Dec 26: E-Stories
InUkraine CombatSitRep BehindLines Russia-China InEurope Pond&Beyond
Catching up…
For a general view of news from various geopolitical threatres, Scott’s EA Worldview is always superb.
Last minute gift idea – and it’s free! Add someone’s name to a flash drive that will fly around the Moon as a virtual crewmember on Artemis II! You can even print the boarding pass. Visit the site here.
Stories we’re following…Christmas attacks overnight—25 December, Russia launched 131 attack drones (Shahed, Herber, and others) toward Ukraine from multiple directions. As of 08:30, 106 UAVs were shot down or suppressed, and 22 strikes were recorded at 15 locations across northern, southern, and eastern Ukraine.
President Zelenskyy’s Christmas Eve address: President Zelensky extended Christmas greetings to Ukrainians, highlighting national unity:
“Millions of us will look to the sky tonight for the first star...over Kyiv, Zakarpattia, Odesa, or Kupyansk. No matter where we are, Ukrainians are together today, celebrating Christmas as one big family.”
Dec 24 morning: A Russian Shahed drone struck a residential building in Chernihiv, causing a fire in one of the apartments, according to local authorities. Details about casualties and damage are still being clarified.
The Ukrainian Scientific Center for Marine Ecology has reported that the oil slick that covered the Odesa coast after Russia’s attacks has stretched to 55 km and reached Sanzheitsi.
“As of yesterday, the oil slick reached Chornomorske Beach. As of today, it is recorded in Sanzheitsi. Based on actual observations, we are tracking the size and movement of the slick. Today the length of the slick along the coast is 55 km, and the area is nearly 130 square kilometers.”
Russia has no intention of reaching any sort of peace deal, which it made clear with a massive missile and drone attack on all regions of Ukraine. The strikes killed at least three people and injured 12. The attack also hit energy infrastructure across the country; the Ukrainian energy ministry said at least three western regions were entirely without electricity heading into Christmas, and six other regions suffered major power outages.
Dec 24: Ukraine repelled another overnight drone assault. From 116 incoming UAVs, including about 90 Shaheds, 60 were shot down or suppressed by air defenses, EW units, and mobile teams. The attack targeted critical infrastructure in Chernihiv region. Strikes hit 19 locations.
Kyiv Indie—Carol of the Bells: the song that made the world speak about Ukraine
“In early 1919, when Ukraine's pleas for recognition were falling on largely deaf ears, it dispatched not only diplomats to Europe, but also a choir. Led by conductor Oleksandr Koshyts, the Ukrainian Republican Capella became an unexpected yet powerful instrument of cultural diplomacy. Its greatest triumph was Shchedryk, arranged by composer Mykola Leontovych — a song that would later cross the ocean and reemerge as the world-famous Carol of the Bells,” writes Mariana Hirniak, a journalist and public speaker on Ukrainian culture and history.
Telethon: Russian occupiers have added over 5,000 apartments in Mariupol to the list of unowned property. The appropriation of housing has been going on for years, but the pace has significantly accelerated with the appearance of a law designed to speed up the seizure of such real estate. During a telethon broadcast, the head of the Center for the Study of Occupation, Petro Andriushenko, explained this.
“In Mariupol, more than 5,000 apartments have already been recognized as unowned. Each week, 100 to 200 apartments are added. Not all apartments are recognized; first of all we are talking about apartments that are suitable for living, which you can either move into and live in, or that require only minor repairs.”
The Russians killed Kharkiv volunteer Vyacheslav Ilchenko, head of the Nezlamna charity foundation, with an FPV drone in Kostiantynivka, Donetsk Oblast, on the morning of Dec 25, while he was on an evacuation mission. According to Yevhen Kolyada of the Coordination Humanitarian Center, the FPV hit the evacuation vehicle with fiber optics at 7:40 a.m. Volunteer died on the spot. Two Kramatorsk volunteers sustained shrapnel wounds to their backs and limbs and are in moderate condition. Vyacheslav is survived by his wife and two daughters.
Philanthropist Howard Buffett travels to Kupiansk suburb in Kharkiv Oblast to help evacuate civilians. Buffett received a state award from President Volodymyr Zelensky in 2024, naming him a "National Legend of Ukraine."
Ukrainian man spying for Belarus sentenced to 15 years in prison. The 24-year-old unemployed man was recruited by Belarusian State Security Committee (KGB) to spy on Ukraine's northern borders.
A hockey match between Ukrainian and Latvian teams was stopped because of plush teddy bears on the ice. Fans threw stuffed toys onto the rink as part of the “Teddy Bears Fly” charity campaign. The toys will later be donated to Latvian and Ukrainian children in Liepāja and Riga.
Confirmed: An explosion in Moscow on the night of December 23 targeted a police vehicle parked in the same lot where General Sarvarov was recently killed. According to early reports, an explosive device was thrown through the car window. Two police officers were killed, and two others remain in critical condition. Authorities have not disclosed who was behind the attack.
President Zelenskyy has publicly outlined the full 20-point peace plan currently under discussion between Ukraine, the United States, Europe. The final agreement must be ratified by Ukraine’s parliament or approved through a nationwide referendum. Security guarantees only take effect after full ratification. Negotiations are still ongoing and it is unclear if Russia fully backs this plan, likely not.
Ukraine’s sovereignty will be formally recognized.
A non-aggression pact between Ukraine and Russia will be signed, with a monitoring mechanism along the contact line.
Ukraine will receive strong international security guarantees.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces will be limited to 800,000 personnel in peacetime.
The US, NATO, and Europe will provide Article 5-style security guarantees. If Russia invades, there will be a military response and renewed sanctions. These guarantees are void if Ukraine initiates an unprovoked attack.
Russia must enshrine non-aggression toward Ukraine and Europe in its domestic legislation.
Ukraine will join the EU at a clearly defined date and gain short-term privileged access to the European market.
A comprehensive development package for Ukraine will be created, including infrastructure, reconstruction, mining, and resource development.
Several recovery and investment funds will be established, targeting $800 billion in total funding.
Ukraine and the US will accelerate negotiations on a free trade agreement. The US is also discussing a similar agreement with Russia.
Ukraine will retain its non-nuclear status.
On the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, the US has proposed joint management with Russia and Ukraine. Ukraine has counter-proposed a 50/50 management arrangement with the US only, giving Ukraine 50% of the energy produced. ZNPP, Enerhodar, and the Kakhovka hydroelectric plant must be demilitarized.
Both countries will implement education and social policies promoting tolerance, minority rights, and religious freedom.
The most difficult issue remains territorial control. The plan proposes that the military contact line in Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions becomes the de facto line of control. Russia must withdraw from Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolaiv, Sumy, and Kharkiv regions. If agreement fails, an economic free zone may be considered through a national referendum after a 60-day ceasefire.
Both sides commit not to alter any agreed territorial terms by force.
Ukraine will have guaranteed access to the Dnipro River and the Black Sea for commercial use. A separate maritime agreement will be signed, and the Kinburn Spit will be demilitarized.
A humanitarian committee will handle the return of all prisoners of war, civilian hostages, children, and political prisoners.
Ukraine will hold national elections as soon as possible after the agreement is signed.
The agreement will be legally binding and monitored by a Peace Council led by US President Trump. Violations will trigger sanctions.
A full ceasefire will take effect immediately upon agreement.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded to Zelensky’s disclosure of Ukraine’s 20-point peace plan by emphasizing that Russia’s own peace terms are already well known to the United States. “All the main parameters of the Russian side are well known to our colleagues in the U.S.,” he stated, adding that Kirill Dmitriev had briefed Putin in full detail about recent negotiations. Russia is dissatisfied with several key aspects:
1. It lacks guarantees on halting NATO expansion eastward and Ukraine’s neutral status during EU accession.
2. There are no limits on Ukraine’s postwar armed forces or protections for the Russian language.
3. The status of sanctions and Russia’s frozen assets in the West remains unresolved.
Combat SituationFive villages in the Dnipropetrovsk Region have been liberated after a more than 100 day operation. Fighters of the 3rd Assault Battalion, 225th Separate Assault Regiment held their positions and advanced continuously with support from the 20th Army Corps. All participants were nominated for state awards.
Ukraine withdraws from Siversk, Donetsk Oblast, General Staff says. Ukrainian soldiers withdrew from the settlement "in order to save lives and maintain the combat capability of units."
Russian war correspondents one by one now confirm the loss of Kupyansk in Kharkiv Oblast, mocking their own command: “The city is lost, but at least medals were handed out.” They say Ukraine deployed significant forces and that earlier Russian statements proved empty.
Ukrainian forces continue their offensive north of Kupyansk. Attacking both the Zapadne-Kalynove axis and Holubivka. The latter is in a gray zone but has Russian presence. Looks like the AFU aims to clear the whole area west of the Oskil.
Ukrainian forces continue to degrade Russian capabilities:
Dec 24: A drone strike hit the Efremovsky Synthetic Rubber Plant in Tula Oblast, Russia, sparking a fire. Residents in Yefremov heard explosions and saw flames; the governor later confirmed a blaze at a regional industrial site. The Efremovsky plant, operating since 1933, is a key producer of synthetic rubber and polyisobutylene, materials used in various industrial and defense applications.
A fire has broken out near an oil refinery/fuel depot in Saratov. There were no reports of an attack, and the cause and exact nature of the blaze are still unknown.
In southern Ukraine, a Ukrainian MiG-29MU1 struck a Russian command post with an AASM-HAMMER precision-guided munition. The strike eliminated several Russian troops who had gathered there to coordinate further advances.
Fuel storage tanks at the port of Temryuk are still burning this morning. Firefighting efforts are ongoing.
Russian officials say a convoy was struck by drones in Belgorod region near Grushevka, killing a deputy district head from Dagestan, Magomednabi Gadzhiev, and two others, with a fourth wounded. Moscow claims the “humanitarian” convoy carried food, tools and letters “for Russian troops.”
Overnight Dec 24-25 in Maykop, Republic of Adygea, residents reported a series of explosions near the Khanskaya military airfield, home to Russia’s 272nd Training Aviation Base.
Ukrainian drone operators from Ronin unmanned systems battalion of the 65th Separate Mechanized Brigade struck two key Russian targets. A P-18 “Terek” radar was destroyed, and a TOR-M2 air defense system was damaged.
The Orenburg Gas Processing Plant, the world’s largest gas chemical complex processing up to 37.5 bcm of gas annually, was reportedly struck by Ukrainian drones overnight, triggering a gas fire on a pipeline at the 3U-70 unit used to remove hydrogen sulfide and CO2. Operations at the facility have reportedly been suspended.
The Novoshakhtinsk Petroleum Products Plant was attacked and is burning. Air Force units hit the refinery with air launched Storm Shadow cruise missiles, with multiple explosions recorded and the target confirmed destroyed. The facility is a key supplier of diesel and aviation fuel to Russian forces.
In Krasnodar Krai, Temryuk port and an unnamed facility in Shcherbinovsky District were struck overnight. Two petroleum storage tanks caught fire in the port of Temryuk following a drone strike, according to the Krasnodar region’s operational HQ. The blaze covers around 2,000 square meters, Russian emergency services report.
Reminder: According to RBC‑Ukraine citing the GUR, two Russian personnel responsible for torturing Ukrainian prisoners of war were killed on December 23. A local resident reportedly threw an explosive device into their vehicle, killing two and seriously wounding two others.
Behind the LinesThe Mirror: Russian strategic bombers flew close to British airspace during a Christmas long range sortie over the Norwegian Sea. According to the Mirror, the flight was meant as a signal toward northern Britain. NATO scrambled fighter jets to monitor and track the aircraft throughout the mission.
IISS: The IISS has produced the most comprehensive open-source database currently available on Russian sabotage operations across Europe and its periphery. It captures the full spectrum of activity with physical effects: from sabotage on undersea cables to GPS blocking across multiple domains and geographies.
President Zelenskyy and Intelligence review: Report by the head of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine, Oleg Ivashchenko. Several key areas.
The first is the Russians’ attempts to remove their energy companies from the world’s sanctions. Other temporary owners are being involved, many fictitious legal schemes. We are monitoring all this and will communicate with partners so that the pressure works and Russia does not manage to earn money for the war thanks to such manipulations.
The second is the deployment of the Oreshnik complexes on the territory of Belarus. Intelligence has obtained more details about this, and it is important that partners also know this and take it into account in their defensive steps. We believe that the aggressive spread of such weapons poses a global threat and creates a dangerous precedent. I have instructed to prepare, together with partners, options for responses.
Third, the state of Russian military production, cooperation with companies and entities from other countries. In particular, we note the increase in Russia’s ties with those entities in China that can provide space intelligence data. Unfortunately, there were correlations between the filming of the territory of Ukraine by Chinese satellites and Russian hits on relevant energy facilities. We consider such cases as activities that allow Russia to drag out the war and make approaches to diplomacy less serious. We will also communicate with our partners on this.
Russians Illegally Obtaining Romanian Passports: Le Monde reports that Russians are exploiting Romania’s citizenship “restoration” law.
The large-scale scheme is based on falsifying claims of “Romanian ancestry”. Russians are exploiting Romania’s repatriation law that allows citizenship to be granted to descendants of people who lived in the territory of the former Kingdom of Romania between 1918 and 1940. This territory includes present-day Moldova as well as parts of Ukraine’s Odesa and Chernivtsi oblasts.
Since many archives were destroyed during the World War ll, those involved in the scheme invent relatives who supposedly lived in the required areas. According to police officials and judicial sources cited by Le Monde, Russians have also used the personal data of Ukrainian soldiers killed on the line of contact to obtain passports.
The U.S. secured the release of over 250 political prisoners from Belarus in a quiet deal involving potential sanctions relief and even weight-loss drug Zepbound, reportedly requested by Lukashenko after informal talks with Trump envoy John Coale, per WSJ.
Trump defines Ukraine as ‘opposition’ to Russia and not a state that has been invaded thereby breaking international law and treaties to which the U.S. is a signatory. Added to the insult is the crux of the message: Trump will not give Tomahawks to Ukraine. I don’t think there is a historical precedent when the sitting president has had to ask Russia for permission to provide defensive aid to another nation or anything else for that matter.
Meanwhile in Russia & China…Putin will not deliver a speech to the Federal Parliament for the second year in a row, despite being constitutionally obligated to do so annually.
The Kremlin stated that the cancellation was a personal decision by the president and that the address will take place "when he deems it necessary." The suggestion that the reason for the cancellation is Ukraine's capture of Kupyansk is surely just speculation.
Poll shows 55% of Russians expect war to end in 2026 — and want life back to ‘normal.’ While many respondents expressed hopes for an end to the fighting, they largely expect it to conclude on terms “proclaimed as its goals,” reflecting continued alignment with the Kremlin’s narrative.
Bloomberg: India’s Reliance Industries has resumed Russian oil imports for its Jamnagar refinery, sourcing from non-sanctioned suppliers and using Aframax tankers via RusExport. The move could offset a sharp drop in India’s Russian crude purchases expected this month, according to Bloomberg.
Energy Now: Oil shipments from Kazakhstan via Novorossiysk will drop by around 30 percent in December. Exports through the Caspian Pipeline Consortium are set to hit their lowest level since October 2024 after damage at the main export terminal caused by a Ukrainian drone strike in November. The terminal is operating with only one offshore loading point, with another disabled by the attack and a third stuck in delayed repairs due to bad weather near Novorossiysk.
E-Stories can report that there is a significant increase in Russian students studying in the European Union. Significant. If these students are thinking of their future career, or future in general, why would they return to Russia?
The Telegraph: A new investigation shows how analysts spotted subtle inconsistencies inside Putin’s replica offices and used them to work out where he was really filming his meetings.
Vladimir Putin has exact replicas of his offices in different regions of Russia to conceal his whereabouts and thwart potential attacks, an investigation has claimed. Three identical rooms in separate residences have been exposed in a report by the investigative unit Systema.
Meetings reported by the Kremlin to have taken place in Putin’s official residence at Novo-Ogaryovo, just outside Moscow, were actually held hundreds of miles away. One replica is in Sochi on the Black Sea, and another at his sprawling forest estate in Valdai, a lakeside town halfway between Moscow and St Petersburg.
Investigators from Systema analysed 700 videos and examined leaked travel records from Putin’s entourage to pinpoint where he has been “hiding in plain sight”.
“It’s obviously about security,” Konstantin Gaaze, a Russian academic and autocracy expert, told RFL. “It would look unbecoming to put Pantsir [air defences] on the Kremlin towers… So, naturally, the main location now is Valdai.”
According to Systema, almost every meeting said to have been filmed at Novo-Ogaryovo this year actually took place at Valdai as Putin has become increasingly concerned about security.
The remote retreat at Valdai, reportedly home to Putin’s partner Alina Kabaeva and their two sons, sits on a peninsula and is thought to be far harder to target with missiles or drones.
Satellite images show that 12 Pantsir-S1 air defence systems were installed around Lake Valdai in summer 2024, as Kyiv stepped up its drone attacks on Russian territory. (continue)
According to Russian propaganda, there are "kilometer-long lines entering Kaliningrad from Poland": "Europeans are rushing to take their vacations here with us, especially Poles and Germans. There are also tourists."
"Also" tourists means that for the most part it involves the usual patriots with their asses warm in Europe and dual citizenship who return to the homeland for low-cost vacations.
In Saratov, more than 85,000 people lost heat and hot water in temperatures as low as -10 degrees Celsius due to an accident at Thermal Power Plant No. 5, the regional prosecutor's office reports . According to the supervisory authority, the "utility incident," which occurred around 10:00 a.m., affected 573 apartment buildings and 44 institutions in the city's Leninsky, Kirovsky, and Frunzensky districts.
Industrial production in Russia declined in November 2025, Rosstat reported. Overall, economic output fell by 0.7% year-on-year, while the manufacturing sector fell into negative territory for the first time since February 2023, down 1% year-on-year.
Mining and quarrying increased by 0.7%, but industries outside the raw materials sector remained mired in a deep recession. The decline in food production—the country's first in 15 years—accelerated fourfold: from 0.2% in October to 0.8% in November. The wood processing industry contracted by 9.1%, and the chemical industry by 1.7%. Clothing production fell by 2.4% over the 11 months, and furniture by 7.5%.
Some industries experienced a full-blown collapse: tractor production plummeted by 61.6%, bulldozers by 53.7%, elevators by 37.2%, and passenger cars by half. The auto industry also slid to its worst levels in 2022, with production falling by 34.1%.
Russians may be blocked from accessing Google services, specifically the Gmail email client, according to a statement from Anton Gorelkin, First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy. The deputy was commenting on the IT giant’s announcement that it had implemented the ability to change one’s email address for accounts in the “@gmail.com” format. “I would still recommend that Russian users change their address not within Gmail, but switch to Russian email services. This could prove important in the coming year,” Gorelkin wrote on his Telegram channel.
NEXTA: Kim Jong-un unveils North Korea’s first nuclear-powered submarine.
In terms of size, it is comparable to American submarines. Currently, only six countries possess nuclear-powered submarines: the U.S., Russia, China, France, the UK, and India.
However, experts have expressed doubts about the authenticity of the showcased vessel. They noted that the submarine’s hull appears too smooth, without visible weld seams, and the shape of the bow seemed unusual. Military analysts suggest that it could be a model rather than an actual operational submarine.
Yet another political prisoner, Zura Menteshashvili, who was arrested under criminal charges on the pretext of blocking a road, has been kept in detention by the court. Zura has been on a hunger strike for 54 days. He always carried these flags at the Georgia protests.
In Europe…Germany has made a record contribution to Ukraine’s energy sector, transferring over €160 million to the Energy Support Fund, the largest tranche of assistance to date to help restore and strengthen Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
Estonian FM Margus Tsahkna says any so called green men crossing the border will be met with live fire, and Russian aircraft violating Estonian airspace risk being shot down. This is NATO territory. If Moscow doubts it, Tsahkna says bluntly, test us.
Eerik Kross: Estonia continues to strengthen its long-range strike capabilities. Since 2022, we have shifted our defence posture from purely territorial defence to an active defence concept. The K239 multiple-launch rocket system is the third capability — after HIMARS and the Israeli Blue Spear missile — that enables coverage of ranges up to 300 km and beyond. There will be a lot more.
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, and the EU have accused Washington of “coercion and intimidation”, after the US imposed a visa ban on five prominent European figures who have been at heart of the campaign to introduce laws regulating American tech giants.
“The State Department is taking decisive action against five individuals who have led organized efforts to coerce American platforms to censor, demonetize, and suppress American viewpoints they oppose. These radical activists and weaponized NGOs have advanced censorship crackdowns by foreign states—in each case targeting American speakers and American companies. As such, I have determined that their entry, presence, or activities in the United States have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States.”
The visa bans were imposed on Tuesday on Thierry Breton, a former EU commissioner and one of the architects of the bloc’s Digital Services Act (DSA), and four anti-disinformation campaigners, including two in Germany and two in the UK.
The move also targeted Imran Ahmed, the British chief executive of the US-based Center for Countering Digital Hate; Anna-Lena von Hodenberg and Josephine Ballon of the German non-profit HateAid; and Clare Melford, co-founder of the Global Disinformation Index.
The DSA is seen by Washington as a form of censorship while European leaders say the regulations are necessary to control hate speech, but the row threatens to become part of a far wider existing cultural and political conflict between Donald Trump’s administration and Europe. Artificial intelligence and digital technologies were always likely to become a major theatre of confrontation between the US and Europe, as these technologies become ever more central to wielding power.
Jean-Noel Barrot: France strongly condemns the visa restriction imposed by the United States on Thierry Breton, former minister and European Commissioner, and four other European figures.
The Digital Services Act (DSA) was democratically adopted in Europe to ensure that what is illegal offline is also illegal online. It has absolutely no extraterritorial reach and in no way affects the United States.
The peoples of Europe are free and sovereign and cannot let the rules governing their digital space be imposed by others upon them.
In an post, Digital EU affirms:
𝗡𝗢 space for cyberbullying.
𝗡𝗢 space for dangerous products.
𝗡𝗢 space for hate speech.
𝗡𝗢 space for scams.
𝗬𝗘𝗦. With the Digital Services Act, what is illegal offline remains illegal online.
The Kremlin and its proxies love what the Trump administration has done. X banned in Russia, isn’t it?
And now the quiet part out loud: "The European Union was formed in order to screw the United States."
This is a lie and distortion. The idea of a European union or economic union amongst European states was nurtured by the U.S. because following the Second World War it was thought that if European nations (namely Germany and France) did business with each other, they would not go to war against each other.
There is a faction within the American foreign policy community that considers the European Union to be a direct competitor; therefore, it must be distabilised or paralysed so the U.S. will be able to maintain its economic dominance in Europe and worldwide. Divide et impera: It is much easier to control and dominate over individual states than a bloc of states.
The questions whirling around are whether this is the predominant view of the American foreign policy community now and how much leverage does it really have over Congress and the national security community that deal with treaty commitments and maintaining alliances, which constitute the backbone of American power.
The NSS certainly points in the direction of the former as does the latest visa ban against five European authorities who have been at heart of the campaign to introduce laws regulating American tech companies.
The Trump administration’s bully tactics have almost erased any soft power and trust the U.S. had in its relations with many European states. It’s all so painful to watch.
A Ukrainian choir, Songs for Ukraine, performed during King Charles III’s annual Christmas address. At Westminster Abbey they sang a new arrangement of Carol of the Bells, based on Shchedryk by Ukrainian composer Mykola Leontovych. This is a great example of public diplomacy by the Crown and by Ukraine: music getting to the hearts of British and Ukrainian peoples and a mutual appreciation for each other. More about public diplomacy and the Christmas holidays in the next section.
Public Diplomacy at its best on Christmas Eve…As I was riffling through my feed on Christmas Eve, it was to see that Santa and NATO were reaching out to families with lighthearted messages at times and emotional appeals at others. There was a great effort made this season to bring the security community closer to the people it is protecting: public diplomacy was in good form.
The security services are often viewed with suspicion and can be intimidating to children and adults, so it’s important for them to bring reassuring and positive messages to the public. The ultimate goal for the public security services is to create trust between them and the people they relate to. Messaging isn’t enough though—the strategic narratives need to be backed up with public outreach actions.
NATO, the Italian Armed Forces, the Armed Forces of the UK, prime minister Mark Carney and many other authorities all put out videos on Christmas Eve which focused on their mission: to keep our families safe. That said, perhaps one of the best public diplomacy examples that has been with us for 70 years is the NORAD Santa Tracker.
NORAD Tracks Santa…
This year marked the 70th anniversary of the NORAD Santa Tracker. Everyone was manning the phones, including Gen. Stephen Whiting, Commander of USSPACECOM.
It all started in 1955 when, in the midst of the Cold War, a five-year-old child accidentally called a top-secret emergency line which was reserved only for the US President and a four-star general.
As the phone rang, the officers on the watch floor of the Continental Air Defence Command (CONAD) in Colorado Springs who were in charge of defending the skies above the US and Canada stiffened - there were only two people who could call that line.
The officers were expecting the worst - the outbreak of World War 3.
The command’s director of operations Colonel Harry Shoup answered the call. And on the other end was a child asking ‘Is this Santa Claus?’
According to the colonel’s daughter Terri Van Keuren, now 75, her father initially thought it was a prank, and replied: ‘I’m the commander of the Combat Alert Center. Who’s this?’
But the child started crying and asked if he was one of ‘Santa’s helpers’.
The Colonel’s family revealed their father was not impressed when he initially answered the phone, according to a 2014 NPR interview, as he thought it was a prank call.
However, when the child began to cry, he quickly changed gears, realising it had been a mistake and mustered a convincing ‘ho-ho-ho’.
The phone call began the tradition of the Santa Tracker, which allows children to track the whereabouts of Father Christmas via a livestream and a phone line answered by volunteers.
Today, more than 1,000 Canadian and American uniformed personnel, Department of Defense civilians and local participants at Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where NORAD is located, volunteered their time on Christmas Eve to answer the hundreds of thousands of phone calls that come in from around the world.
But how do they do it????
Throughout the day, NORAD Tracks Santa brought us updates on the families calling into the volunteer centre.
NORAD Tracks Santa Call Center Update: “We’ve now received more than 100,000 calls from families around the world tracking Santa’s journey tonight. Thank you to our volunteers who are answering phones and helping keep this holiday tradition going strong.”
This urgent message at roughly 8:30pm ET: We've already taken THOUSANDS of calls! ...However, we know some of you are getting a "call cannot be completed" message. If you get this, just hang in there! Don't hang up - those sleigh bells will ring and we'll answer you soon!
NORAD Santa Cam: Sydney, Australia: “Santa was spotted flying over the iconic Sydney Opera House! NORAD confirms his sleigh is moving swiftly across Australia.”
As Santa travelled through the chilly Christmas skies, the Santa cam provided a birds-eye view and description of various cities across the continents. He did make one stop: Piazza Navona in Rome for a coffee.
Across the Pond and Beyond...The Cipher Brief: Last week, Trump signed an Executive Order designating illicit fentanyl and precursor chemicals as “Weapons of Mass Destruction”, recasting the opioid crisis as a national security threat. Senior National Security Reporter Walter Pincus writes exclusively in today’s Cipher Brief about what the designation actually means and what it signals about the expanding role of the U.S. military in domestic law enforcement.
Trump: We track Santa. We want to make sure that Santa is being good. We want to make sure that he's not infiltrated, that we're not infiltrating into our country a bad Santa. Santa loves Oklahoma like I do. You know, Oklahoma was very good to me in the election.
In an effort to dominate media ecosphere, the administration has re-introduced its holiday theme: censorship for thee but not for me. How many media executives are getting ready to receive billion dollar lawsuits? Mob bosses are much more subtle.
Steven Miller on Christmas Eve in reference to 60 Minutes and CBS: “Every one of those producers at 60 minutes who engaged in this revolt, clean house and fire them, that's what I say.”
For an administration that says it wants to reduce government involvement in the public sector, Miller’s statements are Soviet to me. That said, it’s about controlling media and the narratives, something that the Trump administration has been doing since day one.
The Washington Litigation Group: A representative of the Democratic Party from the state of Ohio, Joyce Beatty, has filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump. She is seeking to overturn the decision to rename the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to the “Trump-Kennedy Center”.
According to the lawsuit, Beatty, who sits on the Center’s board of trustees, contends that voting to change the name is a “blatant violation” of the law. The suit states that the Center was established by federal law as a “living memorial” to President Kennedy, so any change of name would require the mandatory approval of the United States Congress.
Thank you for reminding us. Ukraine cannot even rest during Christmas, this is something every westerner should know. While we gather with our families, friends and relatives, there are so many in Ukraine that don’t have that privilege.