Free Republic

Russia's war on Ukraine is devouring its finances. War spending now totals 16.8 trillion roubles ($238 billion) — nearly 40% of the entire 2026 budget — and Putin's own finance minister, Anton Siluanov, has privately warned of a possible economic collapse, urging deep cuts to avert it. -The deficit is the largest since the 2022 invasion, growth has flatlined at 0.4%, and analysts say Moscow is faking its books. According to a 30 May report in the Financial Times, Russian government spending on the war in Ukraine is on track to exceed budget allocations by about 2 trillion Russian roubles...

Polish President Karol Nawrocki has announced plans to strip Volodymyr Zelensky of the Order of the White Eagle, Poland’s highest honour, after the Ukrainian president named a military unit after a group that led massacres of ethnic Poles during World War Two. However, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, whose government regularly clashes with the opposition-aligned president, has sought to calm emotions, warning that the only one to benefit from conflict between Poland and Ukraine is Russia. Zaproponowałem, aby jednym z punktów było odebranie prezydentowi Zełenskiemu Orderu Orła Białego – Prezydent RP @NawrockiKn. pic.twitter.com/4NaOAIjO3C — Kancelaria Prezydenta RP (@prezydentpl) May 29,...

Overnight Friday, the Hezbollah terrorist organization launched several rockets that hit the Saint Georges Orthodox Church in southern Lebanon, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit revealed on Friday. The launches hit buildings in the Christian village of Marjaayoun. IDF soldiers are not operating in the area near the church. The IDF released footage showing the impact of the rockets launched by Hezbollah and which hit the church in southern Lebanon. “This incident further proves how Hezbollah continues to endanger and harm Lebanese civilians," said the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit.

The two sources put the fund at $300 billion, though other officials involved in mediation would not confirm the amount, according to the report. Two diplomats briefed on the latest draft called it “an international ‘investment fund,’ which the United States would help facilitate in the event of a final deal,” and plans for which would be discussed during the initial 60-day negotiations period that the memorandum would kick off, the report says.

A military adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei warned on Friday that Iran would launch attacks if a US naval blockade continues beyond a certain timeframe. Mohsen Rezaei, a former chief-commander of the Revolutionary Guards, said the IRGC uses “highly cost-effective drones” and fast boats as key tools of deterrence, adding that Iran is tracking US movements despite what he described as Washington’s attempt to approach “in the dark.” “The United States is coming toward us in darkness, while we monitor every move they make,” Rezaei said.

US forces in war zones have been targeted through commercially available location data, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing a letter from US Central Command shared by US Senator Ron Wyden. CENTCOM said it had received “multiple threat reports concerning adversary exploitation of commercial location data to target or surveil US personnel in theater,” according to the letter. A bipartisan group of lawmakers warned the Pentagon that commercial location data could reveal where US troops gather and their daily patterns, exposing them to missile, drone and roadside bomb attacks. Wyden said Washington should start treating the adtech industry as a national...

The times, they are a-changin', as then-folk music troubadour Bob Dylan once sang about the radical era America found herself swimming/wading through in the Sixties. You could say the same thing about whatever they end up calling this era, and the second Trump administration at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Readers may have seen some of our pieces - so far on Wednesday - covering the Cabinet meeting open to the media. Treasury Sec. Scott Bessent, per a Playbook report on the team meet-up, explained that "The continued resilience of the economy speaks for itself, even during the Iran — the conflict."...

Embedded video of strike. Just a week after the severe clash in southern Lebanon in which the late Major (res.) Itamar Sapir was killed, IDF forces eliminated the terrorist responsible for his death. The elimination was carried out thanks to a quick and precise combination of forces between soldiers from the 401st Brigade, forces from the 146th Division, the armor formation, and Air Force pilots, who settled accounts with the terrorist, just minutes after he was identified in the field, entering a structure in the church area. Additionally, the IDF struck observation posts from both the air and the ground,...

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has likely eliminated another of the prime butchers behind the Oct. 7 atrocities. And IDF also continues to eliminate Hezbollah targets on its other front.Hezbollah kills Israelis on a weekly basis and continues to devastate Israeli towns, some of which lost or suffered damage to most of their buildings in missile strikes since Oct. 7, 2023. Hamas jihadis also continue to conduct terrorist activities both in Gaza and Judea and Samaria (what they deceptively call the “West Bank”). And of course, many Oct. 7 terrorists came home to Gaza to receive a hero’s welcome and huge...

Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran, is following in his father’s footsteps when it comes to attacking the Jewish state. Khamenei’s official social media account on Tuesday posted a series of posts against Israel, including one describing it as a “cancerous tumor" and one predicting the end of Israel. “The shaken Zionist regime and the cancerous tumor of Israel are approaching the final stages of their wretched existence," read one post. A subsequent post said, “By God’s grace - and in accordance with the decisive and forward-looking words of our martyred Leader ten years ago - the Zionist...

American military forces executed a series of preemptive, defensive airstrikes in southern Iran on Monday, US Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed. "US forces conducted self-defense strikes in southern Iran today to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces," CENTCOM spokesperson Capt. Tim Hawkins told Fox News. He added, “Targets included missile launch sites and Iranian boats attempting to emplace mines. US Central Command continues to defend our forces while using restraint during the ongoing ceasefire." The American confirmation followed a wave of reports across state-controlled Iranian media networks. Tehran's press outlets initially reported that a pair of naval vessels...

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun declared on Monday that Israel’s complete military withdrawal from southern Lebanon is a “non-negotiable" prerequisite, even as Beirut finalizes preparations for a new round of US-mediated diplomatic talks with Jerusalem. According to a report by the pan-Arab, London-based newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat, Aoun used the anniversary of Israel’s historical withdrawal from the region in 2000 to sharply criticize ongoing Israeli counter-terror operations against Hezbollah. “This year, the anniversary of the liberation comes as Lebanon is weighed down by a painful reality," Aoun asserted in an official statement. “Israeli attacks have not stopped, and our dear southern villages...

Iran warned Monday that an agreement to end the war launched by the United States and Israel was not imminent, after President Donald Trump raised and then lowered expectations that a deal may be close.

Scroll through any social media platform long enough and you’ll notice something that doesn’t quite add up. The same talking points, phrasing, and sudden outrage cycles are appearing across completely different audiences at the same time. It feels coordinated. And that’s because it often is. Foreign adversaries have turned modern technology into a new kind of warfare, one the United States hasn’t fully named, hasn’t clearly assigned ownership of, and isn’t yet equipped to fight at the speed it’s being waged. This is something more insidious than traditional espionage: the deliberate, systematic manipulation of how millions of Americans perceive reality—their...

Volodymyr Zelensky has demanded that Ukraine be granted full membership of the European Union. Friedrich Merz, the German chancellor, had called for the country to be given a special half-in, half-out relationship, which would mean it could participate in European summits and ministerial meetings – but not cast a vote. Mr Zelensky criticised the “associate membership” concept, branding it an “unfair” move that would leave Ukraine “voiceless”. The Ukrainian president urged the EU to commit to his country’s full entry in a letter addressed to Antonio Costa, the president of the European Council, Ursula von der Leyen, the president of...

The Israeli military says it has begun a wave of strikes across Lebanon following an announcement by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that his country will intensify its attacks on Hezbollah. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had launched strikes against Hezbollah sites in the Bekaa Valley in the east of Lebanon and additional areas across the country. It followed a video statement on Monday evening in which Netanyahu said Israel was "at war with Hezbollah" and that he had given the military instructions to "deal them a crushing blow". The expansion of Israel's campaign came as the Iranian government...

President Trump kicked off Memorial Day with his traditional passive-aggressive holiday rage post against his enemies, bashing “all of the Dumocrats, RINOS, and Fools who know nothing about the potential deal I am making with Iran.” The president got an earlier start than in recent holidays, firing off his standard holiday rage post around 6:18 am ET. “Happy Memorial Day to all, including the Dumocrats, who disrespect our Military and all of the tremendous success that it has had over the last year. God Bless those that have made the ultimate sacrifice. I love you all!” he posted on Truth...

Polish state defence firm Bumar-Łabędy has signed an agreement with South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem setting out the terms of production in Poland of dozens of South Korean K2 tanks. It will be the first time in almost two decades that Poland will manufacture tanks domestically. The agreement, signed on Monday, formally defines the division of work and payments under a wider 2025 contract in which Poland ordered 180 K2 tanks and 81 support vehicles, some of which were to be produced domestically. Under the plan, Bumar-Łabędy will assemble 61 Polish-configured K2PL tanks and 72 support vehicles. The first K2PL tank...

Another new angle on the possible USA/Israel/Iran peace deal has come in, this time from Jerusalem, where Fox News Foreign Correspondent Trey Yingst has his ear to the ground at rather closer range than most of us. He also has a few more details on what the lifting of sanctions will be worth to Iran. Here are a couple of key points: The source added that as part of the deal Iran will receive oil sanctions waivers and also have frozen funds and assets released worth billions of dollars. On Saturday President Trump held a call that included leaders from...

"The Blockade will remain in full force and effect until an agreement is reached, certified, and signed. Both sides must take their time and get it right," Trump writes President Trump said on Sunday that he has told U.S. negotiators "not to rush into a deal" with Iran at this time. On Saturday, Trump had said that a peace deal with Iran was "largely negotiated." Trump emphasized that the U.S. naval blockade will "remain in full force" in the meantime. "One of the worst deals ever made by our Country was the Iran Nuclear Deal, put forth and signed into...