After locating suspected smuggling balloons coming from neighboring Belarus, Poland announced that its air force had intercepted a “Russian reconnaissance aircraft” flying close to its airspace.
Polish fighter jets intercepted, identified, and escorted a Russian reconnaissance aircraft flying near Polish airspace from their area of responsibility this morning, according to the Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces in a post on X on Thursday.
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Poland’s airspace was temporarily closed in the northeast of the nation as a result of Polish forces’ tracking of unidentified “objects” flying in Poland’s direction the previous night from Belarus.
“After thorough analysis, it was determined that these were most likely smuggling balloons that were moving in the direction and the wind’s speed. Our radar systems kept track of their flight, according to Operational Command.
The post provided no further information about the balloons’ size or number.
Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz, the country’s defense minister, thanked the “nearly 20 000 of our soldiers who, during the Holidays, watch over our safety,” according to Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz on X.
The Polish Army had complete control over all provocations over the Baltic Sea and close to Belarus, he claimed.
Translation: Another busy night for Polish Army’s operational services. All provocations were under control, both over the Baltic Sea and the Belarusian border. I thank nearly 20 000 of our soldiers, who, as can be seen, watch over our safety very carefully during the holidays.
The Reuters news agency’s requests for comment were not immediately addressed by the Belarusian and Russian embassies in Warsaw.
Airport closures have been caused by smuggler balloons from Belarus, which have repeatedly slowed down air traffic in neighboring Lithuania. According to Lithuania, the balloons were sent by smugglers carrying cigarettes, making them a “hybrid attack” by Belarus, a close ally of Russia. Belarus has denied having caused the balloons.
Three months prior to Poland’s most recent airstrikes, Poland’s NATO forces shot down more than a dozen Russian drones as they flew over Polish airspace between September 9 and October.
The largest airstrike of its kind to hit Polish territory since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 was a success.
The UN Security Council’s emergency session was called in response to the incident to discuss the “blatant violation of the UN Charter principles and the customary law” that Poland, a NATO-member, had called.
On Friday, December 26, 2018, this is how things are going.
Fighting
Following a Ukrainian drone strike on two storage tanks filled with oil, two officials in Russia’s Krasnodar region reported a massive fire in Temryuk, in the country’s southern Russian port. The fire spanned 21,500 square feet (roughly 2 000 square meters) and spanned approximately 2 000 square meters.
Ukraine’s SBU security service reported that long-range Ukrainian drones targeted a gas processing plant in Russia’s Orenburg region as well as oil storage facilities at Temryuk port.
The Novoshakhtinsk oil refinery in Russia’s Rostov region was also targeted by the Ukrainian General Staff, according to the country’s general staff.
The Russian refinery, which supports Moscow’s military operations in Ukraine, was described by the General Staff as a major supplier of oil to southern Russia.
According to reports from Russian state news agencies, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that its forces had taken control of the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region’s Sviato-Pokrovske settlement.
Regional security
Russian reconnaissance aircraft was intercepted by Poland over the Baltic Sea by fighter jets, and dozens of objects entered Polish airspace overnight, with the warning that the events over the holiday season might indicate a provocation.
By blocking Venezuela, the Russian-led Ministry of Foreign Affairs accused the United States of encouraging what it termed “piracy” in the Caribbean and the Pacific Ocean, while expressing hope that US President Donald Trump’s pragmatism could stop escalation.
In response to US threats to remove Maduro from power, Moscow also reiterated its support for Venezuela’s government and its efforts to protect national sovereignty.
Peace talks
The Ukrainian leader said, “Of course, there is still work to be done on sensitive issues.” However, we are able to implement all of this together with the American team. Additionally, the weeks ahead might be long. America, I appreciate you.
According to Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Russia believes negotiations with the US to end the conflict in Ukraine are progressing gradually. She described the discussions as moving slowly but steadily.
diplomacy and politics
Vladimir Putin, the president of the United States, was congratulated by a Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov in a message sent to him along with a Christmas greeting.
Russia stated that it had submitted a proposal to France regarding Laurent Vinatier, a French researcher who is currently incarcerated under Russia’s foreign agent laws, adding that Paris is now in charge of the case.
Sanctions
Russia’s deputy prime minister Alexander Novak said in remarks made on state television that the country’s goal of producing 100 million tons of liquefied natural gas annually has been delayed by several years due to sanctions.
A tattoo artist’s gun buzzes alongside a blaring punk music soundtrack in Mae Sot, Thailand, a small Thai town bordering Myanmar.
“Punk means freedom”, says Ng La, his face and body covered heavily in tattoos.
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“It’s more than just music or fashion – it’s a way of life”, he tells Al Jazeera while tattooing a fellow Myanmar national-in-exile at the back of his “punk bar” in Mae Sot, in Thailand.
Ng La fled his home in Yangon, the largest city in Myanmar, for the freedom to live.
The 28-year-old currently lives precariously in Thailand as an undocumented national from Myanmar, despite the fact that he claims that being captured by the military regime, which he initially resisted, fled, and then fought against.
“The biggest fear was that if I got arrested, I would be deported back into the hands of the Myanmar military”, Ng La said.
He claimed that while “we are no longer afraid of dying,” it would be even worse to be captured by the military.
Many young people from Myanmar who have fled the civil war back home are familiar with Ng La’s journey into exile in Mae Sot.
His journey began when he joined demonstrations in February 2021 after Myanmar’s military toppled the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Aung San Suu Kyi, a long-time democracy activist and hero to many in Myanmar, was able to win the elections held by the coup, which overturned the results of Myanmar’s 2015 and 2020 elections, which were regarded as the first fair elections in the country’s history.
A civil conflict that resulted from the military’s capture also led to the death of thousands and horrified the countryside, including air strikes on rural residents, landmine use, oppressive conscription laws passed by the military regime, and widespread political oppression, including executions.
“When the coup first began, the fascist military ordered the people not to go outside or protest for 72 hours”, Ng La recounted.
He claimed that he and two of his friends staged protests on the street using handmade banners during that time frame.
Ng La eluded arrest and flew to the jungles of Myanmar and Thailand to fight military rule. He became a member of the People’s Defence Force (PDF), one of the numerous armed organizations.
But, after heavy clashes in February 2022 between the PDF and the Myanmar military, Ng La was forced to flee once again and secretly crossed into Thailand, where he eventually set up his punk-themed bar and tattoo parlour, helped by his partner.
“I arrived without any documents because I had no paperwork.” He described his new life in Thailand as “a very difficult situation because I couldn’t go anywhere.”
Struggling with the day-to-day challenges of living undocumented in a foreign country, and being a new father, Ng La told how payments must be made to the relevant Thai authorities and how there was the ever-present fear of deportation.
We also “pay a license fee” and “try to live and make a living,” he said.
Ng La tattoos a fellow Myanmar national who is exiled in the back of Ali MC/Al Jazeera’s “punk bar.”
‘ Destroyed all our hopes and dreams ‘
The National League for Democracy (NLD) party’s victory in an election just months prior was the result of electoral fraud, and thus was illegitimate, the Myanmar military’s official justification for the coup against Aung San Suu Kyi’s government in 2021.
The military will now hold its own election on Sunday, which is widely believed to be unconstitutional and primarily an attempt by the regime to legitimize its power grab under the pretext of holding and winning a vote.
The independent news outlet Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) reports that dozens of parties have registered for the polls – yet notably, Aung San Suu Kyi’s hugely popular NLD is barred from registering.
The election was a “sham,” according to Tom Andrews, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, adding that “elections cannot be free, fair, or credible when held amid military violence and repression, with political leaders detained and fundamental freedoms stricken.
According to Al Jazeera’s Tony Cheng, famous musicians, filmmakers, and artists from Myanmar were being detained for their election-critique, leading many people to flee into exile, just like Ng La.
The Irrawaddy magazine has also reported that rebel groups who are in control of significant populations not under military control say they will not recognise the election’s results.
Ng La claimed that the election in the military is unimportant.
He claimed that the election is “like a comedy show.”
Mae Sot in Thailand has long had an influx of Myanmar nationals, fleeing from decades of conflict at home. This Buddhist temple [Ali MC/Al Jazeera] is specifically made in Myanmar.
Any hope for a quick return home for those in exile is quickly losing as Myanmar’s post-coup conflict looks to be moving on fifth year.
The United Nations estimates that approximately 3.5 million people have been displaced internally by the fighting in Myanmar, and hundreds of thousands have fled to neighbouring countries, including Thailand, India and Bangladesh.
Prior to the coup, Thailand’s population had about 85, 000 long-term refugees living in permanent camps along the border, according to estimates.
Registered refugees recently received work rights from the Thai government, but this does not immediately apply to undocumented immigrants. Human Rights Watch states that undocumented migrants face a “constant threat of harassment, arrest, and deportation” and “many Myanmar nationals, including children, have no legal access to basic healthcare, education or work”.
Some of the undocumented Myanmar exiles Al Jazeera spoke with in Mae Sot described being too afraid to leave their homes because they were afraid of being deported to Myanmar, where they face forced enlistment, imprisonment, or worse.
Elections conducted by the military: “As a license to murder our people.”
Snow, a 33-year-old former English teacher, was part of the generation of young Myanmar people who came of age with the first election win of Aung San Suu Kyi’s NLD in 2015 and the promise that period offered of an internationally engaged and democratic Myanmar.
Snow also eluded the coup and left Yangon city to join a resistance group on the Thai-Border. Snow did not want their real name to be revealed for security reasons.
She told Al Jazeera, “everyone’s hopes and dreams were destroyed by the coup and the subsequent civil war.”
“So I decided to flee to the jungle and to join the resistance”, she said, telling how she wanted to learn about weapons and fight.
Female fighters were not given duties on the front lines, according to Snow, who attributed the difference in treatment between the men and women who joined the resistance for the lack of the same training as her male counterparts.
No matter how well trained you were as a medic, reporter, or drone squad member, female fighters were [frequently] assigned to front line battles, she claimed.
Snow served with the PDF rebel group for two years, but eventually fled across the border to Mae Sot, where she has continued to teach English and assists wounded fighters from Myanmar.
She claimed that ethnic armed groups in the border regions that were supposed to be allied with the PDF made her decision to leave the resistance.
Many of our PDF comrades were trapped and killed in one conflict, she claimed, citing alliance forces’ “unification with [the Myanmar military] as the cause of [our] betrayal].”
Many former resistance fighters fled to Mae Sot for the same reasons – a sense of betrayal, she said.
Because of this, she continued, “Fifty percent of us emigrated to Mae Sot.”
Snow claimed to not be interested in the “fake” elections, which would only allow the military to “kill our people.”
“Once we have accepted this election, our hands are already bloodied”, she said.
Many of the Myanmar exiles in the Thai town are considering applying for refugee status in the hope of finding a new life elsewhere, according to Snow, who cites her struggle to survive in Mae Sot.
However, no matter how remote that possibility is, the desire to return to Myanmar is never.
“Some hope to leave to a third country by applying for asylum”, Snow said, “or, to return home when this long, disgusting nightmare is over”.
She said, “We are fighting for our families’ return and to unite.” So we will fight until we can return home and make things better and better.
The Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge that connects Myanmar and Thailand]Ali MC/Al Jazeera]
According to US President Donald Trump, the country has launched an airstrike against ISIL (ISIS) fighters in northwest Nigeria.
Trump stated in a post on his Truth Social platform on Thursday evening that “the United States launched a powerful and deadly strike against ISIS Terrorist Scum in Northwest Nigeria” under my leadership as Commander in Chief.
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Trump claimed that ISIL fighters had “targeted and viciously” killed “innocent Christians at levels not seen for many years, and even centuries”!
Trump said, “I’ve previously warned these terrorists that hell would be upon them if they did not stop the slaughter of Christians,” and tonight that was exactly what it was.
The Africa Command of the US military, which oversees operations in Africa, claimed in a post on X that the airstrike was ordered by the Nigerian government and had killed “multiple ISIS terrorists.
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth posted a message on social media praising the support and cooperation of the Nigerian government, adding that there would be “more to come” without providing more information.
According to AFRICOM, the strike took place in “Soboto state,” which appears to be a reference to Nigeria’s Sokoto state.
[Al Jazeera]
Trump announced the US military action in response to allegations of Christian persecution in Nigeria, and he said he had given the Pentagon the ultimatum to start making plans for potential military action there.
According to the government of Nigeria, armed groups attack both Christian and Muslim communities in the country, and the US’s claims that Christians face persecution do not reflect the country’s complex security situation and ignore efforts by the country to protect religious freedom.
Donald Trump had claimed that Nigerians were not doing enough to protect its Christian community in his first term as president, and that the threat of US military action had been “percolating for some time.”
“But with the support of the Congress and the State Department, they have since issued a statement that Nigeria is a particular country of concern regarding the rights of Christians, and we’ve been informed that the US has begun conducting overflight surveillance of Nigeria from an airbase in Accra, Ghana, over the past few weeks. And this is what Rattansi said.
The Trump administration acts on Christmas Day. I’m confident that Trump’s Christian evangelical base will enjoy this,” he said.
A human rights advocacy group claims that Venezuelan authorities have released at least 60 people who were detained during demonstrations against President Nicolas Maduro’s re-election, but hundreds of others are still imprisoned.
According to the Committee for the Freedom of Political Prisoners, a group of rights activists and detainees’ relatives who were detained as a result of the unrest that followed July’s presidential election, the releases started early on Thursday, over Christmas.
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More than 60 Venezuelans who should never have been arbitrarily detained are being released, according to committee head Andreina Baduel, who spoke to the AFP news agency.
We will continue fighting for their full freedom, as well as that of all political prisoners, even though they are not entirely free.
In the July 2024 election, Maduro won a third term in office despite allegations of fraud in part by some members of the opposition. About 2,400 people were arrested as a result of the disputed outcome, which sparked weeks of demonstrations. Approximately 2, 000 people have been freed since then, according to rights organizations.
According to Foro Penal, an NGO that monitors detentions, Venezuela still has at least 902 political prisoners despite recent releases.
According to relatives, Tocoron prison, a maximum-security facility in Aragua state, is located about 134 kilometers (83 miles) from the state’s capital Caracas, where many of the freed people are residing. The conditions under which detainees were released have not been made clear by officials.
According to Baduel, “we must bear in mind that there are more than 1, 000 families with political prisoners.” In 2021, her father, former defense minister Raul Isaias Baduel, a friend of the late president Hugo Chavez, passed away in custody.
As fighting continues to ravage Sudan, a senior official in the Transitional Sovereignty Council (TSC) has ruled out any talks with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The deputy chairman of TSC, Malik Agar Ayyir, said in a statement released by the Ministry of Culture, Media and Tourism on Thursday that there is no truce and no negotiations with an occupier.
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He refuted the claim that the war aims to achieve “democracy” when speaking to ministers and state officials in Port Sudan, the city where the government is based. He instead referred to the conflict as a “conflict over resources and a desire to change Sudan’s demographics” and cited an opportunity to foster national cohesion.
The UN Security Council heard from Sudan’s Prime Minister Kamil Idris shortly after his country’s nearly three-year war was proposed.
The plan mandates that RSF fighters must leave vast tracts of land that they have taken into force in Sudan’s western and central regions in accordance with the army and the government’s positions.
Before those who are not charged with war crimes can be reintegrated into society, they would then need to be interned and disarmed.
Al-Basha Tibiq, a top adviser to commander Mohamed Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo, has repeatedly criticized the RSF for calling it “closer to fantasy than politics.”
RSF reports increases
As the RSF consolidates its hold over captured territory and intensifies attacks, the conflict, which has forced 14 million people to flee for good.
International aid organizations working on the ground claim that RSF fighters have continued to carry out mass killings, systematic sexual assault, and body burying and burning in Darfur as a cover-up for the evidence of war crimes over the past few months.
El-Fasher, the state capital of North Darfur, was captured in October, only to become worse for the humanitarian situation there.
The RSF announced on Thursday that its forces had taken control of North Darfur’s Abu Qumra region.
According to the group’s statement, they “have continued their successful advancement to the Um Buru area, where they have completely liberated these areas.”
The RSF claimed that its fighters’ main priority is to “protect civilians and put an end to the presence of remnants of armed pockets and mercenary movements” in spite of mounting evidence of widespread atrocities committed in western Sudan.
![Mae Sot has long had an influx of Myanmar nationals, fleeing from decades of conflict in neighbouring Karen state. This Buddhist temple on the Thai side of the border is specifically of Myanmar design and origin [Ali MC/Al Jazeera]](https://i0.wp.com/www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Myanmar-Exiles-12-1765529463.jpg?w=696&ssl=1)
![Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge that separates Myanmar and Thailand [Ali MC/Al Jazeera]](https://i0.wp.com/www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Myanmar-Exiles-13-1765529686.jpg?w=696&ssl=1)
