Russia wants a ceasefire in Ukraine from noon tomorrow and 36 hours ahead, the Reuters news agency reports, citing the Kremlin. The order is to come from President Vladimir Putin and concern Russian forces, according to AP.
It is the first time since the war began that the Russian side has called for a ceasefire. The announcement comes less than a day before the start of the Orthodox Christmas – which concerns many believing Russians.
The Russian head of the Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, called for the truce earlier on Thursday.
Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas Day on 7 January because they use the Julian calendar, which is thirteen days behind the Gregorian.
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Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico launched a scathing attack on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, accusing him of roaming Europe and engaging in “begging and blackmailing” – something that must stop.
– I’m not here to hold hands with Zelensky, and I’ll admit, I’m sick of him sometimes. He roams Europe begging and blackmailing, asking others for money… This needs to stop, the Slovak declared in Parliament’s foreign affairs committee on Friday.
The outspoken Fico has long been highly critical of the West’s almost unlimited support for Kiev, pointing out that Ukraine is not capable of defeating Russia on the battlefield and must instead seek a diplomatic solution to the conflict.
Shortly after taking office in 2023, Fico also halted military aid to Ukraine and promised to veto the country’s potential accession to NATO, and he has also offered to host peace talks between Moscow and Kiev.
“Slovakia is not at war”
Slovak-Ukrainian relations deteriorated sharply when Kiev refused to extend its transit agreement with Russia’s Gazprom after it expired at the end of the year, effectively cutting off the flow of Russian natural gas to EU countries such as Austria, Italy and Slovakia.
Slovakia, which has no coastline of its own, is said to be particularly dependent on Russian gas, which has previously met around 60% of its total demand. Fico has demanded compensation from Kiev and promised countermeasures, possibly by cutting off electricity supplies and humanitarian aid to Ukraine.
– Neither Slovakia nor the EU is at war, we have no reason to tolerate Zelensky’s adventures, especially looking at the aid Slovakia and the EU are providing to Ukraine, the Prime Minister said in a speech earlier this week.
Warned of World War III
On Thursday, Fico also met with EU energy commissioner Dan Jorgensen to discuss the situation and how to resolve it.
– We have a bloody serious problem, the Slovak leader stated before the meeting.
The Nordic Times has previously reported how Robert Fico warned that the war in Ukraine risks escalating into a third world war.
– In reality, Ukraine is only being used for geopolitical purposes to weaken Russia both economically and internationally.I fear that, in the name of these geopolitical goals, the West will continue to fight with Russia until the last Ukrainian soldier, and we are not far from that, he said.
Ukraine has been called a “test lab for the future of war”.With the help of the US-based company Palantir, headed by a high-profile member of the steering committee of the infamous Bilderberg Group, drones have now been developed that automate killing and use AI to identify Russian soldiers.
Peter Thiel is not only a member of the steering committee of the globalist power network Bilderberg Group. His company Palantir, described by Time magazine as “the AI arms dealer of the 21st century”, has developed technology that allows drones to detect Russian soldiers and other “hostile targets” without human intervention. Based on characteristics such as uniforms, weapons and human movement patterns, the drones can not only identify targets for their attacks, but also carry them out autonomously.
Ukrainian-American David Kirichenko, a researcher in cyberwarfare and military strategy and active at the neoconservative think tank Henry Jackson Society, believes that AI and technology without direct human intervention will play a more important role on the battlefields of the future and that the Ukrainian war is a harbinger of this.
“Over time, the battlefield is becoming a clash of algorithms. As the world becomes more digitised, technology’s influence in warfare will only grow. Cheap drones have already transformed the battlefield, accelerating both sides’ need to adapt and develop new technological advancements“, he said.
“Ultimately, the Russia-Ukraine war has highlighted the need for NATO countries to embrace and adapt to the technological advancements seen in Ukraine, many of which are emerging from off-the-shelf commercial technologies. NATO must prepare for the future of warfare, where the first large-scale drone war is rapidly transitioning into the first AI-driven war“, he further writes.
Photo: АрміяInform/CC BY 4.0
“21st century AI arms dealer”
AI technology is said to have improved the ability of drones to “hit the enemy” from just under 50% in 2023 to nearly 80% in 2024 – and Palantir is described by Time magazine as crucial to this development.
One example is the SAKER reconnaissance drone, which uses Palantir’s AI and is said to be able to identify different types of enemy targets on its own and then relay this in real time to its command post, which chooses when and how to hit the enemy.
Ukraine and its allies are said to be particularly excited about the AI’s ability to improve its capabilities on its own and “learn” to identify targets by watching video clips of Russian forces.
The Ukrainian Saker Scout drone is equipped with artificial intelligence. It can identify even camouflaged enemy military vehicles, locate their coordinates and transmit the data to the command center.
Although the Ukrainian side is keen to use the new technology to better resist a numerically and militarily superior Russia, critics point out that there are serious moral aspects that should be considered.
For example, the fact that artificial intelligence is suddenly given the mandate to decide who is the “enemy”, and also to act and thus automate the killing, could, according to analysts, lead to disastrous consequences. Among the many aspects mentioned are the risks to the civilian population if they are misidentified, for example because of their “movement patterns”, and suddenly marked as hostile targets.
Defenders of the technology argue that it is ultimately humans who decide which targets to destroy, while critics point out that there is a high risk of relying too much on a tool that does not have the capacity to assess nuances on a battlefield in the same way as a human operator.
More and more Ukrainian soldiers are deserting or avoiding conscription to escape the protracted war with Russia.According to data from the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office, more cases of desertion have been reported in 2024 than in the previous two years of war.
The lack of rotation and the absence of reinforcements are said to be key factors behind the trend.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj recently admitted in an interview with Ukrainian Telemarathon, a televised fundraising event that runs for many hours a day and aims to raise money for a charitable, political or other cause, that the number of deserters in Ukraine’s military increased sharply in 2024.
In particular, the number of desertions escalated during the spring and summer.
– AWOL cases increased in 2024, but since September or October it has decreased. A long war is a long war. Our people are persevering, and people are getting tired. They are getting tired everywhere, Zelenskyj admitted during the call.
NATO-trained French brigade hit hard
According to Newsweek magazine, Ukrainian authorities have launched more than 100,000 prosecutions of desertion since the war began in February 2022. In 2024, more than 60,000 cases have reportedly been registered up to October.
In several registered cases, soldiers are leaving their positions without permission, for reasons such as lack of rotation and an increasingly tense war situation. Factors that have made desertion the only option for many, reports the Financial Times.
Ukraine has recently launched a review of the French-trained 155th “Anne of Kyiv” Brigade, following allegations of desertion, mismanagement and poor leadership.
Reports suggest that more than 1 700 soldiers have deserted from the brigade, leading to organizational chaos and raising questions about military governance in the region.
At the same time, at least 50 soldiers are reported to have already escaped during training in France. An investigation is now underway to clarify the extent and causes of the problems.
Ukraine probes French-trained 155th “Anne of Kyiv” Brigade for alleged desertion, mismanagement, and poor command. Claims of 1,700+ AWOL soldiers and organizational chaos raise questions about military leadership. Investigation ongoing.#France#BrusselsMorning#WarInUkrainepic.twitter.com/KUDxtpylU8
— Brussels Morning Newspaper (@BrusselsMorning) January 4, 2025
Reinforcements are delayed
The Ukrainian government has tried to counter the problem by decriminalizing first-time desertions, provided that soldiers return to duty before 1 January 2025. At the same time, the age of mobilization has been lowered to 25 and penalties for avoiding conscription have been increased.
Despite this, there are widespread reports of problems in attracting new recruits. Video clips on social media show military personnel conducting drafts at bus stops, storming workplaces and knocking on doors in residential areas – further reinforcing resistance to mobilization.
Zelensky says the lack of reserves is a contributing factor to Russia’s advance.
– There are not many reserves. Why? Because not everything arrived to supply the reserves.
According to Dmytro Lytvyn, Ukraine’s presidential office and communications adviser, delays in the delivery of weapons and equipment have further complicated the situation.
– We cannot compensate for our partners’ delays in decision-making and supply chains with the lives of our soldiers and of the youngest of our guys, an unnamed source in the Ukrainian presidential office told Reuters.
Video shows forced mobilization & women trying to stop it in my native Lutsk in Western Ukraine. 3 mobilized men from my neighborhood were killed & 4 are missing in Russia-Ukraine war. Cities, towns & villages there are nearly empty of men because they are snatched, in hiding or… pic.twitter.com/1VU73H2VrT
According to the Associated Press, desertion was one of the main reasons for the fall of the Ukrainian fortress of Vuhledar in October.
– It is clear that now, frankly speaking, we have already squeezed the maximum out of our people, commented what is said to be an anonymous officer of Ukraine’s 72nd brigade.
In 2024, Russia has made significant advances in eastern Ukraine, including the capture of Avdiivka – a city of great strategic importance that has long served as a line of defense for Ukrainian forces.
Meanwhile, Russian forces are now threatening Pokrovsk, a key logistical hub for transportation and military supplies.
As both sides struggle to fill their ranks, the US has called on Ukraine to further lower the age of mobilization to 18, a proposal that has faced strong criticism.
Ukrainian soldiers at the front (archive photo). Photo: Ministry of Defense of Ukraine/CC BY-SA 2.0
Uncertain future
It remains to be seen how political developments in the outside world will affect the situation in Ukraine. Especially given US President-elect Donald Trump’s promises to change US policy on Ukraine.
Trump has stated, among other things, that he plans to reduce military aid to Ukraine and “end the conflict in one day”, a statement that has raised questions about the future of US engagement in the region.
The Kremlin says a US-made F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter jet was shot down over the Zaporizhzhia region earlier this week.
“An F-16 aircraft was shot down in the Zaporizhzhia region at its takeoff site“, the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti stated via the social messaging app Telegram on Thursday.
According to Vladimir Rogov, a senior representative of the region’s Russian administration, “the F-16 aircraft was downed when preparing for a missile strike on the region“.
The US Department of Defense has refused to confirm or deny the shoot-down, instead referring journalists to Kiev for questions and comments.
There have also been reports of Russia shooting down F-16s in the past, but these have not been verified. In August, however, one of the American multi-role aircraft was destroyed – just weeks after it was delivered to Kiev.
According to the Ukrainian military, the plane crashed during a Russian attack, but it remains unclear whether the plane was actually eliminated by Russian forces – or whether it was Ukraine itself that accidentally shot it down or otherwise destroyed it.
Costing tens of millions
Each fighter jet is estimated to cost the equivalent of around €25 million or more and is said to be more difficult to shoot down than other planes as they can be fitted with jamming pods and other advanced equipment.
Although the F-16 was developed for the US Air Force, it is currently used by some 20 countries around the world and a total of almost 5 000 have been produced.
Israel was the first country to use the aircraft in combat when a Syrian-made PLO helicopter was shot down over Lebanon in 1981. Since then, the model has been used in numerous wars and conflicts around the world – including Afghanistan, Iraq and Yugoslavia.
