Free Republic

Donald Trump says he would build an “impenetrable dome” to protect the US from nuclear missile attacks as he also claimed he could end the Russian invasion of Ukraine “within 24 hours.” The one-term president released a video saying that foreign powers were now openly “using the nuclear word all the time” because “they have no respect for our leadership.” Mr Trump added that “it is a word you are never allowed to use” and insisted it had never been said when he was in the White House. ... The video came a day after Mr Trump took to Truth...

Russia launched 16 "kamikaze" drones into Ukraine overnight, Kyiv's military said on Friday, a day after Moscow fired dozens of missiles in its latest barrage against Ukrainian critical infrastructure....An administrative building in the city was partially destroyed, according to Serhiy Popko, head of Kyiv's military administration, who also said there was no information about any casualties.Russia has launched numerous waves of drone and missile strikes against Ukraine since mid-October, heavily damaging its energy infrastructure and forcing planned and emergency power outages.

After nearly 10 months of war, but referring to the brutal invasion of Ukraine instead as “a special military operation,” Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday finally called it a “war” for the first time, setting off an uproar among antiwar Russians who have been prosecuted for merely challenging the Kremlin-approved euphemism. “Our goal is not to spin this flywheel of a military conflict, but, on the contrary, to end this war,” Putin said during a televised news conference following a government meeting on Thursday. “This is what we are striving for.” ...Putin has alternately said that he is seeking...

NATO's head said earlier this month that Russia may want the fighting to slow, seeking a "freeze" in the fighting so it can better prepare for a bigger assault next year. "What we see now is Russia is actually trying to have some kind of 'freeze' of this war at least for a short period of time so they can regroup, repair, recover," NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said. "And then try to launch a bigger offensive next spring." The UK Ministry of Defence predicted on Monday that Russian forces will not see any big gains over the winter, even...

Dzhankoy, a rail and road hub in northern Crimea, 50 miles south of the Ukrainian mainland, was a critical node in Russia’s supply network before September, when Ukrainian forces launched a counteroffensive that ultimately liberated much of Russian-occupied southern Ukraine. Now, as Russian field armies reposition on the left bank of the Dnipro River, just south of the newly-liberated port city of Kherson, Dzhankoy is even more important to the Russian war effort. The Kremlin is reorganizing its supply network for the southern front. Dzhankoy is at the center of the new network. Ukrainian planners know this. So it should...