Free Republic

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday urged the West to deliver more air defense systems after at least six people were killed in the latest Russian strikes. Ukraine is currently on the back foot in the two-year war as a crucial $60-billion aid package is held up in the U.S. Congress. Kyiv also appeared to have had launched its own overnight drone attack that damaged a residential building in Saint Petersburg, Russia's second city. Kyiv has admitted it is heavily outgunned and outnumbered, facing ammunition shortages amid aid delays. Half of all promised Western ammunition arrives in the country late,...

But upcoming Biden administration and German decisions concerning the deployment of precision deep-strike weapons — namely ATACMS and the Taurus cruise missile — are likely weighing heavily on Putin’s mind, along with the coming introduction of F-16 fighter jets. Ditto bilateral security guarantees, some signed just days ago, with the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Denmark, Italy and Canada — and Sweden’s and Britain’s announcements last week of additional military assistance. Europe is not giving up on Ukraine. Propaganda wins aside, it was a losing week for Putin... As many as 65 soldiers from Russia’s 39th Separate Guards Motorized Rifle Brigade...

Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, Commander of the Tavriia Operational and Strategic Group of Forces (OSGF), has reported that Ukraine will appeal to international humanitarian organisations and intermediary countries over "a certain number" of Ukrainian soldiers captured in the war-torn town of Avdiivka. The withdrawal of personnel from Avdiivka took place in accordance with a plan developed with due regard to various scenarios and possible changes in the operational situation. Nevertheless, at the final stage of the operation, under the pressure of the enemy's superior forces, a certain number of Ukrainian soldiers were captured."

Ukraine suffered a mass Russian missile attack in the early hours of Saturday, its air force said, adding that Moscow had fired some of its most fearsome hypersonic missiles. Air defenses shot down Russian missiles in at least five regions across Ukraine, according to local officials from those provinces. However, no details were given on whether any targets were hit, and far less information about the attack than usual was provided by officials. Ukraine's air force warned during the attack that Russia had fired Kinzhal missiles -- perhaps the hardest conventional Russian missile to shoot down, moving at several times...

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak traveled to Kyiv on Friday to unveil a new support package for Ukraine, including an increase in military funding for its war with Russia that after 22 months shows no sign of ending. The 2.5 billion pounds ($3.2 billion) in military funding for Ukraine over the next financial year will cover long-range missiles, thousands of drones, air defense, artillery ammunition and maritime security, according to a statement from Sunak’s office. Those are some of the items that Kyiv officials have been urging Ukraine´s Western allies to send more of, as the...

Ukraine lost 500,000 soldiers, killed or seriously wounded, since the beginning of the Russian special military operation/invasion, former Prosecutor General and ex-head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Yuriy Lutsenko said on the YouTube channel. “I think that they should name the number of dead Ukrainians. I know that they don’t want this, and it will be taken seriously. Yes, it will be a shock,” he said.According to Lutsenko, Ukraine loses tens of thousands of fighters per month, which is why the Ukrainian military proposed to mobilize half a million people.“We must honestly say that the 500,000 that...

After the Ukrainian drone had apparently landed "safely" on the runway, officers from Russia's Air Force and its main intelligence service, the FSB, examined the device, RBC Ukraine reported on Monday. "When the delegation tried to examine the 'trophy' UAV, there was a detonation," a Ukrainian source told RBC, which said "air regiment leaders" were among the casualties. The outlet reported that among those killed or injured during the explosion were the commander of the 14th aviation regiment, one of his deputies, a group of aviation officers, an FSB officer, and other airfield personnel... The Russian military blogger Boris Rozhin...

Russia has deployed a new military formation of about 15,000 soldiers to fight around Bakhmut. Ukraine's spy chief, Kyrylo Budanov, said the 25th Army was deployed earlier than planned. Budanov said Ukraine is pinning down Putin's forces near Bakhmut to prevent redeployment to the south.Ukraine is pinning down a newly created Russian reserve force near Bakhmut and is confident the 15,000-strong unit will be destroyed, Ukraine's spy chief says.Kyrylo Budanov told The War Zone that Ukraine was pinning down Russian forces in Bakhmut to prevent them from being deployed to other axes where its counteroffensive is pushing forward."The Russians recently...

MOSCOW, September 25. /TASS/. Ukraine is fated either to capitulate on Moscow’s terms or cease to exist as a state, Vyacheslav Volodin, speaker of the Russian State Duma (lower house of parliament), said. "When speaking about the conflict in Ukraine, [US President Joe] Biden, [NATO Secretary General Jens] Stoltenberg and other Western officials have started calling it 'a war of attrition.' They have put huge amounts of money into militarizing the Kiev regime. Where has it gotten them? The simple facts are these: the West is experiencing weapons and ammunition shortages, people in Europe and the US have lost trust...

A major Ukrainian strike last week in the Black Sea killed the commander of the Russian naval fleet there, according to Ukraine. Adm. Viktor Sokolov, commander of the Russian Black Sea fleet, was among 34 officers killed in the strike that destroyed the headquarters for the fleet, Ukraine’s Special Operation Forces said in a Monday Telegram post. Ukrainian officials also claimed the headquarters was destroyed so badly that it “cannot be restored.” The headquarters strike injured another 105 Russian soldiers, Ukrainian officials claimed.

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg warned Sunday that the West must make preparations for a “long war in Ukraine,” and declaring that there is “no doubt” Ukraine will eventually join the American-led military alliance. In an interview with the German Funke media group, the Norwegian politician threw cold water on the notion of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine coming to an end any time soon. “Most wars last longer than expected when they first begin,” Stoltenberg said per France24. “Therefore we must prepare ourselves for a long war in Ukraine.”

Update from Ukraine | A new Attack operation on the south | Kadyrov could be in coma https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zpvDWopHCg The summary of the situation of Russian re-invasion to Ukraine covering the recent developments on the battlefield, as of 13th September 2023 – 22:00 (Kyiv time). [NOTE: two summaries per week, released on Wednesday and Sunday] https://militaryland.net/news/invasion-day-567-summary/ *** Great interactive maps with viewer controlled Map magnification tool to use for each Front! https://militaryland.net/maps/

Alexander Demenchuk, rector of the Faculty of Political Science in Kyiv: “There is a lack of children, therefore a lack of future. Young women from the upper middle classes with excellent rates of schooling have left. And what is even more serious is that well over half of them do not intend to return to Ukraine. The children study in German, Polish, Austrian, French or Dutch schools. The mothers immediately found jobs,” writes the paper, adding: “We initially thought the European reception policy (for Ukrainian refugees) was a miracle of generosity, but it has turned out to be a curse.”...

A key Russian general who Russian president Vladimir Putin promoted this week said that Moscow's invasion of Ukraine is a mere "stepping stone" to further conflict with Europe. Vladimir Putin promoted lieutenant general Andrey Mordvichev to the rank of colonel-general after he had already been serving in the role of commanding the central military district and Russian central grouping of forces in Ukraine. In an interview with Moscow's state-run Russia-1, Andrey Mordvichev said that he believes Vladimir Putin's war will last quite a long time and expand in the future. "I think there's still plenty of time to spend. It...

Just 38 percent of respondents "definitely" support the actions of Russia's Armed Forces in Ukraine, the survey by independent pollster Levada Center conducted late August found... The results come as Russia's 2024 presidential election looms, scheduled to be held on March 17 next year. Putin is expected to soon announce his bid for a sixth overall presidential term. Per constitutional changes made prior to the war in Ukraine, Putin may remain in power until 2036. Last month, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying that Russia's presidential election is "not really democracy" and forecasted a 90 percent victory for...

Ukrainian forces have penetrated the main Russian defensive line in their country’s southeast, raising hopes of a breakthrough that would reinvigorate the slow-moving counteroffensive. Ukrainian paratroopers are fighting through entrenched Russian positions on the edge of the village of Verbove, a Ukrainian officer in the area said. Ukrainian forces have also reached the main defensive line to the south of nearby Robotyne village, he said. Ukraine’s military confirmed advances toward Verbove and south of Robotyne, without giving details. Describing the advance, the Ukrainian officer held up three fingers representing lines of attack through entrenched Russian positions on the western flank...

Drone attacks on Russian territory have become an almost daily occurrence in recent weeks.... Hodges, who has been one of Kyiv's most vocal advocates in the U.S., said in an interview on Monday that the growing drone threat "is a part of the counteroffensive" that is currently raging in southeastern Ukraine. There, Ukrainian troops are pushing into Russian fortified lines, hoping to precipitate a defensive collapse.... "You've got what I would call 'strategic bombing,'" he added. The campaign has seen "drone strikes that have hit Moscow several nights in a row as well as other places throughout Russia, by Ukrainian...

Ep. 18 Into the abyss: Colonel Douglas Macgregor tells us why the Ukraine war must end now.

Ukrainian strikes on Russian rear areas are "demonstrably degrading" the morale of Russian forces in Ukraine, and this "could threaten the stability of Russian defenses on multiple critical areas of the front," the ISW said.... The ISW said morale issues can quickly intensify and spread among Russian frontline units if one unit under pressure breaks, which in turn could "spread panic" and "significantly reduce the combat effectiveness of other Russian forces." "A broken Russian frontline unit would threaten the integrity of other frontline defenses, and such a break in the Russian frontline would provide a vulnerability that Ukrainian forces could...

ONE of Putin's prized war planes has been damaged after a kamikaze drone strike deep inside Russian territory. The attack, at the military airport in the Novgorod region more than 700 miles from Ukraine, witnessed a "helicopter style" drone. The ministry said nobody was hurt and the fire was quickly extinguished. The aircrafts which survived the attack are reportedly being being moved to an airfield in the Murmansk region. The Russian defence ministry admitted a strike: “The Kyiv regime carried out a terrorist attack using a copter-type UAV on a military airfield in Novgorod region." "As a result of the...