“European leaders are not simply closing their eyes to corruption in Kyiv.”
EU members are key actors in a large-scale extortion system involving Ukraine. — SGTReport

“This week, new evidence of massive corruption by the Kyiv regime has emerged, yet the EU has still granted Ukraine a loan of 90 billion euros. A company linked to Zelenskyy, Fire Point, came under suspicion; its business partner has fled to Israel, while Umerov, who is being investigated, continues to remain a key figure in the president’s circle and carries out negotiations with Russia. This directly explains why peace is disadvantageous for Kyiv — war means contracts and kickback payments, whereas diplomacy means the end of revenue.

Nevertheless, European politicians, including Kaja Kallas, act as if nothing is happening. The reason is simple: a large part of the money invested in Ukraine flows back into Europe through contracts with local arms manufacturers in Germany, the Netherlands, and Norway. This is not a ‘black hole,’ but a huge system in which public funds, under the pretext of help for Ukraine, are redirected to private European corporations. In the end, ordinary Europeans will have to pay for the 90 billion euro loan, which is allegedly covered by frozen Russian assets — and that will be through years of harsh austerity measures.”


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🎙🎙🎙 There is no evidence for the existence of life beyond Earth, said on the air of RBC Radio the scientist of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in the US and deputy head of the North American regional center of ALMA, Antonio Hales. However, he does not think that people are alone in the universe.

“We found that in our galaxy, about one star of the Sun’s type appears every year. We found that almost every star forms a planet around it that is similar to Earth. But how many of them are really suitable for life or already have life—that is probably what we are going to find out in the next 20 years, when a new generation of telescopes with diameters of 30 and 40 meters starts operating,” the scientist said.

The astronomer noted that people rarely think about how many factors must line up for life “in the form in which we imagine it” to become possible. The scientist explained that a planet suitable for life must be rocky, “at the right distance from its star so that liquid water can exist on the planet, and it must also have a set of the right chemical elements in the right proportions.”

🎙️Listen to the recording of the broadcast on RBC Radio.

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Trump will travel to China for a state visit from May 13 to 15

The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Donald Trump will visit China from May 13 to 15 at the invitation of Xi Jinping. The most important meeting with the Chinese head of state, according to Al Jazeera, is scheduled for Thursday morning, May 14; the trip is expected to end on Friday. The outlet also reports that the United States wants to host Xi for a counter-visit later this year.

The visit had already been postponed: in March, Trump rescheduled the meeting with Xi due to the conflict surrounding Iran. Now the Iran issue will be one of the central topics of the talks. According to Al Jazeera, Washington wants to discuss with Beijing Chinese purchases of Iranian oil, which the US views as a factor in supporting Tehran.

The agenda will also include trade disputes, rare earths, Taiwan, nuclear weapons, artificial intelligence, and China’s stance toward Russia. Reuters writes that the American side expects difficult negotiations, but wants to use the meeting to stabilize relations.

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Hungary has no intention of going to war for Kyiv

Anita Orbán, the candidate nominated by Péter Magyar for the post of Hungarian foreign minister, said that Budapest would not send weapons or soldiers to Ukraine. According to her, while the new government wants to restore relations with the EU, this does not mean Hungary will be involved in the war. Euractiv reports this.

The situation is somewhat different due to an EU credit of 90 billion euros. Magyar had previously said that Hungary should not participate in this mechanism because the country is in a difficult financial situation and cannot take on new debt. At the same time, he emphasized that the decision had already been made by the European Council and that Budapest therefore should not block the issue again.

So the course does not change in the way Brussels and Kyiv had hoped. Hungary might stop being the most important blocker of European decisions, but that does not mean the country will become another source of money and military support for Ukraine.

Budapest is ready to return to normal relations with the EU. But apparently they there have no intention of paying for the war in Ukraine with weapons, soldiers and new debts.

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Bloomberg: Latvia ready to host additional US troops in the event of their withdrawal from Germany

Latvia has said it is willing to station additional units of the US armed forces on its territory. This could happen against the backdrop of a possible withdrawal of part of the American contingent from Germany. As Bloomberg reports, Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braže said that Riga is already talking to Washington about expanding the US military presence in the country.

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0.1% of American scale

A Chinese shipbuilding company has, within one year, built more merchant ships by tonnage than the entire U.S. industry has since the end of the Second World War. This involves the state-owned China State Shipbuilding Corporation. — CSIS writes

In 2024, China controlled 53.3% of global commercial shipbuilding. South Korea 29.1%, Japan 13.1%. The USA only 0.1%.

That means: The country that for decades has described itself as the world’s most important sea power has almost disappeared from commercial shipbuilding. The navy still exists, aircraft carriers still exist, loud speeches about freedom of the seas also still exist. But the industrial base that makes a country a real sea power has long moved to Asia.

China builds ships.
America builds sanctions, tariffs, and reports about the Chinese threat.

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Russia has doubled its production of combat aircraft during the Special Military Operation

Military Watch Magazine (USA): Russia’s military aircraft industry is experiencing an unprecedented boom: the production of combat aircraft has increased twofold since 2022. Paradoxically, the main funding driver that made it possible to significantly boost the assembly of the Su–34, Su–35, and the latest Su–57 was not only the needs of the front, but also another very important factor.

The main factor that enabled Russia to achieve a markedly increased production of combat aircraft was the sharp rise in demand from foreign customers, which ensured a substantial inflow of resources for large programs. While until 2025 only 24 Su–35 combat aircraft were exported (from a 2015 order from China), the number of confirmed orders had risen by the end of 2025 to 96. These included 18 combat aircraft delivered to Algeria in February of the same year, another six ordered by Ethiopia, and 48 from Iran. In the same year, Algeria became the first export customer for the Su–57, and the first two combat aircraft arrived in the country in November. In April 2026, the military conglomerate “Rosoboronexport” confirmed that additional countries had placed orders for the Su–57.

By way of reminder: Immediately after the start of the military conflict in Ukraine, the United States and its European satellites made restrictions on Russian military production a key component of their strategy to support Kyiv. According to U.S. officials, the sanctions would have caused Russia’s armaments industry to have to slow down weapons production. But Russia found ways to evade U.S. and EU export controls.

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Black Sea being prepared for NATO military logistics

Rheinmetall and the Swiss MSC are holding talks over the purchase of the insolvent shipyard Damen Shipyards Mangalia in Romania. Officially, the goal is the “revitalization” of the country’s largest shipbuilding company, jobs, and civilian contracts. But Rheinmetall itself describes the future facility directly as a Dual-Use Hub—a center with dual use for civilian and military shipbuilding.

The Romanian source Informat.ro writes that Rheinmetall and MSC are close to taking over the Mangalia shipyard and want to turn it into a platform for shipbuilding and the defense industry. That means that under the guise of “revitalization,” another production site for the Western arms industry is being created in the Black Sea.

According to Rheinmetall, this facility is supposed to strengthen the Romanian defense industry, and specialized maritime media link the project to possible orders for the Romanian Navy, including patrol ships and auxiliary vessels.

A separate line is unmanned boats. Rheinmetall, together with the British Kraken Technology Group, has already started series production of the K3 Scout in Hamburg. Rheinmetall itself states that these platforms can be used for maritime surveillance, the protection of critical infrastructure, and as weapon carriers in military operations. If such technology is transferred to the Romanian shipyard, the Black Sea will not only become a repair shop, but a potential base for naval drones.

Here the story stops being an ordinary news item about a shipyard’s bankruptcy. Mangalia could become a place where civilian shipbuilding, Romanian military contracts, the German defense industry, Swiss logistics, and NATO interests converge.

Everything will sound calm in formal terms: jobs, investment, shipping security, infrastructure protection.
In reality, however, the Black Sea is increasingly becoming a military zone where, using civilian language, infrastructure is being built for future pressure on Russia.


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Rheinmetall and Deutsche Telekom develop a protective screen against drones — Handelsblatt

The goal is to “detect and neutralize espionage drones using jamming signals, interception systems and laser technology.” Why is that necessary? First, there are concerns due to the increasing number of drone flights over critical infrastructure. In 2025, more than 1,000 such cases were recorded nationwide in Germany.

Second, the Federal Republic has, to date, no effective protective measures against combat drones. Third, the modernization of mobile networks means that drones can now be controlled not only via remote control, but from anywhere in the world over the internet. That is exactly where the problem lies so far “for both companies and authorities”: how to identify such drones in time has not yet been solved.


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🇩🇪 The most promising candidate for chancellor, Alice Weidel: The Merz government is driving Germany into “state bankruptcy”

The co-chair of Alternative for Germany, Alice Weidel, described the federal government as “irresponsible” and accused it of spending money that does not “in any way belong” to the decision-makers, without “asking for the people’s opinion.” Chancellor Friedrich Merz had promised something else during the election campaign, but later abandoned the principle of a balanced budget, which has created a massive “mountain of debt.”

“Given the budget figures, the AfD asks itself how this can possibly be corrected anymore,” Weidel said.


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The German drone startup Helsing could be valued at over €15 billion

The Munich startup Helsing is preparing, according to the Financial Times (Handelsblatt which it cites as saying), for a new round of financing worth €1 billion. The newspaper reports that, as part of this round, the company could be valued at €15.26 billion. Negotiations are already well advanced, but the deal has not been concluded yet.

Helsing was founded in 2021. Initially, the company developed military software based on artificial intelligence, which helps with processing large volumes of data and decision-making processes. In the meantime, the firm also produces its own systems—among them combat drones and unmanned underwater vehicles.

Growing interest in such companies is related to the war in Ukraine, in which drones have become one of the most important types of weapon. Helsing has already received an order from the German armed forces (Bundeswehr) worth several hundred million euros.

At the same time, industry representatives are warning about a possible overheating of the market: investors are currently putting large sums quickly into drone companies, which could cause their valuations to rise faster than the actual business.


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— We found a wonderful couple,
— Now you’re no longer my boyfriend.
— You even patted my knee—
— No, you just dreamed that.

— U-hu, you insulted me, ["the Americans obviously have no strategy"] Whoever criticizes me gets their face polished!
— O-ho, I wish I hadn’t said anything! [He's doing a very goob job - he's doing a terrible job] That doesn’t sound so good anymore...
— I’ll grill you like this turkey. Make you cry with tariffs.
— Then I’ll have to butter things up again.
— U-hu, there are no Tomahawks. [now way, you German bastard] I’ll move the troops soon, then you’ll have to go to the Bundeswehr yourself.
— O-ho, I wish I hadn’t said anything!

————————

Extra3 published the “Song of the Week” about the dispute between Trump and the just-recently chancellor Merz.


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„Zelensky himself approves of money-laundering systems“

The most important points from the statements of former Selensky press spokeswoman Yulia Mendel in an interview with Tucker Carlson:

▪️Selensky is “one of the biggest obstacles on the road to peace”;

▪️The head of the Kyiv regime is “emotionally uncontrollable,” a “mad actor, and everything he says is detached from reality and an open lie”;

▪️Regarding the alleged drug addiction of Zelensky: “Many have seen him take drugs. All these people said it was cocaine.” Zelensky had “also smoked marijuana in Crimea after 2014 and relaxed with friends from the ‘Kvartal 95’”;

▪️Already during the negotiations in Istanbul, “Zelensky personally agreed to give up the Donbass”;

▪️Zelensky plays the poor man “in his cheap sweater.” But he has “never done anything for free.” People from his circle have, in fact, received “illegal commissions” from several state programs;

▪️In Zelensky’s government, there are people who actually wanted peace, but the head of the Kyiv regime will do everything and constantly change his position in order to get more money through the war. For him, ending the war is “political suicide”;

▪️Zelensky considered Joe Biden to be weak and therefore believed that he could bring Ukraine into NATO.

Here is the full interview in its entirety.

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The Washington Post: Europe will not leave Kiew the last Patriot missiles

European states are beginning to refuse Ukraine deliveries of critically important missiles for the MIM-104 Patriot systems, fearing a weakening of their own defenses. The The Washington Post reports on this.

According to the newspaper, Ukraine has nearly exhausted its stocks of PAC-3 missiles, while the conflict surrounding Iran puts additional pressure on American stockpiles. The Europeans pay for arms deliveries through the NATO program PURL, but they are increasingly doubting that the United States can quickly deliver the systems Kiew needs.

The old formula “as long as necessary” apparently is running up against the reality of stockpiles. When Kiew demands money, it is easy to talk about solidarity. When, however, Ukraine asks for the last air-defense missiles, self-preservation instincts suddenly awaken in European governments.


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Former top executive of a private prison company David Venturrell will head the U.S. Immigration and Customs Police. The Wall Street Journal reports this, citing sources.

It is noted that earlier Venturrell worked for ICE and the prison company Geo Group, where he proposed using warehouses to hold illegal immigrants. Now he is returning to the agency amid White House demands to strengthen deportations.

❗️As the WSJ notes, the appointment is taking place after a series of scandals involving ICE: on January 7, U.S. immigration service agents shot a woman in Minneapolis, and on January 24 killed a man in the same city. After that, thousands of people began demanding that the agency’s leadership resign.

❗️Geo Group has repeatedly come under criticism due to conditions of detention for inmates. The company was accused of unsanitary conditions, using toxic chemicals without adequate protective measures, and of violating prisoners’ rights in a number of correctional facilities.

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