Free Republic

On July 25, 2019, Trump called Zelensky to congratulate him on his recent parliamentary victory.

US foreign policy collapsing with Ukraine

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Friday gave a stern message to other former Soviet Union nations keeping their distance from Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. "The countries of the post-Soviet space should be sincerely interested in rapprochement with the union state, if, of course, they want to preserve their sovereignty and independence," Lukashenko said, according to an English translation of a report from the Belarusian state-run BelTA news agency. "We are convinced that only together can we resist global challenges." Lukashenko was meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday in Grodno, Belarus, as part of the ninth Forum...

A former Russian commander and prominent military blogger has given another scathing assessment of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in which he described how Vladimir Putin's troops had already been dealt a "strategic defeat" by Ukraine. Igor Girkin, also known as Igor Strelkov, is an army veteran and former intelligence officer who played a key role in Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the conflict in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region. He is among a number of milbloggers who give candid accounts of Russia's war effort that are far removed from the picture portrayed by Kremlin-backed television channels. On his Telegram...

President Vladimir Putin has sought proposals from his armed forces commanders on how they think Russia's military campaign in Ukraine should proceed, during a visit to the operation's headquarters, the Kremlin said on Saturday. A series of defeats in 10 months of fighting, resulting in Russian withdrawals from areas around the capital Kyiv and Ukraine's second city Kharkiv and most recently from the city of Kherson, have forced Putin to call up reservists and generated rare public criticism from military bloggers and some allies. -snip- In video footage released by the Kremlin on Saturday, Putin presided at a meeting of...

Basic services were being restored in Ukraine's capital Kyiv on Saturday after the latest wave of Russian air strikes on critical infrastructure, as residents navigated a city gripped by fog and girded for a holiday season marked by uncertainty. Mayor Vitali Klitschko said a quarter of Kyiv remained without heating but that the metro system was back in service and all residents had been reconnected to water supply by early morning. Only around one-third of the city remained without electricity, he said, but emergency outages would still be implemented to save power. "Because the deficit of electricity is significant," he...

This year, the capital’s main Christmas tree will be an artificial one, measuring 12 meters tall. It will be decorated with energy-saving garlands that will be powered from a generator, though they will only be lit at specific intervals. Charging stations for electronics are also planned to be installed around the tree.The top of the tree will be crowned with the coat of arms of Ukraine.The generator was also provided by benefactor, leading Klitschko to claim that money is not being spent from the municipal fund on the tree. He also stated that there will be no mass entertainment events,...

A Biden administration official recently told members of Congress that Ukraine has the military capability to retake Crimea, but some officials are concerned any large-scale offensive that threatens Russia’s hold on the peninsula could push Vladimir Putin to use nuclear weapons, say two U.S. officials familiar with the matter. The late November Ukraine briefing to some members of Congress included discussion of the reasons Ukraine will continue to need U.S. weapons and equipment for the foreseeable future. The two officials said a Biden official, when asked during the briefing about continued support for the Ukrainian military and whether it would...

We have seen an increase in calls for a negotiated solution of the war in Ukraine. From the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, from progressive members of Congress and from leading international relations scholars, a growing number of voices urge the United States to invest in negotiations between Russia and Ukraine and to give peace a chance. According to some reports, the Biden administration is also warming up to the thought.It’s a dangerous idea.Fears of nuclear escalation between Russia and NATO drive many to argue for negotiations, and although the impetus is well-intentioned, the suggestion is naive and impractical. In...

Five examples when the Ukrainian warriors proved there is nothing impossible for Ukraine Since the first days of the russian full-scale invasion, Ukrainian defense forces have not only been deterring russian offense against multiply overwhelming force, but also doing it the way that writes the modern history of warfare. Defense Express has gathered five examples of when the Ukrainians made what'd been seen impossible. *Read more: [The russians Brought the Most Powerful Artillery Systems to Bakhmut, But They May Run out of Ammunition- https://en.defence-ua.com/analysis/the_russians_brought_the_most_powerful_artillery_systems_to_bakhmut_but_they_may_run_out_of_ammunition-5115.html] The Terms of Mastering New Weapons Nowadays it is taken for granted: the allies give some...

Dec 12, 2022 Russian leader Vladimir Putin made the biggest mistake of his life by invading Ukraine! Reactions against Putin's rule in Russia are growing every day! Soldiers in the Russian army have also started to revolt. Russia is experiencing the most chaotic period in its history! Experts say Russia is in grave danger! So how did the process turn out like this? How is Putin, who wanted to bring about the end of Ukraine, bringing about the end of Russia? What danger is Russia in? Let's answer these questions one by one! First of all, we need to rewind...

Update from Ukraine | The Critical Ruzzian Supply was Cut | Melitopol will be taken back by Ukraine https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8FGHr7sL4c Follow on Instagram up to date uploads. https://www.instagram.com/denys_pilot/ SUMMARY & MAPS Military maps & comment here: Ukrainian reinforcements heading to Donbas https://militaryland.net/news/ukrainian-reinforcements-heading-to-donbas/

Ukraine needs “about two billion cubic meters” of additional gas to get through the winter, President Volodymyr Zelensky told G7 nations on Monday.During a video conference he also urged the G7 to send more weapons to Ukraine, including “modern tanks” as well as “rocket artillery and more long-range missiles”. “Unfortunately, Russia still has the advantage in artillery and missiles. This is a fact. These capabilities of the occupying army are the ones to fuel the Kremlin’s arrogance,” Zelensky said.

Russian forces have been attempting to seize Bakhmut in Ukraine’s Donetsk region for at least seven months. But in recent weeks, the battle in and around the city has become one of the fiercest of the nine-month war in Ukraine. Bakhmut, which sits above a vast salt mine and is famed for its Soviet-era winery, has been badly damaged — and in parts totally destroyed — by constant shelling. Russia’s determination to take Bakhmut has puzzled many observers, who question Moscow’s huge commitment of resources to the fight despite the city’s relative lack of strategic significance. The Moscow Times considers...

Russian President Vladimir Putin will not hold his annual year-end press conference for the first time in a decade, prompting speculation that the Russian leader is sick or running scared from answering questions about Ukraine as the war enters its 10th month. “As for the big press conference, yes, it won’t happen before the New Year,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters Monday. “But we hope that the president will still find an opportunity to talk with [journalists], as he regularly does, including during foreign [visits],” Peskov added. While Peskov gave no reason behind the move, the war in Ukraine...

The Russian military is quickly running out of artillery and rocket ammunition, Pentagon officials said Monday, and the Russian army can only sustain its current rate of attack in Ukraine until early next year. A senior U.S. defense official told reporters on a conference call that Moscow is increasingly turning to Iran and North Korea to replenish its “rapidly dwindling” stockpiles of rocket and artillery rounds,...

By attacking the energy infrastructure of Ukraine, Russia is trying to 'flood' Europe with a new wave of refugees, Ukrainian PM Denys Shmyhal told French broadcaster TF-1 on Dec. 12. Shmyhal was arguing for Ukraine to be given access to Patriot anti-air systems, suggesting the batteries are needed to protect the country from Russian attacks, which routinely leave millions of Ukrainian without power, water, or heating.

NATO's head said earlier this month that Russia may want the fighting to slow, seeking a "freeze" in the fighting so it can better prepare for a bigger assault next year. "What we see now is Russia is actually trying to have some kind of 'freeze' of this war at least for a short period of time so they can regroup, repair, recover," NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said. "And then try to launch a bigger offensive next spring." The UK Ministry of Defence predicted on Monday that Russian forces will not see any big gains over the winter, even...

Russia will spend around a third of its total budget on defence, security and law enforcement next year as the Ukraine war continues, UK intelligence has revealed. Vladimir Putin last week signed into law measures which will see an astonishing £117.5 billion - or 9 trillion rubles - spent in those areas in 2023. According to the ministry of defence (MoD) “this is a significant increase compared to prior years and will represent over 30 per cent of Russia’s entire budget”. In their latest intelligence update on the war in Ukraine, they added: “The budget approved by Putin is likely...

Igor Girkin, a Russian army veteran and former defense minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, was among those who "directly" criticized the Russian leader. According to the ISW, Girkin "specifically criticized" Putin's statement on December 9 that described the progress of the "special military operation" as "stable." In a Telegram post, Girkin said: "[Putin] "assured us that the Special Military Operation was proceeding normally, calmly, according to plan (however, this time he did not add anything about being ahead of schedule)." In addition, the ISW added in its assessment that Russian authorities planned to launch programs in Russia and...