Free Republic

Elon just confirmed the U.S or Ukrainian Government requested him to play a significant role in a MAJOR ESCALATION in the Ukraine war. CNN reported that Elon deactivated his Starlink satellites in response to a covert attack the Ukrainians were planning on the Russian naval fleet. They were WRONG! Elon clarified the satellites were NOT active, and that he was pressured by the Government to activate them so that Ukraine can attack Russian ships in a contentious territory. “There was an emergency request from government authorities to activate Starlink all the way to Sevastopol. The obvious intent being to sink...

Now, in terms of the military impact, an F-16 is still a very capable platform: It has a good radar, it can fly well above the majority of the Russian sound systems in the area apart from the very, very specialized ones. It has a weapons system tied to that radar that can engage the vast majority of Russian aircraft long before they can attack it. The F-16 doesn't have quite the same stealth characteristics of something like an F-35 and an F-22. But I've fought against the F-16. I've had the odd trip in one, but I've also fought...

The former commanding US general in Europe, Ben Hodges, has told DW that the West should provide Kyiv with fighter jets. He said that providing Ukraine with the planes could lead to a victory for Kyiv within the year. The former commanding general of the United States Army in Europe, Ben Hodges, said that Ukraine could achieve a quick victory if the West provided swift help with fighter jets. He predicted that the defeat of Russia could otherwise take three to five years, given the current level of Western support. What the former general said "The sooner we deliver them...

Nearly 1,000 last-ditch Ukrainian fighters who had held out inside Mariupol’s pulverized steel plant have surrendered, Russian said Wednesday, as the battle ... drew toward a close....The Ukrainian fighters trooping out of the ruined Azovstal steelworks that became the last stronghold of resistance in the city face an uncertain fate. Some were taken by the Russians to a former penal colony in territory controlled by Moscow-backed separatists....Russia’s main federal investigative body said it intends to interrogate the surrendering troops to “identify the nationalists” and determine whether they were involved in crimes against civilians.The Russian parliament was scheduled to consider a...

Right now as I write this there are significant elements of the Ukrainian forces located within 40km of the strategic Soviet city of Belgorod. This city is a critical transshipment and distribution hub for all manner of logistical support for the Soviet Army that is currently trying to steal more land from Ukraine. The foolish Soviets have left this city all but undefended as they've moved their forces to concentrate on preventing the encirclement and capture of 20,000+ orc forces at Izyum, Ukraine. The Ukrainians don't have to even seize the city. They may not even need to cross into...

Intelligence shared by the U.S. helped Ukraine sink the Russian cruiser Moskva, U.S. officials told NBC News, confirming an American role in perhaps the most embarrassing blow to Vladimir Putin’s troubled invasion of Ukraine.

Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) on Sunday said the U.S. is not fighting a proxy war with Russia by arming and funding Ukraine’s resistance against Moscow’s invasion. Menendez, the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told NBC’s “Meet the Press” the U.S. will continue to “help Ukraine and defeat Russia,” but emphasized the U.S. is not fighting a proxy war or trying to weaken Russia.

Pavlyuk, 53, was a surviving resident of besieged Ukrainian town where gruesome evidence of killings and torture has come to light following withdrawal of Russian forces. He told when Russian troops came they killed all the men who were younger than 50, including two of Pavlyuk's friends. Pavlyuk was given 20 minutes to bury them. He showed shallow graves he hastily dug, each marked with a plank of wood topped with a religious icon. He wanted to give whatever dignity he could. "But it's too shallow," Pavlyuk said. "I just wanted to protect them from the dogs." Pavlyuk and other...

Ukrainian President Zelenskiy said the situation in Borodianka was "significantly more dreadful" than nearby Bucha, where Russian forces' killing of civilians has been broadly condemned. In Borodianka, 60 km (37 miles) northwest of Kyiv, families looking for relatives watched diggers search through rubble of an apartment. The building was charred the middle section razed to the ground leaving a gaping hole. "My mother, my brother, brother’s wife, his mother and father-in-law, are still there, as well as other people who were in the basement," said resident Vadym Zagrebelnyi. "But there were other people on the upper floors with children. I...

Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenskyy is calling for nothing less than World War III, and our feckless incompetent Republican leaders look like they’re ready to give it to him!