Free Republic

Police wearing blacked-out helmets are dragging anti-mobilisation protestors off the streets of Russia tonight, as thousands come out to demonstrate against being sent to the front lines in Ukraine. More than 1,000 people have been arrested tonight in 37 cities across Russia, including Moscow and St Petersburg, as they voiced their anger at President Vladimir Putin's order to mobilise 300,000 reservists. There have been angry clashes between activists and security forces, with protestors being forcefully taken to the ground and removed from the streets as the government cracks down on vocal dissent. Demonstrators tonight chanted anti-war slogans, with some calling...

Protests have broken out in parts of Russia following President Vladimir Putin's announcement that he was calling up reservists in an escalation of the war in Ukraine, according to reports. According to Latvian news website Meduza, authorities have begun to confront protests that have erupted in Russian cities. The Avtozak LIVE Telegram channel has shared images of some of the protesters and signs saying "No mobilization" Other signs have used a play on words to turn "no war, no mobilization" to "no war, no grave-ization." In Irkutsk, according to the Irkutsk Anarchist Telegram channel, authorities have already dispersed rallies and...

Vladimir Putin appeared poised to go all-in on his war in Ukraine today, sparking fears of an escalation in fighting that could drag in NATO and spark World War Three. In a day of rapid-fire developments, Kremlin stooges in Ukraine's Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions simultaneously announced referendums on becoming part of Russia between September 23 and 27, with the sham votes expected to easily pass. Dmitry Medvedev, a staunch Putin ally, then vowed 'all forces of self-defence' will be used to protect what he called 'Russian territory' - teeing up a new phase in the conflict involving weapons...

Vladimir Putin built his dictatorship on two core foundations: ruthless control of his nation, whether fleecing its wealth with his pals or silencing dissident voices, and restoration of Russian glory in the wake of the Soviet Union unravelling. So the diminutive despot posed as the modern-day successor to Peter the Great, that 18th Century giant who created the Russian empire, while rehabilitating Joseph Stalin, stepping up repression and strengthening his armed forces. Six of the first 11 decrees he passed after becoming President in 2000 focused on the military – and since then he has almost tripled defence spending to...

Russian troops are pulling back from key areas in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region as Ukrainian soldiers advance, following a major counteroffensive that was launched on Sept. 1. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy championed troop success on the front lines in the north and said that some 30 settlements had been "liberated" from Russian occupation during his nightly address Friday. Russia state-owned media outlet Tass announced Saturday that Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said troops would being "regrouped" from areas around Balakliya and Izyum to the Donetsk region, though Fox News Digital could not locate the report, suggesting it may have been...

Filatiev published “Zov" on the Russian social network VK in early August. The human rights organization Gulagu helped him leave the country a few weeks later, moving him from one place to another until finally helping him reach France. He spent two days inside the Charles de Gaulle airport, waiting to be approved for entry. In Russia, he said, “I understood that no lawyer could defend me,” he said, a muscle in his jaw twitching. On his wrist, he wore a silver bracelet adorned with a crucifix. Filatiev said Russia's army is degrading by the day, unable to replace the...

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Russia had not lost anything as a result of its military campaign in Ukraine. Speaking at an economic forum in the far eastern Russian city of Vladivostok, he said all Russia's actions were designed to strengthen the country's sovereignty and were aimed at "helping people" living in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. "We have not lost anything and will not lose anything," Putin said. "In terms of what we have gained, I can say that the main gain has been the strengthening of our sovereignty." Putin conceded, however, that Moscow's decision...

Vladimir Putin has approved a 31-page "humanitarian policy" which says Russia should "protect, safeguard and advance the traditions and ideals of the Russian World". The foreign policy concept of a "Russian World" is a notion that hardliners have used to justify intervening abroad to support Russian speakers, such as in parts of Ukraine. It means that the idea is now enshrined in official policy, though it was presented as a soft power strategy. The new policy stated that Moscow should further deepen its ties with the self-styled Donetsk People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic - two breakaway entities in...

More than six months of war in Ukraine have led to huge losses of manpower and military equipment of the terrorist state of Russia. By the end of this year, the Russian Federation will run out of shells for artillery and armored vehicles, there are also very few guided missiles, and the state of military aviation does not allow for a full-scale air campaign. According to the Insider, due to Western sanctions, Russia cannot continue full-fledged industrial production of weapons and replenish supplies that are rapidly being depleted. It is noted that the Arsenal left in the Russian Federation since...

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu has been side-lined by President Putin according to the British Ministry of Defence, as reported on Monday, August 29..... “Recent independent Russian media reports have claimed that due to the problems Russia is facing in its war against Ukraine, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shogun is now being side-lined within the Russian leadership, with operational commanders briefing President Putin directly on the course of the war.”...

A BARRAGE of Ukrainian missiles has hammered the strategically crucial Antonovsky Bridge in the east of Ukrainian in another massive blow to Russian President Vladimir Putin. News website Visegrad 24 tweeted: "The Antonivsky bridge near Kherson looks very crisp this morning. Reports say that up to 10 Ukrainian missiles have hit the bridge." Another poster shared a different image, commenting: "RIP, Antonovsky Bridge!" A third suggested heavy casualties were inevitably, posting: "Ukraine hit the Antonovsky bridge just as nine Russian ammunition trucks drove onto it." Twitter user Eric Korsas said: "Seems that during the night #Ukrainian #HIMARS have visited #antonovskybridge...

On Thursday, August 18, for the first time since July 6, Russia did not declare "territorial achievements in Ukraine. Ukrainian official sources also did not declare new losses of territories. This is reported by the American Institute for the Study of War (Institute for the Study of War, or ISW). At the same time, it is noted that Russian troops continue to make limited and unsuccessful ground assaults in eastern Ukraine. Also, the Institute for the Study of War draws attention to Russian reports of explosions throughout the Crimea on the night of August 18, probably caused by Russian air...

VLADIMIR Putin has been forced to pull back his jets and helicopters from Crimea after a massive blitz on Russian military bases - as humiliating video shows mutinying soldiers refusing to fight. Ukrainian intelligence sources claim some 24 fighter jets and bombers along with 14 choppers retreated deeper into the Black Sea peninsula - or back to mainland Russia. The dramatic withdrawal follows the heavy bombardment of Putin's military bases on the Russian-occupied peninsula over the last nine days from Ukrainian special forces. A devastating series of explosions at an air base last week destroyed 20 jets and caused £1bn...

Russia's Black Sea fleet based in annexed Crimea has installed a new commander, RIA news agency cited sources as saying on Wednesday, after Russian military bases on the peninsula were rocked by explosions in the past nine days. If confirmed, the removal of the previous commander Igor Osipov would mark the most prominent sacking of a military official in the nearly six months since Russia launched its war on Ukraine. State-owned RIA said the new chief, Viktor Sokolov, was introduced to members of the fleet's military council in the port of Sevastopol.

This is a really good question and has piqued my interest since it speaks directly to my doctoral research, rendering me somewhat qualified to answer this question from a behavioural scientific perspective. To understand the psychological outcome of this war, we need to understand what it is that Putin wants and then determine his current mindset with regards to the attainment of those desires or preferences. And here we run into problems, because in spite of the copious amount of ink spilt on the topic, nobody knows exactly - perhaps not even Putin himself - what he wants. The signalling...

When Russia invaded Ukraine in February, the Kremlin inadvertently put its military forces in an unsustainable position, ordering them to take on more operations than they could bear. It had nearly all its soldiers surge simultaneously and rapidly into Ukraine to fight along multiple fronts. It did so without taking necessary protective measures, such as clearing routes of explosives. It had its forces advance at an unsustainable pace. As a result, Russian troops were vulnerable to ambushes, counterattacks, and severe logistical problems that cost the military enormous numbers of soldiers and equipment. That initial error was caused by the Kremlin’s...

There are dead and many wounded: the enemy committed new crimes in the Donetsk region. Map Russian invaders continue massive shelling of settlements in the Donetsk region. During the day, Krasnogorovka, Ugledar, Torets, Karlovka, Marinka, Bakhmut, Galitsinovka, Lastochkino, Velikaya Novoselka and other cities and villages were under enemy attacks. As a result of the Kremlin's aggression on August 13, at least 2 people were killed in the region. Another 10 were injured. This is reported by the head of the regional military administration Pavel Kirilenko (to view the map, scroll through the news to the end). According to him, two...

Russia could struggle to resupply its troops in a key part of occupied Ukraine after Kyiv forces hit two bridges used to transport supplies, according to the British Ministry of Defence. Both the Antonivsky road bridge and Kherson rail bridge over the Dnipro River have been heavily damaged, and are "likely unusable for heavy military vehicles" according to U.K. intelligence. The two bridges connect Russian forces in the occupied -city of Kherson, on the north-west bank of the Dnipro, with the main Russian controlled area to the south-east. -snip- The latest U.K. update, released on August 13, details the logistical...

We are here because we discuss uncomfortable truths. We accept things as they are, and not as we would wish them to be.Since the original innocuous tweet 48 hours ago, from a private account, which did not even use the name “Trump,” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has been absolutely silent about the illicit FBI raid on the home of Florida citizen and former President Donald J Trump. DeSantis is showing us all who he really is; but are you willing to accept it?The raid on President Trump’s home is a moment for all to stand and take a position. On...

The word from Ukraine’s high command this morning was that nine Russian jets were neutralized in the surprise attack on Saki airbase on the Crimean cost.I invite you to enlarge the two photos in this tweet and compare the before and after. I count more than nine.Comparison of August 9th and August 10th imagery show very large craters, many destroyed aircraft, and destroyed buildings. It looks like a direct hit on the building on the left, so whatever it was seems accurate.pic.twitter.com/QyLn86PUjw— Eliot Higgins (@EliotHiggins) August 10, 2022Looks to me like 16 aircraft visible and intact in the “before” photo...