"Ninety-nine combat engagements took place across the front lines in Ukraine on Wednesday, while Ukraine’s Air Force 17 times hit enemy weapons clusters, including an air defense system. Russia’s airstrikes hit the following areas: Synkivka, Kharkiv region; Serebrianske forestry, Luhansk region; Ivanivske, Toretsk, Ocheretyne, Orlivka, Novobakhmutivka, Avdiivka, Novomykhailivka, and Novoukrayinka of Donetsk region; Orykhiv, Zaporizhzhia region; Krynyk and Olhivka, Kherson region.
About 100 settlements in Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, and Mykolaiv regions came under enemy artillery fire.
In the Volyn and Polissia directions, the operational situation remained without significant changes.
In the Sivershchyna and Slobozhanshchyna directions, the enemy maintains its military presence in the areas close to the border, engaging in subversive missions in order to prevent the transfer of Ukrainian troops to more threatening sectors of the war zone.
On the Kupiansk axis, Ukrainian defenders repelled 16 enemy attacks in the areas of Synkivka, east of Petropavlivka and Ivanivka, where the enemy tried to break through." UKRIN
"Russian military shelled a medical institution in Kherson, one of the departments was seriously damaged, and a residential building was hit.....Kherson, as a result of nighttime enemy shelling, the contact network was damaged, so trolleybuses did not run." Ukrin
"An outbreak of so-called "mouse or rat-bite fever" has been spreading among many Russian units in the Kupyansk sector of the front....also known as Hantavirus hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome, is a zoonotic disease transmitted to humans by rodents either through direct contact, inhalation, urine, feces, or mucous secretions. Symptoms include severe headache, high fever, rash, low blood pressure, bleeding eyes, nausea, vomiting, and severe lower back pain. In its early stages, the disease resembles the common flu. The disease affects the kidneys, causing the infected person to experience severe pain in the lower back and difficulty urinating." UV
"Ukrainian hackers from the Blackjack group, likely with the support of cyber specialists of the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU), conducted a cyber-attack on the IT infrastructure of Rosvodokanal (a Russian company that deals with water utilities and water management – ed.), and now its work is blocked." Pravada
"Today the Russians are attempting to storm the town from the flanks in order to separate the logistics corridor, the so-called ‘road of life’," he said. The Defense Forces receive everything they need through the "road of life". MS
"The U.S. on Wednesday released a close ally of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro inexchange for Caracas releasing 31 people from prison, including 10 Americans, according to a senior U.S. administration official.
Driving the news: As part of the deal, a former U.S. Navy contractor who organized one of the largest bribery scandals in U.S. military history was arrested and returned to the U.S.
Leonard Francis, also known as "Fat Leonard," pleaded guilty in 2015 to doling out more than $500,000 in bribes in exchange for the ability to overcharge the Navy by at least $35 million for his services.
He escaped house arrest in San Diego in 2022 after cutting his ankle monitoring bracelet.
Details: In exchange for the prisoner releases and Leonard's extradition, the U.S. let go of Colombian businessman Alex Saab, who was accused of stealing $350 million as part of a bribe scheme against the Venezuelan government.
The U.S. has also accused him of being a financial fixer for Maduro.
Saab was arrested on money laundering charges in Cape Verde in 2020 while he was on his way to negotiate an oil deal with Iran as a representative of Maduro's government.
In response to Saab's extradition to the U.S. in 2021, Venezuela's government called off political negotiations with opposition officials and placed six U.S. oil executives under house arrest." MS
"Denmark has reached a defense agreement with the United States that will allow American troops to be based in the European country, reports Reuters. The agreement between the countries is reportedly for 10 years. Earlier this month, the United States signed similar agreements with Finland and Sweden." MS
"The Center for Long-Range Space Communications of the Russian Aerospace Forces and a military unit in the occupied Crimea were attacked overnight on Dec. 19-20, the Russian news outlet Astra reported, citing sources.
The local Telegram channel Crimean Wind, citing its subscribers, reported nighttime explosions in several areas of the peninsula. In particular, near Yevpatoria and Krasnoperekopsk.
There were two attacks on military units around this time, including in the village of Soniachnohirske near Alushta, Astra writes. An FSB border guard was reportedly injured and a satellite communications antenna was damaged." Pravada
"Satellite images have confirmed the destruction of a Russian Il-76 transport plane stationed at the Al-Jufra base in Libya. This vast aircraft succumbed to an attack likely initiated by American forces using drones or missiles, with the intention of eliminating members of the Wagner Group. The Pentagon currently refrains from commenting on these reports." MS
"A 6.2-magnitude earthquake jolted China's Gansu-Qinghai border in the wee hours of Tuesday morning. The earthquake claimed the lives of at least 111 people and left more than 230 people injured. Hours after the Gansu-Qinghai border was struck by this midnight horror, videos of the moment when the earthquake hit Gansu as well as those showing people running to save their lives went viral on X formerly known as Twitter." BusinessToday
"The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has captured Sudan’s second-largest city, just aday after the army and its supporters prematurely celebrated repelling an attack.
As army soldiers retreated from Wad Madani – once a hub for hundreds of thousands of displaced people – they left civilians behind. The army has released a rare statement acknowledging that its troops withdrew too quickly and promising an investigation, yet their supporters are calling for accountability.
Countless civilians like Arbab are calling for army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan to step down in the hope that a new leader can thwart the RSF’s advances.
Al-Burhan’s subordinates are also furious with the way he is fighting the war, according to sources close to security forces. But experts warn that a change of guard could lead to a power struggle – or vacuum – fracturing the Sudanese army." MS
"Esman community: artillery shelling (26 explosions) and MLRS attacks (15 explosions). As a result of the shelling, a civilian resident of the village of Esman was injured. He was taken to the medical facility. The Russians also fired with mortars (4 explosions)." Ukrin
"Ukraine can decentralize its power supply network by building a series of “mini nuclear power plants”, British engineering giant Rolls Royce believes. Rolls Royce is exploring rolling out its proposed Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) to Ukraine, using the technology to convert former coal-fired power stations to nuclear. While the British SMR concept of cheaper, smaller reactors has yet to be proven in practice, Rolls Royce hopes to be also to roll out the power stations quickly and at a cheaper energy-unit cost than conventional, larger stations and is attempting to build SMRs for the British government as part of the rush to ‘net zero’." Breitbart
"A pro-Palestinian demonstration took place on Tuesday at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, where about 60 demonstrators were ultimately put in handcuffs and whisked away by police for not complying with orders to vacate." Sputnik
"IDF soldiers have been experiencing an uptick in intestinal diseases likely caused by some of the food donations sent to the troops on the front lines, an Israeli health official said. "Since the war with Hamas began, soldiers have been receiving food donations, but unfortunately, there has been a concerning rise in intestinal diseases, likely caused by inadequate sanitation of some of the food. Additionally, many of the packages sent to soldiers contain ultra-processed foods such as cookies and salty snacks," warned Shir Alfi, a senior dietitian at Clalit Health Services." MS
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