Free Republic

Ukraine is racing to reinforce its air defenses as a brief pause in Russian strikes on Kyiv and other cities approaches its expiration, and military and diplomatic experts warn the move may do little to change conditions on the battlefield and could strengthen Moscow’s negotiating position. Earlier Friday, President Donald Trump said at the White House, "I think we’re getting very close to getting a settlement," expressing optimism about the upcoming Russia-Ukraine talks. "Zelenskyy and Putin hate each other, and it makes it very difficult, but I think we have a good chance of getting it settled." The Kremlin said...

They've hung him upside down like a slab of meat. Stripped to his underwear. Arms bound tight with tape. Ankles lashed to a tree trunk in the open winter air. The second man, attached to a neighbouring tree, is at least taped upright. A man screams at them in Russian. He stuffs a fistful of snow into one of the men's mouths. Both cringe in terror, whimpering protestations and pleas. This is no medieval dungeon - it's the Russian army in Ukraine in the 21st century. The men's 'crime'? Refusing to walk, yet again, into what they call 'the meat...

"Ukraine saw a rare overnight lull in attacks on energy infrastructure after President Trump personally urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to pause strikes — but the Kremlin said Friday the brief reprieve will last only through Sunday. There were no overnight strikes on energy facilities in Ukraine after Trump called on Putin to spare them as frigid temperatures leave civilians in danger of freezing to death, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a post to X. “Over the past night, there were no strikes on energy facilities,” Zelensky wrote. But that didn’t stop Moscow from continuing to hit other civilian...

I took a few images from the 2 minute video for this post:Andrew Bridgen@ABridgenMore fraud uncovered in Ukraine a $3bn ‘redirect’ of aid for Ukraine linking the deputy prime minister who has been arrested, the EU and AstraZeneca. All ultimately benefiting Zelenskyy. You could not make this up - no wonder they want the war to continue. Please watch and share.Jan 29, 2026·

Volodymyr Zelenskyy dropped a barrage of truth bombs on his European allies about their collective failure to stand up to Russian President Vladimir Putin and be respected by his US counterpart, Donald Trump. Invoking the spectacle of Bill Murray's classic comedy, Groundhog Day, at a speech in Davos, the Ukrainian president said the UK and Europe are stuck in a doom loop, repeating rhetoric about what needs to be done - without taking the action required to make things change. This, he said, meant they were left scrambling to respond to world events instead of standing united as a great...

PARIS (AP) — France’s navy, working with intelligence provided by the United Kingdom, on Thursday intercepted an oil tanker in the Mediterranean Sea that traveled from Russia, in a mission targeting the sanctioned Russian shadow fleet, officials said. French maritime authorities for the Mediterranean said the ship, the Grinch, is suspected of operating with a false flag. The French navy is escorting the ship to anchorage for more checks, the statement said. The tanker departed from the city of Murmansk in northwestern Russia, it said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky suggested that Europe is too reliant on the US for its security, as he questioned the response from NATO if Russia was to invade another European nation. “Europe needs united armed forces, forces that can truly defend Europe today,” he said during his speech in Davos. “Europe relies only on that belief that if danger comes, NATO will act, but no one has really seen the alliance in action.” He questioned who would respond if Russian President Vladimir Putin decided to invade Lithuania or strike Poland. “Right now NATO exists thanks to the belief that the...

Collecting snow for water at home; sleeping in gloves, coats and hats; heating bricks on gas stoves for warmth; erecting tents indoors - Kyiv residents are doing everything they can to survive the coldest, darkest winter of the war. "When there is no electricity, there is no heating: it means the apartment freezes," said ​Anton Rybikov, father of three-year-old David and two-year-old Matvii, speaking to Reuters in their home, where he and his wife Marina have stocked up on backup batteries and sleeping bags. The 39-year-old military ‌chaplain said one of his sons recently contracted pneumonia after temperatures in the...

The headmaster of Chicago’s tony Latin School will resign less than two weeks after it was revealed that students were rehearsing Nazi marching themes for the second year in a row. Dr. Thomas Hagerman revealed his plans to leave his job in a Jan. 14 email to the Latin School community which cited health issues as the reason for his exit. “This decision comes after a great deal of thoughtful deliberation. I have been repeatedly reminded about the importance of attending more intentionally to my health and overall sustainability,” Hagerman wrote*** The surprise resignation comes two weeks after middle schoolers...

Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov says 200,000 soldiers are absent without official leave — AWOL — and that 2 million are "wanted" for avoiding military service. "I don't want to be a populist — I want to be a realist," Fedorov said. "The Ministry of Defense is coming into my hands with a [$6.9 billion] shortfall, 2 million Ukrainians who are wanted and 200,000 who are AWOL," Fedorov said Wednesday in an address to Parliament. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appointed Fedorov, 34, at the start of the year. The former head of Ukraine's digital transformation policies is credited with spearheading the...

Russia launched a second major drone and missile bombardment of Ukraine in four days, officials said Tuesday, aiming again at the power grid amid freezing temperatures in an apparent snub to U.S.-led peace efforts as Moscow’s invasion of its neighbor approaches the four-year mark. Russia fired almost 300 drones, 18 ballistic missiles and seven cruise missiles at eight regions overnight, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on social media. One strike in the northeastern Kharkiv region killed four people at a mail depot, and several hundred thousand households were without power in the Kyiv region, Zelensky said. The daytime temperature in...

The Russian economy has officially entered stagnation mode, reports Foreign Intelligence Service. The Kremlin can no longer hide the systemic crisis behind optimistic statements. The figures show a collapse in the aggressor country's economic performance. After 4.5% GDP growth in the fourth quarter of 2024, a sharp slowdown began: the indicator fell to 1.4% in the first quarter of 2025, then to 1.1% in the second quarter, and in the third quarter it was only 0.6%.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko has called on residents to temporarily leave the Ukrainian capital for places with alternative sources of electricity and heat. That came following a major Russian missile and drone attack overnight into this morning that severely damaged critical energy infrastructure. The strikes, described by officials as one of the most damaging on Kyiv’s power grid this winter, left approximately half of the city’s apartment buildings, around 6,000, without heating as temperatures plummeted to minus 8°C and forecasters predicted further falls.

"And here we can see the approximate routes of attacks that took place between the 7th and 8th of January of 2026 when the Russians as you can see according to this map were attacking just the Nepro region. And if you remember, we discussed the situation yesterday because after these attacks there are huge problems with energy supply, heat supply, water supply took place exactly on the territory of the city. And uh these pictures and these photos were published by pro Ukrainian sources there. As you can see, there is a complete blackout and complete national disaster in...

Russia’s Foreign Ministry on Saturday called for the release of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife from U.S. custody after President Donald Trump announced that they were captured during military strikes on the capital city of Caracas. “We firmly call on the U.S. leadership to reconsider this position and release the lawfully elected president of a sovereign country and his wife,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement, stressing the need to resolve the dramatic confrontation through diplomacy. In a separate message, the ministry said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke by phone to Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez...

Russian President Vladimir Putin lied when he claimed earlier this week that Ukraine tried to kill him in a massive drone attack targeting one of his residences, according to US intelligence.

A Russian military victory in Ukraine would cost Europe twice as much as a Ukrainian victory, according to a new study by Corisk and the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs published on Nov. 25. Under the first scenario proposed by the researchers, Moscow's forces would continue their incremental advance and push westward toward the Dnipro River. As a result of their military victories, the Kremlin would force Ukraine to accept a negotiated settlement on terms beneficial to Moscow. According to the report, such an outcome would amount to a Russian partial victory, giving the Kremlin influence over Ukraine's political and...

VLADIMIR Putin's apocalyptic Satan-2 nuclear missile has been branded an "absolute failure" - despite the Russian despot bragging it is "unstoppable". Putin has sacked the boss of Russian space agency Roscosmos after the killer weapon blew up on a launchpad before even taking off during a missile test. Russia has long boasted the 208-ton intercontinental hypersonic missile - capable of carrying nuclear warheads - is “unstoppable” by the West. The 15,880mph missile system is said to be the size of a 14-storey tower block. But Putin is now said to be frustrated over the production failures of the so-called apocalyptic...

Putin's army would stretch out from Kalingrad like a sword swallowing Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia one by one. But this dream is being shattered by a hammer blow stretching from Riga to Vilnius. While the iron piece was being melted down in Riga's back rooms last month, now this iron is being forged into a hammer in Vilnius, shattering Putin's 50-year Baltic dream. Moreover, this time Belarus will not escape either. In the early days of December 2025, history is being rewritten in Europe's eastern flank, not with ink, but with shattered metal. Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. These three tiny...

In the United States, several transcripts of conversations between Russia's leader Vladimir Putin and former US president George Bush have been published, in which Putin argued that Ukraine is an artificial state with a fragmented society and warned of a long-term confrontation with the West if Ukraine were admitted to NATO.Source: European Pravda with reference to the non-governmental research institution the National Security ArchiveDetails: In a conversation dated 16 June 2001, Putin, speaking in a passage about the need for honesty in relations and saying that he senses the mood of Russian society well, spoke about his disappointment with the...