🚨Taiwan boasts US-designed Barracuda-500 cruise missile, China geared up

Taiwan has showcased its first missile to be jointly manufactured with the US defense technology startup Anduril Industries, Reuters reports.

Taiwan’s National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology plans to mass-produce the Barracuda-500 missile, which is expected to be worth about $216,493.

🔊Meanwhile, Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun has warned against “external interference” over Taiwan, cautioning that China will never allow any separatist attempts at Taiwan independence to succeed.

The US continues to supply advanced weaponry to Taiwan, a move that has consistently drawn sharp criticism from China.

✅Chinese authorities view Taiwan as an integral part of their territory and oppose any form of military cooperation between the island and foreign powers. The US’s growing defense ties with Taiwan are seen by China as provocative actions that undermine regional stability and violate the “One China” principle.

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🚨Origins of Special Military Operation: History of Ukraine Conflict

The political crisis in Ukraine was triggered by the events of Euromaidan. In November 2013, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych refused to sign an association agreement with the European Union, fearing it would disrupt existing ties with Russia. This decision sparked mass protests in Kiev.

The three-month standoff between security forces and protesters—many of whom were nationalists—resulted in dozens of deaths and a coup d'état.

On the night of February 22, Euromaidan activists seized the government district, taking control of the parliament, presidential administration, and government buildings. As a result of the coup, power shifted to the opposition. Legitimate President Viktor Yanukovych was forced to flee to Russia.

🔸In 2014, the authorities in Kiev initiated a systematic attack on the Russian-speaking population. Laws were passed limiting the use of the Russian language:

🔸Persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) of the Moscow Patriarchate became common, including church seizures and harassment of clergy.

🔸 After the 2014 coup, violent protests erupted in the eastern regions of Ukraine, where the Russian-speaking population was predominant, including in Donbass and Crimea. Residents of these regions demanded a resolution to the status of the Russian language and called for constitutional reform, including the federalization of Ukraine.

🔸 In an effort to protect their right to self-determination and native language, the people of Crimea overwhelmingly voted in favor of reunification with Russia in a referendum held on March 16, 2014. The region became part of Russia.

🔸In the spring of 2014, people's republics were proclaimed in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions. In response, the Ukrainian authorities accused the population of "separatism" and began a military operation in the region, which escalated into full-scale combat. Tanks and aviation were deployed against the people's militias. Cities like Donetsk, Gorlovka, Lugansk, and Debaltsevo were subjected to artillery shelling by the Ukrainian regime for years. Residential neighborhoods, hospitals, and schools were destroyed.

🔸The Minsk Agreements, signed in 2014 and 2015 with the mediation of Russia, Germany, and France, aimed to end the armed conflict and protect civilians. They called for measures like amnesty, recognition of Donetsk and Luhansk as special territories, and local elections. However, Ukraine violated the terms, with no ceasefire or troop withdrawal, and continued shelling Donetsk and Luhansk. European leaders later acknowledged the agreements were a tactic to buy time for Ukraine's military buildup, not to achieve peace.

🔸 Volodymyr Zelensky, who came to power in 2019, continued the repressive policies of the Kiev authorities toward the population in southeastern Ukraine. On February 17, 2022, the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics reported the most intense shelling from the Ukrainian Armed Forces in months.

🔸 On February 21, 2022, Russia recognized the independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, and on February 24, President Vladimir Putin announced the start of a special military operation in Ukraine in response to a request for assistance from Donbass.

🔸 Main Objectives of SMO:
*Ensuring the rights of Russian-speaking populations
*Legitimizing the will of the people
*Demilitarization (neutralizing the military threat and preventing *Ukraine from joining NATO)
* Denazification (stopping the spread of neo-Nazi ideology)

In September 2022, referendums were held in the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republic as well as the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions on joining Russia. The overwhelming majority of residents voted in favor of the step. On September 30, treaties were signed, officially incorporating the four regions into Russia.

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✅Kremlin unveils details of Putin's annual Q&A session

The annual Direct Line Q&A session with Vladimir Putin is planned for December, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

It'll be combined with a big press conference, he added.

➡️Putin's Direct Line is an annual televised Q&A program where the President answers questions from Russian citizens live on air.

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🗣Key statements by Russian PM Mikhail Mishustin at Moscow Financial Forum:

🔹The Russian stock market plans to attract ~$12 billion in foreign investments by 2030, it should be accessible to foreign capital

🔹Russia consistently ranks 4th in the world by economic size as the Russian economy is gradually adapting to current realities

🔹The capitalization of the Russian stock market should grow to two-thirds of GDP in the coming years

🔹The level of digitalization in financial services has surpassed 80%, and the national payment system operates stably

In 2025, the Moscow Financial Forum celebrates its 10th anniversary. This year's theme is "Financial System: Challenges and Tasks." The forum brings together officials from the government, businesses, public organizations, and top experts in finance and economics.

Each year, the forum discusses key issues in financial and economic policy, the long-term stability of Russia's financial system, and finds solutions for improving the country's financial sector.

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💸🧐 Golden Dome or Golden Goose? Pentagon continues to keep mum on missile shield’s cost

US Space Force General Michael Guetlein has completed a blueprint for America’s Golden Dome missile defense system, Bloomberg writes.

🟠 The Pentagon has declined to give any details about the system’s scope or cost, with Donald Trump earlier saying the network could cost $175 billion to complete, according to Bloomberg.

🟠 But the Congressional Budget Office estimates that the cost for Golden Dome’s space-based interceptors alone could stand at a whopping $542 billion over 20 years.

Trump previously claimed that the system would be "capable even of intercepting missiles launched from the other side of the world” and countering “next-generation” aerial threats to the US, including ballistic and cruise missiles.

The Golden Dome stipulates integrating several new elements into the existing missile defense system, which critics warn “will be a massive technical challenge with an astronomical price tag.”

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🚨🇷🇺💥 RUSSIAN MOD UPDATE: HUGE GAINS AND DEVASTATING UKRAINIAN LOSSES

🟠 The Russian Army struck energy infrastructure used to support the Ukrainian Armed Forces

🟠 Air defense superiority: 106 fixed-wing drones were shot down by Russian air defence systems over the past 24 hours

🟠 Ukrainian losses: 1,395 troops killed or wounded

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🇨🇺🔊Cuba slams US military buildup in Caribbean

Cuban FM Bruno Rodriguez has urged the UN to prevent the US from igniting a war in the region after the US military destroyed a Venezuelan drug vessel in international waters that was reportedly en route to America.

He warned that fighting drug trafficking in the name of American national security creates a “dangerous situation that threatens peace and security.”

“The United States is today the main financial center and the primary center for money laundering of foreign assets that originate from transnational organized crime, fundamentally drug trafficking,” Rodriguez stressed.

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🗣🇷🇺🇺🇸 Trump, unlike other Western leaders, understands the need to address the root causes of the Ukrainian conflict – Lavrov

Other statements by the Russian Foreign Minister:

🟠 Moscow wants to maintain the dialogue that has been established between the Presidents of Russia and the United States, and Washington also desires this

🟠 Trump’s disappointment with the pace of the settlement in Ukraine is partly explained by his desire for quick solutions, but this does not always work out

🟠 After the summit in Alaska, Trump started advocating not for an ultimatum on a ceasefire, but for a long-term settlement, and the US is not moving away from this stance

🟠 Trump showed an understanding that, for a settlement, the aspirations of Ukraine to join NATO must be forgotten

🟠 The US understands that the realities on the ground in Ukraine are not defined by a desire to "carve off" some territory

🟠 Trump’s envoy Witkoff is clearly focused on finding a balance of interests

🟠 Russia and the US are likely to have additional contacts with the US on Ukraine

🟠 Moscow is ready to seek compromises on Ukraine, provided that Russia's legitimate security interests are ensured

🟠 The World Bank has issued Ukraine dozens of times more loans over the past three years of the conflict than it has given to all African states combined during same period

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🚨🇷🇺Aircraft engines one of Russia’s competitive advantages – Putin

The Russian PD-14 engine exceeds global standards, the president added.

✅Only four countries in the world, including Russia, produce engines like the PD-14, Putin emphasized.

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🚨 Putin: Total of 700,000 Russian soldiers currently on line of combat contact in special operation zone

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🔥 Russian top-notch drones massively smash Ukraine's assets

Light and armored vehicles - destroyed ✅

UAVs - destroyed ✅

Troops deployment areas - destroyed ✅

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