Her home in Donetsk was destroyed by the Russian army, and she was forced to flee to Odessa. She’s been struggling to make ends meet, and this Christmas was looking bleak. But when I mentioned her story on a recent live, you all sent funds unsolicited, so we passed them along and surprised her.
Today I went to visit one of the power plants destroyed by Russia in the Kyiv region. It was an amazing sight. This was one of the largest power production facilities in Kyiv and was completely taken off line by a salvo of missiles in April. It is old enough that many of the parts were somewhat irreplaceable.
How can one guy be so consistently wrong and yet remain so confident about himself?
You make friends easily on the sleeper train, when you are packed four to a compartment. No idea who you will get and they don’t care if it’s co-ed.
We lived in the village of Novoselidivka, worked, did minor repairs, lived and enjoyed life, my husband could apply for a pilot's pension in 2025 because he worked in a mine and had flight experience, we prayed and stayed in place until the end, it was very difficult to leave something that we had tried to buy and build all our lives, but the time came when our friends who were visiting us in the evening at 5 o'clock in the morning were hit by an air bomb and their lives ended, and this pushed us even more and we left.
In 2022, a cluster bomb landed in our garden and as a result, the windows and doors were cut, we changed the double-glazed windows, and left for the Ukraine depression, stayed for a month and returned home, and now there is nowhere to return, the house is gone, only the registration certificate remains, I still can't look at the photo of my house, when we left, we shot a video for memory, thought we would return, but there is nowhere to return, the house is gone and the ...
The Syrian Civil War, a theater of unrelenting chaos since 2011, just escalated dramatically. Insurgents breached Aleppo, Syria’s second-largest city, on Friday, marking the first major attack on the city by opposition forces since 2016. Two car bombs detonated at the city’s western edge opened the way for fierce clashes between insurgents and government forces, forcing residents to flee under a hail of missiles and gunfire.
This offensive, launched Wednesday, saw thousands of fighters storm through northwestern Syria, sweeping through villages and towns and adding new uncertainty to an already volatile region. The Middle East is reeling from the wars in Gaza and Lebanon with Israel, and Aleppo’s fall into chaos once again underscores how unresolved conflicts can reignite with devastating consequences.
Unlike the last siege of Aleppo in 2016—when government forces, heavily backed by Russia, Iran, and Hezbollah, expelled opposition fighters—this time there’s little sign of significant pushback. Reports indicate government troops are retreating, and insurgents are urging them to surrender via social media. With Hezbollah and other Iran-linked groups distracted by their battles closer to home, Damascus may find itself without the reinforcements it once relied on.
The Messy Reality of Syria’s Civil War
This breaking news is a stark reminder of the war's complexities. The U.S. supported the Free Syrian Army (FSA) for years through the CIA’s “Timber Sycamore” program, which supplied training, arms, and equipment to anti-Assad forces. However, the U.S. quickly found itself entangled in a moral and strategic web. Many opposition groups, including those affiliated with the FSA, have ties to Sunni extremist organizations like Al Qaeda. Meanwhile, Shia Hezbollah terrorists have fought alongside the Assad regime, aligning with Russia and Iran.
In Syria, the U.S. has supported groups that sometimes clash with one another, and even with other U.S.-backed forces. The Kurds and Yazidis stand out as defenders of religious minorities and staunch opponents of ISIS, but they too are polarizing. Kurdish factions like the YPG have Marxist roots, complicating their position as "good guys" in the eyes of some allies.
A Cautionary Tale
The renewed fighting in Aleppo adds another layer to Syria’s already tangled narrative. It’s a theater where few factions are unequivocally virtuous, and where alliances shift like desert sands. The Assad regime and the Kurdish SDF stand out as entities that have offered some protection to religious minorities, but even they are far from universally trusted.
In conflicts like these, it’s tempting to simplify the narrative—to cheer for the side that appears less abhorrent. But the truth is, in Syria, there are no simple choices. The only certainty is that innocent civilians will once again pay the price as regional powers and international players pursue their competing interests.
As Aleppo burns, the lesson is clear: tread carefully when choosing sides. Sometimes, it’s not about “good guys” versus “bad guys.” It’s about survival in a world of shifting allegiances and harsh realities.
