An appeal to citizens

By Mark Channing Miller

Here is a brief description of the Grand Jury in the United States, by the Italian investigative journalist Stefania Maurizi.

“The Grand Jury is an institution enshrined in the U.S. Constitution, but it plays a controversial role in the American criminal justice system. It is not a jury that rules on the innocence or guilt of a defendant on trial, rather it is a jury called upon to decide whether or not there are sufficient grounds to charge an individual. Closed to the public, to the press and to the lawyers of the persons summoned to testify, the Grand Jury operates in secrecy.”

These lines immediately called to mind the years of litigation the Lawyers’ Committee for 9/11 Inquiry has undertaken in its mission to bring to light — and before a federal Grand Jury in New York City — impressive quantities of vital evidence concerning the demolition on Sept. 11, 2001, of the Twin Towers and a third skyscraper at the World Trade Center.

The U.S. Supreme Court this week declined to accept an appeal of a lower court’s decision on the matter, and the Lawyers’ Committee is exploring other legal avenues. Attorneys Mick Harrison and Charlotte Dennett of the LC bring anyone interested up to date on the whole process, HERE, in an interview on the Internet program Crowdsource the Truth. (It was recorded the day before the Court’s decision not to consider the appeal.)

Some visitors to this blog should find the interview fascinating, even if they’ve listened to Harrison or Dennett speak on the subject before. Its importance becomes obvious because the Constitutional issues involved concern all Americans.

The quoted description about the Grand Jury is from Maurizi’s book Secret Power: WikiLeaks and Its Enemies. I’ve been reading it in preparation for writing a review for publication. I’m guessing one has not appeared in any “mainstream” magazine or newspaper since the English-language edition came out last fall (I’ll look), but it deserves the kind of respectful treatment it might get in, say, The New Yorker, The New York Review of Books, or The London Review of Books.

Here is my appeal: Please look at and listen to the interview, HERE. Please buy and read the book, which is not likely to be found on a shelf in your local public library. And please consider sending the LC a monetary contribution, however small, for its important work.  

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What follows is an update as of Jan. 15.

An Internet search indicates that, indeed, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker magazine, the New York Review of Books, the London Review of Books, and the Nation magazine are among the newspapers and magazines that to date have not published a review of Secret Power or acknowledged the book’s existence.

Below are three additional paragraphs from it on Grand Juries:

“Grand Juries are so controversial as an institution that their abolition has been advocated for years. They have a lengthy history of prosecuting political activists and systematically pardoning policemen responsible for violent deaths. . . .

“They work in secret; they are formed by a prosecutor who presents the evidence to the jury, questions the witnesses, issues subpoenas for documents and witnesses, and offers witnesses immunity from any criminal consequences of their testimony. At the end of this process the jury must decide if there is sufficient evidence to indict the individual under investigation. The task of a Grand Jury is not to establish innocence or guilt: it is to decide whether or not the suspect should be indicted, that is to say, if there is sufficient evidence to send them to trial. All of this takes place with no exchange between prosecution and defense, because the Grand Jury does not unfold in the presence of a judge, nor of the suspect’s lawyers or witnesses.

“What happens behind the closed doors of a Grand Jury remains a mystery. It is the prosecutor who decides what evidence to present to the members of the jury who, as ordinary people, do not necessarily have any legal expertise: they must base their decision on what the prosecutor tells them. In selecting which evidence to present and which to omit, which witnesses to question and which to leave out, the prosecutor enjoys great discretion in the introduction of evidence that may incriminate or exonerate the suspect.”

For now, links to reports from National Public Radio, the Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, and Tass; others are accessible by clicking on their names or  initials below. — MCM

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Condoleezza Rice calls for ‘urgency’ in sending weapons and money to Ukraine. Reported by Mallory Yu | NPR  Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice thinks the way forward for the war in Ukraine is: more, now. More weapons and more money to Ukraine’s forces trying to kick Russia out of their country. “My argument is simply . . . Click HERE to listen and read.

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Armored vehicle pledge to Ukraine marks a change in the war with Russia. Reported by Leila Fadel and Eleanor Beardsley | NPR  The U.S., France and Germany have recently announced plans to send armored fighting vehicles to Ukraine. The Western-designed weapons are an upgrade, but they’re not the tanks that Ukraine wants. Click HERE to listen and, later, read.

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Russia says it took Soledar, Ukraine denies its capture, by Andrew Meldrum | AP  KYIV — Russia claimed today that its forces captured a fiercely contested salt mining town, in what would mark a rare victory for the Kremlin after . . . READ MORE . . .

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Rifts in Russian military command seen amid Ukraine fighting. From AP  As Russian troops wage a ferocious house-to-house fight for control of strongholds in eastern Ukraine, a parallel battle is unfolding in the top echelons of military power in Moscow, with President Vladimir Putin reshuffling his top generals while rival camps try to win his favor. The fighting . . . READ MORE . . . (Click HERE for earlier story.)

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Ukrainian soldiers will be trained in combined arms tactics in Germany. From NPR. The U.S. and allies are scaling up training of Ukrainian troops in Germany. NPR’s Dwane Brown talks to Raphael Cohen of the RAND Corporation about what this means for the war against Russia. Click HERE to listen and, later, read.

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Who is new chief of Russian forces in Ukraine Valery Gerasimov? From AFP.  Valery Gerasimov, who in a surprise move was named to lead Russian troops in Ukraine after months of setbacks, has been Moscow’s top general for the past decade as chief of the general staff. The decision . . . READ MORE . . .

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Lawmaker says liberation of Soledar is turning point of special operation. From Tass. LUGANSK — Viktor Vodolatsky, first deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on CIS Affairs, Eurasian Integration and Ties with Compatriots, said today that the liberation of the town of Soledar in the Donetsk oblast is a turning point of the special military operation. “A . . . READ MORE . . .

 

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TO BE CONTINUED

First, links to reports from Reuters, the Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, and Tass; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials. Then, via Popular Resistance, a link to an essay drawing from an interview last week and a Reuters report this week. Finally, via Consortium News, a link to a grim 2023 outlook by the same close observer of the conflict who appeared at the end of yesterday’s entry. — MCM

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Scale of alleged torture, detentions by Russian forces in Kherson emerges, by Anthony Deutsch, Anna Voitenko and Olena Harmash | Reuters The methods of the alleged physical torture administered by occupying Russian forces have included electric shocks to genitals and other parts of the body, beatings and various forms of suffocation, according to interviews with more than . . . READ MORE . . .

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In Ukraine, power plant workers fight to save their ‘child,’ by Hanna Arhirova | AP  A POWER PLANT, Ukraine — Around some of their precious transformers — the ones that still work, buzzing with electricity — the power plant workers have built protective shields using giant concrete blocks, so they have a better chance of surviving the next Russian missile bombardment. Blasted out windows in . . . READ MORE . . .

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Ukraine says fighting to hold Soledar, but situation ‘difficult’. From AFP. Ukraine said today its forces were fighting to retain control of Soledar in the eastern Donetsk region but cautioned it was coming up against “difficult” resistance from Russian troops. The Kremlin has made capturing the industrial region of Donetsk . . . READ MORE . . .

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DPR says taking of Soledar allows direct fire at Artyomovsk. From Tass. MOSCOW — Andrey Bayevsky, a lawmaker at the legislature of the Donetsk People’s Republic and a colonel of the People’s Militia, said today that the main benefit of capturing Soledar is the opportunity to open direct fire on Artyomovsk. “Seizing control of Soledar means . . . READ MORE . . .

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Ukraine and Russia agree — Russia is fighting NATO, by Moon of Alabama | Educate!  Russia and Ukraine have publicly agreed on a fundamental and important issue. The question is who Russia is fighting in Ukraine. During an interview available on YouTube Oleksii Reznikov, the defense minister of Ukraine, answered that the Ukraine has “already become a de facto member of the NATO alliance.” English language subtitles can be generated by autotranslate  READ MORE . . .

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2023 outlook for Ukraine, by Scott Ritter | Consortium News As the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine approaches, the fact that Ukraine has made it this far into the conflict represents both a moral and, to a lesser extent, a military victory. From the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff to the director of the C.I.A., most senior military and intelligence officials in the West assessed in early 2022 . . . READ MORE . . .

First, links to reports from Reuters, the Associated Press, National Public Radio, Tass, and Agence France-Presse; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials. Then, via Popular Resistance, an article by a close observer of the war and an accompanying nearly two-hour video of a forum held last Friday. — MCM   |

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Fighting rages over Ukraine’s Soledar despite mercenaries’ claim of control, by Olena Harmash and Clodagh Kilcoyne|Reuters * Russia acknowledges heavy losses * Wagner contract militia claims control * Ukraine says its forces holding on * Salt mines have symbolic, military and commercial value | KYIV/NEAR BAKHMUT, Ukraine — Russian and Ukrainian forces were engaged in intense fighting on today over the town of Soledar in eastern Ukraine — a stepping stone in Moscow’s push to capture the entire Donbas region — with the Russians appearing to have the upper hand. The mercenary group Wagner . . . READ MORE . . .

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Ukraine says mining town holding out against Russian assault, by Andrew Meldrum | AP  KYIV — The fate of a devastated salt-mining town in eastern Ukraine hung in the balance today as Ukraine said its forces were holding out against a furious Russian onslaught inwhat has become one of the fiercest and most costly battles in the almost 11-month war . . . READ MORE . . .

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Russia makes a tactical advance in Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine. Reported by Leila Fadel and Elissa Nadworny | NPR  Intense fighting continues in and around the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut. Russia and a Kremlin-aligned mercenary force have made small advances in nearby villages in recent days. Click HERE to listen and, later, read.

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DPR official says 500 Ukrainian troops may be trapped in Soledar. From Tass. DONETSK — About 500 Ukrainian troops may be trapped in Soledar, a town that’s gone under the control of Russian forces, Yan Gagin, a military analyst and an adviser to the head of the Donetsk People’s Republic said today. Russian businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin said several hours earlier . . . READ MORE . . .

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Ukraine can win this year with long-range missiles from West: presidency. From AFP. Ukraine can win the war this year if Western powers increase weapons supplies, particularly long-range missile systems, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhaylo Podolyak . . . READ MORE . . .

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My evening with a Ukrainian propaganda/agitation unit, by Scott Ritter | Educate! Information Warfare 101. On the night of January 6, I was invited to participate in a panel discussion on the ongoing conflict in Ukraine organized by Bethlehem Neighbors for Peace (BN4P), a local antiwar group I’ve had connections with since the leadup to the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, and the United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC), a national organization founded and headed by . . . Click HERE to read, and to listen and watch. 

An essay on, among other things, education in America begins below. It was published yesterday by Consortium News. Click on the author’s name or CN’s for access to others. — MCM 

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Dimming the lights

By Patrick Lawrence | Consortium News

Somewhere along the line, the thought seems to have taken hold among the cliques who rule America that an ignorant populace is more easily governed. Good old Bertie Russell made this general point with an eloquence almost too piercing to take in “Free Thought and Official Propaganda,” a lecture he delivered in London 101 years ago:

“But the utility of intelligence is admitted only theoretically, not practically; it is not desired that ordinary people should think for themselves, because it is felt that people who think for themselves are awkward to manage and cause administrative problems.”

You see the consequences of this perverse belief every day in the mainstream press and among the corporate-owned broadcasters. You can read headlines such as “10 Ways to Be Happy in the New Year” or “Where Did All the Bargain Bourbon Go?”

But you are not going to learn much from these media about the world in which you live. Your intelligence will not be enhanced or elevated; insult is the norm.

But mass media are merely mirrors reflecting the established ethos of the polity in which they operate. They do their best to keep Americans ignorant, certainly. If the ruling cliques wanted America to boast an intelligent populace, the press and broadcasters would do their part — as Jefferson understood this part to be — to inform them.

No, even a press critic as severe as your columnist must look further down in the factory to understand where the process of manufacturing American ignorance truly begins. It begins in our schools and universities, with the administrators, teachers, and professors who run them.

The New York Times or The Washington Post would have the damnedest time getting readers to take them seriously, I am certain, unless those who take them seriously were not first conditioned to become “excellent sheep” — a phrase William Deresiewicz picked up from one of his students at Yale and later used to title his 2015 book, Excellent Sheep: The Miseducation of the American Elite and the Way to a Meaningful Life.

Russell, who singled out America “not because America is any worse than other countries, but because it is the most modern,” was again savagely to this point:

“It must not be supposed that the officials in charge of education desire the young to become educated. On the contrary, their problem is to impart information without imparting intelligence.”

My thoughts on these questions are not new. I have for many years found the state of young people’s brains — a generalization with many, many exceptions — to be not short of appalling for their want of knowledge, of depth, of subtlety and especially of history. And I am quick to note in conversing with those of my own generation that the fault here lies very largely with us: It is we who have imparted so poorly the principles of “free thought,” known among the Jesuits as discernment — we who have insisted everyone gets a prize and no one ever fails, we who have sent young men and women who cannot read off to universities, where no-one-fails remains the norm. It is we who have failed.

Let us now give two more well-deserved “Fs.” One goes to Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and one to Hamline, a small Methodist university in St. Paul, Minnesota. Both of these institutions have recently taken the cultivation of ignorance to new lows, although at this point one hesitates to make any assumption as to where the bottom lies.

Harvard & Kenneth Roth

The Harvard case concerns Kenneth Roth, who stepped down last spring after 29 years as executive director of Human Rights Watch. Sushma Raman, executive director of the Carr Center for Human Rights at the Kennedy School, shortly thereafter offered Roth a senior fellowship.

It seemed a perfect fit, Roth’s notion of human rights conforming very closely with the American orthodoxy. All went well until the offer landed for formal approval on the desk of Douglas Elmendorf, the chinless wonder who serves as the Kennedy School’s dean.

No, Elmendorf replied to the Roth candidacy. It soon emerged that it was Roth’s record . . . READ MORE . . .

For now, links to reports from the Associated Press, Reuters, Agence France-Presse, Tass, and National Public Radio; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. Then, via Consortium News, commentary by an Australian observer. — MCM

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‘What madness looks like’: Russia intensifies Bakhmut attack, by Andrew Meldrum | AP  Russian forces are escalating their onslaught against Ukrainian positions around the wrecked city of Bakhmut, Ukrainian officials said, bringing new levels of death and devastation in the grinding, monthslong battle for control of eastern Ukraine that is part of Moscow’s wider war. “Everything is . . . READ MORE . . .

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Russia throws forces into assault on Ukraine’s Soledar, by Dan Peleschuk and Tom Balmforth | Reuters * Zelenskiy says no walls left standing in Soledar * Britain says Russian forces may control most of town * Wagner Group sending waves of fighters, Ukraine says * Reporter says Russia threatening Ukrainian supply lines * Putin ally says Moscow now fighting NATO in Ukraine | KYIV — Ukrainian forces are facing waves of assaults by Russian forces on the small salt-mining town of Soledar, Kyiv officials said today, as Moscow strives to make its first breakthrough in the east in months. Seizing Soledar would give an advantage to Russian forces as they . . . READ MORE . . .

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Putin has only 1 option left but won’t accept it, says Ukraine’s foreign minister. Reported by Mary Louise Kelly, Erika Ryan and Matt Ozug | NPR  In Ukraine, the weekend came and went — along with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s self-proclaimed ceasefire. Except that there were in fact no signs of a ceasefire. Instead, both Russia and Ukraine accused the other of continuing to launch attacks. Ukraine had never agreed . . . Click HERE to listen and read.

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People in Odesa try to do business even after Russian attacks leave them in the dark. Reported by Tim Mak | NPR  Ukrainian officials in Odesa say the local economy has contracted 40% since the war began. The shutdown of the local ports and unreliable electricity have forced businesses to adapt. Click HERE to listen and later, read.

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NATO, EU vow to step up support for Ukraine to defend itself, by Max Delany | AFP  NATO and the EU vowed Tuesday to bolster their backing for Ukraine to fight off Russia’s invasion and ramp up cooperation between Europe and the US-led alliance. Long-standing designs . . . READ MORE . . .

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Russian forces destroy two U.S.-made counter-battery radars in Ukraine operation – top brass. From Tass. MOSCOW — Russian forces destroyed two US-made counter-battery radar stations in the Donetsk People’s Republic over the past day during the special military operation in Ukraine, Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov said today. “In addition . . . READ MORE . . .

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Unprovoked! by Caitlin Johnstone | caitlinjohnstone.com  / Consortium News  In an interview with the Useful Idiots podcast not too long ago, Noam Chomsky repeated his argument that the only reason we hear the word “unprovoked” every time anyone mentions Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in the mainstream news media is because it absolutely was provoked, and they know it. “Right now, if you . . . READ MORE . . .

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MAY BE CONTINUED

For now, links to reports from Reuters, the Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, and Tass; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. — MCM

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Ukraine bolsters defences in east as Russia sends waves of attacks, by Pavel Polityuk and Vladyslav Smilianets | Reuters  * Kyiv describes situation in Soledar as difficult * No visible sign of casualties at barracks Russia says it hit * Zelensky says Russia attacks despite declaring truce | KYIV/KRAMATORSK, Ukraine — Ukraine said it was strengthening its forces around Bakhmut in the eastern Donbas region and repelling constant attacks there by Russian mercenary group Wagner, whose leader has vowed to capture the area’s vast underground mines. Kyiv had sent . . . READ MORE . . .

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Ukraine school spurns Russian claim of troops killed there, by Vasilisa Stepanenko | AP  KRAMATORSK, Ukraine — Officials at a vocational school in an eastern Ukraine city dismissed claims by Russia that hundreds of Ukrainian troops were killed in a missile strike there, saying today that a rocket merely blew out windows and damaged classrooms. Russia specifically named the vocational school . . . READ MORE . . .

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Western arms ‘prolong suffering’ of Ukrainians: Kremlin. From AFP. The Kremlin today said moves by France and other Western countries to supply Ukraine with weapons — including light tanks — would only make life more difficult for Ukrainians. “Fundamentally, . . READ MORE . . .

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Senior security official says Russia isn’t at war with Ukraine. From Tass. MOSCOW — Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev has said in an interview that Moscow isn’t at war with Kiev, but instead, the confrontation is an attempt by the West to use Ukrainians in its standoff with Russia. The conflict is “a military confrontation of NATO, first of all . . . READ MORE . . .

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MAY BE CONTINUED

Presented below is the beginning of an article originally published on Jan. 7, 2019, by Consortium News and republished by CN yesterday, Jan. 7, 2023. — MCM

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The Jan. 2017 ‘Assessment’ on Russiagate

By Ray McGovern | Consortium News

The banner headline atop page one of The New York Times print edition [now six] years ago today, on Jan. 7, 2017, set the tone for two years of Dick Cheney-like chicanery: “Putin Led Scheme to Aid Trump, Report Says.”

Under a media drumbeat of anti-Russian hysteria, credulous Americans were led to believe that Donald Trump owed his election victory to the president of Russia, whose “influence campaign” according to the Times quoting the intelligence report, helped “President-elect Trump’s election chances when possible by discrediting Secretary Clinton.”

Hard evidence supporting the media and political rhetoric has been as elusive as proof of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq in 2002-2003. This time, though, an alarming increase in the possibility of war with nuclear-armed Russia has ensued — whether by design, hubris, or rank stupidity. The possible consequences for the world are even more dire than 16 years of war and destruction in the Middle East.

If it walks like a canard . . .

The C.I.A.-friendly New York Times in 2017 led the media quacking in a campaign that wobbled like a duck, canard in French.

A glance at the title of the Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA) (which was not endorsed by the whole community) — “Assessing Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent US Elections” — would suffice to show that the widely respected and independently-minded State Department intelligence bureau should have been included. State intelligence had demurred on several points made in the Oct. 2002 Estimate on Iraq, and even insisted on including a footnote of dissent.

James Clapper, then director of national intelligence who put together the ICA, knew that all too well. So he evidently thought it would be better not to involve troublesome dissenters, or even inform them what was afoot.

Similarly, the Defense Intelligence Agency should have been included, particularly since it has considerable expertise on the G.R.U., the Russian military intelligence agency, which has been blamed for Russian hacking of the DNC emails.

But DIA, too, has an independent streak and, in fact, is capable of reaching judgments Clapper would reject as anathema. Just one year before Clapper decided to do the rump “Intelligence Community Assessment,” DIA had formally blessed the following heterodox idea in its “December 2015 National Security Strategy”:

“The Kremlin is convinced the United States is laying the groundwork for regime change in Russia, a conviction further reinforced by the events in Ukraine. Moscow views the United States as the critical driver behind the crisis in Ukraine and believes that the overthrow of former Ukrainian President Yanukovych is the latest move in a long-established pattern of U.S.-orchestrated regime change efforts.”

Any further questions as to why the Defense Intelligence Agency was kept away from the ICA drafting table?

Handpicked analysts

With help from the Times and other mainstream media, Clapper, mostly by his silence, was able to foster the charade that the ICA was actually a bonafide product of the entire intelligence community for as long as he could get away with it. After four months it came time to fess up that the ICA had not been prepared, as Secretary Clinton and the media kept claiming, by “all 17 intelligence agencies.”

In fact, Clapper went one better, proudly asserting — with striking naiveté — that the ICA writers were “handpicked analysts” from only the F.B.I., C.I.A., and NSA. He may have thought that this would enhance the ICA’s credibility. It is a no-brainer, however, that when you want handpicked answers, you better handpick the analysts. And so he did.

Why is no one interested . . . READ MORE . . .

For now, links to reports from Reuters, National Public Radio, and Tass ; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. — MCM

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Moscow ends self-proclaimed ceasefire, vows to press ahead in Ukraine. From Reuters. Russia’s bombing of regions in eastern Ukraine killed at least two people overnight, local officials said today, after Moscow ended a self-declared Christmas ceasefire and vowed to push on with combat until it reaches a victory over its neighbour. Ukraine rejected the truce, and the . . . READ MORE . . .

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The U.S. is sending Ukraine its largest aid package yet. Reported by Scott Simon and Greg Myre | NPR The U.S. is sending Ukraine its largest aid package yet, but it does not include everything the eastern European country wanted. Click HERE to listen and read.

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Foreign aid to Ukraine a money laundering scheme, head of Chechnya says. From Tass. MOSCOW — The Western aid to Ukraine is a working money laundering scheme, Head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov said today. “I see that some are worried about the foreign aid to Ukraine. Do not worry! This is a working money laundering scheme. Western and Ukrainian officials will embezzle these funds, and no more than 15% . . . READ MORE . . .

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Why negotiating an end to the Russia-Ukraine war should be a priority. Ayesha Rascoe of NPR talks with Georgetown professor Charles Kupchan about why negotiating an end to the war between Russia and Ukraine should be a priority, for those countries as well as their allies. Click HERE to listen and read when audio and text become available.

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MAY BE CONTINUED

First, a link to a column in the Berkshire Eagle focusing on the importance of six dams across the Dnipro River and how successful attacks by Russia to destroy them could escalate the war. Then, links to reports from the Associated Press, Reuters, Agence France-Presse, and Tass; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. — MCM

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Russian dam-busters threaten Kyiv, by James Brooke | The Berkshire Eagle  Ukrainian strategists fear the Kremlin could turn its attention to the dams across the Dnipro, a river about half the length of the Mississippi. These massive dams could be breached by conventional or nuclear bombs. The most devastating blow would be to the top of the cascade: the Kyiv Hydroelectric Power Plant. Located . . . READ MORE . . .

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Ukraine hails U.S. military aid as cease-fire said to falter, By Andrew Meldrum | AP  KYIV — Ukraine’s president is praising the United States for including tank-killing armored vehicles in its latest multibillion-dollar package of military aid, saying they are “exactly what is needed” for Ukrainian troops locked in combat against Russian forces. The White House announcement Friday . . . READ MORE . . .

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Putin praises Russian Orthodox Church for backing troops in Ukraine, by Andrew Osborn | Reuters  * Putin issues congratulatory Orthodox Christmas message * Hails Russian Orthodox Church as important unifying force * Praises its support for ‘military operation’ in Ukraine | President Vladimir Putin today praised the Russian Orthodox Church for supporting Moscow’s forces fighting in Ukraine in an Orthodox Christmas message designed to rally people behind his vision of modern Russia. The Kremlin . . . READ MORE . . .

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Russia insists it is observing Ukraine ceasefire despite Kyiv attacks. From AFP. MOSCOW — Moscow insisted today its army was observing a ceasefire in Ukraine to mark Orthodox Christmas despite artillery attacks by Kyiv troops. “Despite the shelling of the armed forces of Ukraine of settlements and Russian positions, the implementation . . . READ MORE . . .

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Combat activities in Ukraine to last for more months – White House. From Tass. WASHINGTON, January 7. /TASS/. Military activities on the territory of Ukraine are likely to continue for months to come, US National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby said. “We . . . READ MORE . . .

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MAY BE CONTINUED