Free Republic

Vladimir Putin is determined to shape the future to look like his version of the past. Russia’s president invaded Ukraine not because he felt threatened by NATO expansion or by Western “provocations.” He ordered his “special military operation” because he believes that it is Russia’s divine right to rule Ukraine, to wipe out the country’s national identity, and to integrate its people into a Greater Russia.He laid out this mission in a 5,000-word treatise, published in July 2021, entitled, “On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians.” In it, Putin insisted that Belarusians, Russians, and Ukrainians are all descendants of...

The Russian-installed chief administrator of Russian-controlled parts of Ukraine’s Kharkiv region recommended on Saturday that all its inhabitants evacuate to Russia “to save lives,” according to the Russian state-run TASS news agency. Vitaly Ganchev said official representatives were ready to provide the refugees with food, heat and medical care, according to TASS. The Russian Defence Ministry said it was pulling troops out of Izium and Balakliia – crucial military supply hubs in the Kharkiv region – as Ukraine claimed rapid advances. Ganchev had said on Friday that civilians were being evacuated from several towns that had come under heavy pressure...

German Economy Minister Robert Habeck said that targets set by the government for the filling of gas storage facilities had been reached ahead of schedule, staving off the worst fears of severe gas shortages this winter. "The reservoirs are filling up quicker than planned," he told German magazine Der Spiegel according to a report published on Sunday. The government target of reaching 85% storage capacity by October could be achieved by the beginning of September, according to Habeck's ministry. Germany is currently trying to secure alternative sources of gas to prevent an acute shortage during the cold winter months, as...

Turkish Bayraktar TB2 have destroyed more than 800 Russian targets in ongoing war between Russian and Ukraine including two Ilyushin IL-76 strategic airlifter and more than 120 tanks Bayraktar TB2 unmanned aerial reconnaissance and strike vehicles turned out to be quite an effective weapon in the fight against various kinds of targets. As it turned out, these drones showed the greatest efficiency in the fight against MLRS, air defence systems and tanks, destroying more than 120 units of heavy combat vehicles and more than 280 missile launchers, although drones even account for combat aircraft and helicopters. According to statistics published...

KYIV, Ukraine — A small explosive device carried by a makeshift drone blew up Sunday at the headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet on the Crimean Peninsula, wounding six people and prompting the cancellation of ceremonies there honoring Russia’s navy, authorities said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the drone explosion in a courtyard at the naval headquarters in the city of Sevastopol. But the seemingly improvised, small-scale nature of the attack raised the possibility that it was the work of Ukrainian insurgents trying to drive out Russian forces. A Russian lawmaker from Crimea, Olga Kovitidi, told Russian...

Throughout his 20-plus year rule, Vladimir Putin has consolidated power through graft, intimidation, manipulation of the Russian legal system, and forcefully silencing critics. Putin’s ability to sustain subservience and loyalty to his authority is no small feat, especially in a political culture of ruthless power politics. His reputation as a master tactician abroad has also been carefully cultivated, if not exaggerated.

"The actions of Viktor Yushchenko supporters raise deep concerns," reads a text upheld by the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kharkiv and Odessa regional councils, and the High Council of the Crimean Autonomous Republic. "All attempts to illegally and forcefully overturn the results of the election cannot be justified even by the presence of violations during the second round of the presidential election in Ukraine." "The violations were recorded in all regions of the country and thousands of them were carried out by Yushchenko supporters. We are appalled by the gross insults from the mouths of opposition leaders toward millions of Ukrainian people...

Day 127. Today, we discuss the Russian retreat from Snake Island, get the latest from the final day of the NATO summit in Madrid, and we interrogate the CCTV from the site of the strike on the mall in Kremenchuk. Plus, an exclusive interview with the Klitschko brothers.

The De-NAZIfication Claim by Russia is Factually Wrong -- 300 Historians Claim is made at 4:42 in the video DW's head of fact checking Joscha Weber Also, in the last parliamentary elections in 2019 right wing parties won just 2% of the vote. ---------------------------------------------------------- Here is the statement he is referring to. https://jewishjournal.com/news/worldwide/345515/statement-on-the-war-in-ukraine-by-scholars-of-genocide-nazism-and-world-war-ii/ Statement on the War in Ukraine by Scholars of Genocide, Nazism and World War II Izabella Tabarovsky Eugene Finkel February 27, 2022 Protestors with banners rally in front of Parliament in support of Ukraine, demanding that Putin ends this war and protesting that the Georgian Prime Minister,...

Dubai -- A US Navy warship fired a warning flare to wave off an Iranian Revolutionary Guard speedboat coming straight at it during a tense encounter in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, officials said Tuesday. The incident on Monday involving the Guard and the Navy comes as tensions remain high over stalled negotiations over Iran's tattered nuclear deal with world powers and as Tehran enriches uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels under decreasing international oversight. Meanwhile, the United Nations' nuclear watchdog said Iran now plans to enrich uranium through a second set of advanced centrifuges at its underground Fordo...

MOSCOW, June 22 (Reuters) - A top Russian official warned the West on Wednesday to stop talking about triggering NATO's "Article 5" mutual defence clause in a standoff between Lithuania and Russia. Moscow has promised practical retaliation that will affect Lithuania's population after the Baltic state blocked the transit of goods subject to EU sanctions from Russia to its Baltic exclave. "I would like to warn Europeans against dangerous rhetorical games on the topic of conflict," the Interfax news agency quoted Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying on Wednesday.

Russian officials have said Ukraine launched missile strikes against three gas rigs in the Black Sea south of Odesa, in an apparent escalation of Kyiv’s attempts to weaken Russia’s maritime dominance. Seven people were missing and three injured after the strikes, according to the head of occupied Crimea, Sergey Aksyonov, who said a “rescue operation with the participation of patrol ships and aviation” was under way. The three offshore platforms, the Boyko towers, had previously been seized by Moscow from Ukraine in 2014. Kyiv believes they are used for military reconnaissance and to help assert control of a larger portion...

ECTOR COUNTY, Texas — A boil water notice has been put into effect for the Ector County Utility District by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.All customers will have to boil their water before consumption. Some of those actions include washing hands/face, drinking and brushing teeth. This is a result of a major leak in the City of Odessa water system. ECUD purchases water directly from the City of Odessa. Low distribution pressure and a water outage has been caused due to the shutdown.

Ukraine said Wednesday it would not demine waters around the Black Sea port of Odessa to allow for grain to be exported, citing the threat of Russian attacks on the city. “The moment we clear access to the port of Odessa, the Russian fleet will be there,” spokesman for the regional administration Sergiy Bratchuk said in a video statement on social media. He said that Russia “dreams of parachuting troops” into the city and that Moscow’s army “wants to attack” Odessa. The Turkish and Russian foreign ministers were meeting in Ankara Wednesday to discuss the creation of security corridor to...

... The Pentagon admits all Ukraine ports are blocked by mines making shipping of goods and weapons impossible.

Walls rattled and pieces of plaster fell from the ceiling of a basement converted by Ukrainian troops into a forward outpost. Russian shells hit again and again the crumpled building above. Images on a surveillance monitor, linked to a camera outside in the deserted village, showed plumes of black smoke rising all around the compound. “The Russians are very angry today because yesterday we killed two of their tanks,” said Marian, a platoon leader in the volunteer Carpathian Sich battalion deployed on the front line near the Russian-held Ukrainian city of Izyum. Like most military personnel, he is only allowed...

Ukrainian soldiers discovered a trove of artifacts while digging ditches in anticipation of a Russian strike in the port city Odessa, the Ukrainian military announced last week. Members of the Ukrainian 126th Territorial Defense unearthed amphorae, or ancient containers used to store and transport liquid and dry goods, according to Heritage Daily, which first reported the news. The tall, bottle-necked shape was common in Ancient Greek, Roman, and Byzantine pottery, however the earliest examples of the form date to the Neolithic period. Soldiers found the amphorae while preparing Odessa, Ukraine’s third most populous city and a strategically significant seaport on...

VLADIMIR PUTIN faced further humiliation after Russian missile strikes on Odesa succeeded in only destroying a public toilet. The Black Sea port plays a vital role in Ukraine's overall economy and is currently under a Russian naval blockade. The city is a key strategic target for the Russians and has been subjected to heavy bombardment. However, Russian commanders appeared to get their targets confused, after wiping out a beach toilet in the city instead. The destruction of the public bathroom was confirmed in a statement issued by Ukraine's southern operational command. They said: "Another missile strike with the use of...

For undying enmity toward Mother Russia, Ukrainians have good cause. It can be traced to a single Ukrainian word -- “Holodomor” (derived from “holod, meaning hunger, and “mor,” meaning extermination). The word refers to a single event, the famine of 1932-3. This “famine,” however,” did not come from an act of nature, but from government policies -- the government at that time being not exactly Russia, but rather the Union of Soviet Socialists Republic, which was close to the same thing. In keeping their socialist, “equitable,” agenda, the Soviets, under Joseph Stalin, took over private farms and formed collectives. The...

Russia’s war on Ukraine is leading to an “apocalyptic” food shortage, Governor of the Bank of England Andrew Bailey told a committee of Parliament on Monday. Bailey said the main issue is that major global grain supplier Ukraine’s crops cannot be exported due to the war. The head of the United Nations World Food Program warned “millions of people around the world will die” if Ukraine’s Black Sea ports continue to be blockaded by Russia. Last week, Italian League party leader Matteo Salvini warned the looming food shortages due to the war could cause as many as 20 million people...