Free Republic

Russia planned to start the invasion with a "massive missile and airstrike campaign" against Ukrainian military targets, RUSI says, with a list also showing who should be killed, who would be intimidated and who would be targeted as a collaborator. A British defence and security think tank has revealed details of Moscow's pre-invasion plan for Ukraine, based on captured Russian documents apparently signed off by Vladimir Putin. Russia had planned to take over Ukraine over 10 days and annex it by August this year, the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies (RUSI) said.

Anumber of popular stories chronicling Ukraine’s resistance against Russia’s ongoing invasion – including those promoted by U.S. Congressmen, media outlets, and even conservatives online – have turned out to be false, despite garnering millions of shares and likes. The viral, fake stories come amidst social media platforms rolling out robust “fact-checking” operations, often used to swiftly censor stories counter to establishment narratives or critical of the Democratic Party. These programs, however, have routinely failed to flag the following stories as false with the same tenacity. 1. The Snake Island “Martyrs.” Thirteen Ukrainian border guards stationed on the country’s Snake Island,...

Ukraine said on Monday that the Russian bombing of Kharkiv has killed dozens of civilians and wounded hundreds more. The Ukrainian general staff tweeted that an indiscriminate bombing of Kharkiv left "dozens of dead and hundreds of wounded Ukrainian citizens." Kharkiv, located on the northeastern side of Ukraine, has seen heavy fighting since the Russian invasion began. Russian troops entered the city, which is home to 1.5 million people, on Sunday, but Ukrainian officials said that the attack was successfully repelled and that Russian troops across the city were surrendering in groups of five to 10. Russian bombs blew up...

Ukraine has paraded captured Russian soldiers in dozens of online videos as Moscow finally admitted its forces have sustained heavy losses after pictures showing bodies of Kremlin fighters emerged. Footage posted online show tied up 'demoralised and exhausted' Russian prisoners of war captured after they failed to break through Ukrainian defences in Kyiv and Kharkiv over the weekend. Several of the videos were posted on a Telegram channel set up on Saturday by Ukraine's Interior Ministry called 'Find Your Own'. Many Russian troops claimed that they believed they were conducting training exercises in the border regions and did not know...