Free Republic

Ukraine's air force has previously said Russia has used the Tu-22M3 aircraft to fire Kh-22 cruise missiles at Ukrainian territory. The HUR said the bomber that was downed "carried out a missile attack against Ukraine on the night of April 19." The aircraft was shot down "as a result of a [HUR] special operation in cooperation with the Air Force," it said, adding that it was struck at a distance of about 300 kilometers from Ukraine. The HUR added: "It should be noted that this is the first successful destruction of a strategic bomber in the air during a combat...

Kings and Generals animated historical documentary series on modern warfare continues with another video on the Russian Invasion of Ukraine, as we continue covering Putin's invasion with the events in March of 2024. In the aftermath of the fall of Avdiivka, Russia continues to advance slowly despite taking heavy losses in personnel and hardware. In this video we will describe the events on the front, internal situation in Russia and Ukraine, global diplomatic situation, allied support and much more.

Russia's military death toll in Ukraine has now passed the 50,000 mark, the BBC can confirm. In the second 12 months on the front line - as Moscow pushed its so-called meat grinder strategy - we found the body count was nearly 25% higher than in the first year. BBC Russian, independent media group Mediazona and volunteers have been counting deaths since February 2022. New graves in cemeteries helped provide the names of many soldiers. Our teams also combed through open-source information from official reports, newspapers and social media. More than 27,300 Russian soldiers died in the second year of...

..... Today these drones—hundreds of thousands of them—are the most important systems in the Ukrainian inventory. This means tactical radio jammers, which can block the signals operators use to control their drones, are the most important systems in the Russian inventory. So when Russian tanks began rolling toward the front line with a giant new jammer—actually, clusters of multiple jammers—in recent weeks, Ukrainian drone operators were interested. Very interested. If the new jammers worked, the Ukrainian operators would need to develop countermeasures. Their chance to find out came earlier this month, when a Russian T-72 festooned with jammers ran over...

The man convicted and sentenced to death for carrying out the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013 is fighting to keep federal prosecutors from seizing the funds he has accumulated in his prison canteen account. The Boston Herald reported an attorney for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 30, filed an appeal seeking to stop the feds in Boston from taking the $4,200-plus in Tsarnaev's account,

Russian President Vladimir Putin insisted last August that a drop in the importance of the U.S. dollar was "irreversible"—but there appears to be no sign that the global economy is turning its back on the greenback. "The U.S. Dollar was used in 48% of international payment transactions last year, the highest level in more than a decade. But Brics...," it said next to the graph, which showed the euro making 23.2 percent of transactions and the Chinese yuan way behind at 3.47 percent. "BRICS countries would like their currencies to be used in world trade, but each has a major...

Iran is reportedly getting a terrifying arsenal from Russia, including anti-aircraft launchers and fighter jets — and is threatening to fire weapons it has never before used in “a severe, extensive and painful response” to the “slightest action” by Israel. Abolfazl Amouei, a spokesperson for the Iranian Parliament’s National Security Committee, told a local news station Monday that the Islamic Republic “will confront any Israeli aggression and respond to it.” “We are ready to use weapons that we have not used before,” the official told Al-Mayadeen News, according to the Economic Times. “We have plans for all scenarios, and we...

Our indecisiveness in eastern Europe signalled to our enemies that we are weak and divided — so is it any surprise that they are now trying to exploit this to their advantage? Our adversaries — led by Russia, Iran, China and, to a lesser extent, North Korea — understand this. And they understand that, by working together, they can achieve their shared foreign policy goals and eventually reshape the global order to their advantage... Our enemies are different heads of the same, frightening hydra — and together they have shown a great deal of discipline, coordination and aggression in pursuit...

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) unveiled a gambit to burst a legislative logjam and unleash a four-vote flood including a standalone vote on tens of billions in American taxpayer aid to Ukraine. The plan appears to exploit the sense of urgency in Congress for sending aid to Israel in the wake of Iranian missile attacks in a scheme to bypass Republican animosity towards continuing to fund Ukraine’s war against Russia. Johnson unveiled his plan to his colleagues during a Monday night House Republican Conference meeting. His plan is to hold a single vote on a rule — the product specifying which...

So what changed the policy in Tehran? Mikhail Podolyak, the head of the Ukraine Presidential Office, blamed Iran for agreeing to be "directly complicit in the mass murder of Ukrainians." Why?, he asked: "Russia offered something important to Iran in exchange for killer drones and a ballistic missile contract. It is one of these options: uranium and other materials; nuclear technology; regional guarantees from the Russian Federation."

A Ukrainian loss, which could happen very soon if U.S. weapons don’t arrive, would ramp up Russian efforts to destabilize the governments of NATO countries and increase defense spending across the alliance, among other disastrous effects, Hanno Pevkur, Estonia’s Defense Minister, told reporters Friday. When U.S. officials like President Joe Biden talk about why Ukraine matters, they rely on broad notions of democracy and the continuation of the international order—without specifically explaining what a Ukraine loss would mean for ordinary Americans. Perhaps because of this, Americans are evenly split on the question of whether the United States is doing too...

A new high-tech laser weapon developed by the UK that is capable of shooting down enemy drones and missiles could be sent to Ukraine. The weapon, dubbed DragonFire, was originally slated for deployment by 2027, but Grant Shapps, the UK defense secretary, said he hoped to "speed up" production so it could be put to use on Ukraine's front line. Speaking to journalists on a visit to the Porton Down military research hub in Salisbury, England, Shapps said he would look to see if the pace can be increased even further "in order for Ukrainians perhaps to get their hands...

Iran informed Turkey in advance of its planned operation against Israel, a Turkish diplomatic source told Reuters on Sunday, adding that Washington had conveyed to Tehran via Ankara that any action it took had to be "within certain limits." The Turkish source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan had spoken to both his US and Iranian counterparts in the past week to discuss the planned Iranian operation, adding Ankara had been made aware of possible developments. Earlier this week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke to Fidan to make clear that escalation in the...

Iran said it warned its allies and neighbors in the region 72 hours before the drone and missile attack on Israel began, the Iranian foreign minister said Sunday. "We informed them that the Islamic republic's response was legitimate and definitive," Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said in a televised meeting.

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Mike Johnson said Sunday he will try to advance wartime aid for Israel this week as he attempts the difficult task of winning House approval for a national security package that also includes funding for Ukraine and allies in Asia. Johnson, R-La., is already under immense political pressure from his fellow GOP lawmakers as he tries to stretch between the Republican Party’s divided support for helping Kyiv defend itself from Moscow’s invasion. The Republican speaker has sat for two months on a $95 billion supplemental package that would send support to the U.S. allies, as...

Iran's massive missile and drone barrage targeting Israel over the weekend is similar to Russian tactics used in frequent strikes on Ukraine, according to a new assessment, after Iran launched its first-ever direct strike from its own territory into Israel. "Iran's use of drones and missiles shows how Iran is learning from the Russians to develop increasingly dangerous and effective strike packages against Israel," the U.S. think tank, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said on Saturday. Russia has launched thousands of missile and drone strikes on Ukraine in nearly 26 months of all-out war in the country....

Two senior Republican lawmakers, the chairs of the House Intelligence and Foreign Affairs committees, say their colleagues are echoing Russian state propaganda against Ukraine. Researchers who study disinformation say Reps. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, and Michael McCaul, R-Texas, are merely acknowledging what has been clear for some time: Russian propaganda aimed at undermining U.S. and European support for Ukraine has steadily seeped into America’s political conversation over the past decade, taking on a life of its own. McCaul, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told Puck News he thinks “Russian propaganda has made its way into the United States, unfortunately,...

The USA has called for Ukraine not to attack Russian refineries despite Russia's widespread offensive against several energy facilities in Ukraine. The Department of Defense has warned that such an attack could bring another spike in fuel prices worldwide. Michaelo Podoliak, advisor to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, claimed that such facilities were legitimate military targets. In a recent interview, he also claimed that such an attack was not only legitimate but desirable on a worldwide level in order to weaken Russia's hold on the energy lobby. “Ukraine must destroy Russia's refineries. They have no impact on worldwide pricing, and are...

What we know Iran has launched more than 100 drones toward Israel, military officials said, beginning its retaliatory attack weeks after a suspected Israeli strike on the Iranian consular building in Syria killed two of Tehran’s top commanders. The Biden administration expects Iran will also launch dozens of cruise missiles and ballistic missiles targeting Israeli government sites, not civilians or religious sites, a U.S. official said. It will be hours before the drones arrive and Israel will aim to intercept them, Israeli military officials said. The U.S. and Israel have coordinated on a defense plan, including the USS Carney and...

Sirens sound across Israel's north, south, Jerusalem and West Bank ■ IDF: Over 200 missiles, drones launched from Iran, most intercepted; army base in southern Israel sustained minor damage ■ U.S., U.K. and Jordan reportedly intercept drones ■ IDF deploys GPS jamming ■ Israeli war, security cabinets convened ■ Israel intensifies emergency guidelines, shuts down schools and large gatherings U.S. Embassy in Israel directs U.S. government employees to take shelter until further notice Israeli cabinet members authorize Netanyahu, Gallant and Gantz to make decisions on response to Iran's attack IDF: Residents of northern Golan, Nevatim, Dimona, Beer Sheva, Eilat no...