Lack of battlefield success forces Ukraine to send foreign mercs on ‘revenge’ sabotage missions – expert

Realizing the impossibility of defeating Russia, Ukraine and its NATO curators are betting on expanding punitive “revenge” missions, Joao Claudio Pitillo, historian and researcher at the Center for the Study of the Americas at Rio de Janeiro State University (UERJ), told Sputnik.

Ukraine’s reliance on Western military personnel from elite units, such as the US Rangers, indicates that the regime in Kiev is having difficulty forming and training its own specialized troops, Brazilian naval reserve officer and defense consultant Robinson Farinazzo added.

"Such training takes a lot of time and requires experienced personnel. Ukraine may not have enough to cover both fronts," the expert said. He added that such sabotage units are, among other things, engaged in collecting intelligence on enemy routes, weak points, etc., which may subsequently prove useful for "NATO command and future operations on Russian territory."

An attempt by a Ukrainian sabotage team containing foreign mercenaries to covertly infiltrate Russia’s Bryansk region was thwarted by Russian border guards, with four saboteurs eliminated.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Iranian Supreme Leader's Hebrew-language X account back online

The account was suspended on October 27 for allegedly violating the platform's rules - the suspension lasted about a day. Khamenei's accounts in other languages remained available.

The suspension followed the publication of a post in which the Iranian spiritual leader pointed out "the mistake Israel has made against Iran."

Israel "should understand the strength, will and initiative of the Iranian nation," the post read.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇬🇪🇭🇺Georgian Prime Minister Kobakhidze solemnly welcomed Hungarian Prime Minister Orban, who arrived the day before.

Earlier, even before the first results of Georgia's parliamentary elections were announced, Orban congratulated the ruling Georgian Dream party on its "stunning" victory, drawing criticism from the EU.

📌 Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🔸 New video shows weapons seized during Russian operation to repel attack by foreign saboteurs on Bryansk region

🔸 ‘Lack of battlefield success’: what forced Ukraine to send foreign mercs on ‘revenge’ sabotage mission to Russia?

🔸 Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban visits Georgia, receives a warm welcome from PM Irakli Kobakhidze

🔸 Iranian Supreme Leader’s Hebrew X account back online after suspension

🔸 Israel bans UNRWA’s activities inside the country

📌 Subscribe to @SputnikInt

⚡️A fire broke out on the roof of an empty building located on the campus of the Russian Special Forces University in Gudermes, in the Russian republic of Chechnya, after a drone attack. 

Head of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov confirmed that there were no injuries or casualties as a result of the incident.

The university’s activities have not been suspended following the incident; all services are functioning as usual, Kadyrov stated.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️Firuz Dadaboev, an IT specialist from Moscow with dual citizenship, has been sentenced to 13.5 years in a high-security penal colony for treason, having allegedly spied for the United States, according to the Russian Federal Security Service.

He was arrested in October 2022 while attempting to transfer classified materials to the CIA. Dadaboev confessed to the charges and expressed remorse for his actions, as reported by the security service.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman mocks 'neutrality' of US media in 2024 presidential race

Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, has mocked the supposed "neutrality" of American newspapers during the presidential race. Several prominent US media outlets have chosen not to endorse either candidate - Republican Donald Trump or Democrat Kamala Harris - because they are perceived as being supposedly "pro-Russian".

"This time, they can't support anyone, because both candidates have been labeled 'Russian'," she emphasized.

According to Zakharova, the American press has spent the last decade fabricating narratives about Trump's alleged connections to Russia. Additionally, she pointed out, Russian President Vladimir Putin humorously expressed ‘support’ for Harris' candidacy.

"The US media have thus driven themselves into a dead end," Zakharova noted.

Recently, three major publications - the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and USA Today - announced their decision not to endorse any candidate in the forthcoming presidential election

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

⚡️Hezbollah declares the name of new Secretary General

The legislative council of the Lebanese Hezbollah movement elected Naim Qassem as its new secretary general, the movement announced on Tuesday.

"The Hezbollah Legislative Council has elected Sheikh Naim Qassem as the new secretary general of the movement, who will continue to carry our banner with God's help," the statement said.

The previous Secretary General, Hassan Nasrallah, was killed by the IDF a month ago. Hashem Safieddine, who was previously seen as Nasrallah's successor, was eliminated last week.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

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

◻️ Ukrainian losses reached a total of 985 troops and a Leopard tank in Battlegroup Yug's area of responsibility.

◻️ Ukrainian losses in Russia’s Battlegroup Tsentr combat zone came to 500 soldiers and a Turkish-made Kipri armored vehicle.

◻️ Ukrainian losses reached a total of 480 militants and two ammunition depots in Battlegroup Zapad's area of responsibility.

◻️ Russian forces hit the Ukrainian General Staff's unmanned systems operation center;

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

As US missile stocks dry up, alarm raised over Pentagon's conflict response abilities

The United States is running low on certain types of air defense missiles due to aid provided to Ukraine and Israel. This has raised alarm about the Pentagon's capacity to respond to potential conflicts, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal, quoting US officials.

🔸 The Pentagon has not publicly disclosed its stockpile of missiles, citing the sensitive nature of the information. This decision is due to the potential risk of Iran and its allies gaining access to this information.

“Over the course of the last year, the Department of Defense has augmented our force posture in the region to protect US forces and support the defense of Israel, while always taking into account US readiness and stockpiles,” Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said in a statement.

🔸 The heavy reliance on the Pentagon's finite stockpile of missile interceptors has raised alarm bells regarding the capacity of the United States and its allies to satisfy the surging demand for these resources in both the Middle East and Ukraine. DoD analysts and officials are concerned that the Pentagon may exhaust its inventory faster than it can be replenished, potentially leaving the United States vulnerable in any future conflicts in the Pacific.

“The US has not developed a defense industrial base intended for a large-scale war of attrition in both Europe and the Middle East, while meeting its own readiness standards,” said Elias Yousif, a fellow and deputy director of the Conventional Defense Program at the Stimson Center in Washington DC. “And both of those wars are extended conflicts, which was not part of the US defense planning.”

🔸 The heavy use of weapons, particularly interceptors, in the Middle East is jeopardizing the Pentagon's capacity to engage in operations in the Pacific, as stated by Mark Montgomery, a retired admiral and senior director at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, a Washington DC-based conservative think tank.

“We’re spending a year’s worth of Standard Missiles—those are standard missiles that are supposed to be part of rearming ourselves for China,” he said. “So, 100%, we have, once again in the Middle East, set back Navy readiness to execute operations in the Pacific.”

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated that the Rheinmetall factory in Ukraine will be deemed a legitimate target for Russian forces. This announcement follows the declaration by the head of the German defense company that Rheinmetall is constructing four arms manufacturing plants in Ukraine, with the first one already operational.

Additional remarks made by Peskov include:

🔸 There are no plans for a meeting between the president and North Korea’s top diplomat, who is scheduled to be in Moscow on Wednesday.

🔸 Russia intends to launch a legal battle over the seizure of Russian-owned real estate in Finland.

🔸 Moscow has no desire or intention to interfere in Georgia's internal affairs.

🔸 The West’s incessant and unfounded accusations against Russia compel us to regard these claims with a sense of irony.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Are Hollywood celebrities being blackmailed into endorsing Kamala Harris?

In recent weeks, A-list celebrities such as Beyonce, Eminem, and Taylor Swift have been trotted out to endorse Kamala Harris. Many of these celebrities were compromised by their association with rapper P. Diddy, who is currently under investigation for sex trafficking charges, former US Army psychological operations officer Scott Bennett told Sputnik.

"These revelations have been discovered and written about in the past decade,” said Bennett, adding that “they have also recently been connected to Jeffrey Epstein and Israel’s Mossad blackmail operations.”

Epstein boasted of being a Mossad agent, a former girlfriend and victim of the late sex trafficker has claimed in a lawsuit. The unnamed American woman has accused the late sex trafficker of raping her at his New York mansion in a complaint filed against his estate in Manhattan federal court, the Daily Beast revealed earlier this year.

Similar claims were voiced by former Mossad agent and Israeli businessperson Ari Ben-Menashe. Epstein honey trapped American male politicians using underage girls to blackmail them into working for Israeli intelligence, Ben-Menashe had asserted in his book “Epstein: Dead Men Tell No Tales” released in 2019.

He had also claimed he used to be the handler of Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell’s father Robert, and was the one who introduced his daughter and Epstein to Mossad.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt