima facie, an exercise of the right of self-determination by the native population who reject the Western-backed regime change in Kiev in 2014 and the ascendancy of extreme nationalist forces with neo-Nazi leanings in the power structure. But it has other dimensions, too. In all probability, the referendum will overwhelmingly opt...

STORY: Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia provinces are set to hold referendums between 23 and 27 September. Vladimir Vysotsky, the voting chief, showed reporters ballot boxes made of clear plastic, promising the voting process would be “just as transparent”. The stations Vysotsky visited on Thursday were, according to his estimation, 100% ready for polling. ...

Starting last month Ukrainian lawmakers began seeking to implement severe consequences for those participating in Russia-sponsored referendums in occupied territories of Ukraine. For example, a law is being pushed through parliament which criminalizes obtaining a Russian passport in temporarily occupied territories, Ukrainian sources reported last week, according to Yahoo News. Proposed possible punishments have included losing Ukrainian citizenship, or even lengthy jail sentences. But other officials have argued for a more compromising approach given the necessity of survival in occupied areas. But now the Ukrainian government has reiterated its willingness to impose steep penalties for even participating in any Kremlin-sponsored...