Free Republic

U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff will be in Moscow on Wednesday to meet with Russian leadership, a source familiar with the plan said on Tuesday. Officials in Washington provided few details of Witkoff's schedule. "The president has noted, of course, that Special Envoy Witkoff will be traveling to Russia this week, so we can confirm that from this podium," State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce told reporters. "What that will entail, I have no details for you." Russia's state-run TASS news agency, quoting aviation sources, said an aircraft believed to have Witkoff on board, had already left the United States.

Russia’s oil and gas revenues continued their steep decline in 2025, falling by 18.5% in the first seven months of the year compared to the same period in 2024, Russian Finance Ministry confirmed. Between January and July 2025, oil and gas revenues totaled 5.522 trillion rubles ($58.13 billion), reflecting a deepening contraction in one of the Kremlin’s most vital sources of income, Caliber.Az reports per Russian media. The figures illustrate a clear pattern of accelerating decline: revenue dropped by 3.7% in the first two months, by 10.3% over four months, and by 14.4% through May—culminating in a sharp 27% year-on-year...

The rift between Moscow and Washington looks set to deepen after U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Russia's economy "stinks" and that lower oil prices will hammer President Vladimir Putin's oil-funded war machine. "Putin will stop killing people if you get energy down another $10 a barrel. He's going to have no choice because his economy stinks," the president told CNBC's "Squawk Box." on Tuesday.

In the Russian-occupied cities of Donetsk and Mariupol, an escalating water crisis has pushed daily life to the brink of survival. Water trickles out of taps for only a few hours every few days, often discolored and undrinkable. Entire neighborhoods have resorted to survival tactics like hauling water in buckets and collecting rainwater. Local residents and observers in eastern Ukrainian cities have called on Russian-imposed authorities to tackle what they have said is a devastating situation that demands immediate attention. 'We Live In A Water Desert' Once industrial heartlands of Ukraine, both Donetsk and Mariupol, as well as smaller towns...

"Ukraine has not lost and there is no reason for Ukraine to lose. Russians are adapting for a long war effort in Ukraine, but they are not the Red Army hordes wrapped in the triumphant banners of World War II victories that Putin and his propagandists pretend them to be," the think tank said. The ISW said the number of Russian fatalities likely exceeds those killed in the Soviet-Afghan war. Russia has often used costly "human wave" tactics to achieve its military objectives in Ukraine. More Russian soldiers are likely to have died seizing the Ukrainian town of Avdiivka than...