💰 ‘One of the greatest examples of waste and theft of Western aid’ – US columnist blasts Ukraine’s corruption and mismanagement of American aid

💬 “The American shame,” US Hill columnist and former Navy officer James Durso writes in The Hill, “is that the U.S. heedlessly expanded NATO to the borders of Russia, and then, after Russia pushed back, enabled and funded the cynical maladministration by the Zelensky government, which will go down in history as one of the greatest examples of waste and theft of Western aid.”

Durso noted that independent investigations after the conflict will reveal the full extent of corruption, waste, and mismanagement.

💬 "The Zelensky government uses the war to suppress media stories that dare to question Ukrainian spending of American taxpayer dollars,” the columnist wrote, adding that those who “have exposed scandals of overpricing, shoddy equipment, and embezzlement at the highest levels of Zelensky’s administration risk being labeled as Russian saboteurs or sent to the front lines for reporting the truth."

On Monday, US President Joe Biden announced the allocation of nearly $2.5 billion to Kiev. According to his statement, $1.22 billion is designated under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), which includes the purchase of new weapons for delivery to Ukraine.

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Russia ceases gas supply through Ukraine as of 8:00 Moscow time on January 1 – Gazprom

Gazprom announced that it no longer has the technical or legal ability to transit gas through Ukraine following the expiration of the five-year contract.

With this development, the Balkan Stream remains the only source of Russian pipeline gas for Europe without transit through Ukraine. The Balkan Stream, fed by the Turkish Stream pipeline, delivers about 14-15 billion cubic meters annually to Romania, Greece, North Macedonia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Hungary.

The agreement between Gazprom and Ukraine's Naftogaz, signed on December 30, 2019, for the transportation of natural gas through Ukrainian territory expired on December 31, 2024. The Kiev regime has previously stated that they do not plan to extend the transit contract.

💬 “Gazprom supplied about 15.5 billion cubic meters of gas through this route last year, accounting for approximately 4.5% of the total gas consumption in the EU. Moldova and four EU countries - Slovakia, Austria, Italy, and the Czech Republic - received Russian gas via this route. Ukrainian transit dominated gas supplies to Austria, Slovakia, and Moldova,” Gazprom added.

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🟠 Putin’s 2025 New Year address: Russia overcame challenges because we stayed together

🟠 Russia halts gas supply through Ukraine at 8:00 Moscow time on January 1

🟠 Hungary to lose over $1 billion in frozen EU funds – reports

🟠 Senegal to expel foreign forces starting in 2025

🟠 French forces to leave base in Côte d'Ivoire – President Ouattara

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📊Kiev regime lost around 593,410 troops over 2024 - Sputnik calculations

Аccording to Sputnik calculations of the Russian Defense Ministry's data, the ministry's weekly briefs over the year indicate that Kiev lost around 4,000 soldiers weekly in early 2024. By March, this figure increased to 7,000, before it experienced a slight decrease.

The ministry's weekly briefs over the year indicate that Kiev lost around 4,000 soldiers weekly in early 2024. By March, this figure increased to 7,000, before it experienced a slight decrease.

Besides, in March, Ukrainian forces attempted to cross the Russian border in the Belgorod and Kursk regions, which resulted in losing around 3,000 troops more, Sputnik calculated on Wednesday.

After that, Kiev's combat losses started increasing, reaching over 10,000 people per week in late May, after which the number did not go lower than that.

Following the Ukrainian attack on Russia's Kursk Region in August, the losses further escalated, the calculations revealed.

The most significant weekly losses for Kiev's troops occurred from October 26 to November 1, with approximately 17,000 Ukrainian fighters being lost.

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🔍Ukraine violates constitutional right to conscientious objection to draft – OHCHR

Ukraine's actions during the ongoing conflict have drawn criticism from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) for violating key constitutional rights.

Among the key concerns raised:

📍Mobilization:
The right to conscientious objection to military service has continued to be subjected to undue restrictions in law and practice.

📍Freedom of religion or belief:
In territory controlled by the Government of Ukraine, new legal provisions regarding religious organizations entered into force; these prohibit the activities of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine, as well as Ukrainian religious organizations found to be affiliated with counterparts in the Russian Federation. The law introducing these provisions established disproportionate restrictions on the freedom to manifest one’s religion or belief.

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⚔️Fatah's journey: One movement’s struggle for the liberation of Palestine through decades

January 1 marks the 65th anniversary of the creation of Fatah, the famous Palestinian liberation movement.

Despite Fatah being created sometime in the second half of the 1950s, the movement’s “birthday” is considered to be January 1, 1965 when it carried out its first combat operation on Israeli soil.

The movement’s name, Fatah, is the acronym in reverse for Harakat al-Tahrir al-Watani al-Filastini, or “movement for the national liberation of Palestine”.

Established as a military-political organization of Palestinian Arabs, Fatah’s original goal was the expulsion of Jewish settlers from lands that Palestinians regard as their own.

After Israel’s occupation of vast swathes of Palestinian territories following the Six Day War in 1967, Fatah expanded its influence in the region.

Though originally regarded as a radical movement by many countries, Fatah managed to change its image in 1993 when its head Yasser Arafat signed the Oslo Accords with the Israeli leadership – a deal meant to help achieve a peace treaty between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (a coalition to which Fatah belongs).

As a result of this agreement, Fatah gained international recognition and even became the head of the Palestinian National Authority.

Fatah, a nationalist movement, eventually found itself at odds with Hamas, another Palestinian group fighting for the expulsion of the Israelis from the Palestinian territories. Founded in 1987, Hamas is an Islamist organization with ties to the Muslim Brotherhood*.

Following the loss of the 2006 legislative elections in the Palestinian territories to Hamas, Fatah became embroiled in a violent conflict with them, which resulted in Hamas seizing control of the Gaza Strip while Fatah (through the PNA) retained control of West Bank.

* Terrorist organization banned in Russia

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💬 Belarus outlines key priorities for EAEU presidency in 2025

Starting on January 1, Belarus will assume the presidency of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council, the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council, and the Council of the Eurasian Economic Commission for the year.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has outlined the following key priorities for the country's leadership of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) in 2025:

📍Completing Integration Projects
Focusing on the establishment of a unified transport space and common energy markets within the union.

📍Strengthening Global Cooperation
Promoting the alignment of the EAEU's integration potential with that of the CIS, SCO, and BRICS.

📍Enhancing Information Coordination
Calling for improved information exchange within the union to effectively counter various destructive influences.

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❗️The Russian Armed Forces struck the infrastructure of energy facility ensuring the work of the Ukrainian military, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

🇷🇺🪖More statements from the Russian MoD daily briefing on the special military operation's progress:    

▪️Ukraine lost up to 330 servicemen in the Russian Zapad Battlegroup's combat zone.

▪️Russian air defence systems shot down seven HIMARS missiles and 66 Ukrainian drones.

▪️Ukraine lost up to 250 servicemen in the Russian Yug Battlegroup's combat zone.

▪️The Black Sea Fleet aviation destroyed three Ukrainian unmanned boats.

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🔥WATCH: Lancets in action

Servicemen of the Russia's Zapad Battlegroup used Lancet drones to destroy a Ukrainian armored personnel carrier in the Donetsk People's Republic.

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