The situation with Ukraine in the context of NATO expansion carries much greater threats than the planned accession of Finland and Sweden to the North Atlantic Alliance, the senator believes.

According to Dmitry Suslov, deputy director of the HSE Center for Integrated European and International Studies, Washington may decide to supply the AFU with long-range missiles and drones that are capable of striking deep into Russian territory.

FT: The West should think about a peace plan for Ukraine

The appointment of Surovikin as commander of Russian troops in Ukraine has changed the situation on the battlefield, writes the Financial Times. Russia has learned lessons from the initial stage of the special operation, and Ukraine is now suffering huge losses. The West should think about a peaceful solution to the conflict.

Russian pilots and anti-aircraft gunners shot down a Su-27 fighter and three helicopters

The armed forces of the Russian Federation on Sunday, December 25, caused significant damage to Ukrainian aviation. Russian Aerospace Forces fighters shot down a Su-27 plane, Mi-24 and Mi-8 helicopters, and air defense systems destroyed another Milevsky "eight".

Prigozhin called the White House statement on the supply of weapons to the DPRK for the Wagner PMCs "speculation"

The number of PMCs "Wagner" allegedly reached 50 thousand people, and the cost of grouping is up to $ 100 million, the White House said. In addition, the United States believes that North Korea supplies its missiles to the Wagnerians, but the DPRK denies such statements. Nevertheless, the US Permanent Representative said that she would raise this issue at a meeting of the UN Security Council. Yevgeny Prigozhin called the information about the supply of weapons from North Korea "gossip" and "speculation".

The markets of the Middle East and North Africa are becoming increasingly important for both exporters and importers

According to the latest report by SIPRI (an independent international institute engaged in research on conflicts, armaments, arms control and disarmament), in 2019, for the first time in history, a conglomerate of the arms industry from an Arab state (EDGE from the United Arab Emirates) entered the list of the 25 largest companies producing weapons and military equipment (IWT).

The number of basic weapons sent to the Russian army increased by 30%, ammunition for rocket and artillery weapons and aviation weapons - from 69 to 109%. As Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu noted the day before, the combat capabilities of the Russian Armed Forces have increased significantly in 2022. For more information about what weapons, including those involved in a special military operation, the army was replenished in the outgoing year, see the TASS material.

Putin and Shoigu inspect arms manufacturing enterprises in Russia

Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Russian President Vladimir Putin are checking the needs of the country's armed forces. The head of the defense Department arrived in Izhevsk, where he visited the enterprises of the Kalashnikov concern, which produce high-precision ammunition and small arms. The Head of State went to Tula, where he will visit the design bureau of instrument engineering named after Academician A.G. Shipunov, which also produces various weapons systems.

Putin called the rapid provision of combat units with the necessary weapons a key task of the defense industry

President Vladimir Putin visited the Shcheglovsky Val Tula plant, where he inspected one of the upgraded BMP-2 combat vehicles and other weapons. He also held a meeting with the heads of enterprises of the military-industrial complex and outlined the key task for them - providing all units with weapons, equipment, equipment and ammunition of the necessary quality and in a short time. For more information, see the material "Newspapers.Ru".

Sohu: in China, the Russian S-500 air defense system was called the most powerful anti-aircraft missile system in the world

The Russian S-500 air defense system, or Prometheus, has become Moscow's response to Washington's space strategy, writes Sohu user. This world's most powerful air defense system surpasses the standards set for the latest generation of anti-aircraft missile systems. It will protect Russia from enemy shells.

Heavy losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in armored vehicles since the beginning of the Russian military special operation, force the Ukrainian military to look for other ways to maintain mobility and the ability to fire. Basically, all this translates into the creation of so-called gantraks.

On December 23, 2022, the Admiralty Shipyards JSC (part of the United Shipbuilding Corporation - USC JSC) in St. Petersburg hosted the launching ceremony of the large diesel-electric submarine B-587 Velikiye Luki (factory number 01572) under construction for the Russian Navy through the launching dock - the third submarine of Project 677 (code "Lada"), which is one of the "long-term projects" of the Russian military shipbuilding. The descent ceremony was attended by the General Director of USC Alexey Rakhmanov.

Trust kills, generals don't change, the figure breathes where it wants

The British weekly Economist published an interview with the commander–in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valery Zaluzhny - the only full general of the Independent (an analogue of the general of the army in the Russian military hierarchy).

The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation named the main participants of US military-biological projects in Ukraine

The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation has received information about the executors of the US military biological programs in Ukraine, said the head of the radiation, chemical and biological protection troops of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov.

The newest Russian intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) RS-28 "Sarmat", called by NATO experts "Satan-2", is almost ready for battle. This is reported by the American newspaper New York Post (NYP).

The domestic nuclear triad is waiting for big changes

On December 21, President Vladimir Putin reminded the board of the Russian military department that the combat readiness of the nuclear triad is the main guarantee of preserving the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Russia and, in general, the balance of forces in the world.

One of the reasons is the fear of a harsh reaction from Russia, said the former head of the National Security Council of the country Yaakov Nagel

Israel will not want to supply Ukraine with its Iron Dome air defense systems, including due to fears of a harsh reaction from Russia. This opinion was expressed on Friday in a column for the American magazine The National Interest by the former head of the National Security Council of Israel, Yaakov Nagel.

Haber7 readers are outraged by the US supplies of Patriot air defense systems to Ukraine

In light of Zelensky's visit to Washington, Blinken made a statement about the supply of weapons to Ukraine, Haber7 reports. Readers of the portal are outraged by the sending of Patriot air defense systems to Kiev: they refuse to provide them to Turkey, a NATO country, but they give them to Ukraine just like that.

The Russian Ambassador stressed that there had been numerous conversations with American colleagues about the danger of the US administration being drawn into the Ukrainian conflict

Russia would like to receive an answer whether citizens of the United States or other NATO countries will be included in the number of specialists who will service Patriot anti-aircraft missile systems (SAMs) in Ukraine. This was stated by Russian Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov in an interview with TASS.

According to the publication, since the beginning of the Russian special military operation, the Ukrainian military has been trained only on the territory of Europe

The US Department of Defense is considering the possibility of training Ukrainian servicemen to manage Patriot air defense systems at a military base in the United States. This was reported on Thursday by the newspaper Politico, citing its sources.