1/ Citizens of the puppet 'Donetsk People's Republic' (DNR) are complaining en masse that they are not being paid their promised compensation for deaths and injuries caused to local residents by the war. The DNR itself admits that it owes more than 38 billion rubles ($467m). ⬇️
2/ Relatives and soldiers of the DNR's armed forces – which have been decimated due to being used as so-called 'meat waves' against Ukrainian positions – have been posting numerous videos complaining about the lack of compensation payments and appealing to Putin for help.
3/ In one video, a wife says: "Starting from September 2022, funding for lump-sum compensation for wounded and killed DNR servicemen for 2022 was terminated. We submitted documents to the commission of the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy of the DNR.
4/ "There are a lot of us. We applied to all authorities. From the presidential administration to the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation.
5/ "All our appeals are forwarded to the government of the DNR, which redirects them to the Ministry of Labour, and the answers come from there that there is no funding. We write to the deputies and there are no results."
6/ According to the wife of one wounded soldier, his unit "collected all the necessary documents promptly, the medical examiner issued a conclusion of a severe injury.
7/ "In November we submitted all the documents for payment, and for seven months there have been no payments, the allowance during treatment is 30,000 rubles ($371). The answer is the same, there is no funding."
8/ People seeking compensation have complained to the DNR state prosecutor's office, which admitted that an audit had "established the fact of lack of funding for this type of payment, which requires an amount of more than 38 billion rubles."
9/ It's very unlikely that the DNR will be able to pay the sums it owes, as its finances are precarious, its economy is a mess and it's kept afloat only by Russian government funding.
10/ The Russian government has shown little concern previously for the welfare of DNR soldiers and their families, so there seems to be little likelihood that the relatives' video appeals will achieve much. /end
1/ Vladimir Putin's heavy investment in the regime of Venezuelan former President Nicolás Maduro has been a costly and disastrous failure, according to Russian commentators. They admit that Russia is too weak to stop its allies from being picked off one by one by the West. ⬇️
2/ Maxim Kalashnikov is scathing about what the fall of Maduro means for Russian foreign policy, saying that it "marks the collapse of the Russian leadership's long-standing PR-fueled foreign policy."
3/ "For a long time, it resembled a fireworks display: much noise and hype, but no real benefit to the development and industrialisation of the Russian Federation, or to the reunification of the Russian people.
1/ It wouldn't be a real Christmas without a gloomy forecast from Igor 'Strelkov' Girkin, Russia's answer to the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. He sees Trump turning against Russia in 2026, anticipates the loss of Transnistria, and predicts a naval blockade by the EU. ⬇️
2/ Writing from his jail cell, Girkin predicts a deteriorating outlook for Russia and its war effort in Ukraine during 2026:
"Naturally, no compromise will be reached this year, because it can't be. I hope this has finally sunk in on everyone on the Planet of the Pink Ponies."
3/ "The situation will continue to escalate. I believe that after some time, Trump will demand that we accept the plan agreed upon with the US and Ukraine.
1/ Russian warbloggers are furious and chagrined that the US has done to Maduro and Venezuela what their country has failed to do over four years to Zelenskyy and Ukraine. They say it shows Russia's weakness and condemn the Venezuelans for failing to fight. ⬇️
2/ 'Donetsk Infantry' is frankly envious: "Shoigu and Gerasimov, along with generals from the FSB, SVR, and GRU, are watching and asking, 'Was that even possible?' Some can do it, while others are left with sclerosis, constipation, and comic-book reports. Who studied what?"
3/ 'Shakespeare' laments that "they simply exterminated the political leadership of an independent and sovereign country. And this is against the backdrop of "our harsh response to Ukraine," which we're all expecting in the fourth year of the war,…
1/ What does the apparent capture of Venezuela's President Maduro by US forces mean for the country and wider geopolitics? In all likelihood, not much: it's more likely to be a typical Trumpian made-for-TV production than a turning point. Here's why. ⬇️
2/ According to information from the Trump Administration relayed by Senator Mike Lee, the current operation is focused only on arresting Maduro, and no further action is expected.
3/ This means that the Maduro regime essentially remains intact, without its head. The speed with which he has been captured strongly suggests that he was sold out by his own regime, likely in exchange for personal assurances for regime members.
1/ Thousands of Russian soldiers have likely been killed by their own side, with 300 men said to have been murdered in one unit alone. The story of one commander who was killed by another, who was then also killed, highlights an ongoing epidemic of murder, torture and robbery. ⬇️
2/ A recent report by The New York Times describes how families of Russian soldiers made 6,000 confidential complaints in only six months between April and September 2025. They were accidentally leaked by the office of the Russian human rights ombudsman.
3/ The complaints cover a wide range of abuses, many of which have been separately documented by soldiers themselves in videos posted on social media or released (likely posthumously) by their relatives.
1/ A memorial to African-American soldiers who fought to liberate the Netherlands in World War II was removed to comply with Trump Administration anti-DEI policies, according to newly released records, contradicting later claims about the reasons for the removal. ⬇️
2/ In November 2025, it emerged that the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) had quietly removed two panels memorialising Black soldiers at the Margraten war cemetery in Limburg. The cemetery itself had been created through their labor.
3/ This prompted an immediate outcry across the Dutch political spectrum. Campaigners in Limburg had pushed for years for the role of African-American liberators to be commemorated after it was overlooked or ignored by consecutive US Administrations.