Free Republic

President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday formally lowered the threshold for Russia’s use of its nuclear weapons, a move that follows U.S. President Joe Biden’s decision to let Ukraine strike targets inside Russian territory with American-supplied longer-range missiles. The new doctrine allows for a potential nuclear response by Moscow even to a conventional attack on Russia by any nation that is supported by a nuclear power. Russia’s Defense Ministry said Ukraine fired six U.S.-made ATACMS missiles early Tuesday at a military facility in Russia's Bryansk region that borders Ukraine, adding that air defenses shot down five of them and damaged one...

Ukraine has carried out its first strike on Russian territory with US-supplied long-range missiles just days after the Biden administration gave Kyiv the green light despite fears it could escalate the conflict beyond control. A fiery explosion at an ammunition depot in Karachev around 75 miles from the Ukrainian border in Russia's Bryansk region lit up the night sky early this morning on what is the 1,000th day of war in Ukraine. Eyewitnesses along with Russian and Ukrainian military bloggers first reported the attack, with anonymous Ukrainian military officials later telling RBC Ukraine the strike was conducted with the US-manufactured...

Germany's leading energy expert says she's living in a nightmare. What's worse, she saw it coming. Germany had vowed to ditch coal but is now restarting mothballed, coal-fired power stations For 15 years Claudia Kemfert says she tried to warn politicians and the public that the country was too reliant on Russian energy. Until recently Germany bought more than half of its gas from Russia. She advised Berlin to find other sources and focus more on renewables. And she warned against the construction of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline through which Germany receives much of its gas. "That's what I...

Russian President Vladimir Putin can afford to cut off natural-gas exports to Europe thanks to ample revenues from other commodities, but such a move would come with longer-term risks for Russia’s sanctions-stricken economy and its prolific energy industry. Earlier this week, Moscow resumed gas supplies via the Nord Stream pipeline after annual maintenance ended, easing worries in Europe that Mr. Putin would further crimp exports at a time when the continent is filling up its storage ahead of winter. The restarted pipeline, however, is pumping at just 40% capacity, after a separate, still-unresolved technical issue that Moscow blames on Western...

Sanctions are hitting Russian families at the grocery store as food prices rise amid surging inflation, which is already running at double the rate of the West. Consumers are falling further behind as wages stagnate in a slowing economy. The situation is expected to get worse as inventories run down, sanctions take effect and buyers adopt strategies that could push inflation higher.