Free Republic

A Russian military commander has appealed directly to Vladimir Putin to threaten an armed uprising with help from top military brass if the country isn’t told the “truth” about the war. In an Instagram video that quickly racked up millions of views Thursday, Alexander Lunin addressed the Russian president to warn of “very serious consequences” if his demands were ignored. The 39-year-old father of two went on to say he’d been asked to “deliver a message” to Putin by unnamed military officials and members of the security services. They told him to demand a meeting with Putin at the Kremlin...

Keir Starmer announced on June 22 that he would resign as the U.K. prime minister and Labour Party leader, a step that follows months of mounting internal pressure. The departure is likely to trigger a leadership contest and deepen political uncertainty in one of Ukraine's most vital allies. Andy Burnham, Starmer's Labour Party rival, has been discussed as the likely next prime minister after securing a seat in parliament in last week's by-election. During his resignation speech, Starmer listed "standing with Ukraine" and rebuilding relations with European allies as one of his government's main achievements. "Every decision I've taken has...

Soot-choked “black rain" has fallen across multiple districts of Moscow after Ukraine launched its largest-ever drone assault against the Russian capital, scoring a direct hit on a vital energy facility. Close to 200 long-range strike drones targeted the metropolis early on Thursday, overwhelming local air defences and setting the strategic Moscow Oil Refinery in Kapotnya ablaze. As thick columns of dark smoke billowed thousands of feet into the air, residents in the southeastern suburbs and surrounding towns, including Balashikha and Lyubertsy, reported a fine, oily drizzle that coated vehicles, streets, and clothing in a dark, toxic residue. The multi-directional aerial...

WASHINGTON, DC: A blockbuster upcoming account of the second Trump administration has exposed deep, profane fractures within American foreign policy, revealing that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent privately launched an aggressive campaign to block Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy from entering the White House.The explosive details surface in 'Regime Change', a forthcoming book by The New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, which alleges that Bessent repeatedly used highly derogatory nicknames to describe the wartime leader to close associates before a disastrous Oval Office summit. (snip) The Treasury chief reportedly harbored deep frustrations over a stalled, high-stakes critical minerals agreement,...

Scott Bessent, the US treasury secretary, advised Donald Trump not to host Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office, having called the Ukrainian president a “little f**ker”, a “special-needs child” and “Mr Bean on crack”, according to a new book. The suggestion that a US cabinet official described a world leader in such terms is included in Regime Change, a blockbusting account of the second Trump administration by New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, set to be published worldwide on Tuesday. News of Bessent’s alleged remarks may embarrass the Trump administration, although the meeting that did take place...

Footage shows the moment an explosion at an oil refinery in Moscow caused a fuel storage lid to fly off. The explosion was caused by a Ukrainian drone attack where one of Moscow’s most important energy facilities was damaged for the second time this week.

Britain will provide 150,000 drones to ​Ukraine by the end ‌of 2026 as part of a £752 million ($996 million) ​funding package, defence ​minister Dan Jarvis said on ⁠Thursday at a ​meeting of the Ukraine ​Defense Contact Group in Brussels. The package, funded by Britain's £2.26 ​billion loan to ​Ukraine, includes 350 air defence missiles ‌and ⁠ground-based radar systems. The loan is backed by proceeds from immobilised ​Russian sovereign ​assets. Jarvis, ⁠who co-chaired the meeting with his ​German counterpart, met ​with ⁠U.S. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and other ⁠defence ​ministers including ​France and Ukraine.

Moscow has come under the largest Ukrainian attack since the start of the full-scale war, with close to 200 drones hitting targets around the Russian capital and setting columns of thick smoke billowing high into the sky. Seventeen people were wounded in the Moscow region, according to local governor Andrei Vorobyov. Almost 1,000 drones and four Ukrainian cruise missiles were intercepted and destroyed across the country in 24 hours, Russia's defence ministry was quoted as saying. An oil depot was struck in the southern Rostov region, where one person was killed. Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv had once again hit the...

U.S. President Donald Trump told Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday that ending the ​conflict in Ukraine was vital and he was ‌ready to help, Russian news agencies quoted Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov as saying. "As regards the Ukrainian conflict, Donald Trump again emphasised ​that a cessation of hostilities was vital," Ushakov ​was quoted as telling journalists. "The situation around the memorandum ​between the U.S. and Iran was discussed," ​Ushakov ⁠was quoted as saying. "Donald Trump said an agreement was close and he expects that the results of the difficult ⁠but ​ultimately successful negotiations can be made ​public."...

On Sunday, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) took to X to announce that a senior Hezbollah commander, one Ali Mussa Daqduq, has had his birth certificate permanently revoked. The planet is now a safer, cleaner place without this guy walking around. The post reads: ELIMINATED: Ali Musa Daqduq, a senior Hezbollah commander who held a series of 5 senior positions within Hezbollah. Daqduq played a central role in advancing terrorist attacks and combat operations against Israel and IDF soldiers. In 2007, he orchestrated the kidnapping and murder of 5 American soldiers.

Strongman Vladimir Putin was forced to halt his annual Russia Day showcase in Moscow’s Red Square for the first time in 23 years Friday, after a Ukrainian attack battered key energy targets and sparked massive fires on Russian soil. Kyiv launched drone strikes overnight into Friday on critical Russian energy and transportation points, including the Armiansk Bridge, which connects occupied Crimea with the motherland. The bombing of the bridge “completely paralysed” a key logistical route and destroyed about 50 vehicles carrying fuel and ammunition, according to Ukraine’s 1st Separate Assault Regiment Da Vinci. Moscow’s centerpiece Russia Day concert was hastily...

A Russian MP has demanded that Vladimir Putin deliver a plan to end the war in Ukraine as he berated the Kremlin's "ineffective leadership". In a lengthy tirade, Vyacheslav Markhayev listed corruption scandals, oligarchy, losses of the "most active and reproductively capable segment of the population" and Ukrainian drone strikes among the ills plaguing wartime Russia. "The time of illusions is over. The country is on the brink of a social explosion, and the blame for this will fall squarely on the entrenched ruling power," said Mr Markhayev, a deputy of the State Duma from the Communist Party. "If the...

A sanctioned Russian LNG tanker from the Portovaya project idled near Singapore in May 2026 with no buyer. At the same time, Ukrainian drones had already knocked roughly 700,000 barrels per day of Russian refining capacity offline across 16 major facilities. Europe had locked in a binding legal phase-out of Russian gas. And just four months earlier, U.S. forces had captured Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela.

U.S. President Donald Trump will meet with Middle ‌Eastern leaders and attend a working ‌session with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy during the ​G7 summit in France next week, senior U.S. administration officials said on Saturday. Officials said Trump would meet separately with the ‌leaders of Egypt, ⁠Qatar, United Arab Emirate, France and India. No bilateral meeting ⁠was planned with Zelenskiy but the two leaders could meet on the sidelines ​of the ​summit, they added. Trump ​planned to raise ‌issues of shared importance with leaders at the summit, including economic growth and development, supply chain resilience, illegal migration and AI, one...

Ukraine is seeking an additional $20 billion in military funding from its allies to cement what it sees as its ​current battlefield advantage over Russia, a Ukrainian defence source said on Friday. The request will ‌be made next Thursday at a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, an alliance of more than 50 countries also known as the Ramstein group that provide financial and military aid for ​Kyiv. Russia's advances have slowed this year - effectively grinding to a halt last ​month - as Ukrainian mid-range drone strikes have harmed its supplies and ⁠logistics for the front line. Long-range...

French President Emmanuel Macron said on June 10 that it is "very important" for President Volodymyr Zelensky to attend the upcoming Group of Seven (G7) summit. Zelensky's participation "is very important for us because we need to rebuild consensus within the G7 in support of Ukraine on the various aspects of the war," Macron said at the Elysee Palace during a pre-summit discussion with civil society representatives. The leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States will convene at the G7 Summit in the French resort town of Evian-les-Bains from June 15-17. Macron's invitation...

The European Union announced it would resume membership talks with Ukraine and Moldova on Monday. “All member states agreed to open the first accession negotiations cluster with Ukraine and Moldova,” EU President Antonio Costa said in a social media post on Friday. The announcement came after the new government in Hungary agreed to drop its longstanding veto against Kyiv. The European Union formally opened entry negotiations with Ukraine back in June 2024, kickstarting a complicated undertaking that usually takes years and involves negotiations on anything from agriculture to the rule of law. Launched as a powerful statement days after Russia’s...

Sen. John Fetterman and his possible future U.S. Senate colleague Graham Platner are both Democrats, but that’s not keeping them from trading profanity-laced barbs. During a town hall on Sunday, Platner — the frontrunner in Maine’s Democratic primary on Tuesday — was asked about forming relationships in the Senate if he were eventually elected. Platner chose to compare himself to Fetterman, who has frustrated Democrats with his constant criticism of the party, frequently on Fox News, and his support for President Donald Trump’s nominees and policies, such as the Iran war. “As you can all probably tell, I got a...

A glance at her bio shows that Dem Rep. Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania is the daughter and granddaughter of Holocaust survivors. CNN: "You are the daughter of Holocaust survivors... do you support him as a candidate?" HOULAHAN: " I don’t make that choice for the people of Maine; I am hopeful that his candidacy is successful"

A car exploded in the city of Balashikha, which borders the Russian capital Moscow, in the early morning of June 9, killing the driver at the scene. According to the Telegram channel Two Majors, the man killed in the explosion has been identified as a Russian major general. The channel, however, did not reveal his name. Earlier, witnesses and Russia’s Investigative Committee confirmed that a 62-year-old man died after an explosive device detonated inside a vehicle in the Aviatorov district of Balashikha. The explosion occurred shortly after the car began moving. Russia’s Investigative Committee said the blast occurred at around...