Ukraine military foot hold on the eastern bank of the Dnipro River is it’s first, and badly needed advance since they advertised a “Spring Offensive’ and should help them keep aid money flowing into their efforts…..
With Winter coming?
Russian attacks on Ukraine energy infrastructure begins…
The Dutch join Germany in pledging aid while America waits for its Congress to decide when and for how much will US aid be started up again…
The Ukraine IS shipping grain thru the Black Sea again after Russia tried to stop the operation…
Both Russia and the Ukraine are ‘supposed to’ have elections for President next year….
Putin is bound to get his rubber stamped for as long as he wants the job….
Zelensky is thinking about elections , which are on hold due to the conflict with Russia….
Below is a quick piece on a guy who would like to run against Zelensky…..
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The guy who wants to challenge Ukraine President Zelensky for his job….
RECENT INTERNATIONAL COVERAGE of the war in Ukraine, some of it quite sobering or even pessimistic, has fueled tense debates and polemics in Ukraine: Will the West lean on Kyiv to negotiate with Moscow and accept a settlement that cedes at least some of Ukraine’s occupied lands? With President Volodymyr Zelensky’s term officially expiring next March, will Western concerns about the legitimacy of Ukrainian democracy force wartime presidential elections? Amid these controversies and speculations, one man’s name keeps coming up: Oleksiy Arestovych. The Zelensky adviser-turned-rival is not new to Ukrainian politics, but he has radically reinvented himself. His political fortunes may be a good barometer of where things are headed in Ukraine.
Ukrainian law forbids elections and referenda during periods of martial law, which Zelensky declared after Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. While it may raise some democratic hackles, it makes sense: How is Ukraine supposed to hold a national election when millions of its citizens are under Russian occupation, displaced from their homes, or living temporarily in other countries? How are the authorities on the front lines supposed to know who is alive and who is dead? How are candidates and parties supposed to campaign? How are they to hold campaign events or in-person voting when any large gathering could become a target for a missile hit?…
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Ukraine cops in the battle to take back their territory from the Russians….
Since summer, Netrebko’s police officers had used drones to observe Russian positions, then deployed in small groups for sneak attacks, aiming to dislodge even just a handful of enemy troops each time.
The brigade proved its worth on its first mission, Netrebko said, by firing two grenades at an armored personnel carrier, killing 12 Russians.
Soldiers fighting alongside Lyut were shocked to learn they were not military. “‘The police are at war? How is that possible?’” Netrebko recalled one soldier asking. “I said: ‘Let us join the battle … then you will understand.’”….
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Those not fighting on the front perform other crucial tasks — evacuating civilians, demining, staffing checkpoints, hunting Russian saboteurs. and documenting war crimes.
Special police helicopter pilots, hired before the invasion for civilian medical evacuations, now fly wounded soldiers to hospitals. Police officers in KORD, Ukraine’s version of SWAT, take turns in front-line positions, including in mobile air defense units.
In some front-line villages, “police officers are the only representatives of the state,” Vyhivskyi said….
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It is a new, respected role — a dramatic shift from when Ukrainian police were often viewed as petty bribe-takers. After Maidan, a new government fired thousands of officers, although some were later reinstated. The militsiya — the old Soviet name — was disbanded and replaced by the National Police of Ukraine.
A new subdivision, the Patrol Police, recruited nationwide. Those officers, intended to regain public trust, were trained by police from the United States, Canada and elsewhere….
The days summary @ The Guardian …
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Ukraine and the US will hold a military industry conference in Washington on 6-7 December, officials from both countries have said. Ukraine is ramping up production of its own weapons and seeking joint ventures with international armament producers. Ukraine has set up a joint venture with Rheinmetall of Germany to service and repair western weapons, and in September hosted a forum with more than 250 western arms producers.
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Ukraine has said it has carried out “successful actions” on the eastern bank of the Dnipro River. It comes after Ukraine and Russia acknowledged earlier this week that Ukraine had established positions on the eastern side of the river, which marks part of the frontline in south-east Ukraine.
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Celebrating the development, Volodymyr Zelenskiy published pictures showing Ukrainian soldiers on the eastern bank of the river. “Left bank of Kherson. Our warriors. Thank you for your strength and for moving forward!” Ukraine’s president said. “Glory to each and everyone who is returning freedom and justice to Ukraine!”
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A total of 4.4m tonnes of cargo, including 3.2m tonnes of grain, has been shipped via Ukraine’s new Black Sea shipping corridor since it was established in August, according to a report by the Interfax-Ukraine agency. A UN-brokered deal that had allowed Ukrainian exports to pass through the Black Sea fell through in July after Russia withdrew, prompting Ukraine to announce a “humanitarian corridor” hugging the sea’s western coast.
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Thousands of people living near the frontlines in southern and eastern Ukraine were left without power after Russian strikes on energy facilities, the Ukrainian government said. Last winter, systematic targeting of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure by Russia left millions without light or heating. Zelenskiy said this week that western support had allowed Ukraine to improve its air defences ahead of the coming winter months.
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At least nine people were killed in Russian shelling of the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, according to local officials. Oleksandr Prokudin, head of the Kherson regional military administration, said shelling on Thursday had targeted residential areas, shopping districts and administrative buildings. Another two people were killed in the eastern region of Donetsk, according to the acting head of its military administration.
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Russian casualties since the start of the war now stand at 316,760, according to the Ukrainian military.
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Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has said he has “no doubt” Vladimir Putin will still be Russian president after the election in March. Putin has not yet announced his intention to run but is widely expected to stand for another six-year term. Asked in an interview with student journalists what the next president should be like, Peskov said: “The same.”
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The British foreign secretary, David Cameron, followed his trip to Ukraine on Thursday with a visit to neighbouring Moldova. The Moldovan president, Maia Sandu, posted a photo of her and Cameron together to social media and said the two had met on Thursday night to discuss “Black Sea security, bilateral cooperation and our united stance against corruption”.
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The Dutch government has announced it has earmarked an additional €2bn in military aid for Ukraine in 2024. It is part of a wider package that includes an initial €102m (£89m/$111m) for reconstruction and humanitarian aid that will be increased during the year if needed….