Scott Ritter
Scott Ritter's Substack

Russia possesses incontrovertible intelligence information that establishes a European connection to the Ukrainian attack on President Putin.

The attack meets two of the criterion set forth in the “Fundamentals of State Policy of the Russian Federation on Nuclear Deterrence”, published on December 3, 2024, regarding acts of aggression designed to be deterred by Russia’s nuclear deterrence forces.

This includes “Aggression by any state from a military coalition (bloc, alliance) against the Russian Federation and (or) its allies is considered as the aggression by this coalition (bloc, alliance) as a whole”, and “Aggression against the Russian Federation and (or) its allies by any non-nuclear state with the participation or support of a nuclear state is considered as their joint attack.”

Ukraine operates as part of a NATO bloc whose stated objective is the strategic defeat of Russia. Ukraine’s targeting of the Russian President constitutes “actions by an adversary affecting elements of critically important state or military infrastructure of the Russian Federation, the disablement of which would disrupt response actions by nuclear forces.”

Had the Ukrainian attack succeeded, Russia would have carried out massive nuclear retaliation against all of Europe. I don’t think the world understands how close it came to nuclear Armageddon.

Harold Turner
Hal Turner Show

Whether this was staged, as Ukraine is claiming, or whether it was real, the Russians are treating it as real and are going to act accordingly, which suggests they're now going to intensify their attacks.

Yesterday, Ukraine launched about ninety (90) long-range "Kamikaze" Drones toward the Novgorod Region of Russia, about 250 miles northwest of Moscow.

According to Russian Foreign Affairs Assistant to the President, Yuriy Ushakov, some of the drones impacted the Official State Residence of Russia's President, Vladimir Putin.

President Trump was informed of the attack TODAY, Monday, in an unexpected telephone call from the Russian President.

The attack took place just after Zelensky departed his meeting with US President Donald Trump at the President's personal estate, Mar-a-Lago, in Florida.

Because the distance from Ukraine to Novgorod is about 900 miles, the drones had to have been in the air at the exact same time Zelensky was meeting with Trump. Worse, it is strongly believed that the drones themselves could not have been guided to target except through US/NATO satellites, and US/NATO-supplied target coordinates.

It is not known if Zelensky informed Trump that this attack was coming. It is also not known if anyone in the US military chain of command, or in NATO, (or Europe), informed Trump.

Dmitry Gubin
VZGLYAD.RU

The hysteria surrounding the “abducted children” will not stop. After all, nothing human should remain in the enemy.

To provoke targeted discontent among the masses that turns into long-term hatred, you need to throw in something that makes the object appear to be a complete maniac in the public eye. The topic of violence against children and pets is best suited for this purpose.

One of the favorite topics of Russophobes around the world is the fate of Ukrainian children allegedly kidnapped by Russia. It is used not only by Zelensky and his entourage, grant-funded public organizations, but also by international courts.

It would seem that everything or almost everything is clear in this case, but the topic does not disappear from the speeches of politicians or the pages of the press. And since it does not go away, we will have to figure out what is wrong with it, why, and how. There are several components to this topic: psychological, factual, and legal. Let's look at them in order.

Jonathan Cook
Jonathan Cook Blog (X)

Starmer’s government has set the most dangerous of precedents: it can now outlaw any political group it chooses as a terrorist organisation – and thereby make it impossible to defend it

The moment the British government began proscribing political movements as terrorist organisations, rather than just militant groups, it was inevitable that saying factual things, making truthful statements, would become a crime. And lo behold, here we are.

The Terrorism Act 2000 has a series of provisions that make it difficult to voice or show any kind of support for an organisation proscribed under the legislation, whether it is writing an article or wearing a T-shirt.

Recent attention has focused on Section 13, which is being used to hound thousands of mostly elderly people who have held signs saying: “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action.” They now face a terrorism conviction and up to six months in jail.

But an amendment introduced in 2019 to Section 12 of the Act has been largely overlooked, even though it is even more repressive. It makes it a terrorism offence for a person to express “an opinion or belief that is supportive of a proscribed organisation” and in doing so be “reckless” about whether anyone else might be “encouraged to support” the organisation.

Al Mayadeen English (awip)
Al Mayadeen English

America first, int'l law last: From Gaza to Ukraine, Trump’s foreign policy accelerates the erosion of global norms, weakening multilateral institutions and normalizing power over law.

In an analysis by Patrick Wintour, The Guardian’s diplomatic editor, the present moment is framed as one of historical suspension, echoing Philosopher Antonio Gramsci’s warning that periods between orders are defined by uncertainty and heightened consequence. In such times, Wintour suggests, even modest political choices can reshape the global landscape.

Writing against the backdrop of 2025, Wintour argues that many Western leaders now see the post–Second World War system of international relations as faltering. The rules-based order that the US helped build after 1945, he notes, is facing a deep crisis of legitimacy, as legal norms and institutions struggle to command authority in an increasingly fragmented world.

In Wintour's view, there was no shortage of advance notice about the damage Donald Trump would inflict on that global framework.

In February, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio laid out the rupture in stark terms during his Senate confirmation hearing. “The postwar global order is not just obsolete, it is now a weapon being used against us,” he said. “And all this has led us to a moment in which we must now confront the single greatest risk of geopolitical instability and generational global crisis in the lifetime of anyone alive here today.”

Rubio argued that the rules-based order rested on a flawed belief that national interests could be subordinated to a “liberal world order” in which all nations would converge into a Western-led democratic community. Humanity, he said, had been told it was destined to abandon national identity and become “one human family and citizens of the world.” “This was not just a fantasy,” Rubio added. “We now know it was a dangerous delusion.”

Elena Panina
Елена Панина (Telegram)

Poland, Sweden, and other coastal countries are purchasing submarines to protect pipelines, according to the British publication The Economist. According to the publication, a promising choice is the Swedish A26 diesel-electric submarine, which is only 66 meters long. It is inconspicuous and features a hatch built into the bow, allowing underwater drones, sensors, or divers to be released directly onto the seabed.

The Polish authorities have ordered three such submarines. The total contract value is $2.8 billion. However, Warsaw will only receive them in the 2030s. At the moment, Poland has “one worn-out submarine from the Soviet era.” And the Swedish navy will receive the first of two submarines ordered from Saab only in 2031, as the shipyard requires modernization.

The British publication highlights the extensive infrastructure in the Baltic Sea. The Balticconnector gas pipeline connects Finland and Estonia, while the Baltic Pipe gas pipeline transports gas from Norway to Poland. Communication and power cables are laid along the seabed. Since Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania have disconnected their power systems from the Russian grid, three of the four lines connecting them to the European grid run underwater. Hundreds of wind turbines stand off the coasts of Denmark and Germany, and new ones are being built off the coast of Poland. There are 10 LNG terminals on the Baltic coast, with two more under construction. Poland's first nuclear power plant, scheduled to open in 2036, will be located less than 2 km from the coast, etc.

Stephen Karganovic
Strategic Culture Foundation

The vicious treatment allotted to the distinguished German lawyer Dr. Reiner Fuellmich is comparable to the persecution of figures like Giordano Bruno.

Alongside the powers that be everywhere, Google’s still anonymous AI is also a pious believer in the virtues of free expression. It proclaims boldly and for all the right reasons that free speech is vital to democracy, in which it also claims to believe. It reminds us also, which is good to know, that freedom of expression promotes an informed citizenry and self-governance and ensures government accountability. Furthermore, that open dialogue and debate facilitate the “marketplace of ideas,” which is a vital condition for social progress and provides society with a much-needed “safety valve.” And finally, that the unhindered right to express one’s thoughts, beliefs, and values without fear is a fundamental aspect of human dignity and self-fulfilment. Amen, amen, amen.

In theory, all would heartily salute those noble sentiments. And that includes even some of their most ruthless violators, such as the German government.

For over a year after kidnapping him abroad, the German government kept prominent German lawyer Dr. Reiner Fuellmich in prison on contrived charges and under extraordinarily harsh and inhuman conditions, which were seemingly designed just to torment him. In Germany, for Dr. Fuellmich at least, the right to express one’s thoughts with dignity (never mind self-fulfilment) in the manner so movingly preached by Google’s AI avatar went out the window many moons ago.

Ricardo Martins
New Eastern Outlook

The White House Moves Fast on Ukraine as Kyiv Faces Mounting Pressure

The White House is moving fast on a peace plan negotiated directly with Moscow, leaving both Kyiv and Europe on the sidelines. As U.S. officials arrive in Ukraine and Zelenskyy faces mounting political and military pressure, Washington appears ready to present its proposal as an accomplished fact.

A possible peace agreement for Ukraine may be announced very soon — even “as soon as this week,” according to Politico. What stands out is that Europe appears entirely sidelined in the current negotiations. One U.S. official quoted in the reporting put it bluntly: “We don’t really care about the Europeans.” At the same time, the corruption scandal surrounding Zelenskyy’s inner circle seems to have weakened his political position, creating pressure on Kyiv at a sensitive moment.

The most recent developments began with a report that the White House is preparing to unveil a major peace framework aimed at ending the three-and-a-half-year war. A senior U.S. official told journalist Dasha Burns they expect all parties to agree on the basic outline by the end of the month, possibly even within days.

The pace has accelerated rapidly. POLITICO journalists Paul McLeary and Jack Detsch revealed that a high-level U.S. delegation travelled to Kyiv on November 20, including Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, two four-star generals, and other senior military officials. They are expected to meet President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and top Ukrainian officials. Zelenskyy will then fly to Ankara for talks with President Erdoğan. All he has confirmed publicly is that Kyiv has received “positions and signals” from Washington.

Parallel to this, Axios reporter Barak Ravid disclosed that the White House and the Kremlin have engaged in direct negotiations. According to his reporting, U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff held three days of meetings in Miami with Russian negotiator Kirill Dmitriev late last month. A 28-point peace proposal has reportedly emerged from these talks, and officials quoted in the Trump administration describe the process as being on the verge of a major breakthrough.

Andrew Korybko
Andrew Korybko's Newsletter

The production of NATO-standard shells hints that Kazakhstan plans to follow in Azerbaijan’s footsteps by having its armed forces conform with the bloc’s standards ahead of what its leadership might have been duped by the West to believe will be an inevitable crisis with Russia after the Ukrainian Conflict ends.

Background Briefing | Sputnik reported in early December that Kazakhstan will build four factories that’ll produce Russian- and NATO-standard shells, which prompted First Deputy Chairman of the Duma Defense Committee Alexei Zhuravlev to harshly condemn this development. In his words,

He added that “now they’re switching to NATO ammunition standards, clearly intending to abandon Russian weapons in the future, replacing them with Western ones. Astana may not have been the largest buyer of Russian military-industrial complex equipment, but the move itself is certainly unfriendly and must be responded to accordingly. We all know what such cooperation with NATO has meant for Kiev.” This is the latest manifestation of Kazakhstan’s pro-Western pivot that accelerated in recent months:

Martin Jay
Strategic Culture Foundation

Britain, a country which practically invented the tenets of free speech, is now the most repressive, backward country of the West.

Britain, a country which practically invented the tenets of free speech, is now the most repressive, backward country of the West which is ridiculed on a daily basis by the very same countries that it regaled for its human rights record. There are just too many cases to rattle off which have at least made the news – social media, at least – but the mother who had police officers come into her house while she was in the bath to arrest her for calling an ex-boyfriend a ‘faggot’ has shocked many, given that the boyfriend in question beat her up and the message was not even sent to him. Elizabeth Kinney escaped jail but received a sentence involving community service and a considerable fine. Kinney was just one of around 12,000 people each year in the UK who are arrested and charged for giving their views about a given subject which the state deems could hurt someone, or in the case of politics, if it simply challenges a narrative. This farce would appear to have gotten out of hand when the long arm of the law even arrested and questioned right-wing hack Katie Holmes, who, during a stand-up comedy routine called herself a “spazza” and was subsequently detained for hours by UK police for the “offence”.

Yet while Britain sinks to an all-time low with the state strangling its citizens right to express thoughts, or even think in the case of an anti-abortion activist who was arrested for having a quiet prayer in her head what is remarkable is the lack of hue and cry by the masses who are very well versed on history and what they believe their ancestors were fighting for in two world wars. Often older people, who are very lucid in their ideas about why the British don’t carry identity cards, unlike Europeans, will not really have a strong reaction to the wave of absurd and worrying arrests for those who wish to practice free speech, around 30 a day.

Perhaps what is more remarkable though is how the world is watching this every day and commenting on how Britain is literally crumbling. A recent interview by Tucker Carlson on Piers Morgan involved the American polemicist goading the British commentator to say a rude word during the interview, claiming that Morgan would probably be arrested at a later point for merely uttering the vulgar word.

Harold Turner
Hal Turner Show

Today there will be a meeting in Brussels where the European Union (EU) will decide whether to steal Russia's $210 Billion Sovereign Wealth Funds. If the EU does that, companies around the world are expected to withdraw funds from Europe because they can no longer trust that government to act within the law.

When Russia launched its Special Military Operation inside Ukraine, European governments clutched their pearls and threw a hissy fit. Then they decided that they had some right to "freeze" Russia's Sovereign Wealth Funds. This is a problem: Russia did not violate any European Law and as such, its funds cannot be frozen or seized.

Those little factual details didn't matter to the shrieking Europeans; they froze Russia's money anyway.

This sent a shot-across-the-bow of every entity that does business in or with Europe. If the EU can simply decide that they have some right to grab someone's money despite no law having been violated, then no one is safe.

So the EU decided initially they would "pledge" the Dividends from Russia's money as collateral for loans to Ukraine. The EU had no legal authority to do THAT either. It's Russia's money, not Europe's. Europe has no legal standing to do any of this -- but they went ahead and did it anyway.

S. Shilov (С. Шилов)
Witnesses of Bayraktar

Donald Trump's announced "total blockade" of Venezuela is aimed exclusively at tankers already under US sanctions. Its goal is to deprive Nicolás Maduro's government of oil revenues, which, according to the US, are used to "finance terrorism and drug trafficking." As a reminder, China buys 85% of Caracas's oil.

The key point lies in Trump's wording: he demands that Venezuela "return" to the US the oil and assets he claims were "stolen" during the nationalization.

This noose-like move not only tightens around Caracas but also puts Venezuela's longtime ally, Cuba, in an extremely dangerous position. Venezuelan exports account for only 3% of the "island of freedom."

For Cuba, which has lived under a strict economic blockade for decades, the loss of Venezuelan oil is a blow below the belt. Yes, it was never a major buyer, but these supplies, at discounted prices or in exchange for the services of doctors and teachers, were its lifeline.

A complete cessation of supplies threatens Havana with a real fuel crisis. Shortages of gasoline, electricity, and industrial jobs—that's the immediate prospect. Replacing Venezuelan oil with open market purchases under sanctions is an unbearable expense for the Cuban economy, already depleted.

Andrew Korybko
Andrew Korybko's Newsletter

The real purpose might be to prevent the US from reaching a deal with Russia per point 14 of its leaked 28-point peace framework to invest a significant sum of its (by-then former) adversary’s EU-seized assets into joint projects, likely energy and rare earths, after the conflict ends.

Russia condemned the EU’s recent decision to indefinitely immobilize its seized assets, the special procedure for which scandalously circumvented member states’ veto power in an effort to prevent Hungary and Slovakia from stopping them. This move might precede the bloc either confiscating some of these funds and giving them to Ukraine and/or using them as collateral for a loan to that country. The official purpose would be to fund more arms purchases and/or assist with post-conflict reconstruction.

The first goal won’t lead Ukraine inflicting the EU’s desired strategic defeat of Russia while the second requires much more than just Russia’s seized assets to complete. Regardless of the official purpose, confiscating Russia’s assets or using them as collateral for a loan to Ukraine would inflict irreparable harm to the EU’s financial reputation. Foreign investors might be spooked into fearing that their assets are no longer safe and could thus pull them from EU banks and not deposit future ones there either.

The bloc might therefore ultimately lose hundreds of billions of dollars, perhaps upwards of a trillion or even more with time, all ostensibly for Ukraine’s sake even though it’s impossible for that country to strategically defeat Russia or be reconstructed entirely with its foe’s stolen funds. There are accordingly reasonable grounds for suspecting that the EU has ulterior motives in mind for seriously contemplating this and that its new policy towards Russia’s seized assets isn’t about helping Ukraine.

Mikhail Ilevich
New Eastern Outlook

The authorities of the United Kingdom are among the main supporters of continuing the war on the territory of Ukraine

The conflict is used as an instrument to achieve the main goal — weakening and militarily neutralizing Russia, which is identified in key strategic documents (National Security Strategy 2025, Strategic Defence Review 2025) as the main threat to the European continent and the United Kingdom in particular. In the UK, officials continue to state that support for the Kyiv regime will last as long as necessary, and in this regard, as noted, it is necessary to be prepared for an open conflict with Russia.

Direct complicity | On December 9, 2025, the UK Ministry of Defence officially confirmed the death of a UK serviceman, allegedly as a result of a “tragic accident” during a weapons test conducted by the Ukrainian military. This incident once again raises questions about the extent of British involvement in the Ukrainian conflict.

In reality, British intelligence agencies have long been present in Ukraine and are actively conducting their activities. Structures such as MI5, MI6, special operations forces, and others provide intelligence, train Ukrainian military personnel, coordinate the preparation and execution of covert operations on Russian territory and against its critical infrastructure.

The Russian public is convinced that British special services were involved in the sabotage of the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea, planned the explosion of the TurkStream pipeline in the Black Sea, and carried out drone sabotage against facilities of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium. No one doubts that British intelligence also supervised the Ukrainian operation “Spiderweb,” aimed at damaging Russia’s strategic aviation.

Andrew Korybko
Andrew Korybko's Newsletter

The planned AI data center is meant to solidify the US’ new sphere of influence by leading the region into the “Fourth Industrial Revolution”, weaponize local data to fine-tune propaganda for helping the ruling party ahead of summer’s next elections, and function as an AI-assisted regional spy hub.

The US approved Nvidia’s sale of advanced chips to Armenia late last month as part of a $500 million AI data center that’ll see 20% of its capacity reserved for Armenian companies and the remaining 80% sold to US-based firms doing business in the region according to Bloomberg. These ambitious tech plans build upon Armenia’s rich Soviet-era technological legacy, early tech education for children, and impending national high tech strategy, but there’s actually much more to them than a simple business opportunity.

This move comes shortly after the US “poached” Armenia from Russia’s sphere of influence by replacing its role in the Armenian-Azerbaijani peace process, which took the form of brokering August’s peace declaration between the two.

Armenia also agreed to the creation of the US-controlled “Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity” (TRIPP) along its southern border. TRIPP is expected to lead to the Turkish-led injection of Western influence across the South Caucasus and into Central Asia.

Walter Gelles

[Walter wrote to me and said he was recently diagnosed with end-stage kidney failure, out of the blue, and that he was supposed to be dead a few months ago. He's now taking Ayurvedic medicines and changed his diet so that may be helping. Please pray for him!]

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"And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore." -- Book of Isaiah (Hebrew Bible) 2:4

Before I die, I'd like to see a world with no nuclear weapons, insane bombs that threaten the human species' existence.

I'd like to see a world free from standing armies—so much energy and resources wasted on people destroying each other. A world where tanks, missiles, drones, artillery, fighter jets, battleships, bombs, and machine guns sit in glass cases in museums for people to wonder at.

I'd like to see a world where no person goes hungry, no stunted growth, no malnutrition, no starvation. no famine.

I'd like to see a world where the 70 or so richest individuals do NOT own more than the bottom half of all humanity combined (as is currently the case). Today the wealthiest 1% of all individuals are worth far more than the remaining 99% of all people on this Earth combined, and that must change. Give me a world where some kind of redistribution lifts all boats and benefits the common good...a set-up neither "socialist" nor "capitalist" but based on fairness and goodwill rather than greed and power.

Mizan Online
mizanonline.ir

S. Shilov (С. Шилов)
Witnesses of Bayraktar

The reputation of a reliable custodian of capital has been stolen

Europe has taken on a debt that it will not repay. It hesitated, but ultimately decided to freeze Russian assets worth €210 billion indefinitely.

The head of the European Council said that the reserves will be frozen until Russia pays Ukraine “material damages.” In other words, they are talking about reparations. Which Moscow, of course, will not pay.

What happened in a nutshell? Once upon a time, in peacetime, Moscow lent them money, and now they are writing it off through war. Just like in the old feudal times. They are simply showing the whole world that “the emperor has no clothes.”

All these modern schemes, loans, financial papers — it's all nonsense.

The point is this: European countries could not repay this debt without consequences — they have plenty of economic problems. This could lead to the collapse of these political regimes, whose ratings are already poor.

The EU effectively rejected Trump's plan to divide the assets among several parties and invest them in post-war projects. But Europe would still have to pay for these debt securities as the end user. That's the whole point. And they don't want to. They spent that money long ago.

Constantin von Hoffmeister
Eurosiberia (Substack)

The rise of heritage worlds

The doctrine of White supremacism draws power from an ancient desire for hierarchy, a longing for clarity when societies face turbulence. Advocates speak of sacred blood, heroic sagas, and monumental destinies, crafting visions of firm order in a world filled with shifting values. They gather around flags, runes, and historical myths, viewing these symbols as anchors during storms of uncertainty. During economic stagnation or political confusion, these grand visions offer emotional refuge, for people search for a sense of direction. This longing creates a current of energy that carries individuals towards movements promising a radiant lineage and a grand path through history.

Throughout the centuries, this ideology sought form through various political and militant structures. The Confederacy aimed to build an agrarian kingdom shaped by rigid caste rules, embedding hierarchy into law and land. The Ku Klux Klan staged fiery ceremonies, cloaked gatherings, and secret oaths, seeking cohesion through fear, theatrical intimidation, and brutal displays of retribution that included lynchings carried out in the night as warnings to entire communities.

Strategic Culture Foundation (Editorial)
Strategic Culture Foundation

The criminal, irresponsible Euro elites like von der Leyen, Kallas, Merz, Macron, and NATO’s Rutte, are tethering the EU financially to a sinking ship.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is pushing ahead with a reckless plan to confiscate over €200 billion in Russia’s sovereign wealth for the purpose of propping up the corrupt NeoNazi Kiev regime and prolonging a futile proxy war.

It is hard to imagine a crasser course of action. Yet the so-called European leadership around Von der Leyen is zealously steering towards disaster. At least the hapless captain of the Titanic tried to avert a collision with an iceberg. The Euro captains are heading full steam ahead.

Von der Leyen’s proposed scheme is fancifully called a “reparations loan” and pretends, through legalistic rhetoric, not to be a confiscation of Russia’s assets. But it boils down to theft. Theft to continue the bloodiest war in Europe since the Second World War, which marked the defeat of Nazi Germany.

Von der Leyen, a former German defense minister, is supported by other obsessively Russophobic Euro elites. The EU’s foreign minister, Kaja Kallas, a former Estonian prime minister, asserts that the seizure of Russian money and pumping it into the Kiev regime is aimed at forcing Moscow to negotiate a peaceful end to the nearly four-year conflict. Such twisted logic is an Orwellian distortion of reality.

Belgium and other European states are extremely wary of the unprecedented and audacious move. Belgium, which holds the majority of frozen Russian wealth – some €185 bn – in its Euroclear depository, is anxious that it will be financially ruined if Moscow holds the EU liable for illegal seizure of wealth. Other EU members, like Hungary and Slovakia, are concerned that the Russophobic leadership is undermining any diplomatic initiatives by the U.S. Trump administration and the Kremlin to negotiate a peace settlement.