❗️Ukrainian forces lost more than 150 soldiers in Russia's Kursk region in one day, and more than 29,250 militants during the entire period of military operations in this region, the Russian Defense Ministry reported.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Piranha 5: Russia rolls out ‘pocket drone’ for combat missions

Engineers from the Russian special design bureau, Piranha, created an advanced combat training mini-drone, which has already been mass produced. What should you know about the Piranha 5 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), and how does it help Russian servicemen?

FPV: Piranha 5 is a first-person view (FPV) kamikaze drone, which means that it is equipped with a camera that wirelessly transmits video feed to a pair of goggles, a headset, a mobile device, or another device. As a result, an operator has a first-person view of the environment where the drone flies and may capture video or still images.

Small and fast: The 12-centimeter drone, which weighs just 300 grams and has a payload mass of 1 kilogram, is capable of flying at a speed of 200 kilometers per hour. The range is up to 3 kilometers.

The drone will become a "flying school desk" for future FPV drone operators, a Piranya spokesperson told Russian media, touting the Piranha 5’s fairly simple design, which they said would help the operators study the structure and main components of the drone to master its repair.

Sharky: Thanks to its light weight and high-load capacity, the Piranha 5 can also be used to storm objects with limited space, the spokesperson said, adding that this “pocket drone” is best suited for performing tasks within a radius of 1-3 km.

“A serviceman can take three or four such drones on a mission. All you need is to launch the already equipped Piranha 5 to check a forest, a trench, or a communication route. If the desired object is found, you can destroy it; if not, put the drone back into your pocket and continue to perform tasks, the spokesperson noted, adding that this mini-drone is effective in clearing premises, both for surveillance and for striking the desired targets.

Notably, the drone pertains to the Piranha drone family, which was used by Russian forces to destroy Ukraine’s first US-made M1 Abrams tank in the special operation zone.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

📹🇪🇸 The King and Queen of Spain were pelted with stones and mud during a visit to Valencia as floods hit the country, killing more than 200 people

Video from social media

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

📹 ‘It’s gotta stop’: Trump calls for an end to the war in Gaza during a campaign stop in Michigan

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Why do Westerners choose to live and raise their families in Russia?

The long-standing propaganda narrative peddled by the West about Russia supposedly being a place no one in their right mind would move to has been dealt a serious blow by a veritable exodus of Western conservatives to the country.

Since 2021, some 3,500 people from the West have moved to Russia, with 31% of them coming from Germany, 25% from Latvia “and the rest, in descending order, from Italy, France, the USA, Canada and Australia,” according to The Spectator.

What are the reasons for these people to put down their roots in Russia?

Many of the more recent arrivals fled from “compulsory Covid vaccinations” in their countries of origin, the magazine notes, citing Maria Butina, a Russian MP who heads the effort to help Westerners settle in Russia.

There are also conservative Christians who would prefer to raise their children away from the intrusive “woke” ideology and LGBT* values that permeate Western culture and society.

Another group consists of those who fled from political persecution by agencies such as the FBI.

And then there are simply those who regard Russia as a land of opportunity unlike the stagnating West.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

📹Sputnik asked Russian taxi drivers what they think about the US elections and who, in their opinion, has a better chance of winning - Trump or Harris.

Western readers are delighted with Russian taxi drivers' answers!

▪️"Russian taxi drivers are smarter and realistic than American politicians."

▪️"People KNOW!!! The whole world knows!"

▪️"Great answers, each answer has truth in it, Russia has a well-informed public!"

▪️"Wise words from the drivers! Same circus, different clowns."

▪️"Ordinary Russians seem to be much more switched on to what is happening than your average westerner."

Haven't you watched the video yet? 👉🏻 WATCH IT NOW!

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Only half of 101 Israeli hostages held in Gaza Strip still alive - reports

About half of 101 Israelis who have been held hostage by Palestinian movement Hamas in the Gaza Strip for over a year now are still alive, Israeli daily reported, citing intelligence assessments and open source data.

The Israeli authorities estimate that 101 hostages remain in Hamas captivity, while 154 others, including the bodies of the deceased, have been returned.

Hamas is estimated to be still holding 51 living hostages. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu was cited as saying at a parliamentary commission meeting on foreign affairs and security in September that only half of the hostages were believed to be alive. Only 37 hostages were officially declared dead, and their bodies are still being held in the Gaza Strip.

The information comes from open data sources and intelligence assessments, but it does not allow the Israeli government to make official statements on the matter, the daily reported.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

📹 The line to vote in front of the polling station located in the Moldovan Embassy in Moscow remains, although its official working hours are coming to an end, a Sputnik correspondent reports.

Meanwhile, the turnout in the second round of the presidential elections in Moldova as of 21:00 Moscow time exceeded 53%, the Central Election Commission of the Republic reported.

The Moldovan FM reported that at the moment, more than 300,000 members of the diaspora have voted at foreign polling stations, this is an absolute record.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

▪️What is known on Russian Piranha 5 ‘pocket drone’

▪️Commander of Hezbollah rockets array eliminated - IDF

▪️Why do Westerners choose to live and raise their families in Russia?

▪️Only half of 101 Israeli hostages held in Gaza Strip reportedly still alive

▪️US elections: What should Venezuela expect?

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️ Moldova's Stoianoglo leading in 2nd round of presidential election with 51.75% of the vote, followed by Sandu with 48.25% – first results

Former Prosecutor General Alexandr Stoianoglo leads in the second round of the Moldovan presidential election with 51.75 percent, while 48.25 percent of votes have been cast in favor of Sandu, according to the first data from the central election commission (CEC), after processing 80% of the protocols.

The second round of the presidential election in Moldova is considered valid, the CEC head stated.

Voter turnout in the 2nd round of Moldova's presidential election stood at 54.18% as of 20:00 GMT, according to the CEC, with nearly 1.7 million citizens having voted, of whom more than 320,000 were abroad.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🗳 Stoianoglo leads in Moldovan presidential runoff with 50.81% – CEC on 90% of protocols

Former Prosecutor General Alexandr Stoianoglo leads in the runoff of the presidential election in Moldova with 50.81% of the vote, the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) said on Sunday after 90% of protocols were processed.

His opponent, incumbent President Maia Sandu, has 49.19% of the vote, the CEC added.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️🗳 Sandu takes lead in Moldovan presidential runoff with 50.09% after 92.2% protocols counted – CEC

Incumbent Moldovan President Maia Sandu took lead in the runoff of presidential election in Moldova with 50.09% of the vote, the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) said after 92.2% of protocols were processed.

Her opponent, former Prosecutor General Alexandr Stoianoglo, has 49.91% of the vote, the CEC added.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🚨EXPOSED: Non-US Citizen Successfully Votes in US Election – Report

Senator Marco Rubio joined CBS News’ Face the Nation broadcast on Sunday with Margaret Brennan to share a shocking story of a foreign national voting in the US presidential election. The senator made it clear that regardless of punishment for the action, the vote of a non-US citizen is going to count, suggesting a rather peculiar case within the US election system.

💬 “A Chinese national registered to vote and voted. And now he's being charged for doing that. But guess what? His ballot is going to count,” the senator emphasized.

Brennan attempted to add context to the situation, only to be reminded that “the vote still counts.”

💬 “In terms of the case you talked about in Michigan, we have tracked that. The secretary of state of that state has actually brought charges, has made that public. That individual may actually be deported…” the host said, as the senator pointed out once again that the illegally cast vote would still count in the election.

💬 “Yes. But that vote's still going to count,” Rubio asserted, expressing hope that the case is not widespread. “Now, whether that's widespread or not, I hope not, but these are things that are happening, and they need to be watched.”

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇦🇺🐕Australia is behaving like America’s lapdog

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️ Sandu claims election victory and says she will be president for all Moldovans

Second-term Moldovan President Maia Sandu is leading in the second round of the presidential election with 54.43% of the vote, while former prosecutor-general and opposition Socialist Party candidate Alexandr Stoianoglo has 45.57%, the Central Electoral Commission said after processing 98% of polling station protocols.

“I would like to express my gratitude to my voters for their active participation in the past elections. Moreover, every citizen's vote is a contribution to the future of the country, regardless of whom they favored—whether for me or my competitor Alexandr Stoianoglo. I support his call for the preservation of stability, calm, and peace in the republic. I pledge to be a president for everyone,” Sandu said at a briefing at her electoral headquarters.

She assured that regardless of political views, her priority remains stability in the country and the consolidation of trust between citizens.

Earlier, opposition presidential candidate Stoianoglo urged his fellow citizens to remain calm regardless of the election results.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️ US citizen who helped Russian forces says the process of granting him asylum has already begun

Daniel Martindale, a US citizen who voluntarily aided Russian troops in the Ukrainian conflict zone by supplying them with intelligence, said he believes the process of granting him political asylum in Russia “is already in motion.”

Having ended up in the (at the time) Ukraine-controlled part of Donbass after the escalation of the conflict in February 2022, Martindale managed to find a way to contact Russian forces and started informing them about facilities related to the Ukrainian military, while himself evading discovery.

After two years of helping Russia in this way, Martindale was extracted from behind enemy lines in a daring operation carried out by Russian forces.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt