🇷🇺Russian frigate conducts exercises in English Channel
 
The frigate of the Northern Fleet Admiral Golovko has completed the passage of the English Channel and is proceeding to perform tasks in the Atlantic Ocean.
 
The crew of the Russian frigate is conducting exercises to ensure the functionalities of its anti-aircraft and anti-submarine defense systems, as well as its capabilities to diverge from dangerous targets in the strait zone under difficult conditions.

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❗️Ukrainian forces lost up to 470 militants and a Leopard tank as a result of the actions of the Russian Tsentr Battlegroup
 
🇷🇺🪖 More statements from the Russian Defense Ministry's daily briefing on the special military operation's progress:
 
🔸The Russian Dnepr combat group eliminated a Ukrainian field ammunition depot. Ukrainian losses amounted to 70 soldiers;
 
🔸Ukrainian losses amounted to 150 soldiers and a tank as a result of the actions of the Russian Vostok combat group;
 
🔸The Russian Yug Battlegroup repelled five Ukrainian counterattacks, with the enemy losses amounting to 765 militants;
 
🔸Ukrainian troops lost up to 60 soldiers in the area of responsibility of the Russian Sever Battlegroup;
 
🔸Russian air defense systems shot down six HIMARS MLRS shells and 71 Ukrainian drones.

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THROWBACK: Senator Marco Rubio, rumored to be named as Secretary of State for the incoming Trump administration, responded to pro-Palestine protesters who confronted him in the US Senate on December 2023:

"I want them [the IDF] to destroy every element of Hamas that they can get their hands on. These people are vicious animals."

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Zelensky makes Trump neocolonial pitch to continue support for Ukraine
 
Zelensky's "victory plan" has been built for the incoming Trump administration - with business deals beneficial to the US - to sway the president-elect, the Financial Times reports.
 

"Ukraine's proposals, elaborated with 'Trump in mind', suggest the country shares its critical natural resources with western allies," the newspaper writes, referring to people involved in drawing "the plan" up.

 
Another idea Trump may be interested in, is the replacement of US troops stationed in Europe with Ukrainian forces. Moreover, according to the article, Ukrainian businessmen seek to persuade the government to offer Trump “investment screening” powers, which would give him the right to "choose who can do business in the country."
 
Otherwise, Donald Trump could quickly conclude a peace agreement with Russia, disrupting western support for Ukraine, FT notes.
 
During his campaign, Trump repeatedly said that he could stop the fighting "in a day", and that his priority is to end the conflict, which he has described as a drain on US resources.
 
Putin has on numerous occasions said Russia has never refused to sit down at the negotiating table, and is ready for peace talks on Ukraine based on current realities and previously reached agreements in Istanbul.

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The Russian State Duma has adopted a law banning the adoption of children from Russia by citizens of countries where sex change is allowed.

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Trump's win gives Israel hope to 'apply sovereignty' over the West Bank - Finance Minister Smotrich 
 
Donald Trump's win in the US presidential election paves the way for Israel to "apply [Israeli] sovereignty to the settlements in Judea and Samaria (the biblical term some Israelis use in reference to the occupied West Bank)," Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said at a press conference, as cited by Al-Monitor.
 

“I have no doubt that President Trump, who showed courage and determination in his decisions in the first term, will support the State of Israel in this move,” Smotrich added.

 
During his first term, Trump enacted several policies favoring Israel, including formally recognizing Jerusalem as the country’s capital and relocating the US embassy there. He also recognized Israel's sovereignty over the disputed Golan Heights, a move that broke with long-standing US policy and international consensus.

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🇷🇺🪖Key statements from the Russian Defense Ministry's daily briefing on the situation in Russia’s Kursk region:
 
◾️Ukrainian forces lost more than 300 militants and 28 pieces of equipment in the Kursk border area;
 
◾️Russian troops repelled seven Ukrainian counterattacks;
 
◾️Ukrainian losses since the beginning of hostilities in the Kursk region have amounted to more than 31,700 servicemen.

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Ukraine's treasure trove: Find out why the West wants to get hold of these resources

Ukraine’s leadership appears to have made yet another attempt to entice the United States into ramping up support for Kiev’s war effort, this time making a move on president-elect Donald Trump.

According to Financial Times, Volodymyr Zelensky tried to pitch his so-called “victory plan” to Trump, who reportedly showed interest in one aspect of it: the offer to allow the United States to exploit Ukraine's abundant natural resources.

Here, Sputnik examines publicly available data to explore Ukraine's rare metal resources and why the West is interested in them.

▪️Uranium: Ukraine was the world’s tenth-largest producer of uranium in 2023, with annual output standing at about 1,000 tons.

▪️Titanium: The country has about 7% of the recorded world reserves of titanium ores; annual output stood at 5,400 tons.

▪️Lithium: Ukraine holds close to 500,000 tons of lithium oxide, a source of lithium; it makes the country’s lithium reserves one of the largest in the world.

▪️Graphite: Ukraine produced 5,200 tons of graphite in previous years, accounting for 0.5% of global production.

“They’re sitting on $10 to $12 trillion of critical minerals in Ukraine,” Republican Senator Lindsey Graham stated earlier, adding that he doesn’t want “to give that money and those assets to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin to share with China.”

Gilbert Doctorow, an international relations and Russian affairs analyst, told Sputnik that as “Ukraine has no sovereignty to lose” and “has a failing economy”, its “single most visible resource”, namely, black earth lands “have already been substantially (40%) sold off to international consortiums of agribusiness.”

Meanwhile, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte declined to welcome Zelensky’s “victory plan,” saying only that he and the allies “take note” of it.

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Israeli rockets obliterating a house in the southern suburbs of Beirut.

Footage from social media

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THROWBACK: Warmongering Mike Waltz, who is alleged to be the national security advisor in Trump's administration, has clearly promoted hawkish policies in the Middle East and direct military aggression against Iran:

"When we say we will not allow Iran to have a bomb, what does that mean and what are we prepared to do to stop it? The Israelis are very clear and we one need to be clear alongside them. But two need to be clear to the region that we will support Israel if they have to take action."

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Did the US deep state allow Trump to win?

On election day Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton suggested that the vote count might take days as in 2020, triggering election rigging suspicions among X users. However, Donald Trump was declared the winner the day after the election.

While some American commentators suggested that Trump voter enthusiasm was "too big to rig", others speculated that the vote-rigging mechanisms purportedly in place had been stopped by the ruling elites who reasoned that Trump could be maneuvered into pro-war positions and would be more successful in marshaling public support than Democratic candidate Kamala Harris. According to this argument, the deep state "allowed Trump to win."

"They [the US establishment] need a charismatic, populist firebrand to boost recruitment and spearhead the rush to war. Harris can’t do that. Harris had trouble attracting even a hundred supporters to her rallies," wrote US political commentator Mike Whitney, suggesting Iran could become the next target.

It would be easy to seduce Americans into a new military adventure if they are led by a popular leader, warned former Ronald Reagan official Dr. Paul Craig Roberts on his website.

"MAGA Americans are tired of losing wars," wrote Roberts. "They want to win. The military/security complex will have Trump supporters in the streets waving the flag."

The deep state is entrenched and institutionalized and has many ways to maneuver Trump to its purpose or block his efforts altogether, according to Roberts. Time will tell whether Trump will manage to outplay the establishment.

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Iran connects to Russia's Mir payment system: Why it matters

Russia's Mir and Iran's Shetab payment systems have officially been linked at a ceremony in Tehran, enabling Iranians to use their Shetab cards in Russia now, while Russian citizens will soon be able to use their Mir cards at ATMs in Iran.

Russia's financial system, touted by President Vladimir Putin as "absolutely healthy," now spans the globe. Which countries support it?

▪️Today, Mir cards can be used in 12 countries: Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Abkhazia, South Ossetia, as well as Cuba, Laos, Myanmar, Venezuela, and Vietnam.

▪️Eight other countries are considering joining the payment system: Indonesia, Egypt, Thailand, India, Nicaragua, Mauritius, Nigeria and Ethiopia.

When it comes to Iran becoming another country where the use of the Mir platform is allowed, “it will make financial cooperation between Russia and Iran smoother and more efficient through the instant conversion and transfer of their currencies,” Paul Goncharoff, veteran financial analyst and general director of consulting firm Goncharoff LCC, tells Sputnik.

Globally, there are other countries that “want the freedom to choose their own path to economic development and find themselves in close cooperation to develop and then integrate usable payment systems using their national currencies,” he adds.

“There is still ‘the Global South’, and a host of countries such as those participating in BRICS, SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organization), ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States), and MERCOSUR (Southern Common Market) [among others], with plans to connect financially to one or another degree over the coming few years,” Goncharoff concludes.

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