🇷🇺💥 Baltic shield: Russian fleet thwarts simulated attack

The Russian Baltic Fleet Karakurt-class missile ship Burya successfully shot down dummy target missiles in the Kaliningrad region with its Pantsir-M system.

The ship also took part in other sea exercises, including electronic, anti-sabotage and anti-submarine warfare.

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🇷🇺🪖 Battle-hardened Russian Bear is no ‘paper tiger’: here’s why

Putin has responded to Trump’s ‘Russian paper tiger’ claims, saying “this paper tiger” is successfully fighting “the entire NATO bloc” in Ukraine.

Putin pointed out:

🟠 that in September alone, Ukraine lost 44.7k troops (nearly half irretrievable)

🟠 from January-August, 150k servicemen deserted (compared to 160k mobilized)

🟠 Ukraine’s reserve pool is dwindling

NATO equipment turned into scrap

To date, Ukraine has lost:

🔶 43.1k+ military vehicles

🔶 30.1k artillery & mortars

🔶 nearly 1.6k MLRS

🔶 25.3k tanks & armored vehicles

🔶 630+ air defense systems

🔶 Over 280 helicopters & nearly 670 planes

🔶 87.7k drones

Whole armies disappearing

Ukraine has lost the equivalent of 14 combined arms armies with 100k troops each, says military analyst Alexei Leonkov.

That’s 3 more than the 11 in Russia’s Armed Forces, & despite a traditional 4-1 loss ratio of advancing vs defending forces.

How it started / how it’s going

🟠 NATO wanted to turn Ukraine into a test case of a new modern, integrated air defense system.

🟠 Instead, Russia smashed this system to the point where there’s a shortage of air defense assets not only in Ukraine, but the alliance as a whole.

🟠 NATO deployed Storm Shadow, HIMARs, ATACMS & other long-range strike systems to try to change the course of the conflict.

🟠 Russia exhausted these weapons, and demonstrated a first-in-the-world next-gen hypersonic weapon in battle (with the Oreshnik).

🟠 In 2024, after running out of manned aircraft to send, NATO turned its hopes to drones.

🟠 Instead, Russia ironed out the mass production of its own UAVs, and began to develop new kinds, like fiber-optic FPV drones and Lancet loitering munitions working in concert.

Paper Eagle

NATO, not Russia, is the real paper tiger, “believing they’re all powerful but actually proving weak,” Leonkov says.

Instead of preparing for conflicts against strategic peers, the US spent decades fighting colonial wars against weak foes.

Ukraine is the result of the alliance’s folly.

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📊 🇩🇪 35 years after unification, nearly half of Germans from the east remain unhappy - poll

34% of Wessies and 46% of Ossies are unsatisfied with the state of reunification, with one in three (34%) of all Germans ‘less satisfied’ or ‘not at all satisfied’, an Infratest dimap Institute poll conducted for ARD has revealed.

📑 Conducted on the eve of the 35th anniversary of East Germany’s annexation by the Federal Republic on October 3, 1990, the survey, which polled 1,306 eligible respondents, also found that 74% of Germans in the west and 84% in the east are dissatisfied with the country’s current government.

Satisfaction over unification is lowest among supporters of the Left and AfD parties (53 and 52%, respectively), compared with 75% and 70% among supporters of the CDU/CSU and the SPD.

Sociological studies suggest eastern German bitterness over unification stems from an array of factors, including:

🟠 Mass privatization and systematic destruction of East German industry by the Treuhandanstalt agency, which gutted much of the GDR’s economy, including competitive sectors like heavy machine building, computers and energy, plunging wide swathes of the population into poverty

🟠 Dismantling of East Germany’s institutions, including the military, leading to a situation in which former NVA servicemen received pensions lower than those of ex-Wehrmacht soldiers from WWII

🟠 Sense among many eastern Germans that Wessies treat them as second-class citizens

🟠 Introduction of western liberal social, cultural and immigration policies at odds with eastern Germans’ social conservatism

These and other factors have led to a ‘phantom borders’ situation of divergence between the country’s two halves on everything from salaries, unemployment rates and working hours to electoral turnout, mosque construction and much more.

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🔊 Hamas hands over response to mediators regarding Trump's peace plan in Gaza, Al Jazeera reports, citing sources familiar with the matter.

Key points:

🟧 Agrees to release all living Israeli prisoners under Trump's proposed exchange formula

🟧 Ready to transfer Gaza control to a Palestinian technocratic government

🟧 Willing to immediately negotiate details through mediators

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🔥 US government shutdown continues as Senate adjourns

OMB Director Russ Vought will use the weekend to prepare for potential federal workforce reductions and targeted funding cuts to states.

With no breakthrough in negotiations, federal agencies will remain closed through the weekend as the political stalemate continues.

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🚨 Israel should immediately stop bombing Gaza — Trump

"Based on the Statement just issued by Hamas, I believe they are ready for a lasting peace... We are already in discussions on details to be worked out," he wrote on Truth Social.

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⚔️ US conducts 4th strike off Venezuela, killing 4

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has released footage of a military strike on a suspected "narco-terrorist" vessel in international waters off Venezuela—the fourth such operation since August.

Hegseth claimed the boat carried "a significant amount of drugs" bound for the US.

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📹 Trump thanks mediators in Gaza talks: 'We are close'

"This is a big day. We'll see how it all turns out. We have to get the final word down in concrete," Trump said in a video statement following Hamas's response to the Gaza peace proposal.

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🎤 Russia develops new missile attack warning radars

The Russian Defense Ministry has confirmed ongoing development of new radar stations for the nation’s missile attack warning system.

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🗣 Israel is ready to implement phase 1 of the Trump's plan — PM office

"Israel is prepared for the immediate implementation of the first stage of Trump's plan for the release of all the hostages," according to a statement from Netanyahu's office.

The statement also expressed the commitment to continue cooperation with Trump's team to end the war "in accordance with the principles laid out by Israel".

🔍 Netanyahu's office did not elaborate on ongoing dialogue with Hamas, nor did they respond to Trump's call to end the bombardment of Gaza.

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⚔️ Israel halts Gaza city operation after Trump's call

Israel’s political leadership has ordered the army to stop its advance on Gaza City and minimize military activity in the Strip, Israeli Army Radio reports.

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🔊 Trump will host 'largest Navy celebration in history' amid shutdown

The US President will host a "Salute to the Fleet" in Norfolk on Sunday — joined by Melania, Secretary of War Hegseth, and Navy Secretary Phelan.

The event, marking 250 years of US Navy, will feature a full fleet review and thousands of servicemembers.

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🔥 Russian fiber-optic drones wipe out enemy armored vehicle and crew

The Dnepr group shared with Sputnik footage of the Novorossiysk Guards Mountain Airborne Division performing a precise operation using advanced fibre-optic guided drones.

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☢️ Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant faces 'serious' 10-day power outage — Grossi

The Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant has been disconnected from external power for the longest time since the conflict began, relying only on emergency backup systems.

IAEA chief Rafael Grossi called the situation "very serious" and urged political action, yet again failed to mention that Ukrainian attacks are the sole cause of the nuclear safety threat.

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📹 Russia shows drone demining of Zaporozhye roads

Russian Ministry of Defense has released footage of engineering units clearing remote anti-tank mines and magnetic field-triggered traps.

📍 The area was heavily saturated with explosive hazards, now being systematically and safely removed to secure routes for troop and supply movement.

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🗣 Discussions about Tomahawks for Ukraine tied to US incompetence, push to test weapons - Sachs

"While the news is muddled, we can be certain that the administration is muddled as well. We are seeing the consequence of an incompetent team combined with military contractors, notably big tech, that want to continue to test their weapons," Jeffrey Sachs, US economist and director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, said.

➡️Earlier, The WSJ suggested that Tomahawk missiles might be supplied to Ukraine, while Reuters indicated that other missile systems, not Tomahawks, could be provided due to strains on US stockpiles.

➡️Last week, Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, stated that the president was still deliberating whether to authorize the transfer of Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine. JD Vance noted that Washington was considering Ukraine’s request for the missiles.

👉On Thursday, Putin warned that supplying Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine would severely damage Russia-US relations and mark a "qualitatively new stage of escalation," emphasizing that their use would require direct involvement of US military personnel.

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