📹 Ballistic vs. cruise: how do these missile types differ?

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Oreshnik’s cousins: what will they look like?

While it can only be speculated at this stage how the new Oreshnik-type missile systems mentioned by President Putin at Friday’s meeting with defense officials, in all likelihood “they will have different ranges, payload characteristics, guidance systems, systems for combating enemy anti-missile defenses, systems for jamming enemy radar,” retired Russian Air Defense Forces colonel and missile expert Mikhail Khodarenok told Sputnik.

The observer can imagine a smaller, cheaper Oreshnik variant with a 1,500-2,000 km firing range, for example, or missiles equipped with maneuverable hypersonic glide vehicles.

“We will find out about it only after the missile has been used in combat, because at the development and testing stage, all possible measures are taken to prevent leaks about weapons’ characteristics. And in general, the greatest effect from a new weapon is achieved with its sudden, unexpected and massive use,” Khodarenok stressed.

How could Russia build Oreshnik so fast?

“We have a very large scientific and technical reserve for the development of intercontinental ballistic missiles, with the Yars ICBM for example. In principle, achieving a similar result with the Oreshnik with such a reserve is possible in fairly short order. The Oreshnik, I think, is a creative evolution of ideas embedded in the Yars,” Khodarenok explained.

“That is, it’s not a smaller version of the Yars, or a Yars missing one stage, but the development of the scientific and technical reserve, those technologies which our design bureaus and industry have today,” Khodarenok added.

Intermediate-range ballistic missiles like the Oreshnik “are in great demand” today, Khodarenok emphasized, particularly for a transcontinental power like Russia, and amid US plans to deploy new ground-based missiles in Europe and Asia.

“For the US, possessing this class of weapons is not a matter of life and death, since they’re separated [from their main adversaries] by oceans.”

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Fiji on the frontline: How America’s Pacific strategy seeks to squeeze China

Lloyd Austin became the first-ever secretary of defense to visit the South Pacific Ocean Island nation of Fiji this week.

The US and Fiji are working on a new “status of forces” agreement which would allow American troops to dramatically ramp up their presence in the island nation, Austin said, adding that the treaty will facilitate “military-to-military engagements,” including joint drills, training of Fijian troops and the deployment and redeployment of American forces. He assured, however, that the US would not be setting up a permanent base.

Fiji is the latest square in a strategic chessboard Washington is working to set up against China in America’s century-plus-year-old quest to dominate the Pacific, and its post-WWII “Island chain strategy,” which envisions the militarization of a network of islands in the region to stop China’s navy from freely maneuvering through the Pacific, and prevent commercial traffic from reaching the Asian nation in a crisis.

Besides Fiji, the Biden administration has ramped up US ‘containment’-related activities in a host of regional nations, including:

🔸 Approving a $400 million project to rebuild an airfield on Tinian Island in the Northern Mariana Islands, used in the final days of WWII to launch the bombers which dropped atomic bombs on Japan,

🔸 facilitating and overseeing a major military buildup by Taiwan, which China considers its inalienable territory, as well as Japan, Australia, Singapore and the Philippines (including through joint drills and missile deployments)

🔸 launching a new military command with Japan and South Korea, citing the “danger” emanating from China, Russia and the DPRK,

🔸 moving to upgrade a key air base in Guam that often hosts strategic nuclear bombers capable of targeting China,

🔸 mulling the permanent deployment of US nuclear weapons in allied Pacific nations,

🔸 planning to more than triple the budget of US Indo-Pacific Command from $3.5 bln this year to $11 bln in 2025 for infrastructure spending, naval ops, classified space programs and $1 bln for the Pentagon’s Maritime Strike program,

🔸 passing $4.83 bln in new spending to “deter China” in the Indo-Pacific in the spring,

🔸 inviting fellow NATO countries’ warships into Pacific waters for power projection and joint training,

🔸 inking a controversial defense pact with Papua New Guinea, which sparked protests last year over its secrecy,

🔸 and moving politically and diplomatically to try to sow chaos and undermine China’s political, economic and security outreach in the region, up to and including attempts to institute regime change in China-friendly nations, most recently in the Solomon Islands.

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🇮🇱🇸🇾🇱🇧Israel has attacked a border crossing between Syria and Lebanon, leading to temporary closure of the checkpoint, a Syrian military source told Sputnik on Saturday.

"Israel fired several guided missiles at the Jusiyah border crossing in the Al-Qusayr area of the Homs Governorate, as a result, it went out of order," the source said.

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The four factors making Russia’s missile ‘strong suit’ unstoppable

💬 “We are traditionally strong in this area. Because whereas the enemy at one time focused on the creation of strategic aviation and naval weaponry, one of the strong points of our design bureaus and the defense complex was strategic ballistic missiles,” Mikhail Khodarenok, a retired Air Defense Forces colonel who has written extensively on missiles, told Sputnik, commenting on the factors explaining Russia’s ability to make weapons like the Oreshnik.

“First and foremost, it’s necessary to mention the Moscow Institute of Thermal Technology and its head Yuri Solomonov,” Khodarenok said, referring to the rocket scientist whose design team has been responsible for or involved in the creation of almost all of Russia’s modern strategic systems, including the Yars, Topol-M, Bulava and Sarmat, as well as hypersonics.

Russian ballistic missiles can be “equipped with gliding hypersonic units, which dramatically increases their capabilities,” Khodarenok said, noting that these weapons’ speed and maneuverability makes them virtually unstoppable.

“Because the speed of approach of warheads and anti-missile missiles is extremely high – seven km per second or more (accounting for both the warhead and interceptor), a human operator in principle cannot control the process of gunnery…Everything happens automatically and by and large, firing is controlled by a digital computing complex.”

“If a warhead is approaching at hypersonic speed, but also maneuvering along the trajectory,” intercepting it becomes extremely difficult, the observer noted, emphasizing that after the interceptor makes its trajectory calculations, “but the warhead starts completely unpredictable maneuvers…all guidance is disrupted and the possibility of hitting the warhead is reduced to zero.”

“Plus, there are electronic warfare systems operating in the terminal stage, as well as dummy warheads. In such conditions, shooting simply becomes unrealistic,” Khodarenok summed up.

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🔸 Oreshnik’s cousins: what will they look like?

🔸 The four factors making Russia’s missile ‘strong suit’ unstoppable

🔸 Ballistic vs. cruise missiles: what’s the difference?

🔸 How many more troops can Ukraine connoscript?

🔸 Fiji on the frontline: How America’s Pacific strategy seeks to squeeze China

🔸 Protests in Poland

🔸 Bitcoin nears $100k: Exploring its market value and growing dominance

🔸 Farewell, Boeing and Airbus: Russian aircraft industry goes fully domestic

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Europe is hurtling towards new energy crisis with depleted reserves, short-sighted Russia sanctions

Europe is facing a repeat of the 2022 energy crisis. Gas inventories are fast being depleted after cold late-autumn temperatures increased heating demand. Sources that helped fill reserves in 2024 will be likely unavailable for several reasons, news site Bloomberg warned.

Despite the European Union’s efforts to cut off cheap Russian energy supplies, its gas still reaches central European nations Hungary and Slovakia. Austria also received Russian gas until Russia’s Gazprom suspended supplies to national energy company OMV on November 16.

Europe is bracing for a potential end to Russian gas supplies via Ukraine at the end of the year. Kiev announced it would not extend a transit deal contract between Gazprom and Ukraine’s Naftogaz.

The US Treasury announced a new round of sanctions against Russia on November 21 that includes Gazprombank and six foreign subsidiaries.

Those factors already impact EU gas prices, which have soared by 45% this year to over $500 per thousand cubic meters. Prices for next summer’s gas futures are even higher than for the following winter, projections based on broker data show.

Rising gas prices are expected to deepen the consumer cost-of-living crisis and pile pressure on manufacturers.

“This is beginning to resemble a 2022 scenario in which the EU purchased gas at any price,” said Arne Lohmann Rasmussen, chief analyst at Global Risk Management.

Germany, which has suffered the most from US-led sanctions on Russia and now relies on imports of liquefied natural gas, is once again likely to “suffer the most,” Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank AS warned.

Despite the EU’s efforts to end imports of its gas, Russia became the bloc’s largest gas source in September for the first time since spring 2022. Its share reached 23.7%, Sputnik calculated based on data from the European Statistical Office.

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🤡 Stage 1: Denial – Ukrainian regime denies the existence of Oreshnik

Advisor to the head of Zelensky's office, Mykhailo Podolyak, claimed that the Oreshnik medium-range hypersonic ballistic missile—fired by Russia on Thursday at a major military enterprise in Dnepropetrovsk, just days after the US and the UK approved the use of ATACMS and Storm Shadow missiles against deep targets in Russia—does not exist. The reality-challenging advisor made his statement live on the Ukrainian TV channel United News, as reported by the Ukrainian news website Strana. ua.

🗣 “There are no Oreshniks in Russia,” he said.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova ridiculed the contradictory statements coming from Ukrainian officials.

💬 “Advisor to the terrorist scum Podolyak says the Oreshnik missile doesn’t exist. A day earlier, Zelensky said it did. For years, these same people insisted the Crimean Bridge didn’t exist. Then, suddenly, they decided it needed to be destroyed,” Zakharova remarked, highlighting the inconsistency.

She added that the Kiev regime might want to first decide whether the Yuzhmash plant—the targeted military facility—was real to begin with.

💬 “Maybe, for starters, Bankova [street] should figure out whether Yuzhmash even exists?” Zakharova delivered the mocking comment on her Telegram channel.

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❗️ Gunfire erupted outside the Israeli embassy in Amman, the capital of Jordan – reports

The area was cordoned off by police, and medics rushed to the scene, Reuters reported, citing witnesses.

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❗️ Shooter near Israeli Embassy in Jordan killed, 3 police officers injured – reports

A shooter near the Israeli Embassy in Amman, Jordan, was killed, Reuters reported, citing a security source.

Three police officers were injured during the incident, the agency added.

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White House promises 'sprint' to protect Biden's 'legacy' from Trump

The White House promises sprint efforts to preserve the "legacy" and "productive" work of outgoing US President Joe Biden, who failed to win re-election for a second term and spent more than a third of his first term in country residences and on the beach.

💬 "President Biden is focused on ensuring the remainder of his term is as productive as any other period in the last four years," the White House press service said in a statement.

The press service claimed that the remainder of the current administration's time "is a sprint to build on the historic progress we've made under his presidency."

According to the White House, Biden plans to work hard on a program to invest in the US, seek confirmation of judicial nominees, and "continue to strengthen our Alliances and partnerships." The press service cites American media outlets that report on the administration's efforts to preserve and protect Biden's "legacy" from the incoming Republican administration.

Biden's opponents counted the days he spent outside the White House, in suburban or beach residences, throughout his tenure. According to the New York Post, the US president spent over 40% of his time in office on vacation. His term will be remembered for many embarrassments, slips of the tongue, and falls.

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🥴 Lindsey Graham threatens allies with sanctions if they assist ICC in arresting Netanyahu

US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham has threatened US allies with sanctions if they try to help the International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

🗣 "To any ally — Canada, Britain, Germany, France — if you try to help the ICC, we’re gonna sanction you," the senator said on Fox News.

When asked about the nature of such sanctions, Graham doubled down on his threat, saying the US should "crush" the economies of countries that support the ICC's efforts.

On Thursday, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Galant over alleged war crimes in the Gaza Strip. The court also dismissed Israel's objections to its jurisdiction over such cases. Israel has consistently challenged the ICC's authority to hear cases related to Palestine as a whole. US President Joe Biden called the ICC's decision "outrageous."

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🇻🇪Maduro’s firm stranglehold on fascism

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has announced the creation of the Great Anti-Fascist Youth Movement, calling for the "overthrow of what the Yankee empire is trying to impose on the world,” VTV reports.

At an anti-fascist forum in Venezuela, representatives from 72 countries adopted a declaration denouncing colonialism and the West's imperialist attempts to "exterminate free people.”

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