Dark, Freezing Ukraine Heading for ‘Catastrophe’, According to Chief Energy Executive, as Relentless Russian Strikes Threaten To Disconnect Nuclear Power Plants From the Grid
January 25, 2026
Hundreds of thousands have been fleeing Kiev’s lack of power and heat.
Kiev urgently needs an ‘energy cease-fire’ to prevent complete collapse of power generation and transmission.
It’s been a gruesome winter in the Northern Hemisphere, from the US east coast, across Europe and all the way to far-East Vladivostok.
In war-torn Ukraine, the severe weather conditions have been worsened by crippling power and heat shortages due to the systematic destruction of power plants and energy transmission stations by Russian drone and missile strikes.
It’s come to a point where the Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs) are the only thing keeping the country from a complete energy collapse.
Needless to say, the Russians can’t strike the NPPs without unleashing a radioactive nightmare – but what they can do, and perhaps have started doing, is to disconnect the power plants from the main electrical grid.
Overnight, Russia carried out a massive attack on our regions, launching over 370 attack drones and 21 missiles of various types. Kyiv and the region, as well as the Sumy, Kharkiv, and Chernihiv regions, were targeted. In Kharkiv, a maternity hospital, a dormitory housing… pic.twitter.com/K0TQNNvu4T
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) January 24, 2026
A very informative article by Simplicius on Substack shows reports that overnight Russian strikes – with hypersonic Zirkon, Iskander, and other missiles – allegedly hit the major 750 kV substation linking the Rivne NPP to Kiev.
Kiev is freezing.
The head of Ukraine’s largest private power producer came to public to warn that Ukraine is nearing a ‘humanitarian catastrophe’, and that any future peace deal ‘must include a halt to attacks on energy infrastructure’.
“Maxim Timchenko, CEO of DTEK, said Russia – which launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine almost four years ago – had been waging an ‘energy terror’ campaign since October 2025, hitting power stations and overwhelming air‑defense systems.
‘We need an energy ceasefire. A ceasefire on the energy assets’, Timchenko said. ‘How can you talk about peace and (keep) attacking people, and knowing that people are freezing? How can these things go in parallel?’”
Check out the reaction to the return of power to a Kiev neighborhood:
Emotions that are hard to describe: The reaction of Kyiv residents to the return of electricity to their homes. pic.twitter.com/77yVle6xjE
The last two weeks brought temperatures between 5ºF to -4ºF, while Russian forces continue to deplete Ukrainian capabilities.
“’We are close to a humanitarian catastrophe’, Timchenko said. ‘People get power for 3-4 hours, then a 10- to 15-hour break. We have apartment blocks without heat for weeks already’.
He said Ukraine was holding on thanks to gas imports, including from the United States, as attacks had forced gas, coal and hydropower plants to run below capacity. DTEK has lost 60–70% of its generating capacity and suffered damage worth hundreds of millions of dollars, he said.”
When the post Maidan Coup Kiev regime first assaulted the Russian speakers of the Donbass, they didn’t think this is where it would lead them.
Unhinged J6 Cop Michael Fanone Declares Trump Supporters The ‘Enemy’ — Insists ‘They Need To Be Destroyed’
January 25, 2026
Former Capitol Police Officer Michael Fanone
The unhinged former Capitol Police officer Michael Fanone has launched a personal crusade against President Trump and the MAGA movement.
In an interview with Lincoln Project co-host Maya Maye, Fanone said he no longer cared about arguing about the gravity of January 6th and was instead focused on destroying his enemies.
He ranted:
You know you talked about, we all saw it with our own eyes.
Look, I’ve said for a long time now since the election we’re at a point in America where I’m done convincing people.
I don’t give a shit if you believe what I say, I don’t care if you have seen my body worn camera footage and have a different opinion. I don’t care.
All I wanna do is defeat my enemies and anyone who sides with this administration is my enemy.
They are the enemy of this democracy. They are the enemy of this country. They are the enemy of people who have compassion and empathy for their neighbors.
They need to be destroyed, dismantled and dismissed from our country.
Watch the clip below:
Michael Fanone: “Anyone who sides with this administration is my enemy… They need to be destroyed, dismantled, and dismissed from our country!”pic.twitter.com/S0KPtqscX1
Michael Fanone got completely demolished in today’s hearing. He lost control of his emotions repeatedly and every outburst made it clear why January 6th spiraled the way it did.
His testimony was supposed to prove a point but it only exposed his inability to handle pressure… pic.twitter.com/NCARtmEIPZ
Schumer Announces Senate Democrats Will Block DHS Funding Bill Over Minneapolis Shooting
January 25, 2026
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer whines to reporters after his bullying of War Secretary Pete Hegseth backfired. Credit: C-SPAN screenshot
In a move that could trigger a partial government shutdown, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer declared that Democrats will not provide the votes needed to advance a key appropriations bill if it includes funding for the Department of Homeland Security.
The announcement comes in the wake of the fatal shooting in Minneapolis involving a U.S. Border Patrol agent.
Schumer’s statement, released on Saturday, asserted, “What’s happening in Minnesota is appalling —and unacceptable in any American city. Democrats sought common sense reforms in the Department of Homeland Security spending bill, but because of Republicans’ refusal to stand up to President Trump, the DHS bill is woefully inadequate to rein in the abuses of ICE.”
“I will vote no. Senate Democrats will not provide the votes to proceed to the appropriations bill if the DHS funding bill is included,” Schumer continued.
What’s happening in Minnesota is appalling—and unacceptable in any American city. Democrats sought common sense reforms in the Department of Homeland Security spending bill, but because of Republicans’ refusal to stand up to President Trump, the DHS bill is woefully inadequate to…
The House on Thursday passed a funding package, along with a separate measure to fund DHS, sending the bills to the Senate for approval, along with two other funding measures that were passed the House last week.
In the Senate, the DHS funding measure was expected to be packaged with the other legislation that funds key federal departments in hopes the Senate passes the measures together before the Jan. 30 deadline to fund the government.
To advance the legislation, Republicans will likely need eight Democrats to vote for the legislation, since Sen. Rand Paul has generally voted against appropriations bills. If the funding package does not pass the Senate, there will be another partial government shutdown.
Earlier in the day, chaos unfolded in Minneapolis after federal agents shot and killed Alex Jeffrey Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA hospital.
Pretti had confronted agents in the midst of an operation with a loaded gun and two magazines.
Exclusive: On the Nineveh Plain, Iraq’s Ancient Christian Communities Survived ISIS
January 25, 2026
Mar Mattai Monastery (the Monastery of Saint Matthew) , Iraqi Kurdistan. Photo by Antonio Graceffo
“So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days’ journey. And Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.” (Jonah 3:3–4)
The drive from the Kurdish capital of Erbil to the Mar Mattai Monastery (the Monastery of Saint Matthew) cuts across the Nineveh Plains, a region in northern Iraq stretching east from the Tigris River near Mosul, across from the ruins of the ancient city of Nineveh, and encompassing roughly 3,600 square kilometers of relatively flat, fertile land. We traveled in an armored SUV, its thick glass and doors weighing nearly 200 pounds each, rolling steadily across open terrain of agricultural fields.
We passed scattered villages composed of low concrete houses with flat roofs, surrounded by walls, water tanks perched on rooftops, and power lines sagging across empty space. Occasionally, we saw shepherds tending their flocks on horseback. The plains are bordered by mountains to the north and east, their presence constant on the horizon.
These long, exposed stretches of land are home to some of the oldest continuous Christian communities in existence. This is the heartland of ancient Assyria, where the prophet Jonah was famously sent to call the city to repentance. Assyrian Christians have made their home here since the first century AD. According to early Church tradition, these communities trace their origins to the apostolic age through the missions of Addai and Mar Mari, disciples of the Apostle Thomas. They are ethnic Assyrians who still speak dialects of Aramaic, the language Jesus spoke, and their liturgical language, the language of their Mass prayers, remains ancient Aramaic.
“Woe to the bloody city! It is all full of lies and robbery; the prey departeth not.” (Nahum 3:1)
Nahum called Nineveh the “bloody city,” a place where violence never ceased. Twenty-six centuries later, on the same ground, ISIS brought that ancient prophecy full circle. Before 2014, the Nineveh Plain hosted the largest remaining concentration of Christians in Iraq, with estimates ranging from 150,000 to 200,000, primarily Assyrian Christians, including Chaldean Catholics, Syriac Orthodox, Syriac Catholics, and members of the Church of the East. These communities were centered in historic towns such as Qaraqosh (Baghdeda), Bartella, Karamlesh, Tel Keppe, and Alqosh.
Mar Mattai Monastery (the Monastery of Saint Matthew) , Iraqi Kurdistan. Photo by Antonio Graceffo
The region contains key religious sites tied to this long Christian presence. The tomb traditionally identified as that of the prophet Jonah, Nebi Yunus, stood in Mosul until ISIS destroyed it in 2014, while the prophet Nahum’s tomb is believed to be in Alqosh. Numerous early Christian saints and martyrs are venerated across the plain, and ancient monasteries served as burial places for generations of monks and church leaders, including Mar Mattai, the oldest Syriac Orthodox monastery in the world, founded in AD 363, and Rabban Hormizd, along with countless historic churches scattered throughout the region.
During the ISIS period from 2014 to 2017, that presence was nearly erased. When ISIS swept through the region in August 2014, virtually the entire Christian population fled overnight, marking one of the largest Christian displacements in modern history. ISIS systematically destroyed or desecrated churches, some dating back to the fourth century, burned libraries of ancient manuscripts, demolished Mar Behnam monastery and other heritage sites, used Christian villages as military positions, and appropriated homes and property. The Christian population fled primarily to Erbil and the Kurdistan Region, where families lived in churches, schools, and displacement camps.
My translator and companions on this trip were Dlo, who works for the frontline aid organization Free Burma Rangers (FBR), and his brother Omar, a high-ranking member of the Kurdish security forces. Both men have extensive experience fighting ISIS, having served alongside American and coalition forces.
Iraqi Kurdistan is a unique outpost in the Middle East. Although located within Iraq, it has its own government, military, and even visa stamps at the airport. Kurds are quick to explain that they are not Arabs, and although they are Muslim, they are highly accepting of Christians, Yazidis, and other minorities.
As Mar Mattai monastery came into view, built into the living rock of the mountains ahead, Dlo recalled those desperate days roughly a decade ago, when he and his brother stood with the Peshmerga and American forces and the Rangers to hold off ISIS fighters pouring out of their capital in Mosul. “ISIS tried to take the monastery, but the Peshmerga stopped them,” he said.
Along the way, Dlo pointed to villages scattered across the plain, naming them one by one. “And this is another village. It’s called Al-Faf. They’re all Christian. And that’s another one. Maghara. It’s called Maghara.” Maghara contained a playground sponsored by Reload Love, an NGO that funds playgrounds for children in war zones. It was installed by Free Burma Rangers during the fighting.
Speaking about the families and children there, Dlo said, “ISIS tried to murder them because this village is very close to the front line.” Omar added that they received intelligence one day that ISIS planned to blow up the monastery. “They wanted to sneak up the mountain and destroy it, the same way they did in Mosul. ISIS blew up all the holy places, all the prophets, everything they could. They wanted to destroy the very ancient history.”
Mar Mattai Monastery (the Monastery of Saint Matthew) , Iraqi Kurdistan. Photo by Antonio Graceffo
Often, during long drives in the desert, Dlo explained that, from a Kurdish perspective, Christians and Muslims are children of Abraham and therefore brothers under God. For this reason, he said, Kurds have historically protected Christians. “This mountain is called Maqloub. It is a place where we, Christians, Yazidis, and Kurdish Muslims, have been living together for many, many years.” He added that ISIS killed more Muslims and Yazidis than Christians. “ISIS was also killing Kurds. They consider that we are not Muslim.” He explained that ISIS regarded Kurds and Yazidis, as well as Alawites and Druze in Syria, as infidels. “They hate us.”
At the time of the ISIS attacks in 2014, Christians formed multiple militias to defend their ancestral homeland. The Nineveh Plain Protection Units (NPU), affiliated with the Assyrian Democratic Movement, became the largest and most legitimate Christian defense force. Dwekh Nawsha (meaning “Self-Sacrificing” in Syriac), affiliated with the Assyrian Patriotic Party, drew international attention by accepting Western volunteers. The Nineveh Plain Forces (NPF), working with Kurdish Peshmerga, participated in the liberation campaigns.
Today, Christian villages, churches throughout Kurdistan, and Christian neighborhoods like Ankawa in Erbil maintain their own Christian police and security forces, primarily through the NPU, which was recently restored as an independent force in October 2025 after community protests against Iranian-backed militia interference.
We turned up a steep, winding road leading to the Mar Mattai Monastery, where we met Father Joseph. He explained that the Syriac Orthodox Church is not in communion with Rome. Its patriarch, His Holiness Mor Ignatius Aphrem II, is based at the Cathedral of Saint George in Bab Tuma, Damascus, Syria, and holds the full title Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, Supreme Head of the Syriac Orthodox Church. According to Syriac Orthodox tradition, he is the 122nd successor to Saint Peter, who is believed to have served as the first Bishop of Antioch before going to Rome. This tradition and ecclesial structure are distinct from the Assyrian Church of the East and other Eastern Christian and Catholic rites in the region.
Father Joseph. Photo by Antonio Graceffo
Father Joseph gave a brief history of the monastery, tracing its origins to the early spread of Christianity in the first centuries after Christ. As the ancient world was divided between the Roman and Persian empires, persecution periodically forced Christians to flee Roman-controlled territory. After Christianity was legalized under Emperor Constantine, his pagan successor renewed harsh persecution, driving many believers eastward into safer regions beyond Roman control.
According to Syriac Orthodox tradition, Saint Matthew, known as Mar Mattai, fled with 25 fellow monks along the Tigris River and eventually took refuge on this mountain in the fourth century. They initially lived in caves before establishing the monastery, founded in AD 363. “They were living in the caves first,” Father Joseph said, “until miracles led them to build this monastery here.”
He noted that the monastery’s miraculous survival through centuries of war and persecution continued into modern times, when it was spared destruction by ISIS while many other churches and religious sites across the region were destroyed.
Father Joseph described how the collapse of Mosul unfolded rapidly in early June 2014. ISIS began its assault on the city on June 4, advancing from the northwest. Within days, fighters entered western Mosul, activated sleeper cells, and seized key government facilities. By June 9, heavy fighting had overtaken the city, and ISIS had effectively taken control.
“ISIS entered Mosul city and they seized everything there,” Father Joseph said. Two weeks later, ISIS issued an ultimatum to Christians and other minorities to convert to Islam, pay the jizya tax, or leave. Nearly the entire Christian population fled. Mar Mattai received about 70 displaced families, who stayed at the monastery for roughly two months.
By August, ISIS expanded its offensive into the Nineveh Plain. Father Joseph recalled that the situation deteriorated quickly as security forces collapsed. The Peshmerga withdrew to the Gwer Bridge, a strategic crossing linking Erbil, Mosul, and Kirkuk. With villages left undefended, church leaders advised civilians to flee to the Kurdistan Region, which was considered safer. Entire towns emptied almost overnight.
The monastery itself was nearly overrun. Father Joseph said ISIS vehicles reached the road near the village below Mar Mattai and remained there for about 20 minutes before retreating toward Bashiqa. “We were expecting that they were going to seize the monastery also,” he said.
Within hours, Peshmerga forces regrouped and moved back into position, forming a defensive line between ISIS-held territory and the Kurdistan Region. For more than two years, ISIS repeatedly attempted to breach those defenses, often attacking during fog, sandstorms, or heavy rain. “Sometimes it was a real battle,” Father Joseph said. Coalition airstrikes were frequently called in, and explosions shook the monastery “just like an earthquake.”
Throughout the conflict, monks remained at Mar Mattai alongside displaced Christians, while the bishop and clergy moved among refugee communities in Erbil, Dohuk, and other areas. Father Joseph said the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), particularly the Barzani family (the president’s family), opened its doors to those fleeing ISIS. “They opened their hearts before the gates,” he said, though he noted their resources were limited due to an embargo imposed by Baghdad.
With support from the KRG and international aid organizations, the Church coordinated shelter, food, and basic needs for displaced families. Despite the conditions, Father Joseph said the goal was to ensure that refugees lived in safety and dignity during their displacement.
hristian militia of the Assyrian Democratic Movement (ADM) who were protecting Alqosh. The militia later became part of the Nineveh Plain Protection Units (NPU), founded in 2014. Photo courtesy of Athra Kado.
ISIS was finally defeated in 2017. Father Joseph explained that throughout the conflict, Mar Mattai remained dangerously close to the front lines, often less than three kilometers from ISIS positions. “During all the period of ISIS, we were here in the nearest point to the battle,” he said. “After the liberation operation began, most of our places were completely destroyed.”
In the aftermath, the Church assumed responsibility for helping communities rebuild. Working with partner organizations, church leaders focused on restoring basic services and housing in Christian towns and villages. Entire villages had been destroyed, but reconstruction efforts made it possible for families to return. Father Joseph said the rebuilding of homes and essential infrastructure encouraged displaced Christians to come back to their ancestral communities.
He concluded by placing ISIS within the longer and turbulent history of Christianity in Iraq. “At that time, when you were hearing the explosions and all this, you knew that it’s not new for us,” he said. “The age of the monastery is more than 1,600 years. We have seen many wars. And by the blessing of Jesus Christ, through all these circumstances, the monastery survived. For that, it represents a very great value for all the believers here.”
He explained that despite repeated violence, displacement, and persecution, the Christian presence has endured across centuries.
“We are living here in the country,” he said. “And that’s what keeps us, keeps our faith, that this is just a period and it’s going to end.”
While many Christians fled to Erbil or left Iraq altogether, he said others chose to return to their villages and continue the communities their ancestors began more than a thousand years ago.
“The Church exists much longer than any problem,” Father Joseph said. “And that’s the promise of our Lord. We say that the gates of hell cannot stand against the Church.”
Father Joseph, Omar, and Antonio Graceffo. Photo courtesy of Antonio Graceffo
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker Says Trump Makes People ‘Want to Commit Violence Against Federal Government’ (VIDEO)
January 25, 2026
Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker during an appearance on CNN.
Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker has said President Donald Trump is making people want to commit acts of violence against the federal government.
Appearing on CNN on Saturday evening, Pritzker threw his support behind the far-left protesters in Minnesota who are trying to block the deportation efforts being carried out by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers.
“We are living in a dangerous moment, and it’s time for the President to pull ICE out of Minneapolis, to regroup and rethink how we do immigration in the United States,” Pritzker argued.
“He’s done a terrible job of immigration enforcement, and, indeed, is fomenting violence and causing people to want to commit violence against the federal government, because of the loss of trust,” he continued.
“People haven’t done that; they’ve been peacefully protesting, but, boy, we’re on the edge of sparking something in this powder keg.”
Watch the video below:
His comments came after the death of 37-year-old Alex Jeffrey Pretti, who was killed after trying to wrestle ICE agents while armed with a loaded firearm.
Just like Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, Pritzker has been at the forefront of resisting the Trump administration’s mass deportation efforts and trying to block federal agents from operating in the state.
Pritzker, who has long been touted as a possible presidential candidate, pledged to prosecute ICE agents if and when the Democratic Party takes back power.
”We have succeeded in many ways, but we can’t stop it until we win the Congress back; that’s the beginning of stopping it,” he said last month.
“At least doing hearings and making sure we are bringing to light all the things they are doing.”
”We have an Illinois accountability commission that just had its first hearing today and that hearing was testimony, video, experts and we’re basically gathering evidence because we are going to hold these people accountable when we can,” he continued.
Fatcat JB Pritzker says that if Democrats win the majority they will “hold [ICE] accountable” and brags about his “Illinois accountability commission” to gather “evidence” to prosecute ICE agents. pic.twitter.com/mpBcdvdkPM
According to data recently released by the Department of Homeland Security, Pritzker has deliberately released some 1,700 convicted criminal illegal aliens, including murderers, kidnappers, and child predators, as part of his resistance efforts.
However, that figure has almost certainly risen since then as Democrats double down on protecting America’s illegal alien population, particularly those convicted of violent crimes such as murder and rape.
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