Russia advances in the Pokrovsk direction and Putin is clinging to this success and is in no hurry to transfer contract soldiers from these directions to the Kursk region. He has already withdrawn some forces from the Zaporizhzhia region and the Kharkiv direction,
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but first of all, the Russian army is sending conscripts to resolve the situation. Reports of conscripts being sent come from different regions of the country - Murmansk, Irkutsk, Tyumen, Samara, Belgorod, Leningrad and Moscow regions. Many immediately after only completing
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basic training. This leads to the fact that conscripts surrender in large numbers. Meanwhile, the Armed Forces of Ukraine continue to advance, although the pace is expectedly slowing down. Sudzha is completely under the control of Ukraine and it organizes a commandant's
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office in Sudzha following the Geneva Convention and organizes order and management of the city and nearby areas. The Lenin monument was also removed in the city, which greatly upset the Z community of Russia. Ukrainian forces are now trying to cut off the Glushkovsky
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district from the Kursk region by striking the bridges across the Seim River before launching an offensive on it. There are three bridges across the river. Russian Telegram chats are already receiving requests to provide Russian troops with boats in this area to continue the
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supply of ammunition. The Ukrainian Armed Forces report the destruction of two bridges - near Glushkovo and in Zvannoye. Thus, the only bridge left in the Glushkovsky district is in the village of Karyzh, after the obvious imminent destruction of which the supplies of the
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Russian Armed Forces group defending the area will fall on pontoons and boats. The Russians report a retreat from Tetkino across the Seim River. Budanov also said that the Crimean Bridge could suffer the same fate in the coming days. Russian propaganda is currently working
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at full power to divert attention from the advance of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and intimidate the advancing troops. There was a "leak" about a dirty bomb being prepared by the Ukrainians, which caused some panic and talk of sabotage at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant. More
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recordings of brutal abuse of fallen Ukrainians have appeared. Heads on sticks and cut off ears, according to the Russians, should stop the Ukrainians, but this has rather the opposite effect. Russia has long shown its true face and such events are unlikely to have the
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impact that Russia expects. Ukraine already knows the brigade involved in this - the 155th separate marine brigade. It is unlikely that they can now count on being captured if they meet the Ukrainian Armed Forces. As writes, they are a very rotten
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brigade and the commanders in which are ready to give out call signs, names, contacts and addresses of their soldiers for money. Another trend of recent days is rumors that the FSB is tracking down and will kill major volunteers and bloggers helping Ukraine and covering the
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war, as well as journalists who have visited the Kursk region. In recent weeks, there have also been more frequent cases of arson of Ukrainian Armed Forces vehicles and volunteers in Ukraine. Russia uses Telegram to find people looking for easy money. Most often, teenagers,
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who are easier to recruit and for less money. Russia is trying to sow fear, this has always been the main weapon. As soon as Russia is no longer feared, it loses. Ukraine proved this to the whole world with its attack on Kursk. It is time for Vladimir Putin to be
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seriously feared. And he is afraid. Putin has settled in Novo-Ogaryovo, where there is a bunker in his residence, and he does not leave this place. Putin is afraid.
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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
Putin is losing the game he himself started. His bet was placed on a return to the world of the 19th and early 20th centuries - a world of empires and spheres of influence, where Europe, America, Africa, and Asia are divided among several “superpowers.” In Putin’s vision of
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the world, there were supposed to be three such powers: the United States, Russia, and China. However, the real transformation of the global order is unfolding in a completely different way. The key failure is Ukraine. At the end of the fourth year of war, Russia has still
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been unable to subjugate it. The army is visibly degrading, human and technological resources are being exhausted, the economy is held together by military spending and gray schemes, and the state increasingly resembles an overextended empire losing its ability to govern
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