Free Republic

President Trump said the US no longer funds the Ukraine war. He said we now sell weapons to NATO, and NATO can do whatever it wants with them. The MSM and NATO vigorously describe this as Trump's continued support for the Ukraine war.I asked GROK AI specific questions about what kind of aid we are giving in terms of military, budgetary and humanitarian/economic support. Grok says there have been no new appropriations by Congress in 2025; any US funds being spent now (e.g., training Ukrainian troops) were from prior appropriations (Biden). There is still tens of billions in Biden era...

Russian forces occupied Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv, for just under a month. Across those 29 days in early 2022, they committed acts of such barbarity that this Ukrainian town will forever be synonymous with war crimes; this conflict’s Srebrenica. Residents were killed and tortured in their hundreds; more than 100 were buried in a mass grave outside the Orthodox Christian church. Others were murdered as they fled. The basement of a children’s summer camp was converted into a torture chamber where women and children were systematically raped. Soldiers slashed throats, mutilated victims and killed parents in front of...

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered 135,000 men to be conscripted into the army, the largest autumn draft held by the Kremlin in nine years. “From Oct. 1 to Dec. 31, 2025, conscript 135,000 Russian citizens aged 18 to 30 who are not in the reserve and are subject to enlistment into military service,” the decree states, according to the TASS state-owned news agency. Vladimir Tsimlyansky, head of the Russian General Staff’s mobilization department, has also insisted that the conscripted soldiers will not be deployed to the forces currently invading Ukraine, a promise Moscow has been previously accused of breaking.

For years now, Russia has been desperately attempting to convince the world — and, indeed, itself — that it is a great power. But photo opportunities at summits, nuclear saber-rattling, boasts about BRICS and military adventurism abroad are less signs of true power than the tactics of a weak actor attempting to mask weakness — to divert attention from a crumbling empire. Behind the façade of a belligerent great power lurks a hollowing-out state, edging toward the exit of the great powers’ clubhouse. Once indisputable — in fact, during the Cold War, one of only two superpowers — Russia today...

Russia-controlled Crimea has frozen fuel prices and imposed gasoline rationing in response to shortages resulting from a spate of Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian oil refineries. Regional governor Sergei Askyonov said on Monday that motorists in Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, would be limited to buying 30 litres of fuel at a time. He also announced a 30-day price freeze on various grades of diesel and gasoline, a measure apparently designed to minimise public anger over the disruption. Aksyonov announced the move on social media, saying he had held a meeting with oil traders to seek solutions...

President Donald Trump is flexing new leverage in the war in Ukraine — allowing the nation to use U.S. weapons to strike deep into Russia, weighing whether to provide Kyiv with Tomahawk cruise missiles and vowing Ukraine can take back all its land — while pressing China and India to slash purchases Russian oil. Ukraine supporters are cheering the shift, noting that after months of frustration over the grinding conflict, Trump appears to be changing tactics. From a combative February meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to his declaration last week that Ukraine could reclaim all of its original territory, the...

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that Russian forces are prevailing in what he said was a "righteous battle" in Ukraine. "Our fighters and commanders go on the attack, and the entire country, all of Russia, is waging this righteous battle and working hard," Putin said in a video published on the Kremlin's website. "Together we are defending our love for the Motherland and the unity of our historical destiny, we are fighting and we are prevailing."

Ukrainian defense and national security officials are on their way to Washington to hammer out details of a proposed drone deal with the Trump administration, The Post has learned. Representatives of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense and its National Security and Defense Council will be working with their American counterparts Tuesday through Friday as Washington and Kyiv aim to solidify a defense agreement that would bind the countries closer together. “Following the results of the negotiations between the presidents of Ukraine and the United States, a Ukraine delegation will arrive to Washington from Sept. 29 to Oct. 2 for technical...

Vladimir Putin is set to make a "major speech" in what the Kremlin is promising to be an "interesting week". The announcement comes following remarks by the US Vice President J D Vance on Friday, in which he said Donald Trump was considering a request to supply Ukraine with long-range Tomahawk missiles. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dropped the cryptic message in an interview on Sunday with the Russian journalist Pavel Zarubin. "The President will deliver a fairly major speech next week," he said. "We will announce what it will be about, as well as exactly when and where. But the...

US President Donald Trump has authorized Ukraine to launch long-range strikes on Russian territory, US Special Envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg told Fox News. Speaking directly about the strikes deep into Russia, Kellogg said that "they sometimes got some authority, sometimes they didn't." "Everybody should follow what the [US] President says. He's the Commander in Chief, by the [US] Constitution, and everybody falls in line," the US special envoy noted. And when asked by the program host whether the US president's position is really that Ukraine can launch long-range strikes against Russia, and that this was authorized by Trump, Kellogg,...

A Ukrainian FPV drone costing just £500 destroyed a Russian Mi-28N attack helicopter worth £14 million near Kotlyarivka in Donetsk Oblast on Monday, according to Ukraine’s 59th Separate Mechanised Brigade. The strike, carried out by the brigade’s Unmanned Systems Forces (SBS), targeted the helicopter during a reconnaissance mission, with no Ukrainian casualties reported. The Mi-28N, equipped for night operations, was hit mid-flight by the small first-person-view drone carrying explosives. Footage released by the brigade shows the drone approaching over open fields, striking the helicopter’s tail rotor, and sending it spiralling to the ground in flames. The 30-second clip, recorded from...

Russia's Belgorod region is working to restore power and hot water after Ukrainian missile strikes caused significant outages and injured at least three civilians, the area's governor said on Monday. Vyacheslav Gladkov said Ukraine had targeted the region's infrastructure, forcing certain facilities to switch to backup power generators and had twice struck the regional capital - Belgorod - with six warheads in total. Unverified social media footage showed what looked like a powerful missile attack on a power station in Belgorod with a series of loud explosions followed by smoke rising into the sky. Reuters could not verify the footage...

The pro-European Union (EU) party Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) won a parliamentary majority in the Moldovan parliamentary elections watched closely by the Kremlin, securing more than double the vote of the pro-Russian Patriotic Electoral Bloc (BEP).The elections were marred by allegations of Russian interference. The Eastern European state borders Ukraine, where Russia's full-scale invasion is ongoing. Its breakaway eastern region Transnistria hosts Russian troops. Moldova is shifting Westwards, developing closer ties with NATO—though it remains constitutionally neutral—and seeking membership of the EU.With almost all votes counted, preliminary results show the PAS one 50.15 percent of the vote. The...

Washington authorizes specific instances where Ukraine can carry out long-range strikes within Russia, U.S. Special Envoy to Ukraine Keith Kellogg said on Sept. 28 in an interview with Fox News. "The answer is yes, use the ability to hit deep, there are no such things as sanctuaries," Kellogg replied when asked if it is U.S. President Donald Trump's position that Ukraine can conduct long-range strikes. -snip- The final decision on whether Ukraine may conduct long-range strikes within Russia falls to Trump on a case-by-case basis, Kellogg noted. As Ukraine develops long-range missiles and drones of its own, Kyiv continues to...

The United States is considering Ukraine's request to obtain long-range Tomahawk missiles for its effort to push back against Russian invaders, Vice President JD Vance said on Sunday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has asked the United States to sell Tomahawks to European nations that would send them to Ukraine. Vance said on “Fox News Sunday” that U.S. President Donald Trump would make the "final determination" on whether to allow the deal. "We're certainly looking at a number of requests from the Europeans," Vance said. Tomahawk missiles have a range of 2,500 km (1,550 miles), and would be a powerful asset...

Vice President JD Vance on Sunday attributed President Donald Trump’s recent change in attitude toward the Russian-Ukrainian war to the loss of human life and the impact to Russia’s economy. “The Russian economy is in shambles. The Russians are not gaining much on the battlefield. It’s clearly time for them to listen to his passionate plea for them to come to the table and actually talk seriously about peace,” Vance said in an interview with Fox News’ Martha MacCallum that aired on “Fox News Sunday.” “I think what has changed is the reality on the ground, with the Russians killing...

United States Vice President JD Vance called on Russia on Sunday to adhere to President Donald Trump's request and "sit at the negotiating table" on the conflict in Ukraine. Speaking to Fox News, Vance insisted that Russia is not making any gains on the battlefield and is only provoking losses in human lives.

Pavel Durov, the billionaire founder of the Telegram messaging app, accused French intelligence on Sunday of asking him through an intermediary to censor some Moldovan voices ahead of a presidential vote last year in return for help with his court case in France. Moldovans were voting in a parliamentary election on Sunday that could have a major impact on the government's quest to join the European Union, as a pro-Russian opposition group seeks to steer the nation away from closer ties with the bloc. France did not immediately comment on the remarks by Durov, who was arrested in 2024 at...

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.

More than 20 people have been rescued in Kenya from a suspected human trafficking ring that lured them with job offers in Russia but intended to send them to fight in Ukraine, police said. It follows an intelligence-led raid on a residential apartment on the outskirts of the capital, Nairobi, where officers seized recruitment materials, travel documents, and job offer letters. One suspect, accused of coordinating the victims' travel to Russia in September and October, has been arrested. He was taken to court, which allowed him to be detained for 10 days while the police complete their investigations. There have...