• tal@lemmy.todayOP
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    2 days ago

    It then shows a missile blowing up the sleigh and cuts to the control room, where an alternative Father Christmas dressed in blue asks “Is that it?” and a man in uniform replies: “Yes, the target is destroyed.”

    I imagine that that’d be Ded Moroz.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ded_Moroz

    Ded Moroz,[a] or Morozko (Russian: Морозко, romanized: Morozko), is a legendary figure similar to Saint Nicholas, Father Christmas, and Santa Claus who has his roots in Slavic mythology. The tradition of Ded Moroz is mostly spread in East Slavic countries and is a significant part of Russian culture.

    Ded Moroz wears a heel-length fur coat, in red or blue, a semi-round fur hat, and valenki on his feet.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NORAD_Tracks_Santa

    NORAD Tracks Santa, also called NORAD Santa Tracker, is an annual official program in which North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD)[1] publishes the simulated tracking of Santa Claus, who leaves the North Pole to travel around the world on his mission to deliver presents to children every year on Christmas Eve.[2][3][4] The program starts on December 1, but the actual Santa-tracking starts at midnight annually on December 24. It is a community outreach function of NORAD, and has been held annually since 1955.[2] Although NORAD claims to use radar and other technologies to track Santa, the website merely simulates the tracking of Santa.[5]

    The program follows the tradition of the September 1897 editorial “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus” in the New York Sun.[6][7] and was an inspiration of the Google Santa Tracker, which launched in December 2004.[8]

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ded_Moroz

    GLONASS Tracks Ded Moroz

    In November 2009, for the first time, the Russian Federation offered competition to NORAD Tracks Santa with GLONASS Tracks Ded Moroz, which purports to use GLONASS (the Russian satellite navigation system, comparable to GPS) to track Ded Moroz on New Year’s Eve (according to the Gregorian calendar).[28]

    The Russian-language website provides “real-time tracking” of Ded Moroz, “news” of Ded Moroz throughout the year, a form to send e-mail to Ded Moroz, photos, videos, streaming audio of Russian songs, poems and verses from children’s letters to Ded Moroz, information on Veliky Ustyug in Vologda Oblast (considered to be Ded Moroz’s hometown) and opportunities to enter competitions and win prizes.[29]

    The air defense competition appears to be heating up.

    • verity_kindle@sh.itjust.worksM
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      3 hours ago

      I heard that Ded Moroz quit using a flying sleigh after a…bird strike…in 1987. Now, he has to trudge through the snow in felt boots, like a rookie. He never complains. His bag is full of reindeer turds.

    • jonne@infosec.pub
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      1 day ago

      It makes sense as a way to tie the Ukraine war as a war against Western influence or whatever, but it’s just a hilariously bad look to release this right after shooting down a civilian aircraft.