Free Republic

Fighting in Russia's Belgorod region entered a second day on Tuesday, and its governor told residents who fled after a cross-border incursion of armed fighters from Ukraine that it was still not safe to return to their homes. Monday's incursion, apparently involving armoured vehicles, was the biggest raid into Russia since the war began 15 months ago, though details including the number of fighters involved, their affiliation and the extent of any clashes, could not be independently confirmed. Russian authorities evacuated residents from the region's Graivoron district after the raiding forces claimed to have captured the border town of Kozinka...

After the defeat in Artemovsk (Bakhmut), where they are believed to have lost between 30k-60k troops, the Ukrainians staged this Sunday (May 22) an incursion into the Belgorod Oblast, pre-war Russian territory, in what can best be described as a publicity stunt or a ‘psy-op’.While the Discord Leaks have revealed that Zelensky has plans to take and hold Russian border towns to gain some leverage in future peace talks, that was not it.The incursion consisted of a DRG (Diversion and Reconnaissance Group) with 2 tanks, an infantry support vehicle and about 9 troop-carrying cars, with a number of troops that...

ROME—Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on Pope Francis to support Kyiv’s formula for peace—based on returning Ukraine’s territory—in a pointed message to the pontiff, who has refused to explicitly condemn Russia’s invasion. The pope, who met with Mr. Zelensky at the Vatican on Saturday, has offered to serve as an intermediary in negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow but his neutral stance, and his suggestions that the West provoked the war, have raised skepticism in Ukraine. ...