Syrian rebels announce fall of Russia-backed Assad regime
"The tyrant Bashar al-Assad has fled. We declare the city of Damascus free from the tyrant Bashar al-Assad," rebel leaders claimed on Dec. 8.
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Abbey Fenbert is a senior news editor at the Kyiv Independent. She is a freelance writer, editor, and playwright with an MFA from Boston University. Abbey served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ukraine from 2008-2011.
"The tyrant Bashar al-Assad has fled. We declare the city of Damascus free from the tyrant Bashar al-Assad," rebel leaders claimed on Dec. 8.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad boarded a plane out of Damascus on Dec. 8 as rebel forces swept into the capital, two senior army officers told Reuters.
"Assad's backers — Iran, Russia, and Hezbollah — have all been weakened and distracted," U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said. Russia cannot provide large-scale military support while "ground down in a war of attrition" in Ukraine.
Homs is located between Damascus, Syria's capital, and the Mediterranean coast — where Russia maintains its Khmeimim Air Base and Tartus Naval Base.
An Atesh operative burned down a relay cabinet near the village of Chekhov in Moscow Oblast, disrupting Russian supply lines, the group alleged.
The Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (UCCA) cited concerns over Musk's "contacts with Russia and the alleged use of his Starlink system by Russian forces in Ukraine."
According to Putin's new law, gas purchases are no longer tied to Gazprombank and can be settled by offsetting mutual debts. The U.S. sanctioned Gazprombank on Nov. 21.
Washington will send Kyiv hundreds of thousands of artillery rounds, thousands of rockets, and hundreds of armored vehicles before mid-January. The U.S. also offered to train soldiers at sites beyond Ukrainian territory.
"The aggressor is destroying our culture, monuments, theaters, libraries, and museums. ... We, however, are proving that even in the darkest times, we remain unbroken," Culture Minister Mykola Tochytskyi said.
"We must continue to back Ukraine ... To put Ukraine in the strongest possible position for negotiations so that they can secure a just and lasting peace on their terms that guarantees their security, independence, and right to choose their future."
Presidential Office Head Andriy Yermak will lead a Ukrainian delegation in meetings with U.S. officials, particularly "people from the entourage of ... Donald Trump," sources said.
The study showed that Russian Aerospace Forces and military aircraft transported multiple groups of children in 2022 under Putin's orders.
Governor Ivan Fedorov said the designs for the fortifications have been "significantly improved" compared to previous versions and that the modernized defenses are particularly adept at repelling drone attacks.
"Georgian Dream’s various anti-democratic actions have violated the core tenets of our U.S.-Georgia Strategic Partnership ... As a result, the United States has suspended this mechanism."
Protests have now spread from Tbilisi to Batumi, Zugdidi, Kutaisi, Telavi, Gurjaani, and other Georgian cities, sparked by the government's decision to postpone EU accession talks.
The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) on Nov. 30 officially cut ties with research institutes in Russia, following a decision to allow the cooperation agreement to expire in light of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
An 11-year-old boy is among the wounded, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Governor Serhii Lysak said. Seven of the injured victims are in serious condition.
Russia has promised Damascus additional military assistance that is expected to arrive in the next 72 hours, as rebel forces sweep the northwestern city of Aleppo, two sources in the Syrian military told Reuters.
Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko said that Russia struck a "massive blow" at the nation's power grid, with attacks on energy infrastructure occurring throughout the country.
"I think we have to face up to the fact that the Russians think they're in a state of war with us," Richard Dearlove, the former head of MI6, told Sky News on Nov. 27.
The new aid package would include landmines, drones, Stinger missiles, and ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), an official familiar with the plan told Reuters.
Luxury perfume seller David Crisp is alleged to have hidden over $2.1 million in illegal sales to Russia. He admitted on camera to "ignoring government edicts."
"The enemy is trying to break through to the south of Donetsk region, where Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk oblasts meet," Vladyslav Voloshyn, the spokesperson for the Ukrainian military's Southern Command, said on Nov. 24.
"The world has air defense systems capable of countering such threats," Zelensky said, referring to Russia's new Oreshnik ballistic missile. Experts are currently analyzing the wreckage of the weapon, he said.
"We need to restore deterrence, restore peace, and get ahead of this escalation ladder, rather than responding to it," Mike Waltz, Trump's nominee for national security adviser, said on Nov. 24.
Inadequate support from the state is part of what prompts people to return to Russian-occupied areas, lawmaker Maksym Tkachenko said.
"As much as I would like to believe we can negotiate with a tyrant, I suspect we may be deceiving ourselves," Sen. Mike Rounds said. Rounds also said he wished the U.S. had sent more weapons to Kyiv.
"I am sure that the parties will not enter the parliament ... Today, whoever enters the parliament will enter Russia," Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili said on Nov. 22.
Ediye Muslimova, the editor-in-chief of a Crimean Tatar children's magazine, disappeared in Russian-occupied Crimea on Nov. 21. Local sources say she was forced into a vehicle by three men and is being detained by the Russian FSB.
"Canada's support for Ukraine is steadfast and we will continue to step up and build on our contributions to Ukraine in their fight against Russia's invasion," Canadian Defense Minister Bill Blair said on Nov. 22.
Grenell has previously suggested a peace plan in Ukraine involving the creation of "autonomous zones" and has opposed Ukraine's membership in NATO.
"Ukraine's action on the battlefield speaks for itself," U.K. Defense Secretary John Healey said in remarks to parliament on Nov. 20.