Saturday, August 30, 2025

Polaris of Enlightenment

Here are Putin’s demands for a ceasefire

The war in Ukraine

Published 17 March 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Vladimir Putin does not want to see a temporary pause used by Ukraine to mobilize more soldiers and new arms supplies.
4 minute read

Recently, Vladimir Putin confirmed that Moscow is ready to discuss a ceasefire – but that the terms must first be clarified and a series of questions answered

The president stresses that Moscow is not interested in any short-term pauses in the war, but seeks a lasting and long-term peace settlement.

The background is that Washington and Kiev agreed on a proposal for a 30-day temporary ceasefire after a meeting in Saudi Arabia last week. Although Putin basically states that he wants to end the war, he is clear that a number of questions need to be answered before Russia is ready to sign a ceasefire agreement.

In particular, he emphasizes that Moscow will not approve a temporary pause in the war if this is used to strengthen and supply new weapons to the currently weakened Ukrainian army.

The Nordic Times publishes the Russian President’s response in full below:

Before I assess how I view Ukraine’s readiness for a ceasefire, I would first like to begin by thanking the President of the United States, Mr. Trump, for paying so much attention to resolving the conflict in Ukraine.

We all have enough issues to deal with. But many heads of state, the president of the People’s Republic of China, the Prime Minister of India, the presidents of Brazil and South African Republic are spending a lot of time dealing with this issue. We are thankful to all of them, because this is aimed at achieving a noble mission, a mission to stop hostilities and the loss of human lives.

Secondly, we agree with the proposals to stop hostilities. But our position is that this ceasefire should lead to a long-term peace and eliminate the initial causes of this crisis.

Now, about Ukraine’s readiness to cease hostilities. On the surface it may look like a decision made by Ukraine under US pressure. In reality, I am absolutely convinced that the Ukrainian side should have insisted on this (ceasefire) from the Americans based on how the situation (on the front line) is unfolding, the realities on the ground. And how is it unfolding?

I’m sure many of you know that yesterday I was in Kursk Region and listened to the reports of the head of the General Staff, the commander of the group of forces ‘North’ and his deputy about the situation at the border, specifically in the incursion area of Kursk Region.

What is going on there? The situation there is completely under our control, and the group of forces that invaded our territory is completely isolated and under our complete fire control.

Command over Ukrainian troops in this zone is lost. And if in the first stages, literally a week or two ago, Ukrainian servicemen tried to get out of there in large groups, now it is impossible. They are trying to get out of there in very small groups, two or three people, because everything is under our full fire control. The equipment is completely abandoned. It is impossible to evacuate it. It will remain there. This is already guaranteed.

And if in the coming days there will be a physical blockade, then no one will be able to leave at all. There will be only two ways. To surrender or die.And in these conditions, I think it would be very good for the Ukrainian side to achieve a truce for at least 30 days. And we are for it. But there are nuances. What are they? First, what are we going to do with this incursion force in Kursk Region?

If we stop fighting for 30 days, what does it mean? That everyone who is there will leave without a fight? We should let them go after they committed mass crimes against civilians? Or will the Ukrainian leadership order them to lay down their arms. Simply surrender. How will this work? It is not clear.

How will other issues be resolved on all the lines of contact? This is almost 2,000 kilometers. As you know, Russian troops are advancing almost along the entire front. And there are ongoing military operations to surround rather large groups of enemy forces.

These 30 days – how will they be used? To continue forced mobilization in Ukraine? To receive more arms supplies? To train newly mobilized units? Or will none of this happen?

How will the issues of control and verification be resolved? How can we be guaranteed that nothing like this will happen? How will the control be organized?

I hope that everyone understands this at the level of common sense. These are all serious issues. Who will give orders to stop hostilities? And what is the price of these orders? Can you imagine? Almost 2,000 kilometers. Who will determine where and who broke the potential ceasefire? Who will be blamed?

These are all questions that demand a thorough examination from both sides.

Therefore, the idea itself is the right one, and we certainly support it. But there are questions that we have to discuss. I think we need to work with our American partners. Maybe I will speak to President Trump. But we support the idea of ending this conflict with peaceful means.

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Shocking reports about the Ukrainian army: 1.7 million dead, wounded, and missing

The war in Ukraine

  • Russian hackers claim to have accessed and leaked what they allege is information from the Ukrainian General Staff's databases.
  • According to this information, Ukraine has lost over 1.7 million soldiers in the fighting since 2022 in the form of dead, missing and wounded.
Published yesterday 17:02
– By Editorial Staff
According to the hackers' claims, the figure represents a total of 621,000 Ukrainian losses so far in 2025.
4 minute read

The hacker groups Killnet, Palach Pro, User Sec and Beregini claim to have gained access to several terabytes of sensitive information by infiltrating computers and local networks of the Ukrainian General Staff. The database allegedly contains full names of dead soldiers, descriptions of circumstances and locations of their deaths or disappearances, personal data, relatives and photos.

According to these figures, Ukraine is said to have lost 118,500 soldiers in 2022, 405,400 in 2023, 595,000 in 2024 and a record-high 621,000 during the first eight months of 2025. In total, this would amount to approximately 1.7 million lost soldiers.

Three wounded for every killed soldier

Grigory Kryukov, vice chairman of the Russian Union of Afghan and Special Operations Veterans and one of the developers of a mathematical model for calculating losses, emphasizes that the figures should be understood as total losses that include not only dead, but also wounded, prisoners of war and deserters.

According to his calculations, the number of irreversible losses – those who will never return to service – amounts to approximately 400,000. The remainder includes over one million wounded and a smaller proportion of deserters.

Kryukov explained that military assessments typically use a ratio of one to three, meaning that for every soldier killed, three others become unable to continue serving through injuries, capture or desertion.

Ukraine is estimated to be able to mobilize between 1.2 and 1.5 million people. Irreversible losses in the region of 400,000 could thus constitute a very serious problem and risk triggering a systemic crisis in the armed forces and even threaten Kiev’s survival.

Ukraine: “Absurd fake”

In February, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told CBS News that only 46,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed since 2022, with an additional 380,000 wounded. The figures from the hackers thus present a completely different picture than the losses previously reported from Kiev.

Analyses of losses in the Ukraine war otherwise vary very significantly, with the Russian military consistently reporting higher losses among Ukrainian soldiers than Western assessments. From Moscow’s side, they claim that losses increased particularly after Kiev’s failed counteroffensive in 2023 and that in February they calculated that more than 1.08 million Ukrainian soldiers had been killed or wounded.

Suspicions that Ukraine has concealed its losses have recently also appeared in conventional mass media in the West. For example, French newspaper Le Monde reported last month that “the real death toll is likely much higher” and cited Ukraine’s increasing efforts to build military cemeteries.

Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation (CCD) under the National Security and Defense Council completely rejects the hackers’ claims, dismissing them as lies.

“Kremlin-controlled propaganda outlets are spreading claims that Russian hackers allegedly breached the General Staff’s database and obtained information about ‘1.7 million dead and missing Ukrainian soldiers’ since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In reality, this is an utterly absurd fake, as Ukraine has never had a standing army of 1.7 million personnel throughout its independence”, writes the CCD in a statement.

“The goal of this fake is to demoralize Ukrainians, convince the world of the ‘exhaustion and ineffectiveness of the Ukrainian Armed Forces,’ and weaken international support for Ukraine”, they further declare.

“Lost several generations”

Ukrainian parliamentarian Artem Dmytruk has also commented on the reported losses and his picture differs drastically from Kiev’s official position.

“The lists of the missing today contain more than a million people, and of course these people are most likely dead, while their families remain in complete ignorance. The situation is tragic, the situation is frightening”, said Dmytruk in an interview with Russian RT.

He warned that villages have been emptied of men, including elderly and disabled people, and that Ukraine faces “huge losses” and a “demographic crisis”.

“We have lost several generations”, he said, calling for peace on the grounds that both Ukrainians and Russians are dying unnecessarily.

It can meanwhile be noted that Dmytruk today has a very strained relationship with Zelensky’s government. He fled Ukraine in August 2024 and is currently wanted. The charges concern alleged assault of a soldier and a police officer as well as attempting to steal a weapon. From exile, he has taken an increasingly critical stance toward the Ukrainian government and their handling of the war and has often appeared as an expert commentator regarding Ukraine in Russian media.

Woody Allen added to Ukrainian “kill list”

The war in Ukraine

Published yesterday 10:28
– By Editorial Staff
Woody Allen, 89.
2 minute read

American director and actor Woody Allen has been added to Ukraine’s controversial Mirotvorets list. The reason is said to be his video appearance at a film festival in Moscow.

Woody Allen, 89, has been placed on Ukraine’s disputed Mirotvorets database – also known as the “kill list”. The list describes Allen as an “enemy of Ukraine” and accuses him of participating in “a Russian propaganda event”.

The background is that Allen recently participated via video link in Moscow International Film Week. There he spoke primarily about his long career and his personal experiences as a filmmaker.

Ukraine’s foreign ministry condemned his participation and described it as “a disgrace and an insult to the victims among Ukrainian actors and filmmakers”.

Allen: “Putin is wrong”

As a consequence, the Lviv National Academic Theatre in western Ukraine has canceled planned productions of Allen’s musical Bullets Over Broadway.

The Oscar-winning director has defended his participation and emphasizes that his appearance was not political.

I believe strongly that Putin is totally in the wrong, Allen said, but stressed that artistic conversations should be able to continue.

Mirotvorets has existed since 2014 and lists people considered to threaten Ukraine’s security or participate in Russian propaganda. The site has long been criticized internationally, as several people added to the list have been subjected to threats, violence and even killed.

Banned from Hollywood

Woody Allen has been the subject of allegations of sexual abuse against his adoptive daughter Dylan Farrow, which her mother Mia Farrow claims occurred in 1992.

The alleged abuse was investigated at the time by social services and police, but the case was dropped without charges due to lack of evidence.

In connection with the controversial #MeToo movement, the allegations gained new life and sparked extensive debate, although again without any actual legal proceedings taking place.

Allen has since been effectively banned from Hollywood, but has continued to release films internationally, including Rifkin’s Festival (2020) and Coup de chance (2023).

Fact: Mirotvorets "death list"

Mirotvorets, which roughly translates to "peacemaker" or "peacekeeper" in English, is a Ukrainian database that publishes names of individuals considered to threaten Ukraine's security or participate in Russian propaganda. The list was started in 2014 and is highly controversial, criticized for lack of transparency and linked to threats and violence against listed individuals.

Among examples of confirmed and notable names on the list are:

  • Alexander Ovechkin, Russian hockey player, listed for his support of Putin.
  • Roger Waters, musician and activist, after statements supporting Russia's position on Crimea.
  • Gerhard Schröder, former German chancellor, listed for "pro-Russian" statements.
  • Viktor Orbán, Hungary's prime minister, placed on the list in 2022.
  • Zoran Milanović, Croatia's president, added for "pro-Russian" comments.
  • Vasyl Lomachenko and Oleksandr Usyk, Ukrainian boxers, listed after participating in Russian projects.
  • Anatolij Shariy, Ukrainian opposition politician and journalist.

Sources: Wikipedia ("Myrotvorets"), UNIAN, OSCE, Human Rights Watch.

Moscow: Zelensky has no mandate to conclude peace

The war in Ukraine

Published 26 August 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov once again points out that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's presidential term actually expired long ago.
2 minute read

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov opens the door to talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. At the same time, he states that any peace agreements require a legally legitimate signatory – something Zelensky is not since his presidential mandate has formally expired.

In the interview, which was broadcast on NBC on Sunday, Lavrov leaves the door open for direct negotiations between President Vladimir Putin and Zelensky – “provided this meeting is really going to decide something”. At the same time, he points out that the necessary groundwork for such a summit is still lacking.

The Russian foreign minister argues that Zelensky functions as Ukraine’s “de facto leader of the regime,” but simultaneously highlights what Moscow sees as a decisive problem.

— The issue of who is going to sign the deal on the Ukrainian side is a very serious.

— We would need a very clear understanding by everybody that the person who is signing is legitimate, Lavrov explains further.

No new elections during war

The core of Moscow’s criticism lies in the fact that Zelensky’s presidential mandate formally expired over a year ago. The Ukrainian president has not called new elections, citing the current state of emergency due to the war. This has led Moscow to officially declare him “illegitimate”.

Lavrov goes so far as to dismiss Zelensky’s recurring requests for a meeting with Putin as “basically a game” – and an attempt to strengthen his own questioned position.

— A game he is very good at playing because he wants theatrics in everything he is doing. He does not care about substance, says the Russian foreign minister.

“Zelensky said no to everything”

Regarding prospects for meaningful negotiations, Lavrov points to what he describes as Kiev’s unwillingness to compromise. As an example, he mentions how Zelensky previously allegedly defied then-US President Donald Trump.

— Zelensky said no to everything… He clearly stated that nobody can prohibit him from joining NATO… he publicly stated that he is not going to discuss any territories.

Russian demands for a peace solution stand in sharp contrast to Ukraine’s position. Moscow insists that Ukraine must remain neutral, undergo demilitarization and “denazification”, as well as “recognize the current territorial realities on the ground” – meaning giving up claims to areas now under Russian control.

From the Ukrainian side, there have been signals that Zelensky is indeed prepared to discuss the country’s territorial disputes with Russia – but without any intention of formally recognizing any territorial losses.

Swedes to cover Ukraine’s budget deficit

The war in Ukraine

Published 26 August 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson's government has long emphasized that continued support for Ukraine is Sweden's highest foreign policy priority.
3 minute read

Sweden opens its wallet once again for Ukraine as the government sends an additional €67 million directly to the Ukrainian state budget – money that Kiev can use freely to cover its growing budget deficit.

Sweden thereby becomes the first EU country to provide this type of direct support.

The decision was made by the Swedish government on Thursday and means that Swedish taxpayers will now finance the Ukrainian state treasury’s ongoing expenses. This comes in addition to the approximately €9 billion that Sweden has already sent to Ukraine since 2022.

In 2025 alone, Sweden plans to provide at least €4.3 billion in civilian and military aid to Ukraine – equivalent to 0.76 percent of Sweden’s GDP. To this is now added an additional €67 million in direct budget support.

Swedish Foreign Trade Minister Benjamin Dousa defends the extensive contributions and wants to see more European countries follow Sweden’s example, especially after the US has reduced its support.

— We will stand behind Ukraine through thick and thin for as long as needed, he promises in Schibsted-owned TV4 News.

Must not go to corruption

The new budget support will be channeled through the EU’s so-called Ukraine Facility, but Ukrainian authorities can decide for themselves how the €67 million should be used. According to Dousa, Sweden sets certain requirements, but the government does not want to go into details about these.

— We will always ensure that the money does not go to corruption and that Ukraine takes the reforms they are currently pursuing seriously and continues to become even more democratic and move even closer to the EU, the minister claims.

Dousa explains that Ukraine’s economic situation is under severe pressure after three years of war and describes the situation for next year as “very strained”, especially since American support has decreased.

— The economic situation, especially for next year, is very strained given that the US has withdrawn. Then we must be more countries that now step up and do even more for Ukraine. Partly this is an important signal to the rest of Europe to step up more, but also to Ukraine, the minister continues.

References Sweden’s security

The Swedish development aid minister claims that it is in Sweden’s own security interest to continue pumping billions into Ukraine. He repeats the mantra that “Ukraine is not only defending its own independence and freedom but all of Europe’s”.

— A Russian tank that is eliminated by Ukraine is one less tank that can drive into the Baltics, Finland or even into Sweden, he claims.

With the latest addition, Sweden’s total support to Ukraine approaches the €9 billion mark – a sum that will now grow further as Swedish tax money goes directly to covering holes in Kiev’s state budget.

The combined Western support to Ukraine approaches €360 billion since the war began. Despite the massive sums, Ukraine has not managed to achieve the military successes hoped for. At the same time as more and more voices now openly advocate diplomatic solutions and swift peace negotiations, both economic contributions and arms deliveries from the West continue.

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