Free Republic

On 31 March 2025, the anniversary of Georgia’s 1991 independence referendum, thousands rallied on Rustaveli Avenue under the slogan “The People’s Spring is Coming.” President Salome Zurabishvili called for the resistance to take a political form alongside street protests, proposing a “Platform of Resistance” to unite pro-European forces pushing for new elections and the release of political prisoners. The protests, now in their 128th consecutive day, erupted after Georgia’s ruling Georgian Dream party claimed victory in the October 2024 parliamentary elections with 54% of the vote – results international observers and opposition groups widely condemned as fraudulent. The situation worsened...

Poland does not foresee sending its own troops to Ukraine, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Monday before flying to Paris for an emergency meeting with European leaders on the embattled country. “We do not plan to send Polish soldiers to the territory of Ukraine. However, we will also support – in terms of logistics and political support – countries that in the future will want to provide such guarantees,” Tusk told a press conference in Warsaw. Tusk also urged fellow European countries to boost their defense spending. “It is crucial for Europe to make financial, organizational and political decisions...

The outlines of President-elect Donald Trump’s initial efforts to end the war in Ukraine from his visit to Europe last week are starting to emerge for the first time. The main takeaway: Europe would have to shoulder most of the burden of supporting Kyiv with troops to oversee a cease-fire and weapons to deter Russia. At a meeting in Paris on Dec. 7, Trump told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and French President Emmanuel Macron that he doesn’t support Ukrainian membership of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, but that he wanted to see a strong, well-armed Ukraine emerge from any cessation...

President-elect Donald Trump said he would use US support for Ukraine as leverage against Russia to negotiate an end to the war, in an interview with Time Magazine, APA reports. Trump was pressed in the interview — published on Thursday — on whether he would continue providing assistance for Kyiv. “I want to reach an agreement,” Trump said, according to Time. “And the only way you’re going to reach an agreement is not to abandon.” Trump, though, was also critical of Kyiv for launching missile strikes at Russian military targets deep in that country’s territory, a move taken after President...

President-elect Donald Trump said on Saturday that the United States should not interfere in Syria in a post on social media site Truth Social. "Syria is a mess but is not our friend, & THE UNITED STATES SHOULD HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. THIS IS NOT OUR FIGHT. LET IT PLAY OUT. DO NOT GET INVOLVED!" Trump said. He also said that the rebels in Syria are on the outskirts of Damascus and are preparing for a major move to remove Assad. "Russia, because of the heavy losses in Ukraine, cannot stop it. The Russians, like Assad, could be...

Russia will not accept a reported Turkey-formulated proposal to end to the fighting in Ukraine after nearly 1,000 days of war, the Kremlin said on Monday, as the prospect of a ceasefire that had long seemed unrealistic looms over the horizon with a new U.S. presidency. Bloomberg reported on Sunday that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was preparing to present a plan to fellow G20 leaders, which would freeze the war in Ukraine along the front lines currently snaking for hundreds of miles through the country. The Turkish leader would lay out the plans during the summit in Rio de...

Russia is managing to produce artillery shells at triple the speed of Ukraine’s allies for a quarter of the price, Sky News reported on May 26, referencing analysis from management consulting firm Bain & Company. Using publicly available data, the firm claims that Russian factories can produce or refurbish 4.5 million 152 mm shells this year for $1,000 per round. European countries and the U.S. are only expected to produce 1.3 million 155 mm shells combined, at an average cost of $4,000 per unit. Slow artillery production has hindered Ukraine’s progress on the battlefield. Soldiers claim that for every round...

Over two years on from the invasion of Ukraine, Russia is the most sanctioned nation in the world. And yet the country’s economy is set to grow faster than any G7 democracy this year. How is this possible? Back in 2022, Boris Johnson vowed to ‘squeeze Russia from the global economy piece by piece, day by day and week by week’. President Joe Biden promised that sanctions would ‘impose a severe cost on the Russian economy, both immediately and over time’. Yet these dire warnings never materialised: Russia’s economy has proved resilient in the face of sanctions. Moscow’s flexibility in...

Ukrainian media reports say the commander responsible for the defense of the northeastern Kharkiv front, General Yuriy Halushkin, has been replaced by General Mykhaylo Drapatiy. The change, as reported by Ukraine's RBK news site and Suspilne, which cited sources in the Khortytsia operational-strategic group, occurred on May 11 as Russian forces pressed on with a large-scale attack in the Kharkiv region bordering Russia. The reports said Drapatiy will also keep his current position as deputy chief of the General Staff. Before his appointment to the General Staff, Drapatiy led the operations in the Kherson region.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian forces began a renewed ground assault on Ukraine’s northeast, killing and injuring several and forcing more than 1,700 civilians to evacuate from the Kharkiv region, local officials said Saturday. Artillery, mortar, and aerial bombardments hit more than 30 different towns and villages, leaving at least three people dead and five others injured, said Kharkiv governor, Oleh Syniehubov. Ukraine rushed reinforcements to the Kharkiv region on Friday to hold off a Russian attempt to breach local defenses, authorities said.

Russia has launched a ground offensive into Ukraine’s northeast Kharkiv region and fighting there is ongoing, the Ukrainian defence ministry said Friday. “At approximately 5 am (0200 GMT), the enemy attempted to break through our defence line under the cover of armoured vehicles,” the ministry said. A high-ranking Ukrainian military source said Russia had advanced into Ukraine by one kilometre

Two hydropower plants in Ukraine were severely damaged and were no longer in operation after Russian bombardments earlier this week, the state energy company Ukrhydroenergo said Thursday. "As of today all hydro generation has suffered devastating damage," it said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app, adding that significant financial resources and efforts would be required to repair the damage and restore the plants' operations. Ukraine plans to double electricity imports Thursday after the powerful Russian attack on Ukraine's energy system, the energy ministry said.

Russia launched a barrage of missiles and drones targeting energy and military-industrial facilities across Ukraine in the early hours of May 8. The strikes reportedly targeted five Ukrainian regions – Poltava, Kirovograd, Lvov, Ivano-Frankovsk, and Vinnitsa – as well as part of the Zaporozhye region currently under the Kiev regime’s control. Air defense systems were also operating in Kiev and the capital’s environs.

Ukraine is preparing for peace talks with Russia as there is “no way to win on the battlefield alone”, Kyiv’s deputy spy chief has said

A cause not worth dyng for...

The idea triggered a full-scale revolt on the Google campus. Six years ago, the Silicon Valley giant signed a small, $9 million contract to put the skills of a few of its most innovative developers to the task of building an artificial intelligence tool that would help the military detect potential targets on the battlefield using drone footage. Engineers and other Google employees argued that the company should have nothing to do with Project Maven, even if it was designed to help the military discern between civilians and militants. The uproar forced the company to back out, but Project Maven...

The Ukrainian army has come under rare criticism from military analysts for allegedly bungling up a troops rotation that allowed Russia to capture 5km of land, highlighting the strains Kyiv’s forces are under as they await the arrival of fresh US aid. Deep State, a Ukrainian analytical group with ties to the defence ministry, on Wednesday said the Russian advance late last week in the southern part of the village of Ocheretyne had been caused by a rotation that left the area unprotected. The criticism comes a day after the US Senate approved a $61bn aid package for Kyiv which...

European Union countries, including the Netherlands, Germany and Sweden, are hesitant to provide Ukraine with Patriot air defense systems. The Netherlands is exploring options to support Ukraine financially and is considering depleting its stock of Patriot systems. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said existing capabilities across the alliance could be made available to Ukraine.

Sens. J.D. Vance (R-OH), Mike Lee (R-UT), and Ron Johnson (R-WI) joined Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk in an X Space on Monday for more than one hour to slam efforts to rush through tens of millions of dollars in additional funding for Ukraine’s stalemate war against Russia. The discussion occurred before a crucial expected Monday night procedural vote on the foreign aid package. Sixty senators are needed for that vote on cloture to end debate on the bill, clearing the way for a likely Wednesday vote on final passage. The trio of senators urged listeners to contact their House...