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Anton Gerashchenko is an official advisor and a former deputy minister at the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, ex-member of the Ukrainian parliament. Cooperation - @Tatiana_Pravda
A Russian passenger plane arriving from Sochi caught fire in Turkey's Antalya.
It is reported that the engine has already been extinguished. No information about casualties.
Another way that Russian officials are making money on the war in Ukraine:
A scandal surrounding the State Unitary Enterprise "Fuel and Energy Complex of St. Petersburg" (GUP TEK) is unfolding in connection with the embezzlement of tens, if not hundreds, of millions of budget funds related to payments made to fictitious persons, allegedly having signed contracts with the Ministry of Defense. New details are emerging.
Investigators from the Russian Investigative Committee conducted searches as part of a criminal case initiated under part 4 of Article 159 of the Russian Criminal Code (fraud in a particularly large amount). Attempts to resolve the issue with large sums of money in favor of GUP TEK failed due to the publicity of the case (which was reported by MK-Piter). According to a source from VCHK-OGPU, during this time, the head of GUP TEK, Ivan Boltenkov, emotionally shouted out the name of Anna Tsivileva, the alleged close leader of the "Defenders of the Fatherland" Foundation (Deputy Minister of Defense, niece of Vladimir Putin), during a video conference. He reportedly stated that he would demand she take action against those who revealed the scandalous information.
"This is the best, most correct death"
A representative of the administration of the city of Zheleznogorsk in the Kursk region explained to the widow and three daughters of a soldier who died in the SMO that it is not so bad to be left without a father and husband.
Cynical jerk.
Jeering at a genocide of a 40 million country and mocking defenders of that country who sacrifice their lives to protect their people. And that coming from a country who made a commitment to defend Ukraine (Budapest memorandum).
Tasteless jokes as a whole country is destroyed, Bill Maher?
Very sad.
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Reportedly, these are aviation strikes on Chasiv Yar.
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Maybe they are “crazy” after all? Talking about the launch of Oreshnik on his Telegram channel, Dmitri Medvedev goes back to his usual rhetoric and threatens European countries with “catastrophic damage”:
“Modern means cannot intercept them, and we're talking about minutes [to reach European capitals]. Bomb shelters won’t help, so the only hope is that a benevolent Russia would warn about launches in advance.”
Russian Orthodox Church could be a cover for Russian spies in Europe, - OSINT investigation by Molfar.
Russian spies are active in Europe – there is no argument. However, a new investigation uncovers the potential for espionage under the cover of religious activities of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) across the EU.
🇸🇪Sweden. In Västerås, the Russian Orthodox Church built a temple suspiciously close to numerous strategic facilities. Led by priest Pavel Makarenko, the Church has been funded in part by Rosatom, the Russian state atomic energy corporation, despite efforts to conceal this link.
The location of the church is strategically significant. It is near an airport, energy facilities, and Westinghouse Electric’s nuclear fuel production plant. Analysts suggest that the church's proximity to these sensitive sites is no coincidence. The priest, Makarenko, also has ties to suspicious Russian business activities in Sweden. Similar patterns emerge in other Swedish cities like Uppsala, Stockholm, and Göteborg, where ROC temples are consistently located near military and governmental sites.
🇫🇮Finland. Here, concerns about the Russian Orthodox Church’s (ROC) activities have focused on Igumen Nikita, a cleric reportedly aligned with the Moscow Patriarchate. His church in Turku was closed in 2022 due to growing suspicions about its ties to the Moscow Patriarchate and potential dissemination of pro-Russian narratives amidst the ongoing war in Ukraine. But that remains a standalone case, where suspicious church activity was halted.
A pattern similar to Sweden repeats here, with churches placed in proximity of strategic objects of military and infrastructural importance.
🇨🇿Czechia. In Prague, the state-owned Russian company "Gazprom Neft" partially funded the decoration of the Cathedral of Saints Cyril and Methodius, which belongs to the Michalovce-Košice Diocese of the Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia. Archbishop Christophoros of Prague awarded Dmitry Malyshev, the advisor to the chairman of the board of "Gazprom Neft," for his assistance to the Church.
These are just a few examples analyzed by Molfar.
Source: https://molfar.com/blog/rpc-shpygue-u-evropi-doslidzhennya-molfar-chastyna-persha?utm_source=telegram&utm_medium=not+native&utm_campaign=cerkvy
Russia has recruited hundreds of mercenaries in Yemen to fight in Ukraine, – The Financial Times
A “shadowy trafficking operation” was uncovered by FT correspondents Charles Clover, Andrew England and Christopher Miller. It is being run by Houthi rebels on the ground in Yemen. They lure in local men with high salaries and the promise of Russian citizenship. The recruits are often unaware of what they are signing up for – many believe they are coming to work in engineering, security, or drone manufacturing. However, upon arrival they are forced to sign contracts with the Russian Armed Forces, given basic military training, and sent to the frontlines in Ukraine.
This underscores the growing partnership between Russia and the Houthi rebel group. In exchange for recruitment of Yemenis, Moscow is helping the rebels, who have been terrorizing freight traffic in the Red Sea. In particular, US intelligence officers in the region believe Russia may provide Houthis with weapons and targeting data for missile launches.
Source: https://www.ft.com/content/da966006-88e5-4c25-9075-7c07c4702e06
Putin's friend and part-time president of the National Research Center "Kurchatov Institute" Mikhail Kovalchuk demanded that the West pay Russia money for air.
He reasoned Russia has the largest forest area, and it cleans the planet.
And what do Russian wars do to the planet...
❗️"Russia produces as many weapons and ammunition in three months as the entire European Union does in a year" - Boris Pistorius, Defense Minister of Germany.
https://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/boris-pistorius-putins-ukraine-feldzug-ist-laengst-kein-regionaler-krieg-mehr-a-f12ae2f1-877e-40e3-883d-3ce098a001e8
Russian Telegram channels report a powerful explosion in Kursk.
Waiting for more information.
The Russian experimental missile strike on the Dnipro is nothing more than Putin’s latest attempt to intimidate Ukraine and the world with the possibility of a nuclear strike, said Mark Kansian, a senior adviser at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.
According to the expert, another demonstrative attack by the Kremlin does not significantly change the state of affairs, since Russia has been threatening the West with nuclear weapons since the very beginning of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, but they are closely monitoring changes in the Russian nuclear potential and so far there are no reasons for excessive concern.
📹: Voice of America
Medvedev obviously got scared and backed off.
Was he threatened by his own or not?
It's obvious that everyone is sick of his "nuclear rhetoric".
Should we watch Medvedev's health closely now? Would that be a de-escalating factor?
"The shooting lists were supposed to include teachers of the Ukrainian language, literature, history, ATO veterans, journalists, scientists, writers, priests of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and other confessions who supported Ukraine, as well as public and political figures, heads of state and local government bodies," said Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukraine's Military Intelligence Directorate.
According to Budanov, before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russian occupiers were also briefed on where to place mass graves.
‼️This is the reality that awaits Ukrainians if the war is lost, if our country is occupied. Such repressions are already happening on Ukrainian lands held by Russia. That is why we are fighting. Any peace agreement that has Ukraine cede its territories to Russia, or that would not provide sufficient security guarantees and deterrents in case of another invasion would open Ukraine up to Russian terror like this.
The Kremlin is once again using a time-tested tactic: distracting its citizens with dramatic, attention-grabbing spectacles during times of crisis or unpopular reforms. The recent surge in nuclear rhetoric is a textbook example.
While everybody in Russia is watching the “nuclear threat ping pong”, they overlook the catastrophic fall of the ruble. This is exactly what the Kremlin wants.
At the time of writing, the ruble stands at about 104 per US dollar, its lowest value since March 2022, with further declines expected. This is very bad news for the average Russian, as a weaker ruble drives inflation, worsening an already dire situation. But they are distracted from this reality by the Kremlin’s nuclear saber-rattling.
Why is Moscow downplaying the ruble’s collapse?
▪️The Russian central bank is deliberately letting the ruble depreciate to sustain the staggering war economy. The federal budget faces a 3.3 trillion ruble deficit in 2025, with another 10 trillion rubles—1.5 trillion for military expenses—needed before the end of this year.
▪️The Finance Ministry aimed to sell 4.1 trillion rubles in federal bonds to cover the shortfall but managed only half that. Banks are hesitant, with sales goals for Q2 and Q3 at 50% and Q4 below 10%. Now, the ministry has just six weeks to find 2 trillion rubles, with limited options: either devalue the currency or freeze and seize deposits, both at the expense of Russian citizens.
▪️Despite its self-reliance narrative, Russia heavily depends on imports: 70% of non-food products, 75% of equipment, pharmaceuticals, and medical devices. The reliance is lower for food, about 25% - but given the attempts of the Ministry of Agriculture to lower the prices for basic foodstuffs by importing more, the devaluation of the ruble will increase the prices for most basic goods.
▪️High interest rates have pushed citizens to deposit an extra 7 trillion rubles into savings in 2024. With the ruble in freefall, the deposits lose their value rapidly – but Russians will not be allowed to withdraw their money for fear of a bank panic.
The current exchange rate of the ruble is likely to become a permanent fixture of the Russian war economy. The budget is exhausted, and new revenue sources are scarce. Economists predict a return to the record-low exchange rate of 121 rubles per dollar, seen at the start of the full-scale invasion, within two years. The Finance Ministry’s ambitious GDP growth target (+60 trillion rubles by 2027) is only feasible through continued devaluation of the ruble.
Ukrainian Defender singlehandedly repels a Russian assault consisting of six soldiers.
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Ukraine reveals fragments of new Russian missile following “Oreshnik” strike
▪️The Security Service of Ukraine displayed metal fragments, ranging from large to tiny, on artificial turf in front of a camouflage net at an undisclosed location on Sunday, according to AFP journalists.
▪️While the SSU did not name the missile type, it stated that it was unlike anything previously encountered. Oleh, one of the investigators, told reporters, "This is the first time fragments of such a missile have been found on Ukrainian territory."
▪️Investigators are analyzing the fragments and will later provide details about the missile’s characteristics. Oleh confirmed it was a ballistic missile, which caused damage to civilian and "other infrastructure" in Dnipro.
Medvedev suggested thinking about a transfer of nuclear technologies to enemies of the United States.
He wrote that on his Telegram channel.
“NATO are scumbags, bastards, an organization that shouldn’t exist because it was created against Russians…” average Russians express their views about NATO.
I wonder how many of them have actually visited a NATO country.
Components made in the United States and Europe have been found in missiles provided by the DPRK to Russia for strikes against Ukraine, CNN reported.
Russia has fired about 60 North Korean KN-23 missiles at Ukraine this year, according to a Ukrainian defense official.
Ukrainian officials have given CNN rare access to fragments from the wreckage of the weapons, which show the apparent extent of US- and European-made or designed circuitry in their guidance systems.
Crucial components used in the North Korean missiles are produced by nine Western manufacturers, including companies based in the United States, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, according to a recent report by Ukraine’s Independent Anti-Corruption Commission (NAKO), a civil society organization. Some parts of the KN-23/24 missiles they analyzed were produced as recently as 2023, suggesting a swift delivery pipeline to North Korea.
https://nako.org.ua/en/research/u-pivnicnokoreiskii-raketi-yaku-zbili-v-ukrayini-je-neshhodavno-virobleni-komponenti-zaxidnix-kompanii
https://edition.cnn.com/2024/11/23/europe/ukraine-north-korean-missile-attacks-western-components-intl/index.html
A video appeared online that reportedly shows a Russian sapper who gets run over as he tries to warn other Russian soldiers about mines on the road.
Watch till the end.
I can't verify the video. It appeared on Russian Telegram channels.
US National Intelligence declassified a report on the targeted assassination of Putin’s political rivals carried out by Russian special services abroad.
The report, released by Bloomberg, covers the period of 2000-2016 and documents the killings by various means of people who dared to defy Vladimir Putin – political dissidents, former spies, “insubordinate separatists in Ukraine”, and even political opposition leaders of other countries.
Namely, the report mentions the attempt on the life of then-candidate for President of Ukraine Viktor Yuschenko, who was poisoned in 2004. The intelligence suggests Russia was behind this.
The Russian hybrid war against Ukraine and the West far predates not only 2022, but even 2014. It has been Putin’s explicit policy line since he took office in 2000, and he uses a variety of dirty tactics to undermine opposition within Russia and pro-Western politics in its neighborhood. A peace agreement with Ukraine that halts combat will do nothing to stop this.
Source: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2024-11-22/putin-s-assassination-targets-revealed-in-declassified-memo
This is what a "willingly mobilized" Russian attack trooper looks like.
The reality is that even crippled people become canon fodder of Russia's "meat assaults".
Congressman McCaul: “If we allow Putin to take over Ukraine, we are projecting weakness. This would invite more aggression from Mr. Putin.”
He believes that the fall of Ukraine not only threatens the entire Eastern Europe, but may empower the “Unholy Alliance” of Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea – particularly in the Indo-pacific, leaving Taiwan vulnerable to Chinese attack.
Russia has provided North Korea with anti-aircraft missiles and air defense systems in exchange for sending North Korean soldiers to support Russia in the war against Ukraine, South Korea's top security adviser Shin Won-sik said in an interview with SBS.
"It is understood that North Korea has been provided with related equipment and anti-aircraft missiles to strengthen Pyongyang's weak air defense system," Shin said.
Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/south-korea-official-says-russia-provided-anti-air-missile-north-korea-yonhap-2024-11-22/
⚡️Russian Telegram channels report that ten ATACMS missiles flew towards Kursk region.
Locals report that an air raid alert was announced in the region and air defense was at work.
Waiting for more information.
Congressman McCaul, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, on the contact of Putin with Trump: “I know the President-elect has met with Putin and said, ‘please, do not escalate’. He is not taking the President-elect’s advice.”
Unclear when and where this contact occurred.
In any case, the congressman believes Ukraine needs to be “in the best possible position with the most leverage” if there are any peace talks – and supply of ATACMS bring Ukrainians closer to that position.
‼️Ukraine could fire French long-range missiles into Russia "in the logics of self defence" - Jean-Noël Barrot, Foreign Minister of France.
"We will support Ukraine as intensely and as long as necessary. Why? Because it is our security that is at stake. Each time the Russian army progresses by one square kilometre, the threat gets one square kilometre closer to Europe," Jean-Noël Barrot said.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czd5myvyrjzo
Z-bloggers report that General-Colonel Gennady Anashkin has been removed from his position as commander of the Russian Southern Group of Forces. The alleged reason is the "situation on the Siversk front" and his "unwillingness to inform the higher command about the true state of affairs."
According to Russian sources, General Anashkin provided false information to higher command, leading to significant losses for the Russian army in futile assaults near the settlement of Siversk. "Just recently, false reports came from Siversk about supposed successful breakthroughs, followed by poorly prepared column attacks on enemy positions, resulting in heavy losses and minimal gains."
The President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola called for the delivery of TAURUS missiles to Kyiv in an interview with publications from the Funke media group.
"This demand has broad support. Let's see if this leads to a corresponding shift in policy after the Bundestag elections," said Ms. Metsola.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz has long opposed the delivery of TAURUS missiles, while the Free Democrats and the Greens support sending such missiles to Ukraine.
📸Alain ROLLAND/EP