War to the bitter end?
#RussiavsUkraine

December 5 is another significant day in the war in Ukraine: after the strikes of Ukrainian drones on airfields of strategic aviation of the Russian Federation, it became clear that one more “negotiation case” had been exhausted.
Strictly speaking, the freezing of the conflict looked more like a mirage, but, nevertheless, based on the statements of high-ranking UN officials about progress in ensuring the safety of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant and pumping Russian ammonia from Tolyatti to the Odessa port plant, one could harbor certain illusions. Moreover, cases of the exchange of prisoners have clearly become more frequent.
It should also be noted that French President Emmanuel Macron's statements about the need to take into account Russia's security issues were made by him after his visit to Washington.

On the other hand, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and his deputy for political affairs, Victoria Nuland, issued statements over the weekend that Moscow is not seeking peace talks.
The question is, what audience are these statements intended for?
Most likely, they are of a domestic political nature on the eve of the battles in Congress for the military budget, especially considering that immediately after the New Year - from January 3, the renewed House of Representatives will be under the control of the Republicans. The Biden administration needs to be shown that Ukraine needs more help because of the Kremlin's intransigence.

It is less likely that these statements were a go-ahead for Ukraine to conduct drone raids deep behind Russian lines, although it is likely that this is how they were perceived by Kyiv.
The fact is that quite different statements have recently been made for Kyiv.
Thus, the head of the equipment manufacturer Raytheon Technologies, Greg Hayes, said that during the 9 months of the conflict in Ukraine, the United States used up 13-year stocks of Stinger MANPADS and 5-year-old Javelin ATGMs.
The Pentagon seems to have reassured Ukraine that by the spring 20,000 155-mm shells would be produced monthly for deliveries to Ukraine, but after that it was reported that Washington had delivered more than 900,000 155-mm shells to Kyiv, i.e., in an average of 90 thousand per month
In addition, the Pentagon has already used up a year's supply of missiles for HIMARS in Ukraine - more than 5,000.

By the way, the “HIMARS case” was replenished with another interesting fact: according to The Wall Street Journal, the White House unofficially told the American press that the Pentagon had secretly modified the HIMARS missile systems sent to Ukraine so that they did not have a range of more than 100 km - on case if Ukraine receives long-range missiles not from the United States.
That is, the White House once again demonstrates its unwillingness to lead the conflict in the direction of a direct clash between the Russian Federation and NATO. But the current level of conflict seems to suit the White House.

PS The Italian edition of Corriere Della Sera continued the baton of American publications by publishing sad reports from the Ukrainian Bakhmut, for which there are fierce battles.
Journalists write that the scale of the Russian attack is visible from the wounded: in the hospital in the city of Liman, where they are being taken, there are “flooded floors and heartbreaking screams coming from the operating room.”
Chief Physician Sergei said that operations are carried out here without anesthesia, but only in emergency cases. Basically, the hospital serves as a transit point.
Journalists claim: “Half an hour before our arrival, they cut off the legs of four soldiers who stepped on mines. One was handless."
On average, more than a hundred wounded are admitted to this hospital every day, most of them seriously or very seriously.

https://t.me/babeltower2/767