The good news is: There are no new Russian/Belarusian/Eastern European political arrests in the press this week.

The bad news is: The remaining hostages on our list continue to exist as victims of Putin’s purge of his opponents in prisons in Russia, Belarus and elsewhere, awaiting their Christmas miracle.

But I have pledged to continue honoring them each week until not one remains locked up. And so, once again, here they are . . . at least, those whose names are known to me:

David Barnes
Gordon Black
Marc Fogle
Robert Gilman
Stephen James Hubbard
Ksenia Karelina
Andrey Kuznechyk (in Belarus)
Michael Travis Leake
Ihar Losik (in Belarus)
Daniel Martindale
Farid Mehralizada (in Azerbaijan)
Robert Shonov
Eugene Spector
Laurent Vinatier
Robert Romanov Woodland
Vladislav Yesypenko (in Crimea)

And once again, to the incoming Trump administration, I respectfully urge you to place the release of these hostages at the top of your immediate to-do list in January. Far more vital than the concern over daylight saving time (though I do agree with you on that) are the lives of these innocent men and women. The negotiations by the Biden administration and several of our allies that were so successful in August must be carried on.

No excuses, please.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
12/15/24