Free Republic

"Trump, alongside Ukraine's Zelenskyy, says Russia's war needs to end" Former President Trump and Ukrainian President Zelenskyy speak to the press after meeting at Trump Tower in New York City. Former President Donald Trump met with the president of Ukraine at Trump Tower in New York City on Friday, saying he has a "very good relationship" with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. "It's very important to share our plan, all of our steps on how we can strengthen Ukraine," Zelenskyy said. He explained to reporters that he decided to meet with both Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris because "after November, we don't...

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., on Sunday blasted the Biden administration for not defining “what victory means in Ukraine” and said that a future Trump administration would end the war “with a negotiated settlement.” “We hope that when that time comes, there is more leverage on the Ukrainian side than on the Russian side. That really is the goal here, in my mind. And I think that’s what [former President] Donald Trump is trying to say,” Rubio said in an interview on NBC News’ “Meet the Press.” Following her meeting with Zelenskyy on Thursday, Harris said there are “some in my...

DAILY WAR SUMMATION War in Ukraine Explained Reporting from Ukraine 544K subscribers 9-23-2024 11:30 p.m. EDT Minutes 4:53 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igi7w9y5EYM ⚠️ Watch RFU in 20 languages: https://www.youtube.com/@RFU/channels

Russell Bentley, 64, who fought alongside pro-Putin rebels in eastern Ukraine, was tortured and murdered by Russian servicemen, Kremlin investigators said on Friday. Bentley, a self-described communist from Dallas, Texas, went missing in the Russian-occupied city of Donetsk in April and was later found dead. Nicknamed “Texas”, he regularly appeared on pro-Kremlin social media channels, backing Moscow’s full-scale military offensive.

Other Russian Telegram channels said the attack resulted in about 50 Russian casualties. Ukrainian forces have used the Washington-supplied HIMARS on several occasions throughout the war, including in its Donetsk and Luhansk regions which are largely occupied by Russian forces. The Kremlin has been pushing for the total capture of the two regions—which together comprise the Donbas—since Russia's initial invasion of eastern Ukraine in 2014. HIMARS has allowed Ukraine to destroy Russia's most advanced anti-aircraft missile systems. Washington has supplied the Ukrainians with at least 39 HIMARS since the war began on February 24, 2022. In February, Serhiy Bratchuk, a...

Despite the fact that they have given Ukraine hundreds of billions of dollars in military and civilian aid – and much of this aid was stolen by corrupt officials – American and British officials have to be continually lectured by President Volodymyr Zelensky on a regular basis. Following yesterday’s (13) meeting between UK’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer and feeble US President Joe Biden, there was no agreement on a deal to give Ukraine authorization to shoot long-range missiles deep into Russian territory. Starmer and Biden held talks to discuss strategy on how to bring the war in Ukraine to an...

Russia said on Sunday its forces had taken full control of a town in eastern Ukraine as Moscow's forces advance on the strategically important city of Pokrovsk and seek to pierce the Ukrainian defensive front lines. Russian forces, which control about a fifth of Ukraine since invading in February 2022, are advancing in eastern Ukraine in an attempt to take the whole of the Donbas, which is about half the size of the U.S. state of Ohio. Russia's defense ministry said its forces had taken the town of Novohrodivka, which lies 12 km (7 miles) from Pokrovsk, an important rail...

The Russian army is currently focusing all its efforts on isolating the combat area in and around Pokrovsk. In particular, a few days ago the Russian Armed Forces took the western exits from the city under strict fire control, and now there are reports of serious damage to the bridge on the E-50 highway, which the Ukrainian army used to transfer cargo and personnel from the territory of the Dnipropetrovsk region. As experts explain, it was along this overpass that the Armed Forces of Ukraine transferred personnel, equipment and ammunition to Pokrovsk.

The commander of Ukraine's air force said on Friday that it had shared with U.S. partners a preliminary report about an F-16 jet crash that took place on Monday. Mykola Oleshchuk said on Telegram that partners from the United States, where the F-16 is manufactured, were assisting the investigation. The Ukrainian military said on Thursday that the F-16 crashed and its pilot died while approaching a target during a major Russian air strike on Monday.

Currently there are 6 cruise missiles from the previous launch over western Ukraine.

The law also grants the government the authority to assume the state-guaranteed debt of the former State Agency of Motor Roads (Ukravtodor), totaling $700 million plus interest. This decision was made because the State Agency for Infrastructure Restoration and Development was unable to restructure these obligations independently Ukraine had previously imposed a freeze on foreign debt payments after Russia's full-scale invasion. This freeze expires on August 1, with the bonds' coupon payment due in 2026. The government needs to restructure the debt to meet the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) requirements under a $15.6 billion program. Approval has been obtained from...

Europe's gas imports from Russia overtook supplies from the US for the first time in almost two years in May, despite the region's efforts to wean itself off Russian fossil fuels since the full scale invasion of Ukraine. While one-off factors drove the reversal, it highlights the difficulty of further reducing Europe's dependence on gas from Russia, with several eastern European countries still relying on imports from their neighbour.

Russian forces have begun employing massive 3,000-kilogram (6,600-pound) class FAB-3000 M54 bombs turned into stand-off weapons in Ukraine it has been claimed. If true, this could present a significant new challenge for Ukrainian forces given the amount of destruction power such a weapon could deliver while also helping the launch platform stay further away from Ukrainian air defenses. At the same time, questions have already been raised about what aircraft might be able to employ FAB-3000 M54s converted in this way and the size of the available stockpile of the bombs, all of which could limit their actual operational utility....

Dramatic video shows Kyiv's propeller-driven Yak-52 hunting down a Russian drone. UKRAINE are using WW2-style planes to hunt down Russian drones on the battlefield in a blow to Vladimir Putin's increasingly desperate war effort. Air Marshal Greg Bagwell, a retired RAF commander, told The Sun Ukraine has taken inspiration from Britain's famous Spitfires and are making headway in the skies against Vlad's meatgrinder troops. In a scene reminiscent of WW2, dramatic video showed Kyiv's propeller-driven Yak-52 plane in an intense dogfight with a Russian drone in the sky above southern Ukraine in April. The 1970s two-seater training aircraft chased Vlad's...

VLADIMIR Putin's new despicable pal has bizarrely dubbed the despot "God's child" who was sent to Earth to save humanity from World War Three. Professor Sergei Karaganov, Putin's new right hand, claimed the tyrant is the saviour of the world who will not only win against Ukraine but will also thwart a global war. Putin, who has killed and maimed hundreds of thousands of Russian and Ukrainian soldiers as well as civilians in his illegal war in Ukraine, was also compared to Russia’s most famous emperor, Peter the Great. In an address scripted by the Kremlin, Karaganov chillingly told Putin:...

Russia's new offensive into Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv region has done what months of lobbying from President Volodymyr Zelensky could not: secured Kyiv's ability to fire advanced Western weapons at Moscow's forces within their borders. The Russian drive into the Kharkiv border region—where fighting is ongoing some 15 miles north of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city and an important political, economic, and cultural center—has prompted Kyiv's NATO backers into a flurry of diplomatic and military activity, with the result that Ukrainian cross-border strikes are now ravaging Russian forces operating in the Belgorod region.

NATO is flirting with war and extinction. France is now “officially” sending troops to Ukraine (they have been there for some time) and NATO countries are demanding strikes deep inside Russia. Meanwhile, the US has secretly made a “policy shift” that somewhat falls short of what Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wanted but opens the door to deep strikes by the US on Russian territory.

Vladimir Putin is furious after Ukraine's military staged a dramatic fightback and seized back control over most of a town that Russia thought they had captured in Kharkiv. Russia launched a surprise counteroffensive in Kharkiv earlier this month and many military sources within the Russian army had boasted that they had captured the pivotal town of Vovchansk. However, Ukraine's Defence Forces have now confirmed that Kyiv has regained control of 70 percent of the town, amid fierce ongoing street battles. Ukraine's Lieutenant Colonel Nazar Voloshyn said that Ukrainian counterattacks, along with effective artillery and drone strikes, were thwarting Russia's efforts...

Russia has announced plans to raise taxes on businesses and the wealthy as it scrambles for additional revenue to fund its invasion of Ukraine. -snip- “The changes are aimed at building a fair and balanced tax system,” Minister of Finance Anton Siluanov said in a statement, adding that the extra funds would bolster Russia’s “economic wellbeing”. -snip- Income tax is currently 13 percent for the majority of Russians, with some higher earners paying a rate of 15 percent. The Finance Ministry said under the amendments that the 15 percent rate would apply for annual incomes between 2.4 and 5 million...

Poland's foreign minister said the US had told Russia that it would strike Russian targets in Ukraine if Putin were to use nuclear weapons.In an interview with the Guardian, Radosław Sikorski seemed doubtful of Russia's threats about using nuclear weapons, saying: "The Americans have told the Russians that if you explode a nuke, even if it doesn't kill anybody, we will hit all your targets [positions] in Ukraine with conventional weapons, we'll destroy all of them.""I think that's a credible threat," he said. "Also, the Chinese and the Indians have read Russia the riot act. And it's no child's play...