Free Republic

The United States' declining diesel fuel reserves will worsen the fallout from Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision to end participation in a grain deal with Ukraine, retired Air Force Brigadier Gen. Blaine Holt warned Monday. In an interview on Newsmax's "Wake Up America," Holt said the dwindling reserves are akin to throwing "a few more logs on this fire," and will have a wide effect in the United States. "We are down to somewhere between 20 and 25 days of strategic reserves in diesel fuel," he said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Israel’s refusal to provide Kyiv with military aid has bolstered an emerging Russian-Iranian axis whereby Moscow will assist Iran with its nuclear program in exchange for attack drones. If Ukraine had “immediately secured our skies, Russian would not have a motive to go to Iran and offer something in exchange for assistance in terror,” the Ukrainian president said in a prerecorded video message to Haaretz’s Democracy Conference on Monday. “We have been asking Israel for help since 2014,” Zelensky said. “The decision of your state, your governments…’not to annoy’ the Kremlin, not to help Ukraine...

​President Biden lost his temper and raised his voice on the phone with​ Volodymyr Zelensky when the Ukrainian president continued to press for more aid even after Biden signed off on $1 billion worth of military assistance earlier this year, according to a report Monday. ​ The phone call in June, one of many between the two leaders, turned testy when Zelensky began listing what else Kyiv needed and wasn’t getting​ shortly after Biden announced the aid package, NBC News reported.​ The commander-in-chief reportedly blew his stack ​and, with his voice rising, reminded Zelensky of the generosity of the American...

Not to beat a dead horse, but most of the world has a delusional image in their head of the war in Ukraine. As I have written previously, much of the fault lies with Hollywood, which through a plethora of movies has conditioned the masses to think of war as the conquest of critical territory. But that is a misleading image when it comes to Ukraine. Yes, there are strategically important pieces of territory that must be captured or defended, but there also are vast swaths of plains (we call them prairies here in the United States) that are tactically...

Russia’s TASS News Service released photos on Tuesday of a NATO Seafox mine disposal unmanned underwater drone was found during a scheduled visual inspection of the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline in November 2015. Russia accused NATO of attempting to blow up the pipeline in 2015. The incident made international headlines at the time. Via KimDotCom.

"More and more brazen attacks are being launched against Russia and Washington is doing little to hide US fingerprints. Why? The Biden Administration seems to be moving us closer to nuclear war over Ukraine and Biden himself seems to know it. Last week he said, Putin “is not joking when he talks about potential use of tactical nuclear weapons or biological or chemical weapons…” For the “first time since the Cuban missile crisis, we have a direct threat of the use [of nuclear weapons] if in fact things continue down the path they are going.” So the question is if...

The recent ceremony of accession of four Ukrainian regions to Russia brought a speech from President Putin that outlined the reasons behind Russia’s current struggles, the character and identity of its foes and, more importantly, laid the groundwork for Russia’s next level of confrontation with the West beyond the ongoing military conflict in Ukraine. In his speech, Putin clearly defined the present fight as a worldwide battle in which Russia plays a leading role against the Deep State that ultimately runs the West and which uses all available tools – including military, economic, cultural, and social – in its attempt...

The presidential press office of Ukraine accused global media outlets of “nuclear hysteria” on Thursday for sharing remarks made by President Volodymyr Zelensky in which he asked the world for “preemptive strikes” on Russia to avoid nuclear war. Zelensky made the remarks during a question and answer session with the Lowy Institute, an Australian think tank, on Thursday, asserting that NATO had a responsibility to “make it impossible for Russia to use nuclear weapons.

Fresh off the successful color revolution coup by the globalists in Ukraine, American neocons saw their opportunity to push for a proxy war with Russia. Two of the most infamous and disgraced lawmakers in U.S. history – Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and now-deceased John McCain (R-AZ) – spread propaganda for the coming conflict while visiting a group of Ukrainian troops. “Your fight is our fight. 2017 will be the year of offense. All of us will go back to Washington, and we will push the case against Russia. Enough of Russian aggression. It is time for them to pay a...

In a Sunday editorial in the state-owned Global Times, Beijing warned that allowing the country into the alliance—as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has requested—would lead to an inevitable escalation in the conflict, prompting Russian President Vladimir Putin's threats to use nuclear arms against the West. While unlikely—U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan stated in a White House press briefing last week that NATO should delay talks on allowing the country into the alliance—the newspaper warned "all European countries will tremble under the shadow of a possible nuclear war" should it take place, and called for the Western alliance to withdraw...

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its oil-exporting allies announced a 2 million barrel per day cut in oil production Wednesday, bucking months of pressure from Washington to increase production and potentially spiking gas prices again. The coalition, which includes the 13 OPEC nations and 11 non-members including Russia, made the announcement at its Vienna meeting, the first in-person summit since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The announced cut is roughly equivalent to 2 percent of global supplies. In July, President Biden visited Saudi Arabia to directly appeal to its leaders to increase oil production, despite...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Friday that his nation has formally submitted an expedited application to become a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). NATO is an intergovernmental military alliance launched after World War II as a counter against Soviet aggression in Europe. The announcement occurs as the Russian invasion of Ukraine enters its seventh month. “Ukraine was and remains a leader in negotiation efforts. It was our state that always offered Russia to reach an agreement on coexistence on equal, honest, decent and fair terms,” Zelensky said in a video message. “It is obvious that this...

Major brands are weighing the option of boycotting Twitter after a Reuters investigation found their ads appeared next to tweets soliciting child pornography, while the leftist tech company insists it has “zero tolerance” for child exploitation. Some brands, including Dyson, Mazda, Forbes, and PBS Kids have already suspended marketing campaigns on Twitter, according to the report. A Reuters review of data from cybersecurity firm Ghost Data found ads for major brands appearing on Twitter alongside tweets that sought or promoted child pornography, including one user who tweeted “trading teen/child” content, as well as “13+” content and “young looking nudes.” Such...

A sprawling disinformation network originating in Russia sought to use hundreds of fake social media accounts and dozens of sham news websites to spread the Kremlin’s talking points about the invasion of Ukraine, Facebook parent company Meta said Tuesday. The company, which also owns Instagram, said it identified and disabled the operation before it was able to gain a large audience. Nonetheless, Facebook said it was the largest and most complex Russian propaganda effort that it has found since the invasion began. The operation involved more than 60 websites created to mimic legitimate news sites including the Guardian newspaper in...

Russian-installed officials in occupied regions of Ukraine reported huge majorities on Tuesday in favour of becoming part of Russia after five days of voting in so-called referendums that Kyiv and the West denounced as a sham. Hastily arranged votes had taken place in four areas - the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, and to the south Zaporizhzhia and Kherson - that make up about 15% of Ukrainian territory. Luhansk authorities said 98.4% of people there had voted to join Russia. In Zaporizhzhia, a Russian-appointed official put the figure at 93.1%. In Kherson, the head of the voting committee put...

US President Joe Biden’s administration will soon release its National Security Strategy, which is being revised in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The document will no doubt trigger a renewed debate about how the United States should gear up for a new cold war against Russia and China. But before we plunge into a global great-power competition, it’s worth recalling Biden’s promise to create a “foreign policy for the middle class” and take a look at what most concerns Americans.US President Joe Biden’s administration will soon release its National Security Strategy, which is being revised in the wake...

The war exposed Ukraine to two of her most critical vulnerabilities – questionable legitimacy and extreme nationalism. Legitimacy derives from acceptance and recognition. However, Ukraine’s neighbors Russia, Poland, and Romania do not accept their current borders with Ukraine.###After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, Ukraine got its borders within which she achieved independence and millions of Russians, Poles, Hungarians and Romanians were trapped in a newly created country.The Ukrainian problem is greatly exacerbated by the fact that unlike pluralistic societies such as the USA, Canada, Switzerland, and Russia, which are tolerant of different cultures, religions, and languages, Ukraine is not....

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia has thrust himself more directly into strategic planning for the war in Ukraine in recent weeks, American officials said, including rejecting requests from his commanders on the ground that they be allowed to retreat from the vital southern city of Kherson. A withdrawal from Kherson would allow the Russian military to pull back across the Dnipro River in an orderly way, preserving its equipment and saving the lives of soldiers. But such a retreat would be another humiliating public acknowledgment of Mr. Putin’s failure in the war, and would hand a second major victory...

Vladimir Putin can call up all the troops he wants, but Russia has no way of getting those new troops the training and weapons they need to fight in Ukraine any time soon. With his invasion of Ukraine faltering badly, the Russian President on Wednesday announced the immediate “partial mobilization” of Russian citizens. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Russian television that the country will call up 300,000 reservists. If they end up facing Ukrainian guns on the front lines, they are likely to become the newest casualties in the invasion Putin started more than seven months ago and that...

Protests have broken out in parts of Russia following President Vladimir Putin's announcement that he was calling up reservists in an escalation of the war in Ukraine, according to reports. According to Latvian news website Meduza, authorities have begun to confront protests that have erupted in Russian cities. The Avtozak LIVE Telegram channel has shared images of some of the protesters and signs saying "No mobilization" Other signs have used a play on words to turn "no war, no mobilization" to "no war, no grave-ization." In Irkutsk, according to the Irkutsk Anarchist Telegram channel, authorities have already dispersed rallies and...