This week, as the calendar moves inexorably toward a new year, mankind once again hopes against all reason that January 1st will somehow, magically, cure all of our ills, heal our wounds from the horrors of the past 12 months, and bring peace and joy to a world reeling from the effects of man’s inhumanity to man.

Admittedly, those hopes are illogical — as naive, perhaps, as the New Year’s resolutions we continue to make each year; but they somehow give us the strength to face another year of uncertainty, for none of us can know what lies ahead. And, while I no longer bother with a list of resolutions I know I won’t keep beyond the second week of January, I do still have my hopes for the world in general.

At the top of that list, as it has been for the past two years, is my prayer that the political hostages being held by Vladimir Putin and his allies will at long last be freed from the prisons and penal colonies and returned to the comfort of their homes and their families; and that the constant threat of war under which the world has been living will be eased, allowing reason and true diplomacy to regain a foothold.

And to that end, here they are again . . . the hostages known to me who are still waiting for their prayers to be answered:

*. *. *

Europeans Under Threat:

The people of NATO and EU member states

Prisoners of War:

The 19,500 Kidnapped Ukrainian Children
The People of Ukraine

Immigrant Detainees in Russia:

Migrants from the Central Asian nations of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan

Endangered Exiles:

Mikita Losik
Yulia Navalnaya
Countless Journalists and Other Dissidents

Political Prisoners:

In Azerbaijan:

The “Azerbaijan 7”:
— Farid Mehralizada
— Ulvi Hasanli
— Sevinj Abbasova (Vagifqiai)
— Mahammad Kekalov
— Hafiz Babali
— Nargiz Absalamova
— Elnara Gasimova

In Belarus:

Andrei Chapiuk
Uladzimir Labkovich
Andrzej Poczobut
Marfa Rabkova
Valiantsin Stafanovic
Yuras Zyankovich

In Georgia:

Mzia Amaglobeli

In China:

Chenyue Mao (American)

In Russia:

The “Crimea 8”:
— Oleg Antipov
— Artyom Azatyan
— Georgy Azatyan
— Aleksandr Bylin
— Roman Solomko
— Artur Terchanyan
— Dmitry Tyazhelykh
— Vladimir Zloba

James Scott Rhys Anderson (British)
David Barnes (American)
Gordon Black (American)
Hayden Davies (British)
Antonina Favorskaya
Konstantin Gabov
Robert Gilman (American)
Stephen James Hubbard (American)
Sergey Karelin
Timur Kishukov
Vadim Kobzev
Darya Kozyreva
Artyom Kriger
Michael Travis Leake (American)
Aleksei Liptser
Grigory Melkonyants
Nika Novak
Leonid Pshenychnov (in Russian-occupied Crimea)
Nadezhda Rossinskaya (a.k.a. Nadin Geisler)
Sofiane Sehili (French)
Igor Sergunin
Dmitry Shatresov
Robert Shonov
Grigory Skvortsov
Eugene Spector (American)
Laurent Vinatier
Robert Romanov Woodland (American)

. . . and, of course, the thousands whose names and locations are unknown to me.

*. *. *

With this, my last Sunday tribute of 2025 to the world’s political hostages, I wish each and every one of you strength, hope, and a joyous end to your travails as you return to the embrace of your families and friends. May you all have a truly Happy New Year.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
12/28/25