Free Republic

Data from the latest Economist/YouGov poll finds that Americans have grown more pessimistic when it comes to Ukraine’s path to victory. This week's was the first survey since we began asking who is winning the war — about a month after it began — in which more Americans say that Russia is winning (25%) than say Ukraine is (19%). In recent weeks the share who say neither side is winning also has increased, to 38%.

A document released by a news outlet on Tuesday reportedly shows Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky ordered that his government destroy all the documents related to the nation’s biolabs being run in collaboration with the Hunter Biden-connected firm Metabiota. NBC may have actually caught this destruction on camera. ...

The Russian president is delivering his speech at the annual SPIEF business forum in St. Petersburg. His address is dedicated to the future of Russia and the rest of the world in the wake of renewed pressure from western sanctions against Moscow. Addressing the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that the unipolar world has come to an end despite all of its beneficiaries' attempts to preserve it at any cost. The president added that following the end of the Cold War, the US declared its national interests to be "sacred" and not to be...

As the situation in Donbass (East Ukraine) worsens for Ukrainian forces, as reports are now leaking from Kyiv that Ukraine is losing 1,000 troops a day, the State Department has essentially admitted American mercenaries have been captured by Russian forces in-country. Alexander John-Robert Drueke, 39, from Tuscaloosa, Alabama and Andy Tai Ngoc Huynh, 27, from Hartselle, Alabama are currently “missing” from the battlefield, however, their precise fate is as yet unconfirmed, according to a State Department official, reported Zero Hedge.White House national security spokesman John Kirby didn’t confirm the reports, but strongly hinted that it’s the administration’s belief they were...

The euphoria that accompanied Ukraine’s unforeseen early victories against bumbling Russian troops is fading as Moscow adapts its tactics, recovers its stride and asserts its overwhelming firepower against heavily outgunned Ukrainian forces. Around 200 Ukrainian soldiers are now being killed every day, up from 100 late last month, an aide to President Volodymyr Zelensky told the BBC on Friday — meaning that as many as 1,000 Ukrainians are being taken out of the fight every day, including those who are injured. But the odds against the Ukrainians are starting to look overwhelming, said Danylyuk, the government adviser. “The Russians are...

President Biden said the United States "has never seen anything like Putin’s tax on both food and gas," after the Labor Department announced Friday that inflation hit a new four-decade high in May. The Labor Department said Friday that the consumer price index, a broad measure of the price for everyday goods, including gasoline, groceries and rent, rose 8.6% in May from a year ago. Prices jumped 1% in the one-month period from April. Those figures were both higher than the 8.3% headline figure and 0.7% monthly gain forecast by Refinitiv economists. The president, from the Port of Los Angeles...

Ukrainians! Defenders! Every year on June 1 we celebrate Children's Day. A special day when adults pay special attention to the rights of children, safety and development of our kids. But since February 24, everything has changed in our country. And literally every day now is a day of protection for us. Protection of all our people, children, our future. Protection of a free country where every child can, when he or she grows up, live the life he or she wants. Without coercion and oppression. Everyone sees what Russia brings to Ukraine and what it wants to bring to...

The events of the past two years—the mass protests that led to the deposing of President Viktor Yanukovych, the subsequent annexation of Crimea, and Russian aggression in the east—have changed much in Ukrainian society. These events have split the global left, dividing the so-called ‘anti-imperialists’ (who support Putin’s aggression) and those who condemn it. Meanwhile, inside Ukraine, left-wing activists are currently re-grouping in response to the events of the past 15 months. Indeed, the changes taking place inside the radical left community began in 2011-2012; the events that followed served as a catalyst. From the ground up When Ukraine became...

Moscow appreciates Beijing’s support in its efforts to uphold Russia’s principal approaches to the formation of Europe’s security architecture and values China’s stance regarding the situation in Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday. "We highly appreciate the balanced and unbiased stance of our Chinese friends regarding the situation in and around Ukraine," Lavrov said in a video address to participants of the ‘Russia and China: Cooperation in a New Era’ conference. "We are supported by Beijing in efforts to defend Russia’s principal approaches to the security architecture formation in Europe," he continued.

The rumors keep flying that Putin has cancer and has a maximum of three years to live. The stories are claiming he is ‘losing his eyesight’ but all of this is unconfirmed coming from reports in recent weeks that have suggested the 69-year-old president’s health has been deteriorating quickly. Much of this propaganda from Ukraine has been talking about a coup and all sorts of stuff. They are desperate to portray Putin will be overthrown as if this will stop the war – no way! Our model does not show that Putin will run again in 2024. That year will...

Russian troops are being forced to eat dogs because of food shortages, Ukraine's security service has claimed. The SBU, Kyiv's security and intelligence agency, released a text message exchange purportedly between two Russian soldiers, in which a serviceman stationed in the occupied parts of the Kherson region, close to Crimea, told his friend that he and other troops had eaten a Yorkshire terrier. "It's all f*****. [Ukrainians] are f****** beating us like kids. We eat dogs, there's no food. Today we ate a Yorkie. A Yorkshire terrier," the soldier was quoted as saying by the SBU. Responding to this message,...

Failure to use air force effectively, caused failures on the ground and in the air.

Ukraine has “a wonderful lever of pressure” on Hungary via the Druzhba – which translates to ‘Friendship’ – oil pipeline, Ukrainian energy minister adviser Lana Zerkal claimed on Thursday. Speaking during an online discussion at the Kiev Security Forum, Zerkal criticized the policy of the Hungarian government, which is blocking a sixth round of EU sanctions, one which would ban Russian oil. “Ukraine has a wonderful lever of pressure in its hands – it’s the Druzhba oil pipeline,” Zerkal said, adding that “something could happen” with Hungary’s separate part of the infrastructure. “And, in my opinion, it would be very...

The truth is that President Zielenski, at least according to the western press a couple of years ago, is controlled by a man named, Igor Kolomoisky, the Ukrainian man who funded Zelinski's television show back when he was an actor, and who subsequently funded his campaign into power in Ukraine. It might also be relevant that Igor Kolomoisky has a controlling interest in Burisma, the energy company at the root of Hunter Biden's laptop scandal. It is also true that Igor funded the, Azov Battalion, the, according to western press at least, neo-Nazi white supremacist militia that has been terrorizing...

leaked audio clip purportedly featuring the Chinese Communist Party's top brass discussing military plans for a Taiwan invasion has triggered a controversy online. According to Indian media, the 57-minute leaked clip is reportedly the first-ever recording of a Chinese military brass gathering. Expert analysis of the audio clip posted on the YouTube channel of Lude Media appears authentic, reported The Times Of India, a New Delhi-based news media. The viral audio clip was also shared by Jennifer Zeng, a China-born human rights activist, on her Twitter handle. Zeng also published the transcript on her website. International Business Times could not...

PARIS -- It was inevitable that sooner or later, leading European countries would start distancing themselves from the aggressive rhetoric that has been the hallmark of the European Union leadership's approach to the armed conflict in Ukraine. Last week in Turin, Italian Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio presented a four-point peace plan to United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who made contact with Moscow and Kyiv in visits a few weeks ago. Di Maio also chaired the group of Europe's foreign ministers at a meeting in Turin, including those of other EU countries which have recently shown interest in de-escalating...

Has land for peace ever worked — even lately? We’ll get to that in a moment, but first let’s look at a critical moment in the Russian offensive in Donbas. If Putin wants to force a face-saving settlement, he needs to win a decisive battle to secure an area that he, um, largely controlled by proxy before the invasion. Reuters casts the ongoing battle on the Siverskiy Donets river as Putin’s last, best hope to get out with some claim of victory:The decisive battles of the war’s latest phase are still raging further south, where Moscow is attempting to seize...

Walls rattled and pieces of plaster fell from the ceiling of a basement converted by Ukrainian troops into a forward outpost. Russian shells hit again and again the crumpled building above. Images on a surveillance monitor, linked to a camera outside in the deserted village, showed plumes of black smoke rising all around the compound. “The Russians are very angry today because yesterday we killed two of their tanks,” said Marian, a platoon leader in the volunteer Carpathian Sich battalion deployed on the front line near the Russian-held Ukrainian city of Izyum. Like most military personnel, he is only allowed...

A veteran Russian diplomat to the U.N. Office at Geneva says he handed in his resignation before sending out a scathing letter to foreign colleagues inveighing against the “aggressive war unleashed” by President Vladimir Putin in Ukraine. Boris Bondarev, 41, confirmed his resignation in a letter delivered Monday morning at the Russian diplomatic mission after a diplomatic official passed on his English-language statement to The Associated Press. “For twenty years of my diplomatic career I have seen different turns of our foreign policy, but never have I been so ashamed of my country as on Feb. 24 of this year,”...

"...On the surface, this would appear to be simply about weapons. However, buried in this funding is up to a billion dollars earmarked to pay the salaries and pensions of Ukrainian government workers and soldiers. This isn’t a one-time payment – the government of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has indicated that up to $7 billion per month will be needed to keep Ukraine functioning. While most US citizens might not blanch at the thought of their taxpayer dollars being used to underwrite Ukrainian soldiers and civil servants, the reality is that much of this money will be deployed to pay...