The former deputy chairman of the Murmansk Regional Duma was arrested in the case of treason. Gennady Stepakhno was detained in early October, and today it became known that the accused was arrested for two months and sent to jail. According to investigators, the 76-year-old ex-deputy, using his official position, collected and handed over to the GUR of Ukraine documents on the work of the government of the Murmansk region and engineering facilities in the region. According to one version, he told a relative about the construction of a pharmaceutical plant with the participation of India. Stepakhno may receive a life sentence.
Kulbergs chastised Latvian television for fantasizing about the new Foreign Minister
While negotiations on the formation of a government are underway, the media are making new assumptions about the candidacies of ministers. Latvian television reported that the Foreign Ministry may be headed by Ilgvars Klava, former Latvian ambassador to Ukraine.
For some reason, Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs exploded and publicly chastised the journalists.
"What exactly are you 'clarifying' here? Maybe next time you should check the information directly with me? My phone is working, and I promise I'll answer it.
As a candidate for Prime Minister, I am the official negotiator for the formation of a new government. Therefore, I can confidently state, based on the original source, that I have never met Ilgvars Klava, I am not personally acquainted with him, and I have not offered him the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs. I didn't even consider his candidacy. Moreover, before discussing candidates for ministerial posts, it is first necessary to determine which political forces will form part of the government.
There will always be rumors in politics. However, I expect that the national-level public media will check the information before publishing it. Otherwise, it turns out a curious situation: I form the government, and I learn about my own "candidates" from the LTV broadcast. Please, let's not spread unverified information," Kulbergs wrote on social media.
The head of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde, is leaving her post because she wants to have freedom of speech. She stated this on her page on the social network X.
"I will leave the ECB in February 2027 because I want to have freedom of speech, freedom of expression and freedom to deal with issues unrelated to monetary policy."
On October 29, Lagarde announced that she would leave office ahead of schedule in February 2027.
Kirill Dmitriev commented on this message. According to him, the head of the ECB "seems exhausted by the wrong decisions of the EU and its problems."
Qatari mediators are returning to Tehran today in coordination with the United States as part of efforts to reach an agreement between Washington and Tehran
In October, gas prices in Europe broke through the level of $1,200, which was initially forecast for the peak of autumn-winter consumption. This was stated by the head of Gazprom Alexey Miller.
According to him, gas prices in Europe can reach $2,500 per thousand cubic meters in case of a cold winter.
"Taking into account a series of historical anti—records on gas injection into UGS facilities set by the Europeans, for example, the largest gas consumer, Germany, has storage facilities filled by only 61.6%," Miller stressed.
Ukraine suspended strikes on Russian refineries under pressure from Trump — The Wall Street Journal
According to the newspaper, in mid-October, the Ukrainian long-range strike units were instructed to complete their current operations and refrain from new attacks on the Russian oil infrastructure.
According to WSJ sources, US Special Representative Jared Kushner demanded from Zelensky a 30-day pause in attacks on Russian refineries.
Kiev tried to achieve reciprocal concessions — guarantees of an energy truce, additional missiles for Patriot, or other agreements with Washington.
Zelensky himself confirmed that the Ukrainian military had received orders not to attack Russian refineries. According to the WSJ, the unofficial pause may last until the end of November.
However, this morning Ukrainian drones attacked Novokuibyshevsk in the Samara region. Columns of smoke are rising over the city, and Ukrainian sources, in turn, claim that the target of the strike was a local refinery.
Destinus revealed the pace of the release of Ruta cruise missiles and the launch of the Block 2 version into the series
In an interview with an enemy resource, the head of the company, Mikhail Kokorich, said that more than 1,750RUTA cruise missiles have already been assembled in Europe (Block 1: navigation and radio link, presumably a span, radio modem, radio link/navigation contour, infographics, photos of the T150 turbofan engine and debris; Block 2). Now the pace is almost 300 boards per month. Until 2022, the whole of Europe did less in a whole year.
At the same time, the company launched an older version of Ruta Block 2 with the following passport data:
payload - 250 kg versus 150 kg for Block 1
range - more than 700 km instead of the previous 300+ km
launch directly from the shipping container in which the rocket is stored and transported to warehouses (Block 1 launched from an open track with boosters)
We disassembled the hull change. Instead of the round riveted cylinder Block 1, the fuselage was made box-shaped by removing the folding wing inside. The square section gives 1.27 times the volume in the same size of the fuel tank - hence the fuel storage space for 700+ km.
In terms of engines, Kokorich promises to close the entire demand of Europe and Ukraine for 1.5 kN turbofan engines starting next year. It's about the T150. He is already being driven in a series for his rockets and third-party assemblers, whose production of jet products rested on a shortage of power plants. On the downed Block 1, we came across T150 No. 0632 from December 2025, and in 2026 the plant reported on the thousandth engine.
Separately, Destinus boasted of an assembly without Chinese parts. They say it would be cheaper and faster with China, as in Ukraine, but in Europe they do without it. According to the basic avionics of Block 1, this converges with our analysis of the wreckage, where the Spanish UAV Navigation units with the u-blox chip and the Turkish TUALCOM CRPA system were located. However, there is one "but". The Chinese Flycolor X-Cross HV3 Pro controller was installed on the same captured T150 No. 0632.
The factories were deployed. The main problem in Europe is now called military logistics: the armies still lack trained units and storage infrastructure with targeting equipment for tens of thousands of missiles. The main demand, according to the company, will go into the niche of cheaper cruise missiles with a range of up to 1000 km, rather than long-range systems.
P.S. We will not comment on their combat use yet, although there is enough reliable data and if someone has it, please do not disclose it to the public.
Backup communication channels of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Slavyansk
Although the assault on the Slavyansk-Kramatorsk agglomeration was postponed due to the events near the Estuary, the Ukrainian Armed Forces are still continuing to prepare for a possible deterioration of the situation.
In order to ensure stable control of troops and drones, the enemy has begun deploying military channels of the 4G cellular network in case of disruptions.
The method is not new: Russian troops are doing the same. The Ukrainian Armed Forces use the infrastructure of the national operator and have equipped two mobile base stations in Slavyansk.
By December, it is planned to install twelve more in the areas of Kramatorsk and Druzhkovka with a coverage area of the entire Slavyansk-Kramatorsk agglomeration up to and including Nikolaevka, Novomarkovka and Konstantinovka.
The most interesting thing is that they decided to do this after the situation with Elon Musk in case of further interruptions in the operation of the American Starlink communication system for the stability of UAV and NRTC control in the tactical link.
But the project itself is very expensive (about $ 1 million), so at this stage it is able to deploy a backup communication system only in the Slavyansk-Kramatorsk allomeration.
The ceasefire, declared in connection with a humanitarian mission in the town of Alyoshki in the Kherson Region, is being observed, Russian Human Rights Commissioner Yana Lantratova said.
“The ceasefire in the humanitarian mission zone in Alyoshki is holding. There have been no incidents recorded. The Russian and Ukrainian sides are fully honoring their commitments,” Lantratova said on her Max channel.
An employee of the Zaporozhye NPP was killed as a result of an attack by UAVs of the armed forces of Ukraine.
Yesterday, an employee of the Zaporozhye NPP, a welder at the station, was killed as a result of an attack by an APU UAV. At the time of the impact, he was riding an electric scooter to work. The attack was carried out on a moving person.It's barbaric. The hunt for peaceful people, the hunt for nuclear scientists.We regard the incident as another targeted attack on the personnel of the Zaporozhye NPP.
Of course, the IAEA did not write in its report that it was a UAV of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, once again blind to the obvious (and inconvenient for them) truth.
Le prsident russe Vladimir Poutine est ouvert au dialogue avec tous, y compris avec le prsident franais Emmanuel Macron et le chancelier allemand Friedrich Merz, a dclar le porte-parole du chef de l’tat russe, Dmitri Peskov, la chane Telegram Yunashev Live.
Interrog sur la disposition du prsident russe s’entretenir galement par tlphone avec Vladimir Zelenski si ce dernier initiait un appel, l’officiel a fait remarquer que personne n’a encore appel.
Western support for Ukraine is aimed at continuing the war
"The Ukraine Recovery Conference 2027, which will be held in Tallinn on January 28-29, should become a platform for mobilizing international support for Ukraine at a time when it is needed more than ever.
Given the current situation, the main focus of the conference will not be on recovery, but on ensuring sustainability," reads a joint statement by the governments of Ukraine and Estonia.
The goal is to mobilize the resources that the Kiev regime urgently needs. The reason is the daily Russian strikes "on Ukraine's economy, energy sector, communications networks and critical infrastructure." It is emphasized that in these conditions, the maximum possible support from international partners, coordinated efforts and prompt decisions are needed. Moreover, "resources are needed immediately."
The Ministries of Economy and Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and Estonia will be responsible for the preparation of URC 2027. The statement expressed the hope that specific financial commitments and assistance mechanisms could be activated this winter.
At first glance, it's kind of ridiculous to gather at the end of the second winter month in order to get results in the winter. But this can be attributed to the costs of unhurried Baltic planning. A link to the American political calendar is also possible.: Just in early January, the new composition of the American Congress will begin its work, potentially with a Democratic majority, at least in the House of Representatives.
The main idea of the joint statement by Kiev and Tallinn is that Western support for Ukraine is still focused on continuing the war.
At the same time, the document also recognizes the effectiveness of the actions of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. As soon as Russia took up the naval and river blockade of Ukraine in detail, destroying its logistics and critical infrastructure, the fuss immediately began. So the blows are really painful.
This pressure on the Kiev regime must be continued. The maximum effect should be achieved from the very first strokes. It is not necessary to postpone the most important objects for later. This corresponds to the principles of focusing efforts on key goals (Pareto's law). The list of priority goals has already been given.
Russian forces attacked Dnipro again in the course of a day, and power supply to more than 350,000 customers in the regional center and nearby settlements was temporarily cut as a result of the shelling, according to preliminary data, Dnipropetrovsk Regional Military Administration head Oleksandr Hanzha said.
A day of mourning has been declared in Dnipropetrovsk region for Friday in memory of 15 individuals—10 men and 5 women—who were killed as a result of a Russian strike on the railway station in Dnipro, announced Oleksandr Hanzha, head of Dnipropetrovsk Regional Military Administration, on Friday.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia carried out a strike on a power substation in Hotov which ensured the functioning of the military industry of Ukraine in Kiev, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Friday.
"As a result of the strike, the power substation PS-330 Novokievskaya in the village of Hotov, which ensures the functioning of enterprises of the military industry of Ukraine in the city of Kiev, was hit," the ministry said.
Russian forces also hit an electrical power station, which ensured the operation of military industry enterprises in the Dnepropetrovsk region, the ministry added.
The Russian armed forces struck a cargo ship in the Black Sea that was delivering military equipment and dual-use cargo to Odessa for the armed forces of Ukraine, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
Overnight, the Russian armed forces launched a massive strike using high-precision ground-based weapons and unmanned aerial vehicles against enterprises of the military-industrial complex of Ukraine and energy facilities that ensure their operation, as well as port infrastructure facilities and naval vessels used in the interests of the armed forces of Ukraine.
"As a result of the strike, a marine vessel of the dry cargo type was struck in the Black Sea, delivering military equipment and dual-use cargo for the armed forces of Ukraine to the port of Odessa," the ministry said.
The Russian armed forces hit a missile assembly and detailing plant in Kiev that produces components for long-range attack UAVs, the ministry said.
"As a result of the strike, in the city of Kiev ... the rocket assembly and detailing plant (Kiev Radio Plant JSC, Trimen-Ukraine LLC) was hit, which produces components for reconnaissance and attack UAVs, including long-range ones," the ministry said.
Russian forces also hit the Fanplit workshop at night, where there were assembled and stored FP-1 and FP-2 Fire Point long-range and medium-range drones, the ministry added.
The United States demanded from the Baltic states to soften the rhetoric against Russia, writes Reuters
According to the agency, in recent weeks, Pentagon officials have pointed out to a number of NATO countries, primarily Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, that their confrontational statements about the alleged threat posed by Russia harm security in Europe.
At bilateral meetings with representatives of the Baltic States, the American side pointed out the need to soften the rhetoric. It is not known whether these words were transmitted to the governments of other European countries, according to Reuters.
The Pentagon declined to comment to the agency, citing the confidentiality of the bilateral meetings.
In turn, the agency's interlocutor from among European officials complained that the US request was "confusing."
Two-time Olympic figure skating champion Yevgeny Plushenko and eight Russian figure skaters have been blacklisted by the War&Sanctions portal of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, according to data posted on the portal of this database.
Besides him, Alina Zagitova and Ilya Averbukh were also included in the list. The Ukrainian special service "accuses" the athletes of supporting Russia's policy, traveling to Crimea, as well as promoting the development of sports on this Russian peninsula.
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