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On December 4-5, Russian and Ukrainian forces continued to exchange strikes. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, during the night of December 5, Russian air defense systems intercepted and destroyed 41 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles over several regions. A statement from the Ukrainian Air Force reported that on the same night, Russia employed 137 attack UAVs, of which 80 were shot down or suppressed by Ukrainian air defense and electronic warfare assets.
These developments unfolded against the backdrop of the published update to the U.S. National Security Strategy, wherein Washington’s foreign policy priorities were revised. According to the document, the U.S. administration considers achieving a swift end to the conflict in Ukraine to be a vital interest, aimed at stabilizing the European economy, preventing escalation, and restoring strategic stability in relations with Russia. The strategy also stated the need to end the perception of NATO as a perpetually expanding alliance, to strengthen Europe’s autonomy, and to refocus U.S. efforts on other world regions, as the United States cannot bear the global burden indefinitely. European governments also faced criticism, with their expectations regarding the war labeled as unrealistic.
Within Ukraine, the strikes on December 4-5 targeted facilities in seven regions. In Chuhuiv, Kharkiv region, an industrial enterprise and, reportedly, warehouses of the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ 92nd Separate Assault Brigade sustained damage.
Near Horodnia in the Chernihiv region, a hangar located close to an airfield was damaged.
In the Dnipropetrovsk region, strikes targeted energy and military infrastructure: a substation in the Vasylkivskyi district was hit, as were positions and warehouses near the settlement of Khoroshe. In Pavlohrad, a railway junction and ammunition depots were attacked.
In Sloviansk (DPR), according to available information, a Ukrainian tactical reserve, an energy facility, and several warehouse buildings were affected, leading to the shutdown of the Belozerska mine located to the north.
In the Vinnytsia region, in Turbiv, attack targets included a machine-building plant, a railway station, energy facilities, and repair shops. It was also noted that, due to earlier strikes, the Kherson Thermal Power Plant had completely ceased operations.
A separate incident was noted in the Black Sea, where, according to a statement from the Rubicon Special Purpose Center, a Russian Lancet loitering munition struck a Ukrainian Navy unmanned boat at a distance of 104 km. The boat was reportedly armed with AIM-9 Sidewinder anti-aircraft missiles and was allegedly attempting to attack targets in Crimea.
Within Russia, the primary targets of Ukrainian UAV attacks were facilities in border and remote regions. In the port of Temryk, Krasnodar Krai, a UAV attack caused a fire at a liquefied gas transshipment terminal. In the Samara region, Ukrainian sources reported a fire at an oil refinery in Syzran. In the center of Grozny (Chechnya), an explosion, presumably from a drone hit, occurred in the Grozny-City tower, which houses a number of state institutions.
Ukrainian intelligence also claimed strikes in Crimea, hitting a Su-24 aircraft, Orion UAV parking areas, a railway train, and five radar stations.
Simultaneously with the ongoing hostilities, Ukraine is facing a deepening demographic crisis. According to the National Bank of Ukraine, approximately 128,000 people left the country in just a month and a half this autumn (from October 3 to November 14), a figure comparable to the outflow over the previous nine months. This may have been facilitated by both intensified attacks on infrastructure and the opening of borders for men of conscription age. Estimates indicate that since the start of the full-scale conflict, Ukraine’s population has decreased from approximately 42 to less than 36 million people. Forecasts point to a possible further population decline in the coming decades. Mortality rates have risen sharply, birth rates have fallen, and average life expectancy has decreased, creating long-term challenges for the country’s recovery and its defense capabilities.
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the us does not bear a burden, it operates an empire. their reach exceeded their grasp, and their dismissal of the russians and chinese as untermensch has bitten them in the ass. larry summers, what have you done?