News of the World

[kyonides]

USA

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New Aid Package for Ukraine

US announces new arms aid package for Ukraine worth $500 million

The Biden administration announced another package of weapons aid for Ukraine on Thursday, valued at $500 million, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.

White House spokesperson John Kirby said earlier the U.S. would continue to provide additional packages for Ukraine "right up to the end of this administration."

Washington said 10 days ago it would send Ukraine $725 million worth of missiles, ammunition, anti-personnel mines and other weapons.

Biden's outgoing administration is seeking to bolster Ukraine in tackling Russia's invasion, before Biden's term ends in January when Republican President-elect Donald Trump would take office.

Thursday's package worth about $500 million included ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and High-speed Anti-radiation missiles (HARMs), among other assistance, according to Blinken.

After Thursday, about $5.6 billion worth of Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA) to rush weapons from U.S. stocks to the front lines remains available to Biden without requiring congressional approval.

Moscow's troops have been capturing village after village in Ukraine's east, part of a drive to seize the industrial Donbas region, while Russian air strikes target a hobbled Ukrainian energy grid as winter sets in.

Liberals React to Trump's Nomination as Person of the Year

Liberals Cancel Subscriptions to TIME Magazine After Donald Trump Named ‘Person of the Year’

Liberals are calling on their peers to “cancel” TIME Magazine after the publication named President-elect Donald Trump its 2024 “Person of the Year” — a title that has been given to well-known figures regardless of political views or controversy.

“Cancel TIME Magazine,” popular leftist Facebook page “The Other 98%” posted on Saturday, along with the publication’s customer service number:

Cancel TIME MagazineCancelation and Refunds.1-800-843-TIME (8463)

Posted by The Other 98% on Saturday, December 14, 2024

“Also BLOCK them on ALL social platforms,” a commenter wrote on the post, which garnered nearly 30,000 “likes.”

“I did that yesterday after a 20 year subscription. Felt so good,” another person replied.

Trump, who was also awarded the “Person of the Year” title in 2016, celebrated by ringing the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday:
[Tweet]
When TIME posted the cover image featuring Trump on social media, they also received comments from critics saying they had canceled their subscriptions:
[Tweet]
Others bizarrely said the title should have gone to Luigi Mangione, the former University of Pennsylvania student accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in cold blood:
[Tweet]

The Drone Crisis

DHS, FBI Say ‘No Evidence’ Suggests Drone Sightings Pose National Security Threat

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) issued a joint statement on Thursday suggesting that the drone sightings in areas like New Jersey do not pose a national security threat based on current evidence.

“We have no evidence at this time that the reported drone sightings pose a national security or public safety threat or have a foreign nexus,” the statement said.

The two organizations said that they will be working closely with local and state police to “confirm whether the reported drone flights are actually drones or are instead manned aircraft or otherwise inaccurate sightings.”

The statement further noted that some drone sightings in the past have been cases of mistaken identity or may have been manned aircraft.

We are supporting local law enforcement in New Jersey with numerous detection methods but have not corroborated any of the reported visual sightings with electronic detection. To the contrary, upon review of available imagery, it appears that many of the reported sightings are actually manned aircraft, operating lawfully. There are no reported or confirmed drone sightings in any restricted air space.

We take seriously the threat that can be posed by unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), which is why law enforcement and other agencies continue to support New Jersey and investigate the reports. To be clear, they have uncovered no such malicious activity or intent at this stage. While there is no known malicious activity occurring in New Jersey, the reported sightings there do, however, highlight the insufficiency of current authorities.

Former Gov. Larry Hogan Claims He Saw ‘Large Drones’ Above Maryland Home

Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan ® claims he saw “large drones” in the sky above his Davidsonville home, located roughly 25 miles from Washington, DC, and called for the federal government to “immediately address” the ongoing issue of reported drone sightings.

In a post on X, Hogan explained that he had “observed” the unidentified drone activity for “approximately 45 minutes.” Hogan criticized the “White House, the military, the FBI” and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for saying they don’t know “what they are” or “where they came from,” while also saying “they pose no threat.”

Hogan’s post comes as people have reportedly claimed to see unidentified drones in the sky in New Jersey, Staten Island, New York, and Pennsylvania, among other places.

“Last night, beginning at around 9:45 p.m., I personally witnessed (and videoed) what appeared to be dozens of large drones in the sky above my residence in Davidsonville, Maryland (25 miles from our nation’s capital),” Hogan wrote in his post. “I observed the activity for approximately 45 minutes.”

Hogan admitted that “like many” people who have claimed to see the drones, he did “not know if this increasing activity over our skies is a threat to public safety or national security.”

“But the public is growing increasingly concerned and frustrated with the complete lack of transparency and the dismissive attitude of the federal government,” Hogan continued. “The government has the ability to track these from their point of origin but has mounted a negligent response. People are rightfully clamoring for answers, but aren’t getting any.”

NJ Mayor: State Told Us to Call Bomb Squad, Wear HAZMAT if Drone Is Downed, Like It’s an Attack

On Friday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Faulkner Focus,” Belleville, NJ, Mayor Michael Melham stated that the state of New Jersey gave them guidance that day that if a drone is downed “we’re immediately to call the bomb squad of our county, and, second, our fire department has been instructed to make sure they wear HAZMAT suits” like it’s an attack on the homeland.

Melham stated, “On the way here, I was on the phone with my OEM team and we now have guidance coming from the state. And that guidance does say two different things. First of all, if there is a downed drone in our vicinity, we’re immediately to call the bomb squad of our county, and, second, our fire department has been instructed to make sure they wear HAZMAT suits.”

Host Harris Faulkner then asked, “So, if something falls out of the sky that people have seen…you’re to treat this [like] more than a plane crash, it’s treated like an attack on the homeland?”

Melham answered, “That is correct, because they’re not quite sure if there’s a payload or not, and that’s what we were told during our briefing on Wednesday.”

Later, he said that “it sounds like it might very well be our highest-level government, it might be government assets that are being deployed as a countermeasure.”

Mayorkas: ‘We Are Limited in Our Authorities’ to Incapacitate Drones

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” that his agency was “limited” in its authority to shoot down drones.

Mayorkas said, “There are thousands of drones flown every day in the United States, recreational drones, commercial drones. That is the reality, and in September of 2023, the Federal Aviation Administration, the FAA, changed the rules so that drones could fly at night, and that may be one of the reasons why now people are seeing more drones than they did before, especially from dawn to dusk. So that is the reality, but I want to assure the American public that we are on it. We are working in close coordination with state and local authorities, and it is critical, as we all have said, for a number of years, that we need from Congress, additional authorities to address the drone situation. Our authorities currently are limited, and they are set to expire. We need them extended and expanded.”

He added, “We want state and local authorities to also have the ability to counter drone activity under federal supervision. That is one important element that we have requested, and we’ve heard it echoed by the state and local officials themselves.”

Host George Stephanopoulos said, “You know, President-elect Trump has put out a post on this. I want to put it up on the screen right now. He says, mystery drone sightings all over the country. Can this really be happening without our government’s knowledge? I don’t think so. Let the public know, and now. Otherwise, shoot them down.’ Your response?”

Mayorkas said, “Well, we are aware of the drone sightings. As I’ve said, I think there are more than 8,000 drones flown every day in the United States. With respect to the ability to incapacitate those drones, we are limited in our authorities. We have certain agencies within the Department of Homeland Security that can do that, and outside our department, but we need those authorities expanded as well.”

Mysterious Drones ‘Easily Evaded’ Tracking by New Jersey Sheriff’s Office Drone

A New Jersey sheriff attempted to track the mysterious drones that have been spotted flying over the state with his department’s own drone, which he said the mystery aircraft “easily evaded.”

Ocean County Sheriff Michael Mastronardy said that one of his officers witnessed a swarm of 50 drones “coming off the ocean.”

“We contacted state police, we contacted the FBI, we contacted the Coast Guard, at which point the Coast Guard went out with their boat, and they reported seeing 13 following their boat,” Mastronardy told NewsNation on Friday:
...
The Coast Guard told his office the unexplained aircraft had a wingspan of eight feet, Mastronardy said.

The sheriff’s office then put up their own “industrial-grade drone” to follow one of the strange aerial devices, but the sheriff told NewsNation’s Rich McHugh that it “easily evaded” their drone and “disappeared out of thin air.”

“If this is not our military, then it’s even more scary,” McHugh said. “These things look like they are fixed-wing and they have multiple lights. I’m not really sure how to process what I saw last night. Both the photographer and I were kind of stunned.”

In an interview with CBS News, the sheriff said the mystery drones sped away at 60 mph, explaining that “our drones only go 40”:
...

EUROPE

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France Has a New Prime Minister

President Macron names centrist ally Bayrou as France's next prime minister

French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday named centrist ally François Bayrou as prime minister in an effort to address the country's deep political crisis, after a historic parliamentary vote ousted the previous government last week.

Bayrou, 73, a crucial partner in Macron’s centrist alliance, has been a well-known figure in French politics for decades. His political experience is seen as key in efforts to restore stability as no single party holds a majority at the National Assembly.

Macron’s office said in a statement that Bayrou "has been charged with forming a new government."

Former Prime Minister Michel Barnier resigned last week following a no-confidence vote prompted by budget disputes in the National Assembly, leaving France without a functioning government. Macron in an address to the nation vowed to remain in office until his term ends in 2027.

Bayrou vows to seek 'needed reconciliation'

During the handover ceremony, Bayrou said that "no one knows the difficulty of the situation better" than he does.

"I’ve taken reckless risks all along my political life to raise the issue of debt and deficits in the most important elections," he said.

France is under pressure from the European Union’s executive body and financial markets to reduce its colossal debt, estimated to reach 6% of its gross domestic product this year.

"I know that the risks of difficulties are much greater than the chances of success," Bayrou said, adding that he hopes to lead the country towards a "needed reconciliation."

"I think this is the only possible path to success," he said.

Bayrou is expected to hold talks with political leaders from various parties in the coming days in order to choose new ministers.

EU About to Kick Out Syrian Refugees?

[/url][url=https://www.voanews.com/a/germany-and-other-european-countries-suspend-decisions-on-syrians-asylum-bids-after-assad-s-fall-/7892855.html]Germany, other European countries suspend decisions on Syrians' asylum bids after Assad's fall

Germany and several other European countries said Monday they are suspending decisions on asylum claims by Syrian nationals because of the unclear situation in their homeland following the fall of Bashar Assad.

Germany's Federal Office for Migration and Refugees said Monday that more than 47,000 applications are currently pending. It said it would reassess the situation and resume decisions once things in Syria have stabilized.

Interior Ministry spokesperson Sonja Kock noted that asylum decisions take account of the circumstances of each case, which involves assessing the situation in the applicant's country. She said the migration authority has the option of prioritizing cases from other places if a situation is unclear, as it currently is in Syria.

More broadly, German officials said it's too early to tell what the fall of Assad will ultimately mean for the many Syrians who sought refuge in Germany in recent years, particularly in the mid-2010s.

Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said it's not yet possible to predict "concrete possibilities to return" and "it would be unserious to speculate about this in such a volatile situation."

Her ministry said that, as of Oct. 31, there were 974,136 Syrian nationals in the country, the majority of whom had some kind of refugee or other protected status.

In neighboring Austria, Chancellor Karl Nehammer also tasked his interior minister with suspending decisions on current asylum applications by Syrians, the Austria Press Agency reported.

"It is important to first establish facts, to put asylum and family reunion procedures on hold," Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg said. "We need to wait until the dust settles, so we can see what is happening, what the next points are."

Sweden's Migration Agency said it will also pause decisions on Syrian asylum cases, arguing that it isn't possible at present to assess applicants' reasons for seeking protection. It didn't specify how long the pause would last, but said a similar decision was made in connection with the Taliban's return to power in Afghanistan in 2021.

In Finland, the director of the Department for International Protection at the Finnish Immigration Service, Antti Lehtinen, told public broadcaster YLE that decisions have been suspended there, and he can't immediately estimate when they will resume.

In Norway, the Directorate of Immigration announced a similar decision, saying that it has put asylum applications from Syria on hold "until further notice."

France says it was considering following Germany's example.

"We are working on a suspension of ongoing asylum files from Syria," the French Interior Ministry said. "We should reach a decision in the coming hours."

The ministry said 450 applications from Syrian citizens are pending in France.

German Politician Questions NATO Membership Because it Doesn't Benefit Russia as Well!?

German far-right leader questions NATO membership

The co-leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party on Sunday said Germany should reconsider its membership of NATO if the U.S.-led military alliance did not consider the interests of all European countries, including Russia.

"Europe has been forced to implement America's interests. We reject that," the AfD's Tino Chrupalla told German daily Welt.

"NATO is currently not a defense alliance. A defense community must accept and respect the interests of all European countries — including Russia's interests," Chrupalla said.

"If NATO cannot ensure that, Germany must consider to what extent this alliance is still useful for us," he added.

The far-right AfD is polling at around 18-19% ahead of snap elections on February 23, following the collapse of Chancellor Olaf Scholz's coalition government last month.

The score puts the party ahead of Scholz's Social Democrats at 16-17% and behind only the conservative CDU-CSU bloc, which is polling around 31-32%.

The AfD has little chance of forming a government because other parties have ruled out cooperation with the far-right group.

But it could continue a streak of strong electoral showings, after a landmark win in Thuringia, one of the regions in Germany's formerly communist east.

The far-right party has been a vocal critic of Germany's military support for Ukraine and has argued for a swift end to the war prompted by Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022.

"The German government must finally get to the point of wanting to end the war," said Chrupalla, whose colleague, Alice Weidel, will lead the AfD into the election as the party's candidate for chancellor.

"Russia has won this war. Reality has caught up with those who claim to want to enable Ukraine to win the war," he said.

Ukraine War Update

NATO chief: Russia preparing for long-term confrontation with Ukraine, Europe

NATO's secretary-general warned Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to “wipe Ukraine off the map,” and he urged the bloc “to shift to a wartime mindset and turbocharge our defense production and defense spending."

In a speech Thursday in Brussels, Mark Rutte said Russia was "preparing for long-term confrontation, with Ukraine and with us.” He added that Europeans need to brace themselves for the possibility of Russia using “swarms of drones” on the continent. Putin, he said, "is trying to crush our freedom and way of life."

“We are not ready for what is coming our way in four to five years,” said the former Dutch prime minister, who warned that NATO states might need to give more than the standard 2% of gross domestic product for military spending that's required for alliance membership.

During the Cold War, Rutte said, Europeans spent more than 3% of their GDP on defense, a sum that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has also urged NATO members to pay into the alliance.

Only 23 of NATO’s 32 members are expected to meet the 2% target this year, according to the bloc. Rutte said Russia would probably spend up to 7% or 8% of its GDP on its military next year.

Russia is already engaged in a “coordinated campaign to destabilize our societies,” Rutte warned, citing recent “hostile actions” that Moscow has launched against NATO members, including cyberattacks and assassination attempts.

“Danger is moving towards us at full speed,” Rutte said. “We will not be safe in the future unless we are prepared to deal with danger."

EU imposes new sanctions on Russia

European Union ambassadors have agreed to a new raft of sanctions against Russia because of its war on Ukraine, mainly targeting Russia’s massive shadow fleet of ships, the EU’s Hungarian presidency said Wednesday.

The Associated Press reports the new sanctions are directed at some 50 “routinely decrepit” ships that Russia uses to avoid restrictions on transporting oil and fuel.

"I welcome the adoption of our 15th package of sanctions, targeting in particular Russia's shadow fleet," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen posted on X.

The sanctions, which are expected to be formally adopted by the EU on Monday, will add additional entities and individuals to the current list. Details about the new list of sanctions will be revealed when they are published in the EU’s legal journal.

The current roster of sanctions imposed against Russia by the 27-member European bloc names more than 2,000 individuals and entities. The sanctions have included travel bans and the freezing of assets of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his associates, as well as several Russian lawmakers.

The EU initiated the sanctions following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine nearly three years ago.

Kremlin falsely claims Trump’s report of 600,000 Russian casualties in Ukraine came from Kyiv

On Dec. 8, President-elect Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social that Russia did not help the Assad regime in Syria because "close to 600,000 Russian soldiers lay wounded or dead" in the war with Ukraine. In the same post, Trump estimated Ukraine's losses at "400,000 soldiers."

On the same day, Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary for the Russian president, rejected Trump’s claim, asserting that the figure originated from inaccurate estimates by Kyiv. Peskov further claimed that Ukraine had suffered significantly higher military losses compared to Russia:

“As concerns the figures announced with regard to losses on both sides, it is obvious that they were presented in the Ukrainian interpretation and reflect Ukraine’s official position. The actual numbers are completely different. Ukraine’s losses are multiple times higher than those of Russia.”

These claims are false.

The figures for casualties in the war between Russia and Ukraine cited by Trump are close to estimates given in recent months by Ukraine, Western defense and intelligence officials, and Western media reports. All the data indicates that Russia has lost more soldiers than Ukraine.

According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as of Dec. 8, Russia's losses in the war with Ukraine since Feb. 24, 2022, in killed and wounded, amount to about 751,910 soldiers – higher than the 600,000 figure mentioned by Trump.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated on Telegram that as of Dec. 8, "Russian losses exceed 750 thousand of their people. That's 198 thousand Russians killed and more than 550 thousand wounded" in the war with Ukraine.

Zelenskyy estimated Ukraine's losses at 43,000 dead and 370,000 wounded, which is a total of 413,000, which is close to the data provided by Trump.

Non-Ukrainian estimates of the two sides’ casualties in the war are about the same. On Dec. 7, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told the Reagan National Defense Forum that Russia has suffered over 700,000 casualties since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, He noted that Russian losses in the first year exceeded those of all post-WWII conflicts combined, with recent casualty rates surpassing 1,000 troops daily.

On Nov. 10, the U.K.’s chief of defense staff, Sir Tony Radakin, stated that Russia is on the brink of reaching 700,000 casualties, both killed and wounded, due to the war in Ukraine.

On Oct. 28, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said, “Over 600,000 Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded in [President Vladimir] Putin's war, and he is unable to sustain his assault to Ukraine without foreign support."

A U.S. defense official quoted by Politico said that as of Oct. 9, Russia had suffered more than 600,000 casualties in the war with Ukraine, with September 2024 being the deadliest month.

The United States has not provided any official figures on Ukrainian casualties in the war.

Zelenskyy: Russia 'using Korean soldiers in Kursk'

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday that Russia has begun deploying North Korean soldiers to storm Ukrainian positions in the Kursk region.

Zelenskyy said in his evening address that he had "preliminary evidence that the Russians have begun to use soldiers from North Korea in assaults — a noticeable number of them."

He said that according to his information, "the Russians include [North Koreans] in combined units and use them in operations in the Kursk region," where Ukraine has been mounting an incursion since August.

Zelenskyy said he has also heard that the North Koreans "may be used in other parts of the front line," and that "losses among this category are also already noticeable."

Zelenskyy said last month that 11,000 North Korean troops were in Russia's western Kursk region and had already sustained "losses."

Washington and Seoul have accused Pyongyang of sending more than 10,000 soldiers to help Moscow, after Russia and North Korea signed a landmark defense pact this summer.

North Korea and Russia have strengthened their military ties since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Surprised by the Kursk incursion, Russia has since continuously clawed back territory, halting Ukraine's advance and rushing reinforcements to the region.

A Ukrainian army source told AFP last month Kyiv still controlled 800 square kilometers of the Kursk region, down from previous claims it controlled almost 1,400 square kilometers.

Ukrainian drones strike Russia as Kyiv reels from consecutive massive air attacks

Ukrainian drone strikes on southern Russia killed a 9-year-old boy and set fire to a major oil terminal, officials said Saturday, the day after Moscow launched a massive aerial attack on its neighbor that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said was one of the heaviest bombardments of the country’s energy sector in the nearly three-year war.

The boy died when a drone struck his family’s home outside Belgorod, a Russian city near the border with Ukraine, local Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov reported on Saturday morning on the Telegram messaging app. His mother and 7-month-old sister were hospitalized with injuries, Gladkov said.

He posted photos of what he said was the aftermath of the attack, showing a low-rise house with gaping holes in its roof and front wall flanked by mounds of rubble.

Elsewhere in southern Russia, Ukrainian drones overnight hit a major oil terminal in the Oryol region, sparking a blaze, Ukraine’s General Staff reported. Photos published by the General Staff and on Russian Telegram news channels showed huge plumes of smoke engulfing the facility, backlit by an orange glow.

Oryol Gov. Andrey Klychkov confirmed that a Ukrainian drone strike set fire to a fuel depot. He said later the blaze had been contained and that there were no casualties.

Russia’s Defense Ministry on Saturday claimed its forces shot down 37 Ukrainian drones over the country’s south and west the previous night.

Russia pummels Ukrainian energy targets

The Ukrainian strikes came a day after Russia fired 93 cruise and ballistic missiles and almost 200 drones at its neighbor, further battering Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, around half of which has been destroyed during the war. Rolling electricity blackouts are common and widespread, and Zelenskyy charged Friday that Moscow is “terrorizing millions of people” with such assaults.

Serbian Gas Supplier Facing US Sanctions

Serbia's main gas supplier, controlled by Russia, faces US sanctions

The United States plans to introduce sanctions against Serbia’s main gas supplier, which is controlled by Russia, Serbia’s president said Saturday.

President Aleksandar Vucic told state RTS broadcaster that Serbia has been officially informed that the decision on sanctions will come into force on January 1 but that he has so far not received any related documents from the U.S.

There has been no comment from U.S. officials.

Serbia almost entirely depends on Russian gas, which it receives through pipelines in neighboring states. The gas is then distributed by Petroleum Industry of Serbia, which is majority-owned by Russia’s state oil monopoly Gazprom Neft.

Vucic said that after receiving the official documents, “we will talk to the Americans first, then we go talk to the Russians” to try to reverse the decision. “At the same time, we will try to preserve our friendly relations with the Russians and not to spoil relations with those who impose sanctions.”

Although formally seeking European Union membership, Serbia has refused to join Western sanctions against Russia over its invasion in Ukraine, in part because of the crucial Russian gas deliveries.

Vucic said that despite the embargo threat, “I’m not ready at this moment to discuss potential sanctions against Moscow.”

Asked if the threat of U.S. sanctions against Serbia could change with the arrival of Donald Trump’s administration in January, Vucic said, “We must first get the [official] documents, and then talk to the current administration, because we are in a hurry.”

The Serbian president is facing one of the biggest threats to more than a decade of his increasingly autocratic rule. Protests have been spreading by university students and others following the collapse last month of a concrete canopy at a railway station in the country’s north that killed 15 people on November 1.

Many in Serbia believe rampant corruption and nepotism among state officials led to sloppy work on the building reconstruction, which was part of a wider railroad project with Chinese state companies.

Ex-Soccer Player Becomes Georgia's New President

Ex-soccer player becomes Georgia's president in blow to EU aspirations

Former soccer player Mikheil Kavelashvili became president of Georgia on Saturday, as the ruling party tightened its grip in what the opposition calls a blow to the country's EU aspirations and a victory for former imperial ruler Russia.

Kavelashvili, 53, easily won the vote given the Georgian Dream party's control of a 300-seat electoral college that replaced direct presidential elections in 2017.

Georgian Dream retained control of parliament in the South Caucasus nation in an October 26 election that the opposition alleges was rigged with Moscow's help. Georgia's outgoing president and main pro-Western parties have since boycotted parliamentary sessions and demanded a rerun of the ballot.

Georgian Dream has vowed to continue pushing toward EU accession but also wants to "reset" ties with Russia.

In 2008 Russia fought a brief war with Georgia, which led to Moscow's recognition of two breakaway regions as independent and an increase in the Russian military presence in South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Critics have accused Georgian Dream — established by Bidzina Ivanishvili, a shadowy billionaire who made his fortune in Russia — of becoming increasingly authoritarian and tilted toward Moscow, accusations the ruling party has denied. The party recently pushed through laws like those used by the Kremlin to crack down on freedom of speech and LGBTQ+ rights.

Pro-Western Salome Zourabichvili has been president since 2018 and has vowed to stay on after her six-year term ends Monday, describing herself as the only legitimate leader until a new election is held.

MIDDLE EAST

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What Do We Know About The Russian Bases in Syria?

VOA Russian: Kremlin's access to key military bases in Syria hangs in the balance
[b]Original Article in Russian (Used Google Translator)

In the story of the fall of the regime in Damascus, Putin should have been frightened by the fact that the Syrians did not come to Assad's defense, says Professor Mark Katz

After the fall of the Assad regime in Syria, Russia may lose its military bases in the country, says George Mason University political science professor Mark N. Katz.

Answering a question from a correspondent for the Voice of America Russian Service about what the latest events in Syria mean for Russia, Professor Katz noted:

MK: Russia has suffered serious losses. Russia supported the Assads, Hafez and Bashar, since the Cold War, and with the fall of this regime, Moscow has obviously lost all influence. It is unclear whether Russia will be able to maintain its naval and air force bases in Syria.

Besides, I think it's just a shame for Putin, who advertised himself as a more reliable ally than the Americans, who let Mubarak fall (in Egypt), left Afghanistan, left Iraq, while the Russians helped the Syrians.

But the Russians, it turns out, when it came to battle, were not ready to support Assad.

VOA: What might Russia try to do with its military bases in Syria?

MK: The Russians would like to keep them, but I can’t imagine that Turkish President Erdogan would be very helpful to Moscow in this. Why would he do that? – If anyone has won in Syria, it’s Turkey. What

might happen is that if there is an internal conflict in Syria, there is a possibility that the Alawites – who have been the mainstay of the Assad regime and who live mainly on the Mediterranean coast, where the two Russian bases are – will become some kind of small state. They might very well want the Russians to stay. And I’m sure the Russians would support that.

In a sense, the US has set a precedent. If the US can support the Kurds in north-east Syria, why shouldn’t Russia support a loyal Alawite state? I think it’s possible, but I don’t think Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (a US-designated terrorist organization – GA) will allow the Russians to stay, because they were bombed by Russian planes taking off from a Russian airbase.

I don’t think the rebels will want to forget the past. The fact that the Russians pulled their warships out of Latakia to sea, in my opinion, suggests that they don’t think they can keep that base. And if the Russians think that the security is insufficient, they will pull their planes out of another base (in Khmeimim – ed.) – I don’t think they want to take that risk.

Let’s see what happens: I think the Russians will try to stay. But if I had to bet, I would say they won't be able to keep those bases.