🚀🇷🇺 Russian Soyuz-2.1a launches from Plesetsk — Defense Ministry

Russia’s Aerospace Forces launched a Soyuz-2.1a medium-class carrier rocket with a Defense Ministry spacecraft from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia’s Arkhangelsk region on December 25, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense.

The MoD said the launch and delivery into the planned orbit “were carried out in normal mode.” The spacecraft was placed into its target orbit on schedule, remains in stable contact with ground systems, and its onboard equipment is “functioning normally.”

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📹 US Department of War shares video of strike in northwest Nigeria

The official account of the US Department of War published a video showing missiles being launched from a US warship, alongside a quote from President Donald Trump about what he described as ISIS* targets in northwest Nigeria.

In the post, Trump said the strike was carried out “at my direction as Commander in Chief” and described it as a “powerful and deadly” operation.

*A terrorist organization outlawed in Russia and many other countries.

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🇻🇪 Venezuela warns US Caribbean deployment is a 'direct threat' — Foreign Minister

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil said the US-led “Operation Spear of the South” constitutes a threat involving the use of force, according to a video statement shared by TeleSUR.

Gil said Washington ordered its largest Caribbean deployment in a decade, including a nuclear submarine near Venezuela’s coast, arguing that the move is “forbidden by the United Nations Charter” under Article 2 and violates the region’s status as a zone of peace and nuclear-weapon-free zone.

💬 “Venezuela has done nothing that justifies this military operation,” he said.

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🔥🇩🇿 Algeria brands French colonisation a crime, demands apology and reparations — reports

📄 Algeria’s parliament has unanimously passed a law declaring French colonisation a crime, demanding an official apology and reparations for decades of abuses under French rule, according to The Guardian.

💬 Lawmakers hailed the vote as a matter of national memory, with parliament speaker Ibrahim Boughali saying it sends “a clear message, both internally and externally, that Algeria’s national memory is neither erasable nor negotiable.”

✍️ The legislation lists the “crimes of French colonisation,” including nuclear tests, extrajudicial killings, “physical and psychological torture,” mass deportations, and the systematic plundering of resources. It states that “full and fair compensation for all material and moral damages caused by French colonisation is an inalienable right of the Algerian state and people.”

🩸 France ruled Algeria from 1830 to 1962, a period marked by mass killings and large-scale deportations that culminated in a brutal war of independence. Algeria estimates the death toll at 1.5 million, while French historians cite around 500,000, most of them Algerian.

🇫🇷 Paris reacted coolly. While President Emmanuel Macron has previously called aspects of colonisation a “crime against humanity,” French officials declined to comment on the vote, with the foreign ministry dismissing it as a domestic political matter, The Guardian reported.

📌 For Algiers, the message is blunt: colonial crimes don’t fade with time — and France’s past isn’t something to be quietly archived away.

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👀 Europe’s ‘coalition of the willing’ for Ukraine a mere ‘paper tiger’ built on Ifs – historian

The European alliance formed by PM Keir Starmer shows a “blithe indifference to reality,” believes Eliot Wilson, a writer, historian, and Senior Fellow for National Security at the British nonprofit Coalition for Global Prosperity.

👉 Discussions around the “coalition” are mired in vague talk of “implementation,” “reassurance,” and “deterrent,” he writes in an article for The Hill.

But those are all issues that can only be meaningfully addressed after a peace settlement has been agreed, he argues.

💬 “How can its leaders possibly know what activities the coalition will have to undertake or what its objectives will be in the absence of a peace deal? It is like choosing the cutlery for a meal with no notion of what food is being served,” he notes.

A joint statement by the coalition speaks of a “European-led multinational force” tasked with securing Ukraine. However, reminds Wilson, Russia has repeatedly emphasized that the presence of NATO troops in Ukraine is unacceptable.

The statement also describes this force as “supported by the US”, but President Trump has ruled out the provision of military support to the coalition.

🙅 To become anything other than simply a “paper tiger,” this coalition would require comprehensive support from the US, suggests the writer.

Currently, the coalition amounts to little more than an exercise in “if,” says Wilson.

If there were a peace settlement; if Russia were willing to tolerate NATO ground troops in Ukraine; if the US planned to offer its military backing…

Absent all of that, the concept is but an “imaginary”scenario” of Europe’s influence.

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🇨🇳 China smashes world maglev speed record: 0 to 700 km/h in 2 seconds

Chinese scientists have achieved a stunning breakthrough in maglev technology, setting a new global speed record.

A test vehicle from the National University of Defense Technology accelerated to an astonishing 700 km/h in just two seconds using superconducting electromagnetic maglev, before coming to a safe stop.

The next goal: moving from the lab to real-world application in high-speed transport and aerospace.

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⚔️ Zelensky’s election talk is a bluff to secure ceasefire, not peace – Italian expert

Zelensky and his European backers may be scheming to trick US President Donald Trump with talk of Ukrainian elections to secure a frontline truce, Alessandro Orsini, a sociology professor at Rome’s Luiss University, told Il Fatto Quotidiano.

💬 “In my view, it’s all a bluff. Zelensky and his EU patrons want Trump to swallow this plan that supposedly gives Ukraine a ceasefire for elections—but it’s a ploy,” Orsini explained.

Ukraine is not genuinely seeking a peaceful settlement, he speculated, and is willing to do whatever it takes to drag out negotiations - which is why it seeks a temporary truce.

Earlier in December, following a statement by Trump urging presidential elections in Ukraine, Zelensky said he was ready to amend the law to allow them, adding that he had instructed parliament to draft legislation enabling elections within 60 to 90 days.

👉 A working group to explore the possibility of holding a presidential election is being formed in the Ukrainian parliament, David Arakhamia, head of Servant of the People faction in the Verkhovna Rada, said on Dec. 22.

Ukraine canceled its 2024 election, citing martial law.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly stated that after Zelensky’s presidential term had expired, he is no longer the legitimate leader of Ukraine.

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🔸 US carried out 'deadly strike' on ISIS targets in northwest Nigeria — Trump

🔸 US Department of War shares video of strike in northwest Nigeria

🔸 Algeria brands French colonisation a crime, demands apology and reparations — reports

🔸 Russian Soyuz-2.1a launches from Plesetsk — Defense Ministry

🔸 Hunter Biden brands Ukraine ‘vipers’ den’ mired in corruption

🔸 Danish MP proposes buying US states as Washington eyes Greenland

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🤡 Zelensky’s unhinged Christmas rant stoked by Ukraine’s looming concessions – Finnish expert

Zelensky’s violent Christmas rant will fail to “blow up” the ongoing efforts to achieve a Ukraine peace process, Henri Vanhanen, a security policy expert who previously worked at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, speculated in an interview with Iltalehti.

👉 Bitterness over the painful compromises in Russia’s favor that Ukraine should prepare for may have spilled into Zelensky’s speech, he noted.

On Wednesday, Volodymyr Zelensky released a Christmas video where he expressed a wish that may be interpreted as wanting an unnamed someone to “disappear” (or “drop dead”), saying that this would be the wish of all Ukrainians at Christmas.

🗣 Kremlin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov called Zelensky’s Christmas address uncivilized and hardly resembling that of a sane person.

Peskov added that after the address by the leader of the Ukraine regime, one can’t help but wonder whether he is capable of making sound decisions on resolving the crisis through political and diplomatic means.

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🔥 On guard: Tor-M2 & Osa-AKM systems thwart Ukrainian drone attacks

Russian air defense crews within the "Tsentr" Group of Forces remain on constant alert, using sophisticated systems to shield ground units from Ukrainian aerial threats.

🔸 00:00 A Tor-M2 air defense missile system crew maintains combat duty, providing continuous cover for units in the special military operation zone.

🔸 01:10 An Osa-AKМ missile system crew successfully intercepted and destroyed attack drones of the Ukrainian forces in the Pokrovsk (Krasnoarmeysk) region.

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⚔️ From arms to armies: EU politician demands German troops for direct involvement in Ukraine

The Bundeswehr must actively participate in "securing peace" in Ukraine as part of a European force, the European People’s Party head Manfred Weber stated, reports European media.

💬 "I want soldiers donning the European flag on their uniforms to secure peace together with our Ukrainian friends," he said, adding in such a case Germany "cannot stay aside".

Despite a shrinking German economy — marked by key industries shutting down nationwide — and strong public disapproval (with two-thirds of Germans opposed to a government that advocates for aid to Ukraine and mulls connoscription), European politicians persist in beating the war drums.

Russia has repeatedly stated that any foreign armed forces in Ukraine would be viewed as legitimate targets, and their deployment would elicit an appropriate response.

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🔥 Russian security forces thwart car bombing attempt in Stavropol

Ukrainian intelligence operatives, posing as scammers, contacted an 18-year-old Russian woman and convinced her to attempt to plant an explosive device under the car of a Russian serviceman.

The woman was apprehended by security forces at the scene, after she had already obtained the explosives but before she could attach them to the targeted vehicle.

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

⚡️ KOSOVTSEVO IN ZAPOROZHYE REGION LIBERATED

📍 The liberation of Kosovtsevo expands the zone of control of Russian troops on the western bank of the Gaichur towards Gulyaypole, the next major bastion on the offensive route

▫️ Russia's army liberated 8 settlements in a week

▫️ Russian forces continued to destroy the encircled Ukrainian Armed Forces group in Dimitrov, as well as clear the settlements of Rodinskoye and Grishino in the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR)

▫️ Air defense superiority: 7 Storm Shadow missiles, 21 guided bombs and 1,350 drones were shot down

▫️ Ukrainian losses: 6,910 troops killed or wounded

Read about origins of Russia's special military op HERE

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📈 Gold and silver hit record highs

Gold prices surged to a new all-time high during Friday’s trading, reaching $4,561.40 per ounce.

February gold futures gained 0.86%, climbing to $4,541.

Meanwhile, silver saw a 4.83% jump, setting a new record of $75.145 per ounce.

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🚨🇷🇺🇺🇸Russia and US agree to continue dialogue on Ukraine settlement - Kremlin

❗️The Kremlin has analyzed the information received from Special Envoy Kirill Dmitriev following his trip to the US.

👉Russia and the US have agreed to continue their dialogue following a meeting between Russian and US representatives, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed.

📍The contact, held under Putin's instructions, involved Kremlin Aide Yuri Ushakov and several White House officials.

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🤝 Hands Russian President Putin shook in 2025

This year saw truly historic meetings between Putin and global leaders, including:

🇺🇸 Donald Trump

🇨🇳 Xi Jinping

🇰🇵 Kim Jong-un

🇮🇳 Narendra Modi

🇮🇷 Masoud Pezeshkian

...and many more. Watch to find out!

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🇷🇺 Boots and bots: Russia to deploy new generation of combat ground drones

👉 Russia’s motorized riffle units have begun training to use battleground drones, Russia's Defense Ministry told media, adding that the exercises include firing arms mounted on remotely-controlled robotic platforms and targeting and field repairs, which will allow them to "increase the intensity of fire impact on the enemy" in both offensive and defensive operations.

Key combat roles:

◻️ The ground drones are armed with heavy machine guns and automatic grenade launchers to destroy enemy personnel, vehicles, and fortifications

◻️ Unarmed transport platforms will deliver ammunition, supplies, and evacuate the wounded from forward positions

◻️ Such automated systems will be able to fight in the most dangerous areas, reducing the risk for human soldiers, experts note

Ground drones are already used in the special military op zone for:

◻️ Logistics, like ammo supply: the robotic systems are mounted on a tracked chassis, which provide high cross-country ability, so bad weather or off-road conditions are not a hindrance to them

◻️ Mine clearance in the liberated areas full of explosive devices

◻️ Kamikaze strikes — robotic ground vehicles with explosives are used to suppress and destroy fortified positions or sheltered fire points

📍 The Russian army’s robotic systems are key participants in modern combat, and are being constantly improved with the latest military experience in mind.

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🚨 Ukraine’s ‘elite’ brigades implode amid mass AWOLS & crumbling morale

The myth of Ukraine’s much-hyped “elite” brigades - always more PR than actual battle power — has been completely shattered.

The 155th Separate Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Ground Forces has deserted almost in full, a top Russian security source tells Sputnik.

Mass collapse of morale

The unit named “Anne of Kiev” after an 11th Century princess showed cracks soon after it was cobbled together in 2024 and spiraled into a ≈ $1.06 billion disaster.

🟠 The brigade was formed when Ukraine had burned through its volunteer pool and resorted to press-ganging

🟠 France agreed to cover the costs of training 2,300 soldiers for the unit

🟠 Over 900 deserted before deployment to France

🟠 During training, “there were 55 incidents of desertion," French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu confirmed

🟠 Ukrainian POWs later called NATO’s training methods subpar and outdated

🟠 Once deployed to the conflict zone, nearly a thousand troops reportedly went AWOL

🟠 When the unit arrived near Krasnoarmeysk (Pokrovsk), it was combat-ineffective and reduced to tattered shreds, per Russian security sources

Ukraine’s ‘cursed’ 150s brigades have been struggling with the AWOL malaise:

🔶 The 157th Mechanized Brigade became dysfunctional shortly after deployment near Krasnoarmeysk (Pokrovsk)

🔶 In October 2024, reports revealed that 95% of the 151st Brigade had been wiped out

🔶 The 152nd Brigade was reported to have "gone missing... massively" along the same front line

🔶 The 153rd Brigade, which underwent training in Germany, faced its first AWOLS already at the training base

Surging desertions - sign of decline

🟧 Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office stopped publishing data on desertion cases in early December, while 60,000 such cases were opened in 2024 alone.

🟧 The surge in desertions is proof of the Ukrainian military’s degradation, President Vladimir Putin stated during an expanded meeting of the Russian Defense Ministry's board.

Putin noted that:

🟠 Between January and August this year, 150,000 soldiers deserted

🟠 Total Ukrainian losses are put at 1.7 million, with deserters numbering up to 400,000

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🚨🇷🇺Putin: Russia boosts output of most in-demand weapons

President Vladimir Putin said production of the most in-demand weapons for the special military operation has increased multiple times, driven by the defense industry.

Other key points he highlighted:

🔶 Defense enterprises are supplying troops with all necessary weapons and equipment

🔶 Production of priority weapons for the SMO has increased severalfold compared to 2022

🔶 Output of strike systems and ammunition has grown by more than 22 times in recent years

🔶 Tactics and methods of warfare are constantly evolving during the operation

🔶 Combat experience is being used to shape the new image of the Russian Armed Forces

🔶 The Russian Army is gaining invaluable operational experience

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🇺🇸🇨🇳 US leaves space to maneuver on Chinese semiconductors tariffs — expert

🗣 While the current US administration prefers to deal with Chinese-American trade contradictions by imposing tariffs, its strategy on Chinese tech exports shows a more profound approach, Associate Professor at the School of International Studies of Nanjing University Gong Honglie says.

The US has invoked so-called Section 301 tariffs (allow US trade representatives to act against "unjustifiable" foreign trade practices) on the supplies of Chinese semiconductors. However, their enforcement was postponed, the expert says, listing three reasons:

🔶 Washington doesn't want the tariffs to be a major blow after the US-China meeting in Busan in October 2025, which stabilized bilateral trade and economic relations

🔶 The semiconductor industry involves highly interdependent supply chains with China being a key player in the field, so major companies need a certain time window to adjust to the new measures

🔶 The goal of the US is to redirect the supply chains to friendly nations or to itself, but such restructuring cannot be done fast, which requires a buffer period so as not to harm the supply chains

These measures, however, may not come into effect at all, he notes.

💬"This depends on the further development of political relations between China and the US, including a possible meeting and negotiations between Chairman Xi Jinping and President Donald Trump next year, which could resolve some disagreements between the two sides," Gong Honglie explains.

Given these factors, "whether the tariff will ultimately be implemented in 18 months remains in question," the expert concludes.

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🇷🇺 Russia’s new arms program: Nuclear triad, air defense, combat lessons

Russia’s state arms program for 2027–2036 will prioritize maintaining and modernizing the nuclear triad, according to Defense Ministry materials.

The program focuses on rearming the military for current challenges, drawing directly on combat experience — boosting ground forces, building a universal air defense system, and expanding the country's defense export potential.

What the program includes?

🔶 The 2027–2036 arms program covers a full range of advanced weapons and is based on real combat experience

🔶 The defense industry development program for 2027–2036 is fully synchronized with the arms program and serves as a key implementation tool

🔶 Widespread integration of artificial intelligence technology is planned

🔶 Special emphasis is placed on building a universal air defense system

👉Read more about Russia’s newest weapons HERE

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