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Those who opposed the release of Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, notoriously dubbed “the Merchant of Death,” in exchange for former WNBA star Brittney Griner are largely driven by racism and homophobia, according to Democrat consultant and political commentator James Carville. Carville also claimed opposition to the swap “exposed a big big fault in American culture,” and said those opposed are likely “pro-Putin.” Speaking on CNN Newsroom with Jim Acosta on Saturday, Carville complained that racism and homophobia are significant drivers of opinion in America, suggesting that if Griner was a “blond Chi Omega from SMU” then the reaction would...

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...

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...

Putin promised the Russian people that Donbas would be liberated. And the path to that goal - however fantastical - lies through Bakhmut. So the show must go on. The battle is more symbolic than practical. Analysts agree the blood price that Russia has paid trying to take Bakhmut - thought to be more than 100 troops per day - is not worth the value of capturing it. 'They are just meat to Putin,' a commander named Kostyantyn told the FT on a visit to the front. 'And Bakhmut is a meat grinder. For what? A f****** metre of our...

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...

VLADIMIR Putin has cancelled his annual press conference for the first time in 10 years and axed his New Year's Eve party at the Kremlin. It comes amid ongoing rumours about his poor health and his struggles with Russia's disastrous war in Ukraine. Putin has been speculated to be suffering ailments from cancer to Parkinson's - and has repeatedly appeared unwell on camera. And meanwhile, there is growing dissatisfaction with his failing war as Russia fast approaches 100,000 casualties in Ukraine. Since 2012, the final press conference of the President of Russia has always been held in December. The seemingly...

Governor of Luhansk region said Ukrainian forces attacked a hotel in Kadiivka Serhiy Gaidai said survivors face inadequate medical services to treat them Ukrainian officials also claim up to 200 Russian troops were killed in Melitopol But President Zelensky said situation 'remains very difficult' in frontline cities Serhiy Gaidai (pictured), the governor of the Russian-occupied Luhansk region, told Ukrainian television that Ukrainian forces have attacked a hotel where members of Russia's brutal private Wagner military group were based Ukrainian forces have attacked a hotel where members of Russia's brutal private Wagner military group were based, killing many, a local leader...

This list only includes destroyed vehicles and equipment of which photo or videographic evidence is available. Therefore, the amount of equipment destroyed is significantly higher than recorded here. Small arms, ATGMs, MANPADS, loitering munitions, drones used as unmanned bait, civilian vehicles, trailers and derelict equipment are not included in this list. All possible effort has gone into avoiding duplicate entries and discerning the status of equipment between captured or abandoned. Many of the entries listed as 'abandoned' will likely end up captured or destroyed. Similarly, some of the captured equipment might be destroyed if it can't be recovered. When the...

ISIS claims responsibility for attack on Pakistan envoy in Kabul : ISIS claimed responsibility Saturday for an attack on Pakistan’s embassy in Kabul, which Islamabad decried as an “assassination attempt.” A security guard was wounded in the attack Friday in the Afghan capital. Advertisement For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app. In a statement cited by terrorism monitor SITE, the ISIS’s regional chapter said it had “attacked the apostate Pakistani ambassador and his guards.” Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has called it “an assassination attempt” on the head of the mission, and demanded...

Disturbing evidence reveals UK special forces’ war crimes in Afghanistan: Report Tala Michel Issa, Al Arabiya English BBC Panorama has released disturbing evidence of war crimes reportedly committed by a squadron of Britain’s special forces in Afghanistan, revealing a suspicious pattern of unlawful killings during night raids. Newly obtained military reports seen by the BBC suggested that one SAS unit, which was in Afghanistan between 2010 and 2011, killed around 54 people during a six-month tour of the country and that former UK special forces head General Sir Mark Carleton-Smith failed to pass on evidence to a murder inquiry. Advertisement...

Afghanistan Taliban leader praises Afghan victory at gathering to forge national unity The reclusive supreme leader of the Afghan Taliban, Haibatullah Akhundzada, hailed the group’s 2021 takeover of Afghanistan during a meeting on Friday called to forge national unity and attended by religious leaders from around the country. Taliban spokesmen confirmed that Akhundzada, who is based in the southern city of Kandahar, had come to the capital Kabul for the all-male gathering of some 3,000 participants. After receiving pledges of allegiance from participants raising their hands, Akhundzada praised the Taliban’s victory last August, which marked the end of a 20-year...

Dutch court rules 2007 Dutch bombing in Afghanistan was Published: 23 November ,2022: 03:36 PM GST Updated: A Dutch court ruled on Wednesday the shelling by Dutch soldiers of a residential complex in the Afghan province of Uruzgan in June 2007 was illegal, adding the Netherlands should compensate the victims. For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app. Advertisement The Dutch Defense Ministry had asked prosecutors almost two years ago to look into this bombing, which killed dozens of civilians, following a report by a war veteran questioning the legitimacy of this action in...

KYIV, Ukraine — The seven-foot-tall bronze statue of Ronald Reagan bursting through the Berlin Wall was supposed to be here by now, standing in one of the Ukrainian capital’s prominent public squares. The monument was the brainchild of Maryan Zablotskyy, who grew up venerating Reagan in Lviv in western Ukraine — as many did in the post-Soviet years. Zablotskyy founded the Ayn Rand Center Ukraine to promote the libertarian author and covered his office walls with posters of Reagan, Margaret Thatcher and Winston Churchill, with their quotes translated into Ukrainian. Now a member of his country’s parliament, Zablotskyy, 37, faces...

U.S. aid to Ukraine totals $68 billion, and the White House has just asked Congress for another $37.7 billion. In the spring, the new Congress will consider aid in the context of the administration’s proposed FY 2024 budget. With these decisions ahead, it is worth reviewing how much aid there has been, what that aid does, and what the administration is requesting. Such a review turns up some surprises and will help clarify discussions about future aid packages.Q1: How much aid has there been?A1: Congress has passed three aid packages. The first in March ($13.6 billion) was tacked onto the...

In his first major interview since his release, Viktor Bout, whom the US has labelled as an arms dealer, spoke to RT on Saturday. Bout was returned to Russia in a high-profile prisoner swap for basketball player Brittney Griner on Thursday. During the conversation, the businessman revealed the techniques he used to stay sane while behind bars, spoke about the conflict in Ukraine and on whether he believed the US might be on the verge of an uprising. Arming the Taliban Bout served 12 years in American prisons on arms-trafficking charges that he denies. Despite evading Taliban captivity in the...

The Pentagon has given its tacit endorsement of Ukrainian attacks inside Russian territory and no longer fears such operations could lead to a “dramatic” Russian escalation, The Times reported on Friday, citing unnamed US defense officials. The US position appears to only be based on the fact that up to this point, Russia hasn’t responded to attacks on its territory with nuclear weapons or by attacking NATO countries. The Times report reads: “Moscow’s revenge attacks have to date all involved conventional missile strikes against civilian targets. Previously, the Pentagon was warier of Ukraine attacking Russia because it feared the Kremlin...

It’s a video but here you are: —————————————————— 0:00 well let's look just at the near term 0:02 it's very hard to to look ahead of those 0:05 who do it usually get burned and 0:07 chastised for it but let's look at weeks 0:11 or maybe a month ahead and talk about 0:14 what the war termination operation that 0:17 the role that the Russians hope to to 0:20 launch might look like and what its 0:23 objectives would be not that we know 0:24 anything about what would actually 0:27 happen but if as I think we're both...

Kosovo’s Prime Minister urged NATO peacekeeping troops to intervene after minority Serb protesters blocked roads and unknown gunmen exchanged fire with police over the weekend amid rising ethnic tensions in the country’s restive north.... ...Vucic demanded the release of recently arrested Kosovo Serbs “as they are held on trumped-up charges” and the pullout of Kosovo police, in line with an EU-brokered agreement that stipulates consent of Serb mayors in the area for that. “Kosovo police has nothing to do in the north…especially people armed…up to their teeth,” Vucic said. “That causes uneasiness and fear among the Serb population.” Belgrade and...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday thanked President Biden for “unprecedented” support the U.S. has provided as the country’s fight against Russia enters the rough winter months. “I had a phone call with U.S. President Joseph Biden and thanked for the unprecedented defense and financial assistance that the U.S. provides to Ukraine,” Zelensky said in a post on his Telegram account. “This not only helps succeed on the battlefield, but also maintains the stability of the Ukrainian economy.” The Ukrainian president also thanked the U.S. for aid to restore Ukraine’s battered energy system and “emphasized the importance” of shoring up...