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Putin Calls Ukraine Campaign a 'Sacred Mission' at Christmas Service Identified at GRU Base

Independent analysis placed the Christmas service at a GRU base previously linked by Western intelligence to covert operations in Europe.

Overview

  • According to a Kremlin transcript, Vladimir Putin told attendees that Russian soldiers carry out a holy mission entrusted by God and urged pride in military service.
  • Russian outlet Agentstvo used Kremlin video to locate the church at the Senezh Special Purpose Centre, GRU unit No. 92154, in Solnechnogorsk after the Kremlin named only a generic church.
  • Images from the service showed Putin alongside senior GRU figures, including Maj-Gen Aleksei Galkin and Cols. Andrey Popov and Konstantin Maslyanko.
  • Western intelligence assessments and Polish investigations have linked unit 92154 to covert sabotage in Europe, including parcel-bomb incidents and alleged railway attacks.
  • Kremlin-backed senator Dmitry Rogozin attacked UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer over discussion of possible British forces in Ukraine, while regional reports described fresh strikes injuring civilians in Dnipro and a fire at an oil facility in Russia’s Belgorod region.