Free Republic

Beneath Moldova's soaring parliament building, a parade of its most precarious file slowly past - bussed in by the thousand from across the country, each with their private tale of poverty and frustration. "When we elected this government, they promised to raise salaries and pensions, but so far we haven't seen a penny," she says. Sunday's protests, organised by Moldova's pro-Russian Sor party, are being closely watched by governments across Europe and beyond. Most protesters travelled to the capital city Chisinau by bus, with their costs reportedly covered by the Sor party. Moldova, strategically located on the border with Ukraine,...

After the 2014 coup in Kiev the dully elected President Yanukovich had fled the country. His supporters in parliament were afraid and would no show up for further assemblies. The incoming U.S. selected government immediately set out to suppress the Russian speaking parts of Ukraine. The first move of the rump parliament, now dominated by right-wing people from west Ukraine, was to prohibit the Russian language for official business. The ethnic Russian population in the east and southeast was opposed to the coup and rebelled against it. The new government tried to oppress it by military means. But a lot...

The former commanding US general in Europe, Ben Hodges, has told DW that the West should provide Kyiv with fighter jets. He said that providing Ukraine with the planes could lead to a victory for Kyiv within the year. The former commanding general of the United States Army in Europe, Ben Hodges, said that Ukraine could achieve a quick victory if the West provided swift help with fighter jets. He predicted that the defeat of Russia could otherwise take three to five years, given the current level of Western support. What the former general said "The sooner we deliver them...

Spiritual support and health of the troops is a priority for the ROC.The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) is hoping to boost the number of priests acting as chaplains in the special military zone, and has petitioned the government for the "regularization" of the status of military priests, establishing the subordination of military priests to their hierarchy, (right now the priest is fully accountable to the commander of his military unit) and introducing social benefits and guarantees for chaplains, similar to those that already apply to contract servicemen. Vakhtang Kipshidze, Deputy Head of the Synodal Department for Church, Society, and Media...

In contrast to the uplifting statements of the top Ukrainian leadership and Yermak's publications about the "task to reach the borders of 1991 by military means", the Ukrainian military personnel stationed in Bakhmut (Artyomovsk) are sounding a real alarm. The statement of the former deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, and now an officer of the 72nd brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Igor Lutsenko is published on the network. This statement attracts special attention, since it (as Lutsenko himself writes) is firsthand, from Ukrainian soldiers stationed in Bakhmut:"The 30th brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine near...

KYIV (Reuters) -Ukraine sowed confusion on Monday about whether its defence minister would be replaced, creating doubts about the leadership of its war effort just as it braces for an expected Russian offensive.The questions over Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov were the first public sign of serious disarray in Ukraine's wartime leadership.A day after announcing that Reznikov would be sidelined, a top ally of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy appeared to row back, saying no changes would be made this week.David Arakhamia, chief of the parliamentary bloc of Zelenskiy's party, had said the 37-year-old head of military intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, would replace Reznikov,...

Oleg Matveychev said "ultra-patriots" could overthrow Putin over his army's performance. "The situation is not so critical yet, but 2023 will be very dangerous," Matveychev said. Oleg Matveychev — an MP with Russia's largest political party, United Russia, which backs Putin — said in an interview that the biggest threat to Putin is now supporters of the Ukraine war who are unhappy with the progress of the conflict, The Times of London reported. Matveychev said that "ultra-patriots" in the country will likely put forward a candidate to run against Putin in next year's presidential elections, when Putin is set to...

Perun analysis of Aid to Ukraine, 1 hour + video- "Aid to Ukraine has evolved dramatically since February 2022, and there are few topics that have attracted more constant press coverage away from the battlefield itself. So today I try and set out how aid has evolved, who the major contributors are, and the impact aid has had - and may have in 2023." 00:00:00 — Opening Words 00:01:43 — What Am I Talking About? 00:03:21 — From Korea to Afghanistan 00:04:47 — AID PRE-2022 00:05:00 — The Ukrainian Military of 2014 00:08:27 — Made in Ukraine (with some help)...

Classified documents, everywhere, and by everyone: Joe Biden, Hunter Biden, Mike Pence… and the list keeps growing. Now there are questions about Barack Obama, who took 30,000,000 documents to his Presidential library (it’s doubtful he even knows what he has) and who has ignored the National Archive’s requests for their return. This is just more evidence of what the American people have learned really exists: The Deep State. The Deep State successfully ousted Trump with constant leaks and political chicanery against a sitting president, all to foment distrust and dishonor, and to make his life and office a living Hades....

Ukrainian forces are unlikely to be able to recapture Crimea from Russian troops in the near future, four senior Defense Department officials told House Armed Services Committee lawmakers in a classified briefing. The assessment is sure to frustrate leaders in Kyiv who consider taking the peninsula back one of their signature goals. It’s unclear what led the briefers to that assessment. But the clear indication, as relayed by three people with direct knowledge of Thursday’s briefing’s contents, was that the Pentagon doesn’t believe Ukraine has — or soon will have — the ability to force Russian troops out of the...

President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed Friday that Ukrainians will fight “for as long as we can” to hold the key eastern city of Bakhmut, as Moscow ramps up pressure in the eastern region of Ukraine. “Nobody will give away Bakhmut,” Zelensky said during a meeting with European Union leaders. “We will fight for as long as we can. We consider Bakhmut our fortress.” “If weapon (supplies) are accelerated, specifically long-range weapons, not only will we not abandon Bakhmut but we will also begin to remove the occupiers from the Donbas, which was occupied since 2014,” he president added. Moscow says its...

Days ago marked 50 years since the signing of the Paris Peace Accords which effectively ended American participation in the Vietnam war. One of the consequences, according to Georgetown University international affairs scholar Charles Kupchan, was that an “isolationist impulse” made a “significant comeback in response to the Vietnam War, which severely strained the liberal internationalist consensus.” As the Cold War historian John Lamberton Harper points out, President Jimmy Carter’s hawkish Polish-born national security adviser, Zbigniew Brzezinski, scorned his intra-administration rival, the cautious, gentlemanly secretary of state Cyrus Vance as “a nice man but burned by Vietnam.” Indeed, Vance and...

Ukraine and Russia are fighting a "First World War-like" battle for the city of Bakhmut as casualties pile up on both sides, western officials have said. But Britain said on Tuesday it was "not practical" to supply fighter jets despite the assessment of western analysts that the war is entering a stalemate. Ukraine is pushing Nato members to supply their jets after US President Joe Biden ruled out sending F-16s. Kyiv and Moscow are believed to be planning spring offensives as the war's anniversary approaches. The eastern city of Bakhmut has been the site of heavy fighting as Ukraine awaits...

Russia is flouting its obligations under a major arms control treaty with the United States, according to State Department officials. “Russia is not complying with its obligation under the New START Treaty to facilitate inspection activities on its territory,” a State Department spokesman said Tuesday. "Russia’s refusal to facilitate inspection activities prevents the United States from exercising important rights under the treaty and threatens the viability of U.S.-Russian nuclear arms control.” Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s team outlined that breakdown in a notification to key congressional leaders on Tuesday. The assessment points to the degeneration of the last major arms...

A Russian company today said it will offer five million roubles (£58,000) in cash to the first soldiers who destroy or capture Western tanks in Ukraine after the Kremlin vowed that any allied armoured vehicles shipped to Kyiv would 'burn'. The United States, Germany and more Western allies are lining up to join Britain in sending dozens of heavy tanks to Ukraine over the next few months to help boost the country's military capacity as the war approaches the 12-month mark. The decision by the NATO allies has been criticised by the Kremlin as a dangerous esclation, with Moscow warning...

WASHINGTON, Jan 31 (Reuters) - The United States is readying more than $2 billion worth of military aid for Ukraine that is expected to include longer-range rockets for the first time as well as other munitions and weapons, two U.S. officials briefed on the matter told Reuters on Tuesday.The weapons aid is expected to be announced as soon as this week, the officials said. It is also expected to include support equipment for Patriot air defense systems, precision guided munitions and Javelin anti-tank weapons, they added.One of the officials said a portion of the package, expected to be $1.725 billion,...

Austria and Hungary agree on not sending weapons to Ukraine, Austrian Defence Minister Klaudia Tanner and her Hungarian counterpart Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky said at a meeting in Budapest on Monday, stressing their close cooperation. Austria and Hungary’s position regarding the war in Ukraine is clear, as both countries are not sending weapons to the conflict area to prevent a further escalation, Tanner and Szalay-Bobrovniczky stated during a joint press conference. They would be on the side of peace, Szalay-Bobrovniczky stressed, while providing humanitarian aid to war refugees. Close cooperation would be the most important as “we live in a time of...

Austria and Hungary have agreed not to send military assistance to Ukraine, Austrian Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner and her Hungarian counterpart Kristof Szalay-Bobrovniczky said at a meeting in Budapest on Jan. 30, cited by Euractiv.According to the top officials, both countries' position regarding Russia's war against Ukraine is "clear" as they don't provide Ukraine with defense assistance "to prevent a further escalation."Szalay-Bobrovniczky added that Hungary would only supply humanitarian aid to Ukrainian refugees fleeing the war.President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video address on Jan. 29 that it is important for Ukraine to continue receiving military support from partners at...

The former vice president added: "If the armed forces do not have the ability to conduct strategic offensive operations, then it is better not to try, especially outside your own country... People are dying senselessly, although the slogan is 'Defend Russia.' Where are they defending Russia? What are they dying for....? Who has the right to take a father away from his children? Who gave the right to take away sons from mothers and fathers? Nobody." During the same talk, Rutskoy took aim at Russian President Vladimir Putin, calling him a "laughingstock" for not carrying out certain military intentions, citing...

This isn't Russia's latest tank (that would be the T14 Armata)The T90M appears to be the latest that they can actually put out in the field in numbers, as of now. It includes many of the Armata features. But the kicker is this. About six or seven months ago HoHo MOD Ichabod Zapoopski (or whatever his name was) stated that he needed an entire new army including around 300 - 400 main battle tanks. Russian MOD Shoigu OTOH has just announced that Russian forces will shortly be receiving around 400 BRAND NEW military vehicles including some large number of these...