I’m going to keep tonight’s post short.
Here’s President Zelenskyy’s address from earlier today. Video below, English transcript after the jump:
Ukrainians!
Today, millions of people celebrate Christmas according to the Gregorian calendar. And I once again congratulate everyone who is celebrating right now, these days.
And I want us to once again express gratitude – together – to all those who both these days and at any other time are doing everything so that we can live. Live our life and in our country.
I thank each of our warriors – all military personnel. All fighters of the Air Forces, anti-aircraft fighters, intelligence officers, border guards, national guardsmen, warriors of the territorial defense, Naval Forces. Thank you to every soldier and sailor, to every sergeant and sergeant-major, to every officer and general who are holding the front and trying to push it further – to our borders that we have to reach.
Thanks to everyone who repairs and supplies equipment. To everyone who volunteers.
Thanks to all our medics and everyone who saves the wounded on the battlefield. Thank you to all the nurses who perform their work selflessly under any circumstances.
Thank you to everyone who helps provide hospitals with everything necessary. To all those who come to donate blood for the wounded… And to all those who came now in Kherson to help. To save the wounded from the attack of terrorists on Christmas… Artillery and mortars against ordinary streets of Kherson… Savages!
We will find every Russian murderer. And I thank everyone who works for this: all investigative teams, all prosecutors, officials and diplomats.
Thank you to each and everyone who helps get Ukrainians out of captivity.
Thank you to all our energy workers and repairmen, sappers, policemen, employees of the State Emergency Service, utility workers.
Thank you to the educators who continue to build our future and the builders who take care of our present.
Thank you to the transporters who keep our economy alive and the financiers who maintain our stability.
Thank you to the IT specialists who chose Ukraine.
Thank you to officials who care about people and businesses who help society to be resilient.
Thank you to our farmers, thank you to the agrarians who did not give up last spring and are preparing for the next one.
Thank you to all journalists who spread the truth and public figures who help our people to keep faith in themselves and in victory.
Thank you to all the leaders and peoples of the world, who this year, together with Ukraine, became leaders in the defense of freedom and next year, I believe, together with us, will do everything to become leaders of peace. It’s possible.
Fellow Ukrainians!
There are only a few days left this year. We must be aware that our enemy will try to make this time dark and difficult for us. Russia lost everything it could this year. But it is trying to compensate for its losses with the gloating of its propagandists after the missile strikes at our country, at our energy sector.
I know that the darkness will not prevent us from leading the occupiers to their new defeats. But we have to be ready for any scenario.
Please pay attention to air alarms these days. Search again and remember where the nearest Point of Invincibility is located.
Tell your parents how to find the Point of Invincibility if needed. More than 5,500 points have already been opened throughout the country.
Please take care of yourself. And be ready to help others.
When Ukrainians are together, when Ukrainians are grateful to each other, we cannot be defeated. May it always be so! And it will be so, I’m sure!
Glory to our strong, beautiful, best people!
Glory to Ukraine!
Merry Christmas to those who celebrate. We had two air alerts in Ukraine today. But Russians failed to stop us from singing carols and spending time with family. Many of us also had electricity because energy workers did their best to make our Christmas bright. So grateful 🙏 pic.twitter.com/AcFyLhLlf0
— Olga Tokariuk (@olgatokariuk) December 25, 2022
I have absolutely no Christmas mood this year, but despite this I attended an event where we sang Christmas songs, including the famous Shchedryk (Carol of the Bells). Some bright colors in dark times. Merry Christmas, friends. Thank you all for being here with me & with Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/Qmn9ZQjTy7
— Iryna Voichuk (@IrynaVoichuk) December 24, 2022
Christmas Eve on the front line pic.twitter.com/n6OtITz2dy
— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) December 25, 2022
Merry Christmas.
p.s. Preparing New Year's gifts for the 🇷🇺 occupants
💥🥳 pic.twitter.com/vTj7kpQ69M— Ukrainian Air Force (@KpsZSU) December 25, 2022
Kherson blood donation center.
People have gathered to help their fellow city residents injured by yesterday's russian terrorist attack.
Anger.
Invincibility.
Compassion.
Victory. pic.twitter.com/8t3JAwNkHK— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) December 25, 2022
93yo pani Olena made herself more than 500 candles for soldiers in trenches. They use them to get warm & cook food. She is frustrated that can't help more. Whom russians want to defeat?
Video BBC pic.twitter.com/Ypfv8lMb5r— Olena Halushka (@OlenaHalushka) December 25, 2022
https://mobile.twitter.com/RabbiUkraine/status/1606276517591502848
Blessings from Hero City Kyiv, Ukraine! The Eighth Chanukah candles lighting! pic.twitter.com/kDS65pCVPD
— Chief Rabbi Of Ukraine (@RabbiUkraine) December 25, 2022
This is interesting:
Summer of 2022. Izyum. A unique rescue operation carried out by soldiers of the 93rd «Kholodnyj Yar» brigade in the documentary film by Ukrainian film director Lubomir Levytskyi.
1/3 pic.twitter.com/JH8IA9Zsu6— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) December 25, 2022
Two saved lives in the most dynamic documentary thriller of Ukrainian cinema. In which the heroes are not only people, but also machines.
3/3 pic.twitter.com/hoLqaaShMm— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) December 25, 2022
Here’s some Ukrainian Christmas music to keep you going:
Your daily Patron!
Merry Christmas 🎄 And Happy Hanukkah 🕎 Show me your celebrations below ⬇️ I’ll be happy to join you 🫶🏻 pic.twitter.com/RgojFGOxt8
— Patron (@PatronDsns) December 25, 2022
Lot’s of replies from Patron to the people replying to him, so click through and give it a look.
Do you remember this guy? Yes, this is Kraken, the sapper from my team who was recently injured 😞 He lost his leg, but he didn't lose his smile and many life plans. He said to send you hello and дякую (which means «thank you» in Ukrainian)❤️ pic.twitter.com/yDT8ShSdHL
— Patron (@PatronDsns) December 25, 2022
There isn’t a new video tonight on Patron’s official TikTok, so here’s last night’s again:
@patron__dsns Коротко про те, як я люблю свою нову подушку🤭 #песпатрон #патрондснс
The caption (still) machine translates as:
Briefly about how I love my new pillow🤭 #PatrontheDog #PatronDSNS
I hope everyone is having a merry Christmas and/or enjoyable long weekend.
Open thread!
Alison Rose
Even with how difficult it must be for many of them to celebrate the holidays this year, I feel a bit of defiance in their doing so anyway — showing russia once again that they will not be cowed or frightened out of normalcy. It’s quite baffling that the enemy still doesn’t get this. These people will never break.
This post gave me a very proud chuckle: The Ukrainian 12 Days of Christmas. The tl;dr of it all:
Thank you as always, Adam.
skerry
Thanks so very much for these posts, Adam.
Another Scott
ICYMI, (repost) – PussyRiot – Mama, don’t watch TV (3:45) was released yesterday.
It’s intense and some imagery is disturbing. But it’s well done.
Thanks Adam.
Cheers,
Scott.
PaulB
Happy holidays, Adam, and thank you for these posts. I wasn’t really expecting a Christmas day update. Please do give yourself a holiday rest.
Adam L Silverman
Russian air base go boom!
Alison Rose
@Adam L Silverman: Lovely!
Adam L Silverman
Everyone is most welcome for the updates!
dm
Adam, lately I’ve been seeing claims of “the CIA” using a “NATO network” of saboteurs in Russia, making shopping malls and other things burn and explode.
I guess the disinformation network has something new to try to get to stick to the wall.
Bex
It’s extremely dusty here tonight. Slava Ukraini!
Another Scott
@dm: Along those lines, VOANews.com has a summary in today’s Ukraine update:
Blaming outsiders is the oldest excuse in the book. But, being in day 305 of a “3 day” war invites all kinds of unintended consequences…
Cheers,
Scott.
Fair Economist
@Another Scott: Kinda wish I spoke Russian for that. Their lyrics sound pretty snappy. The translated subtitles not so much, but that’s normal for poetry.
Adam L Silverman
@dm: Oy vey.
oldster
@Adam L Silverman:
I’m so spoiled now — I see a big boom like that, and I start chanting, “I want secondaries! I want secondaries!”
Well, maybe there was a good fire afterwards, like at the bridge to Crimea. Getting that fuel train to burn long and hard did a lot to reduce rail traffic.
Merry Christmas to all who celebrate!
Adam L Silverman
Oldster, I just accidentally trashed your comment. I’m going to try to restore. My apologies.
Adam L Silverman
It should be restored now.
Lums Better Half
With all the beets and cheap alcohol in their diet you would think they would be used to gas exploding.
oldster
@Adam L Silverman:
No worries! All of my comments are expendable.
But thanks for restoring. (As well as thanks for creating the post to begin with!)
Alison Rose
Oh my. I’m not sure who actually posts videos on Zelenskyy’s YouTube (his secondary one, not the official Office of the President one), but ummmmmm…..this little short has a very interesting song choice on it! I mean, the side-by-side pics of him leaving Congress with everyone reaching out to him with a shot of Superman in a crowd is clever, but like…that track has some dirty (and rather problematic) lyrics. The bit of it they used says “Sit your drunk ass on that fuckin’ runway, ho, cause I can’t be your Superman” so I’m not sure if they even heard it correctly, but the rest of the lyrics are a LOT.
Did make me laugh, though, so there’s that.
zhena gogolia
@Another Scott: It’s good.
Jay
Jay
patrick II
@Another Scott:
“Well done” is an understatement. Brave, brilliant, pointed, and disturbing. I am amazed Pussy Riot isn’t in jail. Are they still inside Russia?
Jay
Cmorenc
I could ignore the russian trolls in the ukraine twitter threads (calling zelinsky a corrupt leader ripping off the us for unaccountable billions) with a shrug if only none among them were instead RW US citizens posting from living rooms in the suburbs of American cities, led on by our own 5th column traitorous scum like Fucker Carlson
Another Scott
@patrick II: I’m not sure. Some, at least, are in exile.
A DW story from May has more details.
Some members were detained in Qatar before they could protest at the World Cup.
They are strong, brave women.
Cheers,
Scott.
The Moar You Know
I hope the inventor of the land mine is broiling in hell with an anti tank mine stuffed up his ass. Those things are the spawn of satan.
Amir Khalid
I exposed myself to some YouTube video of self-professed realist John Mearsheimer the other day — his 2022 Holberg Debate over this war with Carl Bildt, Swedish former PM and Foreign Minister. Mearsheimer is exasperating. He gives Putin way too much credit for honesty, good faith, and rational action; he thinks Putin lashing out with nukes must be prevented at all events, even if it means letting him carve Ukraine up or conquer it. That’s two hours of my life I won’t get back.
Eduardo
@Alison Rose: oh my god thank you — hilarious!!!
the lyrics is exactly the opposite of what they were trying to convey
Geminid
@Cmorenc: Jill Stein is getting in on the anti-Ukraine act too. I don’t think Carlson has had Stein on his show yet, but maybe he has.
Reactions to this war have been very revealing of what some people call the “horseshoe effect.” That model has the extreme right and left curving towards each other and meeting on certain issues. This is based on a single left-to-right axis.
Another way to look at the phenomenon is to posit a another axis: Liberal to anti-Liberal. The Democratic establishment exemplified by Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi, would be at one end and Carlson and Stein at the other.
This axis has elements of magnetic polarity; when the Democratic establishment is for something the anti-Liberals are repelled by it. So while Carson and and Stein might seem like strange bedfellows on the issue of aid to Ukraine they are really two sides of the same anti-Liberal coin.
This alliance is more obvious now that “Liberal” has become a derogatory term among some leftists like it has long been among conservatives. I even see the two different anti-Liberal groups using “Woke” in the same way, as an invidious term for liberalism.
The fact that the Black community wields institutional power through the Democratic Party explains a lot here, I think. Black people contribute a lot of electoral strength to the Democratic coalition, and that has helped keep both the left-and right-wing elements out of power. The Black community is much resented for this.
Now I may have rambled far away from the war in Ukraine. But maybe not so far, if I re-imagine Russian President Putin as Sheriff Bull Connor, and re-imagine the Ukrainians as the Black people terrorized by Connor’s deputies and attack dogs. Both peoples’ struggles are unique, but they each exemplify the greater struggle of might versus right.
the pale scot @ gmail
@dm:
That’s from this guy
https://jackmurphywrites.com/169/the-cias-sabotage-campaign-inside-russia/
Bill Arnold
@the pale scot @ gmail:
That I am aware of, no CIA-affiliated saboteurs have been arrested deep in Russia, paraded on television, and convicted in showy trials. (Events near Ukraine involving military targets are in a different class.)
So it is possible (!!! :-) that Jack is lying, or is being fed carefully crafted disinformation, or is being fed fever dream speculations, or is fever-dream speculating himself.
Also, no proclamations of sabotage have been made by Russian authorities. To some extent, that can be a choice to shape the internal information landscape, as Jack notes, but there are enough incidents that somebody probably would have slipped up and called one of them sabotage.
Also, these stories about the CIA provide cover for things like simple insurance fraud, which is not all vehicular[1] ( Podstava ).
Or, it could be a serious of sophisticated sabotage operations, all carefully crafted and executed to look like random failures. :-)
[1] (Paywalled. so I only read the abstract.) Current trends in insurance fraud in Russia: evidence from a survey of industry experts (01 October 2019)
Andrya
@Bill Arnold: My opinionated opinion: it is unlikely that putin would conceal CIA sabotage if it existed. putin faces a difficult problem: he spent the past two decades convincing russians to let go of any expectation of influencing politics, and in return the government would not bother them. Now that continuing the attack on the attack on Ukraine requires major sacrifices, especially large numbers of young men killed and disabled, he needs to convince russians to be passionate about his policies. russian propaganda has already been spewing the lie “we had to do it, or the Ukrainians/NATO would have attacked us”.
Any NATO sabotage inside the russian homeland, and far from the war zone, would be (from putin’s point of view) excellent fodder for stirring up the masses to accept extreme sacrifice. (Look how the regime exploited the assassination of Darya Dugina. Also the apartment bombings of 1999, in the context of the Second Chechen war- there is evidence that was a false flag operation perpetrated by the FSB.)
Just my 2 cents.
S Cerevisiae
@Cmorenc: unfortunately one of the people taken in by the Russian maskrova is a friend of mine who I respect as someone who served in Iraq as a cavalry scout and is a real Anishinaabe warrior but he keeps telling me the same bullshit and I just don’t have the gravitas to convince him otherwise. I keep sending him links to Adam’s posts but it’s not seeming to do any good. It’s sad.