❗️Russia will lift its self-imposed restrictions on deploying intermediate-range and shorter-range missiles if the United States begins deploying such systems, Putin said.

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❗️The number of modern weapons in Russia's strategic nuclear forces has reached 95%, Putin said.

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🗣Putin: West continue their attempts to retain their global dominance

“They wage hybrid warfare and pursue containment policies, including against Russia. They have set the goal of inflicting strategic defeat on Russia and continuing to provide the illegitimate regime in Kiev with weapons and money, sending their mercenaries and military advisors, thus promoting a continued conflict,” the Russian president said at the Defense Ministry meeting.

He also added that Western countries see themselves as “representatives of God in the world, even though they do not believe themselves”

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❗️The Russian military now advances an average of 30 square kilometres a day, Russian Defense Minister Belousov said.

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❗️The losses of the Ukrainian armed forces in 2024 exceeded 560,000 servicemen killed and wounded, Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov said. The total since the beginning of the war is almost a million people.

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🗣Russian forces have the strategic upper hand on the line of contact – Putin

More key statements by the Russian president on the US, NATO and the collective West to the Russian Defence Ministry meeting:

🔸 NATO countries are ramping up their military expenditures, while troop strike groups are gathering along Russia's borders.

🔸 NATO is increasing its presence in the Asia-Pacific region, practising the deployment of missile systems.

🔸 Russia will respond comprehensively to the risks associated with possible US missile deployments in the Asia-Pacific region.

🔸 The US and the West continue to try to impose their rules on the rest of the world and have not abandoned their attempts to maintain dominance.

🔸 The US continues to pump arms and money into Ukraine.

🔸 The US shrugs off all rules, and wages hybrid wars against 'undesirable' states, including Russia.

🔸 New military-political alliances are being formed in the world at the behest of the US.

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❗️In line with Putin's directives, Belousov proposed establishing a new military branch specializing in unmanned systems.

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⚡️📹 Watch the full speech of the Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Defense Ministry meeting.

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🗣Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov warned that the US missile defence base in Redzikowo in Poland, 165 kilometres from the Russian border, will be able to launch Tomahawk cruise missiles.

He also noted that the US will soon deploy intermediate-range missiles in Germany, which will be able to reach Moscow in eight minutes.

Belousov stressed that the experience of building an air defence system around Moscow should be used as a model for other regions.

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🗣Russian forces shot down 86 Storm Shadow and Scalp cruise missiles, 215 ATACMS ballistic missiles, 1,629 HIMARS rocket shells, and over 27,000 fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles this year, Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov said.

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🗣The situation on the battlefield will not change, even if Ukraine lowers the mobilization age to 14, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated during the Defense Ministry board meeting.

"I believe that lowering the mobilization age to 18 would already be a crime. Reducing it to 14, as was done in Hitler’s Germany with the creation of the Hitler Youth, would be another crime. It’s clear to everyone that this won’t alter the battlefield situation," Putin remarked.

He accused Kiev regime of acting under the orders of those whose interests it serves.

"Under their guidance, Kiev will go as far as lowering the mobilization age to 18 and sending boys to die," Putin said.

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Former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad quashed rumors about his decisions during the armed overthrow of the Syrian Arab Republic this month.

▫️Assad clarified in a statement that he never planned to resign or seek asylum, even as armed opposition forces gained ground.

▫️He stressed that staying in the country after "terrorists" seized power would have been pointless.

▫️Assad revealed that he learnt of the fall of Damascus after he had relocated to Hmeymim Airbase, used by Russian forces.

▫️Following instructions from Russian officials, he was evacuated from Hmeymim to a Russian base.

▫️Assad explained that he left his country after the collapse of the Syrian Arab Army and the paralysis of state institutions, but insisted that he did not abandon his people or the armed forces.

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🤿 Diving into marriage: underwater wedding in Moscow

The Moscow oceanarium made history by hosting its first underwater wedding.

Their love is so deep, it literally needs scuba gear!

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📹Breaking records at Helicopter Pilot Day

Two Mi-8MTV-1 “Killer Whale” helicopters, named for their black-and-white livery and built by Rostec’s Kazan Helicopter Plant, are flying across Siberia to their service base.

On Helicopter Pilot Day, celebrated in Russia on the second Saturday of December, they set a 1,900 km distance record.

Video by Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation

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❗️Ukrainian Foreign Minister, in the presence of EU ministers, rejected Hungary's proposal for a Christmas ceasefire, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said.

He added that no one at the EU Foreign Affairs Council supported Hungary's initiative for a Christmas truce in Ukraine.

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Israel’s Golan Heights settlement plan: build-up to backlash?

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government approved a plan to develop the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, aiming to double the Israeli population in the area, currently home to 30 settlements and 31,000 residents.

What’s in the plan?

🔸 An allocation of over 40 million shekels (approximately $11 million) to promote "demographic growth."

🔸A focus on expanding Israeli settlements, which currently total 30 and are home to 31,000 residents.

🔸 Initiatives planned include educational programs, renewable energy projects, and the establishment of a student village.

🔸 A development strategy aimed at facilitating additional settlements under the Golan Regional Council.

International reactions

🗣UAE: Warned that the plan could lead to "further escalation and tensions."

🗣Egypt: Decried it as a "violation of international law" and an impediment to peace.

🗣Saudi Arabia: Condemned the initiative as "sabotage" of Syria's stability.

🗣Qatar: Characterized it as a "blatant violation of international law."

🗣Turkiye: Accused Israel of expanding its borders through occupation.

🗣Germany: Urged Israel to abandon the plan, emphasizing that the Golan Heights is Syrian territory under international law.

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📐Sizing up America’s military footprint around the Asia Pacific

The United States has started its partial transfer of US Marines from Okinawa in Japan to Guam under a 2012 deal to reduce the burden of American troop presence on the island.

Here’s a look at the expanded American military footprint across the Asia-Pacific region, as part of its efforts to counter China’s growing influence (based on open sources):

🪖Japan: Approximately 53,700 US military personnel are stationed at around 85 air and naval facilities on Honshu, Kyushu, and Okinawa. Roughly 70% of the bases (32) are in the Okinawa Prefecture.

🪖South Korea: Around 25,400 US troops are stationed across over 70 Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine bases, with the largest being Camp Humphreys.

🪖Guam: Home to Joint Region Marianas, which combines Naval Base Guam and Andersen Air Force Base. The Aegis Guam System, integrated with the new AN/TPY-6 radar and Vertical Launching System, is part of an advanced air and missile defense system under construction.

🪖The Philippines: The 2023 Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement granted US forces rotational access to four new bases, in addition to the existing five.

🪖Taiwan: Joint training programs have brought more US forces to Taiwan, which Beijing considers a breakaway province.

🪖Australia: Darwin hosts an annual rotation of up to 2,500 American Marines. Additionally, Virginia-class attack submarines will form part of a rotational force at HMAS Stirling under the Australia-United Kingdom-United States (AUKUS) agreement.

🪖Papua New Guinea (PNG): A 2023 US-PNG security deal grants American forces access to PNG’s airfields and ports.

🪖Fiji: The US and Fiji are negotiating agreements to allow the Pentagon to station troops and store military equipment in the South Pacific island nation.

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❗️The Bundestag has passed a vote of no confidence in Scholz's government.

This paves the way for early parliamentary elections in Germany.

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