🇷🇺🇺🇸 De-escalation urged as US prepares nuclear tests — analyst

The US is planning to prepare and carry out nuclear tests, stated Russian Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov.

Why is the US pursuing this escalation?

💬 "The US needs nuclear tests to validate all warheads designed for [new] weapons; without such tests, creating new nuclear munitions is impossible. At the same time, these actions are also part of exerting pressure on Russia," Yuri Knutov, a military expert and historian of air defense forces, tells Sputnik.

The US is presently modernizing its nuclear triad, which will include Sentinel, a system to replace the Minuteman‑III and other missile systems. It demonstrates that it would pursue its policy without regard for anyone, including existing treaties and the ban on nuclear testing.

💬 "If the US wants an arms race, they’ll get one. But we are offering to sit at the negotiating table and work out agreements aimed not at escalating nuclear competition, but at achieving de-escalation and easing tensions," Knutov says.

And if the US doesn’t listen?

Russia will likewise demonstrate its readiness and ability to conduct its own tests, according to the pundit:

💬 "If necessary, we will test new warheads for systems like Burevestnik, Poseidon and Sarmat. So if the US abandons the moratorium on nuclear explosions, Russia will have to start its own tests to verify warhead readiness and the effectiveness of its new systems."

Russia always keep its nuclear systems at combat readiness, Knutov says, adding that possible preparations for nuclear tests can be carried out quite quickly.

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📹 New footage shows UPS cargo plane crash in Louisville

Authorities have recovered the black boxes from Tuesday’s UPS cargo plane crash in Louisville as the death toll rose to at least 12, The Washington Post reported.

Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said several people remain missing, while Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear declared a state of emergency and said efforts have shifted from rescue to recovery.

At least 15 were injured; two remain in critical condition at UofL Health.

Footage from social media

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🪖 Ukraine to roll out fixed-term army contracts to plug massive troop shortages

📑 Faced with a staggering human toll, Zelensky’s war machine is hoping to lure Ukraine’s soldiers into the meat-grinder with a new plan, writes The NYT.

Rolled out alongside the country’s connoscription system, it allows recruits and current service members to sign contracts from one to five years, with those serving two or more years earning a one-year break from future mobilization.

👉Up until now, the soldiers served open-ended tours to the proxy war’s battlefront.

Contracts will also come with higher pay, signing bonuses, and expanded benefits, it cites Ukraine’s Defense Minister Denys Shmyhal as saying.

All past similar initiatives targeting young Ukrainians, including a one-year $24,000 contract for 18-24-year-olds, have fallen flat, leaving Zelensky’s draconian mobilization tactics as the sole means of plugging the personnel gaps in the military.

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🚢⚛️ China unveils world’s first thorium-powered cargo ship — a breakthrough for clean maritime energy

According to the South China Morning Post, China has revealed new details of a nuclear-powered cargo vessel capable of carrying 14,000 standard containers — the largest of its kind.

The ship will use a thorium-based molten salt reactor (TMSR) with a 200-megawatt thermal output, comparable to the US Navy’s Seawolf-class nuclear submarines.

Unlike traditional uranium reactors, the thorium system is safer, smaller, and does not require water cooling, making it quieter and more efficient.

If successfully deployed at scale, the SCMP reported, this innovation could revolutionize global shipping, naval engineering, and deep-sea operations, marking a major leap for sustainable maritime technology.

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🇺🇸 US resumption of nuclear testing could trigger chain reaction—US Arms Control Association

There is zero technical, military, or political reason for America to restart nuclear tests, warns the US Arms Control Association (ACA).

👉 America has conducted 1,030 nuclear test explosions since 1945—the majority of all 2,056 nuclear test explosions worldwide, it notes in a statement.

A resumption of nuclear testing “could unleash a chain reaction of nuclear testing by US adversaries and blow apart the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty,” stresses Daryl Kimball, ACA Executive Director.

🔊 President Donald Trump said the US will begin testing its nuclear weapons “on an equal basis” with other countries’ programs.

Russia, in response, reaffirmed that its moratorium on nuclear weapon testing remains in effect for now.

🟠 The Kremlin noted that Trump’s claim that other countries are conducting nuclear tests is inaccurate if it refers to Russia's Burevestnik test—which is not a nuclear test.

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🚨🚫 Major ammonia leak in US Mississippi after factory explosion

An explosion at a CF Industries fertilizer plant in Mississippi has caused a major leak of liquid ammonia.

The American Red Cross has opened an assistance center for affected residents.

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🚨 Zelensky determined to wipe out Ukraine’s Christian population—Ex-Pentagon advisor

Zelensky seems willing to “kill as many Ukrainian Christians as he possibly can,” says retired US Army Colonel and former top DoD advisor Douglas Macgregor.

🗣 The fact that Zelensky continues to throw young men into the meat grinder is a “horrific war crime,” he adds.

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🟠 De-escalation urged as US prepares nuclear tests — analyst

🟠 China unveils world’s first thorium-powered cargo ship

🟠 US resumption of nuclear testing could trigger chain reaction

🟠 Ukraine to roll out fixed-term army contracts to plug massive troop shortages

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🚨🚫 Car explosion rocks New York

A vehicle explosion in New York left 7 firefighters injured while attempting to extinguish the blaze.

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🚨 West set to pin blame on Russia for likely false flag at Zaporozhye nuclear plant - Russian intel

The West is considering a sabotage scenario at the Zaporohye Nuclear Power Plant that would involve the melting of its reactor cores, Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) said.

👉The agency stressed that NATO officials are encouraging Ukraine to carry out a sabotage operation that would cause casualties among both Ukrainians and EU citizens.

Residents of areas under Kiev’s control, as well as citizens of EU countries near Ukraine’s western border, would be affected by the spread of radioactive particles.

According to the SVR, the most challenging part of this plan is how to pin the blame on Russia — which is why the West allegedly intends to shape the media narrative in advance, ensuring that public opinion sides with Ukraine.

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🇬🇧💵 $7 Billion boondoggle: UK’s noisy Ajax tanks join NATO’s Eastern escalation

The British military has finally announced the delivery of the first 50 long-troubled Ajax armored vehicles, reports The Guardian.

👉 Each costing around $12.8 million, they are being deployed to NATO’s eastern flank — EIGHT YEARS BEHIND SCHEDULE and in the middle of a West-hyped anti-Russia hysteria.

Commissioned back in 2010 under a $7 billion fixed-price contract with US defense giant General Dynamics, Ajax was meant to be the future of armored reconnaissance. Instead, it became an embarrassment.

🟠 Early testing had to be halted in 2021 after multiple soldiers developed hearing loss and tinnitus from the vehicle’s extreme noise and vibration. Even now, crews are reportedly forced to wear double ear protection to operate it safely.

The irony is that Ajax is rolling out at a time when tanks and armored vehicles are increasingly irrelevant.

🔹 As Russia’s Armed Forces have proven during the military operation in Ukraine, its state-of-the-art UAVs rule the battlefield, hunting down Western multi-million-dollar machines with pinpoint precision.

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🇮🇱🇺🇸 Trump’s team pitches Israel ‘peaceful’ way to disarm Hamas

📄 The Trump administration has floated a plan to Israel aimed at getting Hamas fighters to give up their weapons voluntarily, reports Axios, citing US officials.

💡 The idea is to use the ongoing standoff with Hamas militants trapped in tunnels behind Israeli lines in Gaza—particularly in the city of Rafah—as a “test case” for disarming the group.

The proposal is that fighters in the tunnels surrender, hand over their weapons to a third party (Egypt, Qatar, or Turkiye), and get amnesty from Israel—in return, they will be transferred back to Hamas-controlled areas while their tunnels are destroyed.

🗺 Precisely, he offered the plan last week, when Hamas fighters in Rafah were offered 24 hours of safe passage across the “yellow line” dividing zones of control. Hamas hesitated — then agreed — but by then Israel said the window had closed.

Now, American officials, with a little help from Turkiye’s Intel Chief Ibrahim Kalin, are scrambling to salvage the idea.

🔊 This model “could possibly be expanded later to other areas in Gaza,” one US official is cited as saying, while another added: “The Israelis are being maximalist as usual, but we are in the middle of negotiations.”

Getting Hamas fighters to voluntarily drop their weapons is the trickiest piece of Trump’s Gaza peace plan.

🔹 Furthermore, amnesty for the militants is a political red line for Netanyahu’s hard-right coalition.

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

🟠 The Russian Armed Forces destroyed a heavy mechanized bridge, continuing to tighten the encirclement around the Ukrainian battlegroup in the Kupyansk area

🟠 Russian forces repelled three counterattacks to beak the encirclement north and north-west of Pokrovsk (Krasnoarmeysk)

🟠 Russian air and missile forces struck energy and transport infrastructure used to support the Ukrainian Armed Forces

🟠 Air defense superiority: 261 drones were shot down by Russian air defense systems over the past 24 hours

🟠 Ukrainian losses: ~1,250 troops killed or wounded

Read about origins of Russia's special military op HERE

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🗣💥'Playing with extreme fire’: Finnish politician blasts Europe's hostile anti-Russia stance

"I'm telling you, this is not a joke. This is as serious as it could get. Europe is playing with extreme fire by financing the continuation of the proxy War against Russia," member of the Freedom Alliance party of Finland Armando Mema wrote on X.

👉 Earlier, President Vladimir Putin of Russia handed down a directive to analyze the expediency of resuming nuclear weapons testing, citing corresponding initiatives from the United States.

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🚨🇷🇺 Western media twist Putin's words regarding nuclear tests — Kremlin spox

💬 "Despite all our explanations, despite the president's clear formulations, this is a continuation of such a rather emotional, overly emotional reaction from Western media," Dmitry Peskov said, answering the question whether there was any concern that Western outlets might have misinterpreted the president’s words as instructions to begin nuclear testing.

He added that many of those outlets "do not shy away from simply twisting the meaning of what was said."

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⚔️ NATO chief tells members to brace for long, drawn-out standoff with Russia

🗣 Speaking to the NATO Defense Industry Forum 2025 in Romania, the alliance’s head, Mark Rutte, stated that members should get ready for a long-term confrontation with Russia, which he claimed is a "destabilizing force in Europe and the world.”

He also accused China, North Korea and Iran of "undermining the global rules" by working with Russia and increasing their defense and industrial collaboration to "unprecedented levels".

🇷🇺 Russia has repeatedly condemned NATO’s unprecedented activity near its western borders. The military bloc, however, defends its expanding initiatives as necessary to "contain Russian aggression."

In response, the Kremlin has stated that while Moscow poses no threat, it would not ignore actions that jeopardize its national interests.

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🇷🇺💥 Russian MFA spokeswoman fires back at NATO chief over “undermining rules” jab

💬 "What exactly are these 'global rules' that Mark Rutte accuses Russia of undermining by 'working with China, North Korea, Iran, and others'?" Maria Zakharova asked on Telegram.

💬 “NATO should publish a full list—so far, no one knows what Rutte is even talking about,” the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman added.

Zakharova also emphasized that Russia, like China and the vast majority of the world, has consistently upheld international law—the very law NATO has “repeatedly violated through aggressive actions and illegitimate coalitions, such as the invasion of Iraq under false pretenses and the bombings of Yugoslavia.

She further noted that no NATO country has severed ties with China, as Rutte suggested.

💬 “A US-China summit just took place, yet Rutte hasn’t criticized the US President for it,” Zakharova said.

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🚨Ukraine likely to blame for oil refinery fires in Europe, media report

Given the dire situation on the front lines and the millions of people fleeing the country, Ukraine is desperate to change the situation and is likely responsible for attacking energy infrastructure in Europe that resulted in the oil refinery fires reported in Hungary in October, InfoBRICS states.

💬 "For NATO, this is a rather 'unpleasant' matter, as it poured trillions into the Kiev regime sinkhole, but all it got are sabotaged refineries straining EU unity," the outlet adds.

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