Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

“Just close your eyes and kiss the girl and go where the tilt-a-whirl takes you.” ~OzarkHillbilly

The low info voters probably won’t even notice or remember by their next lap around the goldfish bowl.

Republicans cannot even be trusted with their own money.

Second rate reporter says what?

These days, even the boring Republicans are nuts.

Republicans choose power over democracy, every day.

They were going to turn on one another at some point. It was inevitable.

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

It’s not hopeless, and we’re not helpless.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires Republicans to act in good faith.

There are a lot more evil idiots than evil geniuses.

If ‘weird’ was the finish line, they ran through the tape and kept running.

People really shouldn’t expect the government to help after they watched the GOP drown it in a bathtub.

‘Museums aren’t America’s attic for its racist shit.’

It is possible to do the right thing without the promise of a cookie.

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

Peak wingnut was a lie.

When we show up, we win.

The press swings at every pitch, we don’t have to.

Conservatism: there are people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

An unpunished coup is a training exercise.

Lick the third rail, it tastes like chocolate!

Balloon Juice, where there is always someone who will say you’re doing it wrong.

You are here: Home / Foreign Affairs / War for Ukraine Day 306: Boxing Day!

War for Ukraine Day 306: Boxing Day!

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It really is Boxing Day! Who knew?

And this was yesterday!

Here is President Zelenskyy’s address from earlier today. Video below, English transcript after the jump:

Good health to you, fellow Ukrainians!

A brief report on today – another day of another week of our resistance.

First. The frontline. Bakhmut, Kreminna and other areas in Donbas, which now require maximum strength and concentration.

The situation there is difficult, acute. The occupiers are using all the resources available to them – and these are significant resources – to squeeze out at least some advance.

And I thank all our guys who hold their positions firmly, stand strong, and who nevertheless find opportunities not only to not lose anything, but also to drive the occupiers out, to “subtract” them.

Today I want to celebrate the 10th separate mountain assault brigade for capturing the occupiers in the Donetsk region. It is very important. This will enable us to release more Ukrainians.

I will also celebrate the 80th and 95th separate airborne assault brigades for the successful destruction of the enemy force in the Lyman direction. Well done, guys! The more the occupiers lose, the more time we all gain for Ukraine.

Second. Energy sector.

I want to thank all the workers of the energy companies, all the repair crews for the fact that this Saturday and Sunday – on Christmas Eve and Christmas – it was possible to give people more energy.

Of course, deficits remain. Shutdowns continue. As of this evening, about 9 million people are disconnected in various regions of Ukraine. But the number and duration of outages is still gradually decreasing. I am thankful to each and everyone who made this result possible.

Today I held a special meeting with government officials regarding the situation in the energy and infrastructure spheres. We are preparing for the next year – and not only for the winter months. There are threats that we have to eliminate. There are steps that need to be taken. And the state will definitely take them.

Third. Today I held an extended meeting on the results of the visit to the USA and the implementation of the agreements.

We will not waste time. We will quickly implement everything that was agreed upon in Washington. As much as possible.

And one more thing. Today I spoke with the Prime Minister of India. Next year, it will be India that will preside over the G20. I wished Mr. Modi a fruitful presidency, and fruitful not for someone in particular, but for everyone in the world who values peace.

India can be more active in efforts to end aggression, so I hope we can do more together for global stability in the coming year.

Thank you to everyone who works for Ukraine regardless of whether it’s a holiday, a weekend, or a weekday! Thank you to everyone who fights for Ukraine!

Thank you to everyone who helps our country!

And please don’t forget to be prepared for Russian missile attacks or provocations. Air defense is preparing, the state is preparing, and everyone must prepare. Please pay attention to the sirens.

Glory to Ukraine!

Here’s former NAVDEVGRU Squadron Leader Chuck Pfarrer’s most recent assessments regarding the situations in Kherson, Izium, Bakhmut, and Kremenna:

There’s also reporting that a former Russian senior military leader and a Russian oligarch have both contracted windowitis.

Here’s the update on the second Ukrainian strike on the Engels air base in Russia.

It’s been well documented that Prigozhin does not think very highly of Russia’s military leadership; especially Gerasimov and Shoigu. So this really isn’t that surprising:

I’m rooting for injuries!

 

I meant to include parts of the following thread last night, but we were running long as it was, so:

Do click across and give the whole thread a read, it’s worth the three or four minutes!

The Times of Israel has an interesting article about the Mariupol Defenders:

You shall not pass. The fellowship of the steel

A true story of the Mariupol siege and its heroic defenders

I was waiting for an arrival of a delayed flight from Warsaw in the heart of Ben Gurion Airport. People around eagerly awaited their beloved ones from abroad. Everything around was the usual airport routine. But we were waiting for extraordinary guests from Ukraine – Lt. Illia Samoilenko (Special Operations Detachment “Azov”) and Yulia Fedosiuk (deputy head of The Association of Azovstal Defenders Families). This is their first joint mission abroad as representatives of both military and civil parts of the Azovstal defenders movement. I would also say that this is a very symbolic and significant visit to Israel that shatters the myths of Russian propaganda about the “Azov” regiment.

“Azov” vs Propaganda

Since 2014 Russian propaganda has been working on creating the myth about “Ukrainian Neo-nazis” in military uniform, which was supposed to legitimize their full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Russian media has extensively demonized ” Azov, ” which poisoned people’s consciousness worldwide. Sadly, some international journalists were covertly exploited by Russians, leading to several articles and investigations whose only sources were “unnamed whistleblowers.” Other journalists, naming themselves independent investigators, can not even figure out the difference between the “Azov” regiment and the political party created by the veterans of this unit. It looks like someone is writing an article about Likud, claiming it’s a logical continuation of The Irgun. From my point of view is better to read and analyze local researchers than try to focus on and quote some “Instagram investigators.” E.g., Michael Colborne is known in the western media but is not experienced enough and qualified for such research due to the lack of sources and understanding of Ukraine’s political and military processes.

Nevertheless, I can not deny that some of the far-right activists from Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus joined the unit in 2014 (when it was founded). According to my sources, among “Azov” veterans and acting soldiers, most of those who shared the far-right ideology left the unit back in 2015. Most of these radical adventurists who tried to bring intolerance ideology into the newly arranged battalion were originally from Russia, claiming they were fighting against Putin’s regime in Ukraine.

However, these shady people disappeared less than a year after joining the unit for unknown reasons. Leaving only a trace of the unpleasant stories they created for the media through their appearance in the battalion (at that time). Knowing the methodology of Russian propaganda very well, I would assume that these people were “moles” in the regiment. Their main task was to damage the reputation of the newly created unit, and they did this very well. As Illia Samoilenko told me once: “They (Russians) only can do two things well. They can lie good, and they can intimidate.” Since 2017 new commander of the regiment Denys Prokopenko (“Redis”), has organized a strict set of measures to implement NATO standards in unit training, hierarchy, ideology, and methodology of warfare.

In conclusion to these arguments, I would like to quote Vyacheslav Likhachev (Ph.D. in history, journalist, political scientist, and social activist). Mr. Likhachev has been monitoring right-wing movements, xenophobia, and antisemitism for over 20 years in Ukraine. His fundamental researches provide the most profound and balanced understanding of Ukraine’s ongoing respect for human rights.

“Firstly, the radical far-right background of some of the founders of “Azov” is true. However, this was not reflected in the activities of “Azov” in any way. E.g., there was a large Jewish community in Mariupol, a functioning synagogue, which in eight years never encountered any problems with any “Azov” fighter. The situation is similar with the Muslim and Greek communities. The biggest danger for the ethnic communities of Mariupol and all local residents was the Russians’ indiscriminate use of heavy weapons against civilian infrastructure. But the fact that the founder of “Azov,” Andriy Biletskyi, continued to exploit the name of the regiment for years while creating new political projects of a nationalist direction further confused the outside observers.

Secondly, Russian propaganda does not neglect lies and makes an impressive picture. This picture is virtual, but do not underestimate Russian propaganda. It is systematic, professional, and convincing, especially in Western society, which is not used to such blatant lies. Western culture tends to abandon the black-and-white vision of the world and consider more complex models. It is typical for them to look for the truth somewhere in the middle between polar points of view. And the truth, as Adam Michnyk said, does not lie in the middle, it lies where it lies.”

Jews within the ranks of the “Azov” regiment

Considering that many people still believe in Russian propaganda, I decided to share 3 stories of Jewish “Azov” soldiers I contacted personally.

Those three stories and much, much more after the link!

That’s enough for tonight.

Your daily Patron!

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The caption machine translates as:

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Open thread!

Reader Interactions

58Comments

  1. 1.

    Alison Rose

    Battery-powered menorahs on their cars!!!! I could not love that more.

    This video from the United24 channel about a US Iraq War vet who is in Ukraine to train their military was very nice — the obvious admiration and respect he has for the Ukrainian troops and their people in general.

    I read that Kuleba wants to have a peace summit by the end of February, hosted by the UN and with russia being prosecuted for war crimes beforehand. But of course, even though putin made some mouth noises about negotiations, I assume the enemy’s concept of “peace” would still basically be “we get everything we want and you shut up and like it” which, no.

    Thank you as always, Adam.

  3. 3.

    Dan B

    I saw a comment about a planned massive Christmas bombarment of Ukraine being stopped but the closed captioning of the video was partially obscured by the channel ID so I couldn’t tell the cause.  Any explanation  would be appreciated.

  4. 4.

    Alison Rose

    @Gin & Tonic: Every interview I’ve read/seen with him, he definitely comes across as very intelligent and also, like…astute about the enemy. And I imagine he wouldn’t have said anything like this publicly without very strong reasoning. I do hope the UN or whoever will help make this happen.

    I mean, what I hope is that they’ll just bomb the shit out of the invaders even before February, but you know.

  5. 5.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Meanwhile, Medvedev crawls into a bottle of vodka and games out the ultimate round of Risk (rise of the Fourth Reich, which goes to war with France, and the Republic of Calexico declares war on a US weakened by a second Civil War, or something, I’m not clear on which side the Second Republic of Texas comes down). Elon Musk says “Epic!”

  6. 6.

    Alison Rose

    Oh also…not sure if this was mentioned in an earlier thread perhaps, but Medvedev decided to belch out a bunch of batshit absurd “predictions” for next year which somehow also includes Muskrat becoming president (didn’t know we had a presidential election in 2023 but okay broski), and of course, the bitchboy responded by fluffing him some more.

    I really hope if I ever become obscenely wealthy that I don’t turn into an edgelord sociopathic demon.

    ETA: Jim beat me by a nose.

  12. 12.

    WaterGirl

    @Gin & Tonic:  From the Kuleba article Alison Rose linked:

    Also on Monday, Ukraine’s foreign ministry demanded that Russia be removed as one of the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and called for the country’s expulsion from the United Nations, a move considered unlikely.

    The foreign ministry said that Russia illegally took over the Soviet Union’s seat without going through necessary procedures outlined in the U.N. charter when the union broke up in 1991. It also argued that Russia has abused its veto powers on the Security Council.

    Russia should be readmitted only once it “fulfills the conditions for membership in the Organization,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.

    I have never understood why that idea is DOA.  It made perfect sense to me in February and it makes even more sense to me given the atrocities and abuses committed by Russian this year.

  14. 14.

    West of the Rockies

    @Alison Rose:

    Here’s my proposal for peace… Ukraine gets ALL of its land back (obviously including Crimea).  Russia goes back to its own damned country and pays for all the shit they broke.

  15. 15.

    Andrya

    @Alison Rose:  I hate to tell you, but there is scientific evidence that wealth reduces compassion and empathy.  (Link)  I suspect that the best way to avoid this is to give most of it away.  I’m not a total fan of Bill Gates, but he’s a heck of a lot better person that the Muskrat.

    ETA:  In medvedev’s russia, elections can be tailored to suit the current government.  Naturally, he assumes the same thing can happen here.  (Pray G-d that he’s wrong.)

  16. 16.

    Chetan Murthy

    @Andrya: El Gates shoulda given more of it away faster; if he’d done, he might still be married, the old pervert. [Epstein flights are what caused his wife to decide to get the hell outta that marriage: I guess we can do the math]

  20. 20.

    livewyre

    @Andrya: It seems like they don’t know what law is, other than fancy words in a fancy building that justify systematic abuse. I hope they get a chance to find out.

  21. 21.

    Alison Rose

    @Andrya: I’ve always said that for me, one of the best things about being rich would be being able to give a shit ton of money away. Sure, I’d buy a house and like six thousand books, but mostly I’d be donating money to a hundred different places to try to make as many lives as possible as good as I possibly could. Tikkun olam and all that.

  25. 25.

    Roger Moore

    @Andrya:

    In medvedev’s russia, elections can be tailored to suit the current government. Naturally, he assumes the same thing can happen here.

    His predictions involve a new American civil war in which California and Texas secede, so whatever happens after that point might well involve a whole new Constitutional order.  Of course having secession, the Constitution being rewritten, and new elections all within the span of a year seems like a stretch.  Not to mention that Musk is a resident of Texas, so if he were to be elected anywhere, it would have to be in the new Mexico-Texas confederation.

  26. 26.

    Andrya

    @Roger Moore:  Good heavens.  I had not read his rantings, but that makes me wonder if he’s sane, or at least if he is in touch with reality.  “Whom the gods would destroy they first make mad.”

  28. 28.

    Roger Moore

    @Andrya:

    Maybe I’m giving him too much credit, but I think this is his response to the “what if the Russian people rise up and throw out Putin” speculation.  The implied message is that our speculation about that is as ridiculous as his speculation about Germany founding the Fourth Reich and the US erupting into civil war.

  30. 30.

    Andrya

    @Alison Rose:   I was actually referring to the Muskrat.

    I believe that you are totally correct about russia, however.  One of the disadvantages of  being a dictator- especially a dictator with a well deserved reputation for poisoning people and throwing them out of windows- is that nobody dares to tell you the truth about how things really are.  (Hans Christian Andersen captured this 185 years ago in “The Emperor’s New Clothes”.)

  31. 31.

    Bill Arnold

    @Andrya:

    “Whom the gods would destroy they first make mad.”

    The original is probably (ancient Greek, of which I am mostly ignorant):
    τὸ κακὸν δοκεῖν ποτ᾽ ἐσθλὸν τῷδ᾽ ἔμμεν’ ὅτῳ φρένας θεὸς ἄγει πρὸς ἄταν
    evil at one time or another seems good, to him whose mind a god leads to ruin.
    (Sophocles, Antigone, line 615)
    And it is arguably more accurate. But yeah, mind-breakage is a method of the gods. :-)

  33. 33.

    Bill Arnold

    Zelenskyy:

    There are threats that we have to eliminate. There are steps that need to be taken. And the state will definitely take them.

    That’s … blunt.

  34. 34.

    Bill Arnold

    From "we shot down the drone, there are no casualties and no damage" to "we shot down the drone and the debris killed 3 people" to "we shot down the drone to change its direction and it hit a command post.What's next? "10 giant dragons from a Ukrainian biolab attacked Engels"— NOËL 🇪🇺 🇺🇦 (@NOELreports) December 26, 2022

  37. 37.

    Andrya

    @Alison Rose:  The fault was mine.  I misread Roger Moore as referring to Musk, when actually Roger Moore was referring to Medvedev.  And both are divorced from reality, but Medvedev is beyond just outside reality- he is living in an alternate fantasy universe.

  40. 40.

    Roger Moore

    @Andrya:

    With Medvedev, as with all politicians, you should treat his words as what he wants other people to think, not what he thinks himself.  Now he may still be unhinged- I don’t know what sensible thing he’s trying to convince other people to believe with that rant- but there’s no way he actually believes that stuff is going to happen.

  43. 43.

    Andrya

    @Roger Moore:  Totally agree, but even thinking that he (Medvedev) can get other people to believe that is out of touch with reality.

    I’ll also mention there is a really good commentator on the Ukraine war on YouTube- not as good as Adam, but good- who goes by the nym “Perun”.  (Perun, in Slavic paganism, was the god of law and war.)  Perun did an excellent video titled “How Lies Destroy Armies” which explains this problem very thoroughly.  (Link)

  45. 45.

    patrick II

    @Roger Moore:

    I don’t think he understands how unlikely (not that any of it is likely) Texas wanting to join Mexico in a confederation is. Texas would swap places with Alaska if it could get it further away from all of those Mexicans.

  47. 47.

    Mr. Bemused Senior

    @Andrya:  Thank you for that link!  Not a surprise, but a beautifully clear description from someone who has obviously studied it closely. As I have often seen on BJ.

  48. 48.

    Ruckus

    @Andrya:

    Come one muskrat has given away a large part of his “fortune,” just by being a fucking idiot. That’s got to earn him some sort of an award. Maybe a small box of excrement, to show him what people think of him and his special powers of stupid. If that isn’t good enough, how about a big box?

  50. 50.

    Carlo Graziani

    @Roger Moore: I have a feeling that Orwell’s concept of “Doublethink” (from 1984) is a useful analytic tool to understand people like Medvedev.  He can both be a person who believes such conspiracy-theoretic balderdash, and be a person who can engage in more pragmatic discourse with the real world. Which beliefs he enters depends on what the context demands.

    Russian culture seems to look very favorably on conspiracy as an explanatory and predictive tool. It’s a characteristic that I believe may be most responsible for effectively insulating Russia from Enlightenment values based on the power of reason to better order human affairs.  And while I realize that this is a colossal generalization, and probably a libelous one, I’m willing to stand by the kernel of truth that I think it contains:  To be Russian is to be willing to be beguiled by a conspiracy, and to be willing to believe that the world is run by conspiracies, and that power is seized by entering into conspiracies.  The Philosophes might as well never have written a word so far as such a mentality is concerned.

    So for Medvedev to indulge himself in what seems like drivel to us probably feels like slipping on a comfortable pair of slippers to him, and to the people that he’s addressing. Then he’ll probably have to put on the squeaky oxfords that pinch in the toes to meet the German Ambassador in the morning, when he’ll have to talk in terms that sound more like sense to us. Which he is also capable of doing.

    Because George Orwell was one of the most astute writers of the Twentieth Century.

  51. 51.

    Jay

    A new wave of mysterious deaths of Russian high-ranking officials:24/12: Alexander Buzakov, 66- General Director of military shipyard25/12: Alexey Maslov, 69- former Commander-in-Chief of Ground Forces of Russia 24/12: Pavel Antonov, 65- one of the richest deputies in Russia pic.twitter.com/CFkLPUOAL2— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) December 26, 2022

    The death case of Pavel is the most interesting: His body was found under the windows of a hotel in India, on December 24th. Before that, on December 22, his friend Vladimir Bidenov, businessman from Yoshkar-Ola, was found dead in the same hotel./2https://t.co/hAmtWiFP3I— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) December 26, 2022

  52. 52.

    way2blue

    Left-field question:  Are the Ukainians rebuilding the ability to manufacture their own weaponry?  Or will this need to wait till Russian is extracted from their country?

    The other question that rattles around in my head:  Can power stations be built underground?  I’m not thinking of the nuclear power stations or the hydro-electric ones.  But power stations in urban areas for example?  Maybe the issue will be moot once Ukraine has prevailed.  But I’m wondering if placing them underground would lessen their vulnerability to missiles, drones, et cetera.  Perhaps they’d generate too much ‘waste heat’ underground?  Just a random ignorant thought…

  55. 55.

    Mr. Bemused Senior

    @Ken:  but that’s only what it’s called.

    I vaguely recall a LISP guide that cited that as an explanation.

  56. 56.

    Carlo Graziani

    Weather forecast for Luhansk province is damp, temperatures in the mid- to high 30’s F (3-6 C), for the next 10-14 days.  Cold, soupy mud. It broke the wrong way.

    Damn.

  57. 57.

    Frank Wilhoit

    @way2blue: Where I grew up, the smaller substations were camouflaged, surrounded by walls that were intended to make them look like ordinary buildings, or even houses, but usually without roofs.  There is at least one such substation still in a downtown area.  Of course for the larger ones this is not practical.

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