re: Latest Updates: Russia-Ukraine Conflict

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was promised 100 billion dollars ago that they would be removed?

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Who promised you that?

The West gave Ukraine the ability to defend itself, which it has done admirably.

Please send a link to these promises.

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You simply don’t know what you're talking about

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90% of the American MSM didn’t report anything on the Twitter files
I don’t care the opinions on the Twitter files, but it is news. It was not reported on because of corruption.

Do you want facts reported? Good luck with that too. If it’s not in the favor of the state, that fact will be altered or not published.


That is corrupt and unreliable.

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I’m sorry but I don’t have the ability to tell when the AP or Fox is lying and done blogger that I’d never heard of is telling the truth like some of you guys do.

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The problem with media is that it doesn’t exist to inform you. You’re not their customer. You’re not paying their bills. Washington pays their bills.

It’s not useless, it tells you what Washington is thinking, and some of what gets reported is true, but you shouldn’t take it at face value. If you lived through the Iraq War you should understand how the media was used to sell people on the war. These companies may not be state owned, but they function as if they are.

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I’m sorry but I don’t have the ability to tell when the AP or Fox is lying

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A little bit of knowledge about a lot of things goes a long way. The best analysts are people with broad knowledge. Specific expertise can be a liability, because you’re less likely to understand how the whole system works.

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We need to enforce that NATO allies all committ 4% of their GDP to NATO defense, per the charter.

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It's 2%.

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I’ll be your Putin troll in this example. Putin for years leading up to this event warned NATO not to allow anymore countries to join NATO that border Russia. NATO broke the rules a long time ago when Gorbachev dissolved the Warsaw Pact. So Putin, painted by western MSM as the bad guy, said no when Ukraine wanted to join. You would protect your borders too!

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No such rules were ever agreed upon. The only signed document between Russia and NATO states the exact opposite.

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Go ahead and downvote me, I told you this would not end with Ukraine winning. Russia is not going into any others countries either, less they border their territory and try to join NATO. Putin is not the villain the MSM portrays him to be.

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Russia is the geopolitical loser here regardless of what occurs in Ukraine.

Random tweets

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American "expert" Scott Ritter, on whom Russian propaganda actively relies, rejoices at the missile strikes against civilians in Kyiv and the deaths of women and children.

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LINK

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Poland raised F-16 fighter jets to the sky during another massive russian missile attack on Ukraine.

"Two pairs of F-16 fighter jets and an allied aerial refueler were deployed to ensure the security of Polish airspace," the Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces said

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Ukraine's general staff says that at least 72 missiles were fired at Ukraine causing numerous casualties.

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One of the shells flew hit the auto center of Tesla cars in Kyiv, according to the city administration.

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Only a small number of Leopards remain in Ukrainian service - Spiegel

Sebastian Schäfer of Germany's Green Party is calling on the German government to strengthen repair capacity in Lithuania to get the damaged AFU vehicles back in working order.

Germany handed over 18 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine in March 2023 after long hesitation, but they are now significantly damaged and worn out.

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Russian Defense Ministry commented on today's massive shelling of Ukraine: "The goal of the strike has been achieved. All facilities were destroyed"

As usual the Russian Defense Ministry said they struck "at enterprises of the military-industrial complex of Ukraine."

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LINK

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Today the russians hit Kyiv with an X-101 missile, made in the 4th quarter of 2023, Defense Express. The publication notes that the russian federation tried to encrypt the missile's ten-digit serial number as much as possible. According to the authors, this indicates that the russian missile supply is running out.

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LINK

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In connection with the new Russian attack, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has called on the West to speed up arms deliveries to Kyiv and isolate Russian diplomats

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has published a list of five steps he is calling on Western partners to take:

- Expedite the delivery of additional air defense systems and ammunition to Ukraine;
- Provide Ukraine with combat drones of all types;
- Provide Ukraine with long-range missiles of 300 km+ range;
- Approve the use of frozen Russian assets for assisting Ukraine;
- Isolate Russian diplomats in relevant capitals and international organizations.

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LINK

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The main goal of the AFU in 2024 will be isolation of Crimea from Russia - Zelenskyy

The Ukrainian president called for providing the AFU with Taurus, German-made long-range cruise missiles capable of destroying the Crimean bridge, effectively isolating the Crimean peninsula from Russia. "Russia should know that this is a military facility for us," he emphasizes.

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Ramzan Kadyrov demanded that blood feud be declared against the families of people suspected of killing a government official

"As has been customary for centuries, if one of the relatives committed a crime and the criminal could not be found, then they killed his brother, his father," Kadyrov said

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LINK

Russia overwhelms UA air defenses with another massive missile assault causing death & destruction
January 2, 2024, 06:15 AM



Key points about Russia’s massive missile and attack on Ukraine on Jan. 2:

The attack replicated the attack on Dec. 29, 2023 — the largest air strike since the beginning of the Russian invasion — in terms of the scale and types of missiles used
Russia used over 130 different strike weapons: 35 Shaheds at night, and 99 missiles strikes in the morning:
X-101/X-555/X-55 from Tu-95 bombers
Kinzhals from MiG-31K aircraft
Kalibr missiles from the sea
Iskander-M/S-300/S-400 type missiles from the north
Ukraine's Air Defense destroyed all 35 Shaheds and 72 out of the 99 missiles, including all 10 Kinzhals, all three Kalibrs, and 59 out of 70 X-101/X-555/X-55 missiles
At least four people were killed and over 100 were injured in the attack
Kyiv was a main target of the attack. Numerous fires and destruction occurred in 9 of the capital’s 10 districts due to missile debris impacts, including fires in residential buildings. A high-rise building in the Solomyanskyi district of Kyiv was severely affected. An 86-year-old woman and another person were killed, and at least 49 people were injured. Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians lost power and several districts of Kyiv lost water.

Fatalities, injuries, and widespread destruction was reported in the Kyiv Oblast.
Russia also struck the center of Kharkiv. At least one person was killed, 47 injured, including two kids. 17 people have been hospitalized following the attacks. Four are in critical condition
Explosions were heard in Kropyvnytskyi, Kirovohrad Oblast
Civil and critical infrastructure, industrial and military facilities were attacked.

X-101/X-555/X-55 from Tu-95 bombers
Kinzhals from MiG-31K aircraft
Kalibr missiles from the sea
Iskander-M/S-300/S-400 type missiles from the north

The New Voice of Ukraine

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We need to focus on other things, such as our open southern border and the oil reserves that Biden has depleted through his incompetence.

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and we need to research the underground salt mine bio labs that the faucis, obamas, and Clinton's are hiding the evidence of the stolen election

The images from the frontlines in this war are surreal. This is a screenshot of a reel showing two Ukrainian soldiers trying to evacuate a wounded comrade.

ISW Update

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Key Takeaways:

Russian President Vladimir Putin identified the West as Russia’s “enemy” and implied that Russia is fighting in Ukraine in order to defeat the West.

Putin’s framing of his war in Ukraine as a Russian struggle against the West – and not Ukraine – indicates that he does not intend to negotiate in good faith with Ukraine and is setting information conditions aimed at convincing the West to betray Ukraine through negotiations.

Putin may be expanding his war aims in Ukraine to include confrontation with the West in an effort to set conditions for permanent Russian military buildup and to justify high battlefield sacrifices.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stressed Ukraine’s need for urgent Western support to protect both Ukraine and the rest of Europe in an interview with the Economist published on January 1.

Russian forces conducted another massive series of drone and missile strikes against deep rear areas in Ukraine between December 31 and January 2, one of which used a strike package similar to that used on December 29, and to which Ukrainian forces appear to be adapting.

Western provision of air defense systems and missiles to Ukraine remains crucial for Ukraine as Russian forces will likely attempt to adapt to Ukrainian air defense capabilities.

Russian officials publicly defined the goals for Russia’s 2024 chairmanship of both BRICS and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), articulating how the Kremlin may intend to use these organizations to fulfill its foreign policy objectives this year.

The Norwegian government announced on January 1 that it is permitting Norwegian defense companies to sell weapons and defense-related products directly to the Ukrainian government.

The Turkish government announced on January 2 that it will not allow the United Kingdom (UK) to transport two mine hunting ships to Ukraine via the Turkish Straits “as long as the war continues.”

Russian society continues to reckon with the impacts of increasing anti-migrant sentiment amid Russian authorities’ ongoing efforts to systematically disenfranchise migrant communities within Russia.

Russian forces made marginal confirmed advances along the Svatove-Kreminna line, northwest and southwest of Bakhmut, northwest of Avdiivka, and southwest of Donetsk City.

The Russian military command may be seeking avenues to re-pardon recidivists who previously fought in the war in Ukraine in an apparent effort to maintain Russia's ability to leverage convict recruits as a manpower resource.

Russian occupation authorities are restricting and likely monitoring internet communications ahead of the March 2024 presidential elections.

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Putin responded to a Russian serviceman’s question about Western aid to Ukraine during a meeting at a military hospital in Moscow Oblast on January 1, stating that Russia’s issue is not necessarily that the West is aiding Ukraine, but rather that the West is Russia's "enemy."[1] Putin added that “Ukraine by itself is not an enemy for [Russia],” but that Western-based actors “who want to destroy Russian statehood” and achieve the “strategic defeat of Russia on the battlefield” are Russia’s enemies. Putin claimed that Western elites are trying to break Russia into five parts and are trying to do so using Ukraine, but that the situation on the frontlines is changing and that Russia will “deal with the [West] faster” than the West can deal with Russia on the battlefields in Ukraine. Putin added that the problem is not in Western aid deliveries to Ukraine and noted that Ukraine has already been “completely destroyed,” that there is “nothing left” of the country, and that it “exists only on handouts.”

Putin implied that Russia is fighting an existential war against the West in Ukraine and noted that Western rhetoric has recently refocused on how to “quickly end the conflict.” This phrasing implies that Putin sees a conflict and potential negotiations between Russia and the West – not a conflict and potential negotiations between Russia and Ukraine. Putin added that Russia also wants to end the Russia-West conflict but only on the Kremlin’s terms and emphasized that Russia will not give up its positions. Putin does not view Ukraine as an independent actor and is thus portraying his full-scale invasion of Ukraine as a confrontation between Russian and West – deliberately misrepresenting the reality that Russia invaded Ukraine to destroy Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Putin’s emphasis on changing narratives in the West may indicate that he will perceive and/or frame any wavering in Western support for Ukraine and any Ukrainian defeats on the battlefield as a Russian victory in this supposed Russian-Western confrontation

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Russia gained almost no meaningful ground in 2023 at a high manpower cost, despite Putin’s January 1 absurd claims that he only orders Russian servicemen to launch offensives that will not generate significant casualties.[4] The UK Ministry of Defense (MoD), however, stated on December 30 that “the average daily number of Russian casualties in Ukraine has risen by almost 300 during the course of 2023” and that Russian casualties could rise to over half a million by the end of 2024.[5] A declassified US intelligence assessment shared with Congress on December 12 stated that Russian forces have lost 315,000 personnel since the beginning of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.[6] Such high casualties for small territorial gains are likely prompting Putin to present a strong and ideological justification to continue the prolonged war of choice on which he has launched Russia. Ukraine needs no such contorted justifications for the high losses and suffering that Putin’s invasion is inflicting on its people, even when Ukraine’s military operations do not produce the desired results. The war really is existential for Ukraine as it is not for Russia.

Putin notably concluded his observations about the Russian-West conflict by telling one wounded serviceman in the hospital that the serviceman did not get wounded for Russia to give up everything and surrender. Putin also addressed several domestic concerns about the lack of housing and compensations to servicemen who have received injuries on the battlefield, thereby attempting to posture himself as an empathetic and involved wartime leader even while seemingly raising the stakes to support his demands for increasing sacrifices by his people. Putin’s statements likely suggest that he is preparing a long-term justification to keep forces mobilized and engaged in combat for the perpetual defense of Russia’s sovereignty against the West.

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