💢British Ministry of Defence: Russia has recently started extending defensive positions along its international border with Ukraine, and deep inside its Belgorod region. On 6 December 2022, the governor of Belgorod announced he was establishing local 'self-defence units. Trench digging has been reported in Belgorod since at least April 2022, but the new constructions are probably more elaborate systems, designed to rebuff mechanised assault. There is a realistic possibility that the Russian authorities are promoting defensive preparations within internationally recognised Russian territory to burnish patriotic feeling. However, it probably illustrates some Russia decision-makers' genuine (but false) belief that there is a credible threat of invasion by Ukrainian forces. Paucity in strategic assessment is one of the critical weaknesses in the central Russian government architecture: as highlighted by Russia's original decision to invade Ukraine. Impartial official analysis is almost certainly frequently undermined by a tendency toward group-think and politically expedient conclusions.

💢United States agreed to sell aircraft and defense equipment and spare parts to Taiwan worth $330 million.

💢Israel islamic-zionist garbage regime held air exercise with the French air force yesterday. French fighter jets conducted this exercise in the sky of Israel

💢Putin said poland wants to seize territory in western Ukraine. Russia may be the only guarantor of Ukraine's territorial integrity

💢Ukrainian airstrike to Russian military base in Sevastopol, Crimea was reported

💢Taiwan announced that eleven Chinese military aircraft violated Taiwan's airspace

💢British Ministry of Defence: Elements of Russia's 1st Guards Tank Army (1 GTA) are likely deployed along the defensive line near the Luhansk Oblast town of Svatove. The supposedly elite 1 GTA took heavy casualties earlier in the war, including during the retreat from Kharkiv Oblast in September 2022. It has now likely been partially reinforced with mobilised reservists, although remaining well below its authorised strength of over 25,000 personnel. Russia has now completed almost continuous trench systems along the 60km between Svatove and the Russian border. Despite the length of these works, however, the depth of the defences remains unclear. The effectiveness of 1 GTA and other formations' defensive operations will largely depend upon the extent of mutually supporting, fall-back positions.

💢Taiwan says 16 Chinese military aircrafts violated Taiwan's airspace