Free Republic

Ukraine's top commander said on Sunday Russian forces aimed to capture the town of Chasiv Yar by May 9, setting the stage for an important battle for control of high ground in the east where Russia is focusing its assaults. The fall of the town west of the shattered city of Bakhmut by the date Moscow marks the Soviet victory in World War Two would indicate growing Russian battlefield momentum as Kyiv faces a slowdown in Western military aid. Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, who warned this weekend that the situation in the east had deteriorated, said Russia was focusing its...

Kazakhstan’s Defense Ministry has cancelled commemorative events, including a military parade, on May 9 to mark the Soviet defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II. Political and economic factors appear to have played a role in the decision. Victory Day, as the May 9 celebration is known across the former Soviet Union, has become Russia’s primary state holiday in the years since 1991. Elsewhere in the former Soviet empire, the occasion has receded in significance. In Kazakhstan, a military parade hasn’t been on May 9 since 2019. Even so, commemorative events honoring veterans have continued to be staged across...

Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday that, all the preparations are in full swing for the May 9 Victory Day Parade on Moscow’s Red Square. The governors of the concerned regions would make their decisions on regional events proceeding from security considerations. Due to the decision taken by the authorities of the Kursk Region against holding the event this year, Dmitry Peskov was asked whether the May 9 Victory Day Parade is cancelled in the Red Square also. Dmitry Peskov clarified that, “This is the prerogative of the heads of regions. Naturally, they make corresponding decisions proceeding from...

A Ukrainian fintech founder and drone developer is offering about $540,000 in prize money to the winner of a race to land a drone on Moscow's Red Square. Volodymyr Yatsenko, the co-founder of Monobank, a Ukrainian online banking service, announced the competition in a Facebook post last week. The competition is open to any Ukrainian drone developers and will take place on May 9, according to the Ukrainian Military Center, a Ukrainian news outlet covering defense. May 9 in Russia is Victory Day, a time when the country celebrates the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany. Yatsenko himself is the developer...

Ukraine has launched a competition for drone developers to land an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) on Red Square in Moscow during the May 9 parade for a cash prize. The competition was announced by the co-founder of Monobank and developer of the Dovbush drone Volodymyr Yatsenko. Writing on Facebook, he said, "I am officially awarding a prize to a Ukrainian UAV manufacturer, whose aircraft, with the help of the military, of course, will fly and land on Red Square in Moscow on May 9". The public is invited to add to the prize fund, which currently stands at 20 million...

Russia has stumbled again. Its southern offensive, the second phase of the Ukraine war, has failed to be the "biggest tank war since World War II," as some analysts were predicting. Instead, Russia's ground forces have shown the same lackluster performance on the ground, unable to break through anywhere. The towns and villages of the south, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday, "are the places where the fate of this war and the future of our state is being decided, now." Experts point to May 9th—Victory Day in Russia commemorating the surrender of Nazi Germany in 1945—as the next decisive...