Free Republic

Americans’ already-negative opinions of Russia have soured further in the past year, dropping ... to 9%.

In an effort to distract attention from its losses in Ukraine and obfuscate its war on Ukrainian civilians, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations accused the United States, the United Kingdom and unnamed other Western countries of launching “the largest in history war by proxy with Russia using Ukrainians and ready to go “until the last Ukrainian”. He then claimed that it was Ukraine and its Western supporters, not Russia, who started the war. It’s time to set the record straight. Leading up to Russia’s February 24 invasion of Ukraine, Russia fervently insisted that it had no plans to...

It was supposed to be the bright spot in a grim day. Of a dozen unclaimed bodies set for burial recently at Bucha City Cemetery, one had just been identified. The dead man’s family was present and would be able to bury him with full ceremony. His grave would be marked with his name instead of just a number. But there was a hitch. No one could find the body. (snip)When Russian troops retreated at the end of March from the region around Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, they left behind a trail of more than 1,200 bodies. At least 458 dead...

Putin has no questions about the money allocated for the army, also for the reason that in exchange for the stolen, Defense Ministry officials are ready to carry out any, the most “dirty”, order of the head of the Russian Federation. Sergei Shoigu and his entourage profit from the money allocated for the Russian army / Screenshot Sergei Shoigu and his entourage profit from the money allocated for the Russian army / Screenshot High-ranking officials with real estate abroad and fabulous incomes that are not declared – this is what the new investigation of Alexei Navalny’s team is all about....

Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu today gave the order to dramatically increase so-called shock and awe attacks on Ukraine. He claimed Kremlin forces must 'exclude the possibility of the Kyiv regime inflicting massive rocket and artillery strikes on civilian infrastructure and residents of the Donbas and other regions,' according to reports in Moscow. It followed an on-the-ground inspection by Putin's trusty defence minister - and a National Security Council meeting led by Vladimir Putin. Shoigu 'gave instructions to further increase the actions of [military] groups in all operational areas', local reports stated.

When NBC's Lester Holt asked resident Joe Biden what might prompt him to send U.S. troops to rescue Americans fleeing Ukraine, Biden replied: "There's not. That's a world war when Americans and Russia start shooting at one another." It's not like we're dealing with a terrorist organization. We're dealing with one of the largest armies in the world. ... Things could go crazy quickly." Biden was saying Americans are not going to fight Russians in Ukraine, even to protect or extract imperiled U.S. troops, diplomats or citizens. Speaking last week on the Senate floor, Sen. Ted Cruz echoed Biden: "I...

Scarred by losing tens of millions of lives on their soil in two world wars, many European Union nations have been wary ever since about military spending. Now, as Russian pressure builds at the Ukrainian border, they face a painful reality: Europe remains heavily reliant on U.S. might to deter another potentially big conflict on its turf. Because of a half-hearted attitude to defense and security over decades, “the EU has almost nothing to bring to the table,” says Piotr Buras, senior policy fellow at the European Council of Foreign Relations think tank. “So, Russia can simply ignore it.”

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield warned on Sunday that Russia's menacing military buildup on the Ukraine border signals the Kremlin's "intentions to use them."Thomas-Greenfield's comment on Sunday in an interview with ABC's "This Week" anchor George Stephanopoulos came on the eve of an open U.N. Security Council meeting she requested to discuss Russia's aggression toward Ukraine and what to do about it."You don't amass 100,000 troops if you don't have intentions to use them," Thomas-Greenfield said.She said Monday's U.N. Security Council meeting "is one more opportunity to find a diplomatic way out for the Russians." She added...

The U.S. rejection of Russia’s main demands to resolve the crisis over Ukraine leaves little ground for optimism, the Kremlin spokesman said Thursday, while adding that dialogue was still possible. But as expected, the U.S. and the Western alliance firmly rejected any concessions on Moscow’s main points Wednesday, refusing to permanently ban Ukraine from joining NATO and saying allied deployments of troops and military equipment in Eastern Europe are nonnegotiable. The U.S. did outline areas in which some of Russia’s concerns might be addressed, possibly offering a path to de-escalation. “There is no change, there will be no change,” U.S....

For nearly fifty years, from the end of World War II until 1992 millions of people in Eastern Europe endured the oppression and brutality of Communism, courtesy of the former Soviet Union. For decades Soviet Russia maintained control over Poland, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Hungary, East Germany, Romania, the Baltic and Balkan countries, and all of the ‘Stans’ with an iron fist. Tolerating no dissent in those countries, and responding brutally if it occurred. Ask the Hungarians in 1956 and the Czechs in 1968. In 1956 the Soviet Union sent troops and tanks to crush the Hungarian popular uprising, killing and wounding...

Canadian special forces operators have been deployed to Ukraine amid rising tensions between the NATO military alliance and Russia, Global News has learned. The deployment of a small contingent from the Canadian Special Operations Regiment comes as diplomatic talks aimed at staving off an armed conflict in Ukraine have faltered, and an estimated 100,000 Russian troops remain camped on Ukraine’s border. Sources told Global News that the Canadian special operations presence is part of an attempt by NATO allies to deter Russian aggression in Ukraine, and to identify ways to assist the Ukrainian government. The unit has also been tasked...

As the predictably useless U.S.-Russia security talks in Europe are wrapping up this week, Putin is launching another huge live fire drill on the border of Ukraine. In addition to the 100,000 combat-ready troops that were pre-positioned in the area, Russia deployed additional 3,000 troops, 300 tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, ground attack fighter jets, transport and attack helicopters, and other weaponry. The Russian strongman’s answer to President Biden’s naïve pleas to “de-escalate” the crisis in Ukraine is to keep messing with the Americans’ heads (morochit golovu). On Sunday, after the high-level US-Russia meetings kicked off with a two-hour working dinner...

There is a real possibility that the European Union (EU) will endure major fuel shortages this winter. Record-high electricity prices are currently the norm with no end in sight. Russian president Vladimir Putin astutely understands that the EU heavily relies on Russian natural gas, which the Nord Stream 1 and now 2 (NS2) natural gas pipeline will provide. This $11 billion line to the German coast spanning 764 miles under the Baltic Sea will double the capacity of Russian natural gas and be used as a geopolitical leverage point against Ukraine, Poland, NATO, the EU, and most of all Germany,...

While all facts are true, not all facts are relevant. And what are the relevant facts in this crisis where 100,000 Russian troops are now stationed along the Ukrainian border? Fact one: There is not now and never has been a vital U.S. interest in Ukraine to justify risking a war with Russia. History tells us that. Even as Ukraine was suffering in the Stalin-induced Holodomor, the terror-famine of 1932-33, President Franklin Roosevelt granted diplomatic recognition to the Bolshevik regime. During four decades of Cold War, the U.S. never regarded Moscow's control of Ukraine as any threat to the USA....

Video of the destruction vehicle of the occupation forces of Russia from the Ukrainian missile complex Stugna-P was published. Militarnyi reported. Ukrainian volunteer Oleksandr Karpyuk demonstrated video of the moment of the hitting target. “Javelins are not the only ones. Meet Stugna-P. In the video, two objects are worth noting, Stugna-P and the Ural truck” – says Oleksandr Karpyuk to the video. According to the volunteer, the distance between the anti-tank complex and the URAL truck of the militants was 5600 meters. “When the Russian Federation still decides to roll out its iron on the horizon, its meeting will be...

Russia’s Supreme Court ordered the country’s best-known human rights group on Tuesday to be liquidated for breaking a law requiring groups to register as foreign agents, capping a year of crackdowns on Kremlin critics unseen since the Soviet days. The shuttering of the group Memorial closes a year in which the top Kremlin critic was jailed, his political movement banned and many of his allies forced to flee. Moscow says it is simply enforcing laws to thwart extremism and shield the country from foreign influence. “This is a bad signal showing that our society and our country are moving in...

Thousands of Russian troops who participated in drills near the Ukraine border are marching home. More than 10,000 soldiers are returning to their permanent bases after a month of drills that ramped up international tensions over the region, Reuters reported Saturday, citing the Russian Interfax independent news agency. It’s not clear if their movements represent a reversal of the troop buildup that began in the spring and has seen up to 175,000 troops deployed on the border of the two former Soviet states. The moves came a day after Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky held a video call with 20 US...

For weeks Kiev officials and many corners of Western media and the Washington national security establishment have hyped the Russian troop build-up in regions of Russia that are within 400km of Ukraine's border, accusing the Kremlin of planning an invasion of Donbass sometime in January. This month started, for example, with The Washington Post citing US intelligence to claim this would involve a whopping 175,000 Russian troops mustered near the border. But like with prior similar instances (such as failed predictions last spring that never materialized), it's looking like the opposite is set to happen, with on Saturday Reuters reporting...

U.S. Rep. Madison Cawthorn, R-N.C., said Americans should be more focused on pressing issues in the United States like the southern border crisis before worrying about the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. "Instead of being the police force of the world, some people who want to say, 'Oh my goodness, well you know what, there's this terrible border crisis going on in Ukraine and Russia, Vladimir Putin, blah blah,'" Cawthorn said during his speech at Turning Point USA's AmericaFest in Phoenix. "I don't care. I really don't." Cawthorn also noted the struggles of homeless veterans, many of whom do not...

Russian President Vladimir Putin has blamed the West for increasing tensions in Eastern Europe and suggested a “military-technical” response if his request for security guarantees is not met — while a media mouthpiece for the Kremlin warned that Russia will hold a gun to “America’s head” if Ukraine is allowed to join NATO. In a speech Tuesday to Russian defense ministry officials, Putin said Moscow needs “long-term, legally binding guarantees” from the West that the US and NATO will not deploy missile systems in Ukraine, rather than “verbal assurances.” Russia has massed as many as 175,000 troops as well as...