Puppet MastersS


Star of David

Ukraine's Christian church is being destroyed by 'infidels and ethnic Jews' - Putin

Saint Sophia's Cathedral Ukraine Orthodox
© SputnikFILE PHOTO: Ukranian flags wave in front of Saint Sophia's Cathedral in Kiev, Ukraine.
The largest Christian Church in Ukraine is being persecuted because the country is run by godless people, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said. Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky and many of his associates are ethnic Jews but have never been seen at a synagogue, he added.

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) was outlawed by Zelensky earlier this year over alleged links to Moscow. Speaking at his end-of-year press-conference on Thursday, Putin described the move as a "blatant violation of human rights, the rights of believers."

"The church is being torn apart in front of the whole world. It is like an execution by a firing squad," he added.

Bad Guys

State terrorism: Ukraine launches attack on residential buildings deep inside Russia

ukraine drone attack russia
Up to three kamikaze drones have struck a number of residential high-rises in the Russian city of Kazan, local officials reported on Saturday morning. Several news outlets have published what appear to be video clips shot by eyewitnesses, which depict the moment of the attack and its aftermath.

Earlier on Saturday, the Russian Defense Ministry said on its own Telegram channel that its air defenses had shot down one "Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle over the Republic of Tatarstan," of which Kazan is the capital. The statement was later cited by the city administration.

In a separate message later in the day, military officials reported that the "Kiev regime" had deployed three waves of fixed-wing drones, targeting Kazan's civilian infrastructure. According to the ministry, Russian air defenses shot down three of the incoming UAVs, and that three more were downed with the help of electronic warfare systems.

Hourglass

Hungary's Orban: West has pumped over $300 billion into Ukraine

orban
© Global Look Press / Meng DingboHungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban
The money spent to fund the war could have "done wonders" in the EU, the Hungarian PM has argued

The US and the EU have provided over $300 billion in financial aid and military assistance to Kiev since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said.

Such a huge amount of money "could have done wonders" had it been spent to improve the lives of people within the EU, he said in an interview with Kossuth radio on Friday.

Orban highlighted the evolving military situation, noting that "the balance of power on the frontlines is shifting day by day" in Russia's favor. He also pointed to the political changes expected in the US when Donald Trump returns to the White House next month.

Comment: Most of those funds were washed back to the EU kleptocracy and the U.S. MIC. That's why Biden has been shoveling money into Ukraine in the dying days of his administration. The decades-long gravy train is ending:

Biden Administration to Unveil Final $1.2 Billion Ukraine Aid Package Amid Uncertain Future for U.S. Support

One of the many reasons we don't have nice things.
new york vs moscow subway
New York City subway vs. Moscow subway



Bullseye

Georgia appeals court disqualifies DA Fani Willis and her team from Trump election interference case

WillisTrump
© John Bazemore/AP/CNN/KJNFulton County DA Fani Willis • Former US President Donald Trump
Georgia court rules Willis and her office have 'no authority to proceed'

A Georgia court of appeals disqualified Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and her team from prosecuting President-elect Donald Trump in his election interference case on Thursday.

The court did not toss Trump's indictment entirely, but Willis and the assistant DAs working in her office now have "no authority to proceed."

"After carefully considering the trial court's findings in its order, we conclude that it erred by failing to disqualify DA Willis and her office," the filing states. "The remedy crafted by the trial court to prevent an ongoing appearance of impropriety did nothing to address the appearance of impropriety that existed at times when DA Willis was exercising her broad pretrial discretion about who to prosecute and what charges to bring."

Comment: Attorney Ashleigh Merchant comments on the Willis debacle, saying her case against Trump was 'weak':
Ashleigh Merchant, the Georgia attorney who exposed the affair between Fulton County DA Fani Willis and Special Prosecutor Nathan Wade, reacted to news that Willis had been disqualified from her prosecution of President-elect Trump in Georgia.


"She could have done the right thing early on, whenever we brought this to everyone's attention, and said, 'Hey, let's have a neutral prosecutor handle this case. Let's have someone else look at it.' But I think she was terrified because her case was so weak, she didn't want someone else to look at it," Merchant told Fox News Channel's Steve Doocy.

Based on Merchant's uncovering of Willis' relationship with Wade, Judge Scott McAfee ruled in March that Willis must either withdraw herself and her team from the 2020 election interference case or remove Wade as special prosecutor. Following the decision, Wade resigned from his position in the case, leaving Willis to continue it.

At the time, Merchant expressed her desire to have seen Willis removed from the case entirely, writing in a statement,
"While we believe the court should have disqualified Willis' office entirely, this opinion is a vindication that everything put forth by the defense was true, accurate and relevant to the issues surrounding our client's right to a fair trial."
Merchant's goal to see Willis ousted happened months later on Thursday, after the state appeals court declared that Willis' "appearance of impropriety" constitutes "the rare case in which disqualification is mandated, and no other remedy will suffice to restore public confidence in the integrity of these proceedings.

Merchant characterized it as an obvious decision, telling Doocy that Willis' impropriety was "something that you couldn't turn your eye away from, and I think that's something the court of appeals said."

"It's one of those things that you know it when you see it," Merchant continued. "It's the appearance of impropriety. It is so great that it had to be enough to kick them off the case."

After speculating that Willis wouldn't willingly leave the case because of its weakness, Merchant expressed her belief that if a more "neutral prosecutor" got hold of the case, they would have it dismissed.

"I've always thought, if a neutral prosecutor - someone who didn't have a financial interest in this case and a political interest in this case - looked at it, that they would see things differently. And they would decide that the taxpayers, the courts, the people who are charging the case, they deserve this case to be dismissed."



Beaker

Indonesia concerned about biolabs investigated by murdered Russian general - media

Kirillov
© RIA NovostiRussian General Igor Kirillov
Igor Kirillov's reports inspired Jakarta to shut down Washington's illegal biological research in the country.

The assassination of Russian Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, the head of the country's Radiological, Chemical, and Biological Defense Forces, has drawn renewed attention to his investigations into covert US biological research programs, including alleged activities in Indonesia, according to local media reports.

Kirillov, who was killed along with his aide in a Moscow explosion on Tuesday, had frequently accused the US of conducting secretive biological research under the guise of humanitarian aid and military cooperation. The Ukrainian Security Service (SBU), which previously labeled him an "absolutely legitimate target" for assassination, has reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack.

During his tenure, Kirillov repeatedly highlighted alleged US biolabs operating globally, focusing on Ukraine, but also pointing to facilities in Southeast Asia, including the US Navy's now-closed NAMRU-2 laboratory in Jakarta. In his report in 2022, he claimed the lab conducted unauthorized biological research until its closure in 2010 after Indonesia's Ministry of Health designated it a "threat to national sovereignty."

Comment: Detik is CNN Indonesia


Attention

'Deeply immoral' Anglo-Americans sabotaged Ukraine peace - ex-Swiss ambassador

Long table talks
© Sergei Karpukhin/SputnikThe head of the 'Servant of the People' faction in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Davyd Arakhamia, left
Russian Presidential Aide Vladimir Medinsky, right • Russian-Ukrainian talks • Dolmabahce Palace • Istanbul, Turkey
Veteran diplomat Jean-Daniel Ruch has claimed the US and the UK derailed the Istanbul talks in April 2022, hoping to "weaken Russia".

Veteran Swiss diplomat Jean-Daniel Ruch has alleged that the US and UK "immorally" prevented Ukraine and Russia from sealing a truce back in April 2022 in the hope of dealing a blow to Moscow. The former official, who at the time served as Swiss ambassador to Türkiye, was in the country when peace talks were taking place.

In Istanbul, Ukraine and Russia preliminarily agreed to a draft truce under which Kiev would have renounced its NATO membership aspirations, declared neutrality, and limited the size of its armed forces in exchange for international security guarantees. However, Ukrainian negotiators abruptly pulled out, with Moscow later claiming that then British Prime Minister Boris Johnson had urged the Ukrainian leadership not to sign any accord and to "just continue fighting."

Beaker

It's the biolabs, stupid: Is this why Ukraine murdered a Russian general?

Biohaz guy
© SrdjanPav/File/Getty Images
The world deserves answers - not just about Igor Kirillov's death, but about the controversy he was investigating.

The shocking assassination of Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, the head of Russia's Radiological, Chemical, and Biological Protection Forces, reverberates far beyond the streets of Moscow. On December 17, 2024, Kirillov was killed in a brazen bombing, an act the Russian government has denounced as terrorism. While the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) - Kiev's successor to the Soviet KGB - via 'anonymous sources' cited in multiple media outlets, has claimed responsibility, labeling Kirillov a war criminal, the truth about his death is likely far more complex - and far more chilling.

Kirillov's death was not just an attack on a prominent Russian official; it was an attack on the truth. For years, he had been at the forefront of investigating and exposing alleged US-funded biolabs in Ukraine, claiming they were part of a broader Western biological warfare agenda. His assassination raises a deeply unsettling question: Was this a deliberate effort to silence him and prevent his revelations from coming to light?

Putin

Best of the Web: Putin on Ukraine, Israel, Trump, Zelensky and even porn: Highlights from his annual Q&A marathon

Putinevent
© Vyacheslav Prokotyev/SputnikRussian President Vladimir Putin
The annual event ran for over four hours and saw the Russian president address topics from Ukraine regrets to future hopes.

Russian President Vladimir Putin held his annual 'Direct Line' event in Moscow on Thursday during which he addressed a wide range of issues in the marathon Q&A session. From regrets about the timing of Russia's military operation in Ukraine to blunt comments on global and domestic challenges, the Russian leader offered numerous insights into his thinking. Here are the key takeaways from the event:

Putin: Maybe we should have launched the Ukraine operation earlier

The Russian president acknowledged that it might have been better to have launched the military operation in Ukraine sooner.

"You know, if it were possible to look at the situation in 2022, knowing what is happening now, what would I think? That such a decision, which was made at the beginning of 2022, should have been made earlier," he said. Putin added that he acted at the time "because it was impossible to stand still and wait for the situation to get worse for us - that's what it's all about."

He said the operation is a necessary step to secure Russia's national interests, dismissing accusations of aggression.

Comment: Comment: Putin also warned that Europeans shouldn't be surprised if Ukrainians soon begin conducting sabotage/terrorism in Europe.

He also challenged the US to a "21st century duel"!


He also put the BBC's Steve Rosenberg in his place for about the 50th time in 20 years:





Putin

Russia achieved its goals in Syria - Putin

Hmeimi air bases in Syria.
© Sputnik/Ministry of Defense of the Russian FederationHmeimi air bases in Syria.
Moscow prevented the creation of a terrorist hotbed ten years ago, the president has said.

The government in Damascus fell earlier this month, after government forces and Iran-backed militias declined to protect it from advancing armed groups. Moscow has provided asylum to Assad and his family.

During Putin's marathon Q&A session on Thursday, NBC correspondent Keir Simmons confronted Putin, claiming that the recent development, as well as the cost of the Ukraine conflict, have left him the "weaker leader" ahead of likely interactions with US President-elect Donald Trump. The premise is false, the Russian leader responded.
"You and the people who pay your salary in the US would very much like to see Russia in a weakened state," he said. "I believe Russia has become much stronger over the past two to three years."

Comment: See also:


Pirates

Rank thievery: US plans to sell off Syria's national wealth after Assad

privatise syria
© MintPress NewsThere's money to be made in dismembering a nation
In the immediate wake of the Syrian government's abrupt collapse, much remains uncertain about the country's future - including whether it can survive as a unitary state or will splinter into smaller states as did Yugoslavia in the early 1990s, a move that ultimately led to a bloody NATO intervention. Moreover, who or what may take power in Damascus remains an open question. For the time being at least, members of ultra-extremist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) appear highly likely to take key positions in whatever administrative structure sprouts from Bashar Assad's ouster after a decade-and-a-half of grinding Western-sponsored regime change efforts.

As Reuters reported on December 12, HTS is already "stamping its authority on Syria's state with the same lightning speed that it seized the country, deploying police, installing an interim government and meeting foreign envoys." Meanwhile, its bureaucrats - "who until last week were running an Islamist administration in a remote corner of Syria's northwest" - have moved en masse "into government headquarters in Damascus." Mohammed Bashir, head of HTS' "regional government" in extremist-occupied Idlib, has been appointed the country's "caretaker prime minister."

However, despite the chaos and precariousness of post-Assad Syria, one thing seems assured - the country will be broken open to Western economic exploitation, at long last.