Free Republic

Vladimir Putin has not changed his war aims a jot since 2022 and remains determined on fighting on. Donald Trump has no new plan for peace other than bringing the Ukraine war to an end on Putin’s terms. And Kyiv is running out of money and men to defend itself, just as surely as it has already run out of Patriot interceptors to defend its skies against the Kremlin’s barrages. Those are the three depressing takeaways from the latest round of shuttle diplomacy in Moscow and Kyiv by Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and special envoy Steve Witkoff. On the eve...

When a group of European officials arrived in Kyiv to mark Ukraine’s Independence Day last month, they got some worrying news. The European Union, a key backer, had earlier this year finalized a loan of more than $100 billion for the country. But Ukraine now faced an unexpectedly large defense budget shortfall, President Volodymyr Zelensky told allies. To get through the year, he would need $27 billion more. Europeans understand Ukraine is in a fight for its existence but did not expect such a large budget shortfall, according to four European diplomats who, like others quoted in this piece, spoke...

Ukraine thinks Russia is planning ​to draft an additional 300,000 troops for its war effort after Russian parliamentary elections in mid-September, Ukrainian President ‌Volodymyr Zelenskiy said. Moscow's forces are pressing ahead with an effort to capture the rest of eastern Ukraine's industrialised Donbas region, where its troops have ground forward at what Kyiv says is a great cost. In comments to reporters released on Sunday, Zelenskiy said Russia could draft more ​troops in 2027 to reach an overall goal of 500,000, part of what he described as a "peripheral mobilisation" ​targeting Russia's far-flung regions. "We believe it will not take...

Andrey Klepach, one of Russia’s top economists, has been replaced as chief economist of the country’s national development bank shortly after a speech was made public in which he reportedly said Russia’s economy was being damaged by the war in Ukraine. Russia’s state news agency TASS confirmed Sunday that Klepach “no longer holds the position of chief economist at VEB,” one of Russia’s largest banks, but did not give a reason for his departure. A new candidate has been selected and will be appointed soon, TASS added. VEB repeated the same statement to CNN. That announcement came two days after...

Ukraine on Sunday launched one of its largest aerial attacks on Russia since the start of the war, firing hundreds of drones and killing at least six people. A separate attack sparked a fire at a warehouse owned by the Russian online retail giant Wildberries in the town of Podolsk.

State-owned VEB.RF (Vnesheconombank) has stated that Russia cannot win the economic confrontation with the West as long as Western countries continue to support Ukraine. According to him, the Russian economy is facing rising costs, falling investment, and technological lag, reports The Moscow Times. The bank's chief economist, Andrei Klepach, said during a session of the Nikitsky Club that sanctions and the Western blockade are increasing the costs of the Russian economy, and that Ukrainian strikes on ports, infrastructure, chemical plants, and oil refineries are causing ever-greater damage to Russia. Klepach stated that Russia is losing the technological and economic competition...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine has just a tenth of interceptor missiles it needs from the US to defend itself from Russia’s increased ballistic missile attacks. CNN’s Nick Paton Walsh reports from Kyiv.

The Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman stressed that Russian armed forces were capable of significantly extending their operations beyond the borders of the Black Sea basinMOSCOW, August 12. /TASS/. Russia has the right to attack any merchant ship in neutral waters if it is transporting cargo in the interests of the enemy, Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev stated. "The vast majority of Western European ships also sail under flags of convenience. So what does that mean? It means that, guided by a fair, symmetrical approach, Russia has the right to attack any merchant vessel of an enemy country...

Russia launched a massive strike on Odesa overnight, according to Ukrainian emergency services. The strikes caused extensive damage and fires in several districts of the city, they said. Preliminary reports indicate eight people were injured. A block of flats and two houses were set alight. Meanwhile, in Kharkiv, firefighters rescued seven people from the upper floors of a high-rise building after Russian strikes caused floors to collapse between the 7th and 10th floors.

The House Foreign Affairs subcommittee chair invoked nearly $200 billion in U.S. support as attacks around Kazakhstan’s principal oil-export route forced production cuts and sharpened questions about Europe’s response. Representative Bill Huizenga has warned that further strikes affecting the Caspian Pipeline Consortium terminal will not be tolerated, explicitly linking Ukraine’s obligation to protect legitimate allied energy exports with the scale of American support for Kyiv. Huizenga, a Michigan Republican who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on South and Central Asia, was asked by The Times of Central Asia what immediate diplomatic steps the administration should take to safeguard Kazakhstan’s...

Summary Russian officials say at least seven people, including three children, have been killed by a Ukrainian drone on a beach in south-west Russia - BBC Verify examines footage It's not clear if the drone was intercepted before landing on the beach. It has been reported it may have been targeting a Russian naval base about 25 miles (40 km) away - Ukraine has not commented The area has long been a favourite of Russian holidaymakers, says our Europe reporter Earlier, an apparent Ukrainian drone strike hit a warehouse belonging to Russia's largest online retailer Wildberries, around 112 miles east...

Ukraine has said it carried out overnight strikes deep inside Russia, hitting a major oil refinery and an airfield that houses Russian strategic aviation. President Volodymyr Zelensky said the Engels airfield and the refinery, both in the Saratov region some 600km (373miles) from Ukraine's border, were hit. An oil depot was also struck in Kaluga region and a drone launch site in Bryansk. Russia said eight people were killed in the Ukrainian strikes, and 635 drones shot down or intercepted. It also reported yet another strike on a warehouse of Russia's biggest online retailer Wildberries. Meanwhile, Moscow said its forces...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday that Russia is preparing to bring an additional 30,000 North Korean troops into its war against Ukraine, a move that would dramatically expand Pyongyang's direct involvement in the conflict if confirmed. "We also see Russia's cooperation with North Korea. Russia wants to bring in another 30,000 North Korean troops," Zelensky said in his nightly video address, according to Reuters. He added that preparations to receive the troops had been underway since June in Russia's Voronezh region. The claim comes nearly two years after North Korea first sent troops to support Moscow under a growing...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said a ceasefire would be the best possible outcome if it helps save Ukrainian lives. He also said US President Donald Trump now understands that Russia, not Ukraine, is the side unwilling to end the war, Zelenskyy said in an interview with American far-right blogger Laura Loomer. Ceasefire is preferable to a prolonged war President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine's top priority is saving lives, which makes a potential ceasefire a better scenario than a multi-year war for the sake of military victory. According to Zelenskyy, Ukraine has not abandoned its goal of winning the war, but...

From the outside, this was shaping up as a strong year for wartime Ukraine. Ukrainian drones are burning Russia’s refineries and starving occupied Crimea of fuel. Moscow’s summer offensive has stalled on most parts of the front, and Ukraine is taking back territory. In Washington, a president who spent last year berating Kyiv has warmed to it again. But suddenly last week, President Volodymyr Zelensky dismantled what looked like a winning team — removing his popular defense minister, his prime minister and, late Tuesday, the acclaimed commander in chief of his armed forces. Zelensky, the comedian turned president who has...

Protests broke out across Ukraine Thursday after President Volodymyr Zelensky fired his defense minister to allegedly appease his top military general, with troops warning that the political spat could spell doom in the front lines. Zelensky’s Wednesday night decision to fire the tech-savvy Mykhailo Fedorov, 35, resulted in demonstrations across the country and even the resignation of a senior air force commander. While he was only appointed in January, Fedorov has been credited for accelerating the Ukrainian drone program, which has decimated Russia’s forces and kept the invading army largely at bay in 2026. Fedorov lamented the fallout and claimed...

A satellite image has confirmed the destruction of the Russian border patrol ship Izumrud, Ukraine's Navy announced on July 14. The service published the imagery on its official Telegram channel, showing the vessel wrecked alongside a quay wall. "We continue to reduce the potential of the Russian aggressor at sea," the Navy wrote. Ukrainian forces struck the Izumrud with a Sargan-3000 uncrewed maritime system near Novorossiysk. The Navy reported that members of the Russian crew were killed and wounded, without disclosing precise figures. Launched in 2014, the Izumrud was a second-rank border patrol ship operated by Russia's Federal Security Service....

A Russian soldier narrowly escaped being killed after an improvised anti-drone weapon malfunctioned during a live-fire test, sending thousands of rounds spraying across a military training ground.

Russia’s lower-house State Duma on Wednesday passed sweeping legislation tying the legal status of migrant workers and their families to their financial earnings. Under the bills, migrant workers must prove they earn enough to support themselves and dependents according to official subsistence levels set by federal and regional governments. Falling short, or becoming unemployed, triggers non-renewal or annulment of their temporary low-skilled work “patents,” followed by deportation within 15 days. Migrants will also face a mandatory fixed advance income tax for themselves and each family member. Foreign dependents may remain in Russia only for the duration of the primary worker’s...

Ukraine's president plans to use the Nato meeting in Turkey to urge Kyiv's allies to deliver the air defence systems it urgently needs to protect it from escalating Russian attacks. Volodymyr Zelensky's call for help rings with extra intensity after Russian missiles rained down on the Ukrainian capital twice in less than a week, crashing into blocks of flats and killing more than 50 civilians. The summit in Ankara will also be a chance for Zelensky to hold a crucial meeting with Donald Trump and press home his case that Russia's "brutal" attacks are a show of weakness, not strength,...