Ukraine updates in English

[KD8ZM-Brady]

Would be quite disappointing if it weren't so predictable. Why would Putin agree to any compromise when Italy, France, and Finland are the latest European countries to back away from anything resembling security guarantees for Ukraine, post-war, as part of an peace proposal. Echoes of the Budapest Memorandum. Apparently they had thought that the US would again do all of the heavy lifting?

I guess Z. and his administration members are still less corrupt than Putin, but the gap narrows all the time, so just as the mobilized see less reason to sacrifice their lives, European countries seem to be drawing the same conclusions (although they would only be sacrificing their budgets, not their lives).

[KD8ZM-Brady]

For a more optimistic view of the war situation, please watch this analyst. 
https://youtu.be/QgeLpEqVEnQ?si=-yUwcLrlHvkTCXiO

[US7IGN]

For me, this video is another confirmation that russia has changed its approach and become more effective. They do not use what is not effective and have increased the production of what is effective. A year ago, 60 drones at a time was considered a big attack, now they launch 600 drones at a time. Ukraine has been fighting for the third year mostly with weapons given to it by its allies, and China has not yet given russia anything, but will do so as soon as necessary.

The Chinese company Lingkong Tianxing has introduced its new hypersonic missile YKJ-1000. It is capable of covering a distance of up to 1,300 km and flying at speeds of Mach 5-7 (from 6,125 km/h to 8,575 km/h). At the same time, its declared cost is only 700,000 yuan, or about $99,000. This makes its cost close to the cost of drones, thousands of which russia is using to attack Ukraine every month. The problem is that to intercept such a missile, the Americans, for example, will need to spend at least one SM-6 missile or THAAD, which cost $4.27 million and $15.5 million respectively, and the supply of which is very limited. https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3334140/90-cost-cut-chinese-civilian-firm-enters-mass-production-mach-7-hypersonic-missiles?module=inline&pgtype=article Maybe that is why Europe is acting so quietly, understanding the consequences of China's direct entry into the war?

The DeepState map shows which direction the front is moving. The russian army has advanced near three settlements in the Donetsk region. https://apostrophe.ua/society/armija-rf-prosunulas-poblizu-trokh-naselenikh-punktiv-na-donechchini-deepstate.html

I heard that one of the reasons for the russian slowdown is not due to exhaustion, but that russia rotates soldiers and first destroys everything with aerial bombs and drones before sending soldiers to attack. As for real losses, we do not know them. But the fact that russia has not yet mobilized and has enough volunteers speaks for itself. Again, China can send its soldiers if necessary. Will the West send its soldiers in such a case? Yesterday I heard the opinion that russia is fighting with one hand. I don't know the real state of affairs, but underestimating the enemy is one of the reasons for what is happening now.

I'm not talking about the state's policy, which has led to complete distrust of it. This is especially bad for the army. When a person volunteers for the position of a driver or accountant, and is thrown into the trenches as an assault rifleman, none of his acquaintances will volunteer again. The one who is forcibly taken to the front thinks not about how to fight, but about how to escape as quickly as possible. In general, this leads to people deceiving the state, which deceives the people. The lack of trust in the government calls into question its legitimacy.

In Lviv, during a busification, a detainee fatally wounded an employee of a mobilization center. https://www.slovoidilo.ua/2025/12/04/novyna/suspilstvo/lvovi-cholovik-smertelno-poranyv-vijskovosluzhbovcya-tczk
https://www.bbc.com/ukrainian/articles/c075d82vzj2o?xtor=AL-73-%5Bpartner%5D-%5Bukr%5D-%5Bheadline%5D-%5Bukrainian%5D-%5Bbizdev%5D-%5Bisapi%5D

Despite the discussion, the 2026 budget did not increase the salaries of military personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Instead, deputies voted for a significant increase in their salaries. https://www.radiosvoboda.org/a/svoboda-live-byudzhet-viyna-perehovory/33613086.html

The medical service complains that seriously ill people are being mobilized into the army, which wastes resources and is of no use. https://www.pravda.com.ua/columns/2025/12/04/8010332/

At the same time, Ukraine has a large reserve of mobilization resources. Judge of the Volovets District Court of the Transcarpathian region Oleksandr Pelykh, who was detained while accepting a bribe, was mobilized. This was reported by the judge's lawyer Serhiy Fesenko at a meeting of the High Council of Justice. https://zaxid.net/zatrimaniy_na_habari_suddya_oleksandr_pelih_mobilizuvavsya_do_zsu_n1625284

According to current legislation, court cases are suspended if the accused is mobilized - this is currently one of the most common ways to buy time and avoid punishment.

As the country spirals into a demographic disaster, Ukrainian authorities face a quandary: who will be left to pick up the pieces once the war ends? asked Reuters https://www.reuters.com/world/ukraine-stares-down-barrel-population-collapse-2025-12-04/

[KD8ZM-Brady]

Demographic (population) decline is a huge problem almost everywhere, including China, Russia, and of course Ukraine. I probably won't live to see the end result but the math makes it inevitable. Unfortunately for the world, the only populations that are growing are Islamic crazies and other backward cultures. My hope is in the return of Jesus, to save humanity from itself.
Be blessed this Christmas, Wlad and all other readers!

[US7IGN]

My hope is in the return of Jesus, to save humanity from itself.
Be blessed this Christmas, Wlad and all other readers!

Amen!

Romans 11:33
Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!

Thank you Braden!
Among all the trials the faith and hope in Him always support us! I wish everyone could celebrate Christmas with their families.

[US7IGN]

russian President Vladimir putin's visit to India is ongoing. Hen has said Moscow is ready to provide "uninterrupted shipments" of fuel to India, as Delhi faces pressure from the US to stop buying russian oil. Modi repeated India's stance that it was not neutral on the war in Ukraine and stood on "the side of peace", welcoming efforts to find a "lasting" solution to end the war. He highlighted that increasing the "connectivity" of russia and India was a "major priority" for India.

The two leaders exchanged memorandums during Friday's briefing, outlining mutual objectives in areas including trade and agriculture. Modi announced two new 30-day visa schemes for russian tourists visiting India, and said that two new Indian consulates had opened in russia.

No major defence deals were announced, but the two men said there were agreements signed on shipbuilding, investments in civil nuclear energy and critical minerals. India and russia also agreed on an economic programme valid until 2030, the leaders said, spanning jobs, shipping and the health industry. putin said he was confident about increasing current bilateral trade from $60bn to $100bn in the coming years.

Modi said that "energy security has been a strong and important pillar of the India-russia partnership", but made no specific reference to oil. India - the world's third largest consumer of crude oil - has been buying large volumes from russia since the Kremlin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4g482m3yyzo

Yesterday US President's special representative Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law and advisor Jared Kushner met with Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Rustem Umerov in Miami. Marco Rubio called the session "a productive continuation of the Geneva talks." He stressed that Washington's task goes beyond simply ending the war. He also announced the next phase of diplomatic efforts, with special envoy Steve Witkoff traveling to Moscow later this week. https://suspilne.media/1181402-u-maami-zaversilasa-zustric-ukrainskoi-ta-amerikanskoi-delegacij-dzerela/

Former Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that Andriy Yermak forbade him from establishing contact with Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, in early 2024. https://texty.org.ua/fragments/116432/kuleba-rozkryv-yak-yermak-zirvav-kontakt-iz-zyatem-trampa-klyuchovym-perehovirnykom-ssha-video/

The United States has presented an updated National Security Strategy, in which one of the key elements is the end of the war in Ukraine and the formation of a long-term model of its post-war resilience. https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/2025-National-Security-Strategy.pdf

The United States has invited Poland to attend next year’s G20 summit in Miami, saying that the country has earned a place there after joining the world’s 20 largest economies. Meanwhile, South Africa, with which Washington currently has tense relations, will not be invited despite being a G20 member.

Poland has recently been pushing for acceptance into the G20, especially after its economy surpassed $1 trillion this year to become the 20th largest in the world, overtaking Switzerland and chasing down Saudi Arabia and the Netherlands. In a statement on Wednesday, titled “America Welcomes a New G20”, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that Poland would be invited to participate in next year’s summit. That does not mean formal membership of the group; non-member countries are regularly invited to attend summits. “Poland, a nation that was once trapped behind the Iron Curtain but now ranks among the world’s 20 largest economies, will be joining us to assume its rightful place in the G20,” wrote Rubio. “Poland’s success is proof that a focus on the future is a better path than one on grievances,” he added. “It shows how partnership with the United States and American companies can promote mutual prosperity and growth.”
https://notesfrompoland.com/2025/12/04/us-invites-poland-to-take-its-rightful-place-at-next-years-g20-summit/

Nothing happens suddenly and for nothing. Poland once chose to join the West, elect a nationalist president, and ban the communist party, while Ukraine chose to elect a communist president and remain under russian influence. The difference in development is growing larger every year.

Meanwhile, in Ukraine, russian drone and missile attacks on the energy sector continue every day. The russians destroyed the Kherson CHP on the night of December 4, so it had to be shut down. Thousands of people are entering the winter without heat in their homes. https://informator.ua/uk/hersonska-tec-pislya-obstriliv-zupinila-robotu-misto-zahodit-u-zimu-z-naygirshim-scenariyem

In Chernihiv region, 90% of subscribers were left without electricity due to a power grid failure. https://donpatriot.news/at-chernigivoblenergo-povidomylo-pro-masshtabne-znestrumlennya-v-regioni-ta-nazvalo-prychynu

In Kyiv, the electricity was not turned off at all yesterday, but today the outages returned.

Ukraine strikes back. On the night of December 5, the Ukrainian Defense Forces struck the infrastructure of the Temryutsk seaport and the Syzran refinery. Damage to the Saratov refinery has also been confirmed. https://unn.ua/news/u-henshtabi-ziavyly-pro-udar-po-syzranskomu-npz-ta-morskomu-portu-u-krasnodarskomu-krai-rf

Soldiers of the "Ghosts" special unit of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine have hit eight russian targets in temporarily occupied Crimea in two weeks, including a Su-24 bomber, three radar stations, and a freight train. https://www.ukrinform.ua/rubric-ato/4066378-udari-gur-po-cilah-u-krimu-droni-vrazili-su24-tri-stancii-rls-ta-potag-rosian.html

Meanwhile, the media is reporting the involvement of military units in the illegal seizure of control over the sanatorium. https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2025/12/03/8010210/?fbclid=IwY2xjawOeKU1leHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFmcHpLTzZpTTJZcFptcW1Xc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHg8BtfItbBPPCugKjZ5nmqDvmCrdIOO9wFbEqg2IEgeMAgwlkRhE-TsLpUkV_aem_AZDeC7qp4bS3Ph-Fz7QUgg

[US7IGN]

The sun is shining in the morning and the temperature is near zero. Kyiv is quiet and only the lack of electricity can tell that something is wrong. Another expected shelling with missiles and drones took place at night and again the targets were the energy sector, railways and warehouses.

Overnight russia launched 653 drones and 51 missiles, most of which were downed, authorities said. One strike hit a railway hub at the town of Fastiv outside Kyiv, destroying the main station building and damaging rolling stock. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clydxj7my84o

In addition to the Kyiv region, other regions of Ukraine have been hit by russian missiles and UAVs.
https://www.bbc.com/ukrainian/articles/c2dz0k2yr57o

The Ministry of Energy reported that on the night of December 6, the russian military launched a massive missile and drone strike on electricity generation, distribution, and transmission facilities in the Kyiv, Chernihiv, Lviv, Odesa, Zaporizhia, Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolaiv, and Kharkiv regions. As a result of the attack, consumers in Odesa, Chernihiv, Kyiv, and Kharkiv regions were without power as of this morning, the ministry noted. https://www.radiosvoboda.org/a/news-ukrenerho-vidkluichennia/33614976.html

Since there is no frost yet and this is not the last attack, a lot can still change before the new year.

All this against the background of what I understand as the dismantling of the current government in Ukraine, which still remains controlled. Another deputy is accused of corruption. The Security Service of Ukraine, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office exposed an organized criminal group in Kyiv, which, according to the investigation, was headed by a people's deputy. She is suspected of extorting a large bribe. https://www.bbc.com/ukrainian/articles/ce8qzvrle6do

Interestingly, she offered to help impose sanctions on competitors of businessmen who turned to her. So my long-standing suspicions that the institution of sanctions, that is, extrajudicial restriction of the property rights of individuals and companies based on the president's decision, supposedly on the basis of ties to russia, was being used for other purposes, were confirmed. After all, many pro-government high-ranking officials with relatives in russia or in the occupied territories did not have any problems.

Politicians are bad managers for modern innovative design. It is better to hand over these processes to professionals, and even better - to a private manufacturer, the head of the Ministry of Defense noted. https://biz.nv.ua/ukr/sviy-biznes/oboronna-promislovist-ukrajini-stavka-na-privatniy-sektor-ta-innovaciji-50566064.html

That is, after years of corruption and the destruction of Ukraine’s defense potential, the authorities have admitted this and are now washing their hands of it.

The New York Times has published an investigation that found that the Ukrainian government had been obstructing the work of independent supervisory boards of state-owned enterprises for several years, creating conditions for widespread corruption. Ukraine’s Western partners have demanded the creation of such boards to oversee the spending of state-owned companies, particularly in the energy sector and defense procurement. However, the administration of President Volodymyr Zelensky has often left the seats vacant, filled the boards with loyalists, and rewrote the charters of the companies, maintaining government control. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/05/world/europe/ukraine-corruption-zelensky.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share

At the same time, we see that in three years russia has reconfigured its military-industrial complex and is now producing many times more weapons precisely because large state-owned companies are engaged in this. It even has more armored vehicles now than at the beginning of 2022! https://euromaidanpress.com/2025/12/02/russia-more-vehicles/
And this is despite the fact that in modern warfare, tanks no longer have much importance and are not a priority in production.

On Saturday, December 6, Ukrainians celebrate the Day of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. https://www.ukrinform.ua/rubric-society/4066445-v-ukraini-vidznacaut-den-zbrojnih-sil.html

But it hardly resembles a holiday. Due to the poor policy of the authorities, the attitude towards it is discredited from the mobilization stage, which is a very dangerous trend. In Odesa, a group of people attacked a minibus carrying mobilized men. Video from the scene shows a crowd quickly gathering near the van, after which the car began to be beaten and the windows smashed. People literally pulled the men out through the shattered glass. https://informator.ua/uk/v-odesi-napad-na-busik-tck-mobilizovanih-zvilnili-ce-trivozhna-tendenciya-2

You can blame the russians for everything, but they don't even need to make an effort to disrupt the mobilization in Ukraine, which is happening in this form. And while some are counting the number of years that the russians supposedly need to capture the rest of Ukraine, I hope that a peace agreement and a cessation of hostilities will happen before everything falls apart much sooner.

[KD8ZM-Brady]

I, too, wish that all people could spend Christmas with their families, including the soldiers who face almost certain death every week!

Z. should be ashamed of himself for allowing (and perhaps profiting from?) government corruption. Poland definitely deserves lots of credit for choosing a different path, despite years of corruption training under the Soviet system. Over here, there is growing admiration of Poland and other countries that didn't succumb to the pressure to allow mass migration of non-western civilizations into their countries, and are strengthening their own defenses rather than "hoping" for continued protection by the US (80 years after the end of WW2).

One minor point: South Africa was excluded from the G20 because it has continued to mismanage its economy and has dropped off the list of the top 20 economies by GDP. https://www.forbesindia.com/article/explainers/top-10-largest-economies-in-the-world/86159/1 That is quite a feat for a country that exports gold and other minerals, at a time when the price of those minerals is soaring!

Wlad, on the manuscript, I have had to slow down a bit due to other duties nagging at me. However, I am now on page 200 of 265, so it won't be too long!

Be well, friend.

[KD8ZM-Brady]

Reading my last comment a couple of days later, I want to clarify that I (and I think most Americans) consider Ukraine to be part of the West, not part of the East, and Ukrainians to be Westerners who treasure Western values. I know there may be those who, like Putin, consider Ukraine to be Eastern, but he's in a notorious class by himself.

[US7IGN]

Wlad, on the manuscript, I have had to slow down a bit due to other duties nagging at me. However, I am now on page 200 of 265, so it won't be too long!

Be well, friend.

Thank you very much!

It seems to me that each time I spend more and more time on each page)

Daily attacks on energy continue and power outages are becoming sensitive even for household consumers. Not everyone can afford to buy an autonomous system for $1,000 or more and soon the question will be whether the time that electricity is available will be enough to charge the batteries.

The russians have also destroyed a reservoir dam that supplies water to Kharkiv. russian forces are also conducting a campaign of strikes on Ukrainian logistical routes in the northern Kharkiv region, likely to disrupt logistics and ultimately achieve battlefield advances in these areas. https://nv.ua/ukr/ukraine/events/pechenizka-damba-navishcho-rosiya-vdarila-po-grebli-vodoshovishcha-bilya-harkova-novini-ukrajini-50566610.html

The peace agreement regarding russia's war against Ukraine is "already entering the finish line," but the issues of control over the Donetsk region and the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant remain key, said US President's special representative Keith Kellogg. https://nv.ua/ukr/world/geopolitics/mirniy-plan-ssha-dlya-ukrajini-kellog-zayaviv-pro-klyuchovi-pitannya-50566495.html

Poland has been left out of a key London summit on Ukraine, where European leaders discussed US steps to end russia's war against Ukraine. Warsaw was not invited to the December 8 meeting in London, where the leaders of France, Germany, the UK and Ukraine are meeting, Polsat reports. This decision provoked a sharp reaction among former Polish leaders, who view such a step as a signal of a decrease in Poland's international weight and a limitation of its role in key European negotiations. https://gazeta.ua/articles/politics/_polschu-navmisno-viklyuchili-z-diskusij-schodo-zavershennya-vijni-ukrayini-z-rosiyeyu-zmi/1237733

Ukraine's President Zelensky has held talks in Downing Street with Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.The leaders discussed the latest Ukraine peace plan, drafted during talks between Ukrainian and US officials in Florida last week. In brief comments before the talks, Starmer says "we stand with Ukraine", while Zelensky says "we need to make some important decisions". https://www.bbc.com/news/live/c4gpzep9n8et

I don't know what decisions he is going to make considering the loss of his friends (for several days now he has not been able to find even one person who would agree to head his office after Yermak's resignation) and the support of the people. I'm not even talking about his legitimacy, which many no longer recognize, but about the purely legal side of the issue.

Ukraine's President Zelensky simply does not have powers to sign any territorial concessions, according to the state's main law. Such power belongs to the Ukrainian people and is to be exercised through the referendum. Article 73 of Ukraine's constitution states that any changes to the territory of the country can be made only by an "all-Ukrainian referendum".

It means that all Ukrainian citizens, in all of its regions, must be able to cast their vote, freely and without any pressures. This includes those in the occupied territories - around 20% of the land currently controlled by russia in Crimea, Donbas and parts of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions. It also includes the front lines. Also, legally the referendum cannot be held during martial law. This brings the situation to a vicious circle on the level of international diplomacy, and is one of the key points for Ukraine.

But it seems that all this is only a small part of the troubles associated with the change in the world order.

russia has welcomed US President Donald Trump's new National Security Strategy, calling it "largely consistent" with Moscow's vision. The 33-page document, unveiled by the US administration this week, suggests Europe is facing "civilisational erasure" and does not cast russia as a threat to the US.

"The adjustments we're seeing... are largely consistent with our vision," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said in an interview published by russia's state news agency Tass on Sunday. "We consider this a positive step," he said, adding that Moscow would continue to analyse the document before drawing strong conclusions. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cpvd01g2kwwo

Battlefield picture worsening for Ukraine as Trump pushes peace plan. russian forces have advanced on several fronts recently. President Vladimir V. putin signaled after talks with U.S. officials that he was not budging from demands, writes The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/06/world/europe/ukraine-pokrovsk-battlefield-russia.html

In three years, russia was able to occupy only 1.45% of Ukraine's territory, despite colossal losses in personnel. According to preliminary estimates, russia could have lost up to 1% of its pre-war adult male population in the war, concludes The Economist. https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2025/12/02/as-america-pushes-peace-russias-battlefield-advances-remain-slow

I am surprised that so many people expects the russian economy to collapse from day to day, and Ukraine is ready to fight indefinitely. If the situation with the russian economy is unclear, although russia not only did not lose its resources, but also received 20% of Ukraine along with millions of people, and mostly volunteers are fighting, then Ukraine is fighting for the money of European partners and no longer has anyone willing to fight voluntarily.

Military Ombudsman Olga Reshetylova stated that the problems and shortcomings of the mobilization process cannot be a basis for aggression or attacks on servicemen of mobilization centers, who perform critically important functions for the defense of the state. She emphasized that the first incidents were recorded back in 2023, and the situation worsened due to the lack of timely legal assessment and moral condemnation of such actions.

According to her, the situation is gradually developing into a protracted social conflict that requires a new social contract. Reshetylova also stated that the state must immediately reform the mobilization system, since entrusting these functions to military personnel from mobilization centers is erroneous and dangerous. https://sud.ua/uk/news/ukraine/348033-pochemu-ttsk-stali-mishenyu-dlya-napadeniy-voennyy-ombudsmen-reshetilova-nazvala-glavnuyu-prichinu

Ukraine needs to step up mobilization and recruitment in response to the offensive of the russian occupation army, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrsky wrote on Telegram on Monday, December 8. https://ua.korrespondent.net/ukraine/4838655-syrskyi-zrobyv-zaiavu-schodo-mobilizatsii-v-ukraini

[US7IGN]

Reading my last comment a couple of days later, I want to clarify that I (and I think most Americans) consider Ukraine to be part of the West, not part of the East, and Ukrainians to be Westerners who treasure Western values. I know there may be those who, like Putin, consider Ukraine to be Eastern, but he's in a notorious class by himself.

This gives me hope, but it saddens me that the majority of Ukrainians continue to elect pro-russian politicians and almost half use the russian language. I believe that if you want change, you have to start with yourself.

[KD8ZM-Brady]

Reading my last comment a couple of days later, I want to clarify that I (and I think most Americans) consider Ukraine to be part of the West, not part of the East, and Ukrainians to be Westerners who treasure Western values. I know there may be those who, like Putin, consider Ukraine to be Eastern, but he's in a notorious class by himself.

This gives me hope, but it saddens me that the majority of Ukrainians continue to elect pro-russian politicians and almost half use the russian language. I believe that if you want change, you have to start with yourself.

The Russian influence was inevitable, given the mass extermination of true Ukrainians that occurred under the Satanic Josef Stalin, followed by decades of further oppression and corruption as part of the Soviet Bloc. But when Ukraine survives this war, I would think that anyone remaining would no longer have any love for Russia or its culture!

[US7IGN]

Blaming everyone else for your problems is a loser's path. Poland, too, was a Soviet country under russian rule for 42 years. The first thing the Poles did after gaining independence from Soviet rule was turn west. They still remember how much damage the russians caused them. It would be logical to expect at least the same attitude towards the russians from the Ukrainians, who suffered much more. But the 2019 elections showed that the majority of Ukrainians again elected the pro-russian government and oligarchs.

The level of financial independence and integration of Ukrainian citizens into the Polish economy has reached its highest levels in the past three years. Most Ukrainians in the neighboring country no longer rely on social benefits or charity, but are fully self-sufficient, although they are reducing remittances home. This is evidenced by a large-scale study by the National Bank of Poland. Despite the positive trend, a serious structural problem remains: 36% of refugees are working below their skill level. Experts call this phenomenon a loss of human capital. https://businessinsider.com.pl/gospodarka/raport-nbp-ujawnia-prawde-o-ukraincach-w-polsce-wnioski-moga-zaskoczyc/eb5p4dm

After journalists drew attention to the fact that information on the number of soldiers who left their units and deserted had disappeared from statistics, the Prosecutor General's Office explained that such information belongs to the category of restricted access information. https://hromadske.ua/viyna/256110-v-ofisi-henprokurora-poiasnyly-chomu-prybraly-zi-zvitiv-dani-shchodo-kilkosti-szch-ta-dezertyrstva

Withholding information is unlikely to reduce the number of deserters or boost the morale of the other men, but it does indicate that things are really bad.

The head of the Office of the Military Ombudsman noted in an interview that the process of mobilization into the army in its current form is ineffective and brings losses to the state - both financially and in terms of demoralization of society. Olga Reshetylova emphasizes that the state should change its approach to mobilization and start counting how much poorly organized processes are costing us. https://texty.org.ua/fragments/116439/uryad-maye-poraxuvaty-u-skilky-ukrayini-obxodytsya-neefektyvnyj-proces-mobilizaciyi-reshetylova/

The Ministry of Economy clarified that the employer has the right to terminate the employment contract with an employee who has not registered for military service and received military registration documents during the 45-day probationary period. https://kadroland.com/news/7776-zvilnennya-cerez-neonovleni-viiskovo-oblikovi-dokumenti-minekonomiki-vkazalo-na-yaku

So the army, the economy, and the people are suffering from the way the state organized mobilization, but all the authorities are proposing is to further strengthen it in its current form. There are no plans yet to introduce terms of service or get rid of corruption.

Ukraine is "ready for elections", President Volodymyr Zelensky has said, after US President Donald Trump repeated claims Kyiv was "using war" to avoid holding them. https://www.politico.com/news/2025/12/09/donald-trump-full-interview-transcript-00681693

Zelensky announced that he had addressed the Verkhovna Rada with a proposal to develop legislative mechanisms for holding elections during martial law. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn5l1474yv7o

Kyiv has enough shelters to hold the elections safely. This was stated by the head of the Obolon RDA, Kyrylo Fesyk. According to him, in the Obolon district alone, more than 480 shelters are officially registered, and this resource is sufficient for organizing polling stations. https://sud.ua/uk/news/ukraine/348262-kiev-imeet-dostatochno-ukrytiy-dlya-bezopasnogo-provedeniya-vyborov-glava-obolonskoy-rga

Given the obsession with which everything in Ukraine is being tried to be transferred to digital form and to tie a person to a smartphone, I do not exclude the desire of the authorities to hold virtual elections. It is easy to imagine what opportunities for manipulation this gives to those who manage information on the relevant servers. Someone will vote for you remotely and it will be almost impossible to prove that you did not do this. It will also make it easy to block bank accounts or even delete documents of undesirable persons. The authorities show total digitalization as a great advantage, and some call it digital slavery. Dictators of the past could only dream of this. Some think that Ukraine is a large testing ground for what will soon await the rest of the world, not only in military technologies.

It seems that even problems with electricity will not prevent this. Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko says the government is preparing a solution to redistribute consumption and direct electricity to household consumers. https://interfax.com.ua/news/general/1127018.html In recent days, electricity has been available in Kyiv 2-3 times a day for up to 8 hours.

The government is also considering reducing the list of critical infrastructure in the regions and introducing shutdowns even for such facilities if they have generators or alternative power sources. https://tsn.ua/ukrayina/vymykatymut-te-shcho-nikoly-ne-vymykaly-kabmin-zminiuye-pravyla-roboty-enerhosystemy-2974712.html

In addition to power plants, russia also used drones to attack gas infrastructure facilities. Critical equipment was damaged as a result of the attack. https://www.unian.ua/economics/energetics/rosiya-atakuvala-kritichne-gazove-obladnannya-ekspert-ociniv-naslidki-dlya-naselennya-13221222.html

[KD8ZM-Brady]

I absolutely agree with the statement on losers blaming others for their circumstances. In the US this has become a pastime for many people, including among minority groups who are told that they can't succeed because others are holding them back, capitalism is holding them back, and other excuses that politicians tempt then to believe. Whether there is any truth to it or not, it becomes a self-fulfilling thing, since it is always easier to blame someone and remain in poverty, than it is to act responsibly, develop good values, work hard, and succeed. I read an essay on this "excuse-itis" disease and its effects, when I was a teen, and it caused me to resolve never to blame others for my circumstances.

I don't have enough knowledge to know why the Poles chose to take responsibility and move forward, while some Ukrainians chose not to. My guesses would be that the Poles had a longstanding culture that was much more distinct from Russian culture, due to their distance from Russia. Also, they still had more of a Christian orientation than Ukraine did, after the fall of the Russian bloc (I think this is true - but you would know better than I would as to the veracity of that assumption). 

[N0TZU]

I have a zip hoodie from my Krav Maga self defense school. On the back, in a circle around the school logo, it says:

Nobody Cares Work Harder

Occasionally I get compliments on it when out shopping and usually a comment about how more people need to do it.