1/ Pokrovsk and Kupyansk are falsely being portrayed by the Russian media as decisive imminent victories, says Igor 'Strelkov' Girkin. He warns that Russsia is failing to make progress on the Zaporizhzhia front, which he describes as the decisive theatre of the Ukraine war. ⬇️
2/ Writing from the jail where he has been imprisoned since last year on charges of inciting extremism, Girkin dismisses the increasingly bloody battles for Pokrovsk and Kupiansk – which have cost thousands of Russian lives – as irrelevant to the war's main objectives:
3/ "The tactical successes in Kupyansk and Pokrovsk, which give hope for the rapid liberation of these two cities (the Kharkiv and Donetsk axes), are being presented to our press as some kind of decisive victories.
4/ "I must emphasize once again that both of these successes were achieved in secondary axes of the Special Military Operation.
5/ "The Kupyansk axe is the Kharkiv Oblast, which we no longer lay claim to and which, as far as I understand, is not even included in our territorial exchange plans. Moreover, it leads us deep into enemy territory in a direct westward direction.
6/ "And Pokrovsk, which, in principle, plays no significant role without the capture of the entire Slovyansk-Kramatorsk agglomeration. Otherwise, the Donbas will not be liberated.
7/ "Pokrovsk is a salient in the Ukrainian Armed Forces' defences; taking it will only straighten their line of defence.
Taking both of these points won't lead to the final collapse of the Ukrainian Armed Forces' front, their defeat and rout—which is what we should strive for.
8/ "At the same time, fierce fighting on the Zaporizhzhia Front isn't leading to any significant advances precisely because the enemy understands that this is the decisive front.
9/ "And it is here, if they are defeated and the front line is seriously pushed back, it will threaten their entire eastern group in the Donbas and in the Zaporizhzhia region to the east. There, the enemy is fighting fiercely.
10/ "We must understand that no tactical points, no advances of 10, 50, or even 100 kilometers will lead us to victory without defeating the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
11/ "We can take line after line, settlement after settlement, village after village, and even city after city (although the pace at which we are taking them is not impressive). If we don't set ourselves the goal of strategic victory, we will never achieve it.
12/ "Achieving a strategic victory without devoting all of the state's resources is impossible. The enemy understands this perfectly well and is straining all their forces. We, however, continue to pretend we're not fighting, but rather "conducting a special operation."
13/ "Therefore, my prognosis is as follows: After the liberation of Kupyansk and Pokrovsk, the situation will, unfortunately, not fundamentally change. Tactical successes will not lead to the collapse of the Ukrainian Armed Forces' front." /end
69 years ago today, thousands of Soviet troops were entering Hungary to prepare for Operation Whirlwind – the crushing of the Hungarian Revolution. Even as the invasion was being prepared, Hungarians celebrated their last few days of freedom.
2/ Twelve more Soviet divisions have joined the five divisions already stationed in Hungary. They are commanded from Szolnok in central Hungary by Marshal Ivan Konev, a Second World War veteran who is now the Supreme Commander of the Warsaw Pact Combined Forces.
3/ By now well aware of what is planned, Hungarian Prime Minister Imre Nagy (left) protests to Soviet Ambassador on Hungary (and later Party leader) Yuri Andropov (right) and briefs foreign ambassadors in Budapest.
69 years ago today, Hungary faced a momentous choice as a result of its revolution: would it remain part of the Soviet bloc, or become a neutral socialist state in the style of Yugoslavia? And would the Soviet Union accept such a choice?
2/ The government of Imre Nagy had not initially contemplated Hungarian withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact, but faces strong pressure from revolutionary activists who want to restore Hungarian sovereignty and remove all Soviet troops from the country.
3/ Unknown to Nagy, the Soviets had already made the decision the previous day in Moscow to prepare for a massive invasion of Hungary to crush the revolution. Operation Vichr (Whirlwind) had already been put into action, with a four-day countdown to begin the invasion.
1/ Russian hospitals are overflowing with badly injured soldiers, who are lying for days in the hallways without even being treated, due to the doctors being so overworked. The men are not being compensated for their wounds, says one hospitalised soldier. ⬇️
2/ Vladimir Kazayev, a seriously wounded soldier from the 239th Tank Regiment (military unit 89547) of the 90th Tank Division, is being 'treated' at the War Veterans Hospital No. 2 in Moscow. However, he says, conditions there and at other hospitals are dire.
3/ “The hospitals are completely overflowing. The doctors are exhausted. It's hard for them too right now. There are so many 300s [wounded]. They're still bringing in the seriously ill, the very seriously ill. Entire trainloads are being sent to Moscow.
69 years ago today, Hungary celebrated its newfound freedoms – free speech, free assembly, freedom from oppression, and for thousands of people, their physical freedom from Communist jails. But in Moscow, leaders planned to take it all away.
2/ Over 12,000 prisoners are released by the new government of Prime Minister Imre Nagy on the ninth day of the revolution. They include Hungary's most famous political prisoner, Cardinal József Mindszenty, who returns at once to the Archibishop's Palace in Buda.
3/ Further consolidation of the Hungarian state security forces is begun under the auspices of the Revolutionary Armed Forces Committee, which aims to bring together the armed forces, police, Border Guard and the new National Guard comprised of ex-insurgents.
1/ The fatal capsizing of a Russian floating crane in Sevastopol has highlighted the inability of the Black Sea Fleet's principal shipyard to build the cranes needed for the construction of new naval vessels, as a critical Russian commentary notes. ⬇️
2/ The PK-400 "Sevastopol" floating crane capsized at the Sevastopol Marine Shipyard in Sevastopol's South Bay on 28 October 2025. The crane has been under construction since 2017, was launched in October 2019, and its 400-ton lifting boom was installed in August 2021.
3/ As 'Military Informant' highlights, this is not the shipyard's first failed crane-building project:
"This situation is the final demonstration of Sevmorzavod's true ability to build anything worthwhile."
69 years ago, the Hungarian Revolution reached a crucial point. With revolutionaries now in control of the country, jubilant crowds hailed a new era of freedom for Hungary. But how far would the Soviet Union let the Hungarians go?
2/ On 30 October 1956, the eighth day of the revolution, violence breaks out again in Budapest as a unit of the newly formed National Guard attempts to seize the headquarters of the Hungarian Communist Party in Republic Square.
3/ The building is occupied by ÁVH secret policemen, despite the abolition of the ÁVH by the new government on the day before. Shooting breaks out, leading to casualties on both sides. Revolutionary insurgents lay siege to the building.