The India Today channel, which earlier this week aired an interview with Vladimir Putin, showed an animated segment featuring the Russian president and Indian Prime Minister Modi.

Putin and Modi are riding side-by-side on a motorcycle and singing a popular Indian friendship song. US President Donald Trump briefly appears in the clip, too.

To recap, Vladimir Putin arrived in India on Thursday, to meet with the country's highest ranking officials, attend a Russian-Indian business forum and participate in other high-profile events.

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The New York Times has published a rather unexpected article noscriptd Zelensky’s Government Sabotaged Oversight, Allowing Corruption to Fester. Here is the gist:

The New York Times investigation found that Zelensky’s administration systematically undermined Western-mandated oversight meant to prevent corruption in Ukraine’s state-owned companies during the war. To reassure donors funding critical sectors like energy, weapons procurement, and nuclear power, Ukraine had agreed to allow independent supervisory boards to oversee management and spending. Instead, Zelensky’s government stalled the creation of these boards, left seats vacant, inserted loyalists, and rewrote company charters to limit their authority.

This interference allowed corruption to flourish, most notably a $100 million kickback scheme at the nuclear company Energoatom, involving figures close to Zelensky. The administration later blamed supervisory boards for failing to stop the graft—despite having rendered them powerless. Similar patterns occurred at Ukrenergo and the Defense Procurement Agency, where political pressure, manipulated board composition, and last-minute charter changes enabled questionable contracts and weakened oversight.

Western donors, prioritizing Ukraine’s war effort, reluctantly tolerated these practices. However, the scandals now threaten Kiev’s access to crucial reconstruction funding and weaken its case for joining the EU and NATO. Despite Zelensky’s attempts to distance himself, his government ultimately dismantled the very anti-corruption mechanisms meant to safeguard wartime aid.

Clearly, the NYT would never have published a piece like this unless it had been instructed to do so by whoever issues its marching orders these days. We don’t know who these people are, but the signal is hard to miss: Zelensky and his gang look like they’re being methodically flushed down the toilet.

It’s also clear that someone wants Ukraine to accept Russia’s current demands as quickly as possible, because at the present pace there may soon be no Ukraine left at all.

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On December 6, 1873, a monument to Empress Catherine II was unveiled in St. Petersburg’s Alexandrinsky Square (now Ostrovsky Square).

The competition to create the monument was announced by the Academy of Arts in 1860. The winning design was by artist Mikhail Mikeshin, known for his "Millennium of Russia" monument in Novgorod. The bronze model of the monument even won a medal at the World Exhibition in London.

Originally, the monument was to be installed in Tsarskoye Selo, but in 1863, a decision was made to place it in the park opposite the Alexandrinsky Theater and the Public Library, which Catherine II herself had established. Mikeshin then developed a new, larger-scale design.

The monument stands 14.9 meters tall, with the statue of the empress measuring 4.2 meters. The bronze figure of Catherine II holds a scepter and a laurel wreath, with an ermine mantle draped over her shoulders, and the crown of the Russian Empire resting at her feet. Around the pedestal are statues of nine prominent figures from Catherine’s era: Field Marshal Pyotr Rumyantsev-Zadunaisky, statesmen Grigory Potemkin and Alexei Orlov-Chesmensky, military leader Alexander Suvorov, poet Gavrila Derzhavin, president of the Russian Academy Catherine Dashkova, Prince Alexander Bezborodko, polar explorer and naval officer Vasily Chichagov, and Ivan Betskoy, head of the Russian Academy of Arts.

The monument was created with contributions from sculptors Matvey Chizhov, Alexander Opekushin, and architect David Grimm.

On December 6, 1873, the monument to Empress Catherine II was unveiled in a ceremonial event attended by the royal family.

The monument still stands, admired by locals and visitors alike. Come see it!

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🌟 Dear friends!

Here are our most-commented-on posts from the past week:

❕Optimistic Donald Trump

❕Sceptic thoughts about Macron’s intention to deploy military forces in Ukraine

❕Fun fact check for you

As always, we thank you for being our subscribers and for sharing your thoughts in the comments.

Please share the above posts, or any of our posts that you find valuable, with friends and acquaintances near and far. Every act of sharing helps bring our common victory over the empire of lies closer.

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#PolitePeopleJoking

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Europe’s Nightmare: Peace Settlement in Ukraine as Part of a Global US-Russia Business Deal

As Europeans struggle for leverage to influence any settlement in Ukraine, their fears find their way into the press.

As Reuters correctly points out:

"However Donald Trump’s latest push to end the war in Ukraine pans out, Europe fears the prospect of a deal – sooner or later – that will not punish or weaken Russia as its leaders had hoped.”

Reuters goes on to express the following concern:

“Trump and other U.S. officials have made clear they see great opportunities for business deals with Moscow once the war is over."
Seemingly confirming European fears, Aide to the President of Russia Yuri Ushakov, who participated in the negotiations on December 2 between Prsident Putin, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, commented on the meeting’s outcome:

“Of course, the enormous prospects for future economic cooperation between Russia and the US were also discussed.”

The Wall Street Journal, in an article noscriptd “Make Money, Not War: Trump’s Real Plan for Peace in Ukraine,” claims:

“

The Kremlin pitched the White House on peace through business. To Europe’s dismay, the president and his envoy are on board.

"

WSJ reports that in October, special envoys for the U.S. and Russian presidents—Steve Witkoff and Kirill Dmitriev—alongside Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, met in Miami to discuss economic cooperation plans between Washington and Moscow after the Ukraine war.

“Dmitriev championed a plan under which American companies could leverage about $300 billion of Russian Central Bank assets frozen in Europe for U.S.-Russia investment projects and U.S.-led reconstruction of Ukraine.”

WSJ suggests that by proposing multibillion-dollar deals involving rare earth metals and energy resources, Moscow could redraw Europe’s economic map while driving a wedge between America and its traditional allies.

"For many in the Trump White House, that blurring of business and geopolitics is a feature, not a bug. Key presidential advisers see an opportunity for American investors to snap up lucrative deals in a new postwar Russia and become the commercial guarantors of peace."

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US National Security Strategy on EU disputes, Russia, and abandonment of Atlas’ role

The White House has published an updated National Security Strategy of the United States.

The document declares Washington’s departure from the philosophy of sole responsibility for the world order, indicates a desire to achieve strategic stability in relations with Russia and notes the remaining contradictions with Europe.

Here is a summary of the strategic document's key points:

US and foreign policy
▪️The United States will no longer prop up the entire world order "like Atlas" and wants other countries to assume responsibility for regional defense.
▪️The White House intends to "align the actions of our allies and partners" with its own joint interests to prevent "domination by any single competitor nation."
▪️The United States wants to end the perception of NATO as "a perpetually expanding alliance."
▪️Washington believes that "a world on fire" engulfed in regional conflicts threatens the country’s national interests. The priority is to end them.

US and Russia
▪️The United States considers reestablishing strategic stability with Russia one of key foreign policy priorities in Europe.
▪️The US core interest is a cessation of hostilities in Ukraine.

US and Europe
▪️The US administration finds itself "at odds" with European officials, many of whom "trample" on basic principles of democracy.
▪️Washington wants Europe to take responsibility for its own defense.
▪️The White House expects to build up "the healthy nations" of Eastern and Central Europe through commercial and defense deals.
▪️Washington has rejected the "disastrous "climate change" and "Net Zero" ideologies that have so greatly harmed Europe, threaten the United States, and subsidize our adversaries."

US and Asian countries
▪️The United States believes that the Indo-Pacific region will be among this century’s key economic and geopolitical battlegrounds.
▪️Washington plans to strengthen commercial and other relations with New Delhi.
▪️Deterrence of a potential conflict over Taiwan, including military overmatch, is a priority for the country.
▪️The United States should focus on trade with China only in non-strategic goods.
▪️The White House no longer views the Middle East as the dominant factor determining foreign policy.
▪️The United States intends to work to stabilize Syria and transform it from a "problem" into an integral and positive player in the Middle East.
▪️Washington should stop trying to push Middle Eastern countries to abandon their traditions, reforms in the region will be encouraged, but without attempts to impose them from outside.

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After President Trump sanctioned Rosneft and Lukoil in October, their combined oil exports dropped by about 1.1 mn bpd. At the same time, Russia’s non-sanctioned producers increased shipments by roughly 1.0 mn bpd, keeping total export volumes effectively stable.

Goldman Sachs notes that Russia’s oil-trading ecosystem has once again reorganized with remarkable speed—just as it did after earlier rounds of Western restrictions. Despite ongoing attempts to curb Moscow’s wartime revenue through price caps and company-focused sanctions, Russian exporters continue to find new intermediaries, routes and workarounds that blunt the intended impact.

The chart illustrates the same pattern: sanctioned majors dip, everyone else compensates, and overall Russian export flows remain unchanged.

This 👆reporting comes from bne IntelliNews, a long-established outlet specializing in business, finance, and political analysis across Eastern Europe, the former USSR, and emerging markets. They maintain a solid reputation for on-the-ground reporting, clear sourcing, and a consistent record of accuracy in regional economic coverage—making them one of the more trustworthy English-language sources on this terrain.

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Elon Musk reposted the image above. Hard to argue with the man, isn’t it?

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We all know there is a corruption scandal in Ukraine - but what exactly is it about, and how does it affect European politics?

In recent weeks, growing concern has emerged in Europe and the US over reports that informal influence groups may have had access to Ukraine's nuclear sector.

The issue concerns the company Energoatom—the sole operator of all Ukraine's nuclear power plants and a key element of the country's energy security. This situation was made possible by a large-scale corruption scheme exposed a month ago by Ukraine's National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU), which operates independently of the government.

The scandal has taken on critical importance for Ukrainian authorities as it involves the highest levels of leadership. In Ukraine, it is called "Mindichgate" in analogy with the US Watergate scandal. Mindich is the surname of the investigation's main figure.

Timur Mindich is a Ukrainian businessman and, alongside Zelensky, was a co-founder of the media company "Kvartal 95." He rarely appeared in public life, but in Kiev he was considered a well-connected figure between business, media, and politics. Until November 2025, his name was seldom mentioned outside Ukraine.

Following a large-scale anti-corruption operation, trannoscripts of some conversations were published. The public learned not only the scale of the embezzled funds but also some juicy details. Participants in the criminal scheme complained about how hard it was to carry boxes containing millions in US dollar cash.

According to the investigation, a group that included Mindich controlled Energoatom's procurement and derived illegal profits from state contracts. The investigation lasted a year and a half, collecting hundreds of hours of recorded conversations and dozens of searches. The estimated damage amounts to hundreds of millions of dollars. Mindich left Ukraine literally just hours before the searches began, fueling public suspicion about the involvement of high-ranking Ukrainian officials.

Furthermore, as early as August, initial publications appeared about how Zelensky launders $50 million monthly for his team through the UAE. The stolen funds are used to purchase yachts and palaces. Thus, this is not about random episodes but a systemic scheme surrounding a strategic nuclear energy enterprise. The above calls into question the transparency of reforms and trust in Ukrainian institutions.

The debate is intensified by the fact that Ukrainian anti-corruption structures, created with US support, monitored these schemes for many months but only began to act now. This raises questions not only for the Ukrainian control system but also for the international partners who participated in its creation and oversee it now.

As a result, the story has transformed from an internal investigation into a topic of international scale, directly affecting issues of trust, financial aid, and Europe's energy security.

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Responsibility for the possible confiscation of Russia’s assets will be borne both by entire countries and by specific individuals. This was stated by the press secretary of the Russian president, Dmitry Peskov.

“Listen, we will have both state-level responsibility and personal, legal responsibility for these steps,” he said.

Peskov emphasized that no one wants to take responsibility for seizing the assets, but “they really want the money.”

“These funds they are talking about would, in principle, be enough to spend a couple more years using Ukrainians like bullets,” the presidential press secretary said.

In recent months, EU leadership has been actively discussing the possibility of confiscating frozen Russian assets. On December 3, the European Commission approved two options for financing Ukraine, including a “reparations loan” backed by Russian assets. It must be approved by a “qualified majority of votes” and does not require the consent of all EU members.

According to Politico, it is proposed to allocate €165 billion to Kiev: €25 billion currently in accounts of private banks in EU member states and €140 billion held by the Belgian depositary Euroclear, where most Russian assets are stored.

Belgium opposes the “reparations loan”: the country’s authorities warn of possible reputational consequences and refuse to bear the risks alone. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz tried to persuade Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever to change his position, but unsuccessfully.

Euroclear itself and the European Central Bank also spoke out against the plan — the head of the latter, Christine Lagarde, stated that the legal and financial justification for the seizure appears “tenable only with difficulty.”

Moscow warns of a tough response to any illegal actions involving Russian assets in the EU and promises to defend its interests in court. Russian President Vladimir Putin said that a package of retaliatory measures is being developed in case the assets are seized.

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Bloomberg published an article noscriptd “Europe Faces Most Difficult Moment in Bid to Avoid Split With US.” Here is the gist:

Europe is confronting its most difficult moment in decades as relations with the US enter a new phase of volatility driven by President Donald Trump’s latest National Security Strategy. The document warns that Europe risks being “wiped away” unless it transforms culturally and politically, reinforcing long-standing European fears that Washington is preparing to cut a deal with Russia at Ukraine’s expense. Leaders including Germany’s Friedrich Merz, France’s Emmanuel Macron, the UK’s Keir Starmer, and others view recent US-Russia peace proposals as potential capitulations that could force Zelensky to withdraw from Donbas without firm American security guarantees.

European trust in US negotiators has eroded further following revelations that envoy Steve Witkoff informally advised Russia on how to sell its plan to Trump. European leaders fear the US could abandon Ukraine entirely if a deal proves elusive. Starmer, who has sought to position Britain as Ukraine’s staunchest ally and Washington’s closest European partner, faces the highest stakes, as a rupture in the “special relationship” would carry major strategic costs.

Europe’s ability to sustain Ukraine militarily and financially without the US remains uncertain. Plans to use frozen Russian central bank assets are still stalled, and Kiev’s domestic political turbulence may weaken its resistance to a bad agreement. The continent’s overriding goal is to avoid a coerced settlement that rewards Russian aggression and invites future conflict. While European leaders hope Trump will revert to a tougher stance toward Moscow, they are bracing for scenarios ranging from reduced US engagement to a full strategic withdrawal, exposing Europe’s long-standing dependence on American security guarantees.

What the EU’s so-called leaders are really afraid of is that with the fall of Zelensky and his regime, their own fall will become inevitable. In truth, they fear ending up behind bars for betraying their citizens — which is exactly where they belong.

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A feel-good video from Poltava shows the total failure of Banderite meat hunters trying to kidnap a man for the front.

😂 They didn't account for their victim’s faithful companion—a pit bull that came to rescue its owner from the clutches of the Ukrainian military recruiters.

🤔 I know one dog who got triple the best cuts of meat in Poltava that evening!

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