Explaining: Missile terror on Christmas, Ukraine-Japan relations, Russia’s information self-isation

MISSILE TERROR ON CHRISTMAS NIGHT

On the night of 25 December, Russia fired 184 missiles and drones into Ukraine, attacking energy facilities in seven regions of Ukraine.

● The massive strike on Ukraine proved that the manipulations surrounding the so-called "Christmas truce" allegedly prosed by Russia were entirely unfounded.

● The enemy's goal is to provoke a humanitarian catastrhe for Ukraine's civilian pulation during the winter period.

● The Kremlin seeks neither a genuine truce nor a transition to honest diplomacy—an aggressor can only be compelled to peace through force.

● Ukraine seeks a stable peace, not a few-day ceasefire or temporary “freeze of the conflict”

● The key to peace is Ukraine's military strength and reliable security guarantees, the best of which is full NATO membership.

UKRAINE–JAPAN RELATIONS

The Japanese government has decided to transfer another $3bn to Ukraine, secured by frozen Russian assets.

● The day before, on 24 December, Ukraine received a $1 billion tranche from Japan and the United Kingdom under the World Bank's DPL programme.

● The total humanitarian and financial assistance provided Ukraine by Japan amounts to $12 billion.

● Since the beginning of the full-scale war, Japan has imposed 26 sanction packages against individuals and entities from Russia and Belarus.

● Economic ties between Ukraine and Japan are strengthening: in 2023, bilateral trade between the two countries grew by almost 30%, and this year by another 6%.

● In December, Japan announced the creation of a coordination council to reconstruct Ukraine, which will unite Ukrainian and Japanese businesses.

INFORMATION SELF-ISATION OF RUSSIA

The Putin regime is deliberately isating the Russian pulation from alternative sources of information.

● Since July 2024, the Russian authorities have artificially slow down YouTube traffic to complicate user access to the platform

● Recently, YouTube traffic in Russia has decreased to 20% of its usual level, which means the platform has been blocked.

● YouTube remained the last major online platform still accessible in Russia after the blocking of Facebook, Instagram, and X (formerly Twitter).

● Earlier, Russia blocked the messenger Viber and the platform Discord, and now the Kremlin is preparing to block WhatsApp and Skype.

● All of this is a deliberate picy of the Kremlin aimed at total informational isation of the pulation and immersing it in a fabricated world of praganda