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‘It’s frightening’: How far right is infiltrating everyday culture

The two men chop peppers, slice aubergines and giggle into the camera as they delve into the art of vegan cooking. Both are wearing ski masks and T-shirts bearing Nazi symbols. The German videos – titled Balaclava Kitchen – started in 2014 and ran for months before YouTube took down the channel for violating its guidelines. But it offered a glimpse of how far-right groups have seized on cultural production – from clothing brands to top 40 music – to normalise their ideas, in a process that researchers say has hit new heights in the age of social media. “It’s frightening, honestly,” said Katherine Kondor, a researcher with the Norwegian Center for Holocaust and Minority Studies. “You can be radicalised sitting on your couch.” In affiliation with the Center for Research on Extremism (C-REX), Kondor is leading a six-country project looking at how the extreme right uses aesthetics, from fitness influencers to memes and stickers, to spread their views across Europe. From Sweden to Spain, researchers found that extremist messaging was woven through cultural aspects of everyday life, both online and offline. “In Hungary we have some examples of extreme right bands becoming mainstream because they’re on the top 40 chart. I mean, what’s more normal than being on the top 40?” Kondor said. “I have a stepson who sometimes sends videos and then I go down the rabbit hole to see who created them and it turns out it’s a far-right influencer.” So-called “tradwives”, referring to female content creators who promote traditional gender roles on social media, are another example. As the numbers of women embracing the concept online surges, the content’s far-right roots have been increasingly obscured. Even so, the views they often promote – from anti-feminism to a nostalgia for an imagined past – continue to boost far-right aims. These cultural elements serve as gateways, at times helping to reel people into extremism, Kondor said. “I think there’s a mistaken idea that people join the far right because they believe in that ideology and want to meet like-minded people,” she said. “But that’s not how it works.” While there are some who are driven by prejudices against certain groups or specific beliefs, or others who tag along with friends who are already involved, many are lured by the subcultures that encase these movements, she said. “They start listening to a band that they really like and start going to concerts of that band. Then they start meeting people there and it can escalate in that way,” Kondor explained. “When people find things that work for their aesthetic or their vibe, or they find music that they really like, that can really influence a person.” The link between extreme ideas and the cultural tools they opt to use is not always straightforward, she added, citing the example of a group of far-right extremists in the Netherlands with a penchant for hosting wine-tasting events. “They’ve also started their own food delivery,” she said. “It’s just wild that you can be ordering food from the far right and not know.” Extremists have long used culture to foster a sense of belonging among its members and gain attention among the wider public, said Greta Jasser, a research associate at Germany’s Institute for Democracy and Civil Society, which is also part of the six-country project. Previously, however, their strength in doing so relied on the talent pool of their members, as musicians, artists and camera operators were needed to create content. With the advent of generative AI, this is no longer the case. “Now there’s technology that we can use to generate an image or video in an instant or music within just a couple of minutes,” said Jasser. “So the playbook is old, but the speed is much faster.” The economics of social media have also transformed the process, leading to questions regarding who is creating far-right content and their motivations. “It could be posted by a bot. It could be anyone and anything wanting to generate income from producing as many AI videos and images as possible,” said Jasser. “Which then interestingly calls into question how ideologically driven many of these accounts are, or if it’s a way to generate revenue.” As the research continues, Kondor and her team have been weighing how best to educate the public about their findings, mulling strategies such as online content or tools that could help people better recognise the far right and the myriad of cultural elements they’re producing. “I think it’s often shocking to people,” said Kondor. “Right now it’s dangerous because we’re seeing a steady rise of the far right in every aspect of society. It’s more important than ever to figure out how to mitigate this.”

Opposition anger as Guinea’s junta leader is frontrunner to be elected president

In September 2021, a tall, young colonel in the Guinean army announced that he and his comrades had forcibly seized power and toppled the longtime leader Alpha Condé. “The will of the strongest has always supplanted the law,” Mamady Doumbouya said in a speech, stressing that the soldiers were acting to restore the will of the people. Not long after, Doumbouya announced a 36-month timeline for transition to civilian rule in the resource-rich west African nation on the Atlantic coast, shrugging off pressure from the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas), which wanted a swifter return to democracy. His actions triggered widespread protests and criticism from opposition groups and civil society, most of whom doubted his vow not to personally run for office. On Sunday, 6.7 million eligible voters in Guinea will head to the ballot box for the first presidential election since the 2021 coup. Among the nine candidates are the former minister Abdoulaye Yéro Baldé of the Democratic Front of Guinea and the former junta supporter turned critic Faya Millimono of the Liberal Bloc party. But thanks to a controversial referendum in September that led to the adoption of a new constitution allowing him to run and extending presidential terms from five to seven years, the clear frontrunner is Doumbouya. The opposition coalition Forces vives de Guinée has called his candidacy a betrayal. “The man who presented himself as the restorer of democracy chose to become its gravedigger,” it said in a statement last month after Doumbouya officially deposited his intent to run with the supreme court. Political upheavals have been a recurring feature in west Africa, a region that has earned the moniker of “coup belt” after seven successful coups and several unsuccessful attempts since 2020. While Guinea has remained under the Ecowas umbrella, fellow juntas in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, angered by its post-coup sanctions, have split from the regional bloc to form the pro-Russian Alliance of Sahel States (AES). If it holds, the Guinean election will be the first in any of the junta-run states since 2020. Within Guinea, many believe the general’s victory is a foregone conclusion, given his consolidation of power since ascending to the presidency and promoting himself to a general. Even now, the presidential race is notable not for those who are on the ballot, but for those who are not. The biggest opposition parties remain suspended, and their most prominent leaders have been detained, barred from running or – like the former prime minister Cellou Dalein Diallo of the Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea, are in exile. Many say a climate of fear pervades the country due to the junta’s crackdown against its critics, with several dissidents in jail. Conversely, Doumbouya pardoned the former dictator Moussa Dadis Camara who was given a 20-year sentence for his role in one of Guinea’s most serious human rights atrocities: the 2009 massacre and mass rape of protesters at a stadium in Conakry. The pardon, granted before the final hearing, prompted several human rights groups to write a joint open letter to the junta leader alongside families of victims, urging him to reconsider. That process is now in limbo. Ahead of the vote, Doumbouya has been accumulating goodwill.This month, the shiny new Simandou mine, which has the world’s largest untapped reserve of iron ore, was launched after nearly three decades of delays caused by political instability and corruption. Doumbouya’s government is touting the project as a bridge to prosperity for Guinea and a sign of incoming development, despite mass job losses and environmental complaints. The election stakes are high: in the coming years, the multi-layered Simandou mine project – which also includes the construction of ports and a railway – is expected to transform the economy of Guinea, where half of the population lives on below $2 a day. Given existential concerns around transparency, many are waiting to see what the winning government does after the election. “Our salvation lies in a return to the [proper] constitutional order,” said Abdoulaye Koroma, a presidential candidate for the Rally for Renaissance and Development party.

No gels, no foams: Catalonia turns to grannies to teach traditional cooking

Catalonia’s avant garde chefs have made a name for themselves with their revolutionary techniques and molecular gastronomy, yet they are fond of saying they are merely paying homage to the simple dishes served at their grandmother’s table. Maybe so, but now the grannies have been given a chance to show off the real thing under a Catalan government initiative called Gastrosàvies. A double play on the Catalan words for wise and grandmother, Gastrosàvies provides a platform for more than 100 women of a certain age to share videos cooking traditional dishes “with a view to preserving and communicating traditional Catalan cuisine for future generations”. No spherification and liquid nitrogen for these chefs – just some basic ingredients, a sharp knife and a couple of pots and pans. The project has collected more than 300 recipes from all over Catalonia, and videos of home cooks preparing 12 of them have been posted on the Gastrosàvies website, with more to follow. These simple creations such as rice with cabbage and peas, thyme soup, chicken with apple, duck with turnips or pork chops with chestnuts hark back to an era where people cooked with what was at hand and in season, using basic equipment and techniques handed down over generations. While these rustic dishes can still be found in bars and restaurants in rural Catalonia, they are increasingly hard to come by in Barcelona where they have been usurped by pizza, kebabs, ramen, sushi and the ubiquitous Argentinian empanadas. Working in her farm house kitchen in the village of Santa Margarida i els Monjos in Penedès, a region 45 minutes south of Barcelona, Maria Antònia Udina, 76, prepares a Penedès cockerel with dried fruit and nuts and a dash of cognac, a dish characteristic of Catalan cuisine. “Catalonia is small but we have mountains and sea and we like mixing the two,” she says. “That’s why we cook meat with fruit or meat with fish in dishes such as meatballs with cuttlefish, chicken with prawns or xató, a salad made with frisee, salt cod, tuna and romesco sauce.” Udina’s mother cooked for her and her five siblings, “simple dishes with local products, a lot of potatoes, a lot of rice. We did the dishes and laid the table but my mother did the cooking. I didn’t really know how to cook. I wasn’t a good eater as a child but I loved mashed potatoes with a bit of oil poured over them.” She is also a champion of local produce such as the Penedès cockerel that she and her husband farmed until a few years ago. She says the Penedès variety has more flavour and a better texture than supermarket chicken because it’s reared for twice as long and is fed on grape seeds from local vineyards. She lists what in her view are Catalan cuisine’s three essential characteristics: the sofregit made with olive oil, onions, tomatoes and sometimes peppers or carrots, which is the ground zero of dozens of dishes; the use of herbs such as rosemary, bay and thyme, and finally the picada, a paste made from olive oil, ground almonds or hazelnuts, garlic, parsley and fried bread, served as an accompaniment to many dishes and a key ingredient in suquet de peix, the Catalan version of bouillabaisse. Although Udina has a reputation as an excellent cook, she has never worked as a professional chef. However, she has dined in some of the region’s most famous restaurants, among them Can Fabes, the first in Catalonia to be awarded three Michelin stars, and El Celler de Can Roca, twice voted the best restaurant in the world. She admires these avant garde chefs and accepts that their cuisine is rooted in tradition. However, she is sceptical about the claim that it’s simply a homage to their mother’s and grandmother’s tables. For example, Udina says, wild mushrooms are a staple of Catalan cooking but at Can Fabes, “we had six or seven dishes that were all made with wild mushrooms, including an ice-cream”. “That’s nothing like what their mothers would have cooked,” she says, adding that she believes there’s a move back towards simpler, less innovative cuisine and hopes that Gastrosàvies will encourage “our children and grandchildren to cook traditional food instead of pizza, hamburgers and Pot Noodles”.

Thailand and Cambodia agree ‘immediate’ ceasefire after weeks of deadly border clashes

Thailand and Cambodia have agreed to an “immediate” ceasefire, pledging to end weeks of deadly border clashes that have killed more than 100 people and displaced more than half a million on both sides. In a joint statement, the two south-east Asian neighbours said the ceasefire would take effect on Saturday at noon local time and involve “all types of weapons, including attacks on civilians, civilian objects and infrastructures, and military objectives of either side, in all cases and all areas”. “Both sides agree to maintain current troop deployments without further movement,” their defence ministers said in a joint statement. According to the statement released by Cambodia’s defence ministry, “any reinforcement would heighten tensions and negatively affect long-term efforts to resolve the situation”. The two countries also agreed to cooperate on demining efforts and combatting cybercrime. The agreement, signed by the Thai defence minister, Natthaphon Narkphanit, and his Cambodian counterpart, Tea Seiha, ended 20 days of fighting that have included fighter jet sorties, exchanges of rocket fire and artillery barrages. Even as the two countries held talks on Saturday to put an end to the skirmish, Cambodia reported that Thailand hit a site in the country’s north-west with an airstrike. Cambodia’s defence ministry said Thailand deployed F-16 fighter jets to drop four bombs on Saturday morning on a target in Serei Saophoan in the north-western province of Banteay Meanchey. On Friday, Cambodia said a similar airstrike dropped 40 bombs on a target in Chok Chey village in the same province. Thailand’s military confirmed the Friday attack. Longstanding competing claims of territory along the border are the root of tensions that broke into open combat in late July. Despite a shaky ceasefire mediated by the Malaysian prime minister, Anwar Ibrahim, and backed up by pressure from the US president, Donald Trump, renewed combat erupted in early December. Thailand has lost 26 soldiers and one civilian as a direct result of the combat since 7 December, according to officials. Thailand has also reported 44 civilian deaths from collateral effects of the situation. Cambodia hasn’t issued an official figure on military casualties, but says that 30 civilians have been killed and 90 injured. Hundreds of thousands of people have been evacuated from affected areas on both sides of the border.

Ukraine war briefing: Kim Jong-un celebrates sharing ‘blood, life and death’ with Russia

The North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, has highlighted how his country and Russia had shared “blood, life and death” in the Ukraine war in a new year’s greeting to Vladimir Putin. In the message, published by the state-run KCNA news agency, Kim said 2025 was a “really meaningful year” for the bilateral alliance that was consolidated by “sharing blood, life and death in the same trench”. North Korea confirmed in April that it had deployed troops to support Russia’s military campaign against Ukraine and that its soldiers had been killed in combat. Earlier this month, Pyongyang acknowledged that it had sent troops to clear mines in Russia’s Kursk region in August 2025. Several powerful explosions rocked Kyiv on Saturday as authorities warned that the Ukrainian capital was under threat of missile attack. “Explosions in the capital. Air defence forces are operating. Stay in shelters!” Kyiv’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, wrote on Telegram. Ukraine’s air force also announced a countrywide air alert in the early hours of Saturday and said on social media that drones and missiles were moving over several Ukrainian regions, including the capital. Agence France-Presse journalists in Kyiv heard several loud explosions, some accompanied by bright flashes that lit the horizon orange. A military Telegram channel said cruise and ballistic missiles were being deployed in the city. Moscow has accused the EU of trying to “torpedo” an agreement between Russia and Ukraine ahead of a meeting between Zelenskyy and Donald Trump in Florida on Sunday. Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, said the proposal drawn up with Zelenskyy’s input “differs radically” from points initially drawn up by US and Russian officials in contacts this month. “Our ability to make the final push and reach an agreement will depend on our own work and the political will of the other party,” Ryabkov said on Russian television. “Especially in a context where Kyiv and its sponsors – notably within the European Union, who are not in favour of an agreement – have stepped up efforts to torpedo it.” Ryabkov added: “Without an adequate resolution of the problems at the origin of this crisis, it will be quite simply impossible to reach a definitive accord.” He said any deal had to “remain within the limits” fixed by Trump and Putin when they met in Alaska in August, or else “no accord can be reached”. Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Russia of using apartment blocks in Belarus to attack Ukrainian targets. “We note that the Russians are trying to bypass our defensive interceptor positions through the territory of neighbouring Belarus,” the Ukrainian president wrote on Telegram. He said Ukrainian intelligence had observed that Belarus was deploying equipment to carry out its attacks “in Belarusian settlements near the border, including on residential buildings”. “Antennae and other equipment are located on the roofs of ordinary five-storey apartment buildings, which help guide Shaheds [drones] to targets in our western regions. This is an absolute disregard for human lives.” Moscow may be stationing new Oreshnik nuclear-capable hypersonic ballistic missiles at a former airbase in eastern Belarus, two US researchers have claimed, after studying satellite imagery. Jeffrey Lewis and Decker Eveleth said they based their finding on imagery from Planet Labs, a commercial satellite firm, that showed features consistent with a Russian strategic missile base. Lewis and Eveleth said they were 90% certain that mobile Oreshnik launchers would be stationed at the former airbase near Krichev, 307km east of the Belarus capital, Minsk. The researchers said reviews of the Planet Labs imagery revealed a hurried construction project that began between 4 and 12 August and showed features consistent with those of a Russian strategic missile base. One “dead giveaway” in a 19 November photo is a “military-grade rail transfer point” enclosed by a security fence to which missiles, their mobile launchers and other components could be delivered by train, said Eveleth. Russia’s defence ministry claimed on Friday it had captured a new village in the south-eastern Zaporizhzhia region. The ministry wrote on Telegram it had seized the village of Kosivtseve, north of the town of Huliaipole, which has come under severe Russian pressure in recent weeks. It said Russian troops had taken more than 23 sq km of territory in securing the village, giving the “east” group of forces “a base for further offensive actions”. The defence ministry said its forces had deployed drones to prevent fresh Ukrainian troops from entering Huliaipole.

Israel becomes first country to recognise Somaliland as sovereign state

Israel has become the first country to recognise Somaliland as a sovereign state, a breakthrough in its quest for international recognition since it declared independence from Somalia 34 years ago. The Israeli foreign minister, Gideon Sa’ar, announced on Friday that Israel and Somaliland had signed an agreement establishing full diplomatic relations, which would include the opening of embassies and the appointment of ambassadors. The recognition is a historic moment for Somaliland, which declared its independence from Somalia in 1991 but until now had failed to be recognised by any UN member states. Somaliland controls the north-west tip of Somalia, where it operates a de facto state, and is bordered by Djibouti to the north-west and Ethiopia to the west and south. The Israeli prime minister’s office said the declaration was “in the spirit” of the Abraham accords, a series of normalisation agreements between Israel and mostly Arab states signed in 2020. It posted a video of Benjamin Netanyahu speaking via video call with Somaliland’s president, Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi, in which he invited him to visit Israel and described the friendship between the two countries as “historic”. Abdullahi said he would be “glad to be in Jerusalem as soon as possible”. Donald Trump said he opposed US recognition of Somaliland in an interview with the New York Post published on Friday, adding: “Does anyone know what Somaliland is, really?” The US administration is reportedly split over the recognition of Somaliland, with some fearing such a move could endanger military cooperation with Somalia. The US has troops deployed there, where it supports Somali forces in their fight against the Islamist movement al-Shabaab. Somalia’s foreign ministry said in statement the decision was a “deliberate attack” on its sovereignty that would undermine peace in the region, a sentiment echoed by the African Union (AU). The AU said it “firmly rejects” Israel’s move, warning: “Any attempt to undermine the unity, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of Somalia ... risks setting a dangerous precedent with far-reaching implications for peace and stability across the continent.” The pan-African body’s head, Mahamoud Ali Youssouf, said Somaliland “remains an integral part of the Federal Republic of Somalia”, which is a member of the AU. Israel’s move was also condemned by Egypt and Turkey, which said in a statement: “This initiative by Israel, which aligns with its expansionist policy and its efforts to do everything to prevent the recognition of a Palestinian state, constitutes overt interference in Somalia’s domestic affairs.” Sa’ar said the recognition came after a year of talks between the two countries and that he had instructed Israel’s ministry of foreign affairs to immediately “institutionalise ties between the two countries”. Israeli analysts have said recognition of the breakaway state could be in Israel’s strategic interest, given Somaliland’s proximity to Yemen, where Israel has conducted extensive airstrikes against the Houthi rebels over the past two years. A report in November by the Institute for National Security Studies, an Israeli thinktank, said: “Somaliland’s territory could serve as a forward base for multiple missions: intelligence monitoring of the Houthis and their armament efforts; logistical support for Yemen’s legitimate government in its war against them; and a platform for direct operations against the Houthis.” The Somaliland authorities already host a military base operated by the United Arab Emirates in Berbera, which has a military port and an airstrip for fighter jets and transport aircraft. Analysts have suggested that the base is a key part of the UAE’s anti-Houthi campaign in Yemen. Somaliland’s president revealed in May that US military officials, including the most senior officer in the Horn of Africa, had visited Somaliland and that another US delegation was expected to visit soon. “It’s a matter of time. Not if, but when and who will lead the recognition of Somaliland,” Abdullahi told the Guardian. Project 2025, which was published in 2023 and is alleged to have guided much of the doctrine of Donald Trump’s second administration, called for the recognition of Somaliland as a “hedge against the US’s deteriorating position in Djibouti”, where Chinese influence is growing. This August, the Texas Republican senator Ted Cruz wrote to Trump asking him to recognise Somaliland. Cruz said Somaliland was an ally of Israel and that it had expressed support for the Abraham accords. Somaliland has a population of a little more than 6.2 million. The breakaway state has a democratic system that has had peaceful transfers of power, though the Washington-based non-profit organisation Freedom House noted an “erosion of political rights and civic space” in recent years, with journalists and opposition figures facing repression from authorities.

Zelenskyy to travel to US for Trump meeting amid push for Ukraine deal

Volodymyr Zelenskyy is to travel to the US for a planned meeting with Donald Trump on Sunday, as Washington continues to push for a possible peace deal between Kyiv and Moscow. The Ukrainian president said the visit would take place at a location in Florida – widely expected to be Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort – in what would be the latest development in a diplomatic push that began in November with the circulation of a 28-point US plan shaped with input from Russian officials. “We are not losing a single day. We have agreed on a meeting at the highest level – with President Trump in the near future,” Zelenskyy wrote in a post on X on Friday, adding that “a lot can be decided before the New Year”. Early on Saturday, several powerful explosions rocked Kyiv as authorities warned that the Ukrainian capital was under threat of missile attack and that air defences were in operation. Ukraine’s air force also announced a countrywide air alert, saying on social media that drones and missiles were moving over several Ukrainian regions, including the capital. Zelenskyy told journalists the high-stakes meeting with Trump would focus on some of the most sensitive parts of the peace talks, including Ukrainian security guarantees and reconstruction, plus territorial discussions regarding the Donbas region and the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. “This meeting is specifically intended to refine things as much as we possibly can,” Zelenskyy said. He added that the proposed 20-point peace plan was “90% ready”. “Our goal is to bring everything to 100%,” Zelenskyy said. He later added: “As of today, our teams – the Ukrainian and American negotiating teams – have made significant progress.” The plan is considered an updated version of an earlier 28-point document agreed several weeks ago between the US envoys and Russian officials, a proposal widely viewed as skewed towards the Kremlin’s demands. Ukraine has pushed for security guarantees modelled on Nato’s Article 5 mutual defence pledge under any proposed peace deal with Russia, though it remains unclear whether Moscow would accept such terms. “Russia constantly looks for reasons not to agree” to the peace proposals, Zelenskyy told reporters. In an interview with Politico on Friday, Trump said he anticipated a “good” meeting with the Ukrainian leader, though he offered no endorsement of Zelenskyy’s plan. “He doesn’t have anything until I approve it,” Trump told the news website. “So we’ll see what he’s got.” The announcement follows a burst of diplomatic activity last weekend in Miami, where Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff met separately with Russian and Ukrainian representatives, as well as Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. US officials described the discussions as “constructive”, though Moscow has played down expectations of progress and there are few signs that Vladimir Putin is prepared to soften his maximalist demands to end the full-scale invasion. Trump in the interview with Politico said he expected to speak with Putin “soon, as much as I want”. At a closed-door meeting with Russia’s business elite on Wednesday evening, the Russian president reportedly reiterated his demand that Ukraine hand over the entire eastern Donbas region as part of any peace deal. According to Kommersant, one of Russia’s best-connected newspapers, Putin also indicated openness to a limited territorial exchange with Ukraine, with Moscow potentially exchanging small areas of land Russian forces occupy in Ukraine’s northern Kharkiv and southern Zaporizhzhia regions. Zelenskyy has previously said Ukraine would be open to withdrawing “heavy forces” from parts of Donbas it still controls, but only if Russia mirrored the move as part of a US-backed initiative to create a “free economic zone” in the region. It remains highly uncertain that Moscow would accept either a suggested demilitarised buffer zone or a withdrawal of its forces, even as other sticking points remain, including control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant that Kyiv says should be jointly managed by the US and Ukraine. On Friday, the Kremlin said Putin’s top foreign policy aide, Yuri Ushakov, had held a call with the US administration after Moscow received an updated US proposal on a potential peace deal, although there were no signs that a breakthrough had been reached. The Russian deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, used a Russian television appearance on Friday to criticise Zelenskyy and European allies. “Our ability to make the final push and reach an agreement will depend on our own work and the political will of the other party,” Ryabkov said. “Especially in a context where Kyiv and its sponsors – notably within the European Union, who are not in favour of an agreement – have stepped up efforts to torpedo it.” He said the proposal drawn up with Zelenskyy’s input “differs radically” from points initially drawn up by US and Russian officials in contacts this month. “Without an adequate resolution of the problems at the origin of this crisis, it will be quite simply impossible to reach a definitive accord,” Ryabkov added. Russia has repeatedly said it was prepared to continue fighting in Ukraine if no peace deal were reached, saying it was confident it could achieve its war aims through military means. Yet while Moscow has made slow, grinding progress on the battlefield, Ukrainian forces have in recent days pushed Russian troops out of the city of Kupiansk in the Kharkiv region. It marked a rare successful Ukrainian counteroffensive, prompting frustration among pro-war Russian bloggers over what many described as overly upbeat and unrealistic battlefield briefings. “On the Kupyansk front, large-scale territorial losses have come to light, caused by the systematic submission of false reports that exaggerated the Russian armed forces’ successes in the battle for Kupyansk and surrounding settlements,” the popular Telegram channel Rybar, which has close links to the defence ministry, wrote. In late November, senior Russian generals briefed Putin that Russian troops had “completed the liberation of Kupyansk”, prompting Zelenskyy to travel to the city’s outskirts to “show the world that Putin is lying”. Lauren Gambino contributed reporting