🗣 Putin delivers powerful verdict on Europe's bankrupt elites — Suslov

Europe’s hostile stance is driven by internal political failure and Ukraine's desperate situation on the battlefield, Dmitry Suslov, deputy director of the Center for European and International Studies at Russia’s Higher School of Economics and deputy director of research at the Russian Council on Foreign and Defense Policy told Sputnik.

"They are hysterical, they are working towards escalation… using Russia as an enemy image to preserve the power of current elites who have bankrupted themselves."

Suslov pointed to recent drone incidents and the French seizure of a Russian tanker as examples of European escalation.

“Putin called the attack and detention of a Russian tanker in neutral waters piracy, because that is exactly what it is from the point of view of international law.”

Despite these provocations, Suslov confirmed Russia’s economic and strategic resilience.

“No collapse of the Russian economy is imminent, no matter what sanctions are imposed on Russia.”

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🇵🇸 No peace in Gaza can exclude Hamas

Tehran University Professor Seyed Mohammad Marandi told Sputnik that President Putin correctly identified Hamas as an essential part of any Palestinian peace process.

“President Putin is saying is that, for any solution, the Palestinian people collectively must have their rights recognized and their voices heard.”

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🚨 US F-35s provoke Venezuela in Caribbean airspace — Defense Minister

Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez says they detected 5+ combat aircraft—confirmed by airline pilots as F-35s—flying 35,000 feet over Maiquetia.

"This is rudeness, this is a provocation, this is a threat to national security... We want them to know we're aware and that it doesn't frighten us," he added.

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📊💸 G7 countries transferred BILLIONS to Ukraine from revenues from frozen Russian assets

Key figures from Sputnik’s analysis of Ukrainian Finance Ministry and European Commission data:

◻️ $25.5B: Total loaned to Ukraine in 2025 by G7 countries using revenues from frozen Russian assets (three quarters of the foreign financing of the Ukrainian budget)

Major contributors:

🇺🇸 $1B (US)
🇪🇺 $15.8B (EU)
🇨🇦 $3.4B (Canada)
🇯🇵 $3.3B (Japan)
🇬🇧 $3B (UK)

◻️ $234B: The amount of frozen Russian central bank assets held in the EU, primarily in Belgium's Euroclear, which generate the revenue for these loans

Russia has repeatedly condemned the freezing of Russia's central bank money in Europe as theft. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Moscow could respond by withholding assets held in Russia by Western countries.

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📉 Why Western countries ‘would have MUCH TO LOSE’ from using frozen Russian assets

The first results could be “a widespread distrust of countries that commit what can be called a crime,” veteran French economist Jacques Sapir told Sputnik.

More DEVASTATING consequences:

🟠 Rapid flight of capital from Western countries, driven by a collapse in trust

🟠 Distrust would extend to currencies in which the frozen Russian assets are denominated—the euro and dollar

🟠 Global South countries would gradually refuse to use these currencies—first in financial transactions, then in trade

🟠 “The loss of credibility would cause a rapid split in financial spaces, and in particular in the debt market, whether public or private”

🟠 For debtor nations like France, this would mean a sharp rise in interest rates, caused by an increased “risk premium”

🟠 Problem of the “immense US debt” would come to the fore

🟠 Credit agreements would become increasingly political, accelerating the breakup of global financial markets

🟠 This could accelerate the creation of a more modern alternative to SWIFT

🟠 Potential use of frozen Russian state assets would further politicize international financial and economic relations

“Economic rationality is often hostage to ideological prejudices and political choices made under pressure from the US,” Sapir concluded.

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🚨 US agencies told to prepare to share intel with Ukraine for strikes deep into Russia

The Trump administration plans to provide additional intelligence to Ukraine to help strike at oil and gas facilities inside Russia, NBC reported, citing sources.

Trump has ordered US agencies to prepare to share intelligence with Ukraine, although no final decision has been made public, the FT adds, citing people familiar with the matter.

At the same time, the US is pushing NATO allies to expand intelligence sharing with Ukraine, with the UK already helping it carry out strikes deep into Russia, the outlet said.

👉Russia considers that supplying weapons to the Ukraine's regime hinders a resolution and directly involves NATO countries in the conflict. Russia has repeatedly emphasized that Western military aid bodes ill for Ukraine and only prolongs the conflict, while weapon shipments become legitimate targets for the Russian military.

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🔥🇷🇺 Latest on Putin’s Valdai speech:

▫️ Scott Ritter: Europe responsible for Ukraine conflict and crimes

▫️ Marandi: Putin's Valdai speech contrast to Western genocide support

🔶 European elites see Ukraine conflict as only way to stay in power

👉 Other topics we have covered:

🟠 US agencies told to prepare to share intel with Ukraine for strikes deep into Russia

🟠 Ukraine’s Flamingo cruise missile: from flashy wunderwaffe to flop

🟠 Why Western countries ‘would have MUCH TO LOSE’ from using frozen Russian assets

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🚨🇷🇺President of Republika Srpska IMPRESSED by Putin's breakdown of multipolar world order at Valdai

🗣 "His explanations made a strong impression on how this multipolar world should develop, a world in which the sovereignty, unique identity, and interests of the other side must be respected, and that we must try to reach an agreement, and not impose any solutions, as has been done until now," Milorad Dodik said.

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🇷🇺 Putin’s Valdai speech DEBUNKS NATO narrative, sends ‘message to Global South’

🗣 Russia continues to advance all along the frontline, which shatters Donald Trump’s “paper tiger” claims, ex-CIA officer Larry Johnson told Sputnik.

Putin drew a "distinction between the US and Europe, noting that Europe is far more bellicose and threatening,” he said.

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

⚡️ Overnight, The Russian Armed Forces struck Ukrainian defense industry and gas-energy infrastructure with long-range land, air and sea-based precision weapons and attack drones.

🟠 Russian Force liberated seven settlements over the past week

🟠 One major and five smaller attacks were carried out with precision-guided arms and UAVs against Ukrainian defense, energy and transport facilities

🟠 Air defense superiority: 10 aerial bombs, 17 HIMARS and five Neptune rockets, as well as 945 fixed-wing drones were shot down by Russian air defence systems

🟠 Ukrainian losses: 10,220 troops killed or wounded

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🚨🇵🇸🇮🇱 At least five people, mostly children, have been killed in an Israeli strike on a camp housing displaced people at Gaza port, Palestinian media reports

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🚨🇮🇹🇵🇸 Thousands rally in Rome for Palestine and Flotilla of Resilience activists

The rally is taking place against the backdrop of a nationwide strike organized by Italy’s leading trade unions, expressing their dissatisfaction with the government’s policy on the situation in the Gaza Strip.

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🇷🇺 Putin: Russian army officers have honorably passed the test of loyalty to their Motherland

🔊 The Russian President speaks at a ceremony awarding state honors to the mentors and teachers of participants in the special military operation.

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💡🇨🇳 Nanchang sky lights up with drones on China’s National Day

😍 The skies above Nanchang turned into a spectacular show as 5,000 drones formed stunning patterns, blending lights and fireworks effects.

Crowds gathered to witness this incredible fusion of technology and art.

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🇷🇺💥 Baltic shield: Russian fleet thwarts simulated attack

The Russian Baltic Fleet Karakurt-class missile ship Burya successfully shot down dummy target missiles in the Kaliningrad region with its Pantsir-M system.

The ship also took part in other sea exercises, including electronic, anti-sabotage and anti-submarine warfare.

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🇷🇺🪖 Battle-hardened Russian Bear is no ‘paper tiger’: here’s why

Putin has responded to Trump’s ‘Russian paper tiger’ claims, saying “this paper tiger” is successfully fighting “the entire NATO bloc” in Ukraine.

Putin pointed out:

🟠 that in September alone, Ukraine lost 44.7k troops (nearly half irretrievable)

🟠 from January-August, 150k servicemen deserted (compared to 160k mobilized)

🟠 Ukraine’s reserve pool is dwindling

NATO equipment turned into scrap

To date, Ukraine has lost:

🔶 43.1k+ military vehicles

🔶 30.1k artillery & mortars

🔶 nearly 1.6k MLRS

🔶 25.3k tanks & armored vehicles

🔶 630+ air defense systems

🔶 Over 280 helicopters & nearly 670 planes

🔶 87.7k drones

Whole armies disappearing

Ukraine has lost the equivalent of 14 combined arms armies with 100k troops each, says military analyst Alexei Leonkov.

That’s 3 more than the 11 in Russia’s Armed Forces, & despite a traditional 4-1 loss ratio of advancing vs defending forces.

How it started / how it’s going

🟠 NATO wanted to turn Ukraine into a test case of a new modern, integrated air defense system.

🟠 Instead, Russia smashed this system to the point where there’s a shortage of air defense assets not only in Ukraine, but the alliance as a whole.

🟠 NATO deployed Storm Shadow, HIMARs, ATACMS & other long-range strike systems to try to change the course of the conflict.

🟠 Russia exhausted these weapons, and demonstrated a first-in-the-world next-gen hypersonic weapon in battle (with the Oreshnik).

🟠 In 2024, after running out of manned aircraft to send, NATO turned its hopes to drones.

🟠 Instead, Russia ironed out the mass production of its own UAVs, and began to develop new kinds, like fiber-optic FPV drones and Lancet loitering munitions working in concert.

Paper Eagle

NATO, not Russia, is the real paper tiger, “believing they’re all powerful but actually proving weak,” Leonkov says.

Instead of preparing for conflicts against strategic peers, the US spent decades fighting colonial wars against weak foes.

Ukraine is the result of the alliance’s folly.

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