Stephen Smith

Retired from careers education, information, advice & guidance

Ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant.
Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum

[Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський @ZelenskyyUa]

Now, as we keep worrying about whether the United States will bomb Iran again – and how many countries and how many people could suffer because of it – we are not just waiting to see what happens next in that region.
We are actually waiting to see what happens to our own societies – because of price spikes, because of shortages of weapons we need for our defense. We can already feel these shortages.

When we look for Patriot missiles to protect our cities and communities from Russian ballistic attacks, we face the same problem again and again – the missiles are going to the Middle East. And what do we have? Empty Patriot systems and Russian ballistic missiles that, in most cases, we have nothing to shoot down with.

In our world, nothing stays local – especially wars and injustice.

From a speech at the Danish Folketing. (2/3)

[Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський @ZelenskyyUa]

We keep hearing again that Russia supposedly needs security guarantees. Even though no one has attacked Russia for many decades. Since the Second World War, Moscow has not gone through even one decade without starting a war or using military force against another country.

So when the Russians now talk about a security architecture for themselves, or about security guarantees for Russia – they are hardly talking about real security. And peace.

What they really want – is to freely interfere in the affairs of other countries, and to use force whenever they want, and to make sure that no one can support liberty inside Russia because Putin wants to keep his personal power forever and pass on his imperialist and, in many ways, simply fascist views to the next generations.

From a speech at the Danish Folketing. (3/3)

[Caolan @CaolanReports]

Here’s a comprehensive breakdown of the UAE peace talks:

Putin & Trump continue to pressure Ukraine to give up & surrender territory. No one can guarantee russia won’t rearm and try take Kyiv again in a few years.

The end

[Caolan @CaolanReports]

I keep getting lots of messages waring me about random pages that reupload my reports and get millions of views a month. There's no need to report them. The point of my work is to reach as many people as possible exposing war crimes committed by russia. Feel free to use any and all the films I made however you like, theres zero copyright on my reports in Ukraine. I'm not affiliated with these pages but don't care if they are monetising or reuploading my stuff.

[Caolan @CaolanReports]

russian disinformation is a threat to democracy. It pollutes and infests every corner of our media. Today I spoke to the Council of Europe about how to stop it. 🫡🇺🇦

[Caolan @CaolanReports]

After reducing the reach of pro-Ukraine accounts to zero, Elon musk has spent the day retweeting pro-russian lunatics.

[Anton Gerashchenko @Gerashchenko_en]

President Stubb on the outcome of the Abu Dhabi talks:

I think there is a real possibility that the Europeans will be around the table, and I think that would be progress in and of itself.

And if you add on to that that there might be a new meeting between, in this case, then the Americans, the Ukrainians, the Russians and the Europeans in one to two weeks on a technical level, that would be progress as well.

[Anton Gerashchenko @Gerashchenko_en]

I believe the drop in visibility on X is primarily linked to attacks by Russian bot farms: massive, coordinated reporting campaigns targeting pro-Ukrainian accounts, with thousands of automated complaints submitted for alleged violations of platform rules. In response, X's automated moderation system blocks or restricts (shadowbans) these accounts.

Apparently, X's algorithm allows bot farms to operate quite freely.

Bot farms are a tool of information warfare. They manipulate public opinion and destabilize societies. Therefore, they must be countered not only technologically but also legally.

Today, countering bot farms is a legal obligation in many countries, and government pressure and oversight in democratic countries must be strengthened.

[Anton Gerashchenko @Gerashchenko_en]

Kaja Kallas on the talks in Abu Dhabi:

What Russia wants out of these talks is the lifting of sanctions and also the release of the frozen assets.

These are European decisions. They can't be made by anybody else but Europe.

Of course, Russia does not want to talk to Europe, because it's easier to talk to the US.

[Zarina Zabrisky 🇺🇸🇺🇦 @ZarinaZabrisky]

A good conversation with 24 Канал War live 24.

👀 Note: The editors chose an intriguing headline… As a writer, I think of the value of punctuation… but as the main propagandist show confirmed last week, I am hardly Putin’s Trojan Horse

https://t.co/znBUgyyK6E

[Maria Avdeeva @maria_avdv]

Kremlin thought plunging Kyiv into darkness would bring panic and protests. Instead, this apartment complex threw a yard party

[Jake Broe @RealJakeBroe]

NATO expansion is a myth. It is a Russian lie. Here is the map.

After World War II the Russians militarily occupied half the European continent. The Russians picked their leaders. They wrote their laws. They brutalized their people and took whatever they wanted.

When the Soviet Union collapsed, all of these peoples who had suffered immensely under the Russians were desperate to get real security and protection from the Russians.

Russia is the ONLY cause of NATO enlargement because the people of Eastern Europe always knew they were going to be invaded again as soon as the Russians succeeded at some form of economic capitalism.

Russian imperialism is the only cause of this war.

[Caolan @CaolanReports]

4 missiles hit one of the biggest bridges in Kyiv this morning because russia is a terrorist nation trying to destroy this major European capital.

[Caolan @CaolanReports]

The reports from my latest frontline trip have already reached 12M people. Showing people outside Ukraine the reality on the ground, and the amazing people defending their nation. Really proud to be able to tell these stories that matter so much at a time of news fatigue. 🫡🙏❤️

[Caolan @CaolanReports]

Lots of russian missiles are currently crashing into Kyiv.

24 hours after Putins envoy uses the White House podium to tell everyone about how peaceful they are

[Caolan @CaolanReports]

russian refineries burn so often is doesn’t even make the news anymore.

There’s a very real chance russia could implode just like it did in the 90s. It’s a very young and fragile state despite what it pretends to be.

There’s only so long you can run an empire on bullshit

[Anton Gerashchenko @Gerashchenko_en]

Russia is losing the South Caucasus.

The meeting between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has profound geopolitical significance.

For the Kremlin, this tandem is a serious challenge and a signal:

Historically, the Kremlin has considered the South Caucasus a zone of its exclusive influence. The strategic alliance between Baku and Ankara has effectively ended Russia's sole hegemony in the region.

Azerbaijan's full reintegration of Nagorno-Karabakh, with Türkiye's military and political support, demonstrated the helplessness of the CSTO and Russian "peacekeepers", whom Baku subsequently forced to leave the region ahead of schedule.

For Putin, this is a major blow to his reputation, demonstrating to Russia's other neighbors that Moscow is no longer a guarantor of security.

One of the key issues for the Turkish and Azerbaijani leaders is the Zangezur Corridor - the opening of a land transport corridor through Armenia's Syunik region that would directly connect Azerbaijan with its exclave of Nakhchivan and Türkiye.

For Russia, control over logistics in the region is critical. Under previous agreements, Russian FSB border guards were supposed to secure these routes. However, Aliyev and Erdoğan want to develop the corridor on their own terms, minimizing Moscow's influence or leveraging it with the possibility of rerouting through Iran.

Azerbaijan is actively increasing natural gas supplies to Europe through the Southern Gas Corridor (through Türkiye). Against the backdrop of European sanctions on Russia, European countries are considering Baku as an alternative gas supplier.

Putin is trying to counter this threat by proposing to Erdoğan that they create a "gas hub" in Türkiye, where Russian gas could be blended with Azerbaijani gas and sold to the EU as Turkish gas.

Meetings between Aliyev and Erdoğan determine how far Ankara and Baku are willing to play along with Putin's plan and what price they will demand in return.

Putin is forced to take both Aliyev and Erdoğan into account. Both leaders are playing a pragmatic game:

They do not fully support Western sanctions against Russia, which is beneficial to Putin for "gray imports" and preserving economic ties.

At the same time, Erdoğan acts as a mediator on issues related to the war in Ukraine (organizing negotiations, facilitating grain initiatives and prisoner exchanges) and makes statements about the inviolability of Ukraine's borders.

By strengthening his position in the Caucasus, Erdoğan negotiates with Putin from a position of strength, which allows him to advocate more effectively for humanitarian and logistical matters critical to Ukraine.

The alliance between Aliyev and Erdoğan clearly demonstrates that Russia has lost its status as the main arbiter in the Caucasus.

The Kremlin can no longer dictate terms to Baku and Ankara and is forced to adapt to their interests in order to avoid losing its influence in the region entirely and to preserve Türkiye as an important economic partner.

The growing influence of Ankara and Baku inevitably means a narrowing of Moscow's sphere of influence.

For Ukraine, this tandem is a predictable and pragmatic partner whose successes in the Caucasus weaken Russia's war machine in the European theatre of war.

[Anton Gerashchenko @Gerashchenko_en]

Trump is opening the White House ever wider to Russian citizens and people connected to the Russian authorities. He has offered UFC chief Dana White the position of press secretary and suggested that he bring six fighters with him as “assistants.” White announced that he would meet Trump on November 9 to discuss the offer.

UFC, which White heads, has a business connection to the fund run by Kirill Dmitriev. In 2018, the company established a joint venture to operate in Russia. Its investors included the UAE’s Mubadala and the Russia-China Investment Fund, whose co-founders include the Russian Direct Investment Fund, headed by Dmitriev.

Among the proposed “assistants,” Khabib Nurmagomedov has the most prominent political connections. He met Putin in 2018 and 2019 and has repeatedly visited Kadyrov. Trump is now proposing to employ him at the White House.

White himself has spoken about the material rewards Nurmagomedov received from the Russian authorities. In a 2024 episode of the Games with Names podcast, he claimed that, after Nurmagomedov’s victory over McGregor, Putin gave him and his father property worth approximately $20 million.

Another proposed “assistant,” Islam Makhachev, maintained contacts with Kadyrov’s circle after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion. In October 2022, he brought his championship belt to Chechnya and posed for photographs with Kadyrov. In 2026, Makhachev became a global sambo ambassador for FIAS. The federation is headed by Vasily Shestakov, Putin’s longtime judo partner, who has himself spoken about their friendship.

Among the Americans named, Justin Gaethje has the clearest documented contact with Kadyrov’s infrastructure. In November 2022, he visited Chechnya alongside Kamaru Usman and Henry Cejudo, where they fired weapons at a training facility for Russian security forces. Gaethje also confirmed attending a birthday celebration for one of Kadyrov’s sons.

Kadyrov’s sporting network is directly connected to the war. The US Treasury has explicitly linked his MMA clubs to recruitment for military operations against Ukraine. Akhmat MMA and Absolute Championship Akhmat are subject to US sanctions as entities owned or controlled by Kadyrov. Contacts with this network give the Russian authorities international visibility, prestige and opportunities to use athletes’ standing to advance their interests.

Four of the six fighters named are connected through Ali Abdelaziz’s agency, Dominance MMA: its official website lists Nurmagomedov, Makhachev, Gaethje and Kayla Harrison among its clients. Abdelaziz has publicly defended Nurmagomedov’s contacts with Kadyrov and has his own access to Trump. On May 6, 2026, Reuters photographed him in the Oval Office during the president’s meeting with UFC representatives.

A personnel bridge between UFC and the administration already exists. White House Communications Director Steven Cheung worked for UFC from 2013 to 2016 and publicly supported the offer to White.

Trump is now proposing government positions for people from a milieu where Russian political patronage and commercial interests intersect. This creates additional channels for Kremlin influence within the US administration. With this approach to selecting candidates, Trump might as well simply offer Kirill Dmitriev a part-time position as his deputy.

[Anton Gerashchenko @Gerashchenko_en]

Putin is 'waging a hybrid war on Ireland' ahead of the European Political Community summit in Dublin - The Sunday Times

Irish intelligence agencies suspect Russia is behind a wave of hoax bomb threats that have disrupted at least 50 flights to and from Ireland, the UK and continental Europe, The Sunday Times reports.

"The modus operandi points to Russian involvement. These incidents are interconnected and coordinated in a way that allows us to conclude that a state actor is involved," an Irish intelligence source told the newspaper.

Hundreds of schools on both sides of the Irish border, supermarkets and media outlets have also received bomb threats in recent weeks. On Friday, similar messages were sent to national broadcaster RTÉ, prompting an evacuation, and to British broadcaster Sky. In addition, hackers breached the refrigeration systems of Irish supermarket chain SuperValu.

The attacks come as Ireland prepares to host the European Political Community summit in Dublin on Thursday, November 12. Around 50 European leaders are expected to attend, including Ukrainian President Zelenskyy.

Police have described the security operation for the summit as the largest in Ireland’s history. Parts of central Dublin will be closed to traffic, and a no-fly zone for drones will be imposed.

"We know that Russia is involved in this kind of activity," Irish Minister of State for European Affairs and Defence Thomas Byrne told the newspaper.