(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Russian stuff blowing up: At least 48k Russians are considered missing in Ukraine [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-12-04 A Ukrainian drone hit the headquarters of Kadyrov’s special forces in Grozny, the capital of Chechnya. x #Grozny #Chechnya in the morning 💥 A drone struck the barracks of Kadyrov’s special forces regiment. Details are still unclear, but the damage is reported to be significant. pic.twitter.com/huyvwGFklv — Aurora Borealis 🤫 (@aborealis940) December 4, 2024 Speaking of the Kadyrovites, here’s the leader himself acting like a tough guy with a Ukrainian POW. If Kadyrov was given a gun and told to shoot himself, he’d cry and whine like a baby. x Ramzan Kadyrov allegedly talked to one of the captured AFU soldiers being held in the republic and suggested that he shoot himself instead of remaining in captivity. Images of the dialog are published by RT. "I will give you a gun, you will shoot yourself there, you will die… pic.twitter.com/Fc0vqTxJfM — WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated) December 4, 2024 Another 1,670 Russians who should have stayed home. x Russian losses per 04/12/24 reported by the Ukrainian general staff +1670 men +7 tanks +31 AFVs +26 artillery pieces +1 AD system +29 UAVs pic.twitter.com/gSqi1qZuf8 — NOELREPORTS 🇪🇺 🇺🇦 (@NOELreports) December 4, 2024 x Putin's niece accidentally revealed the approximate number of missing Russian soldiers Russian authorities have received 48,000 DNA test requests to search for missing Russian soldiers, according to Anna Tsivileva, Deputy Defense Minister and Putin's niece, during a statement in… pic.twitter.com/uiVoLiBNvD — NEXTA (@nexta_tv) December 4, 2024 Russia continues to play with fire in the Baltic. A Russian warship has fired warning shots at a German helicopter carrying out patrols over the Baltic Sea, it has been reported. The crew of the Russian ship fired signal ammunition, the German Press Agency in Brussels has learned. According to the German newspaper Bild, the warning shots were fired at the NATO reconnaissance aircraft but this is yet to be confirmed. Gosh, I wonder why India no longer wants Russian weapon systems. India has sharply reduced orders for defense equipment with Russia and is now buying more from Western suppliers, officials said, a significant policy shift for a nation traditionally reliant on arms from Moscow. India and Russia's plans to jointly develop and manufacture helicopters and advanced fighter jets were shelved some time ago, according to senior Indian officials with direct knowledge, who asked not to be identified because the discussions are private. A separate proposal to lease a nuclear-powered submarine from Russia to train Indian crew is also unlikely to move forward, they said, noting that the South Asian nation is building its own vessels. Two warships and batteries for an anti-missile shield, which were ordered prior to the war in Ukraine, are the only outstanding items. New Delhi has yet to receive from Moscow. …. India, the world's biggest importer of weapons, has been buying less and less from Russia. Only 36% of India's arms imports came from Russia last year, down from 76% in 2009, according to a March report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, an independent think tank that studies conflict, weapon sales and disarmament. It sounds like a water version of a meat assault. x Russia amasses 300 boats near Kherson, attempting river crossings to establish island footholds. Ukrainian forces report repeated futile assault attempts, strategic reconnaissance ongoing.https://t.co/27ap8fRkXD — Euromaidan Press (@EuromaidanPress) December 4, 2024 Even if this is true, so what? Russia started a war against Ukraine and its military is fair game wherever they are — whether that’s Mali, Sudan or Syria. x "Ukraine supported the attack on Aleppo in Syria and supplied weapons to the militants " -stated the Russian ambassador to the UN Security Council- I invite you to check from the beginning the whole thread , here I quote the one involving Ukraine, but this is very informative… https://t.co/DBc6TUENVa — Oriannalyla 🇺🇦 (@Lyla_lilas) December 4, 2024 This is good news. It would have been better news if it happened a year ago. But better late than never. x Ukraine's FM: Ukraine may receive 20 air defense systems by end of 2024 Sybiha said that Ukraine urgently needs air defense systems like HAWK, NASAMS & IRIS-T systems to prevent electricity blackouts that are caused by Russian constant strikeshttps://t.co/LkbrPfcxor — Euromaidan Press (@EuromaidanPress) December 4, 2024 Reuters has a story on Trump’s various plans to end the war. One former Trump national security official involved in the transition said there are three main proposals: the outline by Kellogg, one from Vice President-elect JD Vance and another advanced by Richard Grenell, Trump's former acting intelligence chief. Kellogg's plan, co-authored with former National Security Council official Fred Fleitz and presented to Trump earlier this year, calls for freezing the current battle lines. Kellogg and Fleitz did not respond to requests for comment. Their plan was first reported by Reuters. Trump would supply more U.S. weapons to Kyiv only if it agreed to peace talks. At the same time, he would warn Moscow that he would increase U.S. aid to Ukraine if Russia rejected negotiations. NATO membership for Ukraine would be put on hold. …. Vance, who as a U.S. senator has opposed aid to Ukraine, floated a separate idea in September. He told U.S. podcaster Shawn Ryan that a deal likely would include a demilitarized zone at the existing front lines that would be "heavily fortified" to prevent further Russian incursions. His proposal would deny NATO membership to Kyiv. …. Grenell, Trump's former ambassador to Germany, advocated the creation of "autonomous zones" in eastern Ukraine during a Bloomberg roundtable in July but did not elaborate. He also suggested NATO membership for Ukraine was not in America's interest. So …. how’s the Russian economy doing? x 2/ Vladimir Milov (@v_milov), an economist and longtime ally of Alexei Navalny, explains that Russian markets are gloomy ahead of the Central Bank’s board meeting on Dec 20. The Bank is expected to raise interest rates once again, from the current 21%, possibly to 23% or even 25% — Tatarigami_UA (@Tatarigami_UA) December 3, 2024 3/ For Central Bank to continue interest rate hikes means to kill the real sector of the economy, where most companies simply don't have sufficient profitability to borrow at current interest rates (Central Bank's 21% rate translates into 25-30% commercial loan rates) 4/ Relaxing tight monetary policies and lowering interest rates would push Russia into hyperinflation territory. However, the "elephant in the room" is the war, which is the root cause of all these problems. The war drives extreme military spending, which fuels inflation 5/ Ruble depreciation will contribute to inflation even further, as Russia continues to be heavily reliant on imports... while being under all sorts of embargoes, and China and other Global South countries are not opening their markets to most Russian goods 6/ When current revenues are insufficient to cover budget expenses, the state must find alternative sources to finance the deficit. In the current situation, Russia is cut off from international financial markets and cannot turn to Western governments or the IMF for assistance Pushkin is widely considered to be Russia’s greatest poet. He lived for a time in Odesa. x The Odesa City Council unanimously supported the demolition of the Pushkin monument The monument cannot be demolished without permission from UNESCO, since it is located in a protected area. pic.twitter.com/AncWXAuFzG — NEXTA (@nexta_tv) December 4, 2024 I wouldn’t be nearly as forgiving. x #Kherson Last night, 6 private houses damaged and destroyed in a neighborhood I know well. 1 woman, 73, killed in her bed. "We don't curse them...," said her friend, also 73. "For they don't know what they are doing." She was putting out a fire started by a drone for 24 hours pic.twitter.com/Xy5LNu478S — Zarina Zabrisky 🇺🇸🇺🇦 (@ZarinaZabrisky) December 3, 2024 Pretty soon it will be frozen and Russians can skate across it while they run from drones. x A Russian position is completely flooded pic.twitter.com/AZusH8sFuc — PS01 △ (@PStyle0ne1) December 3, 2024 Meanwhile, in Georgia, the government gives a whole new meaning to crack down. x There are various reports that the special forces squads of Zviad Kharazishvili AKA "Khareba" that are responsible for the crackdowns are high on amphetamine. Look at the eyes of this one in the video. Even the President told the French media about this. #GeorgiaProtests pic.twitter.com/J2xlqhHcDv — Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@Mikiashvili_M) December 3, 2024 Gas masks and fireworks cannons are great, but the protesters in Hong Kong several years ago were highly organized and it didn’t get them anywhere. When the government has no sense of shame and appeals to morality don’t work, nonviolent protest doesn’t work. x Protesters seem better organised and prepared today. pic.twitter.com/Y0enevjp3u — Mariam Nikuradze (@mari_nikuradze) December 3, 2024 He explains in the comments that these are people who were either killed or captured. It is very depressing to see channels age out and get auto deleted from inactivity. Especially channels run by friends I spoke to regularly. Some of them multiple times per week. Some who I had long phone calls with. One of my friends last posted on december 13th. barely more than a week left... — Andrew Perpetua (@andrewperpetua.bsky.social) December 3, 2024 at 6:13 AM He seems nice. x 1/ Several Russian soldiers are to be tried for the torture and mass murder of at least seven of their comrades in occupied Ukraine, allegedly on the orders of the commander of the 6th Motorised Rifle Division, Major General Marat Ospanov. ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/ImtpiqfOsw — ChrisO_wiki (@ChrisO_wiki) December 3, 2024 Maintaining one’s strength like this helps, but real recovery will take many, many years. x Ukraine UA (Instagram) This is Alina from Ternopil. On 2 December, Russians killed her father in a drone attack in their own apartment. She sings and plays the piano in their ruined home. Russians took the dearest person in her life, yet she continues to hold onto her strength.… pic.twitter.com/871bocrao1 — Malinda 🇺🇸🇺🇦🇵🇱🇨🇦🇮🇹🇦🇺🇬🇧🇬🇪🇩🇪🇸🇪 (@TreasChest) December 3, 2024 Russian artillery can’t snuff out the Christmas spirit in Kharkiv. x It's December! The city of Kharkiv is pretty dark and upsettingly empty, but we have a Christmas tram and other decorations that are going to light up soon. For the first time in 3 years, they are installed not only underground but also on the streets. pic.twitter.com/3FpEiVTwDi — Kate from Kharkiv (@BohuslavskaKate) December 3, 2024 Life goes on in Kyiv too. x This is barista in Kyiv filling generator with petrol: blackouts happen everyday for 3-4 hours a time, so coffee places like this one rely on generators to continue to work. Today the place is packed: making coffees, letting charge devices, creating space to be together, hopeful pic.twitter.com/ZsMWDeUPKC — Margo Gontar 🔱 (@MargoGontar) December 4, 2024 Dad’s home. 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