This is how Putin demonstrated his desire to end the war in Ukraine last night:

***

Instead of peace and progress, he has begun 2026 with still more death and destruction.

But did anyone seriously expect anything different?

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
12/31/25

THANK GOD THAT’S OVER!

And now . . . onward and (hopefully) upward. Happy New Year, one and all!

WE’RE READY!

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
12/31/25

My blog site asks a daily question on a wide variety of subjects, which can be answered and shared on the site or simply used to encourage individual introspection (my personal choice). And as the clock struck midnight today, a new question was revealed: “What makes you feel nostalgic?”

This being New Year’s Eve day, that query could not have been more timely. As the world prepares to sing about Auld Lang Syne (“times long past”) in a few hours, my thoughts turn back to a lifetime of New Year’s Eves . . . some great, some not so great, and a few utterly disastrous.

As a child in the late 1940s and early ‘50s, of course, it was all about being allowed to stay up until midnight. There were always a lot of adults around — mostly family, and often a few of their friends — and while they chatted among themselves, we kids dug into the food and tried to sneak sips of their cocktails when no one was looking. Then as the clock struck twelve, we all cheered and set off our noisemakers, everyone kissed everyone else, and we were hustled off to bed. It was great fun.

Of course, that’s only satisfying for a few years. Times change, and children grow up. From around the age of 16, if you didn’t have a date for the New Year, you were a loser. So you did the only thing you could do: you lied to your friends, telling them you had a big family party to attend, or the 24-hour flu, or a great-grandparent had died. Anything to save face.

But in retrospect, those dateless years were actually not as bad as some of the disastrous actual dates I recall. Let’s see now . . .

There was the year when my date was someone new, and it turned out we weren’t really compatible. We had gone to a big party, and I hate big parties, so I wasn’t having a great time. At midnight, I looked around and he was across the room, planting one on someone else’s girlfriend. I later thought about trying to get my money back for the dress I had bought for the occasion, but my asshole date had gotten drunk and spilled a drink on it. I drove myself home as he snoozed in the passenger seat of his car; I assumed he made it home somehow, because the car was gone in the morning and I didn’t hear any reports of fatalities.

Another year, another big party, but this time with a steady boyfriend (that’s what they were called back then). I don’t remember what triggered it, but there was an argument followed by a breakup. I was home by 12:30, beginning the year with a good cry.

And then there was the year I finally had a date for New Year’s Eve with my latest crush (yes, that’s a real word). I had the new dress, the coordinating accessories, the hairdo and makeup . . . the complete package. The snow started in the late morning. It snowed, and snowed, piling up faster than the plows could handle it in total white-out blizzard conditions. Everything was cancelled, and my would-have-been date and I spent the hours leading up to midnight talking on the phone. And I have to tell you . . . blowing kisses over the phone is no substitute for the real thing.

But eventually those dating years were (mercifully) behind me, and I was married with two children. New Year’s Eve became a time for quiet celebrations with a few friends at someone’s home, good food and drink, lively conversation, and a designated driver for each car because we all had families to consider.

Even after the kids were grown, those quiet evenings continued to be my favorite way to celebrate, not only on New Year’s Eve, but on any occasion. No crowds of strangers, no obnoxious drunks, no ear-splitting noise . . . and no need to pretend to be having fun, because those get-togethers with good friends really are the most fun.

Maybe it’s all part of getting older and tuckered out . . . or maybe just smarter. But I don’t miss the big parties, the spilled drinks on expensive new dresses, the breakups, or the hangovers. So tonight I’ll toast the New Year with some well-chilled bubbly as I watch the Times Square ball drop on TV, snuggled into my favorite chair in my robe and slippers.

And as for that New Year’s kiss . . . well, there’s always this guy:

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
12/31/25

It’s nearly time to consign 2025 to the dustbin of history. And for the occasion, from the pen of Austrian poet and novelist Rene Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke — better and more simply known as Rainer Maria Rilke — I offer you these words of hope and inspiration for the coming year:

“And now let us believe in a long year that is given to us, new, untouched, full of things that have never been, full of work that has never been done, full of tasks, claims, and demands; and let us see that we learn to take it without letting fall too much of what it has to bestow upon those who demand of it necessary, serious, and great things.”

So let’s celebrate the passing of the old, and cheer the beginning of what awaits us . . . with renewed hope, determination, courage, and the spirit of kindness and brotherhood in our hearts.

Happy New Year, everyone!

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
12/31/25

This one is unusual, in that it comes from the day’s headlines rather than the archives of history or literature. In fact, it is doubly unusual, because it is part of an article published yesterday by Russian news outlet Komsomolskaya Pravda — described by the EU as Vladimir Putin’s favorite newspaper, and obviously not one of my normal sources of inspiration.

In general, Russian media have been hailing Donald Trump’s stance on the “special military operation” in Ukraine as being decidedly pro-Russian. And this is a prime example, as reported today:

“America no longer sees our country as a threat. The threat is now a militaristic Europe. The US leader’s philosophy is closer to the values of Russia’s president, not the politicians of the Old World . . . he understands that a clash between two nuclear powers means the Apocalypse. He sees Europe as a liberal stronghold that must be destroyed to Make America Great Again.” [Charlie Bradley, Express.co.uk, December 29, 2025.]

*. *. *

Winston Churchill once famously described the Soviet Union as “a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.”

To me, the language from Komsomolskaya Pravda sounds more like a smirk wrapped in a “hallelujah” inside an existential threat.

Is it any wonder we’re feeling as though the world has turned upside-down?

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
12/30/25

This one needs no commentary from me. You know who you are.

“For last year’s words belong to last year’s language
And next year’s words await another voice.
And to make an end is to make a beginning.”
– T. S. Eliot, “Little Gidding”

Looking forward to a new beginning.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
12/30/25

During the countdown to the New Year, I’m trying to focus on three things: avoiding the news, working on my January 1st retrospective of 2025, and starting the book I received from good friends for the holidays.

And maybe cutting back on the chocolate. (But not the Haagen-Dazs . . . never, ever the Haagen-Dazs!)

So, other than my daily quote from someone else’s wisdom — coming at you a little later today — this is it for now.

Enjoy the day.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
12/30/25

But why would anyone have expected anything else, when Donald Trump’s meeting at Mar-a-Lago with Volodymyr Zelensky was — yet again — preceded by an hour-long phone call to Vladimir Putin?

Everyone knows that Trump’s thought processes are always influenced by the last person he talked to. So he went into the meeting — bolstered by his army of attack dogs, including Marco Rubio, Pete Hegseth, and Stephen Miller — with Putin’s words ringing in his ears.

Not surprisingly, although both sides emerged from the three-hour session spouting the usual banal assurances that progress had been made, and that — in Trump’s words — “ . . . we’re getting a lot closer, maybe very close,” they were still a long way from a resolution to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Confusingly, Trump also said:

“I think we’re in the very final stages of talking, and we’re going to see. It’ll either end or it’s going to go on for a long time, and millions of additional people are going to be killed.” [Kevin Liptak, CNN, December 28, 2025.]

As clear as mud . . . as usual. But I suppose he was hoping to sound reassuring when he added:

“There are one or two very thorny issues, very tough issues, but I think we’re doing very well. We’ve made a lot of progress today, but really we’ve made it over the last month. This is not a one-day process deal, this [is] very complicated stuff. It’s possible it doesn’t happen. In a few weeks, we’ll know one way or another.” [Id.]

Zelensky, on the other hand, remained concerned about future security guarantees, saying:

“Without security guarantees, this war cannot be considered truly over. We cannot acknowledge that it has ended, because with such a neighbour there remains a risk of renewed aggression.” [Bernd Debusmann, Jr. and Harry Sekulich, BBC, December 29, 2025.]

And, as if to prove Zelensky’s point — while Christmas bombardments continued unabated in Kyiv and elsewhere in Ukraine — Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov claimed today that Ukraine had targeted one of Putin’s several residences, and that Moscow would be retaliating and further reviewing its stance in the negotiations.

While Zelensky called Lavrov’s statement a lie, saying that it was a tactic to undermine the peace talks and provide an excuse to continue its strikes on Ukrainian territory, Donald Trump once again chose to believe his friend Putin. He said that he had learned about the alleged attack from Putin himself, that it had made him “very angry” at this “very delicate time.” He pointed out his earlier refusal to provide Ukraine with long-distance Tomahawk missiles, saying:

“It’s one thing to be offensive, because they’re offensive. It’s another thing to attack his house. It’s not the right time to do any of that.” [RFE/RL, December 29, 2025.]

I wonder how the thousands of Ukrainians who have lost their homes to Russia’s missiles and drones over the past four years would feel about that.

In the meantime, as Ukraine, Europe and the U.S. scramble to schedule further talks on a wide variety of outstanding issues, Putin maintains his rock-solid refusal to compromise . . . and continues to pursue his unchecked killing spree.

And we enter another year with peace looking less and less likely in the foreseeable future.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
12/29/25

My Bubbe (grandmother) had a lot of colorful old-world sayings. One of my favorites was her standby when anyone spoke hopefully or optimistically about some future event: “From your mouth to God’s ears.” Once she had added her blessing, I was absolutely certain that everything would turn out well.

Their paths never crossed — they were from different lands, and he died when she was just a baby — but had my Bubbe met Alfred Lord Tennyson, I’m sure she would have had the perfect response to his New Year’s wish:

“Hope
Smiles from the threshold of the year to come,
Whispering ‘it will be happier’ . . .”

– Tennyson, “The Foresters”

I can almost hear my Bubbe now, in her warm, fragrant kitchen, whispering, “From his mouth to God’s ears.” And, while I no longer retain that childish certainty, I still hold out hope that everything will indeed work out for the best. Because she said so.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
12/29/25

I’m talking about the Russian oligarchs (not the Washington Billionaires’ Club) — the ones who made their first millions from the economic chaos that followed the breakup of the Soviet Union 34 years ago this week, thereby gaining tremendous political influence under newly-anointed President Boris Yeltsin.

Among the biggest of the big shots in those early days of Russian-style capitalism were Boris Berezovsky, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Mikhail Fridman, Vladimir Gusinsky, Vladimir Potanin and Roman Abramovich. Among them, they gained control of the most profitable major industries, including oil and gas, metals, banking, and the media. Wisely, they tied themselves to Yeltsin’s apron strings, for his financial benefit as well as their own.

Then along came Vladimir Putin. Having worked his way up from his years in the KGB, to a position as aide to reformist St. Petersburg Mayor Anatoly Sobchak, and then through the ranks of the Yeltsin hierarchy, he was perfectly situated as Prime Minister to step in when Yeltsin resigned the presidency on December 31, 1999. Serving as interim president until an election could be held the following March, his victory was practically assured — as it has been in every election since.

But despite his years with Sobchak, Putin was no reformer, as we now know all too well. And life for the oligarchs began to change when Putin informed them in no uncertain terms that they would be allowed to keep their fortunes and conduct their businesses . . . as long as they understood that he, and only he, was in charge of the government.

And some have continued to thrive by staying on Putin’s good side. For example:

> Mikhail Fridman, 61, was a co-founder of Alfa Bank, and remains a member of numerous Russian organizations, including the National Council of Corporate Governance in Russia and the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs. As of 2024, Bloomberg listed his net worth at approximately $13.1 billion.

> Vladimir Potanin, 64, is founder and president of Interros, which holds stakes in MMC Norilsk Nickel, Rosbank, Yandex, and others. He is said to be Russia’s fifth-richest businessman; Forbes estimates his net worth at $24.2 billion.

> Roman Abramovich, 59, is one of the most widely known of this little group today. He once owned London’s Chelsea Football Club, though he was forced to sell it in 2022 due to sanctions imposed after Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. He is said to have a good relationship with Putin, though he denies it, and has even been labeled by U.S. intelligence sources as Putin’s financial middleman. In 2023, Forbes estimated his net worth at $9.2 billion.

Others haven’t been quite so lucky.

> Mikhail Khodorkovsky, 62, once thought to be the wealthiest man in Russia, ran afoul of Putin in 2001 when he founded Open Russia, a reform-minded organization aimed at strengthening civil society in Russia. In 2003, his assets were frozen and he was imprisoned. After serving ten years, he was pardoned in 2013 and immediately left Russia, obtaining residency in Switzerland. He later moved to London, and continues to work, both independently and in conjunction with other exiles, in opposition to the Putin regime. Though he is no longer the multi-billionaire he had been in Russia — thought to have been worth around $15 billion from his energy and other holdings — he is still worth an estimated $170 million or more. But he knows that, at least as long as Vladimir Putin sits in the Kremlin, he can never go home again.

> Vladimir Gusinsky,73, is also living in exile due to legal problems in Russia. His original multi-billion-dollar fortune was largely derived from his media holdings, including Media-Most (which includes the NTV channel), the Sevodnya newspaper, and a number of magazines. He now enjoys both Israeli and Spanish citizenship, and has considerable investments in both countries. While his net worth is unknown, he did sell his remaining media assets in Russia for $300 million before fleeing in 2000, and it can be assumed that he has built on that in the past 25 years. Still, like Khodorkovsky, he has been forced to leave behind his homeland and the political and professional status he once enjoyed.

> Boris Berezovsky is unquestionably the saddest case of all. One of the original oligarchs, he had been a government official, an engineer and mathematician, and a member of the illustrious Russian Academy of Sciences. In 1997, he was estimated to have accrued holdings of $3 billion, primarily from Russia’s main TV channel, Channel One. But his foray into politics was his downfall. After initially backing Putin’s election, and himself being elected to the State Duma, Berezovsky opposed Putin’s increasingly autocratic rule, resigned from the Duma, and joined the vocal opposition. Under threat of investigation, he fled Russia for the UK in 2000, where he was granted political asylum. But he was dogged by personal problems and financial losses, and was found, at the age of 67 on March 23, 2013, hanged in the bathroom of his Berkshire home. Nearly bankrupt, he had reportedly become depressed and isolated. But his death was classified by police as “unexplained” due to questionable findings by investigators and a pathologist. The final inquest resulted in an “open verdict,” with a statement by the coroner saying: “I am not saying Mr Berezovsky took his own life, I am not saying Mr Berezovsky was unlawfully killed. What I am saying is that the burden of proof sets such a high standard it is impossible for me to say.” [en.wikipedia.org.]

*. *. *

Today, it is estimated that there may be as many as 100 oligarchs in Russia, many of them billionaires. Despite sanctions since the start of the war in Ukraine, they continue to live their sumptuous lives . . . as long as they pledge fealty to Vladimir Putin. What they lack — what the first oligarchs enjoyed to the fullest — is political power. But they no longer seem to care.

Which sounds very much like billionaires around the world.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
12/29/25