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The disappearance of top Russian generals dating back to September has sparked questions about their whereabouts amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. Russian and Ukrainian forces have presented different public findings since the purported death of Russian Admiral Viktor Sokolov, who Kyiv said was one of 34 Russian officers killed in late September by a missile strike executed against the headquarters of the Russian Navy's Black Sea fleet in annexed Crimea. Sokolov was viewed by Ukrainian forces as a high-value target. The lack of visibility by Russia's top general, Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, has additionally caused wonderment regarding...

Lavrov said on Thursday that Moldova, an Eastern European country and former Soviet republic, is putting itself in harm's way in its desire to join the European Union. In June 2022, the EU and its member states offered unwavering support for Moldova and granted it candidate status. The support was reaffirmed in March of this year, with the EU and its members promising to continue to provide security and economic support to Moldova as it awaits its path to accession... On Thursday, the Moldova Foreign Ministry issued a rebuke to Lavrov's comments, calling Russia's invasion of Ukraine "brutal" and saying...

"As part of the mass media and political campaign for continued mass immigration to Sweden, it has become increasingly common in recent years to claim that Sweden has always been multi-ethnic and that the early Swedes did not in fact look anything like today's light-skinned Swedes—but more like sub-Saharan Africans—an 'educational campaign' spearheaded by SVT itself," The Nordic Times wrote in an editorial in June

Russian President Vladimir Putin is being mocked online for flubbing the name of the president of Kazakhstan during a formal meeting with the ally. -snip- videos posted on social media have centered on Putin, who has been a focus of controversy regarding his purported health issues, and his mispronunciation of Tokayev's name. Putin, surrounded by delegates at a large table and broadcast on Russian television, can be seen stuttering during introductory remarks. "Putin had a hard time pronouncing the name of the President of Kazakhstan," wrote Anton Gerashchenko, adviser to Ukraine's minister of internal affairs, on X, formerly Twitter. "This...

A Russian commander who fought against Ukraine since the war's inception has been killed in action in the Donbas region. Yevgeny Pisarenko, commander of the Chechen armed formation known as Akhmat, was pronounced dead on Monday by two fellow soldiers. He went by the nickname "Big," which also translates to "The Great" in a Russian context. "Thanks to the parents who raised such a Hero...A BIG man with a BIG heart!" Akhmat unit commander Apta Alaudinov wrote on Telegram

Poland has stepped up in terms of protecting its own borders as well as recently providing the Ukrainian Armed Forces with weapons and aircraft. Last week, Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said his nation would place U.S. HIMARS rocket artillery systems near its border with Russia's Kaliningrad region for the rest of the 2023 calendar year...Poland's increased security and defense is a big reason why, Middtun added, citing its announcement to increase defense spending from 2.4 percent to 4 percent of GDP. The country also aspires to build "the largest land army in Europe."

The Russian army's reported military advances in the Ukrainian city of Vuhledar could shore up strategic advantages in the Donbas region for all of 2023. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday warned that Russia "is preparing for a new wave of aggression" coinciding with new assaults on Vuhledar as well as Bakhmut. His apprehension has been compounded by additional reports of small squad-sized Russian assault groups of 10 to 15 troops launching "limited ground attacks" on two main sectors of the front line—in central Zaporizhzhia and in Vuhledar in the western Donetsk oblast, according to the Institute for the Study...

Russia's war against Ukraine should "culminate" by the summer of 2023 Retired Major John Spencer told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's Georgian service that he doesn't share the opinion that the war will last for years, due to Ukraine's strength on the battlefield and support from Western allies. Russian President Vladimir Putin's initial strategy of overtaking Kyiv in April was a failure, Spencer said, followed by another unsuccessful attempt to alienate Ukrainian allies. Russia's continued attacks on critical Ukrainian infrastructure to literally "freeze" Ukraine and its people are "futile," he said. "I think it's clear that Putin is not going to...

Thousands of Russian troops have already died in the continued battle of Bakhmut, according to a Ukrainian close to the action. Serhiy Haidai, governor of the Russian-occupied Luhansk region, said Monday on his Telegram page that the city under the Ukrainian flag has become a new military home for Russian paratroopers who were transferred from Kherson and are now fighting in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions. Mobilized troops who trained for two months in the Russian Federation "can only slightly halt the offensive of the [Ukraine] Armed Forces," he added, saying "they will not change the general picture." "It is...

A new video of an allegedly intoxicated Vladimir Putin discussing the Russia-Ukraine war has been viewed over 820,000 times on Twitter. -snip- Anna Nemtsova, a journalist based in Moscow, tweeted that Putin's alleged intoxication is a first during his time in office. "We've seen many staged photo&video shoots in 20 Years including half-naked Putin on a horse or diving for some Greek jugs,Putin flying w migratory birds or kissing a boy on the stomach but drunk speeches about Russian missiles striking neighbouring state must be Putin's own act," she tweeted. CBC journalist Evan Dyer called it "very strange to see...

Barnes, 32, is an Iraq War veteran who served one tour over a decade ago. "There is such an insane loss of life. It's like Iraq and Afghanistan had nothing on this isolated combat, driving around waiting for someone to shoot at us. I thought I knew what war was. No, no, no. That's not war. This is war." UNIQUE CULTURE "The culture, the people—it was the stoicism. I really respected the stoicism, but also respected that as soon as they let you in, it was nothing but family. I really respected their willingness to fight for what they believed...

Claims made by Russian President Vladimir Putin that the United States is intentionally prolonging the Russia-Ukraine conflict may not be as implausible... Sean Spoonts, a U.S. Navy veteran and editor-in-chief of Special Operations Forces Report (SOFREP), told Newsweek that President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky seem to have separate policy goals in mind. "It seems like while Ukraine would like to end the war quickly and decisively defeat Russian forces and drive them out of their country, U.S. policy almost seems designed to prolong the conflict hoping to bring about the collapse of Russia itself, both militarily and...

ussian President Vladimir Putin on Monday touted a new era of weapon systems that he says are "decades ahead of their foreign counterparts" while his nation simultaneously faces a stiffer challenge than expected from Ukrainian forces. Putin's comments came as Pentagon officials estimate that between 70,000 and 80,000 Russian troops have either been killed or wounded in action since the Ukraine invasion began February 24. As Russia continues to lose not only soldiers but artillery, Putin maintains an optimistic outlook with Russian allies in Latin America, Asia and Africa that have "historically firm, friendly and truly trustworthy relations" and are...

Retired United States Marine Corps Colonel Mark Cancian predicts that the supply of High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) missiles provided by the U.S. to Ukraine to combat Russian aggression will be depleted within the next three or four months. "[Three to four months is] a pretty wild guess, but I don't think that's crazy," Cancian, a senior adviser with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Newsweek. "Some people have estimated a month or so. I don't think they're firing them that fast." "We will get to that point where the U.S. will have to reduce the number...