Past 24 hours in the war zone
JFO reports Russian-led militants launch 1 attack on Novoselivka, Donetsk Oblast.
Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence urges military support from Canada, US and Britain. Ukraine needs a “quick response” from allies, which would resolve the lack of anti-aircraft missiles, modern warplanes and naval vessels, electronic warfare.
Democratic Senator (Connecticut) Chis Murphy, a member of the US Committee on Foreign Affairs, warns that Ukraine “could become a new Afghanistan” for Russia if Kremlin continues build-up and threats.
Olha Ilkiv, a living symbol of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), passed away in her home in Lviv
She was 102 years old. Olha served as liaison officer for Roman Shukhevych, leader and general of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA).
Olha Ilkiv, call sign “Roksoliana”, “O. Zvirobiy”, was born in Stryy, Lviv Oblast on June 21, 1920. For her resistance activity, Olha Ilkiv was sentenced in 1952 to 25 years in a Siberian penal colony. She spent 14 years in Alexandrovsky and Vladimirsky prisons, and remote Irkutsk, where she survived thanks to her poetry … and embroidery. She was freed in 1964 and returned to work in Lviv.
In the photo below, she is wearing the shirt she sewed from prison sheets. She treasures this memento and wears it only on important holidays and celebrations.
Olha Ilkiv continued to participate in political and social events, visiting schools and commemorative events. She was and remains a symbol of great courage and national pride.
International support for Ukraine
A day before the planned call between US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Boris Johnson stressed that Russia should pull its troops back and lover the tension. US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin said that the United States will try to provide Ukraine with everything it needs to defend its sovereign territory. EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, said the EU would support Ukraine in the event of a Russian invasion. European People’s Party Chairman Manfred Weber stressed that in the event of the Russian Attack on Ukraine, Nord Stream 2 Should Be Curtailed.
Ahead of the planned Biden-Putin call, Ukrainian civil society representatives remind that each attempt “to listen to the Kremlin” has led to another escalation, not a reduction in tensions. We have published their open letter.
It was also reported that Biden considers sanctions against Russia should it start invasion into Ukraine.
Meanwhile, military analyst Hans Petter Middtun reminds us that Russia is unlikely to invade Ukraine again. But focusing exclusively on that question means missing the point entirely:
The Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) and the Association of Ukrainian Organizations in Germany (AUOG) addressed the Bundestag on Nord Stream 2
The Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) and the Association of Ukrainian Organizations in Germany (AUOG) addressed the Bundestag and the parliamentary groups of leading German democratic parties with an appeal to impose a moratorium on Gazprom’s Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline project.
UWC and AUOG welcomed the decision by Germany’s energy regulator, Bundesnetzagentur, to suspend the certification process for the controversial Russian gas pipeline and raised concern about the insidious role of Nord Stream 2 in fueling Russia’s aggressive policies targeting Europe.
Türkiye to maintain “the course of the project” on Bayraktar drones supply to Ukraine
Following the Bloomberg report from December 3 that Türkiye is going to sell 20 more Bayraktar drones to Ukraine, president of Defense Industries of the Republic of Türkiye İsmail Demir told journalists today that agreements on the supply of combat drones were “discussed from the beginning” by Ukraine and Türkiye and are not related to rising tensions in eastern Ukraine.
“There were agreements on a batch [of drones] which was discussed from the beginning. There were certain production and investment projects in Ukraine that were discussed from the beginning. This is the course of the project. This is not related to recent events. It should not seem that Türkiye is sending drones and combat drones to Ukraine due to tensions,” Demir said as Ukrinform reports.
Belarus accuses Ukraine of breaching its airspace
A dispute between Ukraine and Belarus flared up over the weekend after Belarus’s State Border Service accused a Ukrainian military helicopter of breaching Belarus’ airspace on Dec. 4, which Kyiv denied, the Kyiv Independent reports.
Russia ramps up toxic hate speech as it escalates its attack on Crimean Tatars
Since the arrest in early September 2021 of Crimean Tatar Mejlis leader and journalist Nariman Dzhelyal, there has been a sharp escalation both in mass detentions, and in hate speech aimed at inciting enmity both towards the Mejlis, or self-governing body, of the Crimean Tatar people, and towards Crimean Tatars in general, writes Halya Coynash of the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group.
Summit of the heads of the parliament of Lublin triangle countries
The 11th Session of the Interparliamentary Assembly of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, and the Seimas and the Senate of the Republic of Poland began in the Polish capital on Monday, 6 December, Promote Ukraine reports.
During the meeting, Speaker of the Parliament of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk said that Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine shows “the Kremlin’s contempt for international law and fair demands of the civilized world.” He expressed his gratitude for the decisive and unwavering position of Warsaw and Vilnius in the international arena.
Zelenskyy appoints 28 tainted judges
In his latest decree of 1 November, Zelenskyy appointed 28 new judges, 21 of whom were recognized as corrupt or lacking integrity by a judicial reform watchdog. Whether this duplicity means critical incompetence of the president or is a calculated action remains unclear. But the facts stay as they are.
While conducting judiciary reform, Zelenskyy (mis)appoints corrupt judges
Ukraine celebrates its Armed forces day
On 6 December 2021, Ukraine marked 30 years since the official establishment of its armed forces. Celebrations were held simultaneously in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Lviv, Kramatorsk and Odesa at 6 p.m. Kyiv time.
The demonstration of the latest models of weapons and military equipment took place in each of the cities, along with the ceremonies of awarding battle flags and honorary titles to military units, awarding servicemen with state awards. In addition,
- In Odesa, a ceremony of the official transfer of 2 patrol boats to the Ukrainian Navy was held. These are the island-class patrol boats transferred to Ukraine by the US as part of its military assistance.
- In Kharkiv, military units received three T-64BV tanks, ten BTR-4E armored personnel carriers and ten Kozak-2M1 armored vehicles.
- In Kramatorsk, military units received 34 BBKM Kozak-2M1 armored vehicles
- In Lviv, Kyiv and Odesa, representatives of the Armed Forces of Ukraine received 15, 13 and 12 of Humvee vehicles respectively.
- At the same time, in the Zhytomyr Region, a Mi-8 helicopter, L-39, Su-27 and AN-26 aircrafts were handed to the Air Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
President Zelenskyy visited the Joint-Forces operation area in Donbas where he presented state awards to soldiers. Later President participated in the military ceremony in Kharkiv.
History: which bands were banned in the USSR?
Is your favorite band on this list of 50 musical groups deemed “harmful” and outlawed during the USSR? The communists were convinced that music, fashion, films and, in general, the entire mass culture and counterculture from the West were weapons of the Cold War – no less dangerous than bombs.
