Free Republic

Ukrainian forces outside the battered eastern city of Bakhmut are managing to keep Russian units at bay so ammunition, food, equipment and medicines can be delivered to defenders, the army said on Saturday. And in the latest claim to have inflicted heavy casualties, Kyiv said its troops had killed 193 Russians and injured 199 others during the course of fighting on Friday. Russia has made the capture of Bakhmut a priority in its strategy to take control of Ukraine's eastern Donbas industrial region. The city has been largely destroyed in months of fighting, with Russia launching repeated assaults.

Dan Hampton, a retired lieutenant colonel known as the US Air Force's "deadliest F-16 pilot," said he was ready to fly planes for the Ukraine military himself if necessary in an interview with Voices of America. The highly decorated pilot, known as "Two Dogs," spent 20 years in the Air Force, fought in the Persian Gulf, Kosovo, and Iraq wars, and is a New York Times bestselling author for his memoirs from his time in the military. Speaking from a base in Arizona, Hampton discussed his thoughts in the long-form interview on training F-16 pilots to fight in the Ukraine...