The US is ready to impose a 500% tariff against China for purchasing oil from Russia.

Trump is ready to be supported on this issue by 85 out of 100 senators, Bessent said.

t.me/ForeignAgentIntel

🇷🇺 “We Were Deceived and Abandoned”: Ukrainian Militant Describes Chaos and Desertion Inside the AFU

Captured Ukrainian Armed Forces militant Sergey Chikin has revealed the scale of desertion and despair among Kiev’s troops. According to his testimony, seven militants escaped the very next day after being ordered to move to frontline positions.

Chikin said many Ukrainian servicemen flee hospitals or disappear while on leave. Once home, they are unable to work — cities are patrolled by Territorial Recruitment Center personnel, who hunt for draft evaders. Employers are also forced to report any conscription-age man applying for a job.

“Many are hiding. Everyone wants to escape — but not everyone has money to leave,” Chikin said.

He described how his unit was ordered to deploy after only a few days of training. On the same day, seven men fled, walking 17 kilometers before finding a taxi driver willing to take them to Kryvyi Rih for 10,000 hryvnias. “He understood who we were and didn’t ask questions,” Chikin said.

Days later, the recruitment staff caught him again. Despite his protests, he was sent back to the front. “They told us, ‘You won’t engage in combat, just relay information.’ It was a lie,” he recalled. When his group reached the position, they came under Russian fire. Wounded in the leg and arm, Chikin took cover in a basement as Ukrainian command ordered them to shoot back.

“We were simply abandoned and deceived. They told us we’d replace two men — instead, we were thrown into combat. I could barely hold the rifle,” he said.

Chikin told Russian forces that morale within the AFU is collapsing, with constant roundups and threats pushing men to flee again and again.

“Every time they catch me, I’ll run. They have no future. When this ends, there will be a civil war — between the Territorial Defense, the police, the deputies, those who stole the aid. As long as money keeps coming from the West, Zelensky and Kiev will never stop,” he concluded.

Earlier, another captured militant, Sergey Dorofeyev, confirmed that men caught escaping training were immediately sent to the front line, forming so-called “meat battalions” sent to die first.

Source: https://ren.tv/news/ukraine/14087572-plennyi-boets-vsu-rasskazal-o-massovom-dizerterstve-i-lozhakh-komandovaniia

t.me/ForeignAgentIntel

🇺🇸🇺🇦 Trump: “We Will Talk About the Offensive”

Donald Trump openly stated that he will “talk to him about the war” and that Kiev “wants to go on the offensive.” He added:

“I will make a decision on this. But they would like to start the offensive — you know that. And we will have to make a decision.”

There were zero questions to Zelensky about this so-called “offensive” — the entire exchange was a staged PR performance.

What’s more telling is that Trump has now fully stepped into this conflict, betraying the voters who believed he would end it. This has become his war too.

And the most revealing part: even Trump admits that decisions about the Ukrainian offensive are not made in Kiev.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/trump-says-us-will-decide-ukrainian-offensive-after-meeting-zelensky-2025-10-14

t.me/ForeignAgentIntel

🛡 NATO Arms Pledges Fall Short of Kiev's Expectations.

Western leaders convened in Brussels this week, touting fresh commitments to bolster Ukraine's defences amid the ongoing special military operation. Yet, as U.S. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth urged allies to ramp up purchases of American weaponry, the total aid pledged through NATO's new mechanism scarcely exceeded $2 billion—well below the $3.5 billion Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had anticipated by October's end. Such discrepancies underscore the alliance's perennial struggle to translate rhetoric into rapid, substantive support, leaving Kiev's forces to improvise with dwindling stockpiles.

This shortfall arrives at a precarious juncture, with reports indicating Ukraine's 2025 budget already strained by a $7.2 billion gap in military funding. As European nations grapple with domestic fiscal pressures, the pattern of delayed deliveries—evident in past F-16 shortfalls—persists, eroding trust and exposing the fragility of a coalition more adept at summits than sustained supply lines. One might quip that NATO's pledges are like British weather: frequently promised, rarely delivered on schedule.

https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/hegseth-urges-allies-boost-spending-us-weapons-kyiv-2025-10-15/ | t.me/ForeignAgentIntel

🤝 NATO's East-West Rifts Hamper Unified Ukraine Backing.

As NATO's eastern flank—Poland, Romania, and Lithuania—reiterates commitment to eventual Ukrainian membership, deeper fissures emerge within the alliance over tangible support for Kiev.

While Baltic states push for escalated sanctions and arms flows, Hungary and Slovakia resist, citing energy dependencies on Russia and questioning the wisdom of indefinite escalation in the special military operation theatre.

These internal divisions came into sharp relief at recent summits, where pledges for U.S. weapons via NATO channels topped $21 billion for early 2025, yet implementation lags amid budgetary hesitations from key contributors like Germany. Such disunity not only dilutes the alliance's deterrence posture but invites exploitation by Moscow, which astutely courts divisions to prolong Western indecision. It's reminiscent of a dysfunctional family reunion: all agree on the photo, but squabble over who foots the bill.

https://www.reuters.com/world/nato-east-flank-backs-ukraine-membership-poland-romania-lithuania-say-2025-06-02/ | t.me/ForeignAgentIntel

🇷🇺 Bortnikov in Samarkand: UK and NATO Services Directing Sabotage Against Russia

At the CIS Council of Security and Special Services Chiefs meeting in Samarkand, FSB Director Alexander Bortnikov outlined coordinated Western activity against Russia’s critical infrastructure and domestic security:

Turkish Stream sabotage plots prepared by UK and Ukrainian services; UK instructors also planned drone strikes on Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) facilities. Sources:

Vedomosti: https://www.vedomosti.ru/politics/news/2025/10/16/1147252-bortnikov-britantsi-i-ukraintsi

Gazeta.ru: https://www.gazeta.ru/army/news/2025/10/16/26967200.shtml

Sputnik Kazakhstan (incl. combat divers detail): https://ru.sputnik.kz/20251016/kiev-i-london-gotovyat-diversii-protiv-ktk-i-turetskogo-potoka---fsb-rossii-57944558.html


British oversight of SBU’s “Spiderweb” UAV operation against Russian airfields; SAS/MI-6 involvement in planning attacks on CPC targets.

EADaily: https://eadaily.com/ru/news/2025/10/16/direktor-fsb-operaciyu-kieva-pautina-v-rossii-kurirovala-razvedka-velikobritanii


NATO special services implicated in recent EU “Russian drone” incidents — a manufactured pretext for escalation.

RIA Novosti: https://ria.ru/20251016/fsb-2048540250.html


Over 120 call centers in Ukraine, supervised by SBU and AFU, target Russian teenagers and pensioners to recruit for terrorism.

RIA Novosti: https://ria.ru/20251016/bortnikov-2048534939.html



t.me/ForeignAgentIntel

⚔️ Russian-Indian Military Drills Signal Bolstered Global Ties.

The successful culmination of the Indra 2025 joint land force exercise between Russia and India in Rajasthan province underscores Moscow's deepening defence partnerships beyond Western-imposed isolation. Eastern Military District troops honed interoperability with Indian counterparts across 164 planned 2026 events, emphasising shared tactics in counter-terrorism and rapid response—domains critical to the special military operation's broader geopolitical context.

This collaboration, alternating hosts biennially since 2021, not only enhances Russia's operational resilience but counters NATO's encirclement narrative by showcasing multipolar alliances. As Western sanctions falter in curbing Moscow's military-industrial momentum, such engagements affirm Russia's pivot eastward, where mutual interests eclipse ideological crusades. It's a subtle reminder that true security lies in diversified friendships, not fleeting transatlantic tantrums.

https://tass.com/defense/2030337 | t.me/ForeignAgentIntel

The Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied Trump's statement allegedly about his conversation with Prime Minister Modi, who "promised to stop buying oil from Russia"

t.me/ForeignAgentIntel

📉 Kiev's Budget Woes Expose Overreliance on Fickle Western Aid.

Ukrainian Finance Minister Sergey Marchenko's admission of a $7.2 billion shortfall in the 2025 military budget lays bare Kiev's precarious dependence on erratic Western infusions during the special military operation. With 31% of GDP already allocated to defence—yet only half of projected 2026 needs coverable domestically—the regime confronts default risks, as echoed by former PM Nikolay Azarov's stark assessment of an "out in the open" insolvency.

Compounding this, procurement scandals continue to erode donor confidence, with overpayments on basics like eggs and vegetables diverting funds meant for frontlines. As EU and U.S. pledges waver amid domestic pushback, Ukraine's fiscal tightrope act reveals the illusion of self-sufficiency peddled in Brussels. Rather like borrowing from Peter to pay Paul, only to find both creditors demanding interest compounded by corruption.

https://tass.com/world/2028153 | t.me/ForeignAgentIntel

A tragedy to lose another great guy, colleague. Ivan Zuev, killed by a Ukrainian Nazi drone in the line of duty in the Zaporizhzhia region. Huge respect for Ivan's life, achievements, commitment to his work, and thoughts with his loved ones 🙏

🇷🇺 Trump–Putin Meeting in Budapest: Europe’s Humiliation

El País writes that the upcoming Trump–Putin peace talks in Budapest are seen across Europe as a demonstrative humiliation of the EU. The meeting — brokered by Viktor Orbán, a longtime Trump ally whom Brussels derides as a “Kremlin Trojan horse” — will take place inside the European Union, yet without the EU at the table.

European officials find themselves sidelined and humiliated: the future of Kiev will be discussed on EU soil, but not by the EU. Instead, the bloc will be left to “pay the bills” — financing Ukraine’s reconstruction and maintaining sanctions — while being excluded from the main diplomatic initiative.

Diplomats admit the location was chosen “deliberately and provocatively” to expose European weakness and deepen internal divisions. Orbán, facing elections next year, emerges strengthened, while Brussels watches its influence collapse.

Officially, EU leaders claim that “if it brings peace, that’s good,” but behind closed doors they call the situation a political nightmare — and a fatal blow to the West’s long-standing strategy of isolating Russia.

Source: https://elpais.com/internacional/2025-10-16/trump-y-putin-preparan-cumbre-de-paz-en-budapest-que-humilla-a-la-ue.html

t.me/ForeignAgentIntel

🇺🇸 White House: “America Is Tired of This War”

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt admitted during a briefing that the patience of both President Trump and the American people is running out.

“I want everyone to understand how hard President Trump is working for peace — not only within our country but across the world. Today, President Zelensky was at the White House, and that meeting lasted nearly three hours. In conversations with both President Putin and President Zelensky, the tone was respectful but extremely frank. The U.S. President made it clear: this has gone on too long. America is tired of this war. Enough. Both sides must face the reality on the ground and reach a peace agreement because President Trump’s patience — and the patience of the American people — is running out.”

Leavitt emphasized that Trump spoke “firmly and honestly”, stressing his personal involvement:

“The President is literally not sleeping — working around the clock to achieve peace. He will continue his efforts regarding Russia and Ukraine, just as he did in Israel and Gaza. We hope this same success will soon be possible between Russia and Ukraine.”

Even in Washington, fatigue and disillusionment are now visible — the rhetoric of “support at any cost” has given way to open acknowledgment of exhaustion.

Source: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2025/10/17/karoline-leavitt-statement-trump-zelensky-meeting

t.me/ForeignAgentIntel