Tag: russia

Police raid nightclub in Ukraine over Russian song

A nightclub in the Ukrainian port city of Odessa was raided by police over the weekend after reports that a Russian-language song was played and that many of the guests were singing along, according to local media.

Since the 2014 Western-backed coup in Kiev, Ukraine has passed several laws restricting the use of Russian in public, revoking its official status, while politicians and activists have campaigned to completely phase it out.

A video of the performance – published by Strana.ua along with photos showing police inside the Palladium nightclub – shows a DJ playing the Russian-language track ‘Glamour’ by Belarusian rappers nkeeei, uniqe, ARTEM SHILOVETS, and Wipo in front of hundreds of guests. The song reportedly prompted the police raid.

Odessa Regional Governor Oleg Kiper denounced the incident, adding that the relevant departments of the Regional Military Administration were instructed to investigate and provide a legal assessment of the nightclub’s actions.

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Trump Say US Won’t Sell Tomahawk Missiles to Ukraine, for Now

President Donald Trump said on Sunday that the United States will not sell or trade Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine for the time being, as concerns linger that such a move could lead to an escalation in that nation’s defensive war against Russia’s invasion.

Asked by a reporter on Air Force One whether he was considering sending the long-range missiles to Ukraine, Trump replied, “No, not really.”

He added a moment later that he might “change my mind, but at this moment I’m not [considering it].”

Ukraine has requested that the United States provide Tomahawk missiles, a type of missile manufactured and operated by the United States that has an effective range of up to 1,500 miles. Being equipped with such weaponry would enable the Eastern European nation to strike within Russian territory.

In October, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy suggested that Ukraine would be willing to trade drones to the United States in exchange for Tomahawk missiles.

Russia has repeatedly stated that it would view an attack within its territory using western missiles as an escalation by Ukraine’s western allies.

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Moscow’s “Root Causes” Memo Reportedly Angered White House, Which Then Nixed Budapest Summit

The Financial Times is out with more reporting Friday on why the United States canceled a planned summit between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Budapest earlier this month. The FT report says Moscow issued sweeping demands on Ukraine, according to sources privy to the conversations, and that ultimately this ‘annoyed’ President Trump, who opted to listen to those admin officials calling for a firmer position in support of Ukraine.

Also, Secretary of State Marco Rubio reportedly told Trump that Moscow was “showing no willingness to negotiate” after he held a phone call with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov. Russia has reportedly made clear that a precondition for lasting peace rests on significant territorial concessions in the east.

Trump “was not impressed with their position,” FT quoted one source as saying, who also explained the president remains open to meeting Russian leaders only “when and where he thinks there can be progress.”

However, the ‘demands’ from the Russian side shouldn’t have come as any surprise, given also Russian forces have the initiative on the ground in the east. A “root causes” of the conflict memo laying out Moscow’s position demanded Ukraine give up large parts of its territory, cut its troops and forever abandon plans to join NATO.

President Putin has meanwhile emphasized that the planned Russian-American summit in Budapest was postponed and not canceled.

Russia seems to want to keep dialogue with Washington as positive as possible, and wants to present ‘progress’ in bilateral relations, while downplaying ongoing disagreements.

The reality remains that President Trump is trying to negotiate in favor of the Zelensky government, while Zelensky’s own forces have little to no leverage over the military situation. Russia knows it is in the driver’s seat on the ground, despite Ukraine’s unrelenting cross-border drone attacks on oil refineries. And yet the mainstream media still floats simplistic narratives and mythologies like the following:

Russian foreign ministry allegedly sent a memo to Washington outlining how Putin was still calling for the supposed “root causes” of his invasion to be addressed – even though the West widely believes he invaded Ukraine in a land grab.

President Putin has floated the idea of a “ceasefire for journalists” to allow them to reach the frontlines and report honestly on the situation.

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NATO’s Three-Pronged Response To The Latest Russian Scare Raises The Risk Of A Larger War

This could be averted if Poland, which commands NATO’s third-largest army and whose new president recently didn’t rule out talking to Putin if his country’s security depended on it, doesn’t allow itself to be manipulated into partaking in any related provocations or backing up those responsible for them.

Early September’s suspicious Russian drone incident over Poland, Estonia’s subsequent claim that Russian jets violated its maritime airspace, and Scandinavia’s recent Russian drone scare are responsible for NATO considering a three-pronged response along its eastern flank according to the Financial Times. Their sources indicate that this could take the form of arming surveillance drones, streamlining the rules of engagement for fighter pilots, and holding NATO exercises right on the bloc’s border with Russia.

The first two carry self-evident escalation risks since trigger-happy operators or pilots could provoke a serious international security crisis if they shoot at (let alone down) Russian drones or jets. This is especially so if it occurs in international airspace or especially within Russia’s own. As for the last one, Russia’s threat assessment would spike during the duration of those drills since they could be a front for aggression, including hybrid aggression via drones and/or mercenaries.

NATO jamming could also lead to Russian drones veering across the border like this analysis here argues was probably responsible for the earlier-mentioned suspicious incident over Poland. In that scenario, NATO could have the pretext for a (possibly preplanned) escalation against Russia that could easily spiral out of control if cooler heads don’t prevail. The Financial Times noted that “a shift may not be publicly communicated” so a crisis could break out with no advance warning if NATO makes one wrong move.

Communication is key for preventing that, but Poland rejected Russia’s proposal to discuss September’s suspicious drone incident and Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova recently condemned it for annulling the visas of Russian experts ahead of an OSCE meeting in Warsaw. Poland aspires to revive its lost Great Power status, with September being historic in this respect as explained here, which would then revive its centuries-long rivalry with Russia at the possible expense of regional stability.

There are three fronts where Poland could apply one, some, or all three parts of NATO’s reported three-pronged response to the latest Russian scare: Kaliningrad, Belarus, and/or Ukraine. It also commands NATO’s third-largest army and has no plans to slow down its unprecedented militarization so its political-military leadership might feel emboldened to one day test Russia’s red lines. That could lead to a NATO-Russian war, however, if a Russian plane is shot down according to the Russian Ambassador to France.

New Polish President Karol Nawrocki wisely decided not to risk that by declining to impose a no-fly zone over part of Ukraine after September’s incident despite pressure from his Foreign Minister. It later turned out that the government lied about Russian responsibility for the damage inflicted on a home after it was revealed that a NATO missile was to blame. They also hid this fact from him. Deep state forces, possibly soon in collusion with Ukraine, quite clearly want to spark another Polish-Russian War.

Given that Nawrocki recently didn’t rule out talking to Putin if Poland’s security depended on it, he might thus do so in a crisis instead of allowing himself to be misled by deep state forces, particularly the liberal-globalist ruling coalition and their military-intelligence allies who just tried to manipulate him into war. Without the direct involvement of NATO’s third-largest army in any potentially forthcoming crisis, whether provoked by the Polish deep state or the Baltic States, a NATO-Russian war might be averted.

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Maduro Urgently Seeks Military Aid From Russia & China With US Bulls-Eye On Venezuela

President Trump said on Friday that he’s yet to make a final decision on launching a military attack on Venezuela, but President Nicolás Maduro is not waiting around while taking the US leader’s word on it.

Maduro is reportedly urgently reaching out to Russia, China, and Iran for any possible military aid, including defense items which may have already been negotiated or are in the works. The Washington Post says it’s obtained internal documents showing such recent and high-stakes requests.

“Amid a buildup of American forces in the Caribbean, Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro is reaching out to Russia, China and Iran to enhance its worn military capabilities and solicit assistance, requesting defensive radars, aircraft repairs and potentially missiles, according to internal U.S. government documents obtained by The Washington Post,” the publication reports.

“The requests to Moscow were made in the form of a letter meant for Russian President Vladimir Putin and was intended to be delivered during a visit to the Russian capital by a senior aide this month,” WaPo continues.

And separately, Maduro is said to have sent a formal letter to Chinese President Xi Jinping seeking “expanded military cooperation” between the two countries in order to counter “the escalation between the U.S. and Venezuela.”

Maduro in it seeks to expedite Chinese companies’ production of radar detection systems based on prior deals, in cooperation between Caracas and Beijing which has long been an open secret.

“In the missive, Maduro emphasized the seriousness of perceived U.S. aggression in the Caribbean, framing U.S. military action against Venezuela as action against China due to their shared ideology,” the documents state according to the Post.

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Ukrainian army faces collapse as desertion rates soar, 250,000+ cases opened since war began

The Ukrainian military is being starved of personnel not just by battlefield losses, but by a massive and growing wave of desertions as soldiers vote with their feet to escape a conflict they see as hopeless.

Since the full-scale invasion began in 2022, prosecutors have opened more than 253,000 criminal cases for unauthorized abandonment of units and desertion, according to official data from the Prosecutor General’s Office.. This crisis of morale is severely undermining military capabilities and highlights a population that is increasingly unwilling to fight, with the problem accelerating so dramatically that by mid-2025, nearly 576 soldiers were leaving their posts every single day.

The scale of the problem is immense. Official data from the Prosecutor General’s Office shows 202,997 criminal cases were initiated for unauthorized abandonment, often called AWOL, from 2022 through July 2025. During that same period, an additional 50,058 cases were opened for the more serious charge of desertion. The trend is sharply upward, with annual abandonment cases exploding from 7,000 in 2022 to 105,500 in just the first seven months of 2025.

This year alone, the number of criminal cases involving deserters has increased almost fivefold and may reach as many as 300,000, according to MP Oleksiy Honcharenko. The monthly numbers are consistently dire, with between 14,000 and 18,000 cases of unauthorized abandonment recorded regularly. This mass exodus is creating a critical shortage of trained personnel on the front lines, directly disrupting battle strategies and defense capabilities.

A crisis of morale and manpower

The reasons soldiers are abandoning their posts are not rooted in a lack of courage but in a breakdown of conditions and hope. Reports from within the military structure point to the incompetence of some officers and a crippling lack of rotation and leave, which prevents exhausted soldiers from resting or contacting their families. One deserter named Viktor, who had volunteered early in the war, explained his disillusionment, stating, “I realized I’m nobody. Just a number.”

Another soldier, Oleksii, who went into hiding after serving on the front lines, summarized a feeling many may share, saying, “The longer the war goes on, the more people like me there will be.” For these individuals, the choice becomes one of survival, with many believing that even a potential prison sentence is a preferable option to the near-certain death and endless hardship of combat.

Ukraine’s first military ombudsperson, Olha Reshetylova, confirmed the gravity of the situation. “Let’s be honest. The problem is big,” she said. “It’s natural in a situation where you’ve had three years of major war. People are exhausted.” She added that the state cannot solve the problem with criminal punishment alone, acknowledging, “If it comes to a choice between being killed and going to prison, of course at that moment you will go with the second option.”

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Pentagon says Ukraine can have Tomahawk missiles: Report

The Pentagon has given approval to the White House to send long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine, potentially fulfilling President Volodymyr Zelensky’s desire for more weapons in his country’s war with Russia if President Trump provides the final green light, CNN reported Friday.

The Hill has reached out to the White House and the Pentagon for confirmation. The Defense Department’s (DOD) approval is reportedly based on an assessment that providing Tomahawks would not negatively impact U.S. stockpiles.

After the Joint Staff gave the White House another assessment earlier this month informing Trump that European allies determined the U.S. had little reason to not send the missiles, it came as a surprise when the president pushed against giving Zelensky the missiles, two European officials told CNN.

“It’s not easy for us to give … you’re talking about massive numbers of very powerful weapons,” Trump said before meeting with Zelensky at the White House on Oct. 17.

Trump had told Zelensky that he would not provide Ukraine with Tomahawk missiles, at least not yet, CNN reported.

The following week, Zelensky emphasized his discussion with Trump about the missiles as “a major investment in diplomacy — we forced Russia to reveal that Tomahawks are precisely the card they take seriously.”

Zelensky has argued that not being given the Tomahawk missiles deflated Russian President Vladimir Putin’s interest in diplomacy with Ukraine.

“The front line can spark diplomacy. Instead, Russia continues to do everything to weasel out of diplomacy, and as soon as the issue of long-range capabilities for us — for Ukraine — became less immediate, Russia’s interest in diplomacy faded almost automatically,” Zelensky said during a daily video address earlier this month. “This signals that this very issue — the issue of our deep strike capabilities — may hold the indispensable key to peace.” 

The missiles are built to travel at high, subsonic speeds and low heights to better dodge radars, providing Ukraine with a lot more capability and range to target Russian military outposts and energy facilities deep inside the country, military experts previously told The Hill. 

Russia has warned the U.S. against sending the missiles to Ukraine, arguing it would represent a major escalation. The Kremlin is currently using self-produced missiles in addition to missiles from North Korea and drones from Iran.

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100,000 Fighting-Age Ukrainian Men Have Fled the Country in Two Months After Easing of Rules for Departure of 18–22-Year-Olds

Young men are running for their lives.

As the winter approaches in Ukraine – with the terrifying prospect of blackouts and power outages disrupting heating in homes – a huge number of young men are watching the tragedy unfold from safe places, far away from the war.

With the catastrophic number of dead and seriously injured, the ever-growing ‘army’ of deserters and the ghost citizens hiding in their houses from mobilization, the lack of troops has become the main problem affecting the Ukrainian war effort – even more than the lack of weapons, ammo, planes, drones and missiles.

To make things even worse, almost 100,000 fighting-age Ukrainian men have left the country in the past two months, after the Kiev regime eased departure rules for citizens between 18 and 22 years old.

The Telegraph reported:

“Poland’s border guard said 99,000 Ukrainian men aged between 18 and 22 had crossed the frontier – the primary route out of the country – since regulations to ensure that Kyiv had enough soldiers were relaxed at the end of August. In comparison, the entire British Army has around 70,000 personnel.”

Since the beginning of the war, martial law blocked Ukrainian men aged from 18 to 60 from leaving the country.

But, in the fourth year of fighting, Kiev regime leader Volodymyr Zelensky signed a new rule that permits Ukrainian men to travel abroad before they reach 23.

“The move was part of a shift in conscription policy, which lowered the age at which men were obliged to fight from 27 to 25 because of mounting concerns over manpower shortages on the front lines.

By granting young Ukrainians more freedoms to leave, it was hoped more would return and volunteer to fight at a later date.”

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‘Massive’ Overnight Drone Strikes Cause Widespread Power Outages in Ukraine

The latest in a sustained Russian campaign of massive drone and missile attacks on Ukraine´s energy infrastructure brought power outages and restrictions in all the country´s regions Thursday, officials said, with the Ukrainian prime minister describing Moscow´s tactic as “systematic energy terror.”

The strikes, which were the latest in Russia´s almost daily attacks on the Ukrainian power grid as bitter winter temperatures approach, killed at least three people, including a 7-year-old girl, according to authorities. Children between 2 and 16 years of age were among the 17 injured.

Russian launched more than 650 drones and more than 50 missiles of various types in the attack, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

Ukrainian cities use centralized public infrastructure to run water, sewage and heating systems, and blackouts stop from them working. Months of attacks have aimed to erode Ukrainian morale as well as disrupt weapons manufacturing and other war-related activity almost four years after Russia´s full-scale invasion of its neighbor.

“Russia continues its systematic energy terror – striking at the lives, dignity, and warmth of Ukrainians on the eve of winter. Its goal is to plunge Ukraine into darkness; ours is to keep the light on,” Ukrainian Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko said.

“To stop this terror, Ukraine needs more air defense systems, tougher sanctions, and maximum pressure on (Russia),” she added, referring to fruitless U.S.-led diplomatic efforts to make Russia enter negotiations for a peace settlement.

Strikes in the southern Zaporizhzhia region injured 17 people, including a 2-year-old girl, regional authorities said. Rescuers pulled a man from the rubble of a building, but he did not survive, according to Ivan Fedorov, head of the Zaporizhzhia regional administration. A second person was also killed in Zaporizhzhia.

A 7-year-old girl died in hospital from her injuries in Ukraine´s central-west Vinnytsia region, regional governor Nataliia Zobolotna said.

Two energy infrastructure facilities were damaged in the western Lviv region, near the border with Poland, local authorities said.

The Polish military said that it scrambled Polish and allied NATO aircraft as a preventive measure due to the Russian attack on Ukrainian territory. The Polish regional airports in Radom and Lublin were closed to ensure the military freedom of operation, the Polish Air Navigation Services Agency said.

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Russia Successfully Tests Unmanned Underwater Vehicle 2M39 Poseidon – Capable of Triggering Radioactive Tsunamis

On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed a successful test of the ‘2M39 Poseidon’ days after a trial of the new Burevestnik cruise missile, which was followed by nuclear launch drills.

Putin described the Poseidon as a nuclear-powered super-torpedo designed to create radioactive tsunamis and wipe out coastal cities.

President Putin says Russia successfully tested its nuclear-powered, nuclear-armed unmanned underwater vehicle, the 2M39 Poseidon.

According to the Telegraph, The Poseidon has its roots in Soviet plans for a weapon that would be able to render coastal cities on the shores of the United States uninhabitable.

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev says its new ‘Poseidon’ nuclear torpedo capable of triggering radioactive tsunamis “can be considered a true doomsday weapon.”

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