Free Republic

Moscow's troops retreated from a key position in the partially occupied southern Kherson region, state-run news agencies cited the Kremlin as saying on Monday, before retracting their reports and apologizing. The Russian Ministry of Defense was quoted by Russian state-run news agencies Tass and RIA Novosti on Monday as saying that the command of the Dnipro Group of Forces decided to transfer troops to more advantageous positions east of the Russian-occupied left bank of the Kherson Oblast. After the regrouping, the military group "will release part of the forces that will be used for an offensive in other directions," the...

Two Russian state news agencies published alerts on Monday saying Moscow was moving troops to “more favorable positions” east of the Dnipro River in Ukraine, only to withdraw the information minutes later. The highly unusual incident suggested disarray in Russia's military establishment and state media over how to report the battlefield situation in southern Ukraine. -snip- In a series of three alerts on Monday, the RIA state news agency said that the command of Russia's Dnepr group of forces had decided to relocate troops to “more favorable positions” east of the Dnipro. It said that, after the regrouping, the Dnepr...

Kryuchkov: all drones shot down over Dzhankoy were aimed at civilian targets MOSCOW, March 21-RIA Novosti. All drones shot down over Dzhankoy aimed at civilian objects and were stuffed with shrapnel, Oleg Kryuchkov, adviser to the head of Crimea, said on his Telegram channel. "All drones were aimed at civilian objects. One was shot down over the Dzhankoy technical school and fell between the educational building and the hostel. There are no military objects nearby. The rest were shot down over residential areas. In addition to explosives, each contained shrapnel"...

Russian state media have claimed there are signs that Ukrainian troops were practising black magic at a military headquarters in Ukraine. A 'satanic seal' - a symbol believed to hold connections to a greater supernatural power - was apparently found on the wall of a deserted Ukrainian military base on the outskirts of the village of Trekhizbenka in the Luhansk region. The Russian news agency RIA Novosti claimed the symbol, as well as other markings apparently made with blood, showed there were signs Ukrainian soldiers were 'practicing black magic'. Russian state media have claimed there are signs that Ukrainian troops...

One of Britain’s most famous transgender personalities is swapping genders for the third time in eight years. Brad Cooper became the U.K.’s youngest person to undergo a gender swap at only 15 years old, when he claimed he believed he was a girl stuck in a boy’s body. Doctors began pumping Brad’s body full of hormone therapy to stop puberty and trigger breast growth, sparking a widespread debate on whether 15 was too young for a person to make such a life-altering medical decision. Turns out that it just might be. According to a profile in the U.K. Mirror, the...

RICHMOND, Va. -- An American Airlines plane preparing for takeoff went off the runway and became stuck in mud Thursday at Richmond International Airport, shutting the two main runways and delaying nearly all incoming flights, an airport spokesman said. (snip) It appears the pilot "underestimated his turning radius" and drove off the runway, Bell said. He said weather was not a factor.