Free Republic

fter barely six months in office, President Donald Trump has gone from peacemaker to warmonger. He attacked Iran and is threatening more strikes, bombarded Yemen’s Ansar Allah militants on behalf of Israel and Europe, is encouraging the former to conquer Gaza, and is increasing U.S. involvement in the Russia-Ukraine cataclysm.War with Russia is the most immediate danger. Its invasion of its neighbor was a tragedy, but requires U.S. avoidance, not involvement. Throughout most of America’s history, Ukraine has been ruled from Moscow. The Ukrainian people have long suffered under that relationship, but Washington never considered going to war on Kiev’s...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky promoted Colonel Andriy Biletsky to the rank of Brigadier General. Biletsky has said the purpose of the Ukrainian right is to fight the “Semitic-led untermenschen [subhumans].” “To confer the military rank of brigadier general on Colonel Andriy Yevhenovych Biletsky, commander of the 3rd Army Corps of the ‘East’ Operational Command of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” the presidential decree signed Wednesday said. Biletsky is the commander of the Third Separate Assault Brigade and the founder of the Azov regiment. He is an outright white supremacist. “Ukrainians are part (and one of the...

Russia launched its biggest attack of the war overnight against natural gas facilities run by Ukraine’s state-owned Naftogaz Group, officials said Friday. Russia fired a total of 381 drones and 35 missiles at Ukraine, according to Ukraine’s air force. in what officials was an attempt to wreck the Ukrainian power grid ahead of winter and wear down public appetite for the 3-year-old conflict. “This is deliberate terror against civilian facilities that provide gas extraction and processing for the normal life of people,” Serhii Koretskyi, chief executive of Ukraine’s state-owned gas company Naftogaz, said in a statement. “It has no military...

Russian President Vladimir Putin – […] They’ve made a lot of noise many times, threatening us with a complete blockade. They’ve even said openly, without hesitation, that they want to make the Russian people suffer. That’s the word they chose. They’ve drawn up plans, each more fantastical than the last one. I think the time has come to calm down, to take a look around, to get their bearings, and to start building relations in a completely different way.We also understand that the polycentric world is highly dynamic. It appears fragile and unstable because it is impossible to permanently fix...

I simply don't trust the MSM to tell us what Putin actually said (shades of Russia!Russia!Russia!). Below is the link to the video and the YOUTUBE auto-generated TRANSCRIPT. The video and TRANSCRIPT are long; if you want to skip to the comments, I recomment you return to the forum and click on the comments link there.[H/T Delta7]WATCH: Putin Full Speech at Valdai Forum in Sochi | Gaza, Ukraine & EU Relations | AC15DWS News88.6K subscribersOct 2, 2025 ransomnote: The transcript is an computerized interpretation of the spoken word. The translator in the video speaks with an accent so there are...

Russia’s war on Ukraine is a war on speed and scale: cheap drones by the hundreds; cruise and ballistic missiles by the scores; electronic warfare (EW) whose logic can mutate on quarterly cycles. That is the fight NATO must be ready for—not an elegant, unhurried campaign of exquisite platforms, but a drone-and-missile war where software changes faster than doctrine, where ammunition depth decides what survives.

The U.S. will provide intelligence to Ukraine for long-range missile strikes inside Russia targeting its energy infrastructure, it has been reported. Citing unnamed officials, The Wall Street Journal said that President Donald Trump had allowed the Pentagon and intelligence agencies to help Kyiv attack the sites that generate revenue for Vladimir Putin’s war machine. The United States has been sharing intelligence with Kyiv for a long time but the Wall Street Journal report, carried by other outlets, suggests that Washington wants to make it easier for Kyiv to hit energy sites that are integral to Russia’s economy. The U.S. has...

During an EU summit Wednesday, leaders discussed the plan, with the idea winning support from bloc heavyweights France and Germany, according to officials involved in the discussion. However Belgium, whose approval is critical because it hosts Euroclear, reiterated concerns about the plan and sought assurances that its financial interests would be protected. Earlier, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, who hosted the summit, told reporters that the bloc sees financial support to Ukraine as critical. “And I think that the idea from the Commission is actually quite a good way forward,” she said. The European plan seeks to resolve several problems...

“Dare to Ukraine” is The Kyiv Independent’s wartime travel series that shows the country beyond the war headlines. In Episode 5 of “Dare to Ukraine: Village,” Masha’s journey reaches its final chapter. Before leaving, she brings everyone together for a shared meal, stories, and moments that reflect her month-long experience. From morning fishing to dinner-table singing at night, this episode captures the warmth, connection, and memories that make rural Ukraine unforgettable.

BUDAPEST (Reuters) -Hungary's Viktor Orban said on Monday that Ukraine was not a sovereign country, as he hit back at accusations that Hungarian reconnaissance drones violated its airspace - the latest salvo in an increasingly bitter row between Kyiv and Budapest."Ukraine is not at war with Hungary; it is at war with Russia. It should be concerned with the drones on its eastern border," the Hungarian prime minister said during an interview on a right-wing podcast popular with his supporters."I believe my ministers, but let's say it would have actually flown a few metres there, so what? Ukraine is not...

In 1917, while Germany fought Russia in a devastating conflict, revolutionary conditions erupted within the Russian Empire, ultimately toppling the Tsarist regime and reshaping the global order. Today, we may be witnessing what I call a “reverse 1917” scenario: As Russia wages a proxy war against NATO in Ukraine, it is the Western nations themselves that appear increasingly susceptible to revolutionary upheaval, while Russia maintains relative internal stability. This observation is not made lightly, nor from any sense of satisfaction. As always, one points out problems so they can be solved, not because one enjoys the trouble they are causing....

MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia said on Monday that its military was analysing whether or not the United States would supply Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine for strikes deep into Russia, a step that Russian officials say could trigger a steep escalation.U.S. Vice President JD Vance said on Sunday that Washington was considering a Ukrainian request to obtain Tomahawks. President Donald Trump has not made a final decision, and he has been wary of escalating the Ukraine war into a direct confrontation with Russia. But the fact he is now weighing such a move shows the extent of his frustration with President...

In this age of modern warfare, the U.K. might already be at war with Russia, according to the former head of Britain's domestic intelligence agency. Baroness Eliza Manningham-Buller, who led MI5 from 2002 to 2007, told the Lord Speaker's Corner podcast that Russia's escalating hybrid warfare tactics indicate a sustained campaign of hostility against Britain and its allies, The Times U.K. reported Monday. "Fiona Hill may be right in saying we're already at war with Russia," Manningham-Buller said, referencing the prominent foreign policy expert and Vladimir Putin biographer who was key in testifying against President Donald Trump in the first...

Vladimir Putin will expand his war in Ukraine by attacking another European country, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has predicted, and accused Russia of recent drone incursions that he said were an attempt to test Nato’s defences.Speaking in Kyiv after his meeting with Donald Trump at the UN in New York, the Ukrainian president said Russia was preparing for a bigger conflict. “Putin will not wait to finish his war in Ukraine. He will open up some other direction. Nobody knows where. He wants that,” he said. Ukraine’s president said the Kremlin was deliberately checking Europe’s capacity to protect its skies, after drone...

A Russian aerial bombardment that lasted more than 12 hours has killed at least four people and injured at least 70 others in Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelensky said the deaths all occurred in the capital, Kyiv, where many of the projectiles were aimed, and the victims included a 12-year-old girl. The barrage - involving nearly 600 drones and several dozen missiles aimed at seven regions of Ukraine - is one of the heaviest in recent months. Zelensky warned that Ukraine would retaliate and said the "vile" attack showed Moscow "wants to continue fighting and killing". Russia said it struck military...

It is not hyperbole to think the Moldovan election today may possibly determine whether a NATO war with Russia takes place, or whether the NATO desire for conflict slowly begins to dissolve. {GO DEEP} The small country squeezed between Romania (the largest NATO super-base constructed) and Ukraine, is located in a critical area. Whether Moldova joins the EU, or whether Moldova remains independently free from Brussels influence, is part of the outcome. The Moldova Parliamentary Elections are today.The EU/NATO are at a zero-sum inflection point. THIS is the tinderbox.There are roughly 2.5 million registered Moldovan voters living in Moldova. However,...

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov used his address to the United Nations General Assembly (UGNA) on Saturday to deliver one of Moscow’s starkest warnings yet to the West, accusing NATO and the European Union of waging a "real war" against Russia. He singled out claims by European leaders as "false portrayals" of Moscow’s intentions, echoing President Vladimir Putin’s denials that Russia plans to strike NATO or EU territory. At the same time, Lavrov issued a direct threat: "Any aggression against my country will be met with a decisive response. There should be no doubt about this among those in NATO...

Russian drones crossing into Poland and MiG-31s violating Estonian airspace revived the core question: how does a Russia vs. NATO war actually begin? Moscow will keep probing seams—airspace, air defenses, political will—aiming to force NATO into an Article 4/5 dilemma. Europe’s fragmented defense industry, ammunition shortages, and uneven appetite for risk create openings for a rapid, deniable “fait accompli” in the Baltics using EW, drones, and covert forces. That scenario wouldn’t resemble a set-piece tank battle; it would be a shock campaign designed to split allies before they can mobilize.

Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said Ukrainian forces have trapped and are destroying Russian units that advanced near Pokrovsk, after weeks of heavy fighting that shifted the front line northward. He shared this at a briefing with journalists on September 26, according to a UNITED24 Media correspondent. Syrskyi said Moscow’s original spring and summer objectives—creating buffer zones in Kharkiv and Sumy regions, seizing the Pokrovsk agglomeration, reaching the Donetsk border, and advancing in Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk and Kherson—“were not realized thanks to the skillful actions of our warriors, smart decisions by commanders, timely reforms, and effective strikes on the enemy rear.” He...

“Dare to Ukraine” is The Kyiv Independent’s wartime travel series that shows the country beyond the war headlines. In Episode 4 of “Dare to Ukraine: Village,” Masha’s quiet rural routine is interrupted by a new mission: uncover the local history and debunk Russian propaganda myths about Ukraine. What starts as a simple day in the countryside turns into a journey through Ukraine’s past and present — proving that even the smallest villages and communities carry stories of independence that shatter Russian lies."