Free Republic

The United States for several months has been sending private communications to Moscow warning Russia’s leadership of the grave consequences that would follow the use of a nuclear weapon, according to U.S. officials, who said the messages underscore what President Biden and his aides have articulated publicly. The Biden administration generally has decided to keep warnings about the consequences of a nuclear strike deliberately vague, so the Kremlin worries about how Washington might respond, the officials said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to describe sensitive deliberations. The attempt by the White House to cultivate what’s known in the nuclear...

Two new polls from Morning Consult and Concerned Veterans for America show at least a plurality of Americans are tired of interventionism. The results show twice as many Americans want to send less aid to Ukraine than those who would support sending more. Meanwhile, only 17% of Americans are concerned about defending democracy around the globe. ... Only 17% of respondents told the pollsters that “upholding global democracy” was a top five concern, ranking 11th behind drugs, climate, immigration, terrorism and the economic crisis. ...

As attorney general, Josh Shapiro went to court repeatedly to defend Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration against legal challenges to his pandemic-era mandates and shutdowns. Now, as he’s running to succeed Wolf as governor, Shapiro says he is against some of the same COVID-19 containment measures that his fellow Democrat used to help manage the nation’s worst pandemic in over a century. On the campaign trail in the presidential battleground state, Shapiro’s Republican opponent, Doug Mastriano, makes Wolf’s COVID-19 policies — and Shapiro’s defense of them in court — a source of derision. But disavowing Wolf’s COVID-19 policies while facing...

Ukraine's counter-offensive in occupied Kherson is wrecking Russia's "thinly held" defenses in the region that was seized by Moscow in the early stages of the war, the U.K. Ministry of Defense recently said. The British defense ministry said in an intelligence update Wednesday that Ukrainian armored forces have continued to assault Russian troops on several axes across the south of the country since Monday. "Ukrainian formations have pushed the front line back some distance in places, exploiting relatively thinly held Russian defences," the ministry said.