Free Republic

China and India have stopped buying Russian oil due to increased freight costs for tankers not subject to US sanctions. A representative from India's Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd stated that the company has not received new supply offers for March, as is usually the case, and expects the volume of cargoes offered for the first month of spring to decrease compared to January and December. Typically, India receives offers for Russian oil supplies in the middle of each month. Traders noted that the premium for Russian ESPO crude oil has increased by $3-5 per barrel compared to ICE Brent, while...

Whether it could prove a tactical masterstroke MailOnline examines the invasion so far and assesses what may come next On Tuesday, August 6, around 1,000 brave Ukrainian soldiers supported by a few tanks launched what seemed like a reckless at best - and catastrophic at worst - incursion into Russia's Kursk region. Within 48 hours of the first reports of the border breach, Russia's stonefaced army chief Valery Gerasimov - who reportedly dismissed intelligence reports indicating a Ukrainian troop buildup along the border two weeks prior - declared the invasion had been stopped in its tracks. Now, one week later,...

Whatever the thrust of his comments, the Russian president’s tone and body language was decidedly less convincing. “Putin discussing Ukraine’s incursion into Russia, which he says the West is behind,” Nigel Gould-Davis, a former U.K. ambassador to Belarus, posted on X, formerly Twitter, along with a clip of Putin speaking at the summit. “He looks and sounds not angry, outraged, determined – but hesitant and rattled.” Though state media has naturally tried to steer clear of anything resembling explicit criticism of the Kremlin’s military efforts, propagandists have been unable to contain their growing alarm at the pace of Ukraine’s retaliatory...