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Ukraine Invasion Day 303: “Today is better than tomorrow.” - Putin [1]

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Date: 2022-12-22

1957 CIA map

A desperate phase seems to have been reached, although analysts say the ground will not be sufficiently firm until January for offensive operations. This is the set of conditions with which the war began.

On Thursday, Putin advocated for an end to the "war," a word he has avoided using to describe what he and the Kremlin have otherwise insisted to be a "special military operation" for the last 10 months. "Our aim is not to fan the flames of this military conflict, on the contrary, it is to end this war," Putin told reporters. Up until now, the Russian president has repeatedly asserted that the ongoing escalation in Ukraine is not a "war" but a "special military operation" that Russia had "no choice" but to conduct to protect Russians living in Ukraine's Donetsk and Luhansk regions. www.newsweek.com/...

x ⚡️General Staff: Russia moves more personnel, equipment from Far East to Ukraine.



Russia has increased the number of troops, weapons, and military equipment that is being transferred from the country’s Far East for its war against Ukraine, Ukraine's General Staff reported. — The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) December 20, 2022

The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said he was returning to Ukraine “with good results” after his visit to Washington. In his first video message after meeting with Joe Biden and addressing the US Congress, Zelenskiy thanked the president “for his help, his international leadership and his determination to win”.

Zelenskiy gave a defiant address to the joint session of Congress on Wednesday, saying Washington’s continued support was key to ultimate victory. His trip to the US – his first since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – came amid concern that the incoming Republican leadership of the House of Representatives might oppose proposals for an additional $45bn in weapons and other assistance next year.

The White House announced a further $1.85bn in aid including, for the first time, Patriot air defence missiles to protect Ukraine’s infrastructure, already crippled by Russian attacks.

The US is imposing fresh sanctions on 10 Russian naval entities over Russian operations against Ukrainian ports, the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said. Six of the entities targeted in the latest sanctions were designated for operating or having operated in both the defence and related material sector and the marine sector of the Russian economy, the US state department said on Thursday.

The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, said the Patriot air defence the US was supplying to Ukraine was an old weapons system that Russia would be able to “knock down”. “The Patriot air defence is an outdated system,” Putin told reporters in Moscow, adding that Russia’s S-300 system outperformed it.

Answering a question on the possibility to end the war with Ukraine through diplomatic means, Putin said that “all armed conflicts end through negotiations”. The Kremlin said the US supply of Patriot missile systems to Kyiv would not contribute to settling the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and would not prevent Moscow from achieving its goals. www.theguardian.com/... An independent report shows growing Russian popular resistance to the war. An independent Russian Human Rights project, OVD-Info, and opposition media source Verstka published data on December 21 that shows that Russian popular resistance to the conflict in Ukraine has broken a ten-year record for protests arrests in Russia. [63] These sources show that Russian officials have detained more than 19,440 protestors, given ”administrative punishments” to 4,000 protestors, prosecuted 400 protestors including 7 minors, and sentenced 50 protestors in courts. [64] Verstka noted that Russian officials have gone to great lengths to stifle protests and resistance to the conflict in Ukraine, including designating anti-war actions as extremism, but that the anti-war movement continues. [65] Key Takeaways Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to refuse to treat Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as an equal and sovereign counterpart, further indicating that he is not interested in serious negotiations with Ukraine.

Putin’s rhetoric is a part of an ongoing Russian information operation that denies Ukraine’s legitimacy as a sovereign state.

Putin amplified an existing Russian information operation designed to decrease Western security assistance for Ukraine.

Putin is continuing to absolve himself of responsibility for conducting a protracted war in Ukraine.

Russian Chief of General Staff, Army General Valery Gerasimov, attempted to revive a debunked Russian narrative that the Kremlin invaded Ukraine to preempt a fictitious planned Ukrainian attack on Russian-occupied Donbas and Crimea.

The Kremlin claimed that Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu visited the frontlines in Ukraine for the second time in a week, likely to deflect criticism that Shoigu is not an involved wartime leader.

Wagner Financier Yevgeny Prigozhin continues to seek to elevate the importance of the Wagner Group to establish himself as the central figure of Russia’s ultra-nationalist pro-war community.

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) director general Rafael Grossi held talks with Russian officials on the creation of a security zone around the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP).

Russian forces continued to conduct limited counterattacks along the Kreminna-Svatove line and Ukrainian forces continued counteroffensive operations in the Kreminna area.

Russian forces continued offensive operations in the Bakhmut and Avdiivka areas.

Russian forces are increasing security measures in Kherson Oblast and Crimea out of fear of Ukrainian counteroffensive operations.

A senior Russian official denied claims of a second wave of mobilization amidst ongoing crypto-mobilization efforts.

Ukrainian partisans continued to target Russian occupation authorities. understandingwar.org/...

x Kyiv. Vernadskyy National Library of Ukraine illuminated its walls with lights. According to today's statistics, approximately 100 000 Russian troops were killed or injured since the beginning of the Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine.#UkraineWillWin pic.twitter.com/NTYMFyy2RD — UkraineWorld (@ukraine_world) December 22, 2022

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/12/22/2143357/-Ukraine-Invasion-Day-303-today-is-better-than-tomorrow

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