A Ukrainian drone hit the headquarters of Kadyrov’s special forces in Grozny, the capital of Chechnya.
Speaking of the Kadyrovites, here’s the leader himself acting like a tough guy with a Ukrainian POW.
If Kadyrov was given a gun and told to shoot himself, he’d cry and whine like a baby.
Another 1,670 Russians who should have stayed home.
Russia continues to play with fire in the Baltic.
A Russian warship has fired warning shots at a German helicopter carrying out patrols over the Baltic Sea, it has been reported.
The crew of the Russian ship fired signal ammunition, the German Press Agency in Brussels has learned.
According to the German newspaper Bild, the warning shots were fired at the NATO reconnaissance aircraft but this is yet to be confirmed.
Gosh, I wonder why India no longer wants Russian weapon systems.
India has sharply reduced orders for defense equipment with Russia and is now buying more from Western suppliers, officials said, a significant policy shift for a nation traditionally reliant on arms from Moscow.
India and Russia's plans to jointly develop and manufacture helicopters and advanced fighter jets were shelved some time ago, according to senior Indian officials with direct knowledge, who asked not to be identified because the discussions are private.
A separate proposal to lease a nuclear-powered submarine from Russia to train Indian crew is also unlikely to move forward, they said, noting that the South Asian nation is building its own vessels. Two warships and batteries for an anti-missile shield, which were ordered prior to the war in Ukraine, are the only outstanding items. New Delhi has yet to receive from Moscow.
….
India, the world's biggest importer of weapons, has been buying less and less from Russia. Only 36% of India's arms imports came from Russia last year, down from 76% in 2009, according to a March report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, an independent think tank that studies conflict, weapon sales and disarmament.
It sounds like a water version of a meat assault.
Even if this is true, so what?
Russia started a war against Ukraine and its military is fair game wherever they are — whether that’s Mali, Sudan or Syria.
This is good news. It would have been better news if it happened a year ago. But better late than never.
Reuters has a story on Trump’s various plans to end the war.
One former Trump national security official involved in the transition said there are three main proposals: the outline by Kellogg, one from Vice President-elect JD Vance and another advanced by Richard Grenell, Trump's former acting intelligence chief.
Kellogg's plan, co-authored with former National Security Council official Fred Fleitz and presented to Trump earlier this year, calls for freezing the current battle lines.
Kellogg and Fleitz did not respond to requests for comment. Their plan was first
reported by Reuters.
Trump would supply more U.S. weapons to Kyiv only if it agreed to peace talks. At the same time, he would warn Moscow that he would increase U.S. aid to Ukraine if Russia rejected negotiations. NATO membership for Ukraine would be put on hold.
….
Vance, who as a U.S. senator has opposed aid to Ukraine, floated a separate idea in September.
He told U.S. podcaster Shawn Ryan that a deal likely would include a demilitarized zone at the existing front lines that would be "heavily fortified" to prevent further Russian incursions. His proposal would deny NATO membership to Kyiv.
….
Grenell, Trump's former ambassador to Germany, advocated the creation of "autonomous zones" in eastern Ukraine during a Bloomberg roundtable in July but did not elaborate. He also suggested NATO membership for Ukraine was not in America's interest.
So …. how’s the Russian economy doing?
3/ For Central Bank to continue interest rate hikes means to kill the real sector of the economy, where most companies simply don't have sufficient profitability to borrow at current interest rates (Central Bank's 21% rate translates into 25-30% commercial loan rates)
4/ Relaxing tight monetary policies and lowering interest rates would push Russia into hyperinflation territory. However, the "elephant in the room" is the war, which is the root cause of all these problems. The war drives extreme military spending, which fuels inflation
5/ Ruble depreciation will contribute to inflation even further, as Russia continues to be heavily reliant on imports... while being under all sorts of embargoes, and China and other Global South countries are not opening their markets to most Russian goods
6/ When current revenues are insufficient to cover budget expenses, the state must find alternative sources to finance the deficit. In the current situation, Russia is cut off from international financial markets and cannot turn to Western governments or the IMF for assistance
Pushkin is widely considered to be Russia’s greatest poet. He lived for a time in Odesa.
I wouldn’t be nearly as forgiving.
Pretty soon it will be frozen and Russians can skate across it while they run from drones.
Meanwhile, in Georgia, the government gives a whole new meaning to crack down.
Gas masks and fireworks cannons are great, but the protesters in Hong Kong several years ago were highly organized and it didn’t get them anywhere. When the government has no sense of shame and appeals to morality don’t work, nonviolent protest doesn’t work.
He explains in the comments that these are people who were either killed or captured.
It is very depressing to see channels age out and get auto deleted from inactivity. Especially channels run by friends I spoke to regularly. Some of them multiple times per week. Some who I had long phone calls with. One of my friends last posted on december 13th. barely more than a week left...
— Andrew Perpetua (@andrewperpetua.bsky.social) December 3, 2024 at 6:13 AM
He seems nice.
Maintaining one’s strength like this helps, but real recovery will take many, many years.
Russian artillery can’t snuff out the Christmas spirit in Kharkiv.
Life goes on in Kyiv too.
Dad’s home.
