Free Republic

Trump administration officials fired more than 300 staffers Thursday night at the National Nuclear Security Administration — the agency tasked with managing the nation’s nuclear stockpile — as part of broader Energy Department layoffs, according to four people with knowledge of the matter. Sources told CNN the officials did not seem to know this agency oversees America’s nuclear weapons. An Energy Department spokesperson disputed the number of personnel affected, telling CNN that “less than 50 people” were “dismissed” from NNSA, and that the dismissed staffers “held primarily administrative and clerical roles.” The agency began rescinding the terminations Friday morning. Some...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy pored over a once-classified map of vast deposits of rare earths and other critical minerals during an interview with Reuters on Friday, part of a push to appeal to Donald Trump's penchant for a deal. The U.S. president, whose administration is pressing for a rapid end to Ukraine's war with Russia, said on Monday he wanted Ukraine to supply the U.S. with rare earths and other minerals in return for financially supporting its war effort. "If we are talking about a deal, then let's do a deal, we are only for it," Zelenskiy said, emphasising Ukraine's...

US President Donald Trump on Monday called for Russian President Vladimir Putin to strike a deal to end the nearly three-year war in Ukraine, specifying that Russia will be in "big trouble" if the conflict continues. "He should make a deal. I think he's destroying Russia by not making a deal," Trump said upon his return to the Oval Office. "I think Russia's going to be in big trouble." Trump expressed his willingness to meet with Putin, mentioning their prior summit during his first term. "I got along with him great. I would hope he wants to make a deal,"...

Lines of Russian troops in desert khaki greeted President Vladimir V. Putin in Syria in 2017. Declaring that Moscow had accomplished its mission in Syria’s civil war, Mr. Putin pledged that Russia was there to stay. “If the terrorists raise their heads again,” he said on the tarmac of a Russian air base, “we will deal unprecedented strikes unlike anything they have seen.” But over the last two weeks, as the rebels that Russia called terrorists swept across Syria aiming to topple one of Russia’s closest allies, President Bashar al-Assad, those “unprecedented” strikes were nowhere to be seen. Instead, with...

President-elect Donald Trump used a “forceful hand” to get his Drug Enforcement Agency pick to drop out on Tuesday after hearing “concerns” about the Floridian’s record, sources familiar told The Post — leading outgoing Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (R-NY) to make a bid for the position. Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister issued a lengthy statement indicating he was withdrawing his name for the DEA slot — but did not reveal the specific reason he was dropping out of the confirmation process after just three days. “Everyone knows President Trump calls the shots,” a well-placed source spilled. “The president heard the concerns...

President-elect Donald J. Trump’s support for Pete Hegseth, who he announced as his nominee for defense secretary shortly after Election Day, is wobbling after a crush of controversy over a rape allegation and a 2018 email from Mr. Hegseth’s mother accusing him of a pattern of abuse toward women. How Mr. Hegseth fares through a series of tests on Wednesday will be critical for his chances. He is set to continue his meetings with key senators, including Joni Ernst of Iowa, a combat veteran who has spoken about being sexually assaulted herself, and his mother is expected to sit for...

Speaking at the CSTO summit in Astana on Thursday, Nov. 28, Putin said that Russian military officials are currently selecting targets across Ukraine – including military facilities, industrial sites, and command centers in Kyiv. Putin also discussed Russia’s recent deployment of the “Oreshnik” [Hazel tree] missile system to the Ukrainian city of Dnipro on Nov. 21, a weapon he claimed “has no global equivalent.” “Oreshnik [Hazel tree] affects even highly protected and deep-lying objects,” Putin said, describing the missile as capable of reaching speeds of 3 kilometers (1.9 miles) per second and temperatures of 4,000 degrees Celsius (7,232 degrees Fahrenheit)....

One of the bleakest places on Earth today is the central processing facility for the remains of dead soldiers in the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, the logistical hub of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Designed to process hundreds of corpses at a time, this sprawling mega-morgue has been hopelessly overwhelmed for many months. Footage from the inside, posted by witnesses on social media, shows hundreds of bodies in various stages of decomposition and limbs strewn across the corridor floors. In wooden boxes lining the walls from floor to ceiling, row after row after row, are the lucky ones: those whose bodies...

In his future policies, including those on the Russian track US President-elect Donald Trump will rely on the commitments to the forces that brought him to power, rather than on election pledges, Russian presidential aide Nikolay Patrushev told the daily Kommersant in an interview. "The election campaign is over," Patrushev noted. "To achieve success in the election, Donald Trump relied on certain forces to which he has corresponding obligations. As a responsible person, he will be obliged to fulfill them." He agreed that Trump, when he was still a candidate, "made many statements critical of the destructive foreign and domestic...

Former President Donald Trump thanked a surprised-looking Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for ending the “impeachment hoax” ahead of their Friday meeting. “[Zelensky] said, ‘President Trump did absolutely nothing wrong,'” Trump said as Zelensky stood silently by his side ahead of their New York City meeting. “He said it loud and clear, and the impeachment hoax died right there.” The comment referred to Trump’s first impeachment in 2019, which centered on accusations that Trump pressured Zelensky to investigate his political opponent, Joe Biden, and his son Hunter Biden, in exchange for military aid from the United States to fight off Russian-backed...

When Russian President Vladimir Putin warned earlier this month that Western approval for Ukraine to strike deep inside Russia would mean Moscow was at war with NATO, Russian propagandists rushed to rattle the nuclear saber. Alexander Mikhailov, director of the Bureau of Military Political Analysis, called for bombing plywood mock-ups of London and Washington — complete with reproductions of Buckingham Palace, Big Ben and the White House — to simulate nuclear strikes, so that they would “burn so beautifully that it will horrify the world.” The speaker of the lower house, Vyacheslav Volodin, warned that strikes on Russia would lead...

◾️It is necessary to adapt the principles of state policy in the field of nuclear deterrence to current realities ◾️A deep and comprehensive analysis of Russia's approaches to the possible use of nuclear forces and their possible adjustments was conducted ◾️Russia has always approached the issues of using nuclear forces with the utmost responsibility, this is an extreme measure to protect the country's sovereignty ◾️It was proposed to introduce a number of clarifications in terms of defining the conditions for the use of nuclear weapons by Russia ◾️The modern military-political situation is changing dynamically, the Russian Federation is obliged to...

Russian State TV recently broadcasted a segment of a talk show during which the hosts discussed the potential of Alaska joining Russia. In the show, the host makes a joke saying: "Do you know what they call Alaska? Ice Crimea." He then adds that Alaska will "one day return to its native shores." The hosts are referencing the fact that Alaska once "belonged" to Russia, before being sold to the United States in 1866. This echoes rhetoric used in the war in Ukraine, that Ukraine "belonged" to Russia, and therefore should rejoin its so-called native land.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday will visit the Pennsylvania ammunition factory that is producing one of the most critically needed munitions for his country’s fight to fend off Russian ground forces. He is expected to go to the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant to kick off a busy week in the United States shoring up support for Ukraine in the war, according to two U.S. officials and a third familiar with Zelenskyy’s schedule who spoke on the condition of anonymity to provide details that were not yet public. He also will address the U.N. General Assembly annual gathering in New...

In the pre-dawn hours on Tuesday, a large flock of Ukrainian drones winged north from Ukraine all the way to Toropets, a town in western Russian that hosts the 107th Arsenal, a sprawling ammunition dump feeding the Russian force fighting in Ukraine, 300 miles to the south. The arsenal exploded with enough force to register as a small earthquake, draw the attention of NASA fire-spotting satellites and compel local authorities to order an evacuation of nearby residents. A lot of Russian munitions went up in flames. (snip) That so many of Russia’s best munitions were reportedly concentrated in a single...

A little over a year ago, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Putin’s former cook and the founder of the notorious Wagner private military company, launched a coup attempt that fizzled quickly. But, significantly, the Russian military and security services did nothing to stop it. They just watched — hardly a sign of their loyalty to Putin. A few days ago, Georgy Zakrevsky, another head of a private military company, effectively called on Russians to get rid of the “Great” Putin (his modifier, not mine). When the guys with the guns start making fun of your greatness, it may be time to read the...

Dramatic video Thursday showed a Ukrainian drone attack on a military airfield in southern Russia as Kyiv launches an expanding wave of strikes deep inside its neighbor's territory. Through the huge plumes of smoke filling the sky above the air base, three small explosions can be seen as a man driving through the flat landscape points his camera at the fire and delivers an expletive-laden rant. “There it is flying by, f---. F---ing flying over again. ... It’s a serious tragedy, folks. This is serious stuff. It’s all f---ing on fire," he says. "That’s really something else. And all the...

Whatever the thrust of his comments, the Russian president’s tone and body language was decidedly less convincing. “Putin discussing Ukraine’s incursion into Russia, which he says the West is behind,” Nigel Gould-Davis, a former U.K. ambassador to Belarus, posted on X, formerly Twitter, along with a clip of Putin speaking at the summit. “He looks and sounds not angry, outraged, determined – but hesitant and rattled.” Though state media has naturally tried to steer clear of anything resembling explicit criticism of the Kremlin’s military efforts, propagandists have been unable to contain their growing alarm at the pace of Ukraine’s retaliatory...

Aleksander Lukashenko surprised the residents of Vitebsk on Saturday by paying a visit. The Belarusian leader suggested that another president might soon lead the country. "You should get used to the fact that the president will be different," he said. Aleksander Lukashenko has been ruling Belarus since 1994. The leader, however, is entirely dependent on the Kremlin in his actions. He does everything Vladimir Putin orders him to maintain his power. It's no wonder, since Russian troops are stationed in Belarus, and nuclear weapons have been deployed there. (snip) Aleksander Lukashenko used a mysterious statement during his Saturday visit to...

Russia's private Wagner militia, which is leading the assault on Bakhmut in Ukraine and has been active in Africa, could soon cease to exist, founder Yevgeny Prigozhin said in video remarks to a blogger that were released on Friday. It was not immediately clear when Prigozhin had spoken and how serious he was being. Earlier this week he withdrew comments about the frontline he said had been a joke. Prigozhin has complained repeatedly about how Russia is conducting the war in Ukraine. He often says the regular armed forces are not giving his men the ammunition they need and sometimes...