Free Republic

Russia cannot defeat Ukraine or the West - and will likely lose - if the West mobilizes its resources to resist the Kremlin. The West’s existing and latent capability dwarfs that of Russia. The combined gross domestic product (GDP) of NATO countries, non-NATO European Union states, and our Asian allies is over $63 trillion.[1] The Russian GDP is on the close order of $1.9 trillion.[2] Iran and North Korea add little in terms of materiel support. China is enabling Russia, but it is not mobilized on behalf of Russia and is unlikely to do so.[3] If we lean in and...

Russian President Vladimir Putin scoffed at the possibility of his country launching an attack on a NATO member, calling it “sheer nonsense,” but warned that any Western air base hosting U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets that are slated for deployment in Ukraine would be a “legitimate target” for the Kremlin’s forces. “Their statements about our alleged intention to attack Europe after Ukraine is sheer nonsense,” Putin said late Wednesday, referring to warnings in the U.S. and Western Europe that Russia could turn its sights on other countries unless it is stopped. He noted that the U.S. defense budget is more than...

The next summit meeting of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is set for July of this year in Washington, D.C., following the 75th anniversary of the alliance’s founding on April 4. The organization’s leading lights will discuss “important issues” and “provide strategic direction” for NATO. The NATO website also explains to curious readers that the organization is devoted to an “understanding” and “awareness” of the “security environment.” Those of us who have grown skeptical of NATO and its intentions can only imagine what this press release verbiage might mean, as an organization established to counter the Soviet threat during...

Using duplicity, deception and secret alliances, the U.K.’s inner circle of top elites led by Nathaniel Rothschild, King Edward VII, and Lord Alfred Milner backed the German Kaiser into a corner and intentionally set the Germans up to blame them for starting the First World War, when in fact it was the British who provoked the Germans to the point where war was the only option. German generals were caught strategizing several weeks ago on how to bomb Russia’s main bridge to Crimea. This would be an act of aggression that Russian President Vladimir Putin described as guaranteed to draw...

(Story was posted only two hours ago) One of Russia’s biggest oil refineries has been blown up by Ukrainian drones in one of the most brazen attacks of the war to date. Footage shows unmanned aircraft raiding the refinery in broad daylight, easily bypassing air defences to crash into the distillation towers. These towers are the most crucial part of the plant and are expensive and difficult to replace. Each of the towers at Ryazan was hit multiple times during the onslaught on March 13. The refinery produces oil both for Russian consumption and as valuable exports to fuel Putin’s...

Huge fires were burning at industrial sites in Moscow and St Petersburg after the latest round of attacks on Russian infrastructure by Ukraine. In St Petersburg, a blaze broke out at an industrial site close to the airport with footage showing towering flames and a huge column of smoke streaking into the sky. Local reports indicated that a hangar within the industrial zone was ablaze, whilst some suggested a drone had been seen nearby at the time. Meanwhile a similar blaze broke out in the suburbs of Moscow, where a construction warehouse burned to the ground. More footage showed flames...

As the calendar barrels into another year and we tick away the days of February, notable anniversaries are marked off in sequence. It is now 2/22/2022 +2: two years since Putin’s address on the historic status of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions, followed on 2/24/2022 by the commencement of the Special Military Operation and the spectacular resumption of history. The nature of the war changed dramatically after a kinetic and mobile opening phase. With the collapse of the negotiation process (whether thanks to Boris Johnson or not), it became clear that the only way out of the conflict would be...

Synopsis: Ukrainian forces used drones to directly attack targets in St. Petersburg, Russia. Two apartment buildings were heavily damaged with debris being blown hundreds of meters away. An article from The Independent (link immediately below) offers more details while the video from Kanal 13 shows the actual damage. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/drone-strike-st-petersburg-russia-ukraine-b2505844.html

Angry mobs clashing with police in eastern cities. Networks of saboteurs smuggling arms across the border for attacks on police stations and military barracks. A resentful nuclear power boosting defence production as it accuses its neighbour of ethnic cleansing. These all sound like Russia’s playbook when it first invaded Ukraine in 2014, then launched a full-scale war in 2022. But the storylines are all from Russian military training exercises based on a hypothetical Chinese invasion of its far east. The war games, which were written by Russian officers between 2008 and 2014 and leaked to the Financial Times, offer an...

Officials in Moldova’s Russia-backed breakaway region of Transnistria appealed to Moscow for protection Wednesday, as tensions escalate with the pro-Western government. ... On Wednesday, members of the Transnistrian congress used a rare meeting in the regional capital, Tiraspol, to ask the Russian Duma to “implement measures for defending Transnistria amid increasing pressure from Moldova, given the fact that more than 220,000 Russian citizens reside in Transnistria." A short war in the early 1990s led pro-Russian forces in Transnistria to declare a breakaway state. To this day, Russia stations about 1,500 troops in the region as so-called peacekeepers, who guard huge...

No synopsis of the video was offered. Russian language transcript at the link.

MOSCOW/VILNIUS, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Russian police have put Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, Lithuania's culture minister, and members of the previous Latvian parliament on a wanted list for destroying Soviet-era monuments, according to the Russian interior ministry's database. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Kallas was wanted for the "desecration of historical memory". Russian state agency TASS said the Baltic officials were accused of "destroying monuments to Soviet soldiers", acts that are punishable by a five-year prison term under the Russian criminal code. *snip* The Baltic governments regard the monuments as propaganda tools constructed by their former imperial overlords. "The...

The Book of Proverbs, Chapter 26, contains this invaluable insight: “As dogs return to their vomit, so fools repeat their folly. You see those who are wise in their own eyes? There is more hope for fools than for them.” Invaluable because, in connection with the Russia-Ukraine War, the passage powerfully illuminates the current debate about Ukraine’s future strategic prospects.The past few months have witnessed the dog returning to its vomit in the form of any number of efforts to once again make the case that Ukraine still has a path to total victory in its war against Russia. In...

In a move raising eyebrows, House Intelligence Committee Chair Mike Turner declares a "serious national security threat" linked to Russia, intensifying concerns and prompting urgent calls for action. Turner's release of a letter on Wednesday regarding a purportedly destabilizing foreign military capability has ignited a flurry of speculation about the nature and credibility of the threat. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan's evasive responses during questioning only fueled skepticism, leaving the public in the dark about the details. A CNN source claims the threat is "highly concerning and destabilizing," further stoking anxieties.

What have I done to be placed on the sanctions list of the Russian Foreign Ministry, alongside several distinguished historians of eastern Europe? My normal hunting ground (not the right word for a maritime historian) is the Mediterranean and the oceans beyond. But maybe Russia’s mandarins know that I am now writing about the Black Sea. Since the reign of Peter the Great in the 18th century, Russia has seen the Black Sea as a vital gateway to the wider world. The Ottoman sultans blocked Russian attempts to reach warmer waters via Istanbul. Russian ships bound for intended conquests had...

DRAMATIC footage shows the moment a squad of Ukrainian special officers blasted one of Vladimir Putin's prized warships - killing all on board.

As the second anniversary of Russia's unprovoked invasion approaches, the situation is beginning to look bleak for Ukraine.Last year's counteroffensive brought hopes that Ukraine could capitalize on its successes in 2022 and drive back Russian forces from occupied territories in southern and eastern Ukraine.But the offensive failed to achieve a breakthrough, and Ukraine is now seeing crucial support from its allies bleed away. Meanwhile, its troops are experiencing shortages of personnel and ammunition.There are problems at the top, too. Its senior command has been engulfed in chaos, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy replacing Valery Zaluzhny, a senior commander, amid reported...

Vladimir Putin wanted Russia to join Nato but did not want his country to have to go through the usual application process and stand in line “with a lot of countries that don’t matter”, according to a former secretary general of the transatlantic alliance. George Robertson, a former Labour defence secretary who led Nato between 1999 and 2003, said Putin made it clear at their first meeting that he wanted Russia to be part of western Europe. “They wanted to be part of that secure, stable prosperous west that Russia was out of at the time,” he said. The Labour...

Avdiivka Endgame. Russian Offensive in South Donetsk. Can Ukraine hold in Pervomaivske, Heohiirvka and Novomikhailivka?

The reported appearance of former Fox News host Tucker Carlson in the Russian capital has sparked intense speculation over the purpose of the conservative media personality's visit to Moscow. Carlson arrived in Moscow on February 1, and was spotted attending the Bolshoi Theater in the capital, according to Russian outlet Mash. Questions quickly swirled over why the TV anchor would have traveled to Moscow, and whether he intended to interview Russian President Vladimir Putin during the visit.