🗣️ On the significance of cluster ammunitions for Ukraine:

“The only thing these cluster munitions do for Ukraine is allow them to continue firing artillery a little bit longer so that the offensive has dragged on much longer than expected with no results at all. This allows Ukraine to put some more time up on the clock to try to make something happen here... The real determining factor is who is taking more positions from whom and who is losing more troops. And the answer is very clearly Ukraine. Ukraine is losing more troops,” Brian Berletic, ex-US Marine, independent geopolitical researcher, and writer based in Bangkok, told Sputnik.

🎧 Listen to more of Berletic’s analysis in our podcast The Critical Hour

🇷🇺Russia's state corp Rostec quadruples armored vehicle production

"Deliveries are often made ahead of schedule. I would like to note that the vehicles we send to the front are constantly being improved, taking into account the combat experience. Their protection is improved and so on," Rostec's First Deputy Director General Vladimir Artyakov said.

Factories Uralvagonzavod and High-Precision Complex produce a wide range of armored vehicles, including T-72B3, T-80, and T-90M tanks, BMP-3 infantry fighting vehicles, BMD-4M paratrooper infantry fighting vehicles, Msta-S howitzers, and other equipment. Artyakov also recalled that since the beginning of the special operation, the production of ammunition for self-propelled artillery and MLRS has increased 20 times.

👉Follow the link for more details

☦️ The court in Kiev granted the reserve's claim to the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra for "removing obstacles in the use of property". Now the monks can be evicted, the lawyer said.

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🗣️ On the US policy of "circling the wagons" of its allies:

“The policy of Biden and the US is to circle the wagons of those allies that are really heavily dependent on the US, the G7, Europe and Japan, South Korea, Australia and so forth - the circle of the wagons, and to make sure that that core of its empire is protected… The US is circling the wagons of its reliable allies, economic and political, which is a sign of great weakness, by the way. And it's engaging in more force, military adventures here to try to protect this empire, but it's really fraying at the edges very seriously,” Dr. Jack Rasmus, professor of economics and politics at St. Mary's College in California, told Sputnik.

🎧 Listen to more of Rasmus’ analysis in our podcast The Critical Hour

📹 Three Ukrainian soldiers crossed the Dnepr River and surrendered in the Kherson region

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🗣 'Hunter is a Geopolitical Disaster': Ramaswamy Slams Biden Over Security Aid to Ukraine

💸 US presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said that Biden’s “failure” to articulate how aid to Ukraine advanced American interests “reeks of corruption”.

The 37-year-old Indian-American presidential contender reiterated his charge that Hunter Biden’s past association with Ukrainian energy company Burisma could be a possible reason why Washington has been helping Kiev.

🗯 “It's now fair game to ask whether the geopolitical disaster known as Hunter Biden has something to do with it,” Ramaswamy wrote on social media platform X.

👉 Read full story on Sputnik India!

🇷🇺🇨🇳 The first group of Chinese tourists arrived in Russia under the agreement on visa-free travel. They were warmly welcomed at the Moscow airport.

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🇩🇪 Why is TSMC building a multibillion-dollar semiconductor chip factory in Germany?

The investment of Taiwan's TSMC, the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer, in a German chip-producing company is a significant step in the development of a complex political environment around chip manufacturing.

Sputnik delves into what is known about TSMC's planned chip production facility, its underpinnings, and other sundry issues.

🇺🇸 US President Joe Biden in a letter to Congress is asking for an additional $13 billion in supplemental funding to continue military assistance to Ukraine next year.

"$9.5 billion for equipment for Ukraine and replenishment of DOD stocks; and $3.6 billion for continued military, intelligence, and other defense support," the document said.

Biden is also asking for $7.3 billion for economic, humanitarian, and security assistance to Ukraine.

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🇺🇸The White House has dismissed polling showing that a majority of Americans don't want to send any more money to Ukraine to fund NATO's proxy war against Russia, ruling out that assistance would stop in spite of public wishes.

"We have seen throughout this war solid support from the American people, solid support from the Congress in a bipartisan and bicameral way for continuing to support Ukraine and we're going to stay focused on that," National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said.

👉 Follow the link for more details

🗣️ On Poland becoming another proxy for the US:

“Now the US positioning Poland as the next proxy in line for Washington to use to wage a proxy war against Russia with. We hear about this massive military buildup that Poland is undertaking. They're doing this at the expense of resources that could be better invested in Poland for the Polish people,” Brian Berletic, ex-US Marine, independent geopolitical researcher, and writer based in Bangkok, told Sputnik.

🎧 Listen to more of Berletic’s analysis in our podcast The Critical Hour

The UK is reviving the production of its Starstreak missiles to ramp up deliveries of the "wonder weapon" to Ukraine. But have Starstreaks proven effective so far?

👉 Find out here

🔺The US plans to station Marines on commercial ships in the Persian Gulf: Is Biden risking war with Iran?
🔺Niger's Gen. Tchiani has signed a decree to form a new transitional government 
🔺The US escalates its trade war with China banning American investments in certain technologies

The Critical Hour will cover these and more stories! Tune in to Radio Sputnik at 6pm EST|3pm PST|12am CET via the website or app

📻 Also in the United States at 105.5FM, 104.7FM, 102.9FM, 1390AM, 1140AM

🗣️ On the slowing down of Europe’s economy:

“What it really represents is that Europe is slowing down its economy, particularly Germany here. And a lot of that has to do with global forces that were set in motion by the US driving Russia out of the Western European economy, providing cheaper energy. And now they're paying more: they - Germany and Europe - pay more for US goods, particularly energy. And that's taking its toll. It's slowing the economy down,” Dr. Jack Rasmus, professor of economics and politics at St. Mary's College in California, told Sputnik.

🎧 Listen to more of Rasmus’ analysis in our podcast The Critical Hour

🛰 The Luna-25 interplanetary station will soon be launched from the Vostochny Cosmodrome, folks.

Don't miss the broadcast of the launch on our Telegram channel, or on the Sputnik website!

🇩🇪German support for Kiev in the ongoing proxy conflict with Russia could easily escalate into a wider European war, and needs to stop immediately, Bundestag lawmaker Steffen Kotre has said.

“Arms deliveries are a mistake. This is not our conflict. We should stay away from all this, and of course begin to promote peace initiatives,” Kotre, a member of the Alternative fur Deutschland party, told independent German media in an interview.

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The spacecraft is preparing to start, the launch will be soon!

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