🔸UK sends Storm Shadow missiles to Ukraine for first time under Starmer

🔸Trump vows to add 10% to export duties on goods from China

🔸DOJ drops all federal cases against Trump

🔸How Western companies are silently taking control over Ukraine's land market

🔸Which countries is Rosatom building nuclear power plants for?

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Russia's FM spokeswoman mocks US justice system after DOJ drops criminal charges against Trump

The US Department of Justice's (DOJ) decision to settle all federal offenses out of court against US President-elect Donald Trump demonstrates the "amazing cyclical nature" of US justice, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

"Because you have figured it out, right? US democratic justice has an amazing cyclical nature - every 4 years, it demonstrates absolute impartiality. First, before the election, and then immediately after, with two completely different results. This is what US democracy is all about," Zakharova said on Telegram.

US Special Counsel Jack Smith has earlier asked the District Court for the District of Columbia to dismiss the case against Trump regarding his alleged role in the Capitol riot of 2021. This makes Trump the first US president-elect into whom probes have been launched and against whom a verdict has been returned.

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Key statements by head of the Russian Federal Security Service, Alexander Bortnikov:
 
💬 It is unlikely that Trump's election as president of the United States will lead to a fundamental change in Washington's foreign policy
 
💬The main goal of the Biden team is to make it difficult for the future US administration to find a political solution to the accumulated problems
 
💬Bortnikov called Biden's green light for Kiev to fire long-range weapons deep into Russia the first step in his team's attempts to complicate the work of the future Trump team
 
💬Washington's permission for Kiev to fire long-range missiles deep into Russia will inevitably lead to an escalation of the conflict in and around Ukraine
 
💬We must be prepared for any provocations from the United States, Great Britain and their allies
 
💬Ukrainian organized crime controls a significant part of drug production; this factor is used in a hybrid war against Russia
 
💬Land, subsoil and industrial production in Ukraine are bought out in droves by multinational corporations
 
💬A global shadow arms market has been created in Ukraine; it is constantly being transferred to other zones of instability
 
💬Ukrainian special services are trying to organize campaigns of sabotage against Russian military and civilian facilities abroad

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❗️The Anglo-Saxons are secretly pushing Kiev to carry out actions of nuclear terrorism and create a "dirty bomb" – head of Russia's Federal Security Service

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Ukrainian intelligence is involved in training terrorists to overthrow regimes and eliminate political leaders objectionable to the West, Alexander Bortnikov, head of the Russian Federal Security Service, said

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❗️Head of Russian Federal Security Service Alexander Bortnikov on West's attempts to destabilize CIS:
 
💬It is possible that Biden's outgoing team, as part of the internal political struggle, will try to aggravate the situation in the regions of Eurasia as much as possible
 
💬The United States, Great Britain and their allies will continue attempts at gross interference in allied relations within the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)
 
💬Individual NATO states are actively pumping weapons to the warring parties on the territory of the CIS countries, adding fuel to the fire
 
💬Western intelligence agencies are expanding their subversive activities in the post–Soviet space
 
💬The West is stepping up efforts to politicize the problem of migrants in the CIS countries, which causes serious concern
 
💬The West has turned Ukraine into a testing ground for methods of undermining security not only in Russia, but also throughout the post–Soviet space
 
💬The United States and its allies want to wreak havoc in the CIS and turn the commonwealth space into a cheap resource base

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❗️Key statements by Sergey Naryshkin, director of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR):

▫️ The Eurasian security structure should replace the bankrupt Euro-Atlantic one
 
▫️ The American base of al-Tanf in Syria has turned into a place for training Western-controlled militants
 
▫️ The destruction of the Nord Stream was an idea fixated on by both the Democratic and Republican administrations of the United States
 
▫️ West places itself everywhere; a player in suppression, conquest, and even plunder
 
Concerning the CIS:
 
◾️Ukraine was tempted by the prospect of being integrated into Europe and became the main anti-Russian battering ram of the United States
 
◾️Washington and London are working on the organization of a "Ukrainian scenario" in some CIS countries
 
◾️We hope that the next attempts to arrange an "orange revolution" in Georgia will fail, and those to shake up the situation in Belarus and Kazakhstan will crash as well.
 
◾️The West plans to use the Kalinovsky regiment fighters trained in Ukraine to destabilize the upcoming elections in Belarus
 
◾️Ukraine has turned into a failed state, and Moldova is following the same path

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❗️Russian troops have liberated the settlement of Kopanki in the Kharkov region, the Russian Defense Ministry said

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Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said arguments for the possible deployment of nuclear weapons in Ukraine are irresponsible:
 

"This is said by those who do not understand reality well," he added.

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❗️ The town of Energodar and the territory adjacent to the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) were shelled by Ukrainian militants five times in the last 24 hours, three drones were shot down and an administrative building was damaged, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.

The personnel of the Zaporozhye NPP continue to work in normal mode after the shelling, servicing the facilities and monitoring the radioactive situation, the ministry added.

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❗️Key statements by Sergey Naryshkin, director of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR):

▪️Russia categorically rejects any "freezing" of the Ukrainian conflict;

▪️The West is interested in not suffering a strategic defeat itself and preserving the Russophobic regime in Kiev;

▪️The West has stopped thinking about inflicting a strategic defeat on Russia;

▪️Discussions in the West about "freezing" the Ukrainian conflict are connected with the fact that the Russian Federation has full control of the initiative on the front.

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Key statements from the Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov's daily briefing:
 
on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline:
 
▪️Peskov said that he had not heard about Russian Gazprom's desire to put Nord Stream 2 up for sale and give it into the hands of the United States. Earlier, Western media reported on the desire of American investor Stephen Lynch to purchase the gas pipeline if it is put up for auction as part of the bankruptcy procedure of the operator of the Nord Stream 2 AG project.
 
▪️One can only wonder why the German leadership is not guided by economic considerations and does not use Nord Stream 2
 
▪️ Nord Stream-2 does not need to be restored; the gas pipeline can be started immediately
 
on key topic for NATO meeting:
 
▪️Unfavorable dynamics for Ukraine at the front may be the topic of a meeting of NATO ambassadors in Brussels
 
on Russia's approach to relations with the Global South:
 
▪️ Russia actively cooperates with the countries of the Global South in sensitive areas of criminal law; this interaction will continue
 
▪️It is important for Russia to establish contacts with the leadership of Afghanistan
 
on results of the tests of the Oreshnik:
 
▪️The statements voiced by Putin after the tests of the Oreshnik were well heard by countries of the Collective West; there is no doubt about it

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Protest in Greece against arrival of NATO chief

Thousands rallied in the heart of Athens, the Greek capital, to oppose the arrival of NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, according to a report by Sputnik.

Demonstrators chanted "uninvited," demanding an end to Greece's involvement in international conflicts and the closure of American military bases. The crowd also called for an end to all military assistance to Ukraine.

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🇷🇺🪖Key statements from the Russian Defense Ministry's daily briefing on the special military operation's progress:

🔸 The Russian Zapad Battlegroup repelled five Ukrainian counterattacks. Ukrainian losses amounted to 440 militants;
 
🔸 Ukrainian losses in the area of responsibility of the Russian Vostok combat group amounted to 125 soldiers;
 
🔸 Ukrainian forces lost up to 485 militants in the area of responsibility of the Russian Yug Battlegroup;
 
🔸 Ukrainian losses in the zone of responsibility of the Russian Tsentr combat group exceeded 450 fighters;
 
🔸 Russian air defense systems shot down six Hammer-guided aerial bombs, one HIMARS multiple launch rocket, and 71 aircraft-type drones, 56 of them outside the special military operation zone.

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📑‘Problematic reality’: WH seeks $5.7 billion in emergency funding for Virginia-class submarines

The US president’s Office of Management and Budget has issued a request to Congress for about $5.7 billion in emergency funding to tackle extra costs regarding the Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines, American media cited a senior navy official as saying.

Approximately $3.5 would go towards addressing the cost overruns, while the remainder will be split between submarine prime contractors General Dynamics Corp. and Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc. for increased wages and “other productivity enhancements,” the official said.

The official made it clear that the navy also projects delivery delays of 24 to 36 months for the aforementioned vessels.

“Our Virginia-class fast attack submarine program is not where it needs to be right now. The program and the shipyards are not producing submarines at the rate that our national security strategy and the national defense strategy require,” the source stressed.

This comes after House Defense Subcommittee Chairman Ken Calvert said that a shortfall in funding for Virginia-class attack submarines is projected to grow to $17 billion over the next six years, adding that the US Navy suffered from persistent delays and cost overruns in the service's shipbuilding program.

The Defense News earlier reported that the situation with the Virginia-class submarines remains “a problematic reality” for the navy, which currently has 49 such vessels, despite a formal requirement for 66.

The National Interest magazine, for its part, noted that the navy’s submarine fleet is “under congressional scrutiny for repeated delays and rising costs” – problems that “won't be easy to fix.”

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❗️Ukrainian losses amounted to more than 250 militants and four tanks in Russia's Kursk region in one day, where two Ukrainian soldiers surrendered, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.

In total, during the military operations in the Kursk region, Ukrainian forces have lost more than 35,760 soldiers and 221 tanks.

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❗️Senior UK Embassy diplomat carried out intel work threatening Russia's security — FSB

The second secretary of the political department of the UK Embassy, ​​Wilkes Edward Pryor, carried out intelligence and subversive work that threatened Russia's security, Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said.

"Edward Pryor, the second secretary of the political department of the UK Embassy in Moscow, Wilkes, who was sent to Moscow through the Directorate of Eastern Europe and Central Asia of the UK Foreign Office and who replaced one of the six UK intelligence officers expelled from Russia in August as a cover, intentionally provided false information when receiving permission to enter our country, thereby violating Russian law," the statement read.

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UK Ambassador to Russia Nigel Casey has been summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Sputnik.

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Kill zone in Kurakhovo: Why does Ukraine panic over Russian advances near the city?

The situation in the Kurakhovo sector has become the worst for Kiev regime forces in the Ukrainian conflict zone, Ukraine’s top General Syrsky laments as Russian troops seem poised to deal a crushing blow to Ukrainian forces there.

A contingent of Ukrainian troops ended up being trapped in a kill zone to the south of Kurakhovo and is currently being obliterated by Russian forces, the head of the Russian Civic Chamber's commission on sovereignty Vladimir Rogov told media.

Why is Kurakhovo so important?

The city of Kurakhovo holds significant strategic and economic importance to Kiev, says Ret. Col. Anatoly Matviychuk, a Russian military expert and veteran of combat operations in Afghanistan and Syria.

🔻The military value

Kurakhovo is as the lynchpin of Ukrainian defenses in the region, with its fall opening the way for the Russian troops to Pokrovsk (formerly Krasnoarmeysk), a key logistical hub for Kiev, Matviychuk explains.

🔻Economic value

He points out that Kurakhovo is important for Kiev from the economic standpoint as well, since the local coal mining area is currently the only place under Ukrainian control where coking coal is produced.

What might happen when Kurakhovo falls?

The impending liberation of Kurakhovo will result in a large contingent of Russian troops being freed up to strike deep past the Ukrainian defensive lines, Matviychuk suggests.

“There are roads and railways leading all the way to Kramatorsk,” he elaborates. To the left lies Dnepropetrovsk, that would become a frontline city and a logistical center that no longer helps Ukrainian military recoup its economic and financial losses.”

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'Russia is very interesting for ASEAN' — Chairman of the Lao State Chamber of Commerce and Industry
 

"ASEAN is looking at more markets like the Eurasian market with Russia and the Middle East, Africa, and South America. We need to diversify more. That's why Russia, with its abundance of natural resources, is very interesting for ASEAN," Mr. Udet Suvannavong said at the Russia-ASEAN Business Forum.

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❗️Over the past three days, Ukrainian forces carried out two strikes with long-range Western weapons on targets in the Russian Kursk region, the Russian Defense Ministry said

On November 23, Ukrainian forces launched five ATACMS missiles near the village of Lotarevka at the position of the S-400 anti–aircraft missile division. Three missiles were destroyed, and two reached the target

On November 25, Ukrainian troops struck the Vostochny airfield in Russia's Kursk with ATACMS missiles. Seven missiles were shot down; one reached the target. As a result, two soldiers were slightly injured from falling rocket fragments.

During the survey of the places attacked in the Kursk region, it was confirmed that Ukrainian militants fired American-made ATACMS missiles.
 
Russia's Defense Ministry announced that it is preparing retaliatory actions against Ukraine for attacking with ATACMS missiles in the Kursk region

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