The house of the head doctor of Shuhadaa al-Aqsa hospital, Iyad Abu Zaher, was bombed during one of the Israeli air raids, and now his family is forced to live with relatives. However, he has no plans to leave, he told Sputnik.

"We, my family, have to live with relatives. Yes, it's difficult. But we stay because I am needed here, my suffering people need me. I am proud of my Russian citizenship, proud of Russia's position, of President Putin's position. I thank him for supporting Palestine."

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"2023 was the year of 'global upheaval and rebirth'. On the one hand, you have a lot of wars and destruction, but the other no less significant aspect was that 2023 was the year of new alliances, of new trading routes, of new ideas. And I genuinely believe that 2023 took us one step closer to the emergence of a new world order, one that will be more just, more equitable and more prosperous than the one that we have right now." - Dimitri Simes Jr., host of the New Rules podcast.

In this special holiday episode, we review the main geopolitical events of 2023 with the best interviews of the year, including Scott Ritter, Pepe Escobar, Jeffrey Sachs, Jackson Hinkle, Alastair Crooke and Alexander Dugin.

It was really hard to decide between all our videos. Let us know your top 3 in the comments!

If you want to see full episodes, make sure to follow us on Rumble. Join our X community for more content!

🔥🌪Under Uragan fire

Russian Uragan multiple launch rocket systems inflicted fire damage on a Ukrainian position five kilometers from the contact line in Ugledar, Donetsk region. A drone confirmed the defeat of the target.

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Check out the new AfroVerdict podcast episode to get a 2023 review of BRICS and the bloc's outlook into 2024.

🗣"All Western correspondents accredited by the Foreign Ministry who wanted to attend our briefings have always been allowed to do so, despite the fact that they declared their intention to leave Russia back in 2022," says Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry.

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Ex-Ukrainian troops join fight against Zelensky alongside Russians

The former Ukrainian soldiers from the Bogdan Khmelnitsky battalion had their first battle as part of the Russian Armed Forces, serviceman Kirill Spassky from the detachment told Sputnik.

During their first sortie, the former Ukrainians stormed forward and downed several drones. The group's commander stressed that soldiers were adamant and did their job despite heavy fire. He was wounded during the action, but stayed in charge until his group safely returned to Russian positions.

The Bogdan Khmelnitsky battalion is named after a Ukrainian 17th century warlord and politician who started an uprising against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and reunited with Moscow. It is comprised of ex-Ukrainian soldiers and is a part of the Kaskad operational-combat tactical group.

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🇷🇺❄️ New Year is already very close so we invite our subscribers to watch our video and immerse themselves in the festive winter atmosphere of Moscow.

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Russia’s new ‘Sickle’ defense system can knock enemy UAVs out of the sky

A new anti-drone system called Serp-VS5D (lit. “sickle”) has successfully been tested recently at an undisclosed location.
Developed by a Rostec subsidiary, Serp-VS5D is reportedly capable of:

- 360 degree monitoring of airspace for drone activity

- Disrupting communications between drones and their operators, as well as cutting off drones from satellite navigation systems

- Protecting designated areas from both singular drones and drone swarms

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🇷🇸Serbian president remains pragmatic leader defending national identity - experts

Serbia, which historically has always been considered an ally of Russia, "remains one of the few countries in continental Europe that did not support anti-Russian sanctions," Mateusz Piskorski, a political observer and columnist for the Myśl Polska (Polish Thought) newspaper, told Sputnik.

For his part, Paolo Raffone, a strategic analyst and director of the CIPI Foundation in Brussels, noted that Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic "has developed over time into a pragmatic leader capable of defending Serbian identity and national interests."

The analysts were commenting on a part of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's interview with Sputnik and Rossiya 24, in which he stressed that the West was trying to put Serbia in a dilemma - join anti-Russian sanctions or face a coup, a so-called colored revolution.

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🇷🇺🪖 Key points of Russian MoD briefing on progress of special military op in Ukraine:

▪️ In the Kupyansk region, Russian forces repelled six Ukrainian attacks. Ukrainian losses amounted to 55 soldiers;

▪️ In the Krasny Liman area, three attacks were repelled. Ukrainian losses amounted to up to 210 servicemen, one tank and four armored personnel carriers;

▪️ In the Donetsk region, the total losses of Ukrainian forces during the day amounted to up to 345 soldiers and three tanks;

▪️ In Zaporozhye, Ukrainian losses amounted to up to 140 servicemen, one tank and three armored combat vehicles;

▪️ Three Ukrainian Su-25s were shot down during the day, seven HIMARS shells were intercepted.

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💸 Dollar used to exert "maximum pressure" on states that oppose US geopolitical goals - experts

There is enough evidence that the US authorities "in a certain way tried to influence internal events in various countries through their American monetary policy," Mateusz Piskorski, a political observer and columnist for the Myśl Polska (Polish Thought) newspaper, told Sputnik.

He was echoed by Paolo Raffone, a strategic analyst and director of the Brussels-based CIPI Foundation, who said that "there is no doubt that the dollar has been weaponized to exert maximum pressure on those governments that do not align with US strategic and geopolitical priorities."

The comments came after Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with Sputnik and the Rossiya 24 channel that "everyone is tired of the US dollar," which he said is turning into a means of regime change and interference in the internal affairs of other countries.

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🗣‘Zelensky formula’ unfit to be ‘starting point’ for potential Russia-Ukraine talks – analysts

The so-called “Zelensky formula” is no more than a “political fantasy”, which cannot be used as “a constructive starting point” for possible peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, Mateusz Piskorski, a columnist for Myśl Polska, tells Sputnik.

Strategic analyst Paolo Raffone views Western support for the formula as hypocritical, aimed more at appeasing domestic audiences “that would revolt [upon] learning that two years of support for the [NATO proxy] war [with Russia] would end in defeat.”

Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was interviewed by Sputnik and Rossiya 24 in which he criticized the formula as a "figment of a sick imagination." Lavrov suggested the West is pushing the formula on other countries, referencing a recent secret meeting between Western emissaries.

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🇳🇱 Dutch army chief urges citizens to stock up on food in case something goes wrong

💬 "The Netherlands must learn again that the entire society must be ready when things go wrong," Martin Wijnen, the commander of the Royal Netherlands Army, says in a newspaper. "For citizens, this means having food and drinking water in stock so that they can get ahead in the event of an emergency. The Netherlands should not think that safety is guaranteed with us because we are 1,500 kilometers away."

He emphasized that "Russia is getting stronger," therefore "we must work on our operational readiness and ensure that we have enough deterrence” against any adversary.

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❗️ Trump to be included as a candidate in the Colorado 2024 ballot till the Supreme Court decides on appeal by the state's Republican party.

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🇮🇱🇵🇸 Latest updates on Palestinian-Israeli conflict:

▪️The death toll from Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip has risen to 21,320, with the number of injured reaching 55,603 people, the Hamas-controlled enclave's health ministry said.

▪️Judith Weinstein, 70, an American hostage who was believed to be held by Hamas, was killed during the October 7 attack on Israel, New York Governor Kathy Hochul said.

▪️The Israeli ambassador will not return to Ankara while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan remains in power in the country, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said.

▪️The French authorities have banned a rally in support of Palestine scheduled to be held in the city of Nice on December 30, French media reported.

▪️The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) reported another shelling near the Al-Amal hospital in the city of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, which left 10 people dead and 12 injured.

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🇻🇪🇬🇧 President Nicolas Maduro ordered on Thursday the armed forces to launch "the activation of a joint defensive action" in response to the deployment of a British warship off the coast of Guyana.

"I have ordered the activation of a joint defensive action of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces" off the coast of Essequibo, he said in a state televised broadcast, but did not provide more information.

Earlier this month, the British media reported, citing a British defense ministry spokesman, that the United Kingdom would deploy a patrol ship off Guyana's coast as a sign of support for the state in the territorial dispute over Essequibo. The head of Venezuela's defense ministry, Vladimir Padrino Lopez, called it a provocation.

👉 Follow the link for more details

Former US President Donald Trump will appear on the Republican Party primary election ballot in the state of Colorado unless a higher court takes action otherwise, following an appeal by the state’s Republican Party branch, Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold’s office stated on Thursday.

"The Colorado Republican Party has appealed the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision in Anderson v. Griswold to the US Supreme Court. With the appeal filed, Donald Trump will be included as a candidate on Colorado’s 2024 Presidential Primary Ballot when certification occurs on January 5, 2024, unless the US Supreme Court declines to take the case or otherwise affirms the Colorado Supreme Court ruling," Griswold’s office said.

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❗️ The Syrian air defense system is repelling an attack near Damascus, the Syrian state news agency SANA reported on Thursday.

Explosions are also heard near Syria's capital, according to the broadcaster.

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🇸🇾🇮🇱 The Syrian Defense Ministry said late Thursday that Israel has struck several positions in southern Syria, but the country's air defenses intercepted most of the missiles launched.

"Today [on Thursday], around 11:05 p.m. [local time, 20:05 GMT], the Israeli enemy has carried out an air aggression from the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, having struck some positions in the southern region [of Syria]. Our air defense systems have responded to the aggressor's missiles and shot down most of them," the defense ministry said in a statement.

The attack has resulted in material damage, the ministry added.

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The Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) was shelled by Ukrainian troops 69 times over the past day, the DPR representative office in the Joint Center for Control and Coordination (JCCC) of issues related to Ukraine's war crimes said in a statement.

"Over the past 24 hours, the office reported 69 cases of fire by Ukrainian armed forces," the office wrote on Telegram.

According to the statement, three civilians were wounded. The DPR stated that the Kiev regime fired 235 rounds of various ammunition.

In the previous day, Ukrainian troops launched 54 strikes .

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🇮🇱 Israel actually ‘conducting ethnic cleansing’ in Gaza – analysts

The West’s condemnation of Russia demilitarizing Ukraine while supporting Israel’s ongoing Gaza incursion is a glaring example of double standards Mateusz Piskorski, a Myśl Polska columnist, told Sputnik. According to him, it is now apparent that the Israeli authorities are engaged in ethnic cleansing in the Gaza Strip, in contrast, that is not being done in the zone of the Russian special military operation.

Comparatively, Paolo Raffone, a Brussels-based strategist, noted that Russia's military operation is more limited than Israel's Gaza offensive.

Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in an interview with Sputnik highlighted that Israel's final goal of eliminating Hamas looks like the Russian special operation’s aim of demilitarizing Ukraine, expressing surprise at Israel's negative reaction to Moscow's actions.

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