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Pope accepts invitation to visit Ukraine – Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

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The Pope has accepted an invitation to visit Ukraine. However, the date of the visit is not yet known, states the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, His Beatitude Sviatoslav, according to Radio Svoboda.

The pope received an invitation to such a visit, and, according to Sviatoslav, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church has assurances that it has been accepted, but it is unknown when the visit will take place.

“There is no time (for the visit – ed.) yet, but Pope Francis sometimes likes to make surprises. He can announce a visit literally a month before he decides to come to Ukraine. So we enter this new year with hope. With the hope that a just peace will prevail in Ukraine,” said the head of the Greek Catholic Church.

His Beatitude Sviatoslav recently told RBC-Ukraine about how the full-scale war has changed Ukrainian believers, relations with Pope Francis and the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.

Scandalous statements of the Pope

Over the past almost three years, Pope Francis has repeatedly spoken about the war between Ukraine and Russia. Quite often, his statements were ambiguous.

The most scandalous was a statement in March of this year when the Pope called on Ukraine to negotiate with Russia and used the phrase “white flag.” This statement provoked an extremely negative reaction from official Kyiv and Western countries.

However, the Pope has recently gotten into a scandal again. This time he called Russians and Ukrainians “cousins”. You can read more about this in a material by RBC-Ukraine.

Moreover, on Christmas Eve, the Pope prayed for a “Christmas truce” around the world.


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Baku expects Russia to admit to downing Azerbaijani plane – Reuters

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A passenger plane crashed in Kazakhstan yesterday morning. It was probably shot down by Russia, Reuters reports.

According to the agency’s sources, Russian air defense shot down the Azerbaijan Airlines plane. At the same time, the nearest Russian airport on the flight path of the Makhachkala plane was closed during the incident.

“No one claims that it was done on purpose. However, taking into account the established facts, Baku expects the Russian side to confess to the shooting down of the Azerbaijani aircraft,” the source said.

Airplane crash in Kazakhstan

Yesterday, an Embraer 190 passenger plane of AZAL Airlines crashed in Kazakhstan. There were 67 people on board during the flight, and 38 people died as a result of the accident.

It is known that the plane was en route from Baku to Grozny.

According to Euronews, Azerbaijan confirmed that the cause of the plane crash was a Russian missile.

Also today, Israel’s El Al national airline suspended flights to Russia. The decision was made after the plane crash in Kazakhstan.


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Baku expects Russia to admit to downing Azerbaijani plane – Reuters

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A passenger plane crashed in Kazakhstan yesterday morning. It was probably shot down by Russia, Reuters reports.

According to the agency’s sources, Russian air defense shot down the Azerbaijan Airlines plane. At the same time, the nearest Russian airport on the flight path of the Makhachkala plane was closed during the incident.

“No one claims that it was done on purpose. However, taking into account the established facts, Baku expects the Russian side to confess to the shooting down of the Azerbaijani aircraft,” the source said.

Airplane crash in Kazakhstan

Yesterday, an Embraer 190 passenger plane of AZAL Airlines crashed in Kazakhstan. There were 67 people on board during the flight, and 38 people died as a result of the accident.

It is known that the plane was en route from Baku to Grozny.

According to Euronews, Azerbaijan confirmed that the cause of the plane crash was a Russian missile.

Also today, Israel’s El Al national airline suspended flights to Russia. The decision was made after the plane crash in Kazakhstan.


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ChatGPT suffers a large-scale failure

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ChatGPT is experiencing a large-scale failure today, December 26, in the evening. The chatbot is temporarily unavailable, according to Downdetector.

An error occurs when trying to enter a request in the chatbot. The history of requests in ChatGPT is also unavailable.

Photo: ChatGPT failure (screenshot)

Photo: ChatGPT failure (screenshot)

So far, there is no information on the cause of the chatbot malfunction.

ChatGPT and Grok

ChatGPT is the most popular AI-powered chatbot that was created in 2022. You can learn more about it in the RBC-Ukraine material.

It has recently become known that billionaire Elon Musk has launched his own AI-based chatbot called Grok.

This chatbot is available for users of social network X, and they can send up to 10 messages every two hours.

It is known that Grok, unlike ChatGPT, has an advantage in accessing real-time information through the X platform.

The chatbot also does not take political correctness into account in its responses to users.


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ChatGPT suffers a large-scale failure

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ChatGPT is experiencing a large-scale failure today, December 26, in the evening. The chatbot is temporarily unavailable, according to Downdetector.

An error occurs when trying to enter a request in the chatbot. The history of requests in ChatGPT is also unavailable.

Photo: ChatGPT failure (screenshot)

Photo: ChatGPT failure (screenshot)

So far, there is no information on the cause of the chatbot malfunction.

ChatGPT and Grok

ChatGPT is the most popular AI-powered chatbot that was created in 2022. You can learn more about it in the RBC-Ukraine material.

It has recently become known that billionaire Elon Musk has launched his own AI-based chatbot called Grok.

This chatbot is available for users of social network X, and they can send up to 10 messages every two hours.

It is known that Grok, unlike ChatGPT, has an advantage in accessing real-time information through the X platform.

The chatbot also does not take political correctness into account in its responses to users.


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Finnish police conduct special operation on Russian shadow tanker

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Finland has determined the damage to a power cable in the Gulf of Finland as hooliganism. Police conducted a special operation on a tanker suspected of involvement in the incident, according to Yle, Helsingin Sanomat and the Finnish police.

Two anonymous sources told Helsingin Sanomat about the details of the operation. According to them, the Coast Guard ordered the tanker to move to the port city of Porkkala, near Helsinki. Around midnight, police and border guard teams flew there from the capital in two helicopters.

They were armed and prepared for the possibility of resistance. However, they were quickly and voluntarily allowed on board.

During the night, the police and prosecutors debated whether to classify the damage to the cable as serious damage or to add a possible terrorist intent.

“Since this was not the first time that cables had been damaged, we assumed that the motive might be to spread fear. However, in the end, we concluded that the qualification of causing significant damage or serious vandalism was more appropriate,” said Deputy Prosecutor General Jukka Rappe.

Damaged power line in Finland

On Christmas Eve, Finland reported damage to an underwater power cable with Estonia.

Around 6:00 p.m., the Finnish national power grid operator Fingrid announced that the Estlink 2 underwater power cable connecting Finland and Estonia had been damaged.

Arto Pahkin, a representative of the Finnish electricity transmission system operator Fingrid, even noted that there were two vessels in the area where the cables ran at the time of the connection disruption.

For more details, see the material by RBC-Ukraine.

Later today, it became known that the Finnish authorities are investigating the case of an oil tanker, which is probably part of Russia’s shadow fleet.

At the same time, Finnish President Alexander Stubb called on the world to counteract the risks posed by the vessels of the Russian shadow fleet.


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Israel’s largest airline cancels flights to Russia after plane crash in Kazakhstan

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Israel’s El Al national airline has suspended flights to Russia. The decision was made after the plane crash in Kazakhstan, according to 9 kanal Israel.

It is noted that flights between Tel Aviv and Moscow will not be operated over the next week.

“Reassessment of the situation will be carried out next week, then a decision will be made on the resumption of flights and passengers will be notified soon,” the company’s press service said.

Airplane crash in Kazakhstan

On the morning of December 25, an Embraer 190 passenger plane of the AZAL airline crashed in Kazakhstan. There were 67 people on board. According to the latest information, 38 people died in the crash.

It is known that the plane was en route from Baku to Grozny. According to media reports, the plane could have been shot down in Grozny, where drones had been shot down before, so it was unable to land. As a result, the Embraer 190 crashed near the city of Aktau.

According to Euronews, Azerbaijan has confirmed that the crash was caused by a Russian missile.


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Israel’s largest airline cancels flights to Russia after plane crash in Kazakhstan

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Israel’s El Al national airline has suspended flights to Russia. The decision was made after the plane crash in Kazakhstan, according to 9 kanal Israel.

It is noted that flights between Tel Aviv and Moscow will not be operated over the next week.

“Reassessment of the situation will be carried out next week, then a decision will be made on the resumption of flights and passengers will be notified soon,” the company’s press service said.

Airplane crash in Kazakhstan

On the morning of December 25, an Embraer 190 passenger plane of the AZAL airline crashed in Kazakhstan. There were 67 people on board. According to the latest information, 38 people died in the crash.

It is known that the plane was en route from Baku to Grozny. According to media reports, the plane could have been shot down in Grozny, where drones had been shot down before, so it was unable to land. As a result, the Embraer 190 crashed near the city of Aktau.

According to Euronews, Azerbaijan has confirmed that the crash was caused by a Russian missile.


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Expert assesses threats to Estonia from Russia

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Russia is conducting actions aimed at testing NATO’s response and creating tension in the Baltic states. This may include small special operations or even long-term destabilization, stated military expert and former officer of the Security Service of Ukraine Ivan Stupak in a commentary to the RBC-Ukraine YouTube channel.

“As for the Baltic states, Russia has long been encroaching on them. There is a lot of negative reflection towards the Baltic states because Russia believes that the Baltic states were the first dominoes that triggered the events that led to the collapse of the Soviet Union. They cannot be forgiven for this,” the expert noted.

According to Stupak, the Baltic states have been expecting an attack from Russia for more than four years.

“Back in 2020, off the record, the military (of the Baltic states – ed.) said that they expected an attack from Russia. Even then, four years ago, they said that no one would defend them. They argued that it would take NATO 180 days to deploy a rapid response force, and during that time ‘we would all be slaughtered.’ This is a literal quote,” he said.

Stupak emphasized that although NATO has revised the timeline for deploying the forces, it still does not provide guarantees for any of the countries.

“Let’s be honest: NATO is a big collective farm. There is no one big CEO, there is a Secretary General, and all decisions are made unanimously. If one or two countries say no, then no Article 5 will be activated,” the expert added.

In conclusion, he suggested that Russia could organize small special operations, for example, in the Narva area of Estonia, to test NATO.

“To summarize: what Russia has been doing in the Baltic Sea for the last year, when it jams GPS, exposing planes and ships to danger, can be partly seen as preparation not for a full-scale invasion, because it has no forces now, but for a long war in the style of ‘I cannot capture, but I will harm’,” Stupak said.

He explained that there could be a “small special operation” in such a small location as Narva to show NATO that it can do nothing.

Earlier today, Politico described a possible scenario of how Russia could try to seize part of Estonia.

It was about the city of Narva, which is located between Estonia and Russia.

It should be noted that back in May, the head of Poland’s military counterintelligence service, Jarosław Stróżyk, said that Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin was ready for a small military operation against a NATO country. According to him, it could be Narva or a Swedish island.


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Zelenskyy announces increase in arms supplies from US

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The United States is increasing the supply of military aid to Ukraine. This helps to level the playing field in the war with Russia, according to the evening address of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

According to the head of state, today he received reports from the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrskyi, and Defense Minister Rustem Umerov.

“Front. Supply. It is very important that the United States is now increasing supplies. This is necessary to level the playing field. I am grateful to our partners. And the pace of supply should be such that it slows down the pace of Russian assaults,” Zelenskyy emphasized.

He clarified that Ukraine needs strong positions for diplomacy. And every unit and brigade that ensures this brings the possibility of sustainable peace closer.

The Head of State thanked the 90th, 80th, 82nd separate air assault brigades and the 68th separate hunting brigade for their resilience and courage in this week’s battles. He also mentioned the 225th and 425th separate assault battalions.

“I would also like to recognize all our soldiers who are carrying out long-range strikes on the territory of Russia. And we have the right, necessary results in destroying the enemy’s military infrastructure, and only that: Ukraine is defending itself against aggression, and our strikes are aimed exclusively at military targets,” the President added.

He thanked the Armed Forces, the Security Service of Ukraine, the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, and foreign intelligence for their accuracy.

Help from the United States

Before the inauguration of Donald Trump, the administration of US President Joe Biden increased military aid to Ukraine.

Over the past month, Washington has already announced several new military aid packages.

Also on December 20, Reuters wrote that the United States may announce a military aid package for Ukraine in the coming days, which will include weapons worth $1.2 billion. In particular, it will include missiles for air defense and artillery shells.


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