Free Republic

France has reportedly deployed Rafale fighter jets capable of carrying nuclear weapons to Poland, a move interpreted as a direct signal to Russia as tensions continue to rise on Europe’s eastern flank.

A senior security official in Moscow has accused Finland of laying the ground for an attack on Russia by Nato, in comments that echo President Putin’s justifications for the invasion of Ukraine. Dmitry Medvedev, the former president and prime minister who is now the deputy head of Russia’s national security council, issued his warning after a visit to Russia’s 830-mile border with Finland. “After joining Nato, under the guise of defence measures, Helsinki is pursuing a confrontational course in preparation for war with Russia, apparently preparing a springboard for an attack on us,” Medvedev wrote in an article that was...

Fourth Turnings never fizzle out. They build to a crescendo of death and destruction. Is there any indications whatsoever that we are not on a course towards all-out war? 🇷🇺🇺🇦🇬🇧 Dmitry Medvedev: “The United Kingdom has sent Ukraine $1.3 billion obtained as profit from the use of frozen Russian assets. This was said by the English idiot Lammy. Well, this means one thing: British thieves have handed over Russian money to the neo-Nazis. The… pic.twitter.com/PcCfPw6kbj — DD Geopolitics (@DD_Geopolitics) September We gave categorical assurances to Gorbachev that if a United Germany could remain in NATO, NATO would not be moved...

The attack comes as Russia suffers fuel shortages following Ukrainian attacks that have cut 20 percent of Russia's oil refining capacity. Ukraine struck several Russian oil facilities overnight Friday, including one if its largest refineries and an oil depot, worsening the country’s crippling fuel shortages. Ukrainian drones targeted facilities including Russia's largest Rosneft refinery in Ryazan and an oil depot in occupied Luhansk Oblast, according to Ukraine's chief drone warfare commander Robert Brovdi. Images of the attack on social media that appeared to show a massive fireball erupting immediately after the strike.

Ukraine has started making a new cruise missile said to be capable of carrying a 1,000 kg warhead with a range of 1,800 miles, according to its defense minister. Denys Shmyhal, who was appointed as defense minister in July, said at a public event on Monday that serial production of the missile, dubbed the Flamingo, had begun. The minister declined to discuss the missile further, saying that more details would be disclosed "when the right time comes." But his announcement comes a day after other sources in Ukraine reported on its specifications. Efrem Lukatsky, an Associated Press photographer, published an...

Amid increasingly belligerent Russian rhetoric against NATO, tiny Estonia has assumed the role of David standing up to Goliath. In recent months, Tallinn has intensified its signaling that in the case of an imminent Russian invasion, it would not hesitate to strike first. The world is now seeing the country’s logic. In a September 2024 interview with the Estonian public broadcaster ERR, Estonian General Vahur Karus stated that if Moscow showed signs of preparing for an attack, Estonia would strike the Russians first: “Our capability to neutralize the enemy on its own territory is crucial.” In the subsequent months, Estonia...

Ukraine has now attacked for the third time a Russian oil pipeline that supplies multiple European nations. The attacks angered President Donald Trump after he received a note from Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.The Ukrainians hit the Druzhba (“Friendship”) II oil pipeline, which stretches for about 2,500 miles. The latest attack struck the Unecha oil pumping station in Russia on Thursday night. The Soviet-era conduit is considered among the longest in the world. The pipeline delivers Russian oil through Ukraine before heading to Slovakia, Hungary, and the Czech Republic, according to reports. Druzhba I supplied Germany and Poland, but that...

"It is impossible to talk about Ukraine without Ukraine," Vladimir Zelensky said OSCOW, August 12. /TASS/. Ukraine will not recognize the decision taken at the Russia-US summit in Alaska without its participation, Vladimir Zelensky said. "It is impossible to talk about Ukraine without Ukraine, and no one will recognize that. That’s why this conversation may be important for their [Russia-US] bilateral track, but they cannot decide anything on Ukraine without us. I hope the US president understands that and takes into account," the head of the Kiev regime said at a forum. On August 8, Trump announced that he was...

Russian lawmaker Viktor Vodolatsky responded to President Donald Trump's decision to move two U.S. nuclear submarines to "appropriate regions" near Russia by saying that Moscow can count on far more submarines than Washington. "There are significantly more of our [nuclear] submarines in the world's oceans, [and they] have the strongest, most powerful weapons," Vodolatsky, who is also first deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Commonwealth of Independent States Affairs, Eurasian Integration and Relations with Compatriots, told Russia's government-controlled news agency TASS. "This is why, let [Trump's] two boats float, they have been at gunpoint for a long time,"...

More than 120 firefighters were trying to extinguish a blaze at an oil depot in the Russian city of Sochi that was sparked by a Ukrainian drone attack, regional Governor Veniamin Kondratyev has said on the Telegram messaging app. In the Krasnodar region, where Sochi is located, a fuel tank with a capacity of 2,000 cubic metres was on fire, Russia's RIA news agency reported on Sunday, citing emergency officials. Rosaviatsia, Russia's civil aviation authority, said on Telegram that flights were halted at Sochi's airport to ensure air safety. The attack, which Kondratyev said was in the Adler district of...

Ukraine is very close to obtaining its own ballistic missiles, Defense Minister Denis Shmygal said in his first interview since taking the position of Defense Minister, BBC Ukraine reported on 30 July. Denys Shmyhal was appointed Ukraine’s Minister of Defense on 17 July 2025, following his resignation as Prime Minister during a major government reshuffle. His appointment aimed to boost domestic arms production and improve defense management amid ongoing war with Russia. “Ukraine’s president has already announced that Ukraine will have its own ballistics. We are very close to this. That’s basically all I can say publicly on this matter,”...

AGAIN - IRAN JUST FIRED ON AMERICAN TARGETS IN QATAR AND IRAQ’! Stupid is as stupid does - Forrest Gump

Laura Loomer @LauraLoomer BREAKING: President Trump confirms the US just BOMBED all 3 Nuclear sites in Iran. He said all US planes are now on their way home. Thank you, President Trump! 🇺🇸 6:53 PM · Jun 21, 2025

Ukraine has achieved a breakthrough in its domestic missile program. A new Ukrainian ballistic missile has completed a combat test, striking a Russian command post nearly 300 kilometers from the launch site, military analyst and director of the Center for Army, Conversion, and Disarmament Studies Valentyn Badrak revealed. The missile’s development began in May 2022, with a successful test already conducted in the summer of 2024. According to Badrak, the system is now entering serial production, Badrak stated in a recent interview with Ukrainian news outlet Ukrinform on June 10. “I don’t know how many missiles we can expect per...

Ukraine's air forces shot down a Russian Su-35 fighter jet on Saturday morning, the Ukrainian military said. "This morning, on June 7, 2025, as a result of a successful Air Force operation in the Kursk direction, a Russian Su-35 fighter jet was shot down," the military said on the Telegram messenger. It gave no more details. Russian forces have not yet commented on the matter while Reuters could not independently verify the report.

President Trump, angrily, to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office, February 28: “You don’t have the cards! You’re buried there! Your people are dying! You’re running low on soldiers!” Since that time . . . In March alone, the Russians suffered an estimated 41,000 combined killed or wounded in action, with 272 Russian tanks, 1,644 artillery systems, and 607 combat armored vehicles destroyed or disabled. (Since the start of the war, Russia has lost an estimated 12,835 tanks and armored vehicles, 305 aircraft, and 22 naval vessels.) Without anything resembling a manned navy, Ukraine has largely nullified the...

Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva noted that "Europe, which held a middle-ground position for some time, finally sided with Washington and now is spending billions to rearm itself"PARIS, June 3. /TASS/. Former US President Joe Biden, while in office, said he wanted Russia to be destroyed, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said in an interview with French newspaper Le Monde. Commenting on the situation in Ukraine, the Brazilian leader said that at first he had condemned Russia’s special military operation. He stressed however that "Western countries also bear part of responsibility." "Joe Biden, whom I talked to about...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the surprise drone operation over the weekend against Russia was a success that will "continue" if Moscow doesn't halt its offensive. Zelenskyy addressed reporters following the next round of U.S.-brokered peace talks between Ukrainian and Russian delegations in Istanbul on Monday, intended to end Russia's 3-year-old invasion of its neighbor. The talks came just one day after Ukraine launched an audacious drone attack on Russia's strategic bomber fleet. Asked by ABC News' Chief Global Affairs Correspondent Martha Raddatz on whether the attacks changed the dynamics of the war or at the negotiating table -- and...

An audacious Ukrainian drone attack against multiple airbases across Russia is a humiliating security breach for Vladimir Putin that will doubtless trigger a furious response. Pro-Kremlin bloggers have described the drone assault - which Ukrainian security sources said hit more than 40 Russian warplanes - as "Russia's Pearl Harbor" in reference to the Japanese attack against the US in 1941 that prompted Washington to enter the Second World War. The Ukrainian operation - which used small drones smuggled into Russia, hidden in mobile sheds and launched off the back of trucks - also demonstrated how technology and imagination have transformed...

Thursday’s talks in Turkey between Moscow and Kyiv will serve as the latest test of whether Vladimir Putin is serious about a cease-fire deal. And if Putin fails, President Donald Trump faces a test of his own. The prez expressed optimism that “some pretty good news” will emerge from the negotiations. Yet Moscow has feigned an interest in peace before, only to show its real stripes. Remember, Putin was the one who started this war and who’s broken past cease-fire terms. As long as he believes he can gain some advantage, he’ll keep up his attacks — no matter what...