Lavrov – following the results of the East Asian summit in Cambodia: NATO no longer says that it is a purely defensive alliance. It was defensive when the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact existed.

Other statements from Lavrov: NATO and the United States are trying to master the Asia-Pacific region by militarizing it

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that this is aimed at curbing the interests of China and Russia:

""One of the concrete manifestations of this line was the creation of the AUGUST military bloc: the United States, Australia, Britain, which is now actively trying to attract New Zealand, Canada, Japan.

Closed initiatives are being promoted to organize monitoring of maritime activities, which is directly linked to the need for some kind of Western confrontational actions in the South China Sea. Our Chinese friends understand this very well."
Follow 👉 @TrFormer💤

⚡Russian Defence Ministry report on the progress of the special military operation in Ukraine
(12 November 2022)

📄 More

#MoD #Russia #Ukraine #report
@mod_russia_en

Elnur Kunor is a nine-year-old boy who delivers water to people in Donetsk. ❤️🔥

The boy helps the city of Donetsk deprived of water: every morning he draws water and delivers it to his townsmen to the thunder of cannon.
Together with his father Elnur has already carried 500 tons of water to people living in Donetsk.
For his courage, a medal from the Federation Council was handed over to the boy by Hero of Russia Andrei Solovyov.

https://t.me/c/1766288953/6631

#Donetsk
#LittleHeroes
Follow 👉@TrFormer💤

Another accurate night work of "Sparta" not far from Avdiivka.

👉 @TrFormer💤

UKRAINIAN SOLDIER SEEING HIS OWN DEATH ON THE LEFT BANK OF THE DNIEPER.

"Lancet" of the Russian Airborne Forces destroys a tank of the Armed Forces of Ukraine with troops and crew. The Lancet's camera captures the last seconds of enemy soldiers who are looking at the incoming Russian UAV kamikaze."

The life of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the right bank of the Dnieper will not be quiet.

From t.me/Sladkov_plus
Follow 👉@TrFormer💤

Sergei Lavrov arrived in Indonesia. He was met by a guard of honor, a Solemn/welcome dance and lightning across the sky.
Follow 👉@TrFormer💤

Medvedev: "Today, a control check of the production of military equipment at the Kurgan Machine-Building Plant took place in Kurgan. The reports of the executors of the state defense order, federal departments on the issues of providing the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation with modern weapons were heard.

Yes, by the way.
In addition to weapons and special equipment.
The concept of territorial sovereignty has not disappeared anywhere in our country. Everything will return home. To the Russian Federation."
Follow 👉@TrFormer💤

❗️Confirmed footage of today's terrorist attack in Istanbul.

The improvised explosive device was in a sports bag.
There are dead and wounded.

Erdogan said that preliminary data after the explosion in the center of Istanbul indicate a "terrorist attack"
#Turkey
Follow 👉@TrFormer💤

At top-level meeting in Sept, Govt took call to double Russia trade
‘This would be further spurred by use of Indian Rupee for trade settlement’
The Indian Express
Despite the United States-led sanctions on Russia post its invasion of Ukraine, India has decided to not just continue with, but also double its trade with Moscow in the “near foreseeable future”.

The increase in trade volumes between the two countries has mainly come on the back of sharply higher import of discounted Russian crude by India.

India, which imported less than 1 per cent of its total crude from Russia before the Russia-Ukraine war, now imports about 22 per cent of its total requirement from it.

Crude imports from Iraq and Saudi Arabia, which were the top two suppliers of crude to India, constitute around 21 and 16 per cent, respectively, of India’s total import.

The meeting by the Department of Financial Services was called to discuss the issue of overseas trading in Indian Rupee announced by the RBI in July.

While the first beneficiary of this trading arrangement has been Russia, countries like The Maldives, Sri Lanka and others in Southeast Asia, Africa and Latin America have also evinced interest.

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, countries in the West led by the US have imposed sanctions on Moscow and the country is off the SWIFT messaging system (used by banks for payments in foreign currency for cross-country transactions).

The sanctions on Russia and India’s increased dependence on Russian imports were the key reasons behind the provision for overseas trade in Indian Rupee.

The value of trade between India and Russia has already crossed the levels achieved during the last fiscal when the value of trade between the two countries stood at $13.12 billion.

#India
Follow 👉@TrFormer 💤

"This is a robbery": China did not expect such a step from Ukraine

MOSCOW, November 13 - RIA Novosti. The long-standing conflict over the Ukrainian aircraft engine manufacturer Motor Sich has turned into a loud scandal. Chinese investors have been trying to get their money back for several years. Now Zelensky has nationalized the enterprise. The Beijing Skyrizon case has long been in the Hague court, they demand 4.5 billion dollars from Kyiv. Apparently, new lawsuits are not far off. In Beijing, they call all this a robbery, but most likely it will not be possible to return the invested funds.

In Kyiv, they announced the nationalization of strategically important enterprises - Ukrnafta, AvtoKrAZ, Zaporizhtransformator and Motor Sich. The shares of these companies were transferred to the state, the assets were placed at the disposal of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.

These are "criminal acts" and abuse of state power. The head of Beijing Skyrizon, Wang Jing, stressed that investors will not give up the fight.

As a result, the Chinese estimated the damage at 4.5 billion dollars. Beijing Skyrizon first sought compensation through Ukrainian arbitration, and then filed several more lawsuits - both in Chinese and international courts.
#China
Follow 👉@TrFormer 💤

NATO Aircraft Carriers Are Getting Close To Russia In Arctic

Christopher Woody for 19FortyFive:

NATO is stepping up its activity in the Arctic, intensifying its operations in what has long been considered a region of low tension.
...
Russian statements reflect that tension.

Russia’s latest maritime doctrine, released in July, identified “an expansion of foreign naval presence in the Arctic, and an increase in the potential for conflict in the region” as two “main challenges and threats” to its national security. The head of Russia’s powerful Northern Fleet said in October that despite “relative stability,” the Arctic “was characterized by growing negative trends.”
#TransFormatorBuzzes : 💤
So, again, who is threatening who ad who has started first?

Follow 👉@TrFormer 💤
Full version here 👈

End the Ukraine War Before It Ends in Disaster
By avoiding efforts to push for a ceasefire and a lasting settlement, the United States is prolonging a conflict where even the most optimistic scenario for Ukraine may still lead to unthinkable consequences.

Sascha Glaeser for The National Interest:

How will the war in Ukraine end? Senior Biden administration officials privately admit they believe neither Ukraine nor Russia is capable of winning the war outright. At the same time, the Biden administration has ruled out pushing Ukraine to negotiate an end to the conflict, despite growing concerns on both sides of the aisle over the economic and potential security consequences should the United States get dragged into direct hostilities with Russia. Instead, Washington continues to funnel billions of dollars’ worth of weapons, equipment, and aid to Ukraine despite not believing Kyiv can win the war—not exactly a sound geopolitical strategy, let alone good stewardship of American taxpayer money.

1. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky contends that Ukraine will push Russia entirely out of Ukraine, including Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014. If this scenario materializes, Moscow may utilize its final trump card: tactical nuclear weapons. Russian president Vladimir Putin has set the stage for such a scenario by stating that annexed territory should now be considered part of Russia proper and will be defended with all available means.

2. The opposite scenario must also be contemplated. Russia, despite its countless failings so far, may find a way to alleviate its poor showing and begin to inflict conventional defeats on the Ukrainian armed forces and conquer more Ukrainian territory. It would not be the first time in Russia’s history that it turned an apparent defeat into victory—see Russia’s looming military collapse following Nazi Germany’s invasion in 1941, followed by the Red Army’s eventual triumph in 1945.

3. A third potential scenario is that of a protracted stalemate. The current Ukrainian and Russian front lines may stabilize with little to no territorial exchange occurring on either side. While a stalemate would frustrate Ukrainian efforts to push Russia out of the entirety of its territory, it may eventually lead Kyiv and Moscow to conclude that diplomacy is the best path forward.

4. A final scenario is that internal Russian discontent leads to a political coup in Moscow. The hope would be that a new regime in the Kremlin would seek to cut its losses and end the war. Given Putin’s grip on the Russian establishment, this scenario seems unlikely.

Follow 👉@TrFormer 💤
Read the full version here ⬇️⬇️⬇️

U.S. Forces Deployed to Ukraine to Fight Weapons Smuggling
A “small number” of U.S. military forces are performing onsite inspections in Ukraine to ensure military aid to Kyiv is being properly accounted for

Mark Episkopos for The National Interest:

A “small number” of U.S. military forces are performing onsite inspections of weapons caches in Ukraine to ensure military aid to Kyiv is being properly accounted for, a senior U.S. defense official told journalists earlier this week.

The defense official said there have been “several” such inspections, but they did not specify how many U.S. personnel there are in Ukraine and where the inspections were performed. Similar inspections were carried out prior to the war, but they were suspended after the Russian invasion commenced on February 24.

It is unclear what prompted the decision to resume onsite inspections. There have been unverified reports alleging the misappropriation of Western aid, including purported black market transactions and even instances of Western-supplied arms being sold to Russian-affiliated actors by Ukrainian intermediaries. The Finnish police have raised alarm over the trafficking of Western-donated weapons from Ukraine by smuggling rings, according to the Moscow Times. These warnings were echoed earlier this year by Europol.
...
When asked about the risks of direct engagement with Russian forces, Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder reaffirmed, without providing details, that the inspections are being conducted away from the front lines. “In terms of personnel that are conducting these inspections, my understanding is they would be ... well far away from any type of frontline actions,” he said. However, the Kremlin has repeatedly said it will treat all foreign weapons shipments on Ukrainian territory, whether on the front lines or not, as legitimate military targets. Russian forces have made good on those threats over the course of the war, launching strikes on foreign aid stockpiles as deep as the far-western Lviv region near Ukraine's border with Poland.

#TransFormatorBuzzes : 💤
Well, and if some of that "small number" would be killed, who should be blamed?
Follow 👉@TrFormer 💤
Read the full version here ⬇️⬇️⬇️

Situation in Zaporozhye region: what to expect?
11/13/2022 - 5:30

There are no reasons for the evacuation of the population from the Zaporozhye region, said the acting governor of the region Yevhen Balitsky. According to him, the borders of the Zaporozhye region are reliably protected. Meanwhile, Vladimir Rogov, a member of the main council of the regional administration, admitted that the Kyiv regime would soon deploy about 40,000 servicemen from the Kherson region to the line of contact.

“There are no plans to evacuate, as there is no reason for this. Our borders have long been securely protected. Unfounded rumours spread by enemy propaganda, deliberately trying to sow panic and destabilize the situation, are nothing but agony and hiding the true state of affairs of the Kyiv leadership,” said Balitsky.

According to him, the evacuation of the population from the right bank of the Kherson region took place according to plan and was a forced strategically verified step, since civilians and cultural heritage sites should not suffer.

“We all remember how the situation was in Mariupol, Donetsk region, when the Kyiv Nazis were hiding behind the civilian population, took people hostage and destroyed everything in their path in impotent rage. This situation should not be repeated in the Kherson region, people's lives are the most valuable,” added the Acting Governor of the Zaporozhye region.

In turn, the chairman of the movement “We are together with Russia”, a member of the main council of the administration of the Zaporozhye region, Vladimir Rogov, said that the Kyiv regime could transfer about 40 thousand military personnel from the Kherson region to the line of contact in the region.

“The Zaporozhye direction is a priority, because Zelensky’s dream – to cut the front, our grouping and go to Berdyansk – has already been voiced. So, I think they will try to move in this direction,” he said on the air of the Komsomolskaya Pravda radio station.

According to him, the authorities of the region have been observing the accumulation of forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, including at the expense of foreign mercenaries, for more than two months.

Rogov also believes that the Kyiv regime will attempt to storm and capture the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant through an amphibious landing.

“Officially, dozens of armoured boats were handed over to them. Obviously, the armoured boats will not be transporting wheat, but will be used in an attempt to cross the Dnieper,” he stressed.

Follow 👉@TrFormer 💤

Rallies, blackouts and missing soldiers: what is happening in Lviv
13.11.2022 - 5:00

In the capital of Galicia, Lvov/Lviv (Eastern Ukraine), rolling blackouts from 9 am to 12 pm and from 4 pm to 9 pm continue these days.

However, it is noticeable that they do not apply to everyone. Cafes, bars and restaurants operate in the city centre without any blackouts and power generators, flashing advertising lights. In the expensive restaurant "Italian Yard" in the courtyard of the Lviv Historical Museum on Rynok Square, the golden youth of Kyiv carelessly rest.

Without electricity, mostly residents of the city outskirts and villages of the region are sitting. Heating in the city has not yet been turned on, despite night frosts, so a power outage here is tantamount to a power outage. As a result, cases of explosions of gas cylinders and tourist gas burners, which residents use to heat themselves during periods of blackout, have become more frequent in apartments.

Lviv nationalists mourn daily for their comrades who died in eastern Ukraine, but many of the dead are missing, which helps the authorities save on legal payments.

On weekends in the centre of Lviv, near the regional administration and the Opera House, the relatives of the military personnel of the 24th mechanized brigade, defeated by Russian troops, have been protesting for the second month. Relatives can neither pick up the bodies nor find out who is in captivity.

“Many, many missing people. Many died, and relatives cannot take away the bodies in order to bury them with dignity,” one of the participants in the protest rally tells the Ukrainian media.

The nationalists believe that the protesting relatives are destabilizing the situation by playing along with the pro-Russian forces. The authorities prefer to remain silent and ignore the requests of the relatives of the missing Vushniks.

“We call there, we write - all useleles. No one wants to communicate with us, we are in despair. All that remains is to look for relatives through social networks,” complains Galina from Lvov, whose brother disappeared in Popasna back in April.

The public of Lvov was also agitated by the recent high-profile trial of one of the pastors of an evangelical church in the city. This week, the Galician District Court of Lvov convicted the organizer of religious camps for children of the Children of Christ organization, Lvov resident Roman Moskovchenko.

He was accused of 147 cases of rape and molestation of minors. There were suspicions about several dozen more cases, but investigators could not find enough evidence.

The trial has been going on since 2020. In the pastor's house, videos with scenes of rape and related photographs were found, as well as diaries in which the pastor described in detail his sexual relations with children from 2005 to 2020, that is, it lasted 15 years.

Follow 👉@TrFormer 💤