Mass desertion of Ukrainian brigade signals growing frustration with military shortcomings

More Ukrainian soldiers have deserted in the first 10 months of this year than in the previous two years of the war, the Financial Times reports.

In one notable case in late October, hundreds of infantrymen serving in Ukraine's 123rd Brigade abandoned their positions in the eastern town of Ugledar.

💬 "We arrived [in Ugledar] with only automatic rifles. They said there would be 150 tanks, there were 20 ... and nothing to cover us," a Ukrainian military officer told reporters.

Between January and October of this year, Ukrainian prosecutors opened 60,000 cases against soldiers for abandoning their positions – almost twice as many as in 2022 and 2023 combined. If convicted, the men face prison sentences of up to 12 years.

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💬 Speaking to Russian media, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called Hunter Biden's pardon a "caricature of democracy".

Hunter Biden pleaded guilty in September to nine felony counts of failing to pay taxes and in June to three felony counts in a gun possession case. Joe Biden decided to pardon his son over the Thanksgiving weekend.

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🔸 Biden pardons his son Hunter despite previous promises not to

🔸 Biden Admin rushing to spend 'every dollar that Congress has appropriated to us' on Ukraine – Sullivan

🔸 Georgian riot police disperse protesters in Tbilisi

🔸 Druzhba pipeline damaged, Poland's operator not ruling out any causes, including sabotage

🔸 Joint Syrian-Russian forces wipe out terrorist convoy in eastern Idlib – Syrian Defense Ministry

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🚂 German Chancellor Scholz has arrived on a visit to Ukraine for talks with Zelensky, the DPA news agency reports.

This is Scholz's first visit to Kiev in the last 2.5 years. The last time the German chancellor visited Ukraine was in June 2022, accompanied by French President Emmanuel Macron.

🧳What do you think Olaf brought in his suitcase?

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🗣 German Chancellor Scholz announces further arms deliveries to Ukraine worth 650 million euros in December.

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👤Who is Massad Boulos, tapped as Trump’s advisor on Arab, Middle Eastern affairs?

US President-elect Donald Trump has announced Massad Boulos as his pick for the position of senior advisor on Arab and Middle Eastern affairs.

Who is Massad Boulos?

⚪️Boulos is a Lebanese American businessman who is also father-in-law to Trump’s daughter, Tiffany.

⚪️Boulos helped Trump win back the swing state of Michigan by flipping Arab American voters frustrated with Joe Biden’s policies supporting Israel in its war on Hamas in Gaza and on Hezbollah in Lebanon, campaign officials told Reuters.

⚪️He assured Arab Americans during the election campaign that Trump was committed to ending the wars in the Middle East.

⚪️Trump’s in-law has ties to various factions in Lebanese politics, including the Free Patriotic Movement (Christian party aligned with Hezbollah), and the Lebanese Forces Party, according to media reports.

⚪️He is familiar with Suleiman Frangieh, leader of the Christian Marada Movement and a candidate for Hezbollah's faction in the 2022-2024 Lebanese presidential election, Reuters noted.

⚪️Boulos, who has acted as a go-between for Trump and Mahmoud Abbas in the past, met with the Palestinian leader on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in September, a senior Palestinian official told The Times of Israel. Abbas reportedly voiced willingness to work with Trump to reach a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

⚪️Boulos also has friends who are close to Syria’s President Bashar Al-Assad, according to media reports.

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German top diplomat claims 'Ukraine peace process' as aim of her China tour

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock stated on Monday that the primary objective of her visit to China is to advance the Ukraine peace process. She made this announcement during a joint press conference with her Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, in Beijing.

In the same vein, she disclosed the unannounced visit of Chancellor Olaf Scholz to Ukraine, which is taking place today.

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❗️Russian forces hit the infrastructure of Ukrainian military airfields, drone production workshops and drone storage depots, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

🔸 Ukraine lost up to 525 troops and four Kozak armored fighting vehicles in the area of responsibility of Russia's Battlegroup Tsentr.

🔸 Russia's Battlegroup Zapad repelled nine counterattacks, enemy lost up to 490 militants.

🔸 Ukraine lost up to 150 troops in the area of responsibility of Russia's Battlegroup Vostok.

🔸 Russian aviation shot down four HIMARS missiles and 69 Ukrainian drones.

🔸 Ukraine lost up to 260 troops in the area of responsibility of Russia's Battlegroup Yug.

🔸 Ukraine lost up to 90 soldiers in the areas of responsibility of Russia's Battlegroup Dnepr and Sever.

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🇷🇺🇸🇾 Russia and Syria target terrorists in Aleppo

The Syrian Air Force and Russian Aerospace Forces conducted airstrikes on terrorist positions in eastern Aleppo province, resulting in the elimination of dozens of militants, the Syrian Ministry of Defense stated.

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❗️Moscow affirms its continued support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the Kremlin said.

Here are further statements by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov:

▪️ Regarding Olaf Scholz's Ukraine visit: "We are monitoring all contacts."

▪️On Biden's decision to pardon his son Hunter: "This is an internal matter of the US."

▪️"If the United States uses force to compel countries to use the dollar, this may accelerate the trend towards switching to national currencies."

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