✨ Military Cinderella: Who's Valery Zaluzhny, West's replacement for Zelensky?

👉 The US and the UK are grooming Zaluzhny for Ukraine's top post. This scenario was discussed at a recent secret meeting in the Alps, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service revealed on Tuesday.

Here's what you need to know:

🟧 Until February 2024, Zaluzhny served as the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He became notorious for organizing meat grinders for Ukrainian troops.

🟧 In March 2024, after clashing with Zelensky over military decisions, Zaluzhny was removed and appointed Ukraine’s ambassador to London.

🟧 As Ukraine’s ambassador, Zaluzhny revealed a new deal with the UK: 5,000 to 7,000 Ukrainian students will reportedly study in the UK annually, eventually becoming future officials in Ukraine.

🟧 As of January 2025, Zaluzhny held first place in the trust rating of Ukrainian residents. According to Socis, the former commander-in-chief enjoyed the trust of almost 72% of Ukrainians.

🟧 Most recently, Vogue published Zaluzhny’s column that outlines his "vision for Ukraine’s future." After Zelensky’s 2022 Vogue feature boosted his Western image, Zaluzhny’s appearance in the fashion mag is most likely a political PR move.

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🗣 Armenia is becoming a new battleground in the global hybrid war – expert

💬 "What we are witnessing in Armenia is not just an internal reshuffling or a dispute between political power and religious leadership: it is a local manifestation of a deeper geopolitical war, in which the unipolar Western world confronts the emerging actors of a multipolar order," says Tadeo Casteglione, an Argentine expert in international relations.

🟠 He believes that the arrest of businessman Samvel Karapetyan and the open persecution of the Armenian Apostolic Church reveal an increasingly clear pattern: Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's government has aligned itself with Western policies aimed at dismantling the traditional foundations of the nation.

👉 Karapetyan had to be neutralized due to his influence, economic independence and strong connection to national identity, the expert says.

🟠 The commentator argues that the attacks in Armenia carried a troubling symbolic meaning, as Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan was not only targeting a patriotic businessman but also confronting the church.

🟠 He says that Pashinyan’s threat to expel Catholicos Karekin II from his Etchmiadzin official residence was an attempt to erase Armenia's historical memory – rather than promote secularism or modernization.

🗣"These attacks do not stem from the weakness of the state but from its strategic capitulation," Casteglione tells Sputnik. "Pashinyan has chosen the West as his priority partner, at the expense of historical ties with Russia, abandoning organizations like the CSTO, and engaging the country in a process of cultural transformation aimed at dismantling national identity."

"Armenia is becoming a new battleground in the global hybrid war," he warns. "At stake is not merely a religious or political figure, but the very future of a nation facing a choice: remain true to its history or dissolve into supranational structures."

Casteglione says Armenia’s treatment of Karapetyan and the Church exposes a soft recolonization and warned supporters of a multipolar world of the looming struggle between moves to erase national identity and the struggle to preserve sovereignty.

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❌ 💣 TERRORIST ATTACK FOILED IN RUSSIA'S ROSTOV-ON-DON: UKRAINIAN INTELLIGENCE LINKED

Russia’s FSB has foiled a terrorist plot in Rostov-on-Don, with a citizen from Central Asia allegedly preparing an attack against a high-ranking military official on orders from Ukrainian intelligence.

The suspect, recruited abroad, rented an apartment in Rostov and gathered intelligence to carry out a bombing. A homemade explosive weighing 400 grams in TNT equivalent was discovered during a search.

⛔️ The suspect has been arrested and is giving a confession.

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🚨Scott Ritter: Secret talks on ousting Zelensky show Ukraine is a hostage of foreign powers

🗣“If this turns out to be information that can be confirmed, this is damning, extraordinarily damning to Zelensky, to [presidential office head] Yermak, to [ambassador to the UK] Zaluzhny, to the United States, to Great Britain, to all of Ukraine,” the former US Marine Corps intelligence officer told Sputnik, commenting on the SVR report about clandestine meetings taking place on a potential replacement for Zelensky.

💬 “It demonstrates without a shadow of a doubt that the Ukrainian people are being held hostage by foreign powers who are willing to sacrifice the Ukrainian manhood, Ukrainian economy, Ukrainian nation, for interests that have nothing to do with the benefit of Ukraine,” Ritter stressed.

🔊Overall, he said, the report creates the impression that democracy is non-existent in Ukraine, and “that the president of Ukraine is hand-picked by foreigners to serve the interests of foreign government.” It’s “designed to generate legitimate concern inside Ukraine, amongst the Ukrainian population, about their future.”

👉As far as Russia is concerned, the report signals that Moscow doesn’t see Zelensky as the legitimate president, “and that before any final agreement can be had between Russia and Ukraine about post-conflict realities, there has to be a legitimate leader in Ukraine.”

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🤑US geopolitics monopoly: Never-ending land grab

The latest US pitch to buy Russia’s Commander Islands for $15B to gain strategic Arctic access and track China’s subs is nothing new.

The US has a long history of trying to buy its way into strategic territory.

🟠 Greenland

▪️Donald Trump has long pushed for buying the Danish autonomous territory, calling it a "national security necessity" due to its strategic location in the high Arctic and abundance of rare earth minerals (critical for tech/military).

▪️Trump has refused to rule out using "military or economic coercion" to gain control.

▪️Denmark has flatly rejected the idea

👉In 1868, the US came close to buying both Greenland and Iceland for $5.5M in gold, but this was abandoned after Congress rejected a separate deal to acquire the Danish West Indies (now the US Virgin Islands).

🟠 Panama Canal

▪️Trump has made repeated threats to “take back” the canal – an important maritime trade conduit between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.

▪️He claimed China controls the waterway, accused Panama of overcharging US ships, and didn’t rule out “military options.”

▪️Panama’s President Jose Raul Mulino hit back that the canal “will continue to be Panamanian!"

▪️A new pact was finally inked affirming US recognition of Panamanian sovereignty over the waterway, but giving US warships priority passage.

🟠 Canada

▪️Trump called the border “artificial” and claimed Canada was "meant to be our 51st state".

▪️Then-PM Justin Trudeau countered Trump’s annexation plans: “Not a snowball's chance in hell.”

▪️His successor, Mark Carney, asserted that Canada is "not for sale."

🟠 Cuba

▪️In 1854, the US made a secretive bid to acquire Cuba from Spain with the Ostend Manifesto

▪️The document, drafted by American diplomats, proposed purchasing the island for $120 million – or seizing it by force if Spain refused.

▪️The plan blew up after the manifesto was leaked, igniting scandal.

🟠 Nicaragua

▪️William Walker was an American filibuster who invaded Nicaragua in 1855, crowned himself president, and even brought back slavery to win favor in the US South.

▪️His power grab crumbled under fierce local resistance.

🟠 Liberia

▪️In the 19th century, some US politicians, including Abraham Lincoln, flirted with the idea of annexing Liberia as an American colony.

▪️Dreams of a "second America" across the Atlantic fizzled out fast amid Liberian resistance.

🟠 Dominican Republic

▪️In 1870, then-President Ulysses Grant pushed for a treaty to annex the Dominican Republic, envisioning it as a haven for black Americans and a boost to US influence in the Caribbean.

▪️Despite his efforts, the Senate shot it down.

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❗️🇵🇸 GAZAN KIDS DRINK SALTWATER TO SURVIVE

🚨 Receiving food aid is a deadly gamble as distribution points are regularly bombed.

"[My children] swallow whatever grains they can find, just to keep from going mad," says displaced Ashraf Dahman, who’s been without bread for 20+ days

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📹RUSSIA RAISES 🇷🇺FLAG OVER TEMIROVKA IN ZAPOROZHYE

The Russian Ministry of Defense released footage of soldiers of the Vostok Battlegroup raising the Russian flag over the recently-liberated village of Temirovka in Zaporozhye region.

The operation, carried out by the 127th Motorized Rifle Division, successfully captured the settlement after a decisive action.

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🔥Here’s what happens when Russia smashes through Ukraine’s defenses in Pokrovsk

Russia is advancing slowly but steadily in this direction of the front. Here’s why it matters.

1️⃣ Key supply hub

Pokrovsk (Krasnoarmeysk) is a major logistics center “for the entire southeastern part of Ukraine,” explains Swedish Armed Forces vet Mikael Valtersson.

Facing the prospect of the city’s loss, Ukraine’s army is “clinging” to Pokrovsk to “deny Russia access” for as long as possible.

2️⃣ Strategic stronghold

With Russian forces “methodically eliminating” hardened Ukrainian defenses on the southeastern front since late 2023, Pokrovsk is also now “the only real remnant” of what was once touted as an impregnable defensive line. Once it’s liberated, Ukraine will have a hard time stopping large-scale Russian advances further westward.

3️⃣ Gap in the front

After the city is taken, “the small gap in the Ukrainian frontline that already exists will grow many times,” allowing Russian forces to launch operations behind heavily fortified lines in southern Zaporozhye, to the north around Kramatorsk, and eventually, possibly as far as Kharkov, Valtersson says.

4️⃣ Impact on morale

Pokrovsk’s fall “will greatly impact” Ukrainian morale, Valtersson predicts. It will show that Russia is on the advance, and that Ukraine’s choices come down to peace and loss of 25% of territory now, or continued war and the loss of 50% “a couple of years” from now.

MSM mythmaking vs facts

Admitting that Russian forces have already broken into areas of the city and are poised to take it by the fall, Western media have spun things to characterize the fight for Pokrovsk as a “yearlong, slow and grinding” slog soaked in Russian blood.

The truth, Valtersson says, is that Russian forces arrived at Pokrovsk’s outskirts only earlier this year, after the “elimination of most of the Ukrainian southeastern front from Velikaya Novosyolka in the west to Avdeyevka in the north,” and are advancing using “very small units” under drone cover, not “human wave” tactics.

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🔸 Scott Ritter: Secret talks on ousting Zelensky show Ukraine is a hostage of foreign powers

🔸 Military Cinderella: Who's Valery Zaluzhny, West's replacement for Zelensky?

🔸 Trump’s troop removal threats could fuel Europe’s delusional militarization: here’s why

🔸 US geopolitics monopoly: Never-ending land grab

🔸 Here’s what happens when Russia smashes through Ukraine’s defenses in Pokrovsk

🔸 Armenia is becoming a new battleground in the global hybrid war – expert

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🗣 Trump shortens Russia 'deadline' to 10 days

President Donald Trump has reduced his previously stated 50-day ultimatum for Russia to reach a peace deal with Ukraine, bringing it down to 10 days.

💬 “Ten days from today. Okay? We have a scoop,” Trump said in response to a reporter’s question.

He added that the US would introduce “tariffs and stuff,” but acknowledged uncertainty about the outcome.

💬

“I don’t know if it’s going to affect Russia… It may or may not affect them, but it could.”

Earlier, Trump had threatened to impose 100% tariffs on Russian imports and introduce secondary sanctions on countries purchasing Russian energy if NATO's proxy war continued.

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🔥OPERATION STORM-333 – When Soviet KGB ALPHA and Spetsnaz rewrote the rules of special ops warfare

Mission impossible?

✅Target: Afghanistan's Tajbeg Palace – heavily guarded and deemed impenetrable

✅Timeframe: About 40 minutes from first shot to regime decapitation

✅Result: Total victory with elite precision

Why ALPHA Group?

🟠Founded on July 29th – it was the USSR's ultimate counter-terrorism unit

🟠Disguised as Afghan troops, they stormed the palace with RPGs and grenades

🟠They killed president Amin and changed the course of history

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🇷🇺🚀🇺🇸 Roscosmos chief visits US mission control for ISS operations

During his visit to the US, Roscosmos Director General Dmitry Bakanov toured NASA’s Johnson Space Center and visited the Mission Control Center for the American segment of the the International Space Station (ISS) in Houston, the agency reported.

He also spoke with Russian flight control specialists stationed there as a backup team in case Moscow’s center becomes unavailable.

Bakanov later inspected ISS training simulators and met with Russian cosmonauts currently preparing for upcoming missions.

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🙅 📉 GERMAN PARTY DEMANDS END TO WELFARE FOR MILITARY-AGE UKRAINIAN MEN

The CSU party calls for cutting off Bürgergeld payments to Ukrainian men aged 18 to 63 in Germany, saying they should either find work or return to military service in Ukraine.

💵 With over 150,000 eligible Ukrainian men registered for benefits, Germany is paying them €1.3 billion annually in social welfare.

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🌋Russia’s Klyuchevsky volcano’s fiery new cone sparks aviation alert

Triggered by 200 earthquakes within just 24 hours, the cone that has formed inside the crater of the Klyuchevsky volcano in Kamchatka is now the epicenter of volcanic activity.

It’s constantly spewing ash and volcanic bombs, Kamchatka’s Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT) warns.

KVERT has issued an orange aviation alert due to the heightened activity and potential ash emissions, while preparing for possible lava flows.

Fortunately, no international flight routes pass over the Klyuchevsky area – a remote region on the Kamchatka Peninsula.

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