🪖💥💣 Russian strike severs key Ukrainian supply route

Russian forces have destroyed a critical bridge over the Volchya River in the Dnepropetrovsk region.

The bridge was a vital artery for the Ukrainian military, used to transport ammunition and equipment to the Pokrovsk direction.

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🚨🇺🇸The Pentagon APPROVED sending long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine, saying US stockpiles wouldn’t be affected - CNN

But, according to the CNN, the final word rests with President Trump, who backed off after a call with Putin, saying the US “needs” the missiles for itself — leaving Zelensky waiting, and Europe watching.

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🥇 Everyone thinks gold is eternal — But what if it’s running out?

🔥 Gold's on fire in 2025: spot prices hit $4,035 an ounce on October 31, up 60% this year and smashing records at $4,371 just weeks ago.

📈 Analysts at Bank of America see price averages even topping $5,000 in 2026.

🔸 What’s driving the rally?

🔶 Central banks hoarding it — buying up to 900 tons of gold in 2025 - de-dollarization, and ETF inflows.

🔶 But the rally isn’t just about demand: It’s about scarcity.

🔶 Peak gold is in the rearview — annual mining output has flatlined since 2018 at about 3,000 tons.

🔶 Today, 190,000 tons circulate in jewelry, bars, and vaults worldwide, says the US Geological Survey.

🔶 Only 50,000 to 60,000 tons of gold remain in the ground — enough for just 20 years of mining at current rates, according to American Standard Gold.

🔸 New discoveries? Only five majors since 2020, totaling 17 million ounces, with none in 2023 or 2024, says S&P Global Market Intelligence.

👉 And the gold we do find is getting poorer — ore grades have dropped from 10 grams per ton in the 1960s to less than one gram today.

🔸 The world’s main remaining gold hotspots (USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2025) are:

🇦🇺 Australia - 12,000 tons (Yilgarn Craton)

🇷🇺 Russia - 12,000 tons (Siberian deposits and the Far East)

🇿🇦 South Africa - 5,000 tons (Witwatersrand Basin)

🇺🇸 US - 3,000 tons (Nevada)

🇨🇳 China - 3,100 tons

🇷🇺🇦🇺 Together, Russia & Australia hold around 38% of global unmined gold, valued at over $7 trillion at current prices.

🌏 The Earth's core might hoard more gold — but it's locked away, inaccessible.

🔶 Gold can be recycled — about 25 to 30% of annual supply comes from old jewelry and e-waste.

🔶 But recycling alone can’t replace mining.

🤔 So, are we witnessing the final gold rush — or just the beginning of a new golden era?

📍 Tomorrow’s markets will tell us whether scarcity becomes the ultimate driver…

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🌎 US atomic tests could open Pandora’s Box for 'new arms race & nuclear war'

🗣 A nuclear war risk is growing and Washington's apparent readiness to resume nuclear tests is making it more grave, warns Professor Peter Kuznick, director of the Nuclear Studies Institute at American University, in an interview with Sputnik.

💬 "All nine nuclear powers are modernizing their nuclear arsenals, making them more efficient and more deadly. On top of that, there's pressure to expand the nuclear arsenals," Kuznick tells Sputnik.

📍 To complicate matters further, other countries – including South Korea and Ukraine - are flirting with the idea of developing their own nuclear weapons, the professor notes.

🌍 The world is going the wrong direction and becoming more dangerous.

🟠 US unready for nuclear tests

🔶 If the US resumes nuclear tests, Russia and China will follow suit, according to the professor.

💬 "They actually have more to gain from this than the US does," he says, adding that it would probably take years before the US would be able to conduct new nuclear tests, as the Nevada test site has effectively atrophied.

🔶 At the same time, it would mean the end of the 1996 Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, which have not been ratified by the majority of nuclear powers.
Up until now, the US, Russia and China have abided by it: the last Russian nuclear test took place in 1990, China's – in 1996.

🟠 Reaction to Russian wonder-weapon?

🔶 The idea of resuming nuclear tests followed Russia’s trials of its cutting-edge weapons. Could the US boast anything like that? Not yet — and it would take years to catch up, according to the pundit.

💬 "The Burevestnik and the Poseidon [missiles] are new science fiction-like, new generation of nuclear delivery systems. You add that to the Oreshnik test back in November 2024," Kuznick notes.

🟠 Give peace a chance

🔶 The most logical response to Washington's breaking the de facto moratorium on nuclear tests should be “the United States is out of control," Kuznick says.

💬 "That would be what [Russia and China] should say and do and call for new talks to end this expansion, intensification of the nuclear arms race," the professor underscores.

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🔸 Moment of truth: Russia checkmates Ukraine’s false conflict narrative

🔸 US atomic tests could open Pandora’s Box for 'new arms race & nuclear war'

🔸 Pentagon APPROVED sending long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine

🔸 Ex-US Army officer: Burevestnik and Poseidon give Russia a major defensive boost

🔸 Everyone thinks gold is eternal — But what if it’s running out?

🔸 Bethlehem struggles under pressure: Tourism crippled by Israeli restrictions

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🇷🇺💪 Burevestnik & Poseidon — Russia’s deterrence that halts first-strike fantasies

🗣 The Burevestnik nuclear-powered cruise missile and Poseidon underwater vehicle greatly strengthen Russia’s deterrence, retired US Army Lt. Col. Earl Rasmussen tells Sputnik.

💬 “They should give serious pause to any thoughts of a first strike by the West or illusions among some US and NATO officials that they could ‘win’ a nuclear or conventional conflict,” he says.

👉 He calls both systems major technological advances that fit perfectly into Russia’s defensive and counterstrike strategy.

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🇷🇺 Russian artillery strikes Ukrainian troop concentrations near Krasnoarmeysk (Pokrovsk).

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🔎 🇷🇺 Russia seeks multipolar stability amid rising nuclear rhetoric from the US - Expert

🗣 "We are witnessing an unprecedented arms race driven by one simple reason — the modern world, unfortunately, understands only the language of force," Russia–Europe relations expert Sadki Zaher Osman tells Sputnik, commenting on Donald Trump’s nuclear testing remarks.

💬 "Trump’s proposed ‘Golden Dome’ air defense project looks prohibitively expensive, and many experts doubt its real effectiveness. Offensive systems have always outpaced defensive ones."

📍 Osman noted that Russia’s actions are not aimed at confrontation but at ensuring strategic balance and preventing global instability:

🟠 “Russia is acting responsibly. Its goal is not to threaten, but to maintain equilibrium and prevent the world from sliding into chaos. Every new system Moscow develops — whether defensive or offensive — serves this larger purpose.”

📍 He adds that Russia’s response also extends beyond the military sphere:

🟠 “Moscow is building a broader foundation for stability — strengthening alliances, promoting traditional values, and supporting a multipolar order where every nation’s sovereignty is respected. This is Russia’s real long-term answer to global turbulence.”

👉 Osman concluded that these measures reflect Russia’s consistent strategy to avoid one-sided dominance and promote a more balanced and just world order.

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🇷🇺 Russian Uragan rocket artillery destroyed a Ukrainian stronghold and troop concentration on the Konstantinovka axis.

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🇺🇸🤝 🇨🇳 Expert: US–China trade war far from over despite deal

The trade war between the US and China will continue, yet the chances for a longer and more stable compromise have improved, says Sergey Tsyplakov, professor at HSE’s Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs.

💬 “In the long term, there are no serious grounds to speak of an end to the trade war or the sharp confrontation between the two countries. The contradictions remain — they’re just postponed for now. Still, the prospects for a lasting compromise have increased,” he tells Sputnik.

Following their talks at South Korea’s Gimhae Air Base, Xi Jinping and Donald Trump reached a one-year agreement: the US cut tariffs on Chinese goods from 57% to 47%, while China eased “fentanyl tariffs” and agreed to resume purchases of American agricultural products and maintain free exports of rare-earth metals.

💬 “Both sides understand that a total economic rupture is impossible — it would cause unacceptable damage to each,” Tsyplakov notes. “But given the unpredictability of the current US administration, new escalations are almost inevitable.”

The expert emphasized that, for now, tensions have eased slightly — yet most trade barriers remain, and the truce is temporary by design, lasting only a year.

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💵 German Volkswagen suffers massive losses due to US tariffs in 2025

The giant car producer Volkswagen has reported a net loss of $1.24B in the third quarter of 2025, Deutsche Welle has reported, adding this is the first time the company has experienced quarterly loss in five years.

👉 Besides adjusting the product strategy of Porsche, part of the reasons for such performance are higher US tariffs, Volkswagen’s Finance and Operations head Arno Antlitz explained, per DW.

Overall, the new tariffs imposed on the EU by the US cost Volkswagen around $5.7 annually, the article noted.

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🇷🇺 Russian drones crush Ukrainian breakout attempts near Krasnoarmeysk (Pokrovsk)

▫️ Attack drones of the 2nd Combined Arms Army have repelled nine Ukrainian assaults and blocked another relief attempt from the direction of Grishino

▫️ Reconnaissance and strike UAVs now fully control the skies, targeting Ukrainian units refusing to surrender near the railway station

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🇷🇺💪 Russian armor in action: T-80BVM tanks destroyed fortified Ukrainian positions hidden in the forests of Dnepropetrovsk, while another tank crew struck an ammunition depot and firing point near Krasnoarmeysk (Pokrovsk).

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💻💥 Russian hackers crack Ukrainian insurance giants

Pro-Russian hacker groups KillNet and Beregini gained access to data from Ukraine’s largest strategic enterprises as a result of hacking the databases of the country’s insurance companies, a KillNet spokesperson told Sputnik.

🗣 They added that “after Russia’s victory in the special military operation, all the information will be used to identify individuals possibly linked to Ukrainian radicals.”

The information will also help initiate criminal cases against Nazis, the intelligence networks of the Main Intelligence Directorate and Security Service of Ukraine, as well as those who served in the Ukrainian Armed Forces or spread pro-Nazi propaganda online, according to the spokesperson.

👉 As a result of compromising six of Ukraine’s largest insurance companies, the hackers downloaded more than 10 million document packages related to individuals and legal entities, including green cards, insurance contracts, property insurance data, information about factories, vehicles, driver’s licenses, as well as video and photo materials.

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