Free Republic

Russia's mounting offensive in eastern Ukraine has left the West in panic. EU foreign affairs chief Joseph Borrell warned member nations that the war in Ukraine will be over unless the bloc finds a way to speed up provision of ammunition to Ukraine within weeks. The EU defence minister will hold a special meeting next month to discuss further military aid to Ukraine from their existing stocks. Borrell said "much more has to be done much quicker'. ...

Russia's Black Sea fleet based in annexed Crimea has installed a new commander, RIA news agency cited sources as saying on Wednesday, after Russian military bases on the peninsula were rocked by explosions in the past nine days. If confirmed, the removal of the previous commander Igor Osipov would mark the most prominent sacking of a military official in the nearly six months since Russia launched its war on Ukraine. State-owned RIA said the new chief, Viktor Sokolov, was introduced to members of the fleet's military council in the port of Sevastopol.

Vladimir Putin has accused Western leaders of clinging "to the shadows of the past" as he creates a new world order with his invasion of Ukraine.The world will not be as it was before the "special operation", Putin said in his speech at the plenary session of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum."It is erroneous to believe that one can sit and wait when the time of turbulent changes goes by, when everything goes back to where it was. It won't," Putin said. According to him, the changes are fundamental, "crucial and inexorable”.However, he said that Western countries "cling to...

Ukrainian forces attacked drilling platforms in the Black Sea owned by a Crimean oil and gas company, the pro-Russian head of the annexed peninsula said on Monday, giving no details of what weapons were used. Three people were wounded and a search was under way for seven workers from the Chernomorneftegaz energy company, Sergei Askyonov, the Russian-installed head of Crimea, said in a post on Telegram. Crimean officials said work on three drilling platforms had been suspended after the hit, with fires reported. Reuters was unable to immediately verify the reports. Ukraine's military declined to comment. Russian-backed officials seized Chernomorneftegaz...

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