Free Republic

On September 15, a video of an unidentified flying object that crashed in Stavropol, Russia, around 350 kilometers (220 miles) from the Ukrainian border, went viral on the internet. The Russian media reports initially led people to believe it was a Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). Later, Twitter users noted similarities between the wreckage and the Russian Kinzhal missile. A Twitter user going by the handle LotA shared a video of the incident, which happened on September 14. According to the user, the unidentified object was a Russian Kinzhal missile. “If anyone wondered what crashed today in Russian Stavropol region...

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to call up 300,000 reservists should prod the West to send the longer-range artillery and more technologically advanced weapons that Kyiv will need to press its advantage in the harsh winter months ahead, Ukraine’s deputy defense minister said Wednesday. Volodymyr Havrylov’s list is topped by the ATACMS, a missile that can outrange the artillery rockets Ukraine is currently using, and fighter jets, which Washington has been reluctant to provide out of fear that Russia would escalate the nearly seven-month-old war. “I think after today's announcement [by] Putin, we are closer to a political decision here...

<p>The demonstrations in Iran began as an emotional outpouring over the death of Mahsa Amini, a young woman held by the country's morality police for allegedly violating its strictly enforced dress code.</p><p>Clashes between Iranian security forces and protesters angry over the death of a 22-year-old woman in police custody have killed at least nine people since the violence erupted over the weekend, according to a tally on Thursday by The Associated Press.</p>

The Turkish President has fired a huge warning to his Russian counterpart who is already struggling in the wake of impressive Ukrainian counter-strikes on Moscow's invading army. ...The comments, made in an interview with PBS NewsHour on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, are likely to spark fury in Russia. When asked if Russia should be allowed to keep some of the territory it's taken from Ukraine since it invaded in February and if that should be "part of a solution to this — to this conflict", he replied through a translator: "No, and undoubtedly...

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has prompted the biggest shake-up of European energy markets this century. This film explains how Europe became so dependent on cheap Russian gas, and explores the hard choices facing the EU as it tries to balance energy security and climate ambitions. Read more at https://on.ft.com/3D7bv31

...now control the eastern bank of the Oskil River in the Kharkiv region, while Moscow continues to launch attacks against civilian infrastructure in Ukraine following its military setbacks in the country’s east. Strategic Command of the Ukrainian Armed Forces posted a video on social media on Sunday that appeared to show an armored vehicle crossing the river, along with the message, “Ukraine controls the left bank.” The claim suggests Ukraine’s push east is continuing after its forces seized about 3,500 square miles of territory in the northeastern Kharkiv region in a lightning offensive earlier this month that put Moscow on...

Russian leader seems keen to curry favour with Chinese president as battlefield setbacks and sanctions bite Vladimir Putin has told Xi Jinping that he understands China’s “questions and concerns” about the war in Ukraine, in a rare nod to tensions between the two states caused by the Russian invasion. The remarks came as Xi and Putin met on Thursday for the first time since the war began, at a summit in Uzbekistan where the Russian president was expected to court the Chinese leader personally as an ally in his conflict with the west. invasion that drew the most attention. In...