France proposed to Russia through closed channels to establish a dialogue on Ukraine without Kiev's participation - Lavrov

Russia is ready to hear what its French colleagues have to say about resolving the Ukraine conflict, but its hard to take their initiatives in earnest, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

“France has been the main champion of sending so-called peacekeeping troops to Ukraine, they have been training Ukrainian troops on their soil, and they keep saying in public that Russia should be hit further and Ukraine should have stronger positions when talks begin,” reminded Lavrov.

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❗️Russian troops liberated the settlement of Gigant in the Donetsk People's Republic, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

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🇷🇺🪖More statements from the Russian MoD daily briefing on the special military operation's progress:    

▪️Ukraine lost up to 530 militants in the Russian Zapad Battlegroup's area of responsibility.

▪️Russian forces hit the infrastructure of Ukrainian military airfields, drone production workshops and drone storage depots.

▪️Russian air defence systems shot down 11 HIMARS missiles and 56 Ukrainian drones.

▪️Ukraine lost up to 490 militants in the Russian Tsentr Battlegroup's combat zone.

▪️Ukraine lost up to 160 troops and two ammunition depots in the Russian Vostok Battlegroup's combat zone.

▪️Ukraine over to 95 soldiers in the areas of responsibility of Russia's Battlegroup Dnepr and Sever.

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🎥🎥 Vladimir Putin attends Supreme Eurasian Economic Council meeting

👉 Watch the livestream here or follow the link to the Sputnik's website

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Finland-Estonia underwater power cable cut: Helsinki claims sabotage possible

Finland is weighing the possibility of sabotage following damage to an underwater power cable between the Nordic country and Estonia on December 25, which resulted in a disruption of electricity supply, according to Finnish public broadcaster Yle.

At least two vessels were spotted in the vicinity where the cables are located, claimed Arto Pahkin, the head of operations of the Finnish electricity grid.

The EstLink 2 cable, which transmits electricity to Estonia, experienced a power cut, as confirmed by Fingrid. This left only the EstLink 1 cable operational, but with a reduced capacity of 358 megawatts compared to the 658 megawatts being transmitted prior to the disconnection.

Earlier, the underwater C-Lion1 data cable connecting Finland and Germany and running near the Nord Stream gas pipeline was severed in November, in Sweden's special economic zone.

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Vladimir Putin's Statements at the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council Meeting:

◻️ The EAEU has established itself as one of the independent and self-sufficient centers in the emerging multipolar world and continues to develop

◻️ EAEU activities contribute to the expansion of trade and deepening of cooperative ties, ensuring stable economic growth in the region

◻️ Russia values its cooperation with its EAEU partners and is interested in intensifying its work

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🗣Lavrov: Instead of preserving Syria’s unity, West selfishly scrambles for influence there

Instead of working to preserve Syria’s unity, the West wants to secure influence or maybe territory there, noted Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

It is emblematic how their representatives stoop to “habitual diplomatic rudeness,” he said, demanding that Syria stop cooperating with Russia, and threatening to deny Damascus support unless the new authorities oust Russia’s military bases from Syria.

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🎄Christmas even in space!

NASA shared stunning image of cosmic 'Christmas Tree' formed by Young Stars. The image is a composite visualization based on data from two telescopes.

The "Christmas Tree" cluster, first discovered in 1784, is a nebula made up of dust and gas located approximately 2,500 light-years from Earth.

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South Korea's acting president refuses to appoint judges to the Constitutional Court

Acting South Korean President and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo refused to appoint the missing judges to the Constitutional Court on Thursday in the absence of a political consensus, saying it was beyond his mandate as acting president.

Han said the ruling and opposition parties have "diametrically opposed positions" on the appointment of Constitutional Court judges.

On Tuesday, the opposition Democratic Party vowed to impeach Han over his refusal to ratify two bills to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate allegations against suspended President Yoon Suk-yeol and his wife Kim Keon-hee.

South Korea's parliament voted on December 14 to impeach Yoon over his controversial declaration of martial law. The Constitutional Court will make a final decision on the matter by June 11, 2025.

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🎄Amber wonderland: 200,000 shimmering 'needles' shape stunning Christmas tree

Craftsmen from Rostec's Amber Plant in Russia's Kaliningrad region have been working on the decorative tree since July, using a total of 43 kg of amber to complete the masterpiece.

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📉 CNN loses chunks of viewership as ratings dive into death spiral

CNN, just like a bunch of other liberal news networks, has been hemorrhaging viewership at lightning speed since Donald Trump’s electoral victory.

◾️ The Cable News Network has seen overall prime-time viewership plummet by 45% scooping up only 394,000 total viewers since November 5, according to Nielsen Media Research.

◾️ When it comes to the prime 25-to-54 age demographic, CNN suffered a 52% decline, with just an average audience of 77,000 having tuned in after Trump’s win. Overall, CNN witnessed its worst-ever performance among viewers in this key demographic.

◾️ Audiences feel that CNN “didn’t meet the mark” when covering Trump during the campaign, The Washington Post cited one journalist as saying.

◾️ Trump’s campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt had repeatedly criticized the “hostile environment” the network offered to the Republican contender.

◾️ CNN is also reportedly heading for major layoffs as part of an overhaul by its corporate parent Warner Bros. Discovery, which is up to its eyeballs in debt after its Warner Brothers and Discovery merger deal in 2022. By the end of the third quarter of 2023, WBD's gross debt stood at $45.3 billion, according to Forbes.

◾️ MSNBC’s ratings have also collapsed post-election, with the audience down 46% compared with the first 10 months of 2024, according to Nielsen.

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✨ Shenzhen’s sky-high extravaganza: Check out how Chinese drones perform their stunning aerial artistry

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❓What caused the unrest in Mozambique?

The Russian Embassy in Mozambique has called on fellow citizens to postpone or cancel their trips to the country due to the "difficult socio-political situation" in the region.

What happened in Mozambique?

▪️More than 1,500 prisoners have escaped from the main maximum-security prison in Mozambique's capital Maputo, taking advantage of ongoing political unrest over disputed election results

▪️Thirty-three people were killed and 15 injured in clashes with guards; about 150 fugitives have been recaptured, police said

▪️ The protests erupted earlier this week after the country’s highest court confirmed that the ruling Frelimo party, in power since 1975, won October’s presidential election

▪️ The opposition insists that the elections were rigged

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🗣The bodies of ten victims from the Aktau plane crash have been identified. Among them are three citizens of Russia, three citizens of Kazakhstan, and four citizens of Azerbaijan.

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📹FSB prevents terror attack on head of project that trains UAV instructors

The Russian special services (FSB) has prevented an assassination of the head of project Archangel, which trains UAV operators, in Moscow.

A booby-trapped diploma was hidden in a backlit frame. FSB thwarted the explosion, the perpetrator and the courier who delivered the letter were detained. There are no casualties, a spokesperson for project said.

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🔍Big business goes from disowning Trump to lavishing him with cash: what do they want?

Major companies that walked lockstep with the establishment in denouncing Donald Trump after the January 6, 2021 chaos at the Capitol have pulled an about-face amid his comeback, giving lavishly to his inauguration ceremony and hoping he’ll forget their statements about the “threat to democracy” he and his supporters purportedly posed four years ago.

Who are the biggest corporate flip-floppers, and what do they want from Trump?

📍PhRMA: Big Pharma trade group donating $1 mln (which means access to exclusive VIP events, including black tie ball and personal “candlelight dinner” with the Trumps). In 2021, PhRMA CEO Steve Ubl said the events of January 6 “violate the values of our nation” and paused donations to Republicans rejecting the 2020 vote’s outcome.

📍Ford and Toyota: Ford briefly froze political donations after January 6, and promised to vet politicians. Now they’re giving Trump $1 mln. Toyota, also pledging $1 mln, similarly halted donations to those refusing to certify Biden’s 2020 victory.

📍Stanley Black & Decker: Giving Trump $1 mln this time, up from an insulting $25,000 in 2017.

📍Intuit: Maker of popular DIY tax software has pledged a cool million amid reports Elon Musk’s DOGE is brainstorming a free tax filing app.

📍Kraken and Coinbase: Crypto trading platforms donating $1 mln in hopes of loosened regulations.

📍Charter Communications: Telecom giant pledging $1 mln – four times what it gave Trump in 2017, and nearly three times the $350,000 it gave Biden in 2021.

📍Uber: Another $1 mln pledge maker, which gave the Biden inauguration $1 mln four years ago.

📍Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, GM and AT&T also made generous (but undisclosed) donations. In 2021, Goldman and BoA’s CEOs expressed outrage over the “squandering” of US democratic goodwill and demanded a peaceful transfer of power to Biden. GM cancelled collaboration with Trump on legislation. AT&T CEO John Stankey called on Congress to “unite” around Biden.

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🇷🇺 🪖 Key statements from the Russian Ministry of Defense's daily briefing on the situation in the Kursk region:

◻️ Russia’s Battlegroup Sever hammered 14 Ukrainian formations in its combat zone.

◻️ In total, Ukrainian losses over the day amounted to more than 230 militants, with eight armored vehicles destroyed.

◻️ Since the beginning of combat operations in the Kursk region, Ukraine has lost more than 43,970 troops.

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Israel attacks airport and airbase in Yemen's Sanaa

◻️ Israel launched six strikes at an airbase and airport in the north of the Yemeni capital Sanaa, the runway and departure hall were damaged – local Sputnik source

◻️ The Al-Daylami military air base and its surroundings in the north of the Yemeni capital were hit, a source in local authorities reported to Sputnik

◻️ Israeli strikes also hit Hodeidah province in western Yemen, a source in local authorities reports

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