TheOldGuy @TheOldGuy@qoto.org

He wasn't a very good one when he was one. And he will never be president again. Except possibly president of the cellblock.
https://www.palmerreport.com/analysis/donald-trumps-state-of-panic/53553/

Don't invoke the Kraken.
https://www.palmerreport.com/analysis/rudy-giuliani-just-got-eaten-by-his-own-kraken/53556/

Fighting over a slag heap. Ukraine won
https://mil.in.ua/en/news/zelensky-confirmed-slagheap-capture-near-horlivka/

The Bohdana self propelled artillery. Just have to fix supplies of shells.
https://mil.in.ua/en/news/media-ukrainian-armed-forces-received-about-30-bohdana-acs-and-are-developing-a-towed-version-of-this-howitzer/

Putin just got 2 new toys to play with.
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2023/12/11/putin-unveils-2-new-nuclear-submarines-a83386

Still holding Krynky

🌊 Fighters of the 88th battalion of the 35th OBrMP shared footage of the result of their work, as a result of which the snot of the [#!$#] flew over the trees of the forest on the western outskirts of the village of Krynky

⚔️ The battles for the village continue, and as we can see, despite the extremely difficult situation, our fighters in the marine corps and TrO are fighting and succeeding in destroying the enemy, setting the pace of the battle.

Katsaps captured the southern end of Maryinka
https://t.me/WarriorsUkrainian/16453

Donnie Chump is up against a very well oiled machine. A bunch of nonsense appeals does not slow that machine down.
https://www.palmerreport.com/analysis/donald-trump-shocked-to-find-out-his-criminal-trial-is-still-approaching-in-spite-of-his-nonsense-appeals/53546/

At 2AM Hamas sends a 4 year old child into the war zone to see if Israelis are alert.

https://t.me/NewsWorld_23/2985

Goodnight Resisters everywhere.

🏫Russians restrict access to education for children in the temporarily occupied territories, — Amnesty International.

Ukrainian pupils in the temporarily occupied territories are being forced to learn and sing the Russian anthem in class. Those who refuse are threatened with being taken away from their parents for "re-education in Russian orphanages," according to the results of Amnesty International's research.

In addition, families from the temporarily occupied territories said that the schools that reopened after the occupation do not have enough qualified teachers, and children are left to read textbooks in class on their own. This affects the quality of education and discipline.

Residents of the territories of Ukraine temporarily occupied by Russia are being repressed for seeking to continue their Ukrainian education, and some parents are forced to hide their children.

“The occupying authorities must immediately stop intimidating local people, coercing teaching staff into undertaking inappropriate educational activities, and other abusive practices. During war or occupation, all parties remain bound by international humanitarian and human rights law. Ensuring children’s right to access to quality education is one such duty, and it must be fully respected,” the AI states.

The main sources of Ukraine's state budget funding are military bonds, loans from international financial organizations, as well as bilateral loans and grants, — the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine.

As of December 7, 2023, the total amount of financing of the state budget general fund since the beginning of 2023 amounted to 1902 billion hryvnias, or $52.1 billion.

The largest budget funders were:

🔸The European Union (653.2 billion Ukrainian hryvnias, or $17.9 billion);

🔸The United States (399 billion Ukrainian hryvnias, or $10.9 billion);

🔸Placing government securities on the internal market (532.7 billion Ukrainian hryvnias, or $14.6 billion);

🔸International Monetary Fund (131.4 billion Ukrainian hryvnias, or $3.6 billion).

Conditions for Ukraine aid remain unchanged, House Speaker Johnson says after meeting with Zelensky - CNN

House Speaker Mike Johnson said he had a "good" meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday — but remained firm in his stance that the US needs to address the border first before advancing on an aid bill.

“From the very beginning, when I was handed the gavel, we needed clarity on what we're doing in Ukraine and how we'll have proper oversight of the spending of precious taxpayer dollars, and we needed a transformative change at the border. Thus far we've gotten neither,” Johnson said, calling the border an “absolute catastrophe.”

Johnson insisted the White House has not been able to articulate a clear strategy that helps Ukraine win, and slammed the Senate for being “MIA.”

“The House passed HR 2 six months ago, more than six months ago. It's been sitting and collecting dust on Chuck Schumer's desk,” he added. “It is not the House’s issue right now. The issue is with the White House and the Senate, and I implore them to do their job because the time is urgent.”

He did not take any questions from reporters following the roughly 30-minute meeting with Zelensky, which was their first one-on-one meeting. 

McConnell: Ukraine needs aid — but US should make it a part of a larger border security policy package - CNN

In his own floor remarks following a nearly 90-minute meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell echoed Majority Leader Chuck Schumer in the need for urgent funding for Ukraine, but still insisted that it be part of a larger package that includes border security policy changes.

McConnell said he’s “going to work to get it done as long as it takes.” 

“I've been a staunch supporter of Ukraine's fight to take back its land, liberate its people and restore its support, restore its sovereignty since the beginning of Russia's invasion, way back in 2014," he said.

"Our Ukrainian friends' cause is just, and if the West continues to stand with them, they can win.”
But McConnell stood firm that without changes in border policy as part of a supplemental package, the financial support will not come. 

“We know the threats we face are intertwined — that Russia and China and North Korea work together to undermine America and the West. We know that our border, just like Ukraine's borders and Israel's and Taiwan’s, must be inviolable. That's why for months now, we've supported supplemental action on all four of the most pressing national security challenges we face,” he said.

“My support for Ukraine and Israel is rock solid. I'm committed to preparing the US military to deter and defend against Chinese aggression. I'm determined to get the national security crisis at the southern border under control, and I'm going to work to get it done as long as it takes,” he said.

Mia Schem, who was abducted by Hamas terrorists during a music festival in southern Israel on 7/10, returned home after seven weeks.

Upon returning home, she got a tattoo reading 'we will dance again'.

In a post on Instagram, she wrote:

"We will never forget 7.10.23.
The pain and fear, the difficult images, the friends who will not return and those we must bring back.
But we will win.
We will dance again!"

Hamas terrorists want to extinguish our light.
But they will never succeed.
We will rise from the ashes.
We will live.
This is the history of our people.

The people of Israel live. Am Israel Chai.

Photo: IG - mia_schem

Ann Coulter thinks women should not be allowed to vote. I think she should lead the way by cancelling her voter registration. She will probably want to give away all her shoes and find a blind and deaf guy to get her pregnant.

https://www.newsweek.com/ann-coulter-reconsiders-womens-right-vote-after-republicans-comments-1851806

Russian military’s long-term restructuring and expansion effort aims to prepare Russia for a future-large scale conventional war against NATO - ISW

"Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his intention to expand Russian naval capabilities in areas well beyond Ukraine and Eastern Europe, likely in an effort to strengthen and expand Russia’s ability to threaten the West. "

"Putin attended the flag-raising ceremony for two nuclear-powered strategic missile submarine carriers, the cruise missile carrier Krasnoyarsk (Yasen-M class submarine) and the intercontinental ballistic missile carrier Emperor Alexander III (Borei-A Class submarine), at the Sevmash shipbuilding plant in Severodvinsk, Arkhangelsk Oblast, on December 11.

Putin stated that the two new submarines would join the Russian Pacific Fleet (Eastern Military District) to defend Russia’s far eastern borders.

Putin stated that Russia plans to quantitatively strengthen the Russian navy and strengthen Russian naval power in the Arctic and Far East and in the Black, Baltic, and Caspian seas.

Putin claimed that the Sevmash plant intends to transfer three more Borei-A class submarines and five more Yasen-M class submarines to the Russian navy in the coming years.

The construction and launch of new naval craft are expensive and time-consuming undertakings, and Putin’s interest in expanding Russian naval capabilities in all areas where Russia has naval basing suggests that the Russian leadership may intend to include naval expansion as part of its long-term force expansion effort.

The Russian military’s long-term restructuring and expansion effort aims to prepare Russia for a future-large scale conventional war against NATO, and the commitment of expensive naval resources to areas beyond Ukraine and Eastern Europe likely aims to threaten NATO and its allies across multiple regions.

The Kremlin has routinely stressed that Russia is a Pacific naval power in its pursuit of an equal defense partnership with China, and Russia engaged in naval posturing in the Sea of Okhotsk in May 2023 aimed at deterring further Japanese support for Ukraine.

Putin further emphasized Russian strategic interest in the Arctic later on December 11 at a meeting on the economic development of Russia’s Arctic zone, a region in which Russia may intend to strengthen naval capabilities given Finland's recent NATO accession and Sweden’s pending NATO accession."

From "The Analyst:

FRONTLINES DEC 11/12

Russia continues to expend vast resources to achieve not a lot for the cost. However they seem unbelievably unbothered by the fact and yet still move slowly forward.

NORTH

Ukraine seems to have stabilised the northern front but as much as much because the weather is terrible, a mix of sleet, snow and frozen mud.
Russia claims to have made a small gain in the Serbianski forest - it’s a claim not yet confirmed.
Part of the problem is that all the mapping is based on satellite evaluations and on the ground reporting - but the snow and mud complicates the evidence gathering and visibility.

BAKHMUT

North of Bakhmut the Russians have made substantial gains in the hills that Ukraine has been using to keep control of the area. It’s effectively lost now. Ukraine seems to have made the choice to withdraw for whatever reason.
In addition there are Russian gains west of central Bakhmut - again new territory the Russians haven’t captured before.
Ukraine may already have lost the key defence trenches at the top of the hills above Klieshievka. This is dangerous and unwelcome.

AVDIVKA

Russians have advanced the grey zone into Stepove but they don’t truly hold it. Russian forces are trying to get into the coking plant including more infantry and BMP’s.
Additionally the Russians have made serious attempts to push out what’s left of Ukrainian forces in Marinka.
Russia’s plan seems to be to grind the Ukrainians down regardless of the costs to themselves.

ROBOTYNE
Russia has fought the Ukrainians out of a section of ground north of Novopropopivka. They reached Robotyne but were expelled.

KHERSON
The Russians keep braking into KRYNKY but the Ukrainians keep trashing them in prepared traps. They use drones to such effect the Russians are trounced before they even get anywhere meaningful.

RUSSIAN ARTILLERY ISSUES

It seems the N.Korean 152mm shells are proving to be less of a bonus than the Russians might have hoped.
Estimates that only 6 in 10 actually fire and two of those are duds seem pretty common.
One of the biggest issues is poor fuses, followed by poor quality manufacturing. The worst is by all accounts over and under charging. This means that when fired the shell can either explode in the barrel, overshoots the target or undershoots the target. Consistency is the name of the game when producing ammunition of any kind and it seems the slave labour camps of N Korea don’t offer that as a selling point. Unsurprisingly the whole ‘buy North Korean’ project has been a bit of a dud.
Meanwhile S.Korea has manufactured more shells in ONE MONTH (330,000) than the EU has managed in 6. You have to ask yourself how they can, and yet 27 counties in Europe, can’t manage it, when three of them are in the top 7 industrial nations in the world.

President Zelensky on his way back from the inauguration of the new Argentine president, is in Washington. He spoke at the National Defence University - to officers and cadet students. Introduced by SecDef Austin. He’s expected to speak with Congressional leaders today.
The administration still hopes to get a bill through before the end of the congressional sitting on Friday - a long shot. I don’t see it before mid-end January.

Slava Ukraini! 🇺🇦

Over 1000 Orcs. I hope they had pockets full of sunflower seeds.

https://t.me/warinukraineua/1710?single

They have no idea what a war with us would be like. The Kremlin would be in ruins and American tanks would be patrolling the streets of Moscow.

https://t.me/warinukraineua/1718