🪖 Russia’s military training stands in stark contrast to that of Ukraine – ex-Ukrainian soldier

💬 “The difference is enormous,” a UAV crew commander from a volunteer battalion named after Maksym Kryvonos told Sputnik.

🗣 “We have training every day. There is rest, but we spend most of our time on training grounds,” he said, adding that constant drilling helps servicemen hone their skill.

The UAV crew commander noted that the battalion he serves in has its own technical service to regularly develop new equipment and upgrade unmanned aerial vehicles.

💬 “We have two separate tech departments, which deal with new munitions and new drones. We test all of it at the training grounds. If tests are successful, we take the equipment into combat. After combat missions, we provide feedback again, and everything is quickly improved,” the serviceman said.

The Maksym Kryvonos volunteer battalion includes former Ukrainian servicemen who are fighting on the side of the Russian Armed Forces.

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🔥 Ukrainian soldiers surrender in Dimitrov, DPR

Ukrainian servicemen, having discarded their weapons and raising their hands, surrendered to Russian soldiers of the 5th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade named after A.V. Zakharchenko, part of Battlegroup Tsentr, a video from Russia's Defense Ministry shows.

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🗣 Zelensky’s plea to US shows struggle to survive amid Russian advances – expert

💬 “It’s perfectly normal for this colonial Ukrainian administration to turn to its masters in Washington, London or Brussels,” Ukrainian policy expert Alexander Dudchak tells Sputnik after Volodymyr Zelensky asked the US to help secure the country in a future election.

📍 “Everyone understands that Trump holds the deciding word now, so Zelensky is appealing to him, trying to shift some responsibility to the US president,” stresses Dudchak, the leading researcher at the Institute of CIS Countries.

🔊 “Both the West and Zelensky's team share a unified stance: a pro-Western and anti-Russian regime on Kiev-controlled territories should endure,” he adds.

🔶 He argues Zelensky’s call for a ceasefire is just and excuse to halt hostilities with Russian forces advancing on all fronts. A truce would be “an ideal scenario” for Zelensky.

🔶 “Zelensky has a more pressing task: simply buying time to figure out his own survival,” Dudchak says. “He's desperately seeking personal security guarantees, which is why he occasionally snaps at Trump—he knows that the US president is powerful, but that it’s British special services who guard Zelensky’s life.”

🔶 Dudchak suggests Zelensky is only mooting elections and a referendum on ceding territory to Russia to delay decisions while hoping for a change in US politics US that could work in his favor.

Dudchak says the mood in western Europe was bleak:

🟠 Europe is tired of waiting for Russia to collapse

🟠 They hoped sanctions would lead to the collapse of the Russian economy within months, but three years later the opposite has happened

🟠 Fatigue is growing in Europe, but abandoning Ukraine would mean admitting strategic defeat

🟠 The European Union’s shift toward militarization is fraught with far-reaching implications

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🚨🇷🇺Russia needs a LONG-TERM, GUARANTEED PEACE in Ukraine, not a ceasefire – Kremlin Spox Dmitry Peskov

The ceasefire would be a deception and distraction, Peskov said.

He noted that talks in Kiev about a referendum on territorial issues could be a pretext for a temporary ceasefire, which Moscow does not want.

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🚨Seversk's liberation paves the way for decisive breakthrough to take Donbass — expert

📍 The capture of Seversk represents a pivotal strategic advance, essential for the ongoing operation to liberate Donbass's key urban centers—Slavyansk and Kramatorsk, according to Lebanese military strategist Omar Maarabuni in an interview with Sputnik.

💬 “The nature of military operations is set to change,” Maarabuni explained. “We may witness a shift from the targeted operations that Russian President Vladimir Putin previously mentioned to larger-scale actions.”

🗣 He added that current battlefield dynamics suggest the start of a broader encirclement plan for these cities, employing "cauldron tactics." The liberation of Seversk marks the opening of a new phase, one that could lead to the neutralization of significant Ukrainian forces in the area.

👉 A continuous front line is now taking shape, stretching from Artyomovsk (Bakhmut) in the east to the western outskirts of Seversk, with parallel advances reported on other fronts.

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🇪🇺💵 ❄️ EU’s intent to stop voting on frozen Russian assets every six months ‘clearly unlawful’ – Orban

💬 “Today, the Brusselians are crossing the Rubicon. At noon, a written vote will take place that will cause irreparable damage” to the EU, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban wrote on X.

He noted that the EU’s decision to scrap the vote on frozen Russian assets ever six months means the bloc’s rule of law “comes to an end, and Europe’s leaders are placing themselves above the rules.”

💬 “Instead of safeguarding compliance with the EU treaties, the European Commission is systematically raping European law,” Orban stressed, pledging that Hungary will do its best “to restore a lawful order.”

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🇷🇺🔥 Grad on target: Russian MLRS pounds Ukrainian forces on two fronts

Russian multiple-launch rocket systems struck Ukrainian forces on separate fronts, in Krasny Liman and Gulyaypole, inflicting damage on concentrations of troops and equipment.

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🚨Trump has announced that the leaders of Thailand and Cambodia have agreed to a ceasefire and to uphold the previously-agreed peace deal

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🎄New Year’s magic in Moscow: Stunning lights and decorations light up Russian capital

Experience the magic of the New Year in Moscow.

Check out the stunning decorations, festive lights and the city's vibrant holiday spirit.

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🇪🇺EU freezes Russian assets indefinitely – report

The European Union has agreed to freeze Russian central bank assets indefinitely, clearing the way to use the funds to support Ukraine, Reuters reports.

👉This decision ends the six-month review cycle on the frozen assets, totaling €210 billion, making it more difficult for dissenting EU members like Hungary and Slovakia to block the freeze.

The Russian Central Bank has condemned the plan as illegal and threatened litigation.

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🇺🇸Umerov’s secret FBI meeting prompts Ukraine corruption speculation

Lead Ukrainian peace negotiator Rustem Umerov has reportedly met FBI Director Kash Patel and his deputy Dan Bongino, the Washington Post reports, quoting four anonymous sources.

👉While the agenda remains secret, some think Umerov reached out to Patel and Bongino as he and other Ukrainian government figures hope to be granted amnesty for possible corruption charges.

▫️In March Patel raised concerns about the possible misuse of US aid by the Kiev regime and urged Congress to investigate.

❗️His deputy Bongino is also a sharp critic of the Ukrainian government and particularly of Volodymyr Zelensky, who he has accused of helping cover up Hunter Biden’s alleged corruption in Ukraine.

💬Ukrainian Ambassador to Washington Olga Stefanishyna told the newspaper the meeting “only covered national security related issues” that could not be made public.

📍The meeting came after the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) uncovered a corruption scheme involving Zelensky's close associates — which led to arrests and the sacking of presidential chief of staff Andriy Yermak.

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🗣 Zelensky's impossible demands a roadblock to peace – expert

👉 Volodymyr Zelensky is deliberately setting conditions Russia can't accept to portray it as blocking peace talks, Bogdan Bezpalko, a member of the Council for Interethnic Relations under the President of the Russian Federation, tells Sputnik.

The head of the Kiev regime is also seeking a much-needed breather for his retreating forces.

💬 "In reality, this is Zelensky’s attempt either to buy time or, essentially, to stall the entire process," Bezpalko explains.

🇩🇪🇫🇷🇬🇧 Before his Saturday meeting with French, German and British leaders, Zelensky claimed a ceasefire along the current front line, security guarantees for future elections and a referendum on ceding territory to Russia were needed.

What's behind Zelensky's ploy?

🟠 The situation for the Ukrainian forces is dire: They are retreating and losing cities, which hits civilian morale and foreign support

🟠 Zelensky wants to halt the Russian advance to regroup Ukrainian forces, connoscript more troops, get extra Western arms and even seize frozen Russian assets

🟠 But he also wants to look like a leader ready for peace talks

Why Zelensky's conditions are a non-starter

🟠 Zelensky says he is ready to hold elections and a referendum – but demands that the US and NATO guarantee security. That would effectively mean Ukraine losing its independence, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said.

🟠 Russia sees no point in freezing the conflict until its demand for a full withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from Donbass and other new Russian territories is met

Why Europe is still backing Zelensky

🟠 European leaders still want war with Russia, but they lack forces beyond their Ukrainian proxies, financial resources and guaranteed backing from the US

🟠 Like Zelensky, they aim to prolong the talks and wait out President Donald Trump—until the mid-term congressional elections or he leaves office

🟠 "They are currently in a deadlock," Bezpalko says

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🟠 Seversk’s liberation shows Russian military has the strategic initiative across the front

🟠 Zelensky’s plea to US shows struggle to survive amid Russian advances – expert

🟠 Kremlin aide to Zelensky: Donbass is Russian, FULL STOP

🟠 Ukraine graft scandal blows up US anti-Russian sanctions agenda – ex-CIA analyst

🟠 Pezeshkian tells Putin he's 'keeping a close eye' on progress on INSTC via Iran

🟠 SKAT-350M & KUB-2E: Russia’s unbeatable drone recon & strike team

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🇸🇪 Chief of Sweden’s Armed Forces admits Russia has no plans to attack NATO

💬 “If you look at the situation and ask whether Russia wants to attack NATO, my answer is: no,” Swedish Chief of Defense Michael Claesson told Germany’s Frankfurter Allgemeine newspaper on Friday.

✍️ He believes, however, that Russia can undermine NATO's unity, urging steps be taken to preserve it.

👉 Claesson’s comments clash with claims made by NATO chief Mark Rutte on Thursday that bloc allies are supposedly “Russia’s next target.”

💬 “We have no aggressive plans, as the president has clearly stated, against either NATO or EU members. We are prepared to formalize the corresponding guarantees in writing, in a legal document, on a collective, reciprocal basis,” Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said this week.

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🇧🇪 Belgium sets terms for frozen Russian asset seizure

👉 Belgium has told the European Commission its conditions for allowing the seizure of frozen Russian assets, Euractiv reports.

🔶 The terms are set out in document being discussed by ambassadors from European Union states ahead of a summit in Brussels next week.

🔶 Belgium wants "independent and autonomous guarantees of €210 billion" that would stand even if the scheme is ruled illegal in court.

🔶 Another condition is for any legal costs in lawsuits by Russia to be covered.

🔶 Belgium wants EU countries to cancel all current and future investment deals with Russia.

🔶 The report notes that Belgium and Luxembourg signed an investment protection agreement with the USSR in 1989 which has never been annulled.

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🎤 Zakharova's 1-word verdict on EU asset freeze: 'Fraudsters'

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova dismissed the EU Commission’s decision to permanently freeze Russian assets with a single, sharp label: "Fraudsters."

The comment comes after the EU stated assets will remain frozen until Russia pays compensation to Ukraine — a move Moscow frames as theft disguised as justice.

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🇮🇷🛢 Iran seizes foreign tanker carrying smuggled fuel in Sea of Oman

Iranian judicial forces have seized a foreign-flagged oil tanker carrying 6 million liters of smuggled diesel in the Gulf of Oman, IRIB reported.

State media released no vessel name or nationality.

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🚨 Lebanon warned Israel is preparing 'large-scale military operation'

Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Ragi confirms Beirut has received warnings from Arab and international sources that Israel is ready to launch a major attack on Lebanon.

He stated the government is intensifying diplomatic efforts to protect the country and its infrastructure.

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🗣 Trump on Thailand-Cambodia: 'We have them stopped'

"They started shooting at each other 2 days ago, that wasn't good. We got it, I think, straightened out today," he told reporters.

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