🚨FBI nabs neo-Nazi who planned drone attack on US power plant

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has arrested a 24-year-old Tennessee man who is charged with plotting to use a weapon of mass destruction in a neo-Nazi-inspired plot to destroy an energy facility near Nashville, Tennessee.

If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of life in prison, according to the US Justice Department.

US Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said that the man, identified as Skyler Philippi, was “dedicated to white supremacist ideology and the destruction of the US critical infrastructure.”

The 24-year-old “planned to attack Nashville’s power grid using a drone carrying an explosive device. Thanks to brave work by the FBI, his scheme was thwarted," Monaco added.

Before the attack, on November 2, Filippi took part “in a Nordic ritual, which included reciting a Nordic prayer and discussing the Norse god Odin,” the Justice Department said.

The FBI began investigating Philippi in June after a “confidential human source” who was in touch with him reported to the FBI his alleged desire to commit a mass shooting at a Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) facility near Columbia, Tennessee. Philippi was arrested shortly before the unmanned aerial vehicle was launched to attack the power plant.

The man’s arrest comes a day before the beginning of the US presidential election, in which former President and Republican candidate Donald Trump faces Vice President and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris.

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US crunch time: All you need to know about the presidential election

With America’s election day around the corner, Sputnik brings you some of the process' details.

🔸Voter eligibility: At least 186 million Americans aged 18 or over can vote for the 47th US president.

🔸Voting formats: The US presidential election offers three main voting formats: in-person voting on election day, early voting (both in-person and mail-in) before election day, and mail-in/absentee voting for those unable to vote in person. Each state determines the specific rules for these methods.

🔸Early voting: Election Day is set for November 5, but approximately 77 million people have already cast absentee ballots through early voting, a significant aspect of the election process.

🔸Availability of early voting: Early voting, aimed at increasing voter turnout, has been offered by US states since the 2000s. Every state allows some form of early voting, with mail-in or in-person voting as the most common options.

🔸State participation in early voting: In 47 of the 50 states, all registered voters can cast ballots early, except in Mississippi, New Hampshire, and Alabama, which only allow such a process for a limited number of approved reasons, such as having a disability.

🔸Candidates: Besides the main candidates - former President Donald Trump (Republican) and Vice President Kamala Harris (Democratic) - three additional candidates are in the race: Chase Oliver (Libertarian Party), Jill Stein (Green Party), and independent candidate Cornel West.

🔸Tight race: Polls show Trump and Harris are closely matched, especially in the seven key swing states: Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona, North Carolina, Georgia, Nevada, and Pennsylvania.

🔸Electoral College system: The winner is determined by the Electoral College not the popular vote. The Electoral College consists of 538 electors, often party activists, ex-military personnel, and media figures, representing each state.

🔸Winner-takes-all: In 48 states, the presidential candidate who wins the majority receives all of the state’s electoral votes. Maine and Nebraska differ, allocating two votes to the statewide winner and one vote to the winner of each congressional district.

🔸Electoral deadline: The Electoral College electors cast their votes in mid-December, which this year falls on December 17. A candidate must secure at least 270 out of 538 electoral votes to win. If no candidate meets this threshold, the decision goes to the House of Representatives.

🔸Results: Partial results are typically declared on election night and the winner is normally called some days afterwards, but the official tally occurs on January 6 during a joint session of the House and Senate. The vice president, as president of the Senate, announces the final result.

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🔸 US crunch time: All you need to know about the presidential election

🔸 FBI nabs neo-Nazi who planned drone attack on US power plant

🔸 Trump and Harris could end Ukraine conflict but don’t want to – US pro-Russian volunteer

🔸 Baerbock came to Ukraine to push for negotiations with Russia - German politician

🔸 How Kamala Harris could be made president through voter fraud

🔸 North Korea launched at least 7 ballistic missiles – Japanese Defense Ministry

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🗣 ‘They were afraid’ – Martindale on Ukrainian soldiers

American Daniel Martindale, who provided Moscow with intel for strikes against Ukrainian military targets while in Ukrainian-controlled territory, shared with Sputnik his take on the Ukrainian military.

“Their opinion was that there's no good reason to be here. They were afraid. They just wanted to go home. And even better, they asked if I could arrange and help get them to America. Their fighting spirit was completely gone,” he said.

At the same time, he noted that there were those still convinced of their Nazi ideas and the necessity to defeat Russia.

“One way or the other, I don't think that their morale is anywhere near as high as it was even a year ago,” Martindale said.

At the moment, the biggest weakness in the face of the Ukrainian military and foreign mercenaries is the lack of people, he added.

“There are not many soldiers left who are either willing or available to fight.”

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❗️American citizen who helped Russian forces: arms supplies to Ukraine deemed waste of money in US

Public support in the US for providing further military aid to Ukraine is waning, Daniel Martindale, a US citizen who voluntarily aided Russian troops in the Ukrainian conflict zone by supplying them with intelligence, has suggested.

According to him, even people who do not see anything wrong per se in providing arms to Kiev regard it as a “waste of money.”

“I don't think anybody in the US, or at least very few, are really seriously in support of continuing to spend money and send arms to Ukraine,” Martindale said.

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📹 'Trump will take down [Iran's] ring of fire and support our friends in Israel' - Neocon Mike Pompeo

The former US Secretary of State and CIA director delivered a speech at Trump’s final rally before election day. Pompeo is considered as a potential candidate for US Secretary of Defense if Trump secures a second term.

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❗️Key statements by the Russian presidential spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, at the briefing:
 
▪️US representatives who talk about the alleged presence of North Korean troops in the special military operation zone admit they have no definitive confirmation
 
▪️Kremlin calls information alleging Russia's plan of fires and explosions onboard transatlantic flights 'vague propaganda'
 
▪️Kiev regime and the collective West doing everything to internationalize conflict in Ukraine
 
▪️Kiev trying to do everything to involve Seoul in the Ukrainian conflict
 
▪️Kremlin calls accusations of Russia's interference in Moldova elections unfounded and unsupported by reliable information
 
▪️Vladimir Putin's speech on foreign policy issues expected at ceremony for presentation of credentials by foreign ambassadors

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❗️The Russian Armed Forces struck the infrastructure of military airfields, missile production workshops, Ukrainian energy facilities, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

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

◻️ Ukrainian losses reached a total of 560 militants and two American M113 armoured personnel carriers in Battlegroup Tsentr's area of responsibility.

▫️ Russia's Battlegroup Zapad has improved its tactical position. The losses of the Ukrainian Armed Forces totaled up to 510 soldiers.

◻️ Russia's Battlegroup Vostok repelled two counterattacks, enemy lost up to 120 militants.

◻️ Ukrainian losses reached a total of 580 troops in Battlegroup Yug's area of responsibility.

◻️ Russian Air defenses shot down a Hammer guided bomb and 17 Ukrainian drones.

◻️ Enemy losses in Russia’s Battlegroup Sever combat zone came to 70 servicemen.

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US Election Day: What to know about polling stations and first results
 
Americans are heading to the polls to vote for the next US president. Are the country’s polling stations already working, and what are the results?

🔸 The first ballots were cast in the minutes after midnight in Dixville Notch, New Hampshire, along the US-Canada border, with former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris splitting the tiny town's six votes.

🔸 The final count read out by officials in the early hours of Tuesday morning was 3 for Trump and 3 for Harris.

🔸 Polling stations open in as early as 5 a.m. ET in states like Vermont on November 5, and the last polls close at 1 a.m. ET in Alaska on November 6.

🔸 Some states are expected to start reporting results shortly after their polls close, including Indiana, Kentucky, Florida, Vermont, Virginia, South Carolina, and Georgia (between 6 p. m. and 7 p.m. ET).

🔸 More than 81 million ballots have already been cast in 47 states and the District of Columbia in early voting, according to data obtained by US media.

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☢️ The main points from the briefing by Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, head of Russia’s Radiological, Chemical, and Biological Defense Troops:
 
▪️In October 2024, plans for Kiev's "short circuit" operation to seize the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant were discovered;
 
▪️The shelling of critical facilities at the Zaporozhye NPP could lead to consequences comparable to the accidents at the Chernobyl NPP and the Fukushima-1 NPP;
 
▪️The special military operation did not allow the Ukrainian side to implement its own nuclear program;
 
▪️According to the plan to seize the Kursk NPP by Ukrainian militants, in the event of an accident there, Russia would be exposed to radioactive contamination;
 
▪️The existing capabilities allow Kiev to create a so-called dirty bomb;
 
▪️The Kiev regime is capable of provoking with the use of nuclear fuel, directed against the population of the Russian Federation;
 
▪️The training manuals for the Security Service of Ukraine employees touch upon the issues of using a "dirty bomb";
 
▪️Kiev delays IAEA reports on the amount of radioactive waste in the Chernobyl exclusion zone.

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📹 Trump showers Neocon Mike Pompeo with praise at final rally of 2024 presidential race

Pompeo served as CIA director and US Secretary of State during the first Trump administration. Pompeo was notorious for his aggressive foreign policy stances towards Russia, Iran, and China. In December 2023, Pompeo became a board member for Ukrainian telecommunications company KyivStar.

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