Free Republic

Iran summoned a Ukrainian diplomat in Tehran on Sunday to protest an attack on an Iranian commercial vessel in the Caspian Sea, as the war in the Middle East threatened to overlap with the Ukraine conflict. Iran said the attack left one sailor dead and injured several others. The country’s foreign ministry complained to Ukraine’s chargé d’affaires in Tehran early on Sunday and “conveyed Iran’s strong protest over the ‘hostile and criminal act.’” Iran’s Islamic Republic News Agency reported. In a post on X highlighting Ukraine’s attacks on distant Russian targets, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday that his country’s...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday that Russia is preparing to bring an additional 30,000 North Korean troops into its war against Ukraine, a move that would dramatically expand Pyongyang's direct involvement in the conflict if confirmed. "We also see Russia's cooperation with North Korea. Russia wants to bring in another 30,000 North Korean troops," Zelensky said in his nightly video address, according to Reuters. He added that preparations to receive the troops had been underway since June in Russia's Voronezh region. The claim comes nearly two years after North Korea first sent troops to support Moscow under a growing...

TEHRAN, Juy 25--RIA Novosti. The Ukrainian Armed Forces attacked an Iranian merchant vessel in the Caspian Sea, the Islamic Republic's Foreign Ministry reported. "The Iranian Foreign Ministry strongly condemns Ukraine's attack on an Iranian merchant vessel in the Caspian Sea on the morning of Saturday July 25. The attack resulted in an explosion on the vessel, killing one sailor and injuring another. This attack is a violation of Article 2, paragraph 4, of the UN Charter and an act of aggression that could further fan the flames of war" the ministry said in a post on its Telegram channel. The...

Russia’s air defenses shot down 571 Ukrainian drones overnight on July 24 over 15 regions of Russia, occupied Crimea, and the Sea of Azov and Black Sea, the Defense Ministry reported. Ukraine’s attack was one of the largest of the year, according to the Russian state news agency TASS. TASS put the year’s biggest strike at June 26, when the Defense Ministry reported destroying 660 drones overnight. The total number of Ukrainian drones that targeted Russia on June 26 and July 24 remains unknown. The Defense Ministry only reports how many it shoots down. For the fourth time this week,...

"It's really you," a Ukrainian woman says in surprise as Boris Johnson takes off his woolly hat to reveal that unmistakable shock of hair. The former prime minister is on an unannounced trip to Ukraine to report on the war and make the case for increased British support. There is a surprise for viewers, too, because Johnson has made a sober, no-frills documentary – Boris Johnson: Into Ukraine's Kill Zone (Channel 5) – with a serious purpose. He has done this at no small risk to his safety. During his first night on the front line, he is awoken by...

Journalist and activist Laura Loomer decided to visit Ukraine for herself this week, after years of criticizing America's involvement in the conflict. Her trip culminated in a visit to the presidential palace and a nearly hour-long exclusive interview with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. 'I really wanted to see it up close and find out, wow, you know, is this a country full of Nazis? Are they laundering our taxpayer dollars to Democrats? You know, is Zelenskyy a cokehead?' she said in an exclusive interview with the Daily Mail while she was in Kiev.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said a ceasefire would be the best possible outcome if it helps save Ukrainian lives. He also said US President Donald Trump now understands that Russia, not Ukraine, is the side unwilling to end the war, Zelenskyy said in an interview with American far-right blogger Laura Loomer. Ceasefire is preferable to a prolonged war President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine's top priority is saving lives, which makes a potential ceasefire a better scenario than a multi-year war for the sake of military victory. According to Zelenskyy, Ukraine has not abandoned its goal of winning the war, but...

From the outside, this was shaping up as a strong year for wartime Ukraine. Ukrainian drones are burning Russia’s refineries and starving occupied Crimea of fuel. Moscow’s summer offensive has stalled on most parts of the front, and Ukraine is taking back territory. In Washington, a president who spent last year berating Kyiv has warmed to it again. But suddenly last week, President Volodymyr Zelensky dismantled what looked like a winning team — removing his popular defense minister, his prime minister and, late Tuesday, the acclaimed commander in chief of his armed forces. Zelensky, the comedian turned president who has...

In the skies over eastern Ukraine, an aging F-16 fighter jet has reportedly scored a rare victory against one of Russia’s most advanced warplanes, the Su-35. The US has finally confirmed what the Ukrainians claimed earlier this month: a Ukrainian F-16 fighter, donated by NATO, may have downed a Russian Su-35 Flanker-E, the backbone of the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS). “I want to highlight the incredible work that the Ukrainian industrial base is doing. It ranges from their surface-to-air capabilities to their air-to-air capabilities. I’ll note that recently we had the first air-to-air kill where a Ukrainian F-16 shot down...

A Russian warship firing its weapons off the British coast on Monday was “performative and irresponsible”, Wes Streeting has said. New Defence Secretary Mr Streeting also warned “Russia should be in no doubt about the resolve of this Government and this Prime Minister” in his first engagement in the job. The live-fire exercise took place 40 nautical miles (46 miles) off the coast of Plymouth on Monday, the same day Andy Burnham entered Government as the new Prime Minister. The Royal Navy “continues to track the vessel’s activity closely, and stands ready to protect UK national security”, a Ministry of...

Protests broke out across Ukraine Thursday after President Volodymyr Zelensky fired his defense minister to allegedly appease his top military general, with troops warning that the political spat could spell doom in the front lines. Zelensky’s Wednesday night decision to fire the tech-savvy Mykhailo Fedorov, 35, resulted in demonstrations across the country and even the resignation of a senior air force commander. While he was only appointed in January, Fedorov has been credited for accelerating the Ukrainian drone program, which has decimated Russia’s forces and kept the invading army largely at bay in 2026. Fedorov lamented the fallout and claimed...

Although Russia has not directly intervened in the US-Israeli war with Iran, the conflict has underscored the nature and extent of its strategic partnership with the Islamic Republic. Moscow has provided Tehran with satellite targeting data for strikes on US forces as well as delivered advanced fiber-optic drone technology. It has amplified Iran’s propaganda campaign against the West, while benefiting from the war’s spillover effects. The Russia-Iran axis poses a real threat to the US and its allies; it demands a coherent and resolute response. Why It Matters for the US Russia is arming Iran. Russia has a long history...

MOSCOW, July 13./TASS/.Air defense and electronic warfare systems repelled an attack by 81 drones over the Moscow Region, Governor Andrey Vorobyov said on his Max channel... "Unfortunately, there are casualties. Three people were killed and three others injured in the Pionersky settlement near Istra after a drone crashed," he added....

The United States has taken delivery of 2,000 Ukrainian F10 attack drones after manufacturer F-Drones secured a Pentagon contract during the opening phase of the Drone Dominance program. The shipment follows Ukraine's first official export permit for completed combat drones, marking a notable change from earlier approvals covering mainly technologies, components, or accessories. The delivery also comes as the Pentagon advances the next stage of its broader $1.1 billion Drone Dominance initiative aimed at expanding domestic and allied unmanned capabilities.

28 Russian Ships Hit in One Night! Tankers and Tugs Suchomimus In the Ukraine War, Ukraine hits 28 Russian shadow fleet tankers and tugs in one night, bringing the total to 76 different vessels hit by drones in six days in the Sea of Azov. This is the work of Magyar group. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11kn6vpgzzE

For four years, Russia has bet on outlasting Ukraine in a war of attrition. Now, as Kyiv’s drones inflict growing damage on both Russia’s army and oil industry, Moscow is finding out that time isn’t necessarily on its side. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion force is making ever-smaller gains at the front line, its losses exceed recruitment, and it is struggling to adapt to a Ukrainian drone campaign pounding its supply routes to its forward positions. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s stretched army hasn’t buckled as Russia hoped and is even pushing back the invaders in places with small counterattacks. Its increasingly capable...

Russia’s lower-house State Duma on Wednesday passed sweeping legislation tying the legal status of migrant workers and their families to their financial earnings. Under the bills, migrant workers must prove they earn enough to support themselves and dependents according to official subsistence levels set by federal and regional governments. Falling short, or becoming unemployed, triggers non-renewal or annulment of their temporary low-skilled work “patents,” followed by deportation within 15 days. Migrants will also face a mandatory fixed advance income tax for themselves and each family member. Foreign dependents may remain in Russia only for the duration of the primary worker’s...

Can Kyiv ever win? It has become something of a seasonal ritual. Every summer, Brussels launches a fresh propaganda offensive on Ukraine — and this year is no different. “The tide is turning”, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen declared on social media a few weeks ago, claiming that Ukraine, with European and Nato help, has seized the initiative, while Russia has been forced onto the defensive. The same phrase has since been echoed verbatim by politicians and commentators across the transatlantic ecosystem, in what is clearly a coordinated narrative push. Meanwhile, we are told that the Russian economy is...

President Trump told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky Wednesday he would grant Kyiv a license to make its own critically needed Patriot air-defense missiles, joking: “This way, you can’t complain that we’re not giving them enough.” “One of the things I think we’re going to be talking about today, a little birdie told me this, about the fact that we’ll give them the right to make Patriots,” Trump said ahead of his closed-door sitdown with Zelensky on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Turkey. Patriot missiles have long been in short supply, but now are running critically low — forcing...

Volodymyr Zelensky has issued a stark warning to NATO: Europe cannot afford to wait years for a new generation of anti-ballistic missile systems while Russia continues expanding its missile attacks. Speaking at the NATO Defence Industries Forum in Ankara, the Ukrainian president said ballistic missiles remain “Russia’s last major advantage” and called for the rapid development of affordable, mass-produced European air-defence systems. His warning came after Russia launched another devastating missile and drone assault on Kyiv, killing 26 people in the second major attack on the Ukrainian capital in just four days. The strikes highlighted a growing weakness in Ukraine’s...