Free Republic

Russian lawmakers are planning to loosen restrictions on child labor, allowing kids as young as 14 to go out and find jobs to ease the labor shortage caused in part by the mobilization of 300,000 reservists for the war in Ukraine. Representatives from the ruling United Russia party, of which President Vladimir Putin is the de facto leader, on Wednesday proposed a series of changes to the state labor laws, paving the way for those 14 and older to join the workforce without having to obtain permission from social service agencies. A child wishing to get a part-time job would...

The Biden administration has rejected pleas from Ukraine and a bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers to supply President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's military with advanced drones, The Wall Street Journal reported. The Defense Department refused the request based on concerns that providing the drones could escalate the war between Ukraine and Russia, WSJ reported Thursday. Pentagon officials are worried that President Vladimir Putin would see a supply of drones as a sign the U.S. was providing weapons that could target positions inside Russia, officials told the outlet.

This list only includes destroyed vehicles and equipment of which photo or videographic evidence is available. Therefore, the amount of equipment destroyed is significantly higher than recorded here. Small arms, ATGMs, MANPADS, loitering munitions, drones used as unmanned bait, civilian vehicles, trailers and derelict equipment are not included in this list. All possible effort has gone into avoiding duplicate entries and discerning the status of equipment between captured or abandoned. Many of the entries listed as 'abandoned' will likely end up captured or destroyed. Similarly, some of the captured equipment might be destroyed if it can't be recovered. When the...

The Kremlin on Wednesday announced a retreat of Russian forces from the strategically important city of Kherson in southern Ukraine, a concession to military reality eight months after capturing the area, and one of the most significant reversals of President Vladimir V. Putin’s war effort. The withdrawal order came from Russia’s defense minister, Sergei K. Shoigu, in a meeting with top military leaders that was broadcast on Russian state television, after Gen. Sergei V. Surovikin, Moscow’s commander in Ukraine, explained that heavy shelling by advancing Ukrainian forces had made the Russian position west of the Dnipro River, where Kherson is,...

As Russia’s military commanders announced another major withdrawal in Ukraine Wednesday, pro-Kremlin commentators have described the retreat as a humiliating and significant defeat for President Vladimir Putin. Putin kept a low profile as Russia announced it was withdrawing its troops from the tentatively-occupied city of Kherson and the west bank of the Dnipro river, which bisects the Kherson region in southern Ukraine. The military said it could no longer supply its troops there and was worried about the safety its military personnel. It comes after Putin in September hailed the annexation of Kherson, following a sham referendum in the region,...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Russia's announced retreat from Kherson, a regional capital in southern Ukraine that it seized early in the war, and a potential stalemate in fighting over the winter could provide both countries an opportunity to negotiate peace, Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Wednesday. He said as many as 40,000 Ukrainian civilians and “well over" 100,000 Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded in the war, now in its ninth month. “Same thing probably on the Ukrainian side," Milley added. “There has been a tremendous amount of suffering, human suffering,” he said...

FTX is converting crypto contributions to Ukraine’s war effort into fiat for deposit at the National Bank of Ukraine. The Ukrainian government launched a new crypto donations website on Monday, streamlining its multimillion-dollar effort to turn bitcoin into bullets, bandages and other war materiel. Other estimates place the amount closer to $100 million, but totals vary with market swings and exactly which websites are included. The website deepens an unprecedented tie-up between public and private sector forces in crypto. FTX is converting donations into fiat for deposit at the National Bank of Ukraine, a press release said. It described this...

Russian troops DESTROY Ukraine dam then flee Kherson dressed as CIVILIANS in the face of furious Ukraine fire as liberated locals celebrate and shamed Putin suffers 'significant reputational damage' from retreat -Russian troops destroyed a key Ukrainian dam before fleeing Kherson dressed as civilians as they fled region -Video showed moment Nova Kakhovka dam on the Dnipro River was blown up by retreating Russian soldiers -Antonovsky Bridge has also been destroyed, which is the other main crossing point into Kherson Region -Satellite images emerged showing damage to Nova Kakhovka dam analysts say was 'deliberately destroyed' -Breaching Soviet-era dam could see...

This list only includes destroyed vehicles and equipment of which photo or videographic evidence is available. Therefore, the amount of equipment destroyed is significantly higher than recorded here. Small arms, ATGMs, MANPADS, loitering munitions, drones used as unmanned bait, civilian vehicles, trailers and derelict equipment are not included in this list. All possible effort has gone into avoiding duplicate entries and discerning the status of equipment between captured or abandoned. Many of the entries listed as 'abandoned' will likely end up captured or destroyed. Similarly, some of the captured equipment might be destroyed if it can't be recovered. When the...

The Russian air force had deployed three times as many fighters and attack planes as the Ukrainian air force had in its entire inventory. Ukraine’s air defenses were disorganized and, in the case of certain key long-range radars, sitting out in the open where the Russians easily could target them. The Russians had a firepower advantage. The Ukrainians had the same advantages every defender possesses over an invader: motivation, simpler logistics, familiar terrain. Either side might’ve prevailed—the Russians by dominating the air, the Ukrainians by preventing the Russians from dominating the air. We know how it turned out. The Russian...

-Vladimir Putin has been offered surrender terms by Ukraine and allies, a prominent Russian academic said -Plan would see Russia give up all territory in Ukraine except Crimea, which would become demilitarised zone -In return, Putin and cronies would avoid war crimes prosecution and remain in power, Valery Solovey claimed -Details emerged as Russian troops fled Kherson, with Ukraine liberating the city after eight-month occupation -Putin's forces fled east across the Dnipro River, with Ukrainians painting a picture of a chaotic retreat, that saw Russian troops ditching their uniforms or drowning while trying to escape Vladimir Putin has been offered...

The Kremlin-installed officials who had been occupying the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson said on Saturday that they had set up a new administrative capital in a seaside resort town about 110 miles to the east. “Today, the temporary administrative capital of the Kherson region is Henichesk,” Aleksandr Fomin, a representative of the region’s administration, told reporters. “All the main authorities are concentrated there.” The move comes less than a month and a half after Moscow moved to annex the region, with its capital in Kherson city. But as Ukrainian forces advanced with a counteroffensive aimed at recapturing territory in...

Russian troops destroyed a key Ukrainian dam before fleeing Kherson dressed as civilians in the latest humiliation for deranged despot Vladimir Putin. Incredible footage showed the moment the Nova Kakhovka dam on the Dnipro River was blown up by retreating Russian soldiers. Alleged war criminal President Putin has suffered 'significant reputational damage' because of the retreat, the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) said. Putin's army was caught on CCTV blowing up the hydroelectric dam before another explosion erupted along the power lines from the dam. The video will be seen as evidence of deliberate destruction by the Russians as they...

Douglas MacGregor describes the current situation

Ukraine liberated the city of Kherson after Russian troops fled, with soldiers treated to a hero's welcome by jubilant as they arrived in city centre this afternoon. Flag-waving locals wept, chanted the name of Ukrainian armed forces, hugged and kissed troops as they arrived in the city's main square hours after the bulk of Moscow's forces withdrew across Dnipro River. Ukraine's artillery had pounded the city and the nearby Dnipro River overnight and into the early hours in the hopes of destroying any last Russians trying to flee. Rumours swirled that thousands of troops might be trapped in the city,...

Day 259: November 09 Today there is a lot of news: the Ukrainians finally launched the next wave of their counteroffensive operation in the Kherson region, Russian authorities have publicly announced withdrawal from Kherson, and the Russian-appointed Head of Kherson died in a car accident. The Ukrainians have changed the axis of advance completely, and this time they started from storming Snihurivka.

Russia's decision to pull its forces back from the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson was "positive and important," Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said. "Russia's decision regarding Kherson is positive, an important decision," told reporters in the capital Ankara on Thursday before leaving for a summit of Turkic countries in Uzbekistan. Vowing to maintain dialogue with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, Erdogan's comments came after Moscow ordered its troops on Wednesday to withdraw from Kherson to the east bank of the Dnieper River. "I don't know whether there will be Russian participation in the G20 or not. We'll have...

Russia's elite are worried for their safety after an ally of President Vladimir Putin said those who aren't enthusiastic enough about the war in Ukraine should be repressed, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday. Yevgeny Prigozhin, a Putin loyalist and founder of the paramilitary Wagner Group, said that Russian tycoons who are not supportive enough over the conflict should face "urgent Stalinist repressions", Bloomberg reported, citing unnamed sources. The "Stalinist repressions" are a reference to Russia's Great Purge, a political campaign led by Soviet dictator Josef Stalin in 1937 that aimed to eliminate anyone in his party he considered a threat. Prigozhin's...

Russian mobiks, as the newly mobilized recruits are called, have been complaining for weeks that they were sent to the front lines in Ukraine with no training and little to no equipment. As you would expect when troops with no discipline and no equipment are sent to the front lines, the results are not good. Over the last few days there have been reports that hundreds of mobiks sent to the front lines in they city of Makiyivka in eastern Ukraine were wiped out. Here’s a map created by the Guardian which show the location of Makiyivka:The report about what...

Oleg Kozhemyako, the governor of Primorsky Krai in the Russian Far East, has published videos on his Telegram channel, ostensibly showing marines from the 155th Brigade and fighters of the Tigr Battalion outside Pavlivka. The servicemen deny heavy losses and say they are “alright” and that the Russian forces are faring well. “There have been reports that the 155th Brigade, our detachment, no longer exists. We want to say we’re holding the line. The brigade is fighting. There have been losses, unfortunately. Fighting is heavy in Pavlivka. It's tough. We’ve lost a few men, wounded and killed. But we keep...