Free Republic

In Britain, a November dusting of snow is an aberration. In Ukraine, it is the beginning. Soon pavements will ice over and the Dnipro river could freeze thick enough to walk across.And General Winter, as Moscow knows, changes everything. In successive centuries, against Napoleon and Hitler, Russia counted on the big freeze to alter the course of conflict. Today, Vladimir Putin is hoping the year’s bleakest months will mark a breakthrough in a war whose costs in men, money and materiel have become ever more grotesque.Already, the Russian president’s enemy in Kyiv is on the back foot on three fronts.Diplomatically,...

President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war between Ukraine and Russia would give the Russians parts of eastern Ukraine they don’t occupy, Axios reported, citing a U.S. official. As part of the deal, Ukraine will receive a security guarantee from the U.S. and Europe against future Russian aggression, the official said. While Ukraine would view the deal as a major surrender to Russia, the White House believes Ukraine would likely lose the territory anyway and the country could receive assurances Russia wouldn’t just resume the war, Axios reported. The deal would call for Russia to control the Donbas region,...

In its diplomacy about the war, Kyiv has striven to maintain an axiom that great powers should not discuss the country’s fate over its head. “Nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine,” had been the approach. Now, as the Trump administration has negotiated a 28-point settlement plan in just this way — with input from Russia but not from Ukraine or from its allies in Europe — Ukrainian and European officials and commentators are responding with dismay. “For any plan to work, it needs Ukrainians and Europeans on board,” Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s top diplomat, said on Thursday ahead of a...

BRUSSELS, Nov 17 (Reuters) - The European Commission on Monday proposed to EU governments three options to finance Ukraine in 2026 and 2027. EU leaders are expected to discuss which one to pick in December. Below are the options as spelled out by the Commission. WHAT ARE UKRAINE'S NEEDS? The International Monetary Fund and Ukrainian authorities estimate that Ukraine will need 135.7 billion euros for 2026–2027, if Russia stops its war against Kyiv by the end of 2026. Of that total, the country will need: 2026: 71.7 billion euros, of which 51.6 billion euros are for the military and 20.1...

Ukraine will be forced to cut the size of its army under a peace deal agreed between Donald Trump and Russia.The US president has been working with Moscow on a secret 28-point proposal inspired by the ceasefire agreement in Gaza.The White House has told Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, that he must accept the terms of the plan, which will require his country to cede territory, give up some weapons and trim its armed forces, sources have said.The terms of the deal represent a major concession to Russia and have raised fears that Ukraine is being frozen out of talks...

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 , 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2...

When Europe goes to war with Russia, they will not require the military to fill out customs declarations as they cross borders within the EU.Tanks, missiles, artillery and most combat weapons could be exempt from EU customs declarations if the plan by Brussels moves forward.Additionally, under the proposal most drivers of military equipment may even be permitted to exceed the limits on driving times and rest periods, should the fight against Russia require extended physical effort.The newly proposed objective is to empower European soldiers to make independent decisions without having to fill out the customary paperwork, requiring prior approval from...

Russia would keep control of Donbas region in exchange for rental fee under US plan Ukraine could be forced to lease part of its territory to Russia under a US plan to end the war.The Trump administration deal would see Kyiv cede control of the eastern Donbas region, but maintain legal ownership. Russia would pay an undisclosed rental fee for de facto control of the region, officials familiar with the deal told The Telegraph.The 28-point plan was thrashed out between the US and Russia in a recent flurry of secretive talks, renewing fears that Ukraine is being frozen out of...

Prominent Ukrainian activist and volunteer Serhii Sternenko criticized his country's military and political leadership on Nov. 17, warning that "we are headed toward a disaster of strategic magnitude, which could lead to the loss of statehood." In an X post accompanied by screenshots of a critical Facebook post by a Ukrainian journalist, Sternenko stressed that remaining silent about the issues with Ukraine's military and political approach to the country's defense "is a crime." "Our defense is falling apart," Sternenko, who works closely with various military units to supply their immediate needs, such as drones, said. "Under a stunning silence about...

The Ship Has Sunk - The First Five Have Already Fled🏃‍♂️🛳️Massive Strike💥Military Summary 19.11.2025

Mass Strike on Western Ukraine💥Rats in Panic⏳Severk is About to Fall🚩Military Summary For 2025.11.19

Zelensky has been hit with an ugly corruption scandal in which some of his closest allies stand accused of war profiteering. His reaction was to sign a letter of intent to buy 100 French Rafale jets and 150 Swedish Gripen fighters. Kyiv doesn’t have enough to fill its $60bn budget black hole, let alone to buy billions in jets. Ukraine is going to run out of money by February unless the EU agrees to raise a €140bn loan secured against Russian assets held mostly in Belgium. It has no hope of repaying that loan unless the Kremlin is compelled to...

A drone struck a Turkish-flagged tanker and set it ablaze on Monday in southern Ukraine’s Odesa region, officials said, a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a deal to import U.S. liquefied natural gas through the area. The MT Orinda was hit during the offloading of liquefied petroleum gas at Izmail port, Turkey’s Directorate for Maritime Affairs said. All 16 crew on board evacuated and no one was hurt, it said. Russia has used drones, missiles and artillery to repeatedly batter the Odesa region, especially its Black Sea ports... Ukrainian officials didn’t comment specifically on the tanker, although regional...

European Union officials have spent months focused on a plan to use frozen Russian assets to make a loan to Ukraine that could help Kyiv fight the next phase of the war. It is increasingly clear that the bloc has nothing but bad alternatives should that fail. The loan plan, through which the European Union would use Russia’s central bank assets in Belgium to funnel 140 billion euros, or about $160 billion, to Ukraine, was expected to move forward at the bloc’s political meeting last month. Instead, in a last-minute surprise, Belgium blocked it. Belgian officials say they are worried...

"Danny argues that the truth about the Ukraine–Russia war can no longer be concealed: Ukraine is heading toward a strategic and battlefield defeat, a reality now acknowledged even by strongly pro-Ukraine voices like journalist Julian Röpcke. According to the commentary: Western and Ukrainian leaders have long misrepresented battlefield conditions, offering “PR” optimism while ignoring deteriorating realities. Russia prioritized destroying Ukraine’s armed forces over capturing territory, but is now accelerating territorial gains as Ukrainian capacity collapses. Ukrainian reports and government messaging continue to “sugarcoat” the situation, preventing honest assessment and prolonging unnecessary losses. Russia maintains overwhelming advantages in drones, glide bombs,...

Kiev regime fatcats lining own pockets with nato largess while nation circles the toilet bowl.....

A Russian victory in Pokrovsk will have a negligible impact on frontline dynamics but a far-reaching impact in Zelensky’s nation After nearly 17 months of attritional combat, Russia is on the verge of capturing the Donetsk battleground of Pokrovsk. By leveraging the dense fog engulfing the city, the Ukrainian military estimates that between 300-500 Russian troops have entered Pokrovsk. Even more ominously, Russia is creating a troop “cauldron” to militarily encircle Pokrovsk and the neighbouring city of Myrnohrad.As Russia inches towards this much-anticipated battlefield success, the mood in Kyiv is sombre. President Volodymyr Zelensky recently conceded that the situation in...

'Astonishingly lethal': James Landale reports from site of deadly Russian strikeA Russian drone has slammed into a block of flats in eastern Kyiv, killing six people and wounding dozens of others, during a wave of strikes throughout the Ukrainian capital.As emergency workers sifted through the wreckage in the Lisovyi area, one Kyiv resident called Vita described how the drone had pierced the building, exploding on the other side.Meanwhile, Ukraine stepped up its attacks on Russia's oil infrastructure, with drone strikes on one of its biggest export terminals in Novorossiysk, on the Black Sea coast.Fire broke out at the Sheskharis oil...

Nov 11 (Reuters) - Ukraine's top military commander, Oleksandr Syrskyi, said on Tuesday that the army's situation has "significantly worsened" in parts of southeastern Zaporizhzhia region amid fierce fighting with Russian forces. "The situation has significantly worsened in the Oleksandrivka and Huliapole directions, where, using its numerical superiority in personnel and materiel, the enemy advanced in fierce fighting and captured three settlements," Syrskyi wrote on Telegram.

Haunting footage has emerged showing Russian troops advancing through thick fog in a convoy of wrecked cars, many missing doors and windows, in scenes likened to Mad Max. The video, shared by the Kyiv Post, shows soldiers clinging to battered vehicles and motorbikes as they roll down a debris-strewn road. A broken drone lies by the roadside as the column disappears into the mist. The clip surfaced as Moscow's forces claimed new gains near the Ukrainian city of Kupiansk, where Russian troops say they have seized a string of railway stations and an oil depot on the city's eastern edge....