[JonPreston]

https://x.com/stillgray/status/1872815287461941292

BREAKING: According to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, the State Department spent $4,840,082 on influencers to promote pro-Ukraine, anti-Russian talking points on social media. They additionally paid $15,220 on an "influencers event" and another $22,231 on a "USAID Social Media Influencers Campaign."

pic.twitter.com/Vt0DUnE36G— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) December 28, 2024

Nearly one million innocent Ukrainians have dιed because paid social media influencers took bribes. I am so proud that I and others stood in the breach for the past 2.5 years and fought their propaganda.

[BroJoeK]

Latest total Russia-Ukraine War casualty estimates:

Ukrainian military casualties:

1. 230,000 Ukrainians dead & seriously wounded enough not to return to active duty through December 2024, according to Pres. Zelensky

2. 62,000 Ukrainian military deaths (implies ~250k total casualties), including non-combat as of December 2024, according to ULLosses project.

3. 310,000 Ukrainians killed & wounded through October, 2024, according to a US government estimate

4. 480,000 Ukrainians killed & wounded through September 2024, according to the Wall Street Journal

5. 480,000 Ukrainians dead & wounded through November 2024, estimated by The Economist

6. 1,000,000 Ukrainian casualties claimed by Russian MOD, December 2024

Russian military casualties:

1. 170,000 Russian dead (implies ~680k total casualties) through December 2024, estimated by BBC and Mediazona

2. 728,000 Russian dead & wounded through June 30, 2024, estimated by The Economist

3. 200,000 Russian dead (implies ~800k casualties) through December 2024, estimated by the BBC News Russia.

4. 800,000 Russians killed (200k) & wounded (600k) through December 2024, according to Ukrainian military sources

Officers and Ukrainian civilians:

1. 4,500 Russian officers and 4,600 Ukrainian officers dead as of December 2024, according to Mediazona and UALosses

2. 55,000 Ukrainian civilians killed, wounded or captured through November 2024, according to UN and Ukrainian estimates.

[BroJoeK]

Wasteful spending on “Orwellian cat experiments” and more highlighted in annual Festivus report.

"Senator Rand Paul releases his 2024 Festivus report on wasteful government spending"

"Department of State spending $4.8 million on Ukraine influencers

Senator Paul highlighted the Department of State using $4,840,082 for “KYIV, Ukraine public affairs – Influencer Staff”.
According to Paul, this kind of spending opened the door to disinformation, propaganda and international PR disasters.
Paul said the government should instead be using taxpayer dollars to protect national interests.

“Let’s leave the Instagram fame to someone else and get back to serious diplomacy.”"

Typically for the US State Department, the $4.8 million was spent to teach basics of journalism to Ukrainian media personalities.