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Ukraine forcefully rejected a Russian assertion that one of Vladimir Putin’s official residences was targeted overnight, accusing Moscow of manufacturing a narrative to excuse further military action against Ukraine’s capital.

Responding to comments attributed to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the allegation was invented in the wake of his Sunday meeting with President Trump at Mar-a-Lago and warned that it was meant to derail diplomatic momentum.

“Russia is at it again, using dangerous statements to undermine all achievements of our shared diplomatic efforts with President Trump’s team. We keep working together to bring peace closer,” Zelensky wrote on X.

He went on to dismiss the Russian version of events in blunt terms: “This alleged ‘residence strike’ story is a complete fabrication intended to justify additional attacks against Ukraine, including Kyiv, as well as Russia’s own refusal to take necessary steps to end the war. Typical Russian lies.”

According to Moscow, Ukrainian forces launched 91 long-range drones toward a state residence linked to Putin in the Novgorod region during the night, and Russian air defenses intercepted all of them. Russian officials said the incident would prompt a reassessment of their position in negotiations aimed at ending the war, now nearing its fourth year.

Zelensky countered that Ukraine’s conduct has been consistent with diplomatic norms and that the pattern of escalation comes from the Kremlin. “Ukraine does not take steps that can undermine diplomacy. To the contrary, Russia always takes such steps. This is one of many differences between us,” Zelensky insisted.

He also appealed for international attention to the situation, warning that silence would only encourage further destabilization. “It is critical that the world doesn’t stay silent now. We cannot allow Russia to undermine the work on achieving a lasting peace.”

Russian authorities did not say whether Putin was present at the Novgorod residence at the time of the alleged drone incident. There were also no immediate reports of injuries or structural damage connected to the claim.

The Novgorod region lies in northwestern Russia, positioned roughly midway between Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Details about how many official residences Putin uses are tightly restricted. More than a decade ago, Kremlin critics released a report asserting that Putin personally controlled around 20 palaces and villas, nearly half constructed after he came to power in 2000.

One of the authors of that report, former Deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov, was shot dead near the Kremlin in February 2015. Five men from Chechnya were later convicted in a murder-for-hire case, but Russian authorities have never publicly identified who ordered the killing or where that individual might be.

{Matzav.com}

Additional footage from rescue operations carried out today across Israel shows emergency teams rescuing drivers trapped in floodwaters.

Iranian social media accounts are now claiming that those highlighted in red in the ongoing protests across Iran are “Mossad agents.”

CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten breaks down public opinion on President Trump and the Russia-Ukraine war.

When the MetroCard replaced the New York City subway token in 1994, the swipeable plastic card infused much-needed modernity into one of the world’s oldest and largest transit systems. Now, more than three decades later, the gold-hued fare card and its notoriously finicky magnetic strip are following the token into retirement. The last day to buy or refill a […]

New York City officials on Monday announced plans for NYC Health + Hospitals to move forward with a partnership that would bring Maimonides Health into the city’s public health care system, a move they say is aimed at stabilizing one of Brooklyn’s largest hospital networks and expanding access to care. As previously reported by YWN, Hatzolah […]

[Video below.] Minnesota officials are facing intensified scrutiny after a viral investigation video reignited allegations of widespread fraud tied to state-funded programs, prompting renewed public pressure and an expanded federal response.

Federal investigators estimate that as much as half of the $18 billion sent to Minnesota since 2018 may have been siphoned off through fraudulent operations, potentially totaling up to $9 billion. By Saturday evening, authorities had charged 86 individuals in connection with the schemes, securing 59 convictions so far. Most of those accused come from Minnesota’s Somali community.

The controversy gained momentum following the release of a 43-minute video published Friday by conservative YouTuber Nick Shirley. In the footage, Shirley and a Minnesota resident named David travel throughout Minneapolis, visiting several child care and learning centers that they allege are linked to Somali aid fraud. According to the video, some of the locations were closed despite signage suggesting they were operating, while others were staffed by individuals who declined to appear on camera.

One building featured in the video displayed a sign reading “Quality Learing Center,” with the word “learning” misspelled. The facility was purportedly responsible for serving at least 99 children and allegedly received about $4 million in state funding, according to Shirley’s reporting.

As the video circulated widely online, Governor Tim Walz moved to push back against the accusations through a spokesperson, responding directly to the claims raised in Shirley’s investigation.

“The governor has worked for years to crack down on fraud and ask the state legislature for more authority to take aggressive action. He has strengthened oversight — including launching investigations into these specific facilities, one of which was already closed,” the spokesperson told Fox News.

The spokesperson further outlined actions taken by the administration, saying Walz has “hired an outside firm to audit payments to high-risk programs, shut down the Housing Stabilization Services program entirely, announced a new statewide program integrity director, and supported criminal prosecutions.”

Shirley amplified his findings during an appearance Sunday night on Fox News’ “The Big Weekend Show,” where he mocked what he described as obvious wrongdoing uncovered during his investigation.

He joked that the alleged scheme was “so obvious” that a “kindergartner could figure out there is fraud going on.”

“Fraud is fraud, and we work too hard simply just to be paying taxes and enabling fraud to be happening,” Shirley said.

“There better be change. People are demanding it. The investigation have been launched just from that video alone. So there better be change, like I said, we work way too hard to be paying taxes and not knowing where our money’s going,” he added.

Calls for accountability have also come from government officials. FBI Director Kash Patel announced that the bureau had deployed additional personnel to Minnesota to investigate the distribution of funds, describing the move as an early step in a broader effort to “dismantle large-scale fraud schemes exploiting federal programs.”

Shirley’s video continued to gain traction over the weekend, surpassing 100 million views by Sunday night, further intensifying national attention on Minnesota’s aid programs and the political fallout surrounding them.

WATCH:

{Matzav.com}

Dear Matzav Inbox,

I am writing out of deep frustration, sadness, and genuine concern, asking—no, begging—for someone to finally explain the decision by frum publications to erase women from their pages.

Not blur. Not minimize. Erase.

This policy has become so normalized that many no longer stop to question it, but it is nothing short of absurd. Half of Klal Yisroel has been rendered invisible, and we are expected to accept this as if it were a natural extension of Torah values, rather than a social choice that quietly metastasized into dogma.

Let’s be clear: This is not mandated by halacha. There is no source that requires the total removal of women’s faces from newspapers, magazines, or public discourse. This is not tznius as defined by Chazal or poskim. It is a chumrah that somehow hardened into policy, enforced by editors afraid of backlash and advertisers afraid of phone calls.

And the price is being paid by our daughters.

We raise girls to be thoughtful, capable, idealistic, and committed to Torah life—and then we show them a world in which women do not exist. No role models. No achievers. No leaders. No images of women who contribute, build, create, teach, save lives, run chesed organizations, educate generations, or carry communities on their shoulders.

We tell girls they matter, but the pages they read say otherwise.

We tell them they are essential to Klal Yisroel, but the media that shapes their worldview treats them like a liability that must be cropped out. What message do we think that sends? That their presence is a problem? That visibility itself is shameful? That the safest version of a frum woman is one who cannot be seen?

This is not chinuch. It is abdication of responsibility.

Ironically, the same publications that claim to be protecting tznius are creating a vacuum—one where young girls must look elsewhere to find anyone to admire. If they cannot see women within their own value system, they will inevitably seek representation outside of it. We should not be shocked when they do.

And let’s address the unspoken truth: This policy does not elevate men either. It infantilizes the public, implying that a respectful photograph of a woman—fully modest, dignified, appropriate—is somehow beyond the capacity of frum readers to process without moral collapse. That assumption is not flattering to anyone.

A Torah society is not one that pretends women don’t exist. It is one that knows how to see women properly.

Policies born of fear rarely age well.

I am not asking for sensationalism. I am not asking for modernity for its own sake. I am asking for honesty, balance, and courage. I am asking editors to take responsibility for the culture they are shaping and the children who are absorbing it.

Explain the decision. Defend it openly, if you can. And if you cannot, have the integrity to reconsider it.

Our daughters deserve to be seen. Our community deserves better than silence dressed up as piety.

Sincerely,
A deeply concerned reader

To submit a letter to appear on Matzav.com, email MatzavInbox@gmail.com

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Ukraine’s leadership is pressing for long-term international security assurances as part of ongoing efforts to end Russia’s invasion, with President Volodymyr Zelensky revealing that Washington is currently proposing a 15-year guarantee under the latest draft framework.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Zelensky said the proposal was discussed during a meeting the previous day with President Trump at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida. The Ukrainian leader explained that he urged Trump to consider a far longer commitment, potentially stretching decades into the future.

“I raised this issue with the president. I told him that our war is still going on, and it has been almost 15 years,” Zelensky said.

“Therefore, we would really like the guarantees to be longer. I told him that we would very much like to consider the possibility of 30, 40, 50 years. And that would then be a historic decision by President Trump.”

According to Zelensky, Trump did not dismiss the idea outright and responded that he would “think about” the request.

Details of the proposed guarantees have not been publicly released, but Zelensky said they would involve oversight mechanisms to detect cease-fire violations and some form of involvement by the United States and European countries. He stressed that a tangible international role would be central to any credible arrangement.

“I believe that the presence of international troops is a real security guarantee, it is a strengthening of the security guarantees that our partners are already offering us,” the Ukrainian leader said Monday.

A report published last week by The Post said a separate 20-point outline under discussion includes provisions for a coordinated military response by the US, NATO, and other European nations if Russia resumes its offensive.

Moscow has repeatedly rejected the idea of NATO forces operating inside Ukraine. Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, told the Tass news agency on Sunday that any such deployment would be viewed as “a legitimate target.”

Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Trump were expected to hold a conversation in the near future. He added there was no indication that Putin planned to speak with Zelensky anytime soon.

European leaders are also weighing their roles. French President Emmanuel Macron said Ukraine’s allies would gather in Paris in early January to “finalize each country’s concrete contributions” to the proposed security framework. It remained unclear whether the United States would send a representative to that meeting.

Zelensky underscored that robust guarantees are essential for Ukraine to lift martial law, which has been in force since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. Under Ukraine’s constitution, elections cannot be held while martial law remains in effect, forcing the postponement of presidential and parliamentary votes originally scheduled for 2024.

“Without security guarantees, this war has not really ended,” he said Monday. “We cannot recognize that it has ended.”

Following Sunday’s discussions, Trump said he would consider traveling to Ukraine to persuade lawmakers to support a proposal that would turn the eastern Donbas region into an internationally supervised, demilitarized free economic zone.

“I think the land — you’re talking about — some of that land has been taken [by Russia],” said the US president, adding: “Some of that land is maybe up for grabs, but it may be taken over the next period of a number of months — and you’re better off making a deal now.”

Russian forces currently control most of the Luhansk region and roughly 70 percent of Donetsk, the two territories that make up the Donbas.

Under Ukraine’s post-Soviet constitution, any change to the country’s borders must be approved through a nationwide referendum. Such a vote cannot take place until a cease-fire has been in effect for at least 60 days — a condition the Kremlin has given no indication it is prepared to accept.

{Matzav.com}

Robots have long been seen as a bad bet for Silicon Valley investors — too complicated, capital-intensive and “boring, honestly,” says venture capitalist Modar Alaoui. But the commercial boom in artificial intelligence has lit a spark under long-simmering visions to build humanoid robots that can move their mechanical bodies like humans and do things that […]

Police are asking the public to help identify a robbery suspect accused of forcibly taking “play money” from a 10-year-old in Borough Park.

Ahmed al-Ahmed, the man credited with disarming one of the terrorists during the Bondi Beach terrorist attack, has given an interview to CBS News, recounting the moments he confronted the terrorist and helped stop the attack.

A rock-hewn mikveh from the time of the Second Beis Hamikdash was uncovered during excavations beneath the Kosel Plaza in Yerushalayim. The mikveh was found beneath a destruction layer dating back around 2,000 years, providing new insight into the events surrounding the Churban of Yerushalayim at that time.

China’s Foreign Ministry responded to Israel’s recognition of Somaliland by stating: “China firmly supports Somalia’s sovereignty, reunification, and territorial integrity.”

Entering Shechem to daven at Kever Yosef will now be permitted during daylight hours, following an agreement involving Defense Minister Israel Katz, MK Zvi Sukkot, and the head of the Settlement Division. Until now, visits to the site were allowed only at night. This marks the first time in about 25 years that daytime entry […]

The Iranian rial slid to 1.43–1.45 million per U.S. dollar, plunging about 7% amid new U.S. sanctions, surging inflation, and limited foreign inflows. Video from Tehran’s bazaars shows shopkeepers shutting their stores in protest, chanting “Don’t be afraid, we are all together” and “Shut it down.”

Israeli Supreme Court President Yitzchok Amit on Sunday issued a temporary order delaying the election for Tel Aviv’s chief rabbi by approximately one month, following petitions filed by members of the Tel Aviv City Council.

The ruling postpones the vote that had been scheduled for next week, Tuesday, January 6, 2026 (17 Teves 5786), as determined by the city’s rabbinical election committee. The committee is chaired by retired dayan Rav Yaakov Zamir, a former member of Israel’s Supreme Rabbinical Court.

The petitions argued that the Ministry of Religious Services appointed representatives of the minister to the electoral body without consulting the city council, in alleged violation of legal requirements. According to the petitioners, this deprived elected council members of their lawful influence over the composition of the electoral forum and, by extension, over the identity of the rabbi to be chosen.

In his decision, Justice Amit indicated that postponing the election would allow time for the city council to present its position regarding the minister’s representatives on the electoral body, addressing the procedural concerns raised in the petitions.

The race for Tel Aviv’s chief rabbinate includes Rav Zavdiel Cohen, the city’s av beis din, who has received backing from the former chief rabbis as well as political support from the Shas party and Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai.

Also expected to enter the race is Rav Tzvi Yehuda Lau, son of former Chief Rabbi of Israel Rav Yisrael Meir Lau, who currently serves as the rov of the Yad Eliyahu neighborhood in Tel Aviv.

The court’s temporary order leaves the future timetable of the election dependent on further legal review and potential adjustments to the selection process of the electoral body.

{Matzav.com}

A Gazan man living in a tent damaged by severe weather says the Hamas-run Gaza City municipality is demanding he pay 2,000 shekels in monthly rent. “We didn’t die from the war, and now Hamas wants to kill us through oppression and injustice,” he said.

Clashes erupted during a pre-dawn anti-ISIS operation by Turkish police near Elmalık in northwest Turkey, leaving three officers dead and eight wounded. Six suspected terrorists were killed, and fighting is still ongoing.

BREAKING: Hamas has announced that its military spokesperson, Abu Obaida, was killed in an Israeli airstrike carried out in August, formally confirming his death months after the attack.