🔸Only two British Navy destroyers operational – reports

🔸Israeli Air Force launches new strikes on Damascus – reports

🔸Newsweek shows map of supposed WWIII frontlines

🔸ABC to pay Trump $15 million to settle defamation lawsuit – reports

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🇷🇺📹Footage of Russian troops liberating Petrovka settlement in Donetsk People's Republic

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Is US-Turkiye cooperation in Syria viable? Analyst weighs in on ‘divergent approaches’

Turkiye’s long-term objectives in Syria suggest limited cooperation with the US, Mehmet Rakipoglu, director for Turkish Studies at the Mokha Center for Strategic Studies, told Sputnik as he commented on Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s recent claims about the “growing consensus” on Syria between Washington and Ankara.

“Unlike other actors in Syria, Turkiye has achieved notable gains and is positioned to play a decisive role in the [Arab] country’s political and social transformation. Turkiye is unlikely to share these achievements with the US in a broader collaborative framework,” Rakipoglu said.

While both the US and Turkiye “share an interest” in the fall of the Assad government, “their divergent approaches to key actors, such as the PYD [a Syrian branch of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK)], create significant barriers to deeper alignment,” according to the analyst.

On the other hand, US President-elect Donald Trump “might be open to negotiations and limited partnerships that align with Turkiye’s goals. This pragmatic approach could pave the way for selective, issue-based” bilateral cooperation, Rakipoglu added.

As for the two’s common goal of combating ISIS*, given that the terrorist group’s presence in Syria “has been vastly diminished, such cooperation seems unlikely soon", the pundit concluded.

*ISIS (Daesh, ISIL, Islamic State) is a terrorist group banned in Russia and many other countries

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❗️Russian troops have liberated the settlements of Vesely Gai and Pushkino in the Donetsk People's Republic, the Russian Defense Ministry announced

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❗️Russian forces shot down a Ukrainian MiG-29 aircraft of the Ukrainian air force and destroyed four US-made Patriot air defense missile launchers.

🇷🇺🪖More statements from the Russian MoD's daily briefing on the special military operation's progress:  
 
▪️Russia's Zapad Battlegroup improved its tactical position; Ukrainian losses amounted to more than 550 militants, one Iveco Light Multirole Vehicle and two Melara guns;
 
▪️Ukrainian losses in the Russian Vostok Battlegroup's responsibility zone amounted to 155 fighters;
 
▪️Russia's Sever combat group destroyed over 70 Ukrainian militants;
 
▪️Ukrainian losses in the Russian Tsentr Battlegroup zone of responsibility amounted to 280 soldiers;
 
▪️The Russian Dnepr Battlegroup eliminated 70 Ukrainian fighters.

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🇩🇪🇷🇺 Many German nationals are interested in moving to Russia, chairman of the German Council for the Constitution and Sovereignty Ralph Niemeyer told Sputnik

"There is stability [in Russia] and there is employment. We now see full employment in the country, which means that anyone who is looking for work can find it. The issue of migration is also being handled better than in Europe, so migration is not uncontrolled. There are many foreign workers in Russia, but they are all working and contributing to society in some way," Niemeyer said.

The politician has compared the Russian migration policy to the European one, noting that many migrants who come to Germany do not contribute to the country's well-being.

"That is why many people in Germany start to think, 'Perhaps there is a bright future for us in Russia and we would like to relocate there.' And I see that the Russian government is open to this idea, as they have made the process of moving, obtaining a work permit and settling in the country relatively easy. This is a very attractive prospect," Niemeyer said.

In early September, the German Interior Ministry said that the country would tighten controls at all of its land borders starting from September 16 to tackle irregular migration.

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❗️🚢 Two tankers request assistance after incidents in Russia's Kerch Strait

The cargo vessel Volgoneft 212, with 13 crew members onboard, is in distress in the Kerch Strait and has requested assistance, according to the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Crimea.

A tugboat, Merkuriy, has been dispatched from Kerch to aid the crew, and a Mi-8 helicopter from the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations has also taken off with rescuers on board.

Another tanker, Volgoneft 239, has likewise sustained damage in the Kerch Strait. The vessel is carrying 14 crew members and a cargo of petroleum products, as reported by the Ministry of Emergency Situations.

Footage from social media.

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🪖❗️Ukrainian losses amounted to over 400 soldiers in Russia's Kursk region in one day, a tank was destroyed, and five Ukrainian soldiers surrendered, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

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📹 The Russian Southern Transport Prosecutor's Office will check the implementation of legislation in the field of maritime safety after the shipwrecks in the Kerch Strait.

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Too busy to talk?

Hungarian FM Péter Szijjártó stated that Budapest has requested a phone call between PM Viktor Orbán and Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky, but the request was met with what he described as an "uncultured refusal," calling it "a fairly unprecedented case in diplomacy."

He added that Hungary, during its EU presidency, had done more than expected of a country its size and reaffirmed Budapest’s commitment to a peaceful resolution, pointing out that Russian forces continue to advance despite military aid to Ukraine.

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🇱🇧 Lebanese minister criticizes Israel's violations and Western bias in rebuilding efforts

"Israel respects no one; it violates the ceasefire, ignores international laws, and continues bombing and destroying across the south, even as the Lebanese army begins its deployment in the region," Lebanon’s Minister of Displaced Persons Essam Sharafeddine tells Sputnik.

On the issue of rebuilding Lebanon, the minister criticized Western priorities, claiming they focus on securing Israel's interests.

"The West wants agreements that guarantee Israel's control, while Israel itself seeks hegemony over the region and dominance over its oil resources," Sharafeddine says.

He also notes that Israel’s violations have exceeded 300 incidents, with international observers appearing more concerned with Israel’s interests than its actions.

Speaking about the situation with Lebanese refugees, Sharafeddine explains that most displaced people have already returned to their permanent residences.

"To date, residents of the southern region north of the Litani River, as well as 162,000 Lebanese who sought refuge in Syria at the start of the war, have returned home. We are now expecting the return of another 5,800 families from Iraq," he states.

Sharafeddine also criticizes ongoing Israeli strikes in Syria, including attacks on radar centers and weapon depots.

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Greater Israel: Fact, fiction, or regional power play?

The recent Israeli invasions of the Gaza Strip, Lebanon, and now Syria have not only escalated regional tensions but also reignited debates about Israel’s territorial ambitions. How does this connect to the concept of Greater Israel and why is it being discussed more prominently now?

▪️Greater Israel is a concept that stems from the denoscription of the Land of Israel featured in the Torah, an ancient Jewish religious text.

▪️Based on its denoscription, the boundaries of the biblical Land of Israel – the land promised to the Jewish people by God, as per the Jewish religious texts – stretched from the Euphrates to the “river in Egypt” (commonly interpreted as a reference to the Nile).

▪️This region thus includes not just the modern-day Israel but also parts of the modern-day Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Iraq, not to mention the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

▪️In 1967, the Movement for Greater Israel was formed in Israel shortly after the latter seized the Golan Heights, the West Bank, the Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip during the Six-Day War.

▪️The movement, which promotes the Greater Israel concept, called for keeping the captured land and settling it with Jewish settlers.

▪️Years later, Israel’s current Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich has insisted in an interview for the “In Israel: Ministers of Chaos” documentary (released in 2024) that “the future of Jerusalem is to expand to Damascus.”

▪️In September 2024, The Jerusalem Post published an article noscriptd “Is Lebanon part of Israel’s promised territory?” which prompted accusations of promoting Israeli expansionism and has since been deleted from the newspaper’s website.

▪️Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent declaration that the occupied Syrian Golan Heights would remain part of Israel "for eternity" also does little to dispel concerns about Israeli expansionist aspirations.

▪️In light of the circumstances described above, it is hardly surprising that a number of Greater Israel-related theories sprung up.

▪️One such theory claims that the two blue stripes on the Israeli flag are reference to the Nile and the Euphrates and symbolize Israel’s desire to expand in the space between these rivers. This accusation is rejected by Israel.

▪️In 1990, Palestine Liberation Organization chairman Yasser Arafat claimed that the Israeli ten agorot coin design features the map of Greater Israel and thus serves as proof of Zionist expansionism. This claim is also rejected by Israel.

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❗️Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu's government approves Golan Heights development plan, including strengthening settlements and doubling the population, according to his office.

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Killed in line of duty: Paying tribute to fallen Russian journalists

December 15 marks Russia’s Remembrance Day of Journalists Killed in the Line of Duty.

In this context, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova criticized UNESCO for its “biased” draft report on the safety of journalists and impunity for their killers in 2022–2023, which excluded Russian reporters. Ultimately, the report was not approved.

Let’s recall some high-profile murders of Russian journalists that have occurred over the decade.

Heinous crimes of the Kiev regime:

▪️Killed by Kiev shelling in 2014: Sputnik photo correspondent Andrei Stenin (Ukrainian fire aimed at a refugee convoy), Channel One cameraman Anatoly Klyan (killed when a bus carrying soldiers’ mothers came under shelling), VGTRK correspondent Igor Kornelyuk and Rossiya TV channel sound engineer Anton Voloshin (both killed by mortar fire while reporting).

▪️Killed in Ukrainian drone strikes in 2023-2024: VGTRK correspondent Boris Maksudov, Izvestia daily correspondent Semyon Yeremin, NTV cameraman Valery Kozhin, NEWS.ru correspondent Nikita Tsitsagi.

▪️Killed in the Ukraine conflict zone in 2022-2023: Sputnik war correspondent Rostislav Zhuravlev, Russian National Guard press service employee Sergey Postnov, chief editor of Tavria broadcaster Oleg Klokov.

▪️Assassinated in targeted pro-Kiev terrorist attacks outside Ukraine in 2022-2023: journalist Darya Dugina (killed in a car bombing orchestrated by Ukrainian special services in the Moscow region), war correspondent and blogger Vladlen Tatarsky (killed by an improvised explosive device in St. Petersburg).

The day in memory of journalists who died while performing their professional duties was established in Russia in 1991 following the murder of Russian television correspondents Viktor Nogin and cameraman Gennady Kurennoy, who covered the war in former Yugoslavia in September of that year.

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📹 Ukrainian restaurateur Evgeniy Klopotenko staged a culinary show at the ancient Kiev-Pechersk Lavra Orthodox monastery, the Ukrainian publication Apostrophe reports.

Believers criticized the chef's actions on social networks. The Ukraine Orthodox Church considers the incident as disregard for religious tradition and holy places.

"The Church should remain a place for prayer", "the atheists mock the holy place", "fear God" - wrote netizens.

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🇷🇺🇸🇾 The work of the Russian Embassy in Syria's Damascus continues, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

Earlier, Russia has evacuated some personnel from its foreign missions in Damascus, the ministry added.

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🇩🇪 Germany's Social Democratic Party to which Chancellor Olaf Scholz belongs intends to include a refusal to supply Ukraine with Taurus missiles in its election program, the Funke media group reports, citing a document.

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🧄😱 Space nukes, spy balloons and garlic: The art of American scaremongering

Republican Congressman Jefferson Van Drew has claimed on Fox News that alleged drone sightings over New Jersey were part of an Iranian plot involving a "mothership" off the US east coast, citing unnamed "high sources" despite a lack of evidence.

US Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, meanwhile, has stated that no evidence of foreign interference in drone activity over the country has been found, but the investigation continues. If only that was the only instance of scaremongering the American people were subjected to by their own authorities.

🔻Not just vampires are afraid of it

This December, the people of the United States learned of the existence of a terrible threat to their national security in the form of… garlic from China.

In a letter to the US commerce secretary, Senator Rick Scott claimed that garlic in China may be grown in unsanitary conditions and that its impact on the US security thus warrants an investigation.

🔻Weather balloons and the art of blowing things out of proportion

When a wayward weather balloon from China strayed into the US airspace by accident in February 2023, the Biden administration was quick to scream bloody murder and claim that the balloon was part of Beijing’s spy program.

The Pentagon did later admit that the balloon did not collect intelligence while flying over the US territory.

🔻Nuclear scare, now in spaaaaaace!

Iran, China – this list of bogus threats to the US would not be complete without Russia, would it?

In February this year, US media sounded the alarm over Russia’s alleged plans to deploy some kind of nuclear anti-satellite weapon in space, with the only proof of these plans essentially being “trust me bro” from the Biden administration.

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin himself refuted these allegations during an address to parliament, branding them baseless.

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