Free Republic

Throughout his 20-plus year rule, Vladimir Putin has consolidated power through graft, intimidation, manipulation of the Russian legal system, and forcefully silencing critics. Putin’s ability to sustain subservience and loyalty to his authority is no small feat, especially in a political culture of ruthless power politics. His reputation as a master tactician abroad has also been carefully cultivated, if not exaggerated.

Temperatures would plunge in a bigger shift than the last Ice Age and crops would fail around the world after nuclear war erupted, a study has shown. The after-effects would be long-lasting with oceans taking hundreds of years to recover, and fishing devastated, the researchers warn. Professor Cheryl Harrison, of Louisiana State University, said: "It doesn't matter who is bombing whom. It can be India and Pakistan or NATO and Russia. Once the smoke is released into the upper atmosphere, it spreads globally and affects everyone." In all the simulated scenarios, nuclear firestorms would release soot and smoke into the...

Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said Wednesday that a breakthrough had been reached in the agreements and a coordination center would be established in Turkey that will oversee the comings and goings of merchant vessels. Officials from Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the U.N. will be involved in the coordinating efforts, the minister said. According to the preliminary plan, Russia would agree to a cease-fire to allow three Ukrainian ports to be opened in the Black Sea to allow for safe passage, first reported by the Wall Street Journal. The merchant ships would be escorted by Ukrainian naval vessels which would...

-At least 20 dead, including three children, and 90 hurt after three Russian rockets struck city of Vinnytsya -Office block was badly damaged in Thursday morning attack, which also torched vehicles in nearby car park -Zelensky called strike 'terrorism', saying there are no military targets in city which is 450 mm the miles from the front -It is the sixth Russian strike in a little over two weeks to hit a purely civilian target, with scores of people killed At least 20 people - including three children - are dead and 90 wounded after Russian rockets hit another Ukrainian city...

Russia is being hit hard by Ukraine‘s Javelin anti-tank missiles. What makes this weapon so powerful? The U.S.-made FGM-148 Javelin is one of the premier portable anti-tank missile systems in the world. It’s also an expensive piece of kit, with each missile typically costing more than the targets it eliminates. However, corruption is the main problem that every country has to fight with and the Ukrainians are no different! The expensive javelins have allegedly found their way into the black market on the Internet. Telegram channels have repeatedly reported that military equipment is being sold by the Ukrainians. The sales...

The lower house of the Russian parliament will gather on July 15 for an extraordinary session, its council decided on Monday, just days after President Vladimir Putin warned that he had not even started to get serious in the war in Ukraine. Putin used a meeting with parliamentary leaders on Thursday to dare the United States and its allies to try to defeat Russia in Ukraine, which Russia invaded on Feb. 24. Parliamentary leaders all thanked Putin for his decisions.

It became known about the liquidation of the Russian colonel, commander of the 810th Marine Brigade of the Russian Army Sergey Kens. As Censor.NET informs, Colonel Anatoliy Shtirlitz announced this on Twitter. -In Kherson direction, Armed Forces of Ukraine destroyed two command posts of Russian army, - OC "South" -Armed Forces liquidated commander of Russian 49th Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade. PHOTO -Ukraine’s Armed Forces already eliminate 36,900 Russian invaders. INFOGRAPHICS. INFOGRAPHICS -Ukrainian soldiers liquidated Deputy Commander of 83rd Airborne Brigade of occupying Guards Lieutenant Colonel Slabtsov. PHOTO -Commander of 6th company of 57th motorized infantry brigade of Armed Forces of Russian...

Nova Kakhovka, Ukrainian troops destroyed the ammunition depot of the Russian Armed Forces The likely culprit is "HIMARS". Reports of AFU strikes on targets in Nova Kakhovka, Kherson region, using American-made HIMARS MLRS.

Russian forces are reportedly relying on Soviet-era munitions for certain tasks as the invasion of Ukraine labors on. The Russian government has, in recent weeks, increasingly ordered its forces in Ukraine to repurpose outdated anti-aircraft and anti-ship missiles for use on land-based targets, according to a Tuesday report from iNews. In Mykolaiv, a city in Southern Ukraine, six strikes over the last weekend have been attributed to Russian S-300 missiles, anti-aircraft munitions introduced roughly 40 years ago with a range of 75 miles. Two Kh-32 missiles, originally designed to sink aircraft carriers, were also credited with the strike on a...

Republican James E. Risch (Idaho) was in Ukraine, touring the country. He was escorted by Ukrainian forces because the State Department refused to provide him security once he crossed the Ukrainian border. He met with Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv, and came away with the conclusion that the current U.S. strategy has not properly adjusted to the latest phase of the fighting.Russian forces are pummeling Ukrainian civilian and military targets in the Donbas with their superior artillery. Ukrainian forces are still not receiving enough of the weapons that might give them the advantage — including long-range air defenses, longer-range artillery, heavy...

Cafes and restaurants are open and largely busy. It was in one of the latter that I met a senior Ukrainian government official who had contacted me, expressing approval for something I had said in the international media"You know, don't you, that this time next year, a Russian soldier could be sitting right where you are," he said after a brusque introduction. "We are losing this war." He is right. There were the great victories at Kyiv, Chernihiv and Kharkhiv. But with setbacks in Donetsk and Luhansk, the appalling realization is sinking in that this is likely to be a...

There may be a looming psychological health crisis for U.S. volunteers returning from Ukraine. It is apparent that a large number of U.S. volunteers — most of whom are prior military or police — have joined Ukraine in the fight against Russia. American casualties in Ukraine are mounting. Additionally, two Americans have been captured and are being held as prisoners of war. “[I’m] former U.S. Military. Seen and been around some pretty decent combat before but not like this, man. Not even close. There are jets and drones here bombing us constantly. Tanks, BTRs, BMPs, everything you can think of,...

A detailed list of the destroyed and captured vehicles and equipment of both sides can be seen below. This list is constantly updated as additional footage becomes available

Shocking footage has emerged of the moment a Russian soldier attempted to destroy a Ukrainian missile launcher from close range with dramatic and potentially lethal consequences. The clip, shared on a pro-Russian channel on social media and messaging app Telegram, shows one of Putin's fighters taking aim at an abandoned Ukrainian S-300 missile launcher sitting mere yards away. After taking a few moments to compose himself, the soldier squeezes the trigger of his PKM machine gun, presumably expecting to damage the hardware or perhaps set off a minor explosion to render it inoperable. A split second later the missile launcher...