⚡ Ukraine only has 1-2 million men of viable age which can be drafted into the war.

14 million Ukrainians fled the war, combined with 9 million under Russian control, that leaves 3 million, and a million have allegedly been drafted already.

🇩🇪😕The Germans are dissatisfied with deliveries of Marder IFVs and do not want combat tanks to be supplied to Ukraine - Bild

The tabloid cites a poll in which 49% believe the transfer of IFVs was wrong. 40% support the decision, 11% are undecided as to their opinion. 50% are against transferring combat tanks to Ukraine, 38% would support such a decision.

💥Source: Операция Z: Военкоры Русской Весны
💥Our channel: Node of Time EN

Armed neo-Nazi formations threaten to slaughter ethnic Hungarians in Transcarpathia

"We know all Hungarians, all your children... we will come after you," the militant said.

The footage was published by militants of the Right Sector, an organisation banned in Russia. The video was allegedly filmed on New Year's Eve.

▫️ It has not been possible to confirm or deny the authenticity of the footage yet.

Presumably, the video was shot in front of the sign at the entrance to Berehove, the main centre of Hungarian culture in Transcarpathia.

▪️There are now 150,000 Hungarians living in Ukraine. Hungary has already claimed it will protect them, even by force.

▪️The Kiev regime has repeatedly accused Budapest of interfering in internal Ukrainian affairs. Back in 2018, a scandal erupted over a video showing Ukrainian citizens receiving passports from the hands of the Hungarian consul.

The Kiev regime then threatened to take action and ordered the AFU command to hold a large-scale exercise called "Cossacks' Will" with the participation of elite units of the AFU.

💥Source: ANNA-NEWS
💥Our channel: Node of Time EN

"A beautiful picture, isn't it? You fucking wrecked it and you are taking pictures."

A resident of Bakhmut commented on the filming of the area by a Ukrainian journalist.

By the way, the video was published by the correspondent himself.

💥Source: ANNA-NEWS
💥Our channel: Node of Time EN

The first Bible in the world with blood of genuine martyrs

🇺🇦A printing house in Kiev prints Bibles with 'Azov' members blood added to the ink. By the way, many of these guys are extremely hostile to Christianity. One 'Azov' prisoner I interviewed used to shoot icons.

If this is a real project and not a propaganda lure by the Azov Nazis, then it's just some kind of Satanism.

💥Source: CSRC Agency.(A-Novosti)
💥Our channel: Node of Time EN

Statement of the Russian Mission to the UN in Geneva:

❌ The entire "collective West" has univocally condemned the violent street protests in Brazil. After all, the goal of the rioters was clear – to instigate a coup and violently overthrow the legitimately elected president. It goes without saying that Russia has also condemned these illegal actions.

💬 The Head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, for example, tweeted that the events in Brasilia are “a major concern to all of us, the defenders of democracy”.

❓ A question comes to mind: where were you, the "defenders of democracy", in 2014, when a bloody coup was raging in the streets of Kiev in a similar fashion? Back then, who in the West stood with the legitimate President Viktor Yanukovich while condemning the violence of local nationalists? Nobody. On the contrary, European leaders abruptly renounced their obligations as guarantors of the Agreement on settlement of the political crisis in Ukraine of February 21, 2014 and legitimized the radicals who illegally came to power.

🤷 Ironically enough, the Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba has also criticized the riots in Brazil. It is understandable – who, if not representatives of the current Ukrainian regime, knows more about the consequences of bloody coups?

❗️ The lessons of the "Arab Spring" and the "Kiev’s Maidan" have clearly shown that nothing good comes out of violent armed protests orchestrated from abroad that eventually lead to coups. However, this indisputable fact always passes through the lens of Euro-Atlantic "double standards". If it is beneficial to the West, such actions are classified as "peaceful protests and people’s right to defend democracy", if not – they are branded as "illegal street riots".

⚡️⚡️Key updates on Russia and #UkraineCrisis as on January 12

🔴SMO-in-charge
Moscow has yet again replaced a commander for its “special operations” in Ukraine. Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu on Wednesday appointed Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov as overall commander for SMO that now is into its 11th months. This decision demoted General Sergei Surovikin, who was appointed as SMO chief in October and oversaw attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure.

While Russian MOD said the move “is related to the amplified range of tasks", the UK MOD in its latest intelligence update suggested the move is “a significant development in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s approach to managing the war”.

⛔️ Russian agents
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has stripped four Ukrainian lawmakers of their citizenship for collaborating with the Kremlin and spreading Russian propaganda. The four pro-Russia MPs are Andriy Derkach, Taras Kozak, Rinat Kuzmin and Viktor Medvedchuk. A month earlier, Zelenskyy had signed a law banning all 11 pro-Russia political parties in Ukraine. Zelenskyy said these “elected representatives chose to serve not the people of Ukraine, but the murderers who came to Ukraine,” adding that “this is not the last decision of that kind.”

⚔️Leopard tanks saga
Poland has decided to send 14 Leopard tanks to Ukraine, President Andrzej Duda said Wednesday.
But Duda, on a visit to Lviv, said that the move would be possible only as an element in a larger international coalition of tank aid to Kyiv. Poland’s leaders have been indicating that they were in talks with other countries over a potential international coalition that would send the German-made Leopard tanks to Ukraine. They haven’t named the countries.

Re-export of Leopard tanks requires approval by the government in Berlin. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Monday that he remained convinced of the need to coordinate weapons deliveries to Ukraine with allies. However, a German government spokesman said on Wednesday that it was not aware of any requests from its allies to send Leopard battle tanks to Ukraine, Reuters notes.

📉VC market looses half
Russian venture investments market dropped sharply by the end of 2022, Kommersant writes, with 128 investments made in developing Russian IT companies as against 291 made a year earlier. Investments in startups fell by 57% to $1.1 billion. The war in Ukraine is cited as the key reason since many companies could become subject of sanctions and relocated abroad. However, considering such a law base, investments may start growing experts say. Russia’s move to replace foreign IT solutions with domestically developed ones could spur the growth.

Meanwhile, Vedomosti reports that Russian government under its Financial Market Development Strategy - 2030 is planing to roll out "administrative requirements that establish minimum levels of investment by state-owned companies in innovative products of new enterprises, which means that public sector companies will have to buy products from innovative start-ups.

📌Trafigura quits Rosneft-backed Nayara
Trafigura has sold its 24.5% stake in Russia-backed Indian refiner Nayara Energy (formerly known as Essar Oil) to an Italian energy investment group Mareterra Group Holding formerly known as Genera Group Holding. Rosneft owns a 49.13% stake in Nayara since 2017. A similar-sized holding was split between Trafigura and Cyprus-based Russian investment group United Capital Partners (UCP).


👉 Follow t.me/russiawire for daily updates, analytics and ground reportage from Russia, Donbass, and the neighbourhood.

Reminder that no wunderwaffen will be enough, those were American tanks taken directly from NATO Frontline units, they didn't survive 48 hours.

For the second week in France, French actor Omar Sy's remarks have been discussed.

In an interview with Le Parisien, Omar Sy was asked about his attitude to what is happening in Ukraine. And he said the following: "Ukraine has not been a crazy revelation for me. Because I have family elsewhere, in Africa, I know there have always been children at war, broken families. I am surprised that people have been so affected by what is happening in Ukraine. Does that mean that when the same thing happens in Africa, you care less?"

The suffering of the Libyans did not impress the French as much as the suffering of the Ukrainians.

Does this mean that the French are racist because they tend to sympathise more with people of their own colour and religion?

After Omar Sy's remarks, many French feel that they are "bad people", which is not what anyone wants. The debate continues.

💥Our channel: Node of Time EN

🪖🇷🇺Haditengerészeti hírek: három Kalibr rakétákat szállító orosz tengeralattjáró elhagyta Novorosszijszk kikötőjét

Ezenkívül a kiadvány szerint Oroszország kivonta a kikötőből a "Pjotr ​​Morgunov" partraszálló hajót.

⚡️Az Ukrán Fegyveres Erők vezérkara rakétatámadás veszélyére figyelmeztet Ukrajna egész területére.




🪖🇷🇺Naval news: three Russian submarines carrying Kalibr missiles left the port of Novorossiysk

In addition, according to the publication, Russia withdrew the landing ship "Pyotr Morgunov" from the port.

⚡️The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine warns of the danger of a missile attack on the entire territory of Ukraine.

Julian Röpke, editor of the German newspaper Bild, calls for faster recycling of Ukrainian men by sending them to the frontline

💥Source: Орда
💥Our channel: Node of Time EN

Georgia refuses to give back Buk systems it insists it bought from Ukraine

Ukraine’s European Pravda online newspaper published an article on Monday in which Andrey Kasyanov, Ukraine’s temporary charge d’affaires to Georgia, said that Ukraine had asked Georgia to send back Buk systems Kiev had transferred to Tbilisi in 2008. The Ukrainian diplomat said Kiev had also asked Tbilisi to give it the Javelin missile systems Georgia had received from the United States. According to Kasyanov, Washington had given its consent and was ready to send newer systems to Georgia as a replacement.

"The information that Ukraine gave Buk missile systems to Georgia for free is not true. The Defense Ministry obtained Buk systems through millions worth of a purchase in 2007. This [transaction] was made under a secret contract, therefore we do not have further details," Georgia’s top brass said.

💥Source: https://tass.com/defense/1560185
💥Our channel: Node of Time EN

POLITICO: France and Poland push Germany to send Leopard tanks to Ukraine

If Germany relents and sends Leopard tanks, it is likely several other EU countries will too.

▪️Less than a week after Germany finally agreed to supply Ukraine with Marder infantry fighting vehicles, pressure is building on Berlin to step it up and send modern battle tanks.

▪️France and Poland are pushing the EU’s biggest economy to equip Kyiv with its powerful Leopard 2 tank, while Britain is reportedly considering sending about a dozen of its Challenger 2 main battle tanks to Ukraine. If Britain did so, this would make it significantly harder for Berlin to hide behind its current argument that it does not want to act alone in sending heavy weaponry.

▪️A French official told that Paris is turning the screws on Germany in the hope of extracting an agreement from Berlin to send Leopard tanks to Ukraine ahead of a Franco-German summit on January 22. Similar pressure is coming from Poland, which wants to form a broad coalition among Western partners to jointly hand over Leopards to Ukraine.

“The Ukrainians really want the Leopards because there are lots in stock across Europe,” said the French official, who is familiar with the tank discussions.

▪️However, since the Leopards are being produced by Munich-based defense company Krauss-Maffei Wegmann, their delivery to Ukraine demands a re-export authorization by the country of origin, Germany — meaning that international pressure is now concentrating on Berlin.

💥Source: https://www.politico.eu/article/france-and-poland-push-germany-to-send-leopard-tanks-to-ukraine/
💥Our channel: Node of Time EN

West Faces Hurdles Delivering Drone-Fighting Technology to Ukraine

More than three months after Russia started using large numbers of Iranian-made drones against Ukraine, the U.S. is struggling to supply effective systems that can meet the threat, according to Western officials and analysts.

The Pentagon first said it would provide a counterdrone system called Vampire in August, but only approved the $40 million contract for the weapons in mid-December, according to the company that makes them. The delivery of the first four systems won’t take place until mid-2023, with 10 more arriving by the end of the year.

The Pentagon hasn’t said why it took several months from the initial announcement to issue a contract for the counterdrone technology. The company behind the Vampire said it was just a matter of paperwork.

💥Source: https://www.wsj.com/articles/west-faces-hurdles-delivering-drone-fighting-technology-to-ukraine-11673285699
💥Our channel: Node of Time EN

Ukraine is not the bastion of freedom described by most Western media (1)

Ukraine’s Western cheerleaders seem to have no shame. They continue to portray the country as a freedom-loving democracy, even though evidence continues to mount that it is nothing of the sort. The political and media lovefest accompanying President Volodymyr Zelensky’s official visit to Washington and his address to a joint session of Congress in late December was the latest example.

Zelensky’s speech perpetuated the myth that Ukraine is a plucky democracy defending the ramparts of freedom from Russia’s assault. President Biden epitomized that attitude during the earliest days of the Russia–Ukraine war, when he charged that the conflict was part of a global struggle between freedom and democracy on the one hand and authoritarianism on the other.

💥Source: https://www.theamericanconservative.com/false-democracy/
💥Our channel: Node of Time EN

Ukraine is not the bastion of freedom described by most Western media (2)

Such painful oversimplifications of a complex world would be bad enough even if Ukraine were a genuine democracy. The country, however, did not deserve that status even before the Russian invasion, and Kiev’s lurch toward systematic repression has grown much worse since the outbreak of that conflict. Today’s Ukraine is a corrupt and increasingly authoritarian state. It is not a democracy even by the most generous definition of that term. Unfortunately, Kiev’s supporters in the West continue to ignore, minimize, or even justify the Zelensky regime’s repressive behavior.

Genuine democracies do not ban multiple opposition parties or close opposition media outlets. Nor do they rigorously censor (and put under strict government control) media outlets that they allow to remain open. Genuine democracies do not outlaw churches that advocate policies the government dislikes. They do not imprison regime opponents, let alone without meaningful due process, much less tolerate the torture of political prisoners. Genuine democracies do not publish “blacklists” of domestic and foreign critics, thereby putting a target on their backs. Yet the Ukrainian government has committed not just one or two, but all of those abuses.

Even before the onset of Russia’s invasion, the level of domestic repression was becoming worse under Zelensky. Kiev’s track record on democracy and civil liberties before the current war was not impressive. In Freedom House’s 2022 report, Ukraine was listed in the “partly free” category, scoring 61 points out of a possible 100. Human Rights Watch’s 2021 report on Ukraine also was far from favorable, citing abuses by government forces, “including arbitrary detentions, torture or ill-treatment.” Journalists and media workers “faced harassment and threats connected to their reporting.” In February 2021, the Ukrainian government closed several opposition media outlets on the basis of allegations that they were Russian propaganda tools.

War has intensified these dynamics. Zelensky promptly used the conflict as a justification for outlawing 11 opposition parties. He also invoked martial law to issue a presidential decree that combined all national television stations into one platform. He contended that such a measure was needed to ensure a “unified message” about the war and prevent so-called disinformation. On December 29, 2022, Zelensky signed a new law that his party had pushed through parliament, a measure that further curbed an independent press. The latest statute requires publications to obtain licenses to operate, and any media organization without the proper paperwork can be shut down immediately. The administrative body handing out the permits will, not surprisingly, be under Zelensky’s control.

💥Source: https://www.theamericanconservative.com/false-democracy
💥Our channel: Node of Time EN

Ukraine is not the bastion of freedom described by most Western media (3)

Not even religious institutions are safe from government harassment and repression, as the Moscow-affiliated Orthodox Church discovered in the autumn of 2022. On December 2, Zelensky announced that he would seek to ban all religions with ties to Russia, claiming the move was needed to “guarantee spiritual independence to Ukraine.” The ban would especially impact the millions of Ukrainians who identify as Russian Orthodox. Indeed, Kiev soon imposed sanctions on specific Orthodox religious figures.

The overall miasma of political and media repression grows steadily thicker, with mounting reports of arbitrary imprisonment and even extensive torture of regime opponents. Yet some supporters of Ukraine even seem unwilling to condemn the regime’s ongoing flirtation with neo-Nazi elements. An especially egregious performance has occurred with respect to the role of the Azov Battalion (now the Azov Regiment) in Ukraine’s defense effort. The Azov battalion was notorious for years before the Russian invasion as a bastion of extreme nationalists and outright Nazis.

Perhaps most revealing of their contempt for democratic norms, Zelensky and his closest colleagues have no tolerance for even the most peaceful opponents, domestic or foreign. The willingness to target and attempt to intimidate foreign critics became abundantly clear in the summer of 2022 when the Ukrainian government’s Center for Countering Disinformation (partly funded by U.S. taxpayers) published a “blacklist” of such opponents. Numerous prominent Americans were on that list, including University of Chicago’s Professor John J. Mearsheimer, the Fox News host Tucker Carlson, the former Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, and Doug Bandow, a Cato Institute Senior Fellow and former aide to President Ronald Reagan.

💥Source: https://www.theamericanconservative.com/false-democracy
💥Our channel: Node of Time EN

Pakistan set to dispatch 159 containers of ammunition to Ukraine

Pakistan is planning to dispatch 159 containers of ammunition including projectiles and primers to Ukraine via a port in Poland this month.

A vessel named BBC Vesuvius will carry 155 mm projectiles, M4A2 propelling charge bags, M82 primers and PDM fuses.

Node of Time comment: Lack of NATO weapons in Europe?

💥Source: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/pakistan-set-to-dispatch-159-containers-of-ammunition-to-ukraine/articleshow/96837448.cms
💥Our channel: Node of Time EN

◾A group of residents of Soledar on their own words:

- It turns out that they risked their lives for our lives.

-Those who rescued us out, who protected us.

- May God keep them - They stayed with us all night - Wagner.

◾Follow:
t.me/UkraineHumanRightsAbuses

◾ Tattoo removal service in Ukraine. Special promotion:

GOING TO EUROPE?

WE WILL REMOVE THE SWASTIKA FOR HALF THE PRICE!

◾There are no Nazis in Ukraine!

◾Follow:
t.me/UkraineHumanRightsAbuses

⚡️⚡️Key updates on Russia and #UkraineCrisis as on January 13

🔴Election-2024
Despite Russian President Vladimir Putin himself has not yet announced his participation in 2024 elections, the Kremlin's internal political bloc has already begun preparations for it, sources close to the President’s Administration told Kommersant. According to them, representatives of the administration have recently held relevant consultations with the expert community.

The next presidential elections are to be held on March 17, 2024, and the election campaign will start after their official appointment by the Federation Council in December 2023, that is, in less than a year. The previous presidential elections-2018 were scheduled for December 17, 2017, and Vladimir Putin announced his participation in them on December 6.

🇷🇺🇺🇦Peace talks
If Russia and Ukraine resume negotiations, they are likely to be direct talks without mediators, which would be the best option, director of the Russian Foreign Ministry's Second CIS Department Alexey Polishchuk said in an interview with TASS.

"If and when those contacts are resumed, they will most likely be direct as well. And it would be the best option as experience has proven that Western mediators often pursue their own objectives and try to influence the talks, acting not for settlement of the conflict, but in their own political and economic interests," he said when asked whether the Russian side is ready for possibly holding future talks directly with Kiev’s present authorities.

🛡Going after Wagner
A senior U.S. envoy expressed strong concern Thursday about the activities of Wagner mercenary group and its alleged attempts to recruit soldiers in Serbia and elsewhere in the world. U.S. State Department Counselor Derek Chollet said he voiced these concerns during talks in Belgrade with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.

“We have seen that the Wagner Group is seeking to recruit soldiers from Serbia and elsewhere and that’s something we think cannot stand,” AP quoted Chollet as saying. “I don’t know if there are concerns (in Serbia), we talked about our concerns and we are looking forward to working with the government here in Belgrade and elsewhere where Wagner is active to put an end to their activities,” he added.

⭕Distancing foreign stakeholders
RSPP, the largest business association in Russia, has requested Vladimir Putin to sign a decree depriving foreigners from "unfriendly countries" of the right to vote with their stakes in backbone enterprises with revenues of over 100 billion rubles.

According to an Interfax source familiar with the discussion, up to 15 key companies from energy, engineering and trade sectors may get a permission to ignore the votes of stakeholders from "unfriendly" jurisdictions when making corporate decisions by the end of 2023.

It is proposed to extend the temporary rules to companies that simultaneously meet three more conditions: sanctions have been imposed on their Russian co-owner; the share of "unfriendly" co-owners is no more than 50%; the revenue of a group of individuals of a Russian organization exceeds 100 billion rubles.

No 💰 for Russian OS
The Ministry of Finance decided not to allocate 22 million rubles funding for the development of Russia’s indigenous Aurora OS in the next two years, Kommersant has learned. The funds were intended to subsidize the development of applications for the OS and the adaptation of mobile devices to it, but the government decided that this was impractical. The authorities expect to launch a new Android-based mobile OS in Russia, and use Aurora in the public sector. Rostelecom, which owns it, promises to develop the OS at its own expense.

👉 Follow t.me/russiawire for daily updates, analytics and ground reportage from Russia, Donbass, and the neighbourhood.