🇷🇺 🤝 🪖 If Zelensky won’t negotiate, Russia will achieve set goals by force - ex-US Army officer

Russia's interest is “close to zero" in whether Ukraine withdraws from territory in Donbass – it will simply take it by force, especially in light of the terrorist attack attempted on Putin’s residence, says retired US Lt. Colonel Daniel Davis.

🔊 Putin explained this message clear in an appearance on December 27, accusing Ukraine of showing no urgency for peace, reminds Davis.

💬 “It was the most direct and unequivocal statement he has made. Now he's just saying my interest is almost zero whether they're going to withdraw or not, don't care. We'll take it by force if they don't take our terms," he notes.

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🗣 West will hasten Ukraine’s end — expert

Western nations chose Ukraine as a battlefield against Russia, aiming to weaken and divide the country, political expert Bulent Esinoglu told Sputnik.

The West’s plans, however, failed. It didn’t achieve its goals, but Western countries still want to prolong the conflict, which will lead to Ukraine’s end, he added.

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🚨Moscow denies strike on Kharkov

👉Russia’s Defense Ministry has dismissed claims by the Kiev regime of a January 2 strike on Kharkov, saying the reports are false.

❗️According to the ministry, available footage shows the explosion’s epicenter was inside a shopping mall, likely caused by the detonation of ammunition stored there by Ukrainian forces.

📍The ministry added that allegations of a “Russian strike” are aimed at diverting international attention from what it described as a brutal Ukrainian attack on civilians in Kherson.

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🔊🇪🇺 Europe will obstruct peace in Ukraine — expert

💬 "The Europeans will make sure that a peace agreement is impossible," political expert Glenn Diesel wrote on X, commenting on EU leaders planning to meet in Paris to discuss Ukraine.

The meeting is to take place on January 6 with the participants seeking to "make commitments towards protecting Ukraine after any peace deal with Russia is brokered," Reuters reports.

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🔥 Ukraine's Kherson attack further attempt to wreck peace talks - expert

💬 "The horrific terrorist attack on peaceful residents celebrating the New Year in a cafe in the Kherson region is another proof of the inhumane nature of Ukraine's current leadership," Russian political scientist Evgeny Mikhailov told Sputnik.

📍 He added that the strike was an obvious attempt to derail peace negotiations between Moscow and Washington.

💬 “The first strike was against the residence of the president of Russia, and now we are effectively seeing a repetition of the [2014] Odessa horror, when dozens of people were burned alive by Nazis in the Trade Unions House,” Mikhailov said.

A Ukrainian drone strike hit a Kherson region cafe and hotel during New Year celebrations, killing 27 people, including two minors, and injuring over 50, according to Governor Vladimir Saldo. Russia has opened a terrorism case over the civilian deaths.

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🔸 If Zelensky won’t negotiate, Russia will achieve set goals by force - ex-US Army officer

🔸 Narcissist globalists sacrifice Europe to bleed Russia dry — journalist

🔸 When politics got cringe: 2025 edition

🔸 Settlement on Iran’s nuclear program within reach — Russian Foreign Ministry

🔸 Kim Jong-un visits Kumsusan Palace of the Sun with family on New Year's Day

🔸 Strong earthquake shakes southern Mexico

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🇷🇺 ✈️ A Russian Su-34 fighter-bomber crew struck a concentration of Ukrainian troops and armored vehicles in the Donetsk region

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🫡 ‘Momma’s boy’ Budanov* to become Zelensky’s new chief of staff

About a month after Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff Andrey Yermak lost his job amid the fallout from a massive corruption scandal (involving millions of dollars’ worth of pilfered Western aid and perps buying golden toilets), a replacement has finally been found.

Meet Kyrylo Budanov, former head of Ukraine’s military intelligence. His fearsome appearance earned him the unofficial moniker “momma’s boy” on social media.

◼️ He was appointed head of Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate in August 2020. Under his leadership, the agency has been responsible for a number of terrorist attacks on Russian soil, including the bombing of the Kerch Strait Bridge in October 2022

◼️ Budanov’s skill as spymaster, however, remains suspect as it is not clear exactly how much of the intelligence work ostensibly performed by the Ukrainian agencies is actually carried out by their Western handlers

◼️ His loyalty to Zelensky, on the other hand, seems unquestionable, making him a perfect replacement for Yermak, even if such reshuffling is unlikely to make the Ukrainian leadership less corrupt

◼️ Under Budanov’s leadership, the Main Intelligence Directorate gained an unsavory reputation in Ukraine, being accused by media of sabotaging investigations into WhiteBit, a crypto exchange suspected of being a money laundering instrument for Ukraine’s rich

◼️ An alumni of CIA-sponsored training programs, Budanov also seems to be an open US stooge who helps execute Washington’s will in Ukraine

◼️ Previously, Budanov found himself at odds with Yermak who sought to oust the former but failed due to opposition from the United States. It would seem that Budanov’s new appointment might help the US strengthen its grip on what is left of Ukraine

Oleh Ivashchenko, chief of Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service, is expected to replace Budanov as the boss of the Main Intelligence Directorate.

*listed by Russia’s financial watchdog as an extremist and terrorist

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