Free Republic

Russian troops in the occupied city of Melitopol have stolen all the equipment from a farm equipment dealership -- and shipped it to Chechnya, according to a Ukrainian businessman in the area. But after a journey of more than 700 miles, the thieves were unable to use any of the equipment -- because it had been locked remotely. Over the past few weeks there's been a growing number of reports of Russian troops stealing farm equipment, grain and even building materials - beyond widespread looting of residences. But the removal of valuable agricultural equipment from a John Deere dealership in...

Russian President Vladimir Putin has fired five generals and one police colonel, according to a report from Moscow-based media group RBC, amid the country's military failures in Ukraine. -snip- RBC reported on Wednesday that it had obtained a copy of Putin's decree and listed the names and positions of the individuals who were reportedly dismissed from their posts. Those fired included Major General of Police Vasily Kukushkin, who was head of the Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Vladimir region; Major General Alexander Laas, deputy head of the Main Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for...

Civilians in Andriivka, a village about 60 kilometres west of Kyiv, are coming to terms with the devastation and trauma that they suffered during the month they spent under Russian occupation. When Russian soldiers first arrived in early March they expected to be welcomed as liberators. Once they realised that the locals did not want them there, they turned murderous.

KYIV, April 21 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin claimed victory in the biggest battle of the Ukraine war on Thursday, declaring the port of Mariupol "liberated" after nearly two months of siege, despite hundreds of defenders still holding out inside a giant steel works. In a televised meeting with his defence minister inside the Kremlin, Putin said there was no need for a final confrontation with the last defenders who were boxed in after surviving nearly two months of Russia's siege. "I consider the proposed storming of the industrial zone unnecessary," he told Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu in a televised...