RUNNING UPDATES ON THE CONFLICT IN UKRAINE - 30.01.2025
Including geopolitical issues affecting the balance of power in the ongoing end game war to establish our common future, a closely monitored prison planet or tolerance for diverse modes of governance.
UKRAINE & ITS WESTERN SPONSORS NEED TO BITE THE BULLET, ACCEPT REALITY & AGREE TERMS WITH RUSSIA. IF NOT, THEY WILL SIMPLY LOSE EVEN MORE THAN NOW.
COLLECTIVE WEST | RUSSIA
ALEXANDER MERCOURIS of THE DURAN: Trump Aid Stop, Kiev Panics; Pleads For EU Help; Experts: Russia Military Now Stronger Than NATO.
ALEX CHRISTOFOROU of THE DURAN: Ukraine media CASH CRUNCH. EU 16 Russia sanctions. Fix Nord Stream pipeline. BERNIE onesies meltdown.
ALEX CHRISTOFOROU & ALEXANDER MERCOURIS of THE DURAN: US puts the squeeze on Zelensky.
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COLONEL LARRY WILKERSON: Trump’s Move Fails as Putin and China Unite.
DANNY HAIPHONG - SCOTT RITTER: Putin Just Sent a CHILLING Warning to Trump & It's Fatal For Ukraine.
COLONEL DOUGLAS MACGREGOR: What has all our effort & all our money added up to in Ukraine?
RACHEL BLEVINS: Putin: Ukraine ‘Won’t Last a Month’ Without Support from the West + Zelensky NOT Legitimate.
SEBASTIAN SAS: Fico Calls Zelensky "Enemy Of Slovakia". EU Ignores The Elephant In The Room.
COLONEL DOUGLAS MACGREGOR: Trump and War.
LEVAN GUDADZE: Plane crash in Washington.SMO.French troops in Greenland.Syria demands compensation. Energy Crisis...
Ukrainian battlefield tactics reduced to ‘plugging holes’ – Economist.
Kiev’s brigades in Donbass are consistently understaffed, according to commanders.
Kiev’s forces are struggling to maintain their ranks in Russia’s Donbass amid mounting manpower shortages, Ukrainian commanders have told the Economist in an article published on Monday.
Colonel Pavel Fedosenko, a commander of a Ukrainian tactical unit in the Donbass, stated that replacing battlefield losses has become a “struggle,” particularly as Russian forces sometimes deploy battalion-sized units against Ukrainian positions defended by only a handful of soldiers.
The Economist noted that the brigades that make up Kiev’s front line in the Donbass are “consistently understaffed, under pressure, and cracking” as they are steadily pushed back by Russian troops.
“We no longer have tactics beyond plugging holes. We throw battalions into the chaotic mess and hope we can somehow stop the grind,” a now-retired Ukrainian commander, who goes by ‘Kupol’, told The Economist.
Ukraine has struggled to replenish its military forces, while its mobilization efforts have been blighted by widespread draft evasion, corruption, and desertion. Last spring, Kiev attempted to solve the issue by reducing the draft age from 27 to 25, streamlining the conscription process, and increasing the authority of enlistment officers.
Last week, an adviser to the military department of the Ukrainian president’s office, Nikolay Schur, told the media that new amendments are being prepared that would aim to encourage men between the ages of 18 and 25 to sign voluntary contracts with the Armed Forces.
Read more: French-trained Ukrainian brigade plagued by desertions – Economist
While those under 25 are currently exempt from mandatory mobilization, Kiev has continued to face pressure, including from former US President Joe Biden, to lower the mobilization age to 18. Ukrainian authorities have so far refused to take this step, and have instead demanded more weapons from the West.
The prospect of lowering the conscription age has also been criticized by active Ukrainian servicemen, who have argued that younger men would lack the proper motivation to fight, and would only be a burden on the battlefield. One soldier serving in Ukraine’s 93rd Separate Mechanized Brigade “Kholodny Yar” claimed in a YouTube interview earlier this month that nearly 90% of his comrades and acquaintances from other brigades were opposed to lowering the draft age.
Meanwhile, Moscow has repeatedly described the conflict as a Western-led proxy war against Russia, which the West intends to wage “to the last Ukrainian.” Last month, Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov said Ukraine has lost 1 million service members to death and injury since February 2022, and that more than half of those casualties occurred in 2024.
Putin: Russia Ready to Pick Negotiators for Direct Talks With Zelensky, But He Can't Sign Peace Deal.
Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree outlawing peace negotiations with Moscow in 2022, months after the West sabotaged a ready peace treaty to pursue an all-out proxy war against Russia.
President Putin has expressed readiness to find negotiators to speak directly with Volodymyr Zelensky.
"If he wants to take part in negotiations, I will select such people, it's not an issue. The question is about the final signing of the documents," Putin said in a TV interview Tuesday, noting that Zelensky's legitimacy has expired, and he therefore "does not have the right to sign anything."
Under Ukrainian law, the end of the president's term means his powers are transferred to the chairman of the Verkhovna Rada parliament, and in accordance with the Constitution, even martial law does not give him the right to extend his authority, Putin said.
Zelensky's powers officially ran out last spring, but he remained in office after cancelling elections, citing martial law.
"On the question of the final signing of the documents...there cannot be a single mistake or wrinkle. Everything must be polished," Putin emphasized.
Furthermore, direct talks cannot start if Zelensky does not lift his self-imposed ban, Putin said.
"If there is a desire, any legal question can be resolved. So far, we simply don't see such a desire" from the Ukrainian side, the president said.
New Revelations on 2022 Talks
"Negotiations factually began immediately after the start of the Special Military Operation. Initially, we told the Ukrainian leadership at the time that the people of the Lugansk and Donetsk People's Republics don't want to be part of Ukraine. Leave these territories, and that's it, that's where it ends. No fighting, no war," Putin said.
The Ukrainian side rejected these terms, but Russia nevertheless agreed to talks. "This was at the end of February 2022," Putin recalled.
Russia was prepared to implement the peace deal reached in Istanbul in the spring of 2022, "even though there were things [in the draft deal, ed.] which we had issues with," Putin revealed.
"Nevertheless, I agreed that we were ready to implement this document. And on March 15 or 16 we informed Kiev that we were ready to refine and sign this document. There was practically nothing to change there," he said.
Trump Says Zelensky Shouldn't Have Allowed Conflict to Happen But Wanted to Fight
"Somewhere near the end of March [2022, ed.] we received a proposal from Kiev - the one with the signature of the head of the Ukrainian negotiations group, Mr. Arakhamia. And it was these Ukrainian proposals - I want to emphasize this, it's very important, that formed the basis of the draft peace treaty developed at Istanbul," Putin said.
The draft agreements also "had a small point proposed for consideration by the Ukrainian side on a personal meeting between the two presidents. I agreed to this," Putin added.
Russia also sent signals to Kiev's Western sponsors, including now former US president Joe Biden, Putin said, saying he had made clear that "if they had a desire...to achieve peace, the path was very simple."
Conflict Would End Quickly Without NATO Involvement
Today, Putin said, Ukraine's sovereignty is "almost nil," and without foreign sponsorship and weapons, the present conflict would "end in a month and a half or two months."
Putin also commented on Zelensky's claims that he banned negotiations after the Russian military was stopped at the gates of Kiev in early 2022, pointing out that Russian forces withdrew voluntarily as an act of good faith for the sake of the peace treaty being negotiated in Istanbul, many months before Zelensky implemented his ban in October 2022.
"For us it was clear in principle that deception was a serious risk. Russia has been deceived in a similar manner for decades: they say one thing, they do something completely different," Putin said. "Nevertheless, based on considerations of the need to prevent the bloodshed associated with a serious war, we agreed, and began to withdraw troops from Kiev at the end of March."
Subsequently, then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson flew to Kiev on NATO's behest to tell Zelensky to scrap the peace plan, and Ukrainian and Western media blew up the Bucha Massacre controversy, accusing Russian forces of slaughtering unarmed Ukrainian civilians in a suburb of Kiev to justify continued fighting and Western support. Follow-up investigations revealed that the civilians killed at Bucha were murdered by Ukrainian neo-Nazi forces sent in to punish locals accused of 'collaborating' with Russian forces.
Kiev mayor accuses Zelensky’s team of attempting to ‘usurp power’.
Vitaly Klitschko has claimed that the administration of the Ukrainian leader is meddling in the capital’s local governance, endangering democracy.
Kiev mayor Vitaly Klitschko delivers a video-address. © Facebook / Vitaly Klitschko
Kiev Mayor Vitaly Klitschko has accused the Ukrainian government of attempting to undermine the city’s leadership, claiming that Vladimir Zelensky’s administration is interfering in local governance.
In a video address on Wednesday, Klitschko, who has a strained relationship with Zelensky, warned of ongoing “political intrigues” in the capital, allegedly orchestrated by the Ukrainian leader’s allies.
Klitschko’s criticism follows the appointment in December of Timur Tkachenko as head of the Kiev City Military Administration.
Tkachenko, previously a deputy minister for community and territorial development, replaced Sergey Popko, a military officer who had led the administration since 2022. Klitschko has challenged the move, arguing that Tkachenko lacks military experience and is unqualified for the position.
Tkachenko has been obstructing key economic decisions in Kiev in a bid to take over the powers of the mayor and the city council, Klitschko claimed.
Read more: Ukraine wants EU to replace lost US aid
”Since taking the job, Tkachenko has been ‘blocking the resolution of key economic issues’ in the city,” the mayor alleged. According to Klitschko, Tkachenko is doing so in an attempt “to take over the powers of the mayor, the city council… in violation of the law.’”
“An attempt is being made in Kiev to unbalance power and destroy local governance,” Klitschko added in his address.
“Let me remind you that the military administration is a temporary body that should deal with defense and security, not usurpation of power,” he stressed. The mayor emphasized that the military administration is a temporary body meant to handle defense and security, not to assume control of the city’s leadership.
Klitschko, a former world heavyweight boxing champion, was one of the most prominent figures in the Western-backed coup in Kiev in 2014, which led to the overthrow of democratically elected Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich.
He became the capital’s mayor the same year and is one of the few officials from the era of Zelensky’s predecessor, Pyotr Poroshenko, to have retained his post. In 2019, Zelensky’s administration attempted to remove Klitschko from his position as head of the Kiev City State Administration, but he was re-elected in 2020.
READ MORE: Nearly all Ukrainian media depends on US cash – NGO chief
In December 2023, Klitschko accused Zelensky of steering Ukraine toward authoritarianism, expressing concerns over the centralization of power. Tensions between the two have persisted, with disagreements over issues such as the state of Kiev’s bomb shelters and the management of city infrastructure.
Architect of Russia sanctions sentenced to 11 years in prison.
US Democrat Bob Menendez has been found guilty on 16 charges in a sprawling bribery scheme to benefit a foreign country.
Former US Senator Bob Menendez outside the federal court in New York, January 29, 2025
A US senator has for the first time been found guilty of bribery and acting as an agent of a foreign government.
US Democrat Bob Menendez, who championed stringent sanctions on Russia while he was chair of the highly influential Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has been sentenced to 11 years in prison on bribery and corruption charges.
He was found guilty last July of accepting cash and gold bars and acting as an illegal agent for the Egyptian government, and resigned from the Senate a month later.
“The public cannot be led to the belief that you can get away with bribery, fraud, and betrayal,” US District Judge Sidney Stein said on Wednesday. “I don’t know what led you to this,” Stein added. “You’ll have to try to figure that out yourself over time.”
Prosecutors had sought at least 15 years in prison, along with millions of dollars in forfeitures and fines, arguing that such penalties were necessary “to provide just punishment for this extraordinary abuse of power and betrayal of public trust.”
“For someone who spent his entire life in public service, every day I’m awake is a punishment,” the former lawmaker told the court.
READ MORE: US Senator convicted in corruption trial
Menendez began his political career in 1974 when he was elected to the Union City Board of Education. He later served as the city’s mayor from 1986 to 1992, then moved to the state legislature in 1988 and the state senate in 1991. He represented New Jersey’s 13th district in the US House of Representatives from 1993 to 2006, when he was appointed to the Senate.
After the initial charges were filed in September 2023, Menendez stepped down from his position as head of the Senate’s influential Foreign Relations Committee, where he had played a key role in drawing up Washington’s sanctions on Moscow even before the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022.
His attorney, Adam Fee, argued that the former senator’s nearly 50 years of public service should not be overshadowed by his conviction, dismissing the public’s characterization of him as “Gold Bar Bob.” The defense team also requested that Menendez remain out of prison while they appeal his conviction.
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America’s gender obsession: Why Russia has been smarter this time.
Our country refused to embrace this particular diversity experiment – and thank God for that.
By Anastasia Mironova, writer, publicist
Trump has banned 72 genders. Where will he put transgender people? Where is he going to put the trans toilets, the trans athletes, and what will happen to the transitions of children?
There are few occasions when we can genuinely rejoice in being smarter than the Americans. And it is crucial for us to know that we are smarter. For almost a hundred years, Russia and America have been locked in an invisible competition: who is smarter, taller, and prettier. When Donald Trump signed the bill to return to two genders, I realized: here it is! We’ve been bloody clever! Clever enough not to collapse into the wave of madness that the unstable, the exalted, and the outright crazy have brought upon themselves.
I cannot fathom how the Americans let this happen. And worse, they dragged dozens of developed countries along with them into counting genders and opening new toilet cubicles. But here, we stand as the winners. We never bought into it. For us, it’s laughable. For Americans, not so much. Most of their people are normal. They don’t go into others’ toilets, wear women’s underwear under their jackets, or petition for the right to bring vibrating anal plugs to work.
Yes, the anal plugs are not a joke. I saw it on the news—a man asked his employer not to assign him mobile tasks because maintaining his “emotional well-being” required…well, you can guess what and where.
Read more: Selling bodies, selling souls: The false freedom of prostitution and surrogacy
Pronouns aren’t a joke either. America entered its elections in a state of tension: the best liberal minds among psychiatrists, psychologists, and gender theorists struggled to assign all genders their pronouns. How Americans remember them, I cannot say. By 2024, they’d come up with about 60 pronouns — ”thon,” “zir,” “xe,” “fae,” and so on — intended to reflect gender diversity and to avoid offense or lawsuits. An entire industry emerged around teaching Americans how to use these pronouns, filling their heads with nonsense.
By the end of 2024, it was said there were 74 recognized genders. Male and female were among them, of course. But others? Astralgender, for those who feel a cosmic connection. Aesthetigender, for those born of…beauty? Cassgender, for those who think gender doesn’t matter, though they’re distinct from Cassflux, who fluidly don’t care, and Genderflux, whose intensity of expression fluctuates. There’s even Cloudgender, for those unable to define their gender due to lack of clarity.
Imagine all these identities demanding respect, inventing pronouns, and creating new academic fields. Universities now offer master’s and doctoral degrees in gender studies. Some demand separate Olympic categories — aero-gendered weightlifting, anyone? It’s absurd, but the desire to cater to the “unwell” is now called fascism if opposed. Trump is labeled a fascist for signing a bill restoring the reality of two genders.
I watched a video online titled “A Fascist Came to a School Board Meeting.” It was a father bringing his eight-year-old daughter to a meeting to ask if she wanted boys in her bathroom. Her answer: “No, because it’s wrong.” Yet the school heads on the podium lectured him about poor parenting for not teaching his daughter about the multitude of genders. When the father suggested the women on the panel share a restroom with men themselves, the clip ended — leaving us wondering about their decision.
It seems to me that people like this father are the real heroes who brought Trump to power. Their daily resistance to gender madness has elevated them to national hero status. The unnamed father standing guard at the toilet door, protecting his daughter from a tattooed man in a wig and shorts, symbolizes the resistance. In another state, he might have faced legal retribution: prosecution, job loss, child services investigating his family. This is what everyday Americans endure for defending common sense.
Liberal media mocks them, calling rape by transgender people a “redneck boogeyman.” A few years ago, there was a case in Virginia where a male student wore a skirt while raping a girl in a “gender-neutral” bathroom. The school covered it up, transferred the rapist to another school, where he assaulted another girl. These are not isolated incidents — and they represent just one of 72 genders. Imagine dealing with all of them!
Trump’s executive order returning the country to two genders is, at its core, a symbolic return to common sense. Whether it’ll translate into actual policies remains to be seen. Will hormonal treatments for children be banned? Will “gender police” emerge to oversee municipalities? Will doctors prescribing hormones to children face prison? These questions linger.
For now, we can be thankful that we haven’t stumbled into this madness. In Russia, the idea of 74 genders is simply not relevant. Reality here doesn’t accommodate cloudgenders, aesthetigenders, or aerogenders. It’s not part of who we are — and that’s something to celebrate.
USA
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VICTORY BELONGS TO RUSSIA: IT IS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME
Each day that passes makes a conclusive Russian victory in the Donbass and beyond more certain. As Russia bolsters her forces, and weaponry, those of Ukraine decrease. Russian forces gain ready access to rest and recuperation as troop numbers increase. The increasingly exhausted and demoralised Ukrainian troops have an ever decreasing prospect of such respite. This situation is likely to bring them to complete breakdown as Russia unleashes the firepower of the more modern and advanced weaponry that is arriving with the newly mobilised Russian troops.
The various Ukrainian offensives are now weak when confronted by the reinforced Russian lines. A few futile efforts achieve quite miserable results before fire reigns down on the Ukrainian troops and they are forced back to their starting positions.
And now, all this being said, we have arrived at the wet, and later, freezing conditions where these pathetic Ukrainian forces will be subject to myriad forms of abject misery with death and injury all around them while they lie sodden or frozen, abandoned to their fate by Kiev.
The pitiable young and old of Ukraine have been frogmarched to their deaths as cannon-fodder while the bestial elites of the collective West urge their "president" to add more to their number there at the gates of Hell and their doom. We must feel for the majority of them as they are not the Nazis we revile, in most part they are decent men, fathers, sons, brothers, husband and uncles, who no doubt saw through the coup of 2014 for what it was. But sadly, their fate seems sealed.
Nothing will stop Russia now. Every factor favours them. Victory will be Russia's. In Donbass and beyond and in due course across the world.
Victory belongs to Russia: It is now only a matter of time.
UKRAINE & ITS WESTERN SPONSORS NEED TO BITE THE BULLET, ACCEPT REALITY & AGREE TERMS WITH RUSSIA. IF NOT, THEY WILL SIMPLY LOSE EVEN MORE THAN NOW.
