Live: Ukraine
🔹 In 2025, Pope Francis plans to visit Ukraine.
According to Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, the Pope has received an invitation for the visit, and there are assurances it has been accepted. However, the exact timing of the visit remains unknown.
🔸 A precise HIMARS strike eliminated three Russian army captains, according to Ukraine’s Military Intelligence (HUR)
The strike targeted a Russian field meeting, hitting their gathering point. When an evacuation group arrived, Ukrainian drones launched a follow-up attack. Five Russian military vehicles were destroyed in the operation.
🇰🇵A North Korean soldier captured by Ukrainian forces has died from complications of his wounds, Yonhap reports.
🔹 6.8 million Ukrainians are refugees. Most of them are now in Germany, 1.2 million.
Russia and Belarus also report on the number of Ukrainian refugees, but no one can guarantee that these figures are true, nor how many people voluntarily fled to these countries and how many were deported by Russia. Photo 1
🔸 Azerbaijan Airlines suspends flights to several Russian cities following the Kazakhstan crash.
Flights from Baku to Grozny and Makhachkala were halted immediately. Now, AZAL has temporarily stopped flying to Mineralnye Vody, Sochi, Volgograd, Ufa, and Samara.
Flights to Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Astrakhan, Kazan, and Novosibirsk will continue.
▪️The crash occurred in Kazakhstan on the morning of December 25. The Azerbaijan Airlines “Embraer 190” aircraft crashed near the Kazakh city of Aktau. At least 38 people were killed.
🤯 Russian paranoia about the “NATO threat” has reached new heights.
Russian propagandists have released a "social video" depicting Santa Claus being shot down by Russian air defenses near the Kremlin.
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🔹 Zelensky: Ukraine sent 500 tons of wheat flour to Syria as part of its ‘Grain From Ukraine’ humanitarian program.
🔸 Russia is expanding drone production at a factory in Tatarstan, reports CNN
The facility in question is the “Alabuga” plant in Russia’s Tatarstan region. Satellite images reveal the construction of two additional buildings and ground-level connections, increasing the complex’s area by 55%. Security at the plant has also been heightened following Ukrainian drone strikes.
According to CNN, the plant has completed a contract to produce 6,000 Shahed-136 drones a year ahead of schedule. Additionally, since the summer, it has been manufacturing low-tech decoy drones known as “Gerbera.” Russia aims to produce approximately 10,000 of these drones by the end of 2024.
CNN highlights that the drones are being produced using Chinese components and unskilled labor, including Russian teenagers and African women.
🔹 NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte announced that the alliance will increase its military presence in the Baltic Sea following recent damage to undersea cables between Estonia and Finland.
🔸 Russian ideologist Alexander Dugin stated that Russia cannot reclaim its status as an empire without Ukraine under its control, emphasizing that the war in Ukraine is fundamentally about geopolitics
Figures like Dugin, who bear responsibility for inciting aggression, must face stricter sanctions from the EU, US, and other countries.
🔹 Production at Russian oil refineries has dropped to a 12-year low of 266.9 million tons due to Ukrainian drone strikes, reports The Moscow Times
🔸 Zelensky addressed the participation of North Korean soldiers in the war against Ukraine:
“Today, reports emerged about several North Korean soldiers. Our forces managed to capture them, but they were critically wounded and could not be revived. This is yet another manifestation of the madness that dictatorships are capable of.
The Korean people should not be losing their citizens in battles in Europe. This is an issue that neighbors of Korea, particularly China, can influence. If China is sincere in its statements that the war should not escalate, it must exert corresponding pressure on Pyongyang.”
🔹 Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has threatened to halt electricity supplies to Ukraine:
“After January 1, we will assess the situation and consider reciprocal measures against Ukraine. If necessary, we will stop supplying electricity, which is critically needed in Ukraine during power outages,” Fico stated.
▪️The agreement on the transit of Russian gas to the EU through Ukraine, including Slovakia, expires on January 1, 2025.