RUNNING UPDATES ON THE CONFLICT IN UKRAINE - 23.12.2023
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.
THE ROAD TO THE ULTIMATE CONCLUSION OF WORLD WAR III RUNS THROUGH HERE.
***IN 2023 WORLD BEGAN UNIFYING AGAINST WARMONGERING WEST***
…………
“Ukraine. What is the truth...?
Why won’t western media tell both sides…?”
***
VIRTUALLY UNREPORTED ATROCITY IN LUGANSK, 2nd JUNE 2014
A lot has been said about atrocities in the western media claimed to have been perpetrated by the Russians, for example at Bucha and Mariupol among others. These assertions are conveyed on the say so of the Ukrainian authorities. How willing though are western news broadcasters to convey atrocities attributed to the Ukrainians? The following will I think provide the answer.
If anyone wonders if they are receiving accurate coverage of the conflict in Ukraine I would suggest watching the video below of an event which occurred on the 2nd of June 2014 and ask themselves if they recall hearing about it on any mainstream media news channel at the time.
The video is harrowing to watch. The bodies (five women and three men) are real. Yet across western media there was only one single news report that occurred a day later. This was from CNN and occurred only because a CNN team happened to be nearby at the time of the atrocity and so the network could hardly ignore it as all others so obviously did.
The video below shows the unvarnished truth that was not considered newsworthy in western mainstream news.
THE SINGLE WESTERN MSM REPORT ON THE LUGANSK ATROCITY, 3rd JUNE 2014
The video at the CNN link below is the crime scene sanitised by CNN, though played straight with honest reporting on the scene not playing things to Kiev’s tune.
(There was a time early in the war in the Donbass when CNN were not afraid to contradict the Ukrainian regime in Kiev.) Watch, because it's the first and last time you will see this.
5 women and 3 men died, all civilians.
Air attack on pro-Russian separatists in Luhansk kills 8, stuns residents.
…………
Lead feature:
ALEXANDER MERCOURIS on THE DURAN
Rus Advances Entire Front, Ukr Mulls Avdeyevka Retreat, Ukr Defeat Coming: ISW: US Faces Disaster.
ALEX CHRISTOFOROU of THE DURAN
Gonzalo Lira. US Red Sea operation crumbles. UK MSM: Ukraine can win, if Russians remove The Putin.
THE DURAN - ALEX CHRISTOFOROU & ALEXANDER MERCOURIS
Diplomacy can solve Red Sea blockade.
GLENN DIESEN
Ukraine running out of options.
DD GEOPOLITICS
The Future of Ukraine 2024?
JUDGE ANDREW NAPOLITANO - LARRY JOHNSON (EX-CIA) & RAY MCGOVERN (EX-CIA)
INTEL Roundtable: 2023: A Year of Intelligence Failures.
RUSSIANS WITH ATTITUDE
RWA STREAM ft. Grisha Putin & Ilya.
JUDGE ANDREW NAPOLITANO - ALASTAIR CROOKE
SPECIAL: Alastair Crooke: The US an outcast at the UN.
JUDGE ANDREW NAPOLITANO - GARY BARNETT
How Dangerous is the United States Government?
EMIL COSMAN
Nobody's $ safe in the West. US moves to loot $300B of Russian assets. Russia will smack US back.
The West to start to forcefully remove/extradite conscription-age Ukrainians for MOBILIZATION?
LEVAN GUDADZE
Ukraine's retreat from Avdeevka, Kyiv threatens Refugees, F-16, RF lost several Su-34 bombers...
RUSSIAN NEWS
Washington is trying to shift the costs of the war in Ukraine onto Europe. Zakharova, Ukraine.
GLENN GREENWALD
Horrific Israeli War Crimes Continue with US Backing.
JUDGE ANDREW NAPOLITANO - MAX BLUMENTHAL
Are Biden and Netanyahu on a Collision Course?
ShanghaiEye魔都眼
Hungary's Orban says funds to Ukraine must not come from EU budget.
SASHA MEETS RUSSIA
Heading to Russia’s NORTH! ❄️ Retro Steam Train to Karelia 🚂.
EXPAT AMERICAN
YOU Don’t Like RUSSIAN Holidays ? 🎄An AMERICAN in MOSCOW with KIDS ?! 🇺🇸🇷🇺
THE ECONOMIC TIMES
UN resolution calls for more aid to Gaza, no ceasefire; Russia calls out US for 'cynical behaviour'.
EAM Jaishankar reacts to temple vandalism in US, says ‘Extremism shouldn’t be given space'.
MILITARY TUBE TODAY
Ukraine makes senseless crossing of the Left Bank of the Dnieper.
HINDUSTAN TIMES - RUSSIA / THE COLLECTIVE WEST
USA's Military Ally Is Biggest Russian Oil Buyer In West; Putin Stealing Away NATO Member? | Ukraine.
FIRSTPOST
Amid Houthi Attacks, More Shipping Companies Avoid Red Sea Route, Oil Prices Surge.
GEORGE GALLOWAY
God couldn’t decide.
AL JAZEERA ENGLISH
Israeli attacks in Gaza ongoing.
HINDUSTAN TIMES - ISRAEL/GAZA
'Unfazed' Israel Strikes Gaza After UN Demands More Aid For Besieged Territory; 'Won't Stop'.
Al Quds' 'Deadly' Sniper Operation In Gaza City; Islamic Jihad Claims Hitting 'Bull's Eye'.
Hamas Blitz Makes Israel Change War Plan? IDF 'Planning To End Gaza Ground Operation' | Report.
Explosion On Israeli Ship Near Gujarat; Hezbollah Kills IDF Soldier; China's Secret Nuclear Prep.
Jaishankar's Open Warning To USA Over Attack On Hindu Temple In California Amid Pannun Case Tussle.
NATO Nation Sides With Houthis? Spain Blocks EU Participation In U.S.-Led Anti-Houthi Mission.
Putin Makes A 'Promise' To Palestinians In War-Torn Gaza | Watch What Russian Leader Said:
Hezbollah's 6 Attacks On IDF; France Stops Plane With Indians; Iran Aiding Houthis Red Sea Attacks?
Hezbollah's 6 Attacks In 8 Hours: 'IDF Soldiers' Housing Area, Israeli Command Centre Hit' | Hamas.
At UNSC, Russia Attacks USA For 'Blackmail' On Resolution Without Ceasefire Mention | Israel | Gaza.
DUE DISSIDENCE
Nikki Haley Floats WILD Putin-Israel War Theory at Campaign Event.
MIDDLE EAST EYE
No Christmas celebrations in Bethlehem in solidarity with the people of Gaza.
DAWN NEWS ENGLISH
Protesters Perform Palestinian Folk Dance.
CGTN
CGTN Documentary: Caught in the ceasefire!
ShanghaiEye魔都眼
VOICES: Steady economic growth likely for China with expected stimulus packages in 2024.
SYRIANA ANALYSIS
Kevork Almassian on Germ Warfare: the security situation could deteriorate in the region.
THE JIMMY DORE SHOW
Russell Brand EXPOSES Bill Gates.
KIM IVERSEN
Libertarian Candidate Has A Plan To DESTROY Globalists And The Great Reset.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
DMITRY ORLOV
NATO can't Survive as an Organization.
Articles from RT (Russia Today) & Sputnik International - 23rd December 2023:
'Nobody's Money Safe in the West' If Russia's Assets Used to Fund Ukraine - Journo.
US media reported on Thursday that the Biden administration was considering using the estimated $300 billion in Russian assets frozen in Western banks to fund the Kiev government. Russian President Vladimir Putin has threatened “severe consequences” if the plan is put into action.
If the Biden administration gets away with illegally using seized Russian assets to fund Ukraine, that would “basically nuke the entire Western financial system," journalist Nebojsa Malic told Sputnik.
“I'm not exaggerating. If they're allowed to do this, then nobody's money is safe in the West. Period. Full stop. End of story," said the Serbian-American journalist. "And any country outside of the G-7 or NATO would be certifiably insane to hold any of its foreign currency, or reserves, or any assets in the West where it's accessible to the US and its allies. Because it is, it would not be safe. They could make up any pretext to confiscate it.”
As the West struggles to scrape together new aid packages for Kiev, the Biden administration has turned its eye on Russia’s foreign exchange reserves that were frozen by Western nations after the start of the conflict in Ukraine.
According to unnamed American and European officials quoted by The New York Times, Washington, in coordination with the G7, is now, "taking another look at whether it could sidestep congressional approval" to use the estimated $300 billion in funds.
Venezuela had its assets seized by the US and its Latin American and European allies including Britain, Nebojsa Malic recalled. Washington claimed at the time that it was transferring them to Juan Guido, the opposition leader that it recognized as the head of a government-in-exile based in the US, going as far as to evict the Venezuelan diplomatic mission from its embassy.
The US and other western countries refused to recognise the results of the 2018 presidential election in Venezuela, in which Nicolas Maduro secured an overwhelming victory for another term.
In practical terms, the measures meant that the government in Caracas could not access its gold reserves. It had been a “creative interpretation of laws and regulations,” said the journalist. However now, in the case of Russian assets, “this is this unprecedented next step.”
“This would basically be: 'we're confiscating your assets because we say so... And what are you going to do about it?'," Malic said, but "unfortunately for them, the rest of the world can do something about it, which is to immediately, or gradually, or with all applicable alacrity, withdraw their consent from the US financial market.”
The journalist pointed out that the greenback is only the world's reserve currency because people buy US securities and that the rest of the world was essentially “underwriting” the massive US debt, estimated at $32 trillion. “That's the only reason that inflation in the US appears to be milder than it actually is,” explained the pundit.
“If the world stopped underwriting the Federal Reserve, the Americans would have to actually face the consequences of this rampant money printing that the government has been doing for 50 years now,” Malic noted.
Any attempt to take these frozen Russian assets and give them to Ukraine in some way, shape or form would just be “economic suicide.”
“I don't think enough people in Washington and out of Washington truly appreciate how dire this is. It will hurt Russia a little bit, but it would be absolutely disastrous for the US,” Malic warned.
The journalist underlined the damage the backfiring anti-Russia sanctions concocted by the West had done to Europe already.
“It completely wrecked German industry, which was the only industry remaining on the continent worth mentioning," Malic stressed. "Clearly the people who are masterminding this policy have no understanding of economics and they clearly don't have any respect for law of any kind. So why would we trust them to actually know what they're doing?”
There is very solid case that "open theft of assets would amount to an act of war," stated the journalist. He argued that the move may simply be a ruse to push Joe Biden’s huge supplementary funding bill through Congress.
The journalist said Washington had failed to think through the consequences of such actions. “They really need to realize that this is a stupid idea that will hurt the West far more than it would hurt Russia, that Moscow has already priced it in and calculated it into its policies, Malic said, adding:
“They want to try to help their own geopolitical interests and want to use Ukraine to bolster the American empire.”
'Nobody's Money Safe in the West' If Russia's Assets Used to Fund Ukraine - Journo.
Russia Intercepts US-Made Ukrainian ATACMS Missile & 3 JDAM Guided Bombs in One Week - MoD.
Russian air defense systems shot down four aircraft, an ATACMS missile, and 259 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) of the Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF) over the past week, the Russian Ministry of Defense has stated.
“The air defense systems over the week shot down four enemy aircraft: one Su-27, two MiG-29s, and one Su-25, as well as three helicopters: two Mi-24s and one Mi-8 of the Ukrainian Air Force. In addition, intercepted were: one ATACMS operational-tactical missile, 30 HIMARS, Uragan, and Olkha multiple launch rocket system rockets, three JDAM guided aerial bombs, as well as 259 unmanned aerial vehicles,” the statement said.
The ministry noted that since the beginning of the special military operation, a total of 554 air planes, 261 helicopters, 9,955 unmanned aerial vehicles, 442 anti-aircraft missile systems, 14,251 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 1,189 rocket artillery system combat vehicles, 7,447 field artillery guns and mortars, as well as 16,572 units of special military automotive equipment have been destroyed.
Furthermore, Ukraine has lost more than 1,610 soldiers both killed and wounded in the Donetsk direction over the past week.
Over the given period, the Russian armed forces have repulsed 53 attacks by Ukrainian troops in the Kupyansk direction, 43 attacks in the Donetsk direction, 13 attacks in the Krasny Liman direction, nine attacks in the South Donetsk direction, and six attacks in the Zaporozhye direction.
"Enemy losses in this [Donetsk] direction over the past period amounted to more than 1,610 military personnel killed and wounded, three tanks, 17 armored combat vehicles, a HIMARS launcher, 24 vehicles and 44 field artillery guns," the ministry said in a statement.
Kiev has also lost up to 1,155 soldiers in the Krasny Lyman direction, over 670 soldiers in the South Donetsk direction, up to 510 soldiers in the Kherson direction, up to 390 soldiers in the Zaporozhye direction, and over 355 soldiers in the Kupyansk direction, the ministry added.
Russia Intercepts US-Made Ukrainian ATACMS Missile & 3 JDAM Guided Bombs in One Week - MoD.
Russian oil imports by NATO state hit historic high.
Türkiye has been ramping up purchases despite the Western sanctions, according to Reuters.
Türkiye has become the largest importer of Russian energy in the Western Hemisphere after European countries halted most Russian oil and natural gas imports, Reuters reported this week.
Despite being a NATO member, Türkiye has chosen not to cut ties with Russia over the conflict in Ukraine, and has instead deepened economic cooperation and bilateral trade.
According to calculations by Reuters, based on London Stock Exchange data and traders’ estimates, Turkish companies have saved around $2 billion on energy bills in 2023 by boosting imports of discounted Russian oil and refined products.
“Ankara wants to buy more from its neighbor despite Western sanctions,” the outlet wrote.
Data reportedly shows that Russian Urals crude oil shipments to Türkiye jumped to an all-time high of 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) in November 2023, accounting for some 14% of Russia’s overall seaborne oil exports last month.
Supplies are expected to rise further in the coming months, Reuters said, citing trading sources.
Türkiye’s imports of Russian diesel, heating oil, jet and marine fuel also skyrocketed 200% in January-November 2023 to some 290,000 bpd.
Traders say Ankara has been paying between $25 and $150 less for a ton (between $3.30 and $20 per barrel) of Russian diesel this year compared to prices for similar grades in the Mediterranean. For crude, it reportedly had discounts of between $5 and $20 per barrel.
“Cheaper energy imports have helped Ankara narrow its trade deficit and lessen pressure on its currency, which devalued 30% so far this year,” Reuters wrote.
Despite the US warnings that Türkiye could face penalties if it is proven to be helping Russia bypass Western restrictions, Ankara has insisted it had no plans to support the sanction policy on Moscow, arguing that “our own benefit and prosperity come first.”
Russian oil imports by NATO state hit historic high.
Ukrainian officials privately admit they’re losing – BILD editor.
Reality is different from public statements, a German journalist who just visited Kiev has said.
While the Ukrainian government paints a rosy picture of the conflict at press conferences, senior officials admit in private that the situation is grim, Paul Ronzheimer, the deputy editor-in-chief at the German outlet BILD, said on Friday.
Ronzheimer had just spent three days in Ukraine, meeting with Defense Minister Rustem Umerov and other senior government and military officials, he wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
“Their statements match less and less the picture that is officially painted in press conferences and interviews, most recently by [Ukrainian President Vladimir] Zelensky,” he wrote.
Those who spoke to him in private identified “very clearly” several major problems for Kiev and at this time “see little chance for Ukrainian offensive efforts,” Ronzheimer wrote.
Tempering his criticism with the claim that Russia has lost “tens of thousands of soldiers and many tanks,” the German journalist noted that everyone he spoke with said that time is on Moscow’s side and that “stories from the front are almost unbearable.”
Ukrainian officials should say these things in public because “nothing else will help,” Ronzheimer said, while arguing that Europe and especially Germany will have to do more in 2024, not less.
The journalist’s revelations match the tone of several Ukrainian MPs who spoke to The Times of London. In an article published on Friday, Roman Kostenko – a member of the Verkhovna Rada’s committee for national security, defense, and intelligence – said victory on the battlefield is “extremely unlikely” and expressed doubt that any Western weapons could turn the tide.
Another MP, Svyatoslav Yurash, described the fighting as “painful” and said Ukrainians should “hope for the best but prepare for the worst.” The only thing to hope for right now is for the Russians to rebel and topple their government, he added.
Kiev launched a major offensive in early June, aiming to reach Crimea within 60 to 90 days but failing to advance past the first Russian defense lines. Russian troops have since taken the initiative and are moving forward on almost every section of the front line.
Earlier this week, the Russian Defense Ministry made public its estimate that Ukraine has lost almost 400,000 troops since the hostilities escalated in February 2022, including those killed, wounded, captured, or listed as missing. A prominent German military analyst has estimated Kiev’s losses at 800 troops a day.
Ukrainian officials privately admit they’re losing – BILD editor.
MAPPING/ANALYSIS CHANNELS
* Updates will be added here as and when they become available.
MILITARY SUMMARY CHANNEL UPDATE
SnowStorm | Ukraine Is Preparing Withdrawal Troops From Multiple Fronts. Military Summary 2023.12.23
The Russians Have Advanced At Marinka, Stepove, Bohdanivka, Spirne. Military Summary For 2023.12.23
DEFENSE POLITICS ASIA UPDATE
[ DPA Open Mic 58 ] Merry Christmas Edition... maybe last ever Christmas for mankind... haha.
WAR ROOM MAPPING UPDATE
Heavy Fighting in Krynki, As Russian Forces Advance in Donetsk, Rybar Map for December 22nd, 2023.
THETI MAPPING UPDATE
No update posted so far today
MILITARY AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS NETWORK
No update posted so far today
PROJECT GREAT MAPPING UPDATE
No update posted so far today
M MAPPING UPDATE
No update posted so far today
NEW WORLD GEOPOLITICS UPDATE
No update posted so far today
HS MAPPING UPDATE
Massive Russian Advance In The Direction Of Chasiv Yar.
FREE RUSSIA MAPPING CHANNEL
No update posted so far today
WEEB UNION MAPPING UPDATE
This GENIUS Russian Strategy Has No Counter.
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.