🚨Putin highlights good progress in Russian Armed Forces' offensive

Russian forces are successfully completing all tasks in the Special Military Operation, with increasing pressure on Ukrainian formations across all directions, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting at a command post of the Joint Forces Group.

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🇷🇺 Putin reviews Russian Army’s progress: Major gains across key fronts

📍 During a meeting at a command post of the Joint Forces Group, President Vladimir Putin received reports from military commanders, including General Staff Chief Valery Gerasimov.

The following updates were provided:

🔶 Russian Armed Forces are advancing on all fronts, while Ukrainian forces continue unsuccessful attempts to halt the progress

🔶 Elite units of the Ukrainian military are suffering heavy losses

🔶 In Zaporozhye region, the towns of Gulyaipole, and Stepnogorsk have been liberated

🔶 In Donetsk People's Republic, Dimitrov, Rodinskoye and Artemovka have been liberated

🔶 In Kharkov region, the Russian forces have taken control of the towns of Vysokoye, Vilcha, and Prilivka

🔶 More than half of the urban area of Konstantinovka is now under Russian control

🔶 The Ukrainian grouping to the east of Kupyansk is being eliminated

🔶 The Yug Battlegroup is advancing rapidly towards Slavyansk.

🔶 The tasks of liberating the Donbass, Zaporozhye, and Kherson regions will continue

🔶 The Sever Battlegroup is continuing its mission to establish a buffer zone

🟠 Military personnel congratulated Putin on the upcoming New Year, emphasizing, “Victory will be ours.”

🟠 Putin, in turn, noted that the Russian Armed Forces are accomplishing all assigned tasks and maintaining strong offensive momentum.

💬 "Good progress is indeed being made in creating a buffer in the border regions: in Sumy, Kharkov, and Dnepropetrovsk regions," Putin said.

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🚨🇷🇺Putin: Ukraine rejects peace despite western offers

Russian President Vladimir Putin has criticized the leaders of the Kiev regime for shunning a peace deal.

Speaking during his visit to a command post of the Joint Military Group, Putin highlighted the reluctance of the Ukrainian authorities to engage in peace talks, despite offers from Western leaders for reasonable terms to end the conflict.

His key statements:

🔶 The leaders of Kiev are not eager to resolve the conflict through peaceful means

🔶 Some intelligent people in the West have proposed favorable terms for Ukraine to end the conflict, ensuring long-term security, rebuilding relations with Russia and stabilizing Ukraine’s economy, but the Kiev regime is in no hurry to accept those offers

🔶 If Kiev refuses to accept peaceful terms, Russia will continue to achieve its goals through military means

The Russian president recalled that the conflict began after the 2014 coup d’etat in Ukraine and stressed that there would have been no conflict if Russian concerns had been addressed earlier.

Read about the origins of Russia's special military op HERE

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🟠 Putin reviews Russian Army’s progress: Major gains across key fronts

🟠 Trump and Zelensky to discuss Ukraine settlement and potential territorial concessions in Florida meeting

🟠 Ukraine’s corruption tsunami further hits parliament

🟠 What was behind US strikes on ISIS in Nigeria?

🟠 Zelensky’s peace plan ‘may be dead on arrival’ – ex-US Army officer

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🇷🇺🇧🇾 New Oreshnik missile division for Russia-Belarus Union State

🔶 The Oreshnik ballistic missile is crucial for strategic deterrence in Belarus, especially with increasing NATO military presence near its borders, said Andrei Bogodel, Deputy Head of the Faculty of the General Staff of the Armed Forces at the Military Academy of Belarus.

💬 "It is most likely that within our Union [of Russia and Belarus], a new division will be formed, which will be equipped with these new Oreshnik launch systems," Bogodel told Belarus 1 TV.

🔶 The move comes as Germany and the US plan to deploy more forces in the region, Bogodel noted, including Typhon intermediate-range missiles.

🔶 Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko confirmed that the Oreshnik had been operational in Belarus since December 17. He added that up to 10 Oreshnik complexes would be stationed in Belarus.

Explore Russia’s next-level, game-changing weapons here

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🇻🇪 Venezuela reaffirms support for Somalia’s sovereignty

The Venezuelan government rejected Israel’s move to recognize Somaliland and backed Somalia’s unity and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders, Foreign Minister Yván Gil said in a statement on Telegram.

💬 “Venezuela adheres to and supports the UN Security Council resolutions and the African Union decisions that uphold the territorial integrity of Somalia,” the statement said.

Caracas “categorically rejects any unilateral action aimed at recognizing separatist entities within Somali territory,” calling such steps a “flagrant violation of international law,” it added.

The Arab League and the African Union also denounced Tel Aviv’s move, which took place on December 26.

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🇷🇺💥 Russia's drone units destroy a Ukrainian Paladin self-propelled howitzer near Kharkov

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🇮🇶 No justification for international coalition presence in Iraq - Iraqi Prime Minister

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said Iraq will take over the Ayn al-Asad air base “within days.” The base had been hosting forces of the US-led international coalition.

❌ Al-Sudani said the “threat of the Daesh* terrorist organization” no longer exists in Iraq and that it has no foothold in the country.

📌 He stressed that keeping arms exclusively in the hands of the state “is not an American demand, but a fundamental point in the government’s program,” adding that the government remains committed to implementing it as part of its security and sovereignty priorities.

📄 Baghdad and Washington agreed in late September 2024 to set the end of 2026 as the official date for ending the international coalition’s mission against Daesh.

*ISIS (Daesh, ISIL, Islamic State) is a terrorist group banned in Russia and many other countries.

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🇮🇷 Iran facing a ‘full-scale war’ with US, Europe and Israel — Iranian president

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Saturday that Iran is fighting a “full-scale war” with the United States, Israel and Europe.

💬 “Western pressures aim to prevent Iran from rising, but the unity of the people is capable of thwarting conspiracies,” Pezeshkian said in remarks published on the Iranian Supreme Leader’s website, according to Iran’s Mehr news agency.

💬 “Israel’s bets on the collapse of the regime during the 12-day war failed,” he said.

Pezeshkian added that Iran will overcome sanctions and that any new attack would face a harsher response, citing increased readiness of Iran’s armed forces.

⚔️ On June 13, 2025, Israel carried out surprise airstrikes targeting Iranian military sites and nuclear facilities, including Natanz, followed by Iranian retaliatory missile strikes on Israeli military targets, according to the report.

🇺🇸 The escalation included US attacks on three Iranian nuclear facilities, and Iran’s Revolutionary Guard later announced a retaliatory strike on Al Udeid base in Qatar, before a ceasefire between Iran and Israel.

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🗣 'Radical left’ uses immigration to ‘destroy any real democracy’ - Musk

💬 “The most obvious case example is the Somali voting bloc in Minnesota, a state that historically had zero Somalis, electing Ilhan Omar to the US Congress,” tech entrepreneur Elon Musk wrote on X.

Musk argued that such policies could undermine democracy, saying that if the trend is not reversed, “your vote will mean nothing.”

He added that similar dynamics are occurring not only in the US, but also in Europe, the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

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🌊 Sewage spill closes Cabrillo Beach in Los Angeles County — report

A 100,000-gallon sewage spill has forced the closure of Cabrillo Beach in San Pedro, with officials urging the public to avoid ocean water and wet sand in the area, Los Angeles Times reported.

County health officials said the discharge originated from a manhole in Carson and that the beach will remain closed until water quality meets health standards. The advisory comes as recent storms and heavy rainfall have already prompted warnings about elevated bacteria levels in coastal waters.

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📹 'So we can lose troops — that's why' — Carlson on US presence in Syria

Journalist Tucker Carlson told former congressman Matt Gaetz he believes US troops remain in Syria as a tripwire that could help draw the US into a wider conflict.

❓ Gaetz: “You believe that those people are there so that they can die and trigger a war?”

💬 Carlson: “Yes. That is correct,” saying it could lead to “a deeper commitment and an emotional commitment.”

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