A member of the UK armed forces who died in Ukraine has been named as Lance Corporal George Hooley of the Parachute Regiment, the UK Ministry of Defense has said, publicly acknowledging for the first time that its paratroopers have been operating inside Ukraine.

The 28-year-old was killed in what the ministry described on Tuesday as a “tragic accident” while observing Ukrainian forces test a new defensive system “away from the front lines.”

According to the BBC, the incident is not thought to have been caused by hostile fire. The Telegraph cited a defense source as saying that it is the first official UK military casualty in Ukraine.

Last year, the UK admitted that a “small number of personnel” were serving in a supportive role in Ukraine. London has been one of Kiev’s chief arms suppliers, and more than 56,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been trained under the British-led Operation Interflex.

However, according to the Russian Telegram channel ‘Rybar’, which covers the Ukraine conflict, at least 99 British men and one woman are said to be part of an “International Legion of Territorial Defence of Ukraine.”

At least 40 UK citizens have died fighting for Ukraine since 2022, according to The Telegraph.

Russia maintains that Western countries’ arms deliveries and training programs make them de facto participants in the conflict. Moscow has said it will treat any foreign troops on Ukrainian soil as legitimate targets.

https://www.rt.com/russia/629289-uk-admits-sending-paratroopers-to-ukraine/

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YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT — SINCE 2005.

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.

HERE WE POST A TRANSLATION OF AN ARTICLE FROM FRANCE24.

THIS IS THE DRIVEL THAT THE FRENCH PEOPLE ARE SUBMITTED TO, DAILY, FROM ALL SOURCES OF THE FRENCH MEDIA AND THE GOVERNMENT. 

IT IS DESIGNED TO BELITTLE RUSSIA TO GENERATE SUPPORT FOR THE CORRUPT NAZI KIEV REGIME... IT IS FULL OF LIES, DIMINUTIONS AND UTTER IGNORANCE....

BY Sébastian SEIBT

Donald Trump: His statements on a Russian victory in Ukraine put to the test on the ground

In an interview Tuesday, US President Donald Trump asserted that a Russian victory in Ukraine seemed inevitable and that Kyiv should accept his peace plan as soon as possible. But on the front lines, the war scenario is different from what the US president seems to think.

For Donald Trump, there is no doubt: Russia is winning in Ukraine, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would be wise to accept both the American "peace" plan and the inevitable outcome of the conflict as quickly as possible.

In a lengthy interview with Politico on Tuesday, December 9, the American president expressed his irritation with his Ukrainian counterpart, suggesting that "size usually wins." This was an allusion to the difference in size between the vast Russia and Ukraine, and the much larger army mobilised by Moscow for its war of invasion, which began in February 2022. [THIS IS BULLSHIT]

"We are far from the Russian steamroller."

However, Donald Trump's military analysis does not correspond to reality, according to experts interviewed by France 24. This is especially true regarding the amount of territory ceded by Ukraine. Kyiv has "lost a lot," the American president claimed. 

The advance of Russian troops, while real, "is far from giving the impression of an unstoppable juggernaut," emphasises Will Kingston-Cox, a specialist on the conflict in Ukraine at ITSS Verona. "In one year, Russia has gained less than one percent of Ukrainian territory," he specifies.

The website of the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), an American military think tank that publishes daily reports on the war in Ukraine, takes the analysis to… two decimal places. "The Russian army has gained 0.77% more territory by 2025, or 4,669 km² since January 1st," these experts state.

This is certainly small, but enough "to give the impression that the initiative is clearly in the Russian camp," acknowledges Will Kingston-Cox.

This territorial nibble, however, has come at the cost of very significant human losses on the Russian side. "Data provided by the Ukrainian General Staff indicates that Russian forces suffered a total of 391,270 casualties during this period, or approximately 83 casualties per square kilometre," details the ISW report. [THIS CASUALTY COUNTS IS FALSE]

Moreover, the Russian advance is hardly impressive when compared to the developments on the front last year. "The Russians even gained slightly less ground in 2025 than in 2024," asserts Huseyn Aliyev, a specialist in the war in Ukraine at the University of Glasgow.

There is, of course, a difference between the quantity of ground gained and the quality of the areas occupied. Perhaps the Russians have opened crucial corridors for a now faster advance? Or perhaps they have taken control of strategic sites enabling them to achieve certain major Kremlin objectives, such as the complete capture of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts (Donbas)?

The Importance of Pokrovsk

"The main prize of war for the Russians in 2025 is the city of Pokrovsk in the Donetsk Oblast, where intense fighting has been taking place for about a year. And even then, the Russians don't yet occupy the entire city," explains Huseyn Aliyev. [BULLSHIT]

The complete fall of Pokrovsk is "symbolically important because it was a logistics and fallback centre for Ukrainian troops," emphasises Will Kingston-Cox. But strategically, this city has lost value because "the Ukrainians have reorganised their supply lines to minimise the impact of losing Pokrovsk," believes Huseyn Aliyev. [THIS IS BULLSHIT: THE UKRAINIAN ARMY RETREATED IN WHAT IS NOW AN ENCIRCLED TOWN WITH NO SUPPORT]

The Russian army has also advanced toward "another relatively important city in the Zaporizhzhia region—Hulyaipole—but they haven't yet managed to take it," notes Huseyn Aliyev.[SO? PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE]

The successes in Pokrovsk and near Hulyaipole represent "tactical gains that could allow Russia to open certain doors for future advances, particularly in the Donbas. But they are not significant in the context of the war in Ukraine," asserts Will Kingston-Cox.[BULLSHIT]

And even in the Donbas, 2025 will likely not be a turning point. One might think that the battle for Pokrovsk seals the fate of the Donetsk region, which is already largely occupied by the Russians. In reality, this is not the case. "Two major cities remain to be taken: Kramatorsk and Sloviansk. Both are located behind what is known as the fortified Donetsk belt, and the Russians should have even more difficulty dislodging the Ukrainians from them than in the case of Pokrovsk," states Huseyn Aliyev. [BULLSHIT]

This "fortified belt," stretching from the Kherson region to Kharkiv and passing north of Pokrovsk, "represents an improved version of the fortifications the Russians have had to overcome so far," explains Huseyn Aliyev. [BULLSHIT]

It won't be easy for the Russian army to cross this obstacle, and, given the current balance of power, capturing Kramatorsk could take several more years, according to the experts interviewed. [SEVERAL MORE YEARS? BULLSHIT]

The Inevitable Russian Victory: Not So Inevitable

Unless the Ukrainian defences collapse due to a lack of manpower and ammunition. This is Donald Trump's other argument for predicting a Russian victory: given the size of its army and population, Russia can fight longer.

Here again, this is debatable. Moscow can certainly mobilise more missiles, ammunition, and troops. But in the current context, "it is essentially drones that matter and they have even partly replaced shells. Ukraine is succeeding, for the moment, in building enough of them," says Huseyn Aliyev. [BULLSHIT]

As for the soldiers, the ratio of Russian losses is higher than that of the Ukrainians, [BULLSHIT] and "Moscow is finding it increasingly difficult to find volunteers to replace those killed in action," notes Huseyn Aliyev. But it is true that Ukraine is also finding it increasingly difficult to mobilise fighters, this expert acknowledges.

Nevertheless, the argument that time is on Moscow's side is not as clear-cut as the American president would have us believe. "Donald Trump's claims are hasty and misleading," summarises Huseyn Aliyev. [FOR ONCE TRUMP TELLS THE TRUTH].

For Will Kingston-Cox, the White House has simply been infected by the talking points "that Russia has been cultivating for two years regarding the inevitability of its victory in Ukraine." "In the comfort of the Oval Office, it must be easy for Donald Trump to look at maps and conclude that, indeed, Russia is advancing and must therefore win," adds this expert. [FALSE ANALYSIS FOR PROPAGANDA]

This is all the more tempting for the American president because "his priority is to appear to his voters as the man who quickly and effectively concludes agreements," adds Will Kingston-Cox. And in the case of the war in Ukraine, Donald Trump believes it must be easier and more effective to put pressure on "small" Ukraine than on large Russia. But perhaps he is mistaken, and perhaps in this case, size is not what matters.

https://www.france24.com/fr/europe/20251210-donald-trump-d%C3%A9clarations-victoire-russe-ukraine-%C3%A9preuve-du-terrain

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YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT — SINCE 2005.

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.

SEE ALSO: 

Italy’s Meloni pushes Zelensky on ‘painful concessions’ – media
The Italian prime minister believes this is necessary in order to reach “a fair and lasting peace plan,” Corriere della Sera reports

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni believes Vladimir Zelensky will have to accept “painful concessions” to achieve peace with Russia, Corriere della Sera reported on Tuesday.

According to the paper, while Ukrainian and Italian officials attempted to create a facade of “a constructive and mutually trusting meeting” in Rome earlier this week, the two sides clashed over their vision for the conflict’s endgame.

The conversation, which involved Meloni, was reportedly frank, and the overall message to Ukraine was: “Consider that you may be forced to make some painful concessions.” Zelensky, in turn, asked Meloni “to soften [US President Donald] Trump’s position” on a peace settlement.

The stand-off stemmed from the fact that Italy supports Washington’s rush to reach a peace deal as soon as possible, and Meloni’s team believes that Zelensky has been weakened by a corruption scandal in the energy sector involving his long-time associate, Corriere della Sera said. It added that Italy’s policy remains “to reach a fair and lasting peace plan, but taking American leadership rather than a European one into account.”

The reported exchanges come against the backdrop of a US-drafted peace plan leaked to the media last month. The initial version of the proposal would reportedly require Kiev to withdraw from parts of Russia’s Donbass that it still controls, agree to stay out of NATO, and accept limits on the size of its armed forces.

Trump has recently expressed irritation with Kiev, rebuking Zelensky over what he described as a failure to get up to speed on revised peace proposals. He also suggested that Zelensky should be “realistic” about the course of the conflict, arguing that the Ukrainian people overwhelmingly want the hostilities to end.

Russia has said the US plan “can be used as a basis for future agreements,” but no compromise has yet been reached. It also insists that a settlement must include Ukraine’s withdrawal from the new Russian regions, a pledge to stay out of NATO, as well as demilitarization and denazification.

https://www.rt.com/news/629306-italy-zelensky-painful-concessions/

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YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT — SINCE 2005.

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.