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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday ruled out a cease-fire in his country's war with Russia, saying the Kremlin's forces would use the pause to rearm and regroup before overwhelming Kyiv's troops. "A pause on the Ukrainian battlefield will not mean a pause in the war," Zelenskyy said during a visit to Estonia. "A pause would play into (Russia's) hands," he said. "It might crush us afterward." Limited cease-fires have occasionally been proposed since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022 but have never taken hold.

Swedes have been warned to brace for the possibility of war in the wake of their country's anticipated NATO membership in 2024 and the backdrop of Russia's conflict in Ukraine. Speaking at the Folk och Forsvar conference in Salen, Civil Defence Minister Carl-Oskar Bohlin stressed the urgency of enhancing Sweden's resilience, citing concerns over the sluggish modernisation of the civil defence system. Mr Bohlin urged a collective effort from all segments of society, emphasising the need for swift action. "Many have said it before me, but let me say it with the force of my office - there could be...

"Russia has never threatened Finland in modern history. We had no reason for confrontation," said Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, according to the Russian state news agency Tass. The tone intensified further after Finland announced a few days before Christmas that it was initiating a new defense agreement with the USA, granting the country access to 15 bases on Nordic soil. Both Sweden and Finland applied for NATO membership last year after Russia initiated a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, fundamentally shaking the security situation in Europe. Sweden's application is still pending approval, while Finland formally joined the defense alliance as a...

According to Germany's largest daily newspaper, Bild, Russia has established a new airline in Turkey. The intention is to organize a stream of refugees to Europe through the NATO country, thereby causing chaos on the continent. As early as today, December 23, the first airplane is supposed to have taken off. "Polish security authorities explicitly warn of a 'new, organized rush of refugees via Russia and Belarus'," the German newspaper reports. One of the airlines identified in the operation is the Turkish Southwind. Yesterday, Friday, Belarusian authorities also announced that the company will start flying between the major cities in...

Russian President Vladimir Putin has vowed "problems" for Finland after he says the Nordic country was "dragged into NATO" amid the war in Ukraine. "Look, Finland was taken and dragged into NATO," Putin said in a new on-camera interview. "What did we have, some kind of dispute with Finland? All disputes, including those of a territorial nature in the middle of the 20th century, were all resolved a long time ago. We had the best, most heartfelt relations. Economically, everything was developing. Yes, in the timber industry, there were some problems linked to the necessity to develop timber processing within...

Ukies reportedly not in a position to feel good about losing entire munitions depots...

For Moscow to finally let go of its imperial ambitions, it must lose the war it has been waging in Ukraine. As the history of the last few hundred years shows, this is the only way Russia will change. The idealogue at the head of Putinist Russia, Vladislav Surkov, has made his vision of an ideal Russia very clear. In his view, Russia is a country that “having stopped falling, has begun to rebuild itself and returned to the natural and only possible state of a great, growing and land-collecting community of nations." Surkov says that Russia makes "no promise"...

Vladimir Solovyov, prominent Russian propagandist and staunch ally to Russian President Vladimir Putin, said that there "can be no mutual coexistence" between Russia and Western nations.... "We need to recognize the West is our enemy—systemic, centuries-old, millennia-old, existential. There can be no mutual coexistence," Solovyov said, according to Gerashchenko's translation... Solovyov continued: "We should only act out of expediency. There is no need to change their minds or to please them. We just need to realize that they are the enemy. Systemic, well-trained, motivated, convinced. Which means we have to fight for minds. Not theirs, but ours."... During the course...

Germany is facing its second winter without gas deliveries from Russia. But analysts say that for gas shortages to really bite, a lot of things would have to go wrong. Germans themselves are optimistic. In the first year of it's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Moscow tried to capitalize on concerns that energy would become scarce in Europe during the cold winter months. The Russians even made a short video to feed these fears, featuring tales of how Germans would freeze without supplies from Russia's Gazprom. The Russian state-owned company halted all gas deliveries to Germany in late August 2022. But...

Against the backdrop of the Gaza conflict, anti-Jewish attacks have been on the rise in the Muslim-dominated Russia's North Caucasus. Israel urged Russian authorities to protect Israelis and Jews. A violent crowd stormed the airport in Makhachkala, in the Republic of Dagestan in southern Russia, on Sunday evening in search of Israeli citizens after word spread that a plane was arriving from Israel. Russian news reports said people in the crowd shouted anti-Semitic slogans and tried to storm the plane, which had landed from Tel Aviv. Video on social media showed some in the crowd on the landing field waving...

Russia has been condemned for rolling out the red carpet in Moscow for senior leaders of Hamas and Iran — which one alarmed expert called proof President Vladimir Putin is forming a new “axis of terror against the West.” Russian Foreign Ministry officials met with Hamas leaders Bassem Naeem and Mousa Abu Marzouk in Moscow on Thursday, just weeks after their terror group stormed Israel and slaughtered at least 1,400 people, mostly civilians. The terrorist leaders posed with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, Putin’s special envoy in the Middle East — who also met Thursday with Iran’s Deputy Foreign...

The ATACMS strikes on Russian airfields in Ukraine's Luhansk region and the port city of Berdyansk in the Zaporizhzhia region on Tuesday destroyed nine helicopters, dealing one of the most significant blows against Russian aviation since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022... The images show multiple scorch marks where Russian helicopters reportedly used to be. The Institute for the Study of War, a U.S.-based think tank, said in an analysis of the conflict on Tuesday that the Ukrainian ATACMS strikes on Moscow's airfields in Luhansk and Berdyansk will likely prompt the Russian command to disperse aviation assets and withdraw...

Senior Hamas Official Ali Baraka: We Have Been Secretly Planning The Invasion For Two Years; Russia Sympathizes With Us, Benefits From U.S. Embroilment In This War; Any Swap Deal Should Include Hamas Prisoners In Europe And The U.S. Senior Hamas official Ali Baraka said in an October 8, 2023 interview that aired on Russia Today TV that Hamas had been secretly planning the invasion of southern Israel for two years, even as it was making it seem like it was busy governing the Gaza Strip. He explained that this is the reason Hamas did not join the Palestinian Islamic Jihad...

Hamas' advanced tactics using drones on armored vehicles must have been the result of Russian training, Ukraine's military intelligence Kyrylo Budanov said in an interview with Ukrainska Pravada released on Oct. 12. While it did not constitute a clear indication of Russia's direct involvement in Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel, the tactics strongly mirrored those used in Russia's war on Ukraine, he said. In addition, there were several other signs in the weeks leading up to the attacks that provide further evidence of increased Russian connections with Israel's foes in the region. Budanov noted that the Russian state-run news...

The Dim View of Western PolicyNot that I could ever feel sorry for the "palestinians", I can't. But there is a big question as to how many of Israel's problems in life are of their own making "I’ve kept an eye on this Israel situation for the past few days. Here’s what I’ve learned, & here are my blunt & honest thoughts: 1. Israel chose to ignore intelligence from Egyptian officials about a major attack coming from Hamas. 2. Multiple former IDF soldiers & Israeli intelligence personnel have come forward online and said there’s a zero percent chance Israel was...

The top Kremlin-installed official in the oblast, Yevgeny Balitsky, said Russia should also have its eye on the Baltic states, as well as Poland and Finland, all five of which are NATO countries... In the interview shared by Russia watcher Julia Davis, Balitsky seemed ready to take on the alliance as he spoke of how the Russian Empire that ended with the 1917 revolution had "lost its footing" as well as "great numbers of people." "I'm not even talking about territories. I understand that it includes Warsaw, Helsinki, also known as Helsingfors," he said... "I don't believe in any diplomacy...

WASHINGTON — Russia’s strategy to win the war in Ukraine is to outlast the West.But how does Putin plan to do that?U.S. officials said they are convinced that Putin intends to try to end U.S. and European support for Ukraine by using his spy agencies to push propaganda supporting pro-Russian political parties and by stoking conspiracy theories with new technologies.The Russia disinformation aims to increase support for candidates opposing Ukraine aid with the ultimate goal of stopping international military assistance to Ukraine.Russia has been frustrated that the United States and Europe have largely remained united on continued military and economic...

If you think, like Elon Musk, that instead of fighting, Ukraine and Russia “should agree to a truce,” the recent interview with General Andrey Mordvichev, one of Russia’s top commanders in Ukraine, should give you pause. Asked about the war’s expected duration, he said the quiet part out loud: There is still “plenty of time.” According to him, “If we are talking about Eastern Europe, which we will have to, of course then it will be longer.” In other words, the Kremlin is in the conflict for the long haul. Not only it is committed, as Russian President Vladimir Putin...

Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska is warning of the world growing complacent as her country presses on in its fight against Russian invaders. Zelenska sat down for an interview with ABC News and said she was concerned global attention is turning away from Ukraine. “We see that sometimes people become reluctant,” Zelenska said. “People talk about ‘Ukraine fatigue.’ This is talk of our existence. We can’t stop fighting for ourselves.” “So my message is: Please don’t stop to help us fight,” she continued. Asked whether she feels the world’s focus is drifting elsewhere, Zelenska said, “I’m afraid of it, but...

Ukraine war will end up being the most costly and perhaps corrupt foreign operation ever carried out by the United States If the Ukraine war ended tomorrow, the United States still would need to send hundreds of billions in aid to that country. The bill includes continuation of military assistance, budget support for the Ukrainian government and reconstruction assistance. President Biden has just asked for another US$24 billion to support Ukraine, primarily for military equipment but also budget support ($7.3 billion). While Congress is increasingly skeptical about another huge chunk of money to fund an endless conflict, this is peanuts...