Free Republic

Sweden donated 10 of its best Strv 122 tanks to Ukraine. In two years of hard fighting, Russian forces have scored no fewer than 14 hits on the 63-ton, four-person tanks—possibly meaning all 10 of the tanks have been damaged, some more than once. Incredibly, most of the tanks—up-armored Swedish variants of the German-made Leopard 2A5—are still operational, according to one detailed accounting. The tanks’ durability is testimony to German and Swedish engineering and the courage and ingenuity of Ukrainian engineers who must tow damaged tanks off the battlefield for repairs. The add-on armor works. One up-armored Leopard 1A5 recently...

"BERLIN—President Trump’s embrace of Russia is causing Europeans to rethink their security and giving currency to an idea the U.S. has long sought to avoid: a nuclear-armed Germany. Friedrich Merz, who is poised to become Germany’s next chancellor, said Berlin should start talks about expanding the French and British nuclear deterrents to cover Europe, according to an interview the conservative politician did with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung weekly. .... On the nuclear side, researchers and some politicians say Berlin’s fastest route to rebuilding a deterrent could be to replicate its arrangement with the U.S. This could see French nuclear bombers...

The Russia-Ukraine War: It Should Never Have Started Three years ago, I went on Fox News to give my assessment of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In that segment, I pointed out to host Trace Galligher that the reason for the invasion was the prospect of NATO expansion into Ukraine. Even as the invasion was mere hours old, I argued that if the Ukrainian government “would finally just make a deal that they’re not going to go into NATO, that will probably be enough for” Putin to end the war. --SNIP-- NATO: The Spark for the Russia vs. Ukraine War?...

On February 9, the players, coaches and owners of either the Philadelphia Eagles or Kansas City Chiefs will win a coveted Super Bowl ring. The rings, which are understood to cost between $30,000 (£24,000) and $50,000 (£40,000), are widely considered to be one of the most iconic and beautiful awards in sport today. Few people are more familiar with the gleaming pieces of jewellery than New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who watched his iconic side win six Super Bowls. Yet, the multi-billionaire only has five rings, as Russian president Vladimir Putin has the other one. Kraft, 83, visited Russia...

A Russian intelligence-gathering vessel caught fire and temporarily lost control off the Syrian coast on Janaury 23, according to Associated Press (AP). The Kildin, a Russian spy ship equipped with surveillance technology, was seen emitting black smoke and flames as it drifted, prompting an urgent maritime radio warning to nearby vessels. The Associated Press obtained audio of the broadcast, as well as video and photographs of the incident. “Warship on your course,” the Russian Captain said. “I am drifting. I’m not under command.” The videos, taken by three NATO military officials, were collected by a nearby NATO vessel. These officials...

GERMAN DEMISE: Unless Germany takes an additional credit of 12-15 billion Euros, due to Ukraine, the government will have to cut: - Pensions - Road maintenance and construction - Railway maintenance and construction - Health spending - Health insurance spending ...

NATO fighter planes were scrambled today amid a brutal Russian missile and military drone onslaught on civilian, energy and military sites in Ukraine. Harrowing footage showed residents in Poltava screaming after a strike destroyed ordinary apartment blocks triggering fires amid the debris of smashed buildings. The wave of attacks by Vladimir Putin - which led to power cuts in multiple regions - came soon after Donald Trump announced in the Oval Office that his administration was actively talking to Moscow. “We are having very serious discussions about that war, trying to get it ended,” said the US president. On whether...

The payments no longer attracting Russians like they did before. Foreigners from Africa and Asia, however, are now making up half of all applicants at the Moscow center, Verstka reports. Sources from the mayor’s office say there is no evidence that the foreigners are being purposefully shipped into the capital as part of a deal between Russia and other nations. Instead, the foreigners appeared to be lured by other fighters who boasted about the payments and the ability to gain combat experience fighting with Russia. One man, who said he was from Bangladesh, said he went to the recruitment center...

Conservative commentator Tucker Carlson has stirred controversy once again by alleging that the Biden administration attempted to assassinate Russian President Vladimir Putin. In a provocative statement made during his Monday podcast, The Tucker Carlson Show, the former Fox News host suggested that the U.S. government had tried to eliminate Putin without offering any supporting evidence. "The Biden administration did, they tried to kill Putin," Carlson boldly claimed. When his guest, journalist Matt Taibbi, expressed surprise, Carlson insisted, "Yes, yes, they did, which is insane." His remarks, made in a casual tone, sparked immediate backlash, given the lack of any concrete...

A top ally of Russian president Vladimir Putin has advised him to remove Vladimir Lenin's body from a mausoleum in Moscow in order to seal his legacy as Moscow's leader. Alexander Dugin, a far-right political philosopher, has advised the president to remove Lenin's body from the burial site in order to "make room there for the real Emperor" and make other changes to the mausoleum, according to the Telegram post by the account Kremlin Snuffbox. -snip- The Russian philosopher also reportedly advised Putin to make improvements to the mausoleum by rebuilding the structure, decorating it with military trophies accumulated during...

DRAMATIC footage shows the moment people fled as a huge fireball explosion ripped through a major Russian oil refinery. Ukrainian forces blasted the Rostneft Oil Refinery in Ryazan with long-range kamikaze drones last night in the latest blow for Vladimir Putin. Towering flames and huge plumes of smoke could be seen rising from the site in footage shared on social media. People ran from the scene as the inferno raged. At least 20 drones targeted the Ryazan region, southeast of Moscow, overnight - striking the depot and a power station. Regional governor Pavel Malkov said emergency services were tackling the...

President Trump re-upped his claim that Russia stole the plan for hypersonic missiles during the Obama administration. “Russia stole the design, they got it from us,” Mr. Trump said in an interview with Fox News’s Sean Hannity. Part two of the interview, his first since taking the reins at the White House, was aired Thursday night. “Some bad person gave them the design,” he said, adding that the United States will have super hypersonic missiles “which is even a step better.”

Several explosions were reported in Russia overnight as a result of a massive drone attack, with extraordinary images showing the night sky being lit up by fierce flames. Astonishing footage circulating online shows huge blazes enveloping the Ryazan Oil Refining Company as well as the nearby Novo-Ryazan Thermal Power Plant. Regional Governor Pavel Malkov confirmed a drone attack had targeted the region in the early hours of Friday, and added that a private home in Ryazan caught fire due to an air strike. He said the fire has already been extinguished, and there are no casualties. The governor added drones...

VLADIMIR Putin's snarling mouthpieces have launched a furious tirade at the West after Donald Trump’s “end-the-war” ultimatum. Kremlin propagandists have shockingly called on Vlad to nuke London and blitz through the battlefield in spite of global ceasefire hopes. Trump threw the gauntlet squarely at Vlad's feet just days into his presidency as he ordered the dictator to bring the raging conflict to a halt. The Republican stalwart threatened Russia with financial ruin through increased sanctions, tariffs and taxes if Putin failed to stop the “ridiculous” war. Henchmen for the despot didn't take kindly to Trump's clear and concise warnings and...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned allies that the defense of his nation is a litmus test for broader Western resolve, after Russia fired at least 117 missiles and drones in an overnight attack on the country's energy infrastructure facilities. Zelenskyy and his top officials have repeatedly demanded that NATO allies do more to bolster Ukraine's air defense umbrella, with the country struggling through a third consecutive winter of massed Russian attacks on the national energy grid. The latest Russian barrage came after a record-breaking night of Ukrainian drone attacks in Western Russia, in which Kyiv's forces said they hit a...

Russia’s military on Tuesday said it would retaliate against Ukraine after Kyiv attacked Russian regions by firing six US-made ATACMS ballistic missiles, six UK-made Storm Shadow cruise missiles and launching one of the biggest drone attacks to date. After Ukraine first launched ATACMS and British Storm Shadow missiles into Russia last year, Moscow responded on Nov. 21 by launching a new intermediate-range hypersonic ballistic missile known as “Oreshnik”, or Hazel Tree, at Ukraine. “The actions of the Kyiv regime, supported by its Western curators, will not go unanswered,” the defence ministry said. The Ukrainian General Staff said it had struck...

This is the dramatic moment Ukraine uses British Storm Shadow missiles to eliminate two top Kremlin officers in a dramatic double strike across the Russian border. The strike on a key Russian command post in the Kursk region by half a dozen Ukrainian-deployed precision Storm Shadow missiles 'killed eight and wounded 22' in a major blow to tyrant President Vladimir Putin. Chaotic footage showed the strike on Lgov targeting a building used by Russian serviceman, and today it was revealed that the lives of two colonels were lost to the blast. Lieutenant-Colonel Valery Tereshchenko, chief of communications of the elite...

Russian gas supplies to Europe via Ukraine are to end on Wednesday, when a five-year deal between Ukraine's gas transit operator Naftogaz and Russia's Gazprom expires... (had given the EU a year to prepare)... ...The European Commission said the continent's gas system was "resilient and flexible" and that it had sufficient capacity to cope with the end of transit via Ukraine... ...Russia has transported gas to Europe through Ukraine since 1991... ...Once the Ukrainian transit route is cut off, the Black Sea's TurkStream - which reaches Turkey, Hungary and Serbia - will be the only (pipeline) Russian gas supply to...

Vladimir Putin has promised ‘further destruction’ of Ukraine after a Russian oil field was destroyed by a ‘massive’ drone strike overnight. Video footage of the strike shows the oil field erupting in an enormous explosion after the drone attack, lighting up the sky with apocalyptic yellow and orange as Russian air defences seek to defend the strategic depot. The Steel Horse facility supplies Vladimir Putin’s armed forces in Ukraine, and links to the Druzhba pipeline which sends Russian oil to Europe.

There is no information made public that can tell what exploded inside the military boundaries south of the headquarters of Russia's Northern Fleet. A video recording was posted Wednesday evening on social media in Murmansk of what appears to be a massive explosion in the horizon. The Barents Observer has geolocated the filming position from Skalnaya street No. 9, which is on the top of the hill in Oktyabrskiy District. The explosion, which lasts only a few seconds, can be seen in a distance of several kilometers to the north. Here are dozens of military objects, including the Severomorsk-1 naval...