🟠 Putin-Orban meeting: New spark in Russia-Hungary ties

🟠 Russian control over Volchansk crushes Ukraine’s frontline capability – expert

🟠 Zelensky’s top aide Andriy Yermak resigns

🟠 US drones for Ukraine no match for Russian countermeasures, keep crashing during tests – report

🟠 Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft delivers new crew to ISS

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🚨🇻🇪🇺🇸 Trump & Maduro allegedly held a phone call last week, discussing a possible meeting in the US – reports

US President Donald Trump and Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro held a phone conversation last week and discussed a potential meeting in the United States, The New York Times reported on Friday, citing sources.

The phone call took place late in the week, days before the US Department of State’s official designation of Cartel de los Soles as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) came into force, the sources told the newspaper, adding that there are currently no plans for a meeting between the two leaders.

🗣 Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the group as being “headed by Nicolás Maduro” and accused it of cooperation with other designated organizations, as well as “trafficking drugs into the United States and Europe.”

💣 People familiar with the matter told The New York Times that the broader US posture toward Venezuela — including military pressure and "anti–drug trafficking operations" — remains unchanged. Two individuals close to the Venezuelan government also confirmed to the paper that a direct call between Trump and Maduro had taken place, NYT noted.

❌ The White House and Venezuelan authorities declined to comment on the reported conversation, according to the newspaper.

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❌ Rubio expected to skip upcoming NATO foreign ministers’ meeting – reports

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected to miss next week’s NATO foreign ministers’ meeting in Brussels, Reuters reported, citing two US officials. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau will attend on Washington’s behalf, according to the report.

Reuters said it was unclear why Rubio planned to skip the December 3 gathering, noting that his schedule could still change. The agency added that the absence comes as US and Ukrainian officials continue talks over President Donald Trump’s plan to end the conflict, while some European diplomats have complained they are being sidelined.

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💸 US lawmaker cites Yermak case in call for audit of Ukraine aid

💬 “No do you see why we should have been auditing the cash being sent to Ukraine?” US Representative Anna Paulina Luna wrote on X.

The lawmaker was commenting on the recent searches at the home of Andriy Yermak, chief of staff to Volodymyr Zelensky, amid a corruption scandal.

💬 "Corrupt," she stressed.

Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau conducted searches at Yermak’s residence on Friday as part of an ongoing investigation, after which Zelensky announced that Yermak had resigned.

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🚨🇺🇸 US halts all asylum decisions pending enhanced vetting – USCIS

USCIS Director Joseph B. Edlow said the agency has paused all asylum decisions “until we can ensure that every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible,” adding that “the safety of the American people always comes first.”

The announcement comes after the shooting near the White House on Wednesday that left one National Guard member dead and another in critical condition, according to statements by President Donald Trump.

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🚨🇺🇸🇦🇫 US pauses visa issuance for all travelers using Afghan passports – Rubio

💬 “President Donald Trump’s State Department has paused visa issuance for ALL individuals traveling on Afghan passports,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote on X.

The announcement comes after the shooting near the White House on Wednesday that left one National Guard member dead and another critically injured.

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🔥 ‘It's fatal for them politically to admit that they were wrong’ – Galloway on European leaders pushing confrontation with Russia

In an interview with Tucker Carlson, former British MP George Galloway said European governments continue pushing confrontation with Russia not because they can win — but because they are “steeped in blood” and politically trapped.

Galloway argued that EU leaders have poured “hundreds of billions of euros, pounds, dollars” into what he called a “forlorn Charge of the Light Brigade,” and now fear admitting they were wrong.

💬 "These people are at rock bottom in public opinion approval rates... And so what choice do they have? It's continue to reinforce failure, to continue to throw good money after bad, to continue digging even though they know they're in a hole," he emphasized.

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🗣 US strikes on boats 'approved by the best military and civilian lawyers' — Hegseth

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth insisted the US strikes on boats in the Caribbean are “lawful under both US and international law,” saying the strikes are intended to “stop lethal drugs, destroy narco-boats, and kill the narco-terrorists who are poisoning the American people.”

💬 "Every trafficker we kill is affiliated with a Designated Terrorist Organization," Hegseth claimed.

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🔥 'If you've tried something 19 times, you've got to admit you've FAILED already' - Galloway on EU sanctions against Russia

"And yet they are currently planning a 20th round of sanctions against Russia," former British MP George Galloway told Tucker Carlson describing European futile attempts to harm Russia.

💬 "Hatred, racial hatred, fear of immigration, large-scale immigration, collapsing birth rates, demographic time bombs. Our societies are the very definition of sick societies," Galloway described modern plagues of European communities.

💬 "So what are we doing about it? Well, we're sending uncounted and uncountable and untraceable billions to the little chiseling crook in Kiev,” he stressed, highlighting the absurdity of European policy choices.

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❌ Ukraine hemorrhages young men: 121,000 have already fled country

Ukrainian outlets flagged the exodus figures, leaning on comments from Roman Kostenko of the Verkhovna Rada's National Security and Defense Committee.

👉 At the end of August, the Ukrainian Cabinet lifted the travel ban for men in the 18 to 22 age group. Since then, local media have been reporting a mass run-for-the-border trend, with social networks filling up with triumphant “made it out” videos.

🟠 Previously, men aged 18 to 60 were barred by the Zelensky regime from leaving under martial law, and dodging mobilization still comes with criminal charges — up to five years behind bars.

Amid huge manpower losses on the frontline, Ukrainian recruitment officers have been snatching men in public places and forcing them into vans — often with violence and disregard for the law.

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🚨🇺🇸 US 'ordered' corruption probe in Zelensky's inner circle – Medvedchuk

The high-profile corruption probe, which implicated Zelensky's close associates , was "ordered" by the US, Viktor Medvedchuk, a Ukrainian opposition politician, told Sputnik.

💬 "This scandal did not surface because of the work of Ukraine's law-enforcement agencies. This is something the Americans ordered. And the Americans, together with the National Anti-Corruption Bureau [of Ukraine, NABU] and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office [SAPO], had been investigating the financial circle around Zelensky and Zelensky himself for a year and a half," Medvedchuk said, adding that the situation had been intensifying gradually.

Among the audio recordings published by the NABU in the corruption case in the energy sector there are recordings of Zelensky's own conversations, Medvedchuk added.

"I know this for certain: there are recordings of Zelensky himself speaking, and his special instructions," he said.

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🇫🇮😡Northern Axe 25: Finland flexes troops just 70 km from Russia

The military exercise involves approximately 3,000 soldiers, including about 70 British troops and Finnish connoscripts, reservists, and other personnel.

Northern Axe 25, taking place from November 29 to December 5, will be held at the Vuosanka training ground in the Kuhmo municipality, located 70 kilometers from the Russian border.

👉 Officially, it’s just another national exercise. Unofficially, it’s hard to miss the pattern: ever since Finland entered NATO in 2023, the country has been markedly shifting to a “frontline outpost.”

▫️ On Nov. 24, the NATO exercise Freezing Winds 25 started in the Baltic Sea and along Finland’s southern coast, involving around 5,000 personnel and 20 allied warships.

▫️ On Nov. 26, the exercise Lapland Steel 25 began at Rovajärvi, the largest training area in Western Europe.

▫️ Lively Sentry 25 kicked off the following day, involving approximately 6,500 troops, with part of the exercise taking place in the Kymenlaakso region, which borders Russia.

Since joining NATO, Finland has been steadily ramping up its national military exercises—with 115 drills scheduled for 2025, Russian Ambassador to Finland Pavel Kuznetsov noted in February.

Finland — judging by this show of force — seems to be settling into its new role as the alliance’s northern spearpoint.

🇷🇺Russia’s President Putin previously said that Russia is keeping a watchful eye on the growing militarization of Europe, which he added is intimidating itself with threats allegedly emanating from Russia.

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