Free Republic

Ukraine’s president has suggested he’s open to peace talks with Russia, softening his earlier refusal to negotiate with Moscow while President Vladimir Putin is in power — while sticking to Kyiv’s demands. Volodymyr Zelenskyy's appeal to the international community late Monday to “force Russia into real peace talks” reflected a change in rhetoric for a man who signed a decree in late September stating “the impossibility of holding talks” with Putin. But since his preconditions appear to be non-starters for Moscow, it’s hard to see how Zelenskyy’s latest comments would advance any talks. Zelenskyy reiterated that his conditions for dialogue...

Russian soldiers are forcing Ukrainian civilians from their apartments in the occupied capital of the Kherson region and moving in themselves, a resident said Friday as the southern city became a growing focus of war in Ukraine. His account of soldiers spreading throughout the city of Kherson suggested that Russia could be preparing for intense urban warfare in anticipation of Ukrainian advances. (snip) A Kherson resident told The Associated Press that Russian soldiers were installing themselves in vacated apartments. Russian military personnel were going door to door, checking property deeds and forcing tenants to leave immediately if they can't prove...

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian-installed authorities in Ukraine told all residents of the city of Kherson to leave “immediately” Saturday ahead of an expected advance by Ukrainian troops waging a counteroffensive to recapture one of the first urban areas Russia took after invading the country. In a post on the Telegram messaging service, the pro-Kremlin regional administration strongly urged civilians to use boat crossings over a major river to move deeper into Russian-held territory, citing a tense situation on the front and the threat of shelling and alleged plans for “terror attacks” by Kyiv. Kherson has been in Russian hands...