Russia has declared a counter-terrorist operation in the Kursk, Belgorod and Bryansk regions. The decision was made by the Director of the Federal Security Service of Russia, Alexander Bortnikov. By calling it a "counter-terrorist operation," Russia is once again trying to
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downplay the seriousness of the situation. On the other hand, under a counter-terrorist operation, the FSB is handling the situation, not the Defense Ministry, which Vladimir Putin has long since lost confidence in. A breakthrough in the Kursk region will most likely provoke
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Putin to finally purge last from Shoigu's team. Gerasimov made decisions regarding the defense of these regions, and even seeing the concentration of Ukrainian troops in the Sumy region over the past 2 months, he did not consider them a threat. Perhaps, there will be quick
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resignations. They will look for those to blame. Ukraine has learned its lessons from its last attempt at a massive offensive and this time tried to determine the most vulnerable parts of the front. They turned out to be Russia's border territories. Previous sabotage and
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reconnaissance groups have scouted out how easy it is to penetrate the defenses in these areas, and this offensive was prepared with these factors in mind. Also today there were reports of Ukrainian troops appearing in the Belgorod region. Soldiers posted a video from
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the village of Poroz. Whether this is the site of another major breakthrough or rather a diversionary maneuver will become clear later. It is also possible that the offensive in the Kursk region is also a diversionary maneuver. There are many theories now. There are some
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about capturing the nuclear power plant and exchanging it for Zaporizhzhya, there are some about exchanging the Kursk region for the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine and the return of the 1991 border. Possibly. But it seems that Ukraine is not very inclined to
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bargain with Russia, and its main goal is to completely overthrow the Russian Army. Perhaps Ukraine will be able to issue an ultimatum in some point. Ukrainian special forces are supplying weapons to local resistance movements, stirring up the heat for a civil war. Russia
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entered Ukraine under the pretext of a popular uprising in Donetsk and Lugansk, and in response it will receive its own civil war. Something interesting is happening on the Internet. Apparently, there is also a massive information operation going on there. Firstly, before
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the operation, many information platforms covering the war received a warning to maintain complete silence. There is almost no information from the Ukrainian side. Rare videos and photos, which are most likely carefully selected and play a role in the overall strategy of
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the information part of this war. Secondly, Russian channels are littered with messages that greatly fuel panic. There are reports of sabotage and reconnaissance groups working or military equipment stolen by Ukrainians. In some messages, Russian soldiers were called upon
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to shoot to kill. In the confusion, the Russians could have started shooting at their own. In general, at the moment, Z-channels are in a fever and in the morning they write that the offensive has been stopped, and by the evening they write in panic that everything is
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lost. And so on in a circle. Also, a video has spread across the Internet that created the impression that the Ukrainians have access to surveillance cameras in the Kursk region. Russian publics have spread the news, apparently the cameras have been turned off. It turned
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out later that the video is old. The Ukrainians also faced a problem in the Kursk region - they lack transport to transport those who surrendered. However, Russia has also made progress, these are the same Toretsk and Pokrovsk. However, the progress is minimal and the
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intensity is falling. On the other hand, columns of equipment have already been noticed not only from the Kharkiv region, but also from the Donbas and other parts of the front, sent to reinforce the Kursk region. How long Russia will have enough resources to continue the
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offensive, which has already been going on for three months in the Avdiivka direction, is an open question. Ukraine expected the exhaustion of Russian resources to begin its offensive. Russia wore them down in the Donetsk region. The offensive on Kursk has greatly raised
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the morale of Ukrainian soldiers, and it has also restored faith in Ukraine in the West. Ukraine can advance, Ukraine can win. The success of this operation remains to be determined in the future, until there is objective data on what is happening and what the scale is.
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In Russia, "import substitution," like many other things, has long turned not into technological development but into a convenient way to siphon off budget funds. The state allocates money for the creation of "domestic developments," after which companies take ready-made
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Western solutions, slightly adapt them, and present them as their own innovations, keeping subsidies and reporting an alleged technological breakthrough. A telling example is the case of the company Newco. The Ministry of Industry and Trade attempted in court to recover
177.6 million rubles, arguing that hearing aids developed with state funding were in fact based on technology from the Danish company Oticon and did not constitute an independent development. However, the Moscow Arbitration Court sided with the business, ruling that
A wave of property confiscations that swept across the regions and affected officials, security officers, and judges has brought the state an amount comparable to the annual budget of a small region. In total, over the past 5-7 years, property worth 100 billion rubles has been
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seized in corruption cases, Accounts Chamber auditor Andrei Baturkin reported in the State Duma. The confiscations have reached such a scale that, according to Baturkin, a “road map” is now required to coordinate the relevant agencies that will have to deal with seized companies,
houses, land plots, and collections of luxury cars and watches. It is necessary to “establish communication between the power bloc and Rosimushchestvo so that there is more feedback regarding what property is to be transferred into the ownership of the Russian Federation,”
Bloomberg reported, citing sources, that Greece and Malta have become the main obstacles to an EU proposal to replace the price cap on Russian oil with a ban on services necessary for transporting fuel. According to the agency’s interlocutors, the two southern European
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countries raised concerns about this step at a meeting of EU ambassadors on Monday, where the latest sanctions package against Russia was presented. They warned that such a shift could affect Europe’s shipping industry and energy prices. Both countries also requested
clarifications regarding proposals to impose sanctions on foreign ports handling Russian oil and to strengthen oversight of ship sellers in order to reduce the number of vessels entering Moscow’s fleet. A representative of the Greek government declined to comment.
The most unpleasant forecasts regarding the Russian economy are beginning to materialize. What analysts cautiously spoke about a year ago is now being discussed openly even by the most pro-government Russian economists: the safety margin is rapidly shrinking. While Putin talks
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about “stability” and “growth,” the reality looks far more prosaic: a country that unleashed a war of aggression against Ukraine is methodically burning through its own financial system. According to estimates by Germany’s BND intelligence service, Russia’s real military spending
reaches around 10% of GDP and nearly half of the federal budget. In fact, actual expenditures are 66% higher than officially declared, due to hidden budget lines, Defense Ministry construction projects, military IT infrastructure, and social payments to servicemen. In simple
According to BND estimates, last year Russia’s military spending may have amounted to almost half of the state budget and around 10% of the country’s GDP. According to the German intelligence service, Russia is spending significantly more on the war and its armed forces
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than it has declared in recent years. Since the start of the war against Ukraine in February 2022, Russia’s defense budget has increased sharply every year. In addition, Russia’s interpretation of “defense spending” differs significantly from the NATO definition, German
intelligence officials note. A comprehensive analysis of budget data conducted by BND shows that Russia’s defense budget in recent years was 66% higher than officially reported. Unaccounted expenditures include, for example, construction projects of the Ministry of Defense,
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky explained why he sharply criticized Europe at the World Economic Forum in Davos. He made these remarks during a meeting with journalists in Kyiv, according to a correspondent from European Pravda. Zelensky said he had grounds for critical
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statements toward Europe after a lack of funding led to a shortage of air defense missiles, allowing Russia to strike Kyiv’s energy infrastructure. Zelensky did not deny that his speech may have sounded overly harsh from European capitals and explained this by saying that
Ukraine and the rest of Europe live in different information spaces. He also acknowledged that the differences are not only informational but also emotional in how events are perceived. The president explained that his Davos speech was preceded by heavy strikes on energy