#russia

#russia

If your travel plans in the near future involve making your way to Russia, the U.S. State Department has some information they would like to share with you. More specifically, they have some information that they would like to share with you in order to convince you not to go. In late December, the agency issued its highest possible warning against visiting the country in question. Or, as the agency's website bluntly declares: "Do not travel to Russia for any reason."

Well, you take a map, take a look at the map of the world, or take a look at a globe from looking from the North Pole down and you can see why Greenland is the opposite end of the bookend. The other end is Alaska. You look to the other side of the world and you've got Russia and all of their adventurism around the Arctic.

Most dramatically, first Israel and the United States bombed Iran's nuclear facilities. Some commentators feared that President Trump's decision to bomb Iran would drag the United States into the "forever wars" in the Middle East that presidential candidate Trump had pledged to avoid. The tragic war in Gaza had become a humanitarian disaster. After years of promising to reduce engagement with the region from Democratic and Republican presidents alike, it appeared that the US was being dragged back into Middle East once again.

Zelenskyy said Ukrainian intelligence had observed that Belarus was deploying equipment in Belarusian settlements near the border, including on residential buildings to assist Russian forces in carrying out their attacks. Antennae and other equipment are located on the roofs of ordinary five-storey apartment buildings, which help guide Shaheds' [Russian drones] to targets in our western regions, he said. This is an absolute disregard for human lives, and it is important that Minsk stops playing with this, he added.

Eight years ago, Trump's said that "China and Russia challenge American power, influence, and interests, attempting to erode American security and prosperity." The new NSS doesn't name Russia as a threat to the U.S. - stating instead that "strategic stability with Russia" is a goal of American policy. Europe is presented as a bigger challenge; the U.S. should "help Europe correct its current trajectory," which the NSS says has been damaged by immigration and a risk of " civilizational erasure."

Belousov said that Russia's war spending is on track to reach about 5.1% of the country's GDP in 2025, out of an overall defense budget that reaches 7.3% of its annual GDP. The country's nominal GDP in 2024 was about 201.2 trillion rubles, and is expected to grow 1% this year to about 203 trillion rubles, or $2.52 trillion. Russian independent media, however, reported that the economic ministry has forecast a GDP of about $2.7 trillion for the year. A war budget of 5.1% would therefore be somewhere between $128 billion and $137.7 billion.

The German government has accused Russia of carrying out repeated hostile actions against Germany, including acts of sabotage, cyberattacks and disinformation campaigns. A spokesperson for the German Foreign Office said Friday that the Russian ambassador has been summoned to Berlin over allegations of repeated hybrid attacks on Germany. The move followed what officials described as mounting evidence of coordinated Russian activity aimed at undermining Germany's internal stability. The spokesperson said there were also indications of Russian attempts to influence elections.

It combines the latest autonomous and AI technologies with world-class warships and aircraft to create a highly advanced hybrid fighting force to detect, deter and defeat those who threaten us.

State internet regulator Roskomnadzor alleged in a statement that both apps were being used to organize and conduct terrorist activities on the territory of the country, to recruit perpetrators (and) commit fraud and other crimes against our citizens. Apple did not respond to an emailed request for comment, nor did Snap Inc. The Russian regulator said it took action against Snapchat 10 October, even though it only reported the move on Thursday.