Lubos Blaha is a senior member of the pro-Russian Smer party (Direction), led by Robert Fico, who visited Moscow on October 12.
Blaha posted a 4-minute Telegram video of himself walking across the Red Square. He praised Russia as “beautiful and wise” and called for an end to hatred against the country.
He said that he went to Russia to “give thanks for liberation from fascism,” and to apologize for Western “Russophobia.”
Blaha then paid homage to Soviet commander Georgy Zhukov, and commented on “Slavic Brotherhood” between Slovakian and Russians. He repeated common Kremlin propaganda used to justify the invasion in Ukraine.
Fico’s position was echoed by Fico, who also criticised the European Parliament‘s resolutions on Russia. He said he opposed further military aid for Ukraine and Western sanctions against Russia.
Fico stopped military aid to Ukraine in September 2023, after assuming office. This was a dramatic reversal in Slovak foreign policies.
After Fico’s ascendance to power, Slovakia embarked upon a path that was very similar to its southern neighbour Hungary, whose Russia-friendly Prime Minister Viktor Orban has been a constant thorn in EU and NATO unity concerning Ukraine.
Josep Borrell announced on October 14 that he plans to extend the EUMAM for two more years, pending the approval of the EU Council.
On Oct. 14, hundreds of Ukrainian schools, businesses and media outlets including the Kyiv Independent received bomb threats by email. This prompted evacuations. The threats were linked to a recent investigation conducted by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty into Russian security services sabotage of Ukraine.
Andrii Kostin, the prosecutor general of Brazil, said that “information” that Putin might attend the G20 Summit in Brazil obligates the Brazilian authorities to arrest him.
According to Ukraine’s Military Intelligence, Russia’s fall and winter plans include “the actual participation of North Korea in war”, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on October 14.
The treaty stipulates that both countries must provide military support to each other in the event of an attack. The first treaty was signed by Putin in June 2024 with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
According to German intelligence chief Bruno Kahl, Moscow’s ultimate goal is to “push” the U.S. “out of Europe,” to roll back NATO borders to the 1990s and to create a Russian sphere of influence that will cement a new world order.
Russian investigators claimed Laurent Vinatier, in addition to violating the registration of foreign agents, had pleaded guilty to illegally obtaining military information.
According to the regional prosecutor, an FPV drone targeted a civilian vehicle with five people in it, killing two women, aged 72 and 56. It also injured a man, 72, and a woman, 63, and injuring a man, 72, and a woman, 63.
Pavlo Rozlach said that the commander of Ukraine’s 80th air assault brigade, Pavlo, had revealed that a Ukrainian company sneaked into Kursk Oblast and hid themselves in the forest in groups of six soldiers.
According to an analysis published on October 14 by the Kyiv Institute of Economics (KSE), 70% of Russia’s seaborne exports are transported by its “shadow fleet” which is comprised of older and poorly-insured tankers.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry stated that “there can be no appeasement of Russia” if it continues to try and solve the ‘problem,’ of Ukraine’s existence.
The EU’s sanction list now includes individuals and entities that are responsible for the transfer of drones and rockets to Russia.
Oleh Kiper, Governor of Odesa Oblast, said that the attack damaged two civilian ships — NS Moon flying a Belizean flag and the Palau flagged OPTIMA. The Russians targeted the latter on October 7, last week.
Voloshyn, when asked by the Kyiv independent about the alleged seizure Levadne said that the situation is “developing quite dynamically”, and each side can regain the leadership.
The official told Argumenty i Fakty (a Kremlin-controlled outlet) that the number includes 12,328 people who are placed in temporary facilities throughout Russia, and around 100,000 people who live with family and friends.
Mykhailo Podolyak, the presidential advisor to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), told them in comments published on October 14 that Ukraine’s victory plans include a request for more ATACMS missiles and Storm Shadows as well as permission to launch them against military targets in Russia.
The lull was caused by the Russian attack on Ukraine in September with over 1,300 Shahed Kamikaze drones, which targeted settlements all across the country every day for a month. This daily pattern has continued into the first days in October.
Over 2,000 military personnel will be involved in the two-week exercises, as well as 60 aircraft from eight bases. The drills will take place over the airspace of Denmark, the U.K. and the North Sea in Belgium and the Netherlands. Thirteen NATO countries will send aircraft to participate.
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