Is Putin preparing for mobilization?

The move that has been long anticipated might be closer at hand — Putin having to draft in a mobilization actual Russians who aren’t in prison or elderly or desperate for cash.

This conclusion is being drawn by some who say it explains why the Kremlin shut down Telegram — to get ahead of any protests. BTW — Telegram was just turned back on for those at the front.

Ukraine strikes a defense plant in Cheboksary, which is about 700 km east of Moscow along the Volga River.

Ukraine keeps up the pressure on Belgorod.

Russia has a solution for the imminent loss of its sewerage system in Belgorod.

Authorities should tell residents to just imagine that they are at an outdoor rock concert.

The Ilsky refinery is still on fire.

Burn, baby, burn.

One Russian S-300 launcher in need of replacement.

The audio accompaniment to this should be “Don’t Stand So Close To Me” by The Police.

Russia has been up to no good in Senegal.

I guess she forgot about all those Africans they tricked into coming to Russia to study and then sent to the front, as well as the Indians and Nepalese they burned through. Oh, and don’t forget the North Koreans.

I guess she hadn’t heard about these guys.

This analysis paints a scenario in which the U.S. attacks Iran, Iran responds by closing the Strait of Hormuz, oil exports to the West are interrupted, the price of oil skyrockets and guess whose oil is suddenly in demand and expensive again.

So …. Hungary and Slovakia halt diesel exports to Ukraine because Russia bombed the Druzhba pipeline. Yeah, that makes sense.

The EU wants the pipeline restored as well.

The International Paralympic Committee has shown its contempt for decency by allowing Russians and Belarusians to compete with their national flags.

The IOC looks pretty fucking arbitrary now after disqualifying the Ukrainian skeleton competitor for no good reason. Most likely they hope the whole thing will just go away. 

Though he worked as a rescuer in civilian life, he didn’t hesitate to rejoin the defense forces in the first days of the full-scale invasion.​Tragically, Pavlo was killed on August 6, 2022. He is survived by his wife and five children, including Anhelina, who now carries his legacy onto the world stage.

Only 740 Russians to run up the Odometer of Death this time. But more than 1,800 drones.

Sedanka has about 250 residents with about 67 of those being children. Thirty nine of them were shipped off to the war in Ukraine. Nineteen of those are either dead or missing and presumed dead. That’s about 10% of the adult population dead. This story comes from The NY Times.

Let’s check in on the Russian economy.

It seems eating is suddenly unpopular in Russia.

Gee, that’s a damn shame.

It makes a dandy ice scraper and you can swat flies with it too.

More fifth columnists arrested.

The George Washington of the Donetsk Peoples Republic is treated more like Benedict Arnold.

This is a report about a Brazilian unit in Ukraine that abused its soldiers and killed one of them.

The man, Bruno Gabriel Leal da Silva, died overnight Dec. 28-29, 2025, according to former fellow fighters who spoke to the Kyiv Independent on condition of anonymity because they feared retaliation.

The unit in question is a Brazilian-led formation called Advance, led by the Brazilian Leanderson Paulino who is accused by several of those serving under him of overseeing — and in some cases taking part in — the abuse of his subordinates.

“It was a battalion that tortured people. Abuse there was normal,” one former soldier said.

Witnesses and victims interviewed by the Kyiv Independent described torture including burnings, beatings, waterboarding, and even sexual assault with wooden objects.

Advance operates under Ukraine’s military intelligence (HUR) as an approximately 150-200-strong unit within Revanche, commanded by Bohdan Khodakovskyi, part of HUR’s International Legion led by Maj. Vadym Popyk.