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Jan. 29, 2025 - Judging Freedom - Judge Andrew Napolitano
25:59
Patrick Lancaster : LIVE from Kursk, Russia - Frontline Report!
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Hi everyone, Judge Andrew Napolitano here for Judging Freedom.
Today is Wednesday, January 29th, 2025.
Patrick Lancaster is here with us live from the Kursk region of Russia.
That's the region of Russia invaded by Ukrainian forces.
But first this.
Here we go.
Back up to the danger zone.
And something that makes me a little more uneasy today.
Actually I had somewhat of a nightmare last night that I got hit by a kamikaze drone.
And the arms appeared to be tied.
One across the chest, crossed the other above the head.
Was that after they were dead?
How did they die?
Couldn't see any entry wounds.
The bodies appeared to be whole.
They could have been a fighting age.
Well, it appeared Ukraine forces put their bodies there, tied their hands, possibly before or after being killed.
How they were killed, not exactly clear.
But we can firmly say Ukrainian forces placed their bodies in that bomb shelter, tied their hands.
When they tied them, unclear again.
But these are the facts here on the ground.
Civilians, dead, hands tied, placed in a bomb shelter by Ukrainian forces.
Patrick, that, of course, was a harrowing video which you sent us.
Where were you, Patrick?
First of all, welcome to the show.
Thank you for your courage.
Thank you for your intellectual honesty, and thank you for continuing to reach out to us.
Having you available to report to us from the ground is a unique and tremendous asset appreciated by all the viewers and listeners.
Not the least of which is my team and me.
I'm glad you're safe and sound.
Where were you when you made that video that we just ran?
Hi, Judge.
As normal, thanks for having me.
I know it's always on somewhat of short notice, but when I feel we can show the world something we're not going to see in other places, I reach out to you.
Really thankful for us to be able to show the world together what's happening.
But on your question, yeah, horrible situation.
Actually, the coughing going down the stairwell, that's because of the smells of the bodies.
But the...
The village I was in was the Ruskoia Porchechnoia village in the Kursk region of Russia.
As you said, the region that in August Ukraine came across the border and incurred or invaded, however it wants to be put.
But Ukraine came into undisputed Russia and took over a very large amount of territory.
And that village was a village that had been controlled by Ukraine forces.
And just days prior to me getting there, Russian forces pushed Ukraine out.
Took out a lot of Ukrainian soldiers in that village.
And I was the first journalist in to the village.
And unfortunately, with the soldiers showing me the village, what was there, they weren't even fully aware of what was where because they had just gotten their days before as well.
And the village is totally destroyed.
We came across...
Several dead civilian bodies.
What is the status of control of Korsk?
Back in August, of course, the Ukrainians thought that they could change the dynamics of the war by actually invading Russia.
In the West, we believe that this has not succeeded.
And in fact, the Russians are gradually pushing them out.
What is the status of forces in Korsk, in Russia now?
Are the Ukrainians still there?
Are they resupplied with ammunition and food and other necessities?
Are they resupplied with additional troops?
Yes, they're still in the Kursk region controlling territory.
Compared to what they were controlling in August when they first came across is a big difference.
It was estimated and reported that Ukraine controlled about 1,500 square kilometers of territory in the Kursk region when they first came across and made their initial invasion or incursion.
Quite a surprise to many people that they were able to take so much territory.
And I went there, as we talked about in previous shows, just after the initial invasion or incursion by Ukrainian forces.
Horrible things from the civilians that were able to leave.
Over two-thirds, it appears, that Russia has taken back.
So it was about 1,500 square kilometers, and now about 400 square kilometers, give or take.
Of course, it can't be 100% accurate on the number, but that is what the estimates seem to portray.
Not far from what I have been seeing on the ground in the several different fronts I've gone to.
Spent over a week with Russian forces at different fronts in the Corsica region.
I've seen many things in this time here.
I'm in that village, unfortunately, just coming through.
We tracked across many fields and forests to get there because it was so dangerous.
The skies are just filled with Ukrainian kamikaze drones that could just take you out at any second without you knowing.
So we had to trek many, many kilometers with heavy gear on.
My bulletproof armor is...
Pretty heavy.
It was pretty physically exerting and then just mentally exhausting when seeing, you know, first just going across scores and scores of dead Ukrainian soldiers in the fields and the forests at their positions that Russian forces had taken back and then getting to the village.
The first bomb shelter, because basically the only thing that was left was besides a couple houses, was these doors going down to bomb shelters or food cellars, whatever you want to call them.
And the first one we went to, there were two men, what appeared to be men.
Dead laid flat in the cellar.
And it was a fairly deep cellar.
So it was a fairly shallow cellar.
So it was somewhat cool still.
So they hadn't started to decompose.
Were these civilians?
I mean, are the Ukrainian soldiers killing Russian civilians inside of Russia?
Well, we came across at least two different examples.
And this first example was, yes, two civilian men from what they appeared to be.
Their bodies were very extremely molded.
So it was difficult to say the cause of death.
Something that appeared to be bruising on one of the legs that we could see, but their bodies were just fully covered in white mold, all the skin that was exposed.
But their hands, one man, his arms were tied across his chest.
It wasn't clear if that happened pre or post-mortem, and another with his hands above his head in the same.
But, unfortunately, another...
The cellar we went to was a bit of a different story.
Immediately, I was hit back by just the overwhelming smell of rotted human flesh.
We're going to play a clip that you sent us, which is a video version of what you've just described.
As you know, this clip's about two minutes long.
We'll play it.
And then you can tell, even though you narrate it in it, you can tell us in Q&A form exactly what you saw.
Chris, Patrick won.
This is a Ukrainian Kazakh armored vehicle that was destroyed by Russian Akhmat Special Forces.
That's a kamikaze drone flying overhead.
I don't know maybe they just didn't see us or maybe it's not Ukrainian or Russian forces are shooting at it now so that probably means it is Ukrainian kamikaze drone not 100 meters away from us it was Obviously,
in my YouTube report, I'm going to be quite heavily editing these...
these dead Ukrainian soldiers.
This is what are two, four, five, six...
My name is Max.
I'm from here.
I was born in Kursk.
I'm a deputy of regional parliament.
Two months.
I am a soldier of Special Force Ahmad.
Now we're staying in Huterberdin.
It's like a village where there was a counterattack of Ukraine forces a couple days ago.
It was not easy because the enemy used drones, different kind of machines and a lot of units.
But because of clever...
We found the holes in the defense of enemy and win in this battle.
We stopped the Ukrainian forces from this place.
They wanted to come inside the Kursk region.
And it seems there's many Ukrainian soldiers still lying on the ground here, dead.
Here is hundreds, hundreds.
What do you think the people in the United States or Europe need to know about what's happening here?
They maybe don't know.
You know, the simple people in America have to know that we are friends and we are friendly country.
From different news or from the newspaper, some powers try to say about us that we are wild, we want blood, we want to take some lands.
It's not true.
This was obviously a Russian soldier, educated and fluent in English.
Patrick, what do they think of you?
When they see you, a blond-haired, blue-eyed American boy asking them questions about the relationship between the Russian people and the American people.
Well, many are kind of taken aback sometimes and nervous about a potential American spy, you could say, and people have expected.
But once I realized my work, just those facts and everything, they relax a bit more.
Now, that soldier there that was speaking English, he was actually...
A soldier in the Akhmat Special Forces, but also a deputy in the Kursk Parliament.
And he was fighting in Kursk to defend his, as he says, motherland and family.
And he is an active fighter in the fight.
And that village was actually a different village than I was referring to earlier.
This village is the village of Berdine, which days before I had come, To that village, so we're looking at about a week and a half ago now, possibly a bit more.
Ukraine had one of their special counter-offensive or counter-attacks that this particular one had been picked up in the Western mainstream media and said, oh, Ukraine's making another offensive in Kursk.
When I went to location and clearly the Russian forces had pushed them back, burned their equipment, and killed many of the Ukrainian soldiers.
I mean, everyone has a family, a father, I mean, the streets were just littered with bodies of Ukrainian soldiers.
Have you come across any fighters for Ukraine in Korsk who are not Ukrainian, whether they be American, Polish, Romanian, German, British?
I have not.
I've seen any corpses of Ukrainian soldiers that I could identify or not identify as foreign soldiers or non-Ukrainian soldiers.
As far as the prisoners of war that Russia has, they obviously have many that are foreign.
I definitely make a point to walk that line firmly.
To address the counteroffenses by the Ukrainian forces, they keep saying they keep doing these counteroffenses when in reality it's just an attempt to come across the...
The front line a bit, and then they get knocked back.
And in fact, in the last 24 hours, Russian forces say that Ukraine has made eight of these counterattacks that were immediately subdued.
And Russian forces claim over 400 Ukrainian soldiers have died, been killed in the last 24 hours, and one Ukrainian soldier captured.
So it's not really good numbers for...
Go ahead.
Presidency of Donald Trump, which is now just 10 days, has the American government, as far as you can tell, continued to supply the Ukrainians with military weaponry and ammunition?
I think it's a bit too soon to really see for sure what the effect is yet.
But I can tell you, I have been going out of my way to talk to the soldiers in many different locations, many different fronts, of course, about what they think about Trump's promises to end the war and bring peace.
And they all have a hope that...
He can do something.
And I say, well, okay, what can he do?
And they say, stop the supply of weapons to Ukraine and the world stop.
So they all want the war to stop.
They want to stop killing each other.
Everyone wants people to stop dying.
There's no question about that.
It's just about how.
And the world needs to understand how Russian laws work.
Just the situation is.
Russian law says that there's five regions of Russia that are considered by Russian law, including the Kursk region, that have Ukrainian troops on them.
And Russia cannot stop until those regions no longer have Ukrainian troops on them, regardless of what the Western law or Ukrainian law says about the situation.
Is there any question in your mind but that the Ukrainian military is close to the end of its days and the Russian military is approaching triumph?
Well, the idea of the soldiers in the Kursk region is that the Ukrainian forces are going to be leaving Kursk soon.
Some estimated a month, two months, something like this.
I even had an exclusive interview with the top frontline general there.
And the overwhelming opinion is that Ukraine is going to be out of the Kursk region soon.
As far as how fast the rest of it's going to go, it all depends on the money, following the money.
The constant supply of money and lethal aid to Ukraine is what is continuing the death of soldiers on both sides.
There's no question about that.
That's what's going to stop the war.
Patrick, I hope you stay well and stay safe.
You are a brave, brave human being.
To stick your nose right in the middle of these battles, to take these pictures, to interview these soldiers, and report back to us.
Stay well, my friend.
Stay in touch with us.
Everything you do is so deeply and profoundly appreciated.
I can't wait for the day when I get to meet you in person.
Not where you are, where I am.
Okay, Judge, can I make another point before we go?
Yeah, sure, please.
Yeah, thanks, Judge.
One thing, I just want to be 100% clear to the people about the first village we're referred to.
Just as a clear overview, the first basement I saw dead civilians in, they were placed there.
Before or after death, it was unclear.
And there wasn't enough information to make real assumptions on what happened.
The second cellar we went to, going down the stairs, the overwhelming smell of rotting flesh, and the first thing I saw was at least two humans that were destroyed by what appeared to be an explosive that was dropped in the stairwell.
We have the video of this that you sent us.
Let's play this, and then you can continue the narrative.
Patrick, two.
All right, so that appeared to be two civilian men, assuming locals, that bodies were clearly placed there in this bomb shelter.
Russian forces say they were here before.
They appear moldy.
Most certainly here before, nine days ago, and the arms appeared to be tied, one across the chest, across the other, above the head.
Was that after they were dead?
How did they die?
Couldn't see any entry wounds.
Two civilians, dead, hands tied, placed at a bomb shelter by Ukrainian forces.
Civilians or soldiers?
In the basement, in the second basement we were in, two civilians destroyed by an explosive device next to a dog.
And in the back of the basement, there were two elder women killed.
And an elderly man, what appeared to be an elderly man.
So there was at least five dead civilians in the second basement.
There might have been as many as seven.
But what appeared to happen was someone dropped a grenade in the basement and killed this family that was hiding.
Now, this...
Clearly happened during the time that it was controlled by Ukrainian forces.
There's no question about that.
The smell was overwhelming, and it was like walking on a soup of human flesh in the basement.
It was just a horrible experience.
But the world needs to understand what happened there.
There's no question that this family, what appeared to be a family, or maybe they were neighbors, of civilians were killed by some sort of explosive, at least several of them.
The first wave were killed by some sort of explosive being thrown down in that basement where they were hiding with their dog by what could only be assumed of Ukrainian forces because it had to be in the time that Ukraine controlled that village because the Russian forces just controlled the village days earlier.
So these elderly people and people that I couldn't even identify were killed by...
Not much question, but Ukrainian forces, while they were hiding in a basement.
Horrible situation.
I hope it gets investigated otherwise.
Civilians, Russian civilians, murdered in Russia by invading Ukrainian troops.
Patrick, again, you are the personification of personal courage.
Thank you very much for your time and for all the chances you take to bring the truth back here to the West.
We hope we see you again soon.
Be well, Patrick.
Thank you, Judge.
Thanks for having me on again.
It's great to see you.
Of course.
A great human being whom, of course, I have never met in person, but whose work we all appreciate and whose courage is second to none.
Coming up on Judging Freedom at 12 noon today, Colleen Rowley, former FBI agent, notorious for critical of FBI management at noon.
At 1 o'clock, Professor Jeffrey Sachs.
At 2 o'clock, Colonel Douglas McGregor.
At 3 o'clock, Phil Giraldi.
Judge Napolitano for Judging Freedom.
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