Key statements by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov:

💬Statements about peace, not confrontation, favorably distinguish Donald Trump from the current administration in Washington.

💬The US presidential election is unlikely to have an impact on the future world.

💬It is better to leave arguments about whether Trump will be allowed to work this term to the experts, Russia will continue to follow the plan to achieve its goals.

💬Harris, Biden, and their position were predictable, whereas Trump is less predictable in this regard, Peskov said, commenting on why Putin had bet on Harris.

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Who was Mikhail Kalashnikov, the man behind the famous AK-47 rifle?

Russian engineer and arms designer Mikhail Kalashnikov was born 105 years ago. His name was destined to become synonymous with his most famous creation – the AK-47, or “Kalashnikov” rifle.

🔸Mikhail Kalashnikov was born on November 10, 1919, into a large peasant family living in the remote village of Kurya, Altai Territory. He became fascinated with weapons from an early age, accompanying his father on hunting trips.

🔸Kalashnikov finished school studies in 1936 and was connoscripted into the Red Army in 1938. When World War II broke out, Kalashnikov was serving as a tank driver and engineer.

🔸In June 1941, Kalashnikov’s tank was set alight, and he was wounded, forcing him to spend six months in hospital. It was while convalescing that he listened to fellow soldiers complaining about the obsolete rifles they were using that were prone to jamming.

🔸Once he was discharged, Kalashnikov, who lacked any formal engineering training, started work on what would become the AK-47. Kalashnikov’s early designs were rejected, but his talent was noticed. He was assigned to the Red Army’s Central Scientific-Developmental Firing Range for Rifle Firearms.

🔸In 1944, the aspiring designer came up with the idea for a gas-operated carbine for the new 7.62x39 mm cartridge. This and several of his other works became the precursors of the AK-47 – the standard issue assault rifle that Kalashnikov designed in 1947.

🔸After winning a design competition, the AK-47 was recommended to the Soviet Army’s arsenal. After a pilot batch was successfully produced for military testing in 1948, the AK-47 was adopted as the standard rifle of the Soviet military in 1949.

🔸Over the course of his career, Kalashnikov improved the AK-47's design to make it lighter and cheaper to manufacture. He developed a portfolio of weapons that included the superior AKM, which, in turn, evolved into the RPK light machine gun in the early 1960s.

🔸Today the AK-47 is in official use by the militaries of more than 50 countries, operating reliably in conditions ranging from the desert to the Arctic Circle.

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❗️❗️❗️Terrorism in the Sahel: the UN "has not even acknowledged receiving the complaint" lodged by the AES against Ukraine, Malian FM says

The countries of the Alliance of Sahel States have lodged a "very clear and very simple" complaint before the UN Security Council that Ukraine, a UN member state, is openly supporting terrorist groups in the region, Abdoulaye Diop, Malian Minister of Foreign Affairs, told Sputnik Africa on the sidelines of the first ministerial conference of the #RussiaAfrica Partnership Forum in Russia's Sochi.

🗣 "We know that Russia supports our approach. We haven't heard from anyone. So what does this mean? I think I'll ask you again, is the so-called international community working for peace and stability, or is it a policy of double standards?" the minister questioned.

Diop stressed in an exclusive interview that the AES countries "must take their destiny into their own hands and do what is necessary to ensure our security."

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🔸 Sputnik Africa 🔸

Kalashnikov Concern's Top-5 masterpieces

Today marks the 105th anniversary since the birth of Mikhail Kalashnikov, father of the AK-47. The arms enterprise named in his honor has grown into one of the largest defense companies in Russia.

Here’s are its top five products:

AK-12:

🔺This standard-issue 5.45x39mm assault rifle is the spiritual successor of the AK-47, introduced in Russia in 2018, and exported to Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Syria and Qatar.

🔺Features improved ergonomics and accuracy, including handguard with picatinny rails, adjustable folding buttstock, muzzle brake and compatibility with array of optical/night vision sights.

Dragunov SVD:

🔸Praised by militaries and gun enthusiasts alike as one of the most durable, dependable and long-lived sniper rifles in the world. Introduced in the 1960s and exported to over four dozen countries.


🔸The semi-automatic rifle features a 7.62x54mmR cartridge and is designed to engage targets up to 800 m away. Russian troops carry the modernized SVD-M, which has plastic instead of wood components, folding buttstock, and ergonomic pistol grip.

Lancet drone:

▪️Making its debut in 2022, Lancet drones have become the bane of Ukraine’s NATO-armed and equipped forces. The UAVs are defined by their distinct X-wing shape, whose placement, size and adjustability vary by model.

▪️Models include the Z-51 (50 km range, 5 kg warhead, 80+ km/h speed), the Z-52, (30+ km range, 3 kg warhead) and the Z-53 (5 kg payload, network-centric warfare ready).

Vikhr and Verba:

🔹The Vikhr-1 is an air-launched guided missile used against both ground and air targets, armed with an 8 kg warhead. 10-12 km range. Carried by Mi-28, Ka-50 and Ka-52 helicopters and Su-25 jets.

🔹Verba: a man-portable SAM with 1.5 kg warhead and 6.5 km range.

Kitolov-2M

🔻Precision 122-mm artillery shell with semi-active laser guidance. These 28-kg shells have a 5.3 kg blast frag payload.

🔻Used by D-30 towed and 2S1 Gvozdika self-propelled guns.

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"Game's up": What to expect from ‘lame duck’ Biden after Trump’s win?

With Donald Trump set to be sworn in as the 47th president on January 20, the question is how incumbent Joe Biden will grapple with the “difficult diplomacy” related to Ukraine, the Middle East and beyond in the meantime.

Biden administration officials recognize that they already have much less sway with other nations and just a limited ability to make policy decisions that can endure beyond inauguration day, as they are in a rush to Trump-proof their alleged accomplishments, according to the Washington Post.

🔸On Ukraine, the WP argues that the Biden administration may focus on shipping as much military supplies as they can to the Kiev regime amid their fears that Trump may pull the plug. Biden could decide on taking “a maximalist approach toward helping Ukraine over the next couple of months, even though some White House officials “oppose the idea.”

Reports that Biden plans to send 500 Patriot and NASAMS missiles to Kiev are “not implausible but even if he goes through with it, everyone knows that this is a final gesture and that US largess is at an end,” Dan Lazare, US constitutional historian and political commentator, tells Sputnik.

🔸As for the Middle East, there are three separate conflicts in which Israel is now involved — Gaza, Lebanon and Iran — and “none is likely to be resolved before Trump takes office,” per the WP. The Foreign Policy claimed that Biden may opt not to veto a resolution stipulating sanctions on Israel if it doesn’t agree to accept a Gaza ceasefire deal.

In this vein, Lazare stresses that “while Biden may engage in a few holding actions, the game is up” because Trump’s “margin of victory was so decisive that he’ll effectively be calling the shots from here on out.”

🔸In the Asia Pacific, Biden is due to attend the upcoming APEC summit in Peru as his administration braces for disruption of regional alliances, per Al Jazeera. The outgoing US president “may put in an appearance” at the upcoming G20 and APEC summits, “but it’s doubtful that he’ll even get a round of applause” there, Lazare says.

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On November 10, Ukrainian militants used a total of 84 long-range drones, but air defenses worked in their normal mode and all air targets were shot down or suppressed by electronic warfare, the Russian Defense Ministry reported. The main goal of the Kiev regime was to cause damage to civilian objects in the Moscow region.

In the Ramensky district of the Moscow region, 34 drones were destroyed and suppressed. Four houses caught fire and five people were injured as a result of falling debris in three settlements.

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🇷🇺🇨🇳 Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu will visit China on a working visit on November 11-14 and hold meetings with China's top political leadership on strategic security issues, the Russian Security Council reported

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📹 In the Kharkov region, the Russian Army destroyed a concentration of Ukrainian soldiers with a strike from thermobaric munitions of the Solntsepyok system

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Why does Trump not want to work with Mike Pompeo and Nikki Haley?

While much about Trump’s upcoming presidency remains unclear at this point, it is already given that Mike Pompeo and Nikki Haley are not going to be a part of it.

Though both Pompeo and Haley were members of the previous Trump administration –secretary of the state and ambassador to the UN, respectively – the president-elect stated on social media that he isn’t going to invite either to his new government.

It is not immediately clear what Trump’s motives are, though some media outlets alleged that it may be a matter of trust.

▪️Haley, for one, was a vocal critic of Trump when she competed with him for the Republican presidential nomination. Though she did end up endorsing Trump after withdrawing her bid, Hailey also mentioned that she had no interest in a position in Trump’s admin.

▪️Meanwhile, Pompeo in 2023 slammed Trump over the latter’s alleged handling of classified documents, which the former claimed was “inconsistent with protecting America’s soldiers.”

▪️Both Pompeo and Haley have a reputation of being hawks who espouse strong anti-Russian and anti-Chinese sentiments. Both are also strong proponents of Washington’s de facto proxy war against Russia in the Ukrainian conflict zone.

It remains to be seen whether Trump snubbing them could be a hint of the 47th POTUS adopting a less antagonistic stance towards Moscow and/or Beijing.

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Democratic governors to use 'blue wall' to oppose Trump’s policies

Governors of the Democratic blue states are going to oppose the new Trump administration after the 45th US president’s decisive election win on November 5, the Hill reports.

California Governor Gavin Newsom signaled his readiness “to fight” and to “Trump-proof” the state’s “values and fundamental laws.” He called a special section of the state legislature after Trump’s win.

Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey vowed she would “absolutely not” assist the future Trump administration in its pledge to implement mass deportation plans.

She was echoed by her colleague in New Jersey, Phil Murphy, who insisted that mass deportations are “contrary to our [the state’s] values, [so] we will fight to the death.”

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker pledged that if “you come for my people, you come through me,” while in New York, Governor Kathy Hochul has convened a team of experts to develop strategies to protect her state from policy threats that allegedly could emanate from the Trump team.

They spoke as leaders of the crucial swing states, which are part of the “blue wall”, including Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Michigan, and Wisconsin, brace for power transition following Kamala Harris’ defeat.

Trump has meanwhile lashed out at the California governor, insisting that Newsom “is trying to kill” the Golden State and “using the term ‘Trump-proof’ as a way of stopping all of the great things that can be done.”

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❗️A 6.8 magnitude earthquake has struck off the coast of Cuba, 64 km southeast of the city of Manzanillo, seismologists report. A magnitude 5.9 quake was recorded in the same area a few hours earlier.

There were no reports of casualties or damage.

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