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As you will all be aware, this week has been dominated by the conflict in the middle east where the horrors of Gaza continue, while the Israelis threaten to invade Lebanon and the West bank is ready to explode. Meanwhile, Houthi action against shipping has forced the West up several rungs of the escalatory ladder by sending a ‘fleet of the willing’ to the area. In response, the Houthis are mining the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. A ‘watered down’ ceasefire resolution was agreed by the UN Security Council on the 22nd December but the language is ambiguous and the extent to which this will benefit the Palestinians in Gaza is not yet clear. In the US, that paragon of virtue, Anthony Blinken, is telling the Ukrainians that after being led astray into a war that the US knew they could not possibly win and which has bankrupted their country, they must now ‘learn to live without money from the US’. How much practice will that involve, Mr. Blinken?? And this is all for Ukraine’s sake: ‘The United States wants to make Ukraine independent of the help of its partners’, he said. Sorry, but the hypocrisy that spews from this man’s lips is nauseating in the extreme - and he does it all with a straight face and an air of righteousness. His boss, Sleepy Joe Biden can’t make up his mind whether Russia is about to collapse or overrun Europe with its armies. Finally, the battlefronts in Ukraine have been much the same as they were last week and wintry weather has taken its toll on the combatants, especially on the Ukrainian side.
Ze v Za (continued)
The friction between Zelensky and Zaluzhny continued this week as the latter criticised the former for dismissing military commissars in the summer (allegedly for corruption). These people ‘were professionals’, Zaluzhny said, ‘they knew how to do it [i.e. mobilisation], but now they are gone”, Zaluzhny lamented. These dismissals have undermined the recruitment drive, he complained. Zaluzhny was also annoyed by the discovery of a ‘bug’ in his office which shows that the Intelligence services have been spying on him. Alexander Mercouris discusses it here at the beginning of the video.
In a recent press interview Zelensky said: ‘I have a working relationship with Zaluzhny. It is an honour to be commander-in-chief, and it is an honour to be president’.
Coup Coming?
There have been a number of rumours on Telegram channels highlighting the increasing tension between Ukraine’s political administration and its military as the apparent conflict between Ze and Za indicates. On the 19th December, I saw a report claiming that the SBU recorded the voice of Ukrainian General Timoshenko (not sure if he’s related to the famous Russian General) which was critical of the offensive policies adopted by Z. The General is alleged to have said:
Either we will continue to attempt offensive actions with tens, hundreds of thousands of corpses. Or we will force the president to think the way the general staff, the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine needs it. In a couple of months, or whatever is the maximum, we will lose all reserves.
‘Forcing the president to think’ the way the general staff thinks sounds a bit ominous but subsequently, Z announced that he will be taking to the defensive. Whether or not Z changed his mind after being threatened is impossible to judge. The article doesn’t say when the SBU are supposed to have recorded this.
Z Tells Whoppers
Zelensky is telling anyone who will listen that Russia has not taken a single village in a year. At a press conference, he told journalists that Ukraine is not losing the war. You could almost see his nose growing.
Shell Shortages (Again)
The commander of the Ukrainian operational-strategic group of troops "Tavria" - i.e. Alexander Tarnavsky, has revealed/admitted a severe shell shortage, especially among Soviet calibers 122 and 152 millimeters. Operations have been scaled down because of this, he said. You can read more from Reuters in this article, which unfortunately contains much misinformation regarding Ukraine’s ‘successes’. Washington Post columnist, Max Boot, has said that the US cannot produce enough shells to accommodate both Israel and Ukraine, even if the money is made available.
Western self-propelled howitzers, which were designed for short missions, are breaking down, making the situation worse.
Record Number of Funerals Ukraine
According to the Military Chronicle, the Ukrainian Armed Forces buried 1208 soldiers in a single day on December 13th 2023. This beat the previous record of 1102 some time in November 2022.
Soldiers Protest
The 228th Battalion of the AFU’s 28th Brigade has made a short video appeal to the Ukrainian people that they are being ‘used’ and ‘disposed of’, ‘deceived’ and so on. They also claimed that recruits are poorly trained and the wounded poorly treated.
Soldiers who had fought at Krynki, interviewed by the New York Times, said similar things. They complained about the constant Russian bombardment, the low morale of replacements, failure to collect dead bodies, heavy casualties and suicidal missions. They are scathing in their criticism of the Ukrainian command for sending soldiers into a slaughter with no prospect of advancement, according to Rybar.
The Kiev Independent, much to the annoyance of many Ukrainians, is reporting that soldiers storming the east bank of the Dnieper (probably at Krynki) believe their mission to be hopeless.
One soldier appeared on Ukrainian TV and condemned the harsh mobilisation methods in which recalcitrant civilians are forced to the front. ‘I wouldn’t want them in my unit’, he said. He also admitted that Ukraine is losing on all fronts and will lose the war. You can see his short interview here if you have Telegram. I am not sure if he was told to be this honest or not. The same applies to this short interview from another Ukrainian Telegram channel where a soldier tells of 350 men from his battalion being killed and wounded in an eight hour period. His interviewers appear stunned as if they hadn’t realised how bad things are.
Budanov
Intelligence Chief, Kyrylo Budanov, has admitted that Ukraine faces difficulties in its attempts to mobilise:
In our country, although everyone is shouting "I am Ukrainian, Ukraine is above everything", most people do not feel as citizens of Ukraine <...> Everyone is rooting for Ukraine, but everyone is running away.
In support of Budanov’s claims, a recently conducted poll of more than 3700 Ukrainian men found that more than 70% would renounce citizenship in order to avoid serving in the war - according to Sputnik.
This apparent lack of patriotism is much in evidence in Poland, where only 15% of Poles would fight the Russians if they invaded. And only 17% of Germans would go to war to defend their country.
75% of Ukrainians Watched Putin
According to a US Gallup poll, 75% of Ukrainians who have internet access watched Putin’s marathon Q&A session last week.
Geopolitical Winner of the Year
And the award goes to….……Vladimir Putin
Gerald Baker, analyst from the Wall Street Journal, has called Putin the geopolitical winner of the year. The ‘award’ was given, according to Baker, because:
Kiev’s much-vaunted counteroffensive has stalled; Mr. Putin’s economy has withstood Western sanctions; European resolve is fading; American support is fracturing.
If there were an award for the biggest geopolitical loser there would be many candidates - but surely Sleepy Joe would walk away with it? Whether most Americans voted for Trump in 2020 we will probably never know but it is almost certain that most of those who voted for Biden in 2020 have come to regret it!
Poll Shows Trust in Ukraine Government and Media Plummeting
The poll showed that trust in the media has fallen from 57% to 29%; trust in Z has fallen from 84% to 62% (since 2021) and trust in the government fell from 52% to 26% since 2022. The big surprise here is that trust in Z has not fallen further. You can read more detail at RT.
Z, the Neo-Nazis and Negotiations
Just before the start of the SMO, the New York Times published an article in which it warned that the neo-Nazis would not allow negotiations with Russia where too many concessions were made. This, the neo-Nazis warned, would result in 1 million Ukrainians taking to the streets along with Zelensky’s prompt political (or even physical) demise. This is not surprising, but it suggests that some concessions would have been acceptable to the neo-Nazis - or so it appears. I find it surprising that the latter allowed the Istanbul negotiations of March 2022 to take place at all because they clearly involved a willingness on Ukraine’s part to make concessions. Yet Z’s position in demanding that all Russian forces abandon the south and east, as well as Crimea, before he would negotiate, does not appear to involve any concessions at all. So, I am curious as to what concessions the neo-Nazis would have allowed before Zelensky hardened his position. Of course, the claim that the neo-Nazis would have allowed some concessions may be false - who knows.
Sergei Shoigu
In a recent meeting of the Russian Board of the Ministry of Defence, Shoigu provided some interesting information about the SMO. First, the Russians have now liberated an area five times that of the LPR and DPR. Second, three million Russians who fled the combat area in the east and south have now returned. Third, Ukraine is now a bankrupt state even though it has received $203 billions from Western sponsors along with 5,220 tanks/AFVs. He also talks about massive increases in Russian production of war materiel. You can read more here.
Putin Hints at Western Ukraine Annexations
In a recent interview, Putin hinted that he would not oppose the return of Ukrainian border territories previously annexed by Stalin after Word War 2. He said that the people affected would want it 100%. This would mean that Transcarpathia would go back to Hungary, Galicia and Volyn would go back to Poland and Bukovina would go back to Romania.
Ukraine Taking the Defensive for Winter - Official
According to People's Deputy Ustinova:
Ukraine is preparing three lines of fortifications in case its partners are slow to provide weapons and money. In winter, we will have to switch to a defensive war, and not go on the offensive, as was the case before.
There was a little hint there that Ukraine’s ‘partners’ are being less than helpful. But this is an important announcement which can be seen as an admission of - a new reality. Here are some images of fortifications being built around Chernikov.
How Will This Decision Impact on Ukraine and Russia?
Russian strategy has hitherto focused on mobile defensive action and the Ukrainians have obliged with an almost obsessive tendency to cooperate by sending their troops into various cauldrons, seemingly oblivious to the casualties they are taking. Of course, in reality the Ukrainians will be very concerned about their losses in men and materiel but they are being tossed around in the flourbag that is the politics of The Hegemon (AKA the Evil Empire) - on which they depend so much. So, their military strategy and even their tactics will be shaped to some extent by this unwanted and unholy relationship. No country wants to be dictated to in the manner that Ukraine has been, especially when fighting a war for its existence. But now the realities of the supply situation (men and materiel) have asserted themselves to the extent that the US has found it necessary to advise Ukraine to take the defensive and it is already preparing for this. Yet it will also be obliged, for the sake of would be funders, to show signs of life by taking offensive action of some sort: this is what Krynki was all about (see below). Just how these factors will impact on the course of the conflict from now on is an interesting topic for discussion that doubtless some of the experts out there will explore.
The assault on Krynki, which was supposed to have provided good optics in the media war has failed to do that. On the one hand, it hasn’t worked because the Ukrainians didn’t get their funding from the US (while the Israelis are commanding centre stage) and on the other, it was a military disaster. Now it seems that there has been a weighing up of the benefits gained from a campaign that enabled the Ukrainians to make a boast of ‘crossing the Dnieper’ and ‘creating a bridgehead on the Russian bank’ but didn’t do a lot more than that. On the 20th December, the Ukrainians started pulling their troops out of Krynki. You can find out more from the start of this video by Levan Gudadze but I also provide a reference to Dima’s account of the withdrawal below (The Fronts: Kherson/Krynki).
Was it worth the human carnage and the loss of materiel, including large numbers of boats, that Ukraine suffered?. Of course, Krynki will also have a had a hugely negative impact on morale. The legacy media did its best to portray this Dieppe (i.e. disaster) as a D-Day (victory) but this stretches the suspension of disbelief in the most gullible of minds. Those supporters of the image war will not feel vindicated by the debacle that is Krynki and the military ‘realists’ will feel a feeble sense of triumph - perhaps.
So, it is not clear how Ukraine will be able to take the defensive and provide its dwindling supporters with a glimmer of hope that would persuade them to empty all their piggy banks for Ukraine when they really need a little nest egg for themselves. Perhaps they will step up their attacks on Moscow, the Zaporizhzhe nuclear power plant, Crimea and the Crimean bridge.
It is also unclear how Russia will respond to Ukraine taking the defensive. Last week I reported on General Andre Gurulev’s speculation about a coming large scale offensive combined with a massive air attack. In a press conference, Putin claimed that many border people may want their oblasts to be annexed by the lands they were once part of - i.e. in Poland, Hungary and Romania. He also spoke of Odessa as a Russian city, which it undoubtedly is. The rhetoric coming out of the Kremlin suggests that it wants Russian speaking areas of Ukraine to take a vote on becoming part of the Russian Federation. Whether the Russian military enters the Russian speaking oblasts (e.g. Kharkov and Odessa), I believe the Kremlin will be pushing for such a vote. Personally, I think that this objective is so important to the Russians that the military campaign is subservient to it. The Russians will want to achieve this at the least possible cost to its soldiers. Therefore, I don’t think they will be moving far or fast in the near future. I also believe that it is impossible to know what the Russians will do next because they don’t know themselves. However, they will have the flexibility to respond appropriately to circumstances as they develop. I think that’s how they are operating - but I am no expert.
Journalist Sergei Poletaev, writing for RT, believes that Putin does not want to launch a big offensive yet unless the Ukrainian army collapses. Rather, he believes that in the coming year Russia will:
…..maintain the current intensity of fighting, slowly advance in Donbass and exhaust Ukraine in order to demonstrate to the West the firmness of the Russian position and the futility of hopes for a military victory by Kiev. The offer, which the West cannot refuse, is essentially this: Either you give up Ukraine, or we will crush it as a state and eliminate the threat on a voluntary basis. If Ukraine does not collapse in the coming months, the current relative calm may well last until the US elections at the end of 2024. A deal will then be offered to the new administration, whatever it may be.
I don’t know if he’s right but the picture he paints is plausible.
Ukrainian Terror Attacks (i.e. attacks designed to kill civilians) (Map)
December 15th
Late at night 26 drones were destroyed while attempting to attack the Crimean peninsular, according to the Two Majors.
December 16th - according to the Military Chronicle:
At night, the enemy carried out a massive attack with kamikaze drones. 33 UAVs were destroyed over the territories of the Lipetsk, Rostov and Volgograd regions.
Belgorod suffered heavy shelling along with the DPR where 3 civilians were wounded. Kursk was also attacked and 28 drones on their way to Crimea were shot down.
December 17th
Today, Tass reported that two ‘aircraft type’ drones were shot down over Volgograd. Morosovsk airfield in Rostov was attacked by nine drones, all of which were shot down. Altogether, the Ukrainians launched 35 drones at Volgograd and Rostov on this day. The border village of Terebreno in Belgorod also came under artillery fire and a fight developed between Russian and Ukrainian forces (i.e. 20 terrorists in a DRG group) where the former brought things under control. Some power lines were destroyed and villages left without power, according to RT.
December 18th
129 projectiles were lobbed into the DPR on this day but only one civilian was injured. The attacks on Trebreno continued as the Ukrainians launched 56 mortar shells at the village, damaging houses along with gas and electricity supplies. The villages of Popovka and Repyakhovka were also attacked but sustained no damage or casualties.
December 19th
Bryansk came under attack from drones today but they caused no injuries or damage. Belgorod also came under artillery attack from 38 shells which damaged gas pipelines and overhead electric cables. Yet only 8 shells were lobbed into the DPR which could be a sign of shell shortages. A single drone was destroyed over the Odintsovo region of Moscow but caused no damage or casualties. Also in Donetsk, the Ukrainians hit a high rise residential building with shells from a MLRS. The building was completely burned out but I have no reports of casualties.
December 20th
According to the Two Majors:
On the civilians of the DPR the enemy fired 83 munitions, including from MLRS, 15 civilians were wounded in Donetsk. The Kievsky district of the DPR capital was shelled from BM-21 Grad MLRSs.
On the same day, according to Slavyangrad:
Four people were injured as a result of an attack by the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the trauma center of Donetsk; the enemy also fired at the trolleybus depot on Shchors Street
See above photo.
December 21st
Shelling of Belgorod continued today and a drone was shot down. Inevitably the DPR was also attacked while some missiles/drones have attacked Crimea. One missile was destroyed over the Sea of Azov and a drone was shot down over Kursk. Two drones were destroyed over Budyansk while a third exploded when falling to earth damaging a house.
In addition, according to the Two Majors
In the Bryansk region, the AFU shelled the village of Chausy in the Pogarsky district, two civilians were injured. On the civilians of the DPR, the enemy fired 142 rounds of ammunition, five civilians were wounded.
The Air War (Map)
Russia Winning Drone War
Ukrainian sources are admitting that Russia is winning the drone war easily. Yuriy Ignat from Ukraine’s Airforce said that the Russians can attack numerous locations in Ukraine with kamikaze drones on a daily basis. The spokesman also lamented at the Russian stockpiling of cruise and ballistic missiles for new attacks. This is an admission that Ukraine cannot possibly compete with Russia’s growing resources as their own dwindle.
Russian Drone/Missile Strikes
I should point out that Russian Geranium drones are in action every single day, deep into Ukrainian territory, according to the Two Majors.
16th/17th December Overnight
Kinzhal missiles attacked Western air defence systems in Zhytomir while Geraniums attacked Kiev, Khmelnitsky (probably Starokonstantinov airfield), Cherkassy, Chernigov and Kherson regions. Odessa was also attacked. Ukrainian sources also claimed that Krivoy Rog came under attack on the 17th. It is possible that the airfield at Dolgintsavo was targeted. According to Ukrainian sources, ten Geran-2s and ten ballistic missiles were employed, along with Iskander missiles which attacked Kiev. Air defences in Kiev caused much structural damage.
18th/19th December Overnight
Kremenchug, Kharkov, Krivoy Rog and Sumy were attacked on the night of the 18th, according to Slavyangrad. Geraniums were reported heading towards Nikolaev. Kirovograd in central Ukraine also came under attack from Geraniums. Finally, Starokonstantinov airfield in Khmelnitsky region came under attack yet again.
19th/20th December Overnight
On the evening of the 19th, According to Slavyangrad: ‘Geraniums bloomed in Odessa, Kherson, Kiev, Chernigov region, and Kropyvnytskyi’. Kiev and Kharkov also came under drone attack. The military airport in Starokonstantinov, Khmelnitsky region also came under fire. According to the Two Majors: ‘Explosions were also heard near Kropivnitskoye in the Kirovograd region, near [to] which the Kanatovo military airfield is located’.
20th/21st December Overnight
Kiev, Khmelnitsky and Kramatorsk came under attack from Geraniums, according to Slavyangrad. Several explosions were reported in Nikolaev but there was no air raid warning - which highlights the shortage of air defence apparatus. According to the Two Majors:
In Ukraine, a large scale air alert was declared at night. Explosions were heard in the Kiev, Vinnitsa, Zaporozhye, Nikolayev, Cherkassy, Sumy and Poltava regions. The RF Armed Forces hit the targets with Geranium UAVs and FABs with UMPC.
21st/22nd December Overnight
Geraniums were flying again overnight in Yuzhny, Odessa and west of Sumy. Mirgorod airport came under attack from Geraniums once again. Once again it is reported that no air raid warnings sounded in the Sumy region before the attack. Explosions have also been reported in Kiev near Zhulyany airport (where an air defence position is located). Belya Tserkov and Fastov in the Kiev region, also came under fire from Shaheeds which are also thought to have attacked the military airport in Starokonstantinov, Khmelnitsky, according to Slavyangrad. Chernigov, Zhitomir, Nikolaev, Kherson and Rovno regions were also attacked.
A series of powerful explosions sounded at night in #Kiev, and "Geraniums" also worked on enemy facilities in #Poltava, #Chernigov, #Zhitomir, #Khmelnitsky, #Nikolayev, #Kherson, #Odessa and #Rovno regions. Notable was the explosion of "Geranium" that hit the #Kiev apartment of the leading enemy “telethon”.
Ukraine Drone/Missile Attacks
16th/17th December
Morosovsk airfield in Rostov was attacked overnight causing some superficial damage to an SU-34.
The Ground War
Freezing Rain
Winter weather conditions, including freezing rain, are having an impact on the battlefronts since artillery strikes and drone warfare are hampered by these conditions. Freeze and thaw conditions prevail in some very muddy areas making it difficult for most vehicles to move. But the weather has also left 570,000 civilians without electricity in the DPR, LPR and Rostov.
Russian MoD Reports
w/e 24th November: 4190 Casualties killed and wounded; equipment losses 230 (includes 12 boats)
w/e 8th December: 4940 Casualties killed and wounded; equipment losses 242 (includes 21 boats)
w/e 15th December: 4330 Casualties killed and wounded; equipment losses 213 (including 17 boats).
w/e 22nd December: 4690 Casualties killed and wounded; equipment losses 341 (includes 24 boats).
Note that equipment losses were far higher this week
The Fronts
Artemovsk/Bakhmut
According to the Military Chronicle on the 18th December:
Russia had collected 19 divisional groupings, 21 regiments and 15 separate battalions and formations. And 17 more tactical groups from company to battalion. In total, under 80 thousands of people. Our people will not confirm or deny this information, but This assessment of the forces shows the scale of the fighting well.
So far, it appears that this force has not been launched. However, its deployment shows that the Russians are intent on capturing Chasiv Yar so that they can move on to Kramatorsk.
Kherson-Krynki
On the 18th December, the Military Chronicle gave this report:
It is reported from the field that from the 4th Marine Corps of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which includes 4 brigades: 35, 36, 37, 38, the beaten 35th has already been withdrawn and the 36th, which previously took part in the creation of an unsuccessful bridgehead under the Antonovsky railway bridge, is close to the end. The 38th Brigade is showing itself well, in fact, the enemy is holding everything together on it. There are a lot of refuseniks in the 37th, frankly weak, although it was introduced recently. For the enemy, the bridgehead in Krynk is a daily headache: the evacuation of the wounded, the delivery of ammunition, our artillery. The more time passes, the less strength the enemy has to expand the bridgehead.
The Russians are happy to allow the small bridgehead to exist because it poses no tactical or strategic problem for them and because Ukrainian troops are taking huge casualties and damage on the both banks of the Dnieper and is exhausting Ukrainian resources for no result - according to Slavyangrad.
On December 20th Dima reported that the Ukrainians were withdrawing their forces from Krynki which I am sure will please them all.
Kupyansk/Siversk
Kupyansk, which some thought could be the start of some great offensive has, relatively speaking, gone off the boil. But the fighting continues there.
Avdeevka
This week, the Russians have been advancing slowly on the flanks of Avdeevka and have drive the Ukrainians out of Stebovoy towards Berdich, according to Slavyangrad. The Ukrainians have lost control of the whole industrial area to the south.
The Economic War
US Treasury Securities Decline
This is quite a remarkable graph illustrating the US’s economic decline. No one wants to buy US debt anymore so how will they pay for it in years to come?
EU Sanctions Package Number 12
This package will involve a ban on Russian diamonds, according to Tass, along with a tightening up on existing sanctions. Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov has said that Russia will be able to circumvent the sanctions quite easily, just as it has with regard to many previous sanctions.
Bah Humbug
German customs will be confiscating Christmas gifts from Russia in order to comply with sanctions. A customs spokesman said ‘Christmas is a humbug’, so it is rumoured. How petty can you get.
Western Exodus Benefited Russia - Putin
At the beginning of the SMO, the no longer great Z urged Western firms to leave Russia in order to ‘strangle’ its economy. Hundreds of firms answered the call. But they sold out to local Russian businessmen at ‘giveaway’ prices and the businesses carried on. ‘You screwed up, left it’, Putin said, ‘we picked it up inexpensively. Thank you’. Western firms lost $103 billions and Putin gained tax revenue of $1.25 billion from the departing companies, which went into Russia’s war chest. Europe and the US have tried so hard to take from Russia but they have taken only from themselves - Doh!
US-Ukraine Aid Running Out
The last of $1.09 billion of US aid to Ukraine will run out on December 30th, according to the Pentagon. But Ukraine will probably be provided with funding through US ‘back doors’ and the poor Europeans who , in consequence of their virtue signaling, have adopted a country! They will probably be pleased if someone takes it away from them - which is possible (see Putin’s remarks above).
EU Could Take Hungary’s Voting Rights Away
Hungary’s attempts to block funding to Ukraine has prompted the authoritarian dark side of the EU to warn Orban that the country could be stripped of its voting rights unless it changes its mind. They are so, so democratic these Europeans.
World Politics
UN General Assembly Votes to Ban Neo-Nazism
A UN resolution tabled by Russia to combat Neo-Nazism and other racist practices was passed by the UNGA - with 118 countries voting for and 49 against (including the US, Canada, Ukraine, the UK, Germany and Japan). You can see more detail here and here. I don’t know the detail but does it not seem both amazing and disconcerting to see liberalism transform into its antithesis while individual, individualistic liberals are not even noticing. Liberals who once voted for peace now vote for war. Liberals who once championed free speech now demand censorship. And those once devoted to challenging fascism now condone its manifestations in Israel and Ukraine. All that was solid on the left has melted into air.
Russophobia to be Criminalised
Russia is considering the introduction of a bill that would increase penalties for Russophobia which has become rife among Russia’s Baltic neighbours especially. There is also a concern that Russian WW2 victory monuments could be defaced or destroyed in some countries. It is not clear how penalties would be imposed on foreign nationals. RT has more detail here.
Russia is our Friend - Slovakia
Lubos Blaha, deputy leader of the Slovak parliament, has said that he wants his country to restore good relations with Russia, which is ‘not our enemy’ - according to South Front. Blaha reminded Slovakians that the Russians are fellow Slavs and that they had liberated his country from the Nazis in 1945.
Lukashenko - ‘What did you expect Zelensky?’
In a discussion with Lukashenko at the start of the SMO, Z complained indignantly that ‘we were attacked’ (i.e. by Russia). Lukashenko responded by asking Z why he had provoked Russia by banning the Russian language, killing Russian speaking Ukrainians (including the burning of Russians in Odessa) and thereby provoking them. If US civilians were treated this way in Mexico, the US would have invaded, he suggested. So ‘what did you expect, Zelensky?’, he told the Ukrainian President.
Tensions in Serbia
President Vučić’s party has won the election in Serbia but the pro-Western Serbia Against Violence party, which took second place, refuses to concede claiming that the election was rigged. Pro-Western protesters are on the streets of Belgrade demanding that the result is overturned. This probably has Biden’s (i.e. his minders’) dirty paws all over it. Brussels has called upon the Serbian government to investigate while Jungle Joe Borrel is announcing that there are credible claims of irregularities. This call came a day after International observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) said the vote took place under "unjust conditions." The campaign was marred by "harsh rhetoric, bias in the media, pressure on public sector employees and misuse of public resources," the OSCE said. The cynics among us who noticed the ‘harsh rhetoric, media bias and misuse of public resources’ that characterised the Remain campaign in the UK can see this for what it is: an attempt to secure a pro-Western political regime in Serbia.
German Farmers Protest
A group of around 1500 tractors blocked the centre of Berlin over the weekend protesting at the loss of subsidies on diesel fuel and vehicles. The money has gone to Ukraine instead.
Russia to Boycott Olympic Games 2024
Russian athletes have been allowed to compete in the Olympic games on condition that they do so as ‘neutrals’. This means that no Russian flags, can be raised, no national anthem can be played and supporters will not be allowed to chant for their team. Many ‘would be’ Olympians say that they will not attend unless these requirements are lifted, according to Pravda. I hope that none of them compete.
Happy Christmas (to those who celebrate it)
Many thanks for your views, subscriptions, likes and kind comments. Have a happy holiday. Best Rob
Non subscribers can view Updates on Telegram: https://t.me/UWUupdate.
Thank you for this excellent summary as usual, it is a superb work that you do. Have a blessed Christmas.
Minor typo: there are no stars 2.5 light years from earth (except the Sun of course). The nearest star is alpha centauri about 4 light years away. Great post by the way. Good reading very informative.