Free Republic

When Russia invaded Ukraine, its primary objective was not just territorial expansion—it was the outright elimination of Ukraine’s independent government. Russian leader Vladimir Putin even claimed that the bloodshed caused by Russia’s invasion is “fully and wholly” the responsibility of “the ruling Ukrainian regime” in his address on February 24, 2022. As Ukraine’s political and military heart, Kyiv was the ultimate target. Historically, the fall of a nation’s capital has often signaled the collapse of its government and the end of organized defense. Russia’s plan closely mirrored the Blitzkrieg tactics of Nazi Germany in 1940, when swift mechanized assaults and...

Russians are fleeing Crimea amid fears that Ukraine will soon move to recapture the region that Vladimir Putin illegally annexed in 2014, according to local media reports. Emil Ibragimov, the head of the Crimean project and educational platform Q-Hub, told Radio NV in a video published on Friday that Russians are fleeing from Crimea to the neighboring Russian region of Krasnodar because they fear Ukraine will eventually liberate the Black Sea peninsula. Ibragimov said that many Russian citizens who settled in Crimea after it was occupied eight years ago had already left. -snip- His remarks coincide with an assessment by...

Russian TV Presenter: “The decision of our MoD has become known that we are withdrawing troops from the right bank of Dnieper, that is, we are leaving Kherson… Now, if you are expecting I will explain my opinion on this, then I won’t tell you anything. But I’ll explain why. If I support this decision [to withdraw] then this turns out to be a public call for violation of the territorial integrity of Russia in our criminal code… This is several years of imprisonment. If I do not support this decision and believe that the MoD [is wrong], these are...

Despite the apparent success of the retreat, the loss of Kherson still represents a major defeat for Putin and his armed forces. It was the sole regional capital captured by his army since the invasion began, and sits in a region he declared to be part of Russia just a few weeks ago. Ukrainian flags are flying in the centre of Kherson once again, as Russia fled eight months after taking city Locals gathered on the streets to welcome Kyiv's men as official said entire city is almost under their control Ukrainian artillery hammered Russian units fleeing across Dnipro River...

The Russian air force had deployed three times as many fighters and attack planes as the Ukrainian air force had in its entire inventory. Ukraine’s air defenses were disorganized and, in the case of certain key long-range radars, sitting out in the open where the Russians easily could target them. The Russians had a firepower advantage. The Ukrainians had the same advantages every defender possesses over an invader: motivation, simpler logistics, familiar terrain. Either side might’ve prevailed—the Russians by dominating the air, the Ukrainians by preventing the Russians from dominating the air. We know how it turned out. The Russian...

Walls rattled and pieces of plaster fell from the ceiling of a basement converted by Ukrainian troops into a forward outpost. Russian shells hit again and again the crumpled building above. Images on a surveillance monitor, linked to a camera outside in the deserted village, showed plumes of black smoke rising all around the compound. “The Russians are very angry today because yesterday we killed two of their tanks,” said Marian, a platoon leader in the volunteer Carpathian Sich battalion deployed on the front line near the Russian-held Ukrainian city of Izyum. Like most military personnel, he is only allowed...