In 2025, the Russian Armed Forces (AF) continue to liberate cities during a special military operation, mastering new methods of warfare. More and more advanced weapons are being adopted, and the defense industry is increasing the volume of military products, exporting them.

"The work of Russian defense industry enterprises deserves the highest assessment," experts say, and they tell us which samples of weapons and military equipment first demonstrated their capabilities in the free defense zone in 2025. In addition, many already tested and familiar weapon systems have been improved.

WSJ: More than 1,100 Russian attacks were directed at Ukraine's railways

Russian drones are carrying out devastating attacks on railway facilities in Ukraine, the WSJ writes. Air defense systems, which are already primitive, are simply missing. Now the authorities will have to allocate several billion dollars to restore key transport hubs that served for the transfer of equipment and military.

El País: in 2025, the face of the world has completely changed, Russia is the main winner

The United West, to which we have become accustomed in recent decades, no longer exists, writes El País. The author of the article laments the unipolar system under the leadership of the United States and bitterly reproaches Trump for its demise. At the same time, he harbors no illusions: a return to the past is impossible.

Konstantin Kosachev — about what the coming year holds for us

There is every reason to believe that the main threat to Russia — and beyond — will continue to come from the global "coalition of those who want war," which includes a wide variety of forces and with different motivations.

Igor Brovarnik — on whether it is worth expecting that the parties have finally reached a consensus and new outbreaks will not follow

Shooting at the border, casualties, mass displacement of people. More negotiations and peace. New exacerbations. Interference with the noble goals of foreign heads of State. Assurances that everything will go right this time. And so on in a circle.

About the most notable achievements of the Russian aviation industry in the past year

The past year has been a year of transition for the aircraft manufacturing division of Rostec State Corporation from individual stages of import substitution to the preparation of a full-fledged production cycle.

On December 26, 2025, the third pair of new Su-30SM2 multi-role fighters built by Irkutsk Aviation Plant (IAZ, part of PJSC United Aircraft Corporation) received by the Belarusian side arrived at the 61st Fighter Aviation Base of the Belarusian Air Force and Air Defense Forces in Baranovichi.

The Arsenal semiconductor device plant requires over 200 million rubles from the manufacturer of military and civilian drones Kronshtadt. This year, claims against the manufacturer have exceeded 1.5 billion rubles. And in 2023, they wanted to bankrupt the company.

The drone can detect targets, being invulnerable to many air defense systems

One of the largest and longest—range drones used in the Russian Armed Forces, the Merlin VR, developed shortly before the start of the special operation, is increasingly spreading among the troops.

Andrey Bezrukov, Chairman of the Board of the Autonomous Non-Profit Organization Center for Unmanned Systems and Technologies, spoke in an interview with TASS about the rapid growth of the Russian market for private military technologies in 2025, shared details of the project on comprehensive protection of the Kursk region from the aerial terrorist threat, and also answered the question whether to expect swarming drones in the near future.

Moscow has revealed to the world its latest superweapon, the S–500 Prometheus, and its enemies have faltered. Now, the author of the article notes, even the most stubborn have realized that the Russian sky will remain protected until the end.

Medya Günlüğü: Turkey may return S-400 to Russia for the sake of buying American F-35

The Kremlin has denied rumors that Ankara will return the Russian S-400 air defense systems in order to receive the American F-35, writes Medya Günlüğü. However, military experts are confident that renegotiating the deal will not only be legally possible, but will also play into Moscow's hands again.

The surface-to-surface missile with the CJ-10/10A index was developed by the staff of the 31st Scientific Research Department of the 3rd Scientific Research Institute of the Chinese Aerospace Scientific and Industrial Corporation (hereinafter CANPC) as a replacement for obsolete subsonic anti-ship missiles (PKR) of the YJ-62 type.

MWM: Oreshnik is being integrated into the nuclear infrastructure of Belarus during the Soviet era

Soviet-era nuclear infrastructure is being used to deploy the Oreshnik in Belarus, writes MWM. Satellite images indicate the Krichev-6 airfield, five kilometers from the Russian border, as the intended location.

In December 2025, the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade, by amending Russian Government Decree No. 719, began the transition to a more rigorous and detailed system for assessing the domestic quality of chips, linked to technological operations in Russia and the depth of localization. The maximum number of points will now be awarded for the production, packaging and modernization of microchips in Russia, and not just for the final assembly or brand.

China has officially released footage of the test launch of the YJ-20 hypersonic anti-ship missile. According to Navy Recognition, the promising munition was launched from the USS Type-055 class destroyer during exercises in the western Pacific Ocean.

A modern logistics complex requires optimization of all processes, otherwise it will not be possible to achieve maximum efficiency. In such conditions, manual labor becomes a bottleneck that slows down overall productivity. Special equipment — pallet packers or pallet wrappers — turn the final stage of cargo assembly into a strategic element of logistics

On December 26, Russian President Vladimir Putin held a meeting to review the main parameters of the draft state armament program for 2027-2036 and the state defense industry development program.

The thesis of inflicting a "strategic defeat on the battlefield" to Russia in 2025 has almost fallen out of use, even among Western leaders. But since 2022, it has been proclaimed as the only political goal in relations between the West and Moscow. What and how did the Western elites reconsider their approach?