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If the cause of Ukraine is righteous, there is no reason to chill debate.It’s not exactly a sign of a healthy democratic discourse that it’s virtually impossible to ask a critical question about the United States’ role in the Ukraine-Russia conflict without being smeared as a Putin apologist or an “isolationist.” We’ve been bombarded with bromides about a civilizational struggle that pits the forces of autocracy and liberalism against each other. “It’s not just about freedom in Ukraine,” Biden tells us. “It’s about freedom of democracy at large.” Yet Ukraine — which, before the war, regularly slotted in somewhere beneath...

BERLIN — Nearly a month after Berlin gave European allies permission to send German-made tanks to Ukraine, the flow of tanks so many leaders vowed would follow seems more like a trickle.Some nations have discovered that the tanks in their armory don’t actually work or lack spare parts. Political leaders have encountered unanticipated resistance within their own coalitions, and even from their defense ministries. And some armies had to pull trainers out of retirement to teach Ukrainian soldiers how to use old-model tanks.The struggle to provide Leopard tanks to an embattled Ukraine is just the most glaring manifestation of a...

Here are a couple of big picture maps showing the current position of Russian and Ukrainian forces in Bakhmut and the surrounding area. As you can see the Russians (i.e., the Wagner Group) are making rapid advances after months of slow progress and appear to be on the verge of a tactical encirclement of the Ukrainian units. It is important to understand the terrain of the Bakhmut area. The photos below show a landscape that reminds me of the state I grew up in — Missouri. Rolling hills, farmland and light forest that surround small cities. The first photo is...

Some 10,000 to 20,000 troops comprising the Ukrainian army in Bakhmut are now trapped. Reports say that the city is operationally encircled with diminishing chance of a breakout. To the west of Bakhmut is a lot of open country and not much to prevent a Russian advance all the way to the Dnieper River. There is no hard evidence yet that the Ukrainian army has prepared a second line of defense. This means the way may be open for a possible major offensive by Russian forces. Whether that will happen and what Russia’s goals are remain to be seen. Most...

Guests: Joseph Friedberg Today on "Rock Rachon" we discuss the new major offensive of the Russian army in Ukraine. According to ISW the invaders regained initiative. We discuss this with our guest, one of the founders of Mriya Report mr. Joseph Friedberg. Mr. Friedberg discusses the movements on the fronts and the huge losses Ruskies are suffering.

Putin chillingly threatens 'response' if UK gives fighter jets to Ukraine: Kremlin sabre rattlers warn of 'military-political consequences for Europe and entire world' if Britain 'escalates' conflict - as Sunak tells Zelensky NOTHING is off the table President Volodymyr Zelensky pleaded for aircraft during a visit to Britain today But Russian Embassy in London has warned UK against supplying warplanes Vladimir Putin has threatened a 'response' involving 'military-political consequences' if the UK supplies planes to Ukraine in the fight against Russian forces. President Volodymyr Zelensky yesterday made his first visit to Britain since the outbreak of the invasion last year,...

Ramzan Kadyrov, the president of Chechnya whose troops are fighting for Moscow in Ukraine, has reportedly said that the war will end by the end of the year with Russian forces prevailing..."The West will kneel, and as usual, European states will have to cooperate in all areas with the Russian Federation," he said...The comments were made in an interview with Chechen minister Akhmed Dudayev, widely shared on Telegram and reported by news outlets such as Gazeta.ru...Kadyrov wrote that the "fight against Satanism should continue throughout Europe, first of all on the territory of Poland."

With Russia back on the offensive after significant Ukrainian combat successes around Kharkiv and Kherson in the second half of 2022, the past few weeks have been the bloodiest so far of an already bloody war, with both sides taking extraordinarily heavy casualties. Expect it to get worse.Ukrainian defence minister Oleksii Reznikov says Russia has mobilised “much more” than 300,000 troops, perhaps up to half a million, and these are pouring into Ukraine in preparation for what is expected to be a major offensive in the coming days and weeks. Although Kyiv has also been building up its forces and...

AZ 🛰🌏🌍🌎 @AZgeopolitics 🇷🇺⚔️🇺🇦☠️Ukrainian report form the Bakhmut "meat grinder":According to the journalist sources the life expectancy of a Ukrainian fresher there is just 4 hours. The Ukrainian official doubts, hesitates a few seconds and mumbles his opinion as an excuse. 7:30 AM · Feb 5, 2023 · 31.5K ViewsVideo at link

This list only includes destroyed vehicles and equipment of which photo or videographic evidence is available. Therefore, the amount of equipment destroyed is significantly higher than recorded here. Small arms, ATGMs, MANPADS, loitering munitions, drones used as unmanned bait, civilian vehicles, trailers and derelict equipment are not included in this list. All possible effort has gone into avoiding duplicate entries and discerning the status of equipment between captured or abandoned. Many of the entries listed as 'abandoned' will likely end up captured or destroyed. Similarly, some of the captured equipment might be destroyed if it can't be recovered. When the...

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was a tragedy and a crime, but it does not threaten American security. Even the Brookings Institution’s Robert Kagan, who has yet to find a war he doesn’t want the U.S. to fight—his new book blames America for not having stopped Adolf Hitler—admitted that Ukraine is not important for this country’s defense. Kagan was categorical: “There is no way that Putin’s conquest of Ukraine has any immediate or even distant effect on American security.” Yet he still supports Washington’s proxy war against Russia, like many others. Those who, like Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of...

In November 2013, Yanukovych refused to sign the long-awaited Association Agreement with the European Union, shortly thereafter receiving a loan from the Kremlin. His refusal to sign the agreement sparked protests all over the country, with the largest demonstration taking place in Kyiv on Independence Square, known in Ukrainian as Maidan Nezalezhnosti. The protests would turn into a revolution that lasted until February 2014, ending with Yanukovych fleeing to Russia.

Russia’s only aircraft carrier caught fire on Thursday, only a matter of months before it was meant to return to sea after lengthy repairs.The Admiral Kuznetsov was close to being released back to the Russian navy after years of repairs when it caught fire, Alexei Rakhmanov, head of the state-owned United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC), told Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency.“There has been a little problem during repairs,” Mr Rakhmanov said. “The blaze has been put out. All fire alarms worked normally. There are no casualties or damage.”About 20 people were evacuated from the ship that caught fire at the drydock...

President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that the Russian army must learn from and fix the problems it had suffered in Ukraine, promising to give the military whatever it needed to prosecute a war nearing the end of its 10th month. In a speech to defence chiefs in Moscow, Putin said there were no financial limits on what the government would provide in terms of equipment and hardware. "We have no funding restrictions. The country and the government are providing everything that the army asks for," he said. Putin acknowledged, not for the first time, that the call-up of 300,000...