Free Republic

Ukraine’s American-backed fight against Russia is being waged not only in the blood-soaked trenches of the Donbas region but also on what military planners call the cognitive battlefield — to win hearts and minds.A sprawling constellation of media outlets organized with substantial funding and direction from the U.S. government has not just worked to counter Russian propaganda but has supported strong censorship laws and shutdowns of dissident outlets, disseminated disinformation of its own, and sought to silence critics of the war, including many American citizens.Economist Jeffrey Sachs, commentator Tucker Carlson, journalist Glenn Greenwald, and University of Chicago Professor John Mearsheimer...

China and Russia are working on a joint invasion of Taiwan, US intelligence officials fear. 'We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognising that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn't,' Avril Haines, Director of US National Intelligence, told the US Congress on Thursday. Her warning on the potential cooperation between the countries on Taiwan, which China has long claimed as its own territory to be annexed by force if necessary, was echoed by Lieutenant General...

Russian military personnel have entered an air base in Niger that is hosting U.S. troops, a senior U.S. defense official told Reuters, a move that follows a decision by Niger's junta to expel U.S. forces from the country. The military officers ruling the West African nation have told the U.S. to withdraw its nearly 1,000 military personnel from the country, which until a coup last year had been a key partner for Washington's fight against insurgents who have killed thousands of people and displaced millions more. A senior U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Russian forces were...

(Kyiv, May 2, 2024) – Russian forces appear to have executed at least 15 Ukrainian soldiers as they attempted to surrender, and possibly six more who were surrendering or who had surrendered, since early December 2023, Human Rights Watch said today. These incidents should be investigated as war crimes. “Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, its forces have committed many heinous war crimes,” said Belkis Wille, associate crisis and conflict director at Human Rights Watch. “The summary execution – or murder – of surrendering and injured Ukrainian soldiers, gunned down in cold blood, expressly forbidden under international humanitarian law, is...

The US military has withdrawn troops from a French military base in Chad after the country demanded they leave last month, a Pentagon spokesperson and other sources familiar with the matter told CNN on Wednesday. More than half of the US troops stationed at the French military base in Chad’s capital, N’Djamena, have now left the country and relocated to Germany. CNN previously reported that fewer than 100 US troops were stationed in Chad, most of them as part of the US’ Special Operations Task Force, an important hub for US Special Operations Forces in the region. The Special Operations...

A State Department official is pushing Thursday for China and Russia to declare that only humans – and not artificial intelligence – will make decisions on deploying nuclear weapons. Paul Dean, an official in the State Department’s Bureau of Arms Control, Deterrence, and Stability, said during a press briefing that the U.S. has already made "a very clear and strong commitment that in cases of nuclear employment, that decision would only be made by a human being. "We would never defer a decision on nuclear employment to AI. We strongly stand by that statement and we’ve made it publicly with...

Politicians and faith leaders have condemned the incident at the Polish capital's Nożyk Synagogue, which follows similar acts across Europe. Warsaw's main synagogue was attacked with firebombs early on Wednesday by an unknown perpetrator, but sustained minimal damage and nobody was hurt, Poland's chief rabbi said. The incident was strongly condemned by political leaders. The attack on the Nożyk Synagogue happened around 1 am, Rabbi Michael Schudrich told The Associated Press.

Just as Russia had started to bring back some refinery capacity damaged by Ukrainian drone attacks earlier this year, a new wave of drone attacks hit a major refinery owned by Rosneft, for a second time.Rosneft’s Ryazan refinery southeast of Moscow caught fire after the overnight drone attack, an anonymous Ukrainian military source with knowledge of the situation told Bloomberg News on Wednesday.The refinery in the region of Ryazan, whose main city of the same name is some 120 miles southeast of Moscow, was first attacked by drones in the middle of March. The first attack also led to a...

Pro-Russia hackers have exploited shoddy security practices at multiple US water plants in recent cyberattacks that have hit a wider swathe of victims than was previously documented, according to an advisory by US federal agencies obtained by CNN. Though the attacks have not impacted drinking water, the advisory lays bare the cybersecurity challenges facing the thousands of water systems across the US, many of which are often short of cash and personnel to deal with threats. The document helps explain the plea that US national security adviser Jake Sullivan made in March to water authorities to shore up their defenses....

Moscow puts subsidiaries of German and Italian firms under the control of a Gazprom division, sparking annoyance from Italy and the EU. In a move that is likely to increase tension between Russia and Western Europe, the Kremlin has unexpectedly announced the "temporary external management" of Russian subsidiaries of Italian water heating company Ariston and German appliance maker BSH Hausgeraete. The subsidiaries, Ariston Thermo Rus, and BSH Household Appliances, now come under the management of Gazprom's Household Systems and are now completely under Russia's control. The Executive Order, signed by President Vladimir Putin, which was revealed on Friday and backdated...

NATO countries have not delivered what they promised to Ukraine in time, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday. This has allowed Russia to press its advantage on the battlefield, while Kyiv’s depleted forces wait for military supplies from the US and Europe, the NATO chief added. "Serious delays in support have meant serious consequences on the battlefield” for Ukraine, Stoltenberg told a news conference in Kyiv with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Ukraine was recently compelled to make a tactical retreat from three villages in the east, where the Kremlin's forces have been making incremental gains, Ukraine's army chief said on...

"Military pay, ammunition, tanks, planes, and compensation for dead and wounded soldiers, all contribute to the GDP figures. Put simply, the war against Ukraine is now the main driver of Russia's economic growth" Foucart said... Other areas of Russia's economy are hurting as the war drags on. Moscow is slammed with a severe labor shortage, thanks to young professionals fleeing the country or being pulled into the conflict. The nation is now short around 5 million workers, according to one estimate, which is causing wages to soar. Inflation is high at 7.4% — nearly double the 4% target of its...

The Soviet-Afghan War destroyed Afghanistan and eventually the Soviet Union, which dissolved in 1991 into 15 republics. Numerous satellite states in Europe were liberated at the same time. History may repeat as the Russia-Ukraine war weakens Moscow, financially and geopolitically. Russia’s 2022 invasion was about reoccupying a former colony, Ukraine, but there are other Russian republics that hope to become liberated... … in December 1991, Ukrainians voted for independence and Ukraine became the first of the Soviet republics to leave. The Baltic republics followed, as did Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and others. Now there is unrest across the Russian Federation…...

Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia are building massive new fortifications along their borders with both Russia and Belarus in order to create a common defense line against possible future invasions by Moscow or its allies in Minsk. The Baltic Defense Line as the project has come to be known was an important piece of a new agreement struck between the three nations aimed at reinforcing NATO’s borders with Russia, and the defense will only get tougher. Latvian Defense Minister Andris Sprūds noted in a statement about the new agreement that he and the defense ministers of Estonia and Lithuania approved the...

American officials now estimate that Russian President Vladimir Putin likely did not order the assassination of Alexei Navalny, one of his most significant political rivals. Navalny died approximately two months ago in prison, with his body with held from his family for some time after his death. According to the Wall Street Journal,a number of American agencies reviewed the report and certified it. It was based on both classified intelligence and publicly available facts....

China is waiting for the Russian Federation to collapse so it can seize a slice of land taken from it by Russia 200 years ago, it has been claimed.Beijing has been a crucial supporter of Vladimir Putin since he invaded Ukraine and was essentially cut off from the Western world due to sanctions.But Canadian journalist and author Diane Francis believes that China is also preparing to take back a slice of land in the far east of Russia.Speaking to Times Radio, she explained how the war in Ukraine may have just Beijing-Moscow relations.She said: "China was put in a terrible...

Ukraine has sidelined U.S.-provided Abrams M1A1 battle tanks for now in its fight against Russia, in part because Russian drone warfare has made it too difficult for them to operate without detection or coming under attack, two U.S. military officials told The Associated Press. The U.S. agreed to send 31 Abrams to Ukraine in January 2023 after an aggressive monthslong campaign by Kyiv arguing that the tanks, which cost about $10 million apiece, were vital to its ability to breach Russian lines. But the battlefield has changed substantially since then, notably by the ubiquitous use of Russian surveillance drones and...

The British government said on Tuesday it would commit its largest-ever tranche of military aid to Ukraine as part of a package worth £500 million ($622 million). The assistance will include further deliveries of Storm Shadow air-launched, precision-guided missiles, as well as vessels and vehicles. The Paveway IV—the latest in the Paveway series of bombs—converts unguided munitions, also known as "dumb bombs," into precision-guided weapons. They can use laser guidance or satellites to find their way to a target. "The Paveway IV will enable Ukraine to strike back" at Russian forces and target high-value assets such as command centers and...

Russia’s economy is expected to grow faster than all advanced economies this year, according to the International Monetary Fund. Russia is expected to grow 3.2% in 2024, the IMF said in its latest World Economic Outlook published Tuesday, exceeding the forecast growth rates for the U.S. (2.7%), the U.K. (0.5%), Germany (0.2%) and France (0.7%). The prediction will be galling for Western nations which have sought to economically isolate and punish Russia for its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Russia says Western sanctions on its critical industries have made it more self-sufficient and that private consumption and domestic investment remain resilient....

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russian special services and law enforcement agencies are identifying people behind last month's Crocus City Hall terror attack near Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday. "Russian special services and law enforcement agencies continue to investigate, to look into the details of this despicable crime. They are identifying people behind it, including those who commissioned the attack, sponsors and organizers," Putin told the 12th International Meeting of High Representatives for Security Issues in the Russian city of St. Petersburg via a video message. None of those guilty of the attack shall escape just retribution, the president...