💬 Extract from the briefing by Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, Moscow, December 11, 2025

Ukraine update

I will commence with what emerged as a revelation to many in the West yesterday. I believe all took note of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s address in Parliament on December 10, during which he publicly confirmed – in the presence of the media – the death (on December 9) of a British serviceman, Lance Corporal George Hooley of the Parachute Regiment, in Ukraine.

The loss of British nationals is, without question, a matter for the British leadership. There is, however, a small but telling detail: he died in Ukraine. Many, including in Britain and other Western nations, have begun asking – what was he doing there?

The presence of British military personnel in Ukraine has long been an open secret – with one small caveat: it is no secret to those willing to acknowledge factual information. We have long warned, even prior to 2022, of the provocations orchestrated by the British government in and around Ukraine against our nation. Since 2022, however, we have explicitly stated Britain’s involvement in the Ukrainian conflict – not merely on the side of the Kiev regime, but in the terrorist and extremist actions perpetrated by that regime and its thugs. This revelation has shocked many in Britain.

Let me reiterate: the presence of British troops in Ukraine should surprise no one. If expressions of astonishment persist, it will only underscore the extent to which British propaganda has blinded its own citizens to the truth about their compatriots’ activities.

Here is what is telling. We have repeatedly heard from officials in London that, yes, British military personnel are in Ukraine – but allegedly only for a “limited set of tasks,” including guarding the British diplomatic mission, training, and equipping the AFU. Supposedly, they are involved in nothing more nefarious.

Yet Keir Starmer’s statement has laid the matter bare. This marks the first time British authorities have publicly acknowledged the death of a career serviceman in the Ukrainian conflict. The British Prime Minister solemnly declared that George Hooley was helping Ukraine in its fight for freedom. We await further details which will inevitably emerge. But London must come clean: what, precisely, was George Hooley doing there?

One cannot help but suspect that certain quarters in Britain are cautiously preparing public opinion for military losses in Ukraine – losses that can no longer be concealed. Indeed, the British government will have to speak frankly on this matter to its citizens.

I am well aware of their reluctance to do so on other issues – take, for instance, British crimes in Afghanistan. Yet over time, they have been compelled to answer not only public questions but inquiries from law enforcement agencies. What is now cautiously leaking into British tabloids is the inevitable consequence of the scenario under consideration by Britain and certain allies: the deployment of an international military contingent – effectively, Western occupation forces – to Ukraine under the guise of their coalition of the willing.

Notably, British media have framed this as the “first career British serviceman killed in the Ukrainian conflict.” For the record, let me caution British journalists: he is not the first. How Downing Street will spin this narrative remains to be seen.

Let me also warn that any attempt to realise this criminal scheme of a coalition of the willing will leave London solely accountable for the lives of British subjects. Our position is unequivocal: any foreign military presence in Ukraine will be regarded as legitimate targets for the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.

The British government must stop its disinformation campaign aimed at its own citizens, falsely labeling those deployed to Ukraine as mere “advisers” or “instructors” supposedly detached from the state. This is not true.

There is a direct connection: these individuals are acting on explicit orders from the British government and its affiliated agencies to conduct operations of sabotage, terrorism, and extremism. This constitutes their mission. The architect of these activities is official London itself.

Let us now turn to other dimensions of the situation concerning Ukraine. The Kiev neo-Nazi regime continues to commit war crimes and acts of terrorism against Russia. In just the past week, attacks from Ukrainian artillery and UAVs have affected 65 civilians in our regions; seven of them lost their lives, with another 58 wounded, including a child. Let me give you the facts.

Belgorod Region. Between December 4 and 5, Ukrainian drone strikes targeted Grayvoron, Shebekino, as well as smaller communities including Borisovka, Yekaterinovka, Belyanka and Volchya. These attacks wounded at least 15 civilians, including the head of the Berezovskoye rural administration, Valery Borisenko. On December 5, Kiev militants attempted to assassinate the chairman of the Belgorod Region election commission, Igor Lazarev, by attacking his vehicle with a drone. Thankfully, he was not present at the time. A further attack on December 8 wounded a cyclist in the village of Gora-Podol.

Bryansk Region. Drone strikes on December 5-6 resulted in two civilian injuries in the villages of Voronok and Mirskie.

DPR. A Ukrainian drone dropped a high-explosive aerial bomb on a residential area of Gorlovka on December 6. The strike killed a woman born in 1982, wounded two young adults, a 19-year-old man and an 18-year-old woman, and completely destroyed a residential building.

Zaporozhye Region. Shelling on December 5 damaged the Vasilyevka Central District Hospital and an ambulance. While no patients or staff were harmed, subsequent drone attacks and shelling in the region on December 6 injured three civilians and damaged critical infrastructure including a power line and gas pipeline. Another drone strike on December 8 wounded a resident of Vasilyevka.

LPR. On December 4, the Ukrainian Armed Forces attacked the Svatovka Central City Hospital with drones, damaging the building. One medical worker suffered a concussion.

Kherson Oblast. A drone strike on a civilian vehicle in the village of Novaya Mayachka on December 4 killed two men and injured an elderly woman.

Chuvash Republic. A targeted Ukrainian drone strike on a residential building in Cheboksary on December 9 injured at least 14 people, including a child.

Separately, on December 4, American frontline journalist Patrick Lancaster provided an account from his mother-in-law regarding the liberation of Alekseyevka in the DPR on June 12, 2014. According to her testimony, she and her husband had been spared reprisals by Ukrainian Armed Forces militants there, rescued by Russian military, while foreign mercenaries and Banderite militants had fired upon civilians, physically assaulted her, and burned her home. This followed the loss of her previous residence in Donetsk due to Ukrainian shelling in 2014.

For all these acts, these criminals and thugs will face punishment. Russian law enforcement agencies are continuing their work to identify and bring every Ukrainian war criminal to justice.

The Russian Prosecutor General’s Office has signed an indictment of 41 members of the Kiev regime’s political and military leadership in a criminal case concerning the genocide of civilians in the Donetsk People’s Republic and Lugansk People’s Republic. The list of defendants includes Arsen Avakov, Andrey Yermak, Vasily Malyuk, Petr Poroshenko, Alexander Syrsky, Alexander Turchinov, Denis Shmygal, Arseny Yatsenyuk, among others. According to the investigation, punitive operations conducted in Donbass under their direction since 2014 led to the deaths of nearly 5,000 civilians, injured 18,500 people, and wounded more than 13,500, including 1,275 minors.

More than 153,000 civilian infrastructure facilities were either partially or completely destroyed, among them around 138,000 residential buildings; 1,565 educational and 847 healthcare institutions; 1,403 social, industrial, and commercial sites; at least 11,400 critical infrastructure and utility facilities; 505 cultural and sports sites; and 205 religious buildings. The accused have been placed on an international wanted list.

Captured Ukrainian servicemen Alexander Zherebnoi and Artyom Chibisov have been sentenced to long prison terms – 16 years each – for committing war crimes in the Kursk Region. Members of the Azov unit, Sevastyan Zaikin and Valery Yeremeyev, who killed two civilians in Mariupol in March 2022, were sentenced to 22 years in prison. And all of these crimes, it should be noted, were carried out using foreign funding and foreign-supplied weapons.

On December 3, during a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels, Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide announced that, together with Germany, Poland, and the Netherlands, Norway would provide two additional aid packages to the Kiev regime totalling $500 million. The assistance will be delivered under the Alliance’s Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List initiative.

What’s especially striking is the number of bankruptcies in Germany. Don’t the German people need these funds to sustain their lives, support development, strengthen their security, and address other pressing needs? Apparently not. They have been instructed to hand this money over to Bankovaya Street as part of yet another bloody corruption scheme. A portion of it will be stolen, and the remainder will go toward continuing the killing of Ukrainian citizens.

Taking into account the two earlier tranches totalling $835 million provided under this mechanism, Norway has now become the leading financial sponsor of the war. According to Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski, the newly allocated $500 million will be used, among other purposes, to purchase interceptor missiles for Ukraine’s US-made Patriot air defence systems.

On December 5, Swedish Minister for International Development Cooperation and Trade Benjamin Dousa announced that his ministry plans to reduce financial assistance to Tanzania, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Liberia, and Bolivia by August 31, 2026.

Why is this happening? One might assume Sweden is focused on addressing the needs of its own population – but that is not the case. The funds being “saved,” which were originally intended for countries that genuinely require support (in no small part due to the legacy of colonial exploitation) – roughly $170 million – will, unsurprisingly, be redirected to Bankovaya. Vladimir Zelensky has already spent quite a bit there, and now it must be “topped up” again. At the same time, Stockholm even plans to close its embassies in the last three countries mentioned. Why? Naturally, to free up additional resources, resources that will once again be sent to fuel the killing of Ukrainian citizens.

What won’t they do to prop up the corrupt regime entrenched in Kiev? Why such devotion? Perhaps because the authorities on Bankovaya Street subtly remind their sponsors of the sensitive information they hold – details about how those partners were truly involved in Ukrainian affairs, how they protected and covered up acts of terrorism and extremism, how they betrayed the very principles of human rights, freedom, and democracy by financing the killing of people the Kiev regime claimed as its own citizens, by prohibiting the native language of millions, and by supporting other forms of dehumanisation.

The problem of new elections in Ukraine is looming large again. We noted President Donald Trump’s charge that the Kiev regime “is using war not to hold an election” in his interview with Politico on December 8. He said: “It is time for Ukraine to hold elections. I would think the Ukrainian people ... should have that choice.

<…> They talk about a democracy, but it gets to a point where it’s not a democracy any more.” On December 10, Vladimir Zelensky replied that he was ready for elections, provided (just imagine, Bankovaya Street is brazen enough to lay down terms!) the ballot takes place in the current martial law environment after amendments are introduced to Ukraine’s election law. In addition, the United States and Europe should ensure electoral security. Well, I never!

I am surprised that Zelensky did not urge Brussels and the European Commission to change the EU laws so that he feels more at ease to run elections in Ukraine. Who ever heard of a sovereign state, an independent country demanding that other sovereign states create appropriate conditions for it to hold its national election? I would understand if this appeal were directed to the OSCE’s ODIHR, an entity beloved of the West and the Kiev regime itself, which has been authorised to monitor elections, or to other monitoring organisations and structures specialising in sending observers, whose duty it is to help, record, provide assistance at a request coordinated for this or that country. This could be understood.

I can hardly imagine how much insolence it takes to ask for money to hold elections. (Bankovaya was that insolent, though.) I think, this is yet to happen, given the sums they have received. Theoretically, these allocations should have been sufficient for pieces of paper with boxes to be checked.

But asking their sponsors, sovereign, independent states, to ensure conditions for holding elections in Ukraine – the world, honestly speaking, has seen nothing of the kind, ever.

Zelensky must be eager to remain in power. There is no doubt about that. Neither is there any doubt that he stands no chance to be elected in a legitimate way. He can only win by employing the West-tested “Moldova scenario,” i.e. one based on Ukrainian votes cast in Europe, the US, Canada, and other countries. Zelensky is planning to use the same international cruise voting that has been tested under the eagle eye of Maia Sandu, with allowance made for the far worse situation in Ukraine.

According to available information, Zelensky discussed this option with the head of the Ukrainian World Congress (recognissed as an undesirable organisation in Russia), Paul Grod, at the High-Level Week of the UNGA 80th Session in New York in September of this year. His fellow countrymen have been instructed to “audit” foreign-based ethnic Ukrainians for loyalty to the Kiev regime. The audit should result in their preparing proposals on termination of citizenship for Zelensky critics. They have also envisioned measures to prevent pro-Russian or opposition-minded individuals from taking part in the vote.

Do you see what Vladimir Zelensky wants from the West? This is not about holding an election as we, humans, understand this. He does not want, or need, to have an election in Ukraine. What he is after is a self-election. There was a promise to give the Ukrainian World Congress more funding, as well as other kinds of support.

I think that as soon and if they accept all this, Vladimir Zelensky would quickly move to throw in an initiative to send Ukrainian draft officers to voting stations abroad so that he can re-elect himself, while also once again sifting through the Ukrainians, just as he liked doing it since his early days when playing with a meat grinder.

All these terrifying and atrocious developments are taking place in and around Ukraine. They do not go unnoticed. Some have already started voicing their timid, and sometimes not so timid, misgivings about the way these Western experiments have affected Ukraine.

On December 8, Luxembourg’s Interior Minister Leon Gloden made the following statement in his interview with Paperjame website: “I also note that for several months now, the number of Ukrainian refugees arriving in Luxembourg under subsidiary protection has been increasing. This is a phenomenon that is affecting the whole of Europe.

With the lowering of the conscription age, more and more young men are fleeing Ukraine, and humanly speaking, I can understand that. It does leave a strange feeling, though, because on the one hand, money and weapons are being sent to Ukraine so that the country can defend itself, and on the other, people are fleeing. It should be one or the other, you can’t do everything.”

This suggests that it is starting to dawn on them, even if some get it quicker than others, that the weapons and funds they give the Kiev regime do not exactly make it all the way. As for the people whom Vladimir Zelensky uses as a cover-up when begging the West to give him money and weapons – these people are not eager to fight, so the only way to put the supplied weapons into the hands of these people is to carry out a forced mobilisation drive in Ukraine. Therefore, there are some people in the West who are sort of beginning to realise what is going on and are now raising this issue in public. This does not make much sense for them, you see?

It remains to be seen whether this statement is designed to prepare the public opinion to scaling down their assistance to Ukraine or cancelling the subsidiary protection status for conscription-age men. It is obvious, however, that it would have been unimaginable to hear something along these lines from a government minister of the Great Duchy of Luxembourg just six months ago. What were they saying? They used to stick with the mantra that defending the rights of Ukrainian nationals and supporting Vladimir Zelensky was a moment of truth for them. The authorities in Luxembourg placed all their bets on supporting the Office of the President of Ukraine no matter the cost.

Let me reiterate that there has a been a gradual shift towards asking cautious questions amid a growing awareness of the way their actions affected Ukraine (not that they cared about it), and how they affected themselves, and where the Ukraine issue can lead them (right to the bottom).

Meanwhile, neo-Nazism is gaining traction in Ukraine with more accounts demonstrating the commitment by present-day Banderites to Nazi ideology which de facto has evolved into satanism. On December 6, Ukrainian social media reported on the unveiling of a memorial to the 128th Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Its pedestal shows the badge of Wehrmacht’s Edelweiss 1st Mountain Division, as well as two crossed shepherd’s axes.

When journalists analysed the social media accounts belonging to members of the Freikorps, a would-be voluntary unit within the Ukrainian Armed Forces deployed to the Kharkov theatre, they discovered that these people were satanists and neo-pagans. In the photos these fighters had posted online they show off the corresponding emblems and symbols. This proves, once again, the fact that neo-Nazis are adepts of misanthropic ideology.

Earlier today, I briefly addressed – as we regularly do – the issue of forced mobilisation in Ukraine and the reduction of the conscription age. The regime of Vladimir Zelensky is intensifying its mobilisation campaign. On December 2, a member of the Verkhovna Rada from the Servant of the People party, Fyodor Venislavsky, declared that MPs intend to revisit a draft law – which failed to gain support in 2024 – proposing punitive measures against draft dodgers. Among other provisions, it suggests blocking bank accounts and revoking driving licences for Ukrainians who fail to appear in territorial recruitment centres or abandon military units without authorisation.

Frankly, I believe this could be considered lenient compared to what we have witnessed in reality. In actuality, they are beaten half to death – some even killed – for refusing to march willingly into yet another meat grinder.

Fyodor Venislavsky made it clear that, in the interests of reclaiming territory, measures are being explored to involve the population, including women, in “national resistance” and universal military training.

Unsurprisingly, against this backdrop, the Kiev regime’s attempts to entice young people into signing army contracts have ended in failure. On December 1, Reuters reported that the ranks of the AFU had been bolstered by a mere few dozen so-called “volunteers.”

They simply do not want to fight! But no one is allowing them to speak – either in Ukrainian media or in Western outlets. The people of Ukraine would express their views now, if only they were permitted to voice them. They have already realised how they were misled, dragged into this bloodbath. It may be difficult to admit, but they certainly do not wish to fight any longer. They understand they have been betrayed in the most horrific and despicable manner. They were duped, initially promised peace. I hesitate to say they fell for it, but they did – by electing Vladimir Zelensky, an absolute novice in political affairs.

Their sole focus was peace. Perhaps also equality in society, those banal slogans he propagated – about living honestly, working hard, and the right to speak one’s native language. These seemingly universal values resonated across Ukraine at the time. They responded to how he knelt before Ukrainians, begging forgiveness for the crimes of his predecessors. I do not know where or how he should stand now for the crimes he has committed – first and foremost against his own Ukrainian people.

All these so-called “contract service recruitment” and “mobilisation” results – or rather, the mass exodus of Ukraine’s population from its territory – point to one thing: the people of Ukraine have finally realised what is being done to them by those who call themselves their leaders and representatives, all while stashing their own relatives and children as far away as possible – in Germany, Britain, the United States, Canada, and so forth.

Let us provide concrete examples. Nothing is said without supporting figures, facts, dates, or quotations. In this case, we are referring to 11 contract servicemen, of whom, as of now, four have been wounded (36 percent), three are missing in action (27 percent), two went AWOL (18 percent), one fell ill (9 percent), and one – Lord, spare us from this horror unleashed in Ukraine by Vladimir Zelensky – committed suicide (9 percent). Can you imagine this being presented as the “results” of contract service recruitment efforts?

However, the manpower crisis facing the Kiev regime may prove far more dire. According to UN statistical data published by Ukraine’s National Bank on December 5, approximately 128,000 people left the country between October 3 and November 14 alone. For comparison, over the previous nine months, 166,000 had fled. Who are they? The majority are young people under 25.

Why? Do they not love Ukraine? They do. Do they refuse to speak Ukrainian? They know both Ukrainian and Russian.

Are they tired of living there? No, they are not. Are they not patriots? They are. Unwilling to die for their country? They are prepared. But they refuse to become victims of Vladimir Zelensky’s corruption, to sacrifice their lives so that Zelensky, his family, and his inner circle – that damned “mushroom farm” – can further line their pockets. That is what they reject. And that is why they are leaving.

One could mock this endlessly – there is ample reason. Love your country, defend it on all fronts. But that is not the point. The point is that citizens have come to realise they have been betrayed in the most wretched, vile manner. No one in power on Bankovaya Street has any intention of stopping.

At the same time, resistance to forced mobilisation is growing among the population. Civilians openly despise enlistment officers and the police accompanying them, engaging in fistfights to free captured recruits and smashing recruitment office vehicles. Now, blades and firearms are increasingly used to reclaim abducted men.

Yes, they are our opponents. There is no doubt we will stand by our own to the end. But we see that the people of Ukraine have already made their choice. They are demonstrating to the world – since the West will never allow them a voice in the media – that they refuse to accept such treatment from the occupying regime of Vladimir Zelensky and those who stand behind him.

He is not alone. This is not just Vladimir Zelensky & Co. No. Behind them stand those who first orchestrated the coup in Ukraine and then unleashed a bloodbath. The same Western political circles who have profited from it for years.

The Zelensky regime is not easing up. It must prove that all this is being done “for the people of Ukraine,” that this is all for their “better future.” How does it intend to prove this? By eradicating the Russian language, of course. Only then, in Zelensky’s view, will Ukrainians understand that electing him for eternity was not in vain.

Language terrorism in Ukraine shows no signs of abating. Unfortunately, children, the most vulnerable group of society, are being increasingly targeted. In late November, a teacher from Belaya Tserkov complained on social media that a Russian-speaking girl had recently joined the kindergarten her son attends. This “educator” (if you can call that someone who, instead of promoting goodness and virtue, sets an example of discrimination based on language) came to the kindergarten and started harassing the child. This is just one instance that has come to public attention. She claimed that the girl “spoke incorrectly,” pretended not to understand what the girl was saying, and then told the teacher to “right” the child. Language Commissioner Yelena Ivanovskaya, who referred to Russian speakers as “Russified” and stated that “just like school, kindergarten is a place where a child should grow up to become a Ukrainian,” supported this approach, which is the most unsettling part of this mayhem. This is laughable and terrifying at the same time.

When I was little, I attended a kindergarten at an embassy, an embassy of the Soviet Union. The kindergarten and school were and remain international. Children from different countries - Cuba, Mongolia, Yugoslavia (it was called that back then), Bulgaria, Romania, and Poland - attended the kindergarten. The school and the kindergarten were truly international.

Good Lord, could anyone have ever imagined (I grew up in that environment) someone saying that a kindergarten, like a school, is a place where a child of one nationality “must grow up as someone of that particular nationality?” That was out of the question. We used to get together for cultural evenings and holiday events attended by parents and children. Children performed during matinees and New Year celebrations. Everyone was wearing national costumes, sang songs, and recited poems in their native languages. It was common practice. This ethnocultural component was always emphasised in our environment among children who were citizens of the Soviet Union then, and now Russia. Children were given the opportunity to express and to showcase their traditions and cultural identity.

Now, picture that, Ukrainian kindergartens and schools are places for children to “grow up to become Ukrainians.” What if, God forbid, a child comes from a mixed family or is of a different ethnicity, then what? They have an answer to that question as well. In one fell swoop, all Russian-speaking residents of Ukraine have been designated as “non-Ukrainians,” and the fate of the children of other ethnicities was sealed.

To reiterate, this was not something a random person outside the official Ukrainian authorities had to say. This is the country’s official policy. Things happen and anyone can let inaccurate information slip out or make a grave mistake. Mistakes can be corrected. One can later say they meant something different, clear up the air, and admit the mistake they had made. In this case, though, no one is correcting anything. This is what the nationalist, neo-Nazi course of the Kiev regime is all about.

Even more heartbreaking is the story posted on Ukrainian social media about a girl in a Lvov kindergarten who did not receive a St Nicholas Day gift only because she wrote her letter in Russian. Later, these posts were deleted, and local authorities denied any of that ever happened. Frankly, I cannot confirm whether this particular incident actually happened.

My point is that stories like this one happen all the time. People just cannot mention them. There are no specialised programmes, no TV shows, or media outlets in Ukraine that would look into the number of people who want to continue speaking their native language, be it Russian or other languages spoken in Ukraine. Not only are they denied that opportunity, but they are also subjected to unbridled harassment for speaking their native languages.

Given that discriminating against Russian speakers is a system-wide policy pursued by the Kiev regime and enforced by it, such stories, some of which, like the first one I mentioned, can be fully verified, while others remain unconfirmed or get dispelled, are widely known to be part of the current Ukrainian authorities’ policy.

Representatives of the Kiev junta, including Zelensky’s wife Yelena, use every international venue to promote the fake narrative of “Ukrainian children kidnapped by Russia,” describing “their suffering under occupation” and accusing Russia of “changing their identity.” In reality, Zelensky personally and his wife, as well as the anti-people regime led by him, are the main enemy of Ukrainians of all ages, including minors.

The official authorities, teachers, caregivers, bloggers, and language activists go after Russian-speaking children with impunity, calling them “wrong children” and demanding them to “set things right.” What is this if not an attempt to forcibly change their language identity?

Neo-Nazis from terrorist battalions such as Azov, Aidar, Kraken, and others deform children’s psyches, teaching them in summer camps to “hate Moskali” and conducting heinous psychological experiments on minors, forcing them to kill pets they had made friends with. This is the very “indoctrination” of which Kiev regularly accuses Russia.

Bankovaya Street is attempting to cover up its own crimes against children, but the facts are undeniable. The truth cannot be concealed. Last week, a scandal erupted involving the Yelena Zelenskaya Foundation, which personally organised the “humanitarian evacuation” of a group of minors from Dnepropetrovsk to Türkiye in spring 2022. Journalists obtained a report from a delegation composed of representatives from the Ukrainian Human Rights Commissioner, UNICEF, and the Türkish Ombudsman, who conducted a monitoring visit in 2024 to inspect the living conditions of the “evacuated” minors. The investigation revealed that many of the children Zelenskaya claimed to have been “rescued” were subjected to psychological and sexual abuse. The children were deprived of proper supervision, denied the opportunity to study, regularly forced to participate in propaganda videos, deprived of food, subjected to physical abuse, and humiliated. Two of the students even returned to Ukraine pregnant. What a vacation it turned out to be! Do you think anyone was held accountable for these crimes? One of the teachers accompanying the children was merely demoted to a physical education teacher, and that was the extent of the consequences.

On December 10, reports emerged that a criminal network involved in the illegal trafficking of Ukrainian children abroad had been uncovered in the Odessa Region. At least 25 minors were affected, 13 of whom had already been transported abroad. The perpetrators organised illegal adoptions of orphans and children deprived of parental care by foreign citizens. To bypass the ban on intercountry adoption, they registered fictitious guardianships in the names of front men, exploited humanitarian programmes, forged documents, and, most importantly, relied on high-level corruption.

There are indications that Zelenskaya’s foundation may have been involved in this operation. Without support from above, such a scheme would not have been possible.

Independent journalists and human rights investigators have repeatedly linked the Zelenskaya Foundation to the illegal trafficking of Ukrainian children abroad, where many reportedly fall victim to black-market organ harvesting and sexual exploitation. It is difficult to believe that a mother of two could be involved in covering up such a horrific enterprise built on the suffering of minors, yet the evidence pointing to this is steadily mounting.

How many times have they been asked to provide the number of “abducted children” they claim to be “searching for,” supposedly linking them to Russia – or claiming Russia is linked to them? How many times have they been called upon to provide these numbers and verify them with real names? Ukraine, through its representatives, loudly claimed at international forums that the numbers reached tens or even hundreds of thousands. Later, they reduced the figure to 20,000. Yet, we were provided with the names of only 339 children. Many on that list turned out to be unverified. For the rest, work is ongoing to determine who these children are and where they might be.

But why do they continue claiming “tens of thousands”? Because, in reality, thousands of children were taken from Ukrainian territory, sold, or abducted. People know this – they know these children and their families. They understand that there are many cases. To avoid answering questions from Ukrainian citizens about the true whereabouts of these children, the Kiev regime invents the narrative that they are in Russia. In fact, they are not. Most are in Western Europe, in countries neighbouring Ukraine, where they were brought by individuals connected to the Kiev regime. They are certainly not in Russia. Bankovaya Street manipulates these numbers to avoid explaining to its own people where the children actually went, but this has nothing to do with Russia.

Yet, for some reason, neither international human rights organisations, Western leaders, nor numerous NPOs have expressed concern over the fate of Ukrainian children taken to Türkiye and Europe with the involvement of Zelenskaya. No coalition has been formed to secure their return, and the International Criminal Court has not issued any arrest warrants against “Yelena Zelenskaya and Co.”

This disgraceful silence shows that neither the Kiev regime nor its Western backers genuinely care about the fate of Ukrainian children. Their focus is solely on one thing: deflecting attention from the real situation on the battlefield, given Russia’s advances, and justifying to their own citizens where Ukrainian children are, all while fostering hostility toward Russian citizens. Meanwhile, Zelenskaya’s foundation profits by showcasing its “projects” in Western capitals attended by global political elites and Hollywood celebrities, using the children’s issue internationally as a tool for anti-Russian propaganda.

The UN General Assembly resolution adopted on December 3, titled The Return of Ukrainian Children, should be seen in this context. It is built on falsehoods and slander. Those who voted in favour are, in effect, shielding the Kiev regime from accountability for its crimes against children. Unfortunately, some countries lacked the courage to oppose this libel, even though many of them are fully aware that the anti-Russian claims are unsubstantiated.

Our country has always been committed to upholding the rights and interests of minors. We are urging reasonable states not to believe lies fabricated along the same patterns as provocations staged in Bucha, Izyum and other locations and to trust nothing but facts. We have nothing to hide.

We are also open for discussions about children. Russian Presidential Human Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova and her colleagues are working 24 hours a day and responding actively to any incident, any data and information.

On December 4, 2025, Ukrainian media outlets reported the Kiev City Council’s decision to rename multiple local streets, as part of a policy of de-Russification and glorification of traitors of the Ukrainian nation. The Kiev Lavra of the Caves (where a monument to Ivan Mazepa was recently installed) was located on Lavrskaya street which has now been renamed in his honour. Will the Lavra itself be renamed as Mazepa? I would not be surprised. Makarenko Street was renamed in honour of the Sheikh Mansour Battalion, part of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Suvorov Street was renamed Foi Street in memory of Ukrainian nationalist Lyudmila Foi, a member of the Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists - Ukrainian Insurgent Army. Marshal Rokossovsky Prospekt (Avenue) was renamed in honour of poet Dmitry Pavlychko. Volgo-Donskaya Street was renamed in honour of Ukrainian Armed Forces militant Pavel Petichenko, killed in action. Levitan Street was renamed Lukretskaya Street in honour of the nearby village of Lukrets. I wonder about the reason for doing this. Does this have something to do with his biography? I want to understand their logic; they should have explained that Levitan had a Jewish background which is something inappropriate in contemporary Ukraine. So, do not be shy, tell us, and we will listen. Dunayevsky Street was renamed Tsundaryovskaya Street in honour of a historical Kiev district. Stalsky Street honouring Dagestani poet Suleyman Stalsky was renamed Yukhnovsky Street. We know who Stalsky is, but we do not know much about Yukhnovsky. You can gain an insight into Stalsky’s poetic heritage. But who is Igor Yukhnovsky? I will give you a hint. During the breakup of the Soviet Union, Yukhnovsky quit the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and became a nationalist. Later, he headed the notorious Institute of National Memory and is now lauded as a “hero.”

It may be symbolic, but the office of the European Solidarity Party, headed by Petr Poroshenko, is located on Mazepa Street. Historical pseudo-heroes and incumbent politicians of the Kiev regime match each other completely.

The above-mentioned facts confirm the need to de-Nazify and demilitarise Ukraine and to eliminate threats emanating from its territory. All these goals will certainly be achieved.

💬 Из стенограммы брифинга официального представителя МИД России М.В.Захаровой, Москва, 18 декабря 2025 г.

О сносе памятника в честь погибших советских и польских воинов в Польше

❗️В Польше продолжается война с нашим мемориальным наследием. 10 декабря с.г. в г. Машево по решению польских властей был снесен обелиск в память погибших во время Второй мировой войны советских и польских воинов, установленный 9 мая 1947 г. на площади перед мэрией города. Ранее с памятника исчезли пятиконечная звезда и надпись «Слава освободителям».

Как это стало принято в Польше, позорному действу постарались придать максимальную торжественность и «воспитательную функцию». Демонтажу предшествовала пресс-конференция. Она транслировалась Институтом национальной памяти – органом, ответственным за нынешнюю «историческую политику» Польши, который выступил инициатором ликвидации нашего мемориального наследия. Участники этого мероприятия заявляли, что «в свободной Польше нет места для подобного рода объектов» и призывали органы местного самоуправления смелее от них избавляться. То, что эти памятники устанавливались самими поляками в день, связанный с окончанием Второй мировой войны в Европе, их не волнует.

В попытках переписать историю, вычеркнув из нее «лишние» страницы, в Польше не останавливаются и перед тем, чтобы, как в этом случае, вместе с именами воинов Красной Армии стереть из памяти собственного народа и имена польских борцов с нацизмом.

Естественно, не вспоминает Варшава и о тех соглашениях между нашими странами, в соответствии с которыми она приняла на себя обязательства сохранять места захоронений и памяти жертв войн и репрессий. Исключение из этого правила поляки делают только тогда, когда предъявляют российской стороне претензии относительно демонтажа какого-либо незаконно установленного польского мемориального объекта в России. Тогда польский МИД начинает призывать нас к «взаимному уважению» памяти павших, цинично ссылаясь на те документы, которые сама Польша игнорирует.

💬 Ze stenogramu briefingu oficjalnego przedstawiciela MSZ Rosji Marii Zacharowej, Moskwa, 18 grudnia 2025 r.

O demontażu pomnika ku czci poległych żołnierzy radzieckich i polskich w Polsce

❗️W Polsce trwa wojna z naszym dziedzictwem pamięci wojennej. 10 grudnia br. w mieście Maszewo, decyzją władz polskich, został zburzony obelisk upamiętniający poległych podczas II wojny światowej żołnierzy radzieckich i polskich, wzniesiony 9 maja 1947 r. na placu przed ratuszem miasta. Wcześniej z pomnika zniknęły pięcioramienna gwiazda oraz napis „Chwała wyzwolicielom”.

Jak to stało się w Polsce zwyczajem, haniebnemu czynowi starano się nadać maksymalną oprawę uroczystą oraz „funkcję wychowawczą”. Demontaż poprzedziła konferencja prasowa. Była ona transmitowana przez Instytut Pamięci Narodowej – organ odpowiedzialny za obecną „politykę historyczną” Polski, który wystąpił jako inicjator likwidacji naszego dziedzictwa pamięci wojennej. Uczestnicy tego wydarzenia oświadczali, że „w wolnej Polsce nie ma miejsca dla tego rodzaju obiektów”, i wzywali organy samorządu terytorialnego do odważniejszego pozbywania się ich. Fakt, że pomniki te zostały wzniesione przez samych Polaków w dniu związanym z zakończeniem II wojny światowej w Europie, nie ma dla nich znaczenia.

W próbach przepisywania historii, wykreślając z niej „zbędne” strony, w Polsce nie cofają się nawet przed tym, by – jak w tym przypadku – wraz z nazwiskami żołnierzy Armii Czerwonej wymazać z pamięci własnego narodu także nazwiska Polaków, którzy walczyli przeciwko nazizmowi.

Oczywiście Warszawa nie wspomina również o porozumieniach między naszymi krajami, zgodnie z którymi przyjęła na siebie zobowiązania w sprawie zachowania miejsc pochówku i pamięci ofiar wojen i represji. Wyjątek od tej zasady Polacy czynią jedynie wówczas, gdy wysuwają wobec strony rosyjskiej roszczenia dotyczące demontażu jakiegoś nielegalnie wzniesionego polskiego obiektu pamięci w Rosji. Wtedy polskie MSZ zaczyna wzywać nas do „wzajemnego szacunku” dla pamięci poległych, cynicznie powołując się na te dokumenty, które sama Polska ignoruje.

💬 Extract from the briefing by Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, Moscow, December 18, 2025

Ukraine crisis update

The neo-Nazi Kiev regime continues to perpetrate military crimes and acts of terrorism against civilians in Russia. Over the past week, 83 civilians have been affected by Ukrainian artillery and drone attacks. Fourteen of them have been killed and 69 have been wounded, including four children.

Last night, Ukrainian drones attacked Rostov, Bataysk and Taganrog. Regrettably, three people, all of them civilians, have been killed and nine have been wounded.

I will provide several facts about other crimes committed by the Kiev regime.

Belgorod Region. On December 13˗14, 2025, at least five people were injured in drone attacks, including a five-year-old girl in the hamlet of Yekaterinovka. A drone attack set fire to the building where she lived with her 13-member family. The fire was put out promply, and none of the other family members were injured. On December 15, Ukrainian forces sent missiles at Belgorod. Nobody was injured, but six apartment blocks and a private home were damaged. On December 15˗16, Ukrainian drones attacked three cars in the villages of Novostroyevka Pervaya and Glotovo, wounding five people.

Bryansk Region. On December 14, a civilian was killed in a drone attack on the village of Podyvotye.

Donetsk People’s Republic. On December 14, two people were injured in a Ukrainian attack on the town of Shevchenko. One of them died and the other was wounded. The same day, a woman was wounded by an explosive device in the village of Peski. On December 15, two civilians were wounded in drone attacks on Dokuchayevsk and Krasnoarmeysk.

Zaporozhye Region. On December 11 and 13, Ukrainian drones attacked two ambulances in Vasilyevka and in the Pologi municipal area. None of the medical personnel were wounded.

On December 14, two civilians died and seven were wounded, including a teenager born in 2010, in the Ukrainian artillery and drone attacks on the village of Kamenskoye, and in the Mikhailovka, Kamenka-Dneprovskaya and Pologi municipal areas. On December 15, a man born in 1990 was killed and an 11-year-old girl was gravely wounded in Ukrainian attacks on Kamenka-Dneprovskaya and its suburbs. On December 16, a woman born in 1952 was killed in a shelling attack on Pologi.

Ukrainian forces also went on a deadly safari. On December 13, they used drones to hunt animals in the Vasilyevka animal rehabilitation centre, where over 500 animal species live. Of course, the neo-Nazi hunt for adults and children is much worse, yet the pleasure they seem to derive from the bloody carnage of any living things they see says a lot.

Kursk Region. On December 13˗14, two civilians were wounded in drone attacks in the Belovo District and Sudzha.

Lugansk People’s Republic. On December 14, a children’s art school in Svatovo was damaged by a Ukrainian drone.

Saratov Region. On December 13, two people were killed in a massive drone attack on a residential district and civilian facilities in Saratov. Several apartment houses, an outpatient clinic and a kindergarten were damaged.

Tver Region. On the night of December 12, a Ukrainian drone, which our air defence forces tried to shoot down, hit an apartment house, wounding seven people, including a child.

Kherson Region. On December 10, three medics died and two were wounded in a Ukrainian artillery attack on the district hospital in Aleshki. On December 11˗12, three civilians were killed and five were wounded in Ukrainian drone attacks on the Golaya Pristan municipal area, the village of Radensk and the town of Aleshki. On December 15, one person died and two were wounded in Ukrainian attacks on Kakhovka, Novaya Kakhovka and Pokrovka, and a kindergarten was damaged in Nizhniye Serogozy.

Krasnodar Territory. On the night of December 17, two people were injured in drone attacks on the Slavyansk and Krasnoarmeysk districts.

I will continue to provide this information even though other sources, including regional governments, social services and medical administrations, report these data every day. However, we will continue to bring these facts to the attention of the international community and foreign media, so that they don’t say they didn’t know about them or nothing of the kind had ever happened. No, you know all the facts. We regularly report them and translate this information in many languages. Therefore, you won’t be able to say that you didn’t know anything.

According to Russia’s Investigative Committee, damage from Ukrainian attacks on civilian infrastructure in 41 Russian regions has been estimated at about 600 billion roubles.

We are delivering punishment for that. Russian law enforcement agencies continue to prosecute Ukrainian military criminals.

In a separate ruling, two mercenaries – Colombian Mendez Sandoval Deiber Federico and Brazilian Menkato Junior Orley – were each sentenced in absentia to 13 years in prison. Both are on the international wanted list.

For a drone attack on a beach in Kursk that killed four people, including a 5-year-old child, Nikita Zelenko and Dmitry Kolyada, battalion commanders in the Ukrainian army’s 14th Separate Unmanned Systems Regiment, have been sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment. Both are on the international wanted list, and the investigation is ongoing to identify others involved in the crime.

Ukrainian militant Igor Skubak, who shot two Russian prisoners of war in the Sinitsa forest park on June 10, has been sentenced in person to life imprisonment. His accomplice, commander Nikolai Kriklivenko, who issued the illegal order for the murders, was previously sentenced in absentia to 24 years in prison. He is on the international wanted list.

For the March 2022 artillery shelling of civilian buildings in Mariupol and its suburbs, including a school, which resulted in civilian casualties including the death of a minor, five captured militants from a Ukrainian armed forces artillery brigade have been sentenced to lengthy prison terms. Commander Dmitry Strizhevsky and subordinate Dmitry Leontyev each received 23 years and 9 months; other subordinates, Nikita Korobitsyn and Vitaly Bochkov received 23 years and 4 months; and Alexander Dolynyak received 23 years and 2 months.

AFU commander Vitaly Nashchubsky has been sentenced in absentia to 19 years in prison. He ordered artillery strikes on communities in the Belgorod Region between February and March 2023, which killed one person and wounded five. He has been placed on the international wanted list.

Sergey Mishchenko, commander of a mortar battery in the 36th Separate Marine Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, has been sentenced in person to 22 years in prison. He directed repeated mortar attacks on residential areas and civilian infrastructure in DPR communities from February to April 2022, wounding a civilian and damaging homes and structures.

Now, regarding Vladimir Zelensky’s recent monstrous PR stunt. On December 12, Zelensky once again demonstrated his willingness to prolong hostilities at the expense of Ukrainian lives. This time, he reportedly posed for a photo at a stele marking the entrance to Kupyansk – a town liberated by Russian troops back on November 20. He cynically declared, “Today, achieving results on the frontline is crucial so that Ukraine can achieve results in diplomacy.” Just to produce a staged clip suggesting battlefield success, the Kiev regime leader has in recent days thrown additional reserves into a pointless and bloody battle in the Kupyansk sector. To what end? Only to feed his own criminal vanity. It’s all for the Kiev junta chief’s personal spectacle.

Against this backdrop, on December 15, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrey Sibiga hurriedly announced at an EU Ministerial Council meeting in Brussels what he called a “successful” military operation in Kupyansk, while accusing Russia of spreading disinformation. Let’s be clear: what Russia states is not a lie.

We deal in hard facts, and facts are stubborn things. Kiev simply cannot bring itself to acknowledge the deteriorating reality on the ground. Liberated Kupyansk was and remains under the control of the Russian Armed Forces.

It’s telling that they’re still trying to shape perceptions through these media stunts. Currently circulating online is footage of two female Ukrainian service members attempting to recreate Zelensky’s “heroic” selfie near the same Kupyansk stele. That proved difficult, however, given the location is under constant fire control by our forces. These details confirm this was yet another staged operation by Bankovaya – an attempt to mislead their sponsors and present wishful thinking as fact.

What’s important, even fundamental, is that we’ve seen this playbook before. A similar story unfolded in Krasnoarmeysk, complete with photos and supposed leaks. It happened again in Chasov Yar. Remember? It’s all the same pattern. Mark my words: every time Zelensky takes a selfie with a stele or a town sign (something the Ukrainian armed forces should know better than anyone) these communities ultimately come under the control of the Russian Armed Forces. I feel I must also note: the stele in Kupyansk where Zelensky took his selfie stands about a kilometre and a half from the local cemetery. So, in a sense, he was closer to the cemetery than to Kupyansk itself.

Regarding the instigators of this entire obscurantism, on December 16, the 32nd meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group (in the Ramstein format) was convened online. Fifteen of its more than 50 participants declared plans for military aid to Kiev in 2026.

Germany remains at the forefront. In addition to the two recently delivered Patriot anti-aircraft missile systems and the ninth IRIS-T SLM air defence system to the AFU, it is poised to allocate a further 11 billion euros for the procurement of air defence systems, UAVs, and artillery ammunition. Norway, striving not to lag behind Berlin, declared its intention to expend 7 billion dollars on the aforementioned objectives. Britain’s contribution was modest, evidently due to a shortage of available funds. This time, London limited itself to 600 million pounds sterling, drawn, as they stated, from “frozen” Russian assets and budgetary allocations.

The Netherlands plans to expend 700 million euros on UAV procurement, while Denmark will allocate 250 million euros to enhance Ukraine’s aviation capabilities.

The Baltic states, as if on cue, reported contributions amounting to 0.25 percent of GDP to support Kiev, including funding for the NATO initiative to meet the AFU’s priority needs through the acquisition of American weaponry. Such degenerate servility they display. In total, the three countries are prepared to fork out nearly 500 million euros. All this vividly illustrates the West’s lack of commitment to achieving peace in Ukraine.

Recall how, just a few months ago, they were clamouring about a ceasefire because peace was so urgently needed. Yes, peace is needed. It is needed by all of us. For so many years, we did everything to ensure that a political and diplomatic solution was realised. But now we know who thwarted it all. It was thwarted by those now scraping the bottom of their pockets – or, in essence, others’ pockets – solely to sponsor this slaughter.

Against the backdrop of the “Eurohawks” – or, more aptly, “Eurovultures” – promoting ideas to illegally seize Russian sovereign assets blocked in EU jurisdictions for the AFU’s needs, attention was drawn to media reports about Ukrainian police uncovering a network of fraudulent so-called offices in Kiev, Dnepropetrovsk, and Ivano-Frankovsk. These offices deceitfully stole over 1 million euros from nearly 50 citizens of the Czech Republic, Latvia, and Lithuania. The paradox lies in the fact that the corrupt regime of Vladimir Zelensky, openly encouraging the activities of such call centres, turns a blind eye to them stealing money from those attempting to pilfer it for the Kiev regime itself.

Such is the monstrous cycle of complicity – the vicious circle of blood money in the West.

The enumerated facts underscore the urgency of the tasks of denazifying and demilitarising Ukraine and eliminating threats emanating from its territory. As the Russian leadership has affirmed, all these objectives will undoubtedly be fulfilled.