Archive December 26, 2025

Russian soldiers in Kiev, Ukraine, say they are terrified of Ukrainians, according to Vasily, a corpulent officer who limps awkwardly along Sophia Square in Kiev, where the country’s largest Christmas tree stands.

I’ve jumped into their trenches,” I said. They fear us a lot, he told Al Jazeera.

Their concern, he said, does not imply that Kyiv can decide the terms of the end-of-war because Ukraine still has the most soldiers, a stronger economy, and a larger war arsenal, whereas Russia still has more servicemen and more guns, he said.

When the enemy says, “We simply have nothing to strike it with,” Vasily said, referring to the dire shortage of artillery shells while he was on the front line before losing his left foot to a landmine in 2023, when he hears yell into the radio to say “Hold on” and give its coordinates at 800 meters.

Vassily stayed in the army and was requested to keep his last name in strict accordance with rules of the war.

One can’t hope for the end all together, says one.

However, a four-star general believes that a “pause” in the war’s fifth year, which begins in February 2026, would be the only real achievement.

One can’t hope for the full end of the war with such an aggressive neighbor as Russia, according to Ihor Romanenko, former deputy head of Ukraine’s general staff of armed forces.

He claimed that “there won’t be peace with Russia until we liberate the areas that are within the post-Soviet] borders of Ukraine.”

And he claimed that Kyiv would have to “stop the Russians on the front line” by significantly bolstering its military might if Moscow violated the ceasefire pause.

According to him, Kyiv would need to establish universal and “fair” mobilisation without any exceptions, boost domestic arms production, prioritize military needs in economic decisions, and pass stricter martial law.

Up to 40% of the armed forces’ needs are being provided by Ukraine’s military-industrial complex this year, a significant increase from 15 to 20% in 2022.

The remaining 60% is provided by Western allies, and Romanenko argued that their subsequent aid should be “decisive and quick.”

In the second half of 2026, “an opportunity to sign a peace deal” may arise if Russia doesn’t manage to advance quickly and quickly and realizes that Kyiv can tolerate the attrition war, according to another analyst.

Volodymyr Fesenko, the head of the Kyiv-based Penta think tank, told Al Jazeera, “Everything will depend on the Kremlin’s and]Russian President Vladimir Putin’s personal willingness to agree.”

There is a chance to reach a peace deal by the late 2025, he said, if Moscow’s “dead-end” development is made clear next year.

Even if Putin consents, Fesenko said it would take months to “connect” the parties’ versions of a peace agreement.

In exchange for Russia’s withdrawal from three Ukrainian regions in the east and north, Ukraine may have to complie with the White House’s demands, he said, to which the conflict will continue into 2027, including several highly fortified cities and towns.

The potential end of the war is influenced by larger global factors.

According to Kyiv-based analyst Ihar Tyshkevich, the very definition of the collective West will change in 2026 as a result of Washington’s removal from the “global policeman’s” role and the end of the “Western hegemony” over the rest of the world.

China is beginning to gain greater global influence and dominance in Asia, but it is still unable to fully challenge Washington’s dominance, he said at a press conference in Kyiv on Monday.

He claimed that this process will also cause Ukraine’s position to be “erosion” of international law.

The worst-case scenario is a “Finnish scenario,” according to Tyshkevich, who spoke about the 1939 Finnish-Soviet war when Moscow attempted to reclaim its province during the tsarist era.

Moscow cut off tenth of Finland’s territory and forced Helsinki to accept it despite the heavy losses suffered by Soviet forces that led to Nazi Germany’s invasion of the USSR in 1941.

The “Finnish scenario” will mean that Russia recognizes regions that are occupied by Russia as part of Russia in Ukraine.

In reference to the 2008 conflict between Russia and Georgia, when Moscow defeated smaller Georgian forces and “recognised” two breakaway regions as “independent,” Tyshkevych called another potential scenario “Georgian.”

The Georgian scenario, in Ukraine’s opinion, means that Kyiv is refusing to recognize the occupied areas as Russia’s.

He claimed that a third “interim” scenario would indicate that negotiations are still going on and that the war is frozen.

According to German researcher at Bremen University, Nikolay Mitrokhin believes there is only one possible scenario for the end of the war.

He said that Russia would “push out” of the region’s remaining one-fifth of a-five percent of its population to the southeast, or that it would have to voluntarily leave. He also said that it would acknowledge the loss of 15 percent of Dnipropetrovsk and 90 percent of the neighboring Zaporizhia region.

Donetsk is credited with creating our problems.

The Kremlin has the resources to keep the war from going on for at least another two years, he said, as Western pressure on Russia’s sanctions is “weak” due to the lack of interest from too many countries in bypassing them and trading with Moscow.

Ukraine’s “corrupt and cowardly” government is unable to mobilize enough manpower, he said, but it does have the resources to do so, he said.

Because Western mediators are unable to persuade Russia to stop, he said, leading to a gradual retreat in Ukrainian forces in crucial directions.

However, Mitrokhin told Al Jazeera that there are a possibility that Trump and his administration will force Zelenskyy to leave Donetsk or hold a presidential vote during the war.

Many typical Ukrainians are becoming more and more tired of the conflict, Russian shelling, blackouts, and a slump in the economy at the same time.

When the war broke out, I was just beginning my third year of university English translation studies. My life was completely destroyed by the atrocity, which destroyed my dreams, erased colors, and destroyed my spirit. My life and career’s center of focus and ambition has come to an end. Despite unprecedented destruction, Gaza itself came to a standstill.

My family and I have suffered a lot during this war, just like all families in Gaza. We lost our health and sense of stability after two years of genocide. We were forced to flee ten times, starting with Khan Younis in the south, Rafah, and then Deir el-Balah in the center of Gaza. We left Gaza City after more than a year, only to find ourselves relocating to Khan Younis eight months later. We are now forced to live there because our house was severely damaged, using tarpaulins instead of walls.

Universities reopened in the summer of 2024, but only for online courses. I registered because I wanted to finish what I had already begun, not because I still believed I could work as a teaching assistant.

I used unstable internet to complete my third year, which was supposed to prepare me for a future lecturer.

My senior year officially began in February. We were struck by famine a few months later. Due to the displacement, lack of food, and persistent fear of bombing, my health began to deteriorate. In a sudden, unhealthy weight loss, I lost nearly 15 kg. Due to a lack of food, my body became frail and I was constantly feeling lightheaded. We once had hardly enough food for a baby when we only had one meal in the middle of the day. As the famine worsened, I could see that my collarbones were catching on more prominently.

Additionally, I began to notice my family members losing a lot, especially my mother. I had the feeling that we were about to lose her in some situations. I feared the hunger I would experience going into bed after 8 o’clock.

Despite all the difficulties, I chose to fight back against the war. I kept reminding myself that the “now” is everything and that Gaza is the land of everything.

I made the decision to start my own project one night: I could charge phones or light them if I couldn’t light minds with knowledge. My family and I discussed the idea of starting a small solar panel-powered phone charging project, which they both supported to the fullest. My career as a phone-charging business owner started the day after I wrote “Phone Charging Point” on a piece of paper outside our tent.

To make sure no phones were lost, I made numbered cards that I attached to each phone. How come the voices that rang out, “Shahed, how’s phone number 7,” kept coming in my days? I would make fun of myself outside, but inside, I would feel terribly ache, like I couldn’t possibly imagine how my senior year of college would go.

I had final exams, too many phones, and cloudy weather. Since I didn’t have a large battery for storage, every passing cloud that blocked the sun would shut off the power supply. I cried from exhaustion and helplessness at those times.

I made around $10 per day, enough to purchase internet cards and inexpensive items like a box of juice and a packet of chips. As I sat there, juggling the charging of the phones, I would wonder if that was actually my time as a university teaching assistant.

I had tears streaming down my face as I took my final exams in October while surrounded by uncharted phones.

In Gaza, there are countless young people who refuse to let the war dictate our stories.

The occupation sought to obliterate education because it is our form of resistance. It intended to plunge us into the depths of ignorance, repentance, and dejection.

Yet, Gaza’s youth remain unbeaten. We have battled persistent internet blackouts to continue our education online. We try our best to support both our families and ourselves by starting small businesses, some of which sell food in small street stands, others offer private tutoring, and others.

Many people are submitting scholarships to pursue their education abroad.

All of this demonstrates how passionately Gaza’s youth are about rebuilding their country, not just as it was before, but even better.

I’m now submitting an application for master’s scholarships outside of Gaza. I want to travel abroad, study, and then return the following day to recharge my brains rather than my phones. My younger brother Anas, whose career goal is to be a journalist, will receive my small phone charging project if I’m accepted so that I can tell the truth about Gaza and its people.

He, I, and the rest of our peers in Gaza refuse to give up.

Bangladesh’s acting leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Tarique Rahman, declared that he had “a plan for the people and for the country” while squatting among a sea of people on the outskirts of Dhaka.

It has taken 17 years to develop. The critically ill BNP chairperson and former prime minister Khaleda Zia’s son, who had been living in exile since 2008, made his first appearance in Dhaka on Thursday. At a rally to welcome him home, tens of thousands of supporters gathered.

Rahman remarked, “We want peace.” Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and Christians make up this nation’s population from the hills and plains. Every woman, man, and child can leave home safely and return to Bangladesh in a secure environment.

Following the assassination of renowned youth leader Osman Hadi and the upcoming February 2026 national election, his return comes at a time when Bangladesh’s political uncertainty and tensions are heightened. Rahman is regarded as a front-runner in the polls, while the BNP has long been viewed as the party’s front-runner.

However, the country’s two leading newspapers’ offices were set on fire and a Hindu man was lynched as a result of Hadi’s murder, and growing political tensions had sparked fears that the election might be postponed.

According to analysts, Tarique Rahman’s appearance and his speech are likely to help calm the country’s political climate and help to keep the election in Bangladesh on schedule.

“His arrival has opened a new window of opportunity,” he said. According to Asif Mohammad Shahan, professor of development studies at the University of Dhaka, “I think this will lessen the uncertainty surrounding the election and give the country the sense of stability that it needs.”

Even a few days ago, none of this was guaranteed.

stability to be uncertainty

It had long been anticipated that Rahman, whose father, Ziaur Rahman, served as president from 1977 until his assassination in 1981, would have a significant influence on the BNP’s chances of winning in the upcoming elections. His mother, Khaleda Zia, is currently in critical condition. However, his exiled status had not changed until recently.

Rahman had already resisted making a return. Shahan remarked, “Can Rahman truly lead? ” While his arrival now clears that uncertainty but raises a new question.

The political situation will improve significantly, according to Shahan, if he takes a strong stand against extremism, assures the electorate that he understands their concerns, pledges to bring about normalcy, and establishes a firm hold over the party apparatus, and does so with impunity.

However, Shahan predicted that “things will deteriorate” if Rahman didn’t deliver a clear message.

The public fervour over Rahman’s return, according to Mubashar Hasan, an adjunct researcher at Western Sydney University’s Humanitarian and Development Research Initiative (HADRI), suggested that he might benefit from support from people who are not traditionally BNP voters.

In Bangladesh, many will likely view the party as a stabilizing force following the ouster of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina following extensive student-led protests, Hasan said, adding that “people’s interest and reaction to his return is not limited to the BNP alone. It includes people from all walks of life.” After Hasina fled to India in August 2024, the interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has received increasing criticism for failing to uphold the promise of wider reforms.

According to Hasan, the BNP’s organizational and political strength was also demonstrated by the enormous rally of Rahman’s supporters to greet him.

However, Hasan added that Rahman might benefit from having another factor in place: Many people in Bangladesh believe Khaleda Zia’s son was unfairly treated and forced to leave the country. Rahman was charged under a caretaker government that was supported by the military and existed between 2006 and 2009. In some of those cases, he was later found guilty in absentia.

The son’s return

The political tide had turned against Rahman after the BNP last lost control in 2006, according to &nbsp.

During the Sheikh Hasina government, he faced a number of convictions, ranging from murder to corruption, and the Bangladeshi media was flooded with reports of his alleged misdeeds.

He managed to maintain its unity and maintain a strong hold over his party, though. He had a second chance as a result of the uprising in 2024. Over the past year and a half, all of his cases have been dropped, and his convictions have been overstayed, allowing for his return.

His focus on policy will be his defining characteristic as a politician. He has a plan, according to US-based Bangladeshi geopolitical columnist Shafquat Rabbee, who is well-known as a policy buff within his inner circle and who he frequently stated in his speech in front of millions of supporters.

His approach to India will be a significant part of his plan and will be closely monitored throughout South Asia.

Adult is present in the room.

India has traditionally had a tense relationship with the BNP, which has always been effective whenever the Bangladeshi party is in power, but far too frequently blatantly demonstrating that it preferred Hasina and her Awami League as partners.

The BNP’s decades-long alliance with the nation’s largest Islamist group, Jamaat-e-Islami, weakened ties with India. The Jamaat has historically advocated closer ties with Islamabad and opposed Bangladesh’s independence from Pakistan.

The BNP has maintained a comparatively restrained attitude in recent months despite intense anti-India rhetoric from various political parties in Bangladesh.

It has also attempted to position itself as a centrist party, appearing to be eager to fill the political vacuum left by the Awami League, which has been prohibited from participating in the February elections.

Political observers believe Tarique Rahman is unlikely to be a vehement anti-Indian politician despite adopting the slogan “Bangladesh First.”

According to Rabbee, “India and Tarique back in Bangladesh will ultimately have an adult in the room with serious political muscle to negotiate with.”

A significant number of voters are still unsure as a result of recent political surveys in Bangladesh.

Rahman’s return, according to analysts, should also benefit the BNP.

According to Shahan of the University of Dhaka, “His presence will undoubtedly energise the party base and persuade undecided voters to support the BNP.” If he performs, the BNP may win in a landslide in the election.