📹 Watch Russia’s Solntsepyok heavy flamethrower in action

Russian servicemen hit a temporary deployment point of Ukrainian troops in the Volnovakha region in the Donetsk People's Republic, eliminating up to 45 soldiers, the Russian Ministry of Defense said.

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🇩🇪 The right-wing party Alternative for Germany (AfD) has officially nominated Alice Weidel as its candidate for German chancellor.

Weidel, a 45-year-old business analyst from western Germany, has been co-head of the AfD since 2017 and is known for her Euroskeptic views. She has stated her intention to pursue peace in Ukraine and to halt the supply of weapons to the Kiev regime.

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📹🇸🇾 Syria's Air Force has struck several terrorist weapons depots in the southeast of Idlib province, a source in the country's defense department told Sputnik.

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🎯Oreshnik deployment in Belarus: Russia's retaliation to US missiles in Germany

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Belarussian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko have agreed on next year’s deployment of the state-of-the-art Oreshnik missile system in Belarus, where the launchers’ chassis of many Russian air defenses are currently made.

The move comes in response to what Lukashenko described as the West’s growing threat to the Union State of Russia and Belarus, an apparent nod to the US’ previous decision to deploy its intermediate missiles on German soil. Let’s take a look at official statements of the sides at the time.

🔸 Washington and Berlin: "The US will begin episodic deployments of the long-range firing capabilities of its multi-domain task force in Germany in 2026. These will include SM-6, Tomahawk, and developmental hypersonic weapons, which have significantly longer range than current land-based fires in Europe.”

🔸 US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan: “What we are deploying to Germany is a defensive capability, like many other defensive capabilities we’ve deployed across the alliance, across the decades.”

🔸 German Chancellor Olaf Scholz: This is a "very good decision" which is “exactly in line” with the German government's security strategy. “The decision has been in the works for a long time and is not a real surprise for anyone involved in security and peace policy.”

🔸 Germany Defense Minister Boris Pistorius: Germany needs a longer-term plan for investment in “appropriate long-range defense systems” to protect itself and Europe.

🔸 Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov: The move is “a very serious threat” to Russia, which would “take thoughtful, coordinated and effective measures to contain NATO."

🔸 Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov: “Without nerves and emotions, we will develop, first of all, a military response” to the move, which is “just another link in the chain of a course of escalation”.

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🎥🎥 Russian FM Sergey Lavrov speaks at the Doha Forum on Global Cooperation

👉 Watch the livestream here or on Sputnik's website

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🇰🇷 South Korea’s Parliament fails to impeach President Yoon

"With a total of 195 votes, the number of members who voted did not reach the required two-thirds majority of the total members. Therefore, I declare that the vote on this matter is not valid," National Assembly speaker Woo Won-shik said.

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🗣 Russia, Iran, and Turkiye have called for an immediate cessation of hostilities in Syria, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, commenting on the outcomes of the recent Astana ministerial meeting in Doha.

The three countries urged all parties involved to prioritize peace and stability in the region.

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🪖What makes Russian tanks superior to Western ones?

Thanks to their defense system and design, Russian tanks have proven to be highly resilient in the special military operation zone, while Western machines do not perform well, experts from Russia's Rostec corporation tell Sputnik.

Features that make Russian tanks bulletproof:

⚪️ Strong armor: numerous small explosives hidden inside help absorb the energy of the blast.

⚪️Automatic loading system: in tanks such as the T-72, it automatically loads the cannon, reducing the number of crew members and increasing the thickness of the armor.

⚪️Anti-drone protection: metal mesh shields protect the vehicle from enemy drones and projectiles.

⚪️Special camouflage: reduces the tank's visibility to enemy radars, infrared sensors, and optical systems.

⚪️Additional defenses: reinforced armored skirts, turrets and tenders, electronic warfare tools.

Russia’s technological innovations are particularly evident compared to Western alternatives, especially the UK-made Challenger tank, which “was reduced to dust and scattered over two hectares by a single loitering munition,” Rostec pointed out.

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🎥🎥 Russian FM Sergey Lavrov's press conference after speaking at Doha forum

👉 Watch the livestream here or on Sputnik's website

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🇰🇷 What are the chaebols who dominate South Korea's economy?

This week’s coup attempt in South Korea made headlines across the world, with several media outlets delving into the historic and economic aspects of this crisis mentioning the word “chaebol.”

So what exactly is a chaebol and why does it comes up so often when the South Korean economy is discussed?

▪️In layman’s terms, chaebol is a family-run business conglomerate, a handful of which currently dominate the economy of South Korea.

▪️The five top chaebols are Samsung (Lee family), LG (Koo family), SK Group (Chey family), Hyundai (Chung family) and Lotte (Shin family). Their wealth and power vastly exceed those of other South Korean business entities that qualify as chaebols.

▪️Chaebols rose to prominence in the 1960s during the reign of South Korean dictator Park Chung-hee who sought to make them the lynchpin of his economic development strategy.

▪️A former WWII Japanese collaborator, Park drew inspiration from the modernization of Japan during the second half of the 19th century, which was spearheaded by zaibatsu – business conglomerates that were each governed by a single family.

▪️Park’s strategy of providing funding to chaebols and subsidizing key sectors of his country’s economy such as electronics bore fruit and helped turn South Korea into East Asia’s economic powerhouse.

▪️A survey in 2016 determined that chaebols account for 77% of the South Korean economy, based on market capitalization. Today, chaebols and their subsidiaries generate nearly half of South Korea’s GDP.

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❗️Russian FM Sergey Lavrov said that the main task now in the situation around Syria is to stop the fighting

More statements by Lavrov:

▪️It is necessary to ensure the territorial unity and sovereignty of Syria, while ensuring the security of the border between Syria and Turkiye.

▪️The offensive of militants of the banned Tahrir al-Sham* group and disparate opposition groups in Syria has been prepared for a long time.

▪️It is unacceptable to use terrorists for geopolitical purposes, as is happening now in Syria.

▪️Russia will work with both the government and the legitimate opposition in Syria, encouraging them to negotiate.

▪️Together with Turkiye and Iran, Russia will take steps to ensure that the call for de-escalation in Syria is heard.

*a terrorist organization outlawed in Russia.

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📹🇫🇷 French demanding Macron's resignation protest in Paris.

The rally was organized by Florian Philippot's party The Patriots.

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Lavrov believes Western experts are analyzing Oreshnik's strike range in Belarus

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov expressed confidence that both Western and Russian experts are studying which military sites in the West and NATO countries would fall within the range of the Oreshnik missile system when it is deployed in Belarus.

A journalist at his press conference in Doha referenced expert calculations, noting that the deployment of Oreshnik in Belarus would put all of Europe and NATO bases in the Middle East within its strike range.

On Friday, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko requested that Russian President Vladimir Putin deploy advanced Russian weapons, including the Oreshnik system, on Belarusian territory. His request came following the meeting of the Supreme State Council of the Union State. Putin responded, stating that the deployment could take place in the second half of 2025.

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📑 Questions for Vladimir Putin’s end-of-year press conference are already being received and collected. They will continue to be accepted until the end of the program on the day.

Submissions can be made online through the website or Russian social media, as well as via SMS and phone calls.

Putin's annual end-of-year press conference, Direct Line, will be combined with a Q&A session and is scheduled for December 19 at noon Moscow time (9am GMT).

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