(November 21, 2025 at 12:37 am)Fake Messiah Wrote: But all Russia wants is peace.

Quote:Russian spy ship enters UK waters and aims lasers at military pilots, Britain says

The Yantar has entered Britain’s exclusive economic zone, which extends up to 200 nautical miles (about 230 miles) offshore, but the ship has stayed on the edge of the country’s territorial waters, defined as stretching 12 nautical miles (13.8 miles) from the coast, Britain’s PA Media news agency reported.

Healey’s announcement marked the second time this year that Britain has called out the activities of the Yantar. The government says the ship maps the undersea cables used by Britain and its NATO allies for energy and communications and is part of Russia’s secretive deep-sea research unit known as GUGI. But Healey said this is the first time that Russia has directly aimed lasers at British military aircraft.

“We take it extremely seriously,” he said. “I’ve changed the navy’s rules of engagement so that we can follow more closely, monitor more closely, the activities of the Yantar when it’s in our wider waters.” The defense secretary stressed that Britain has “military options ready, should the Yantar change course.”

Britain sees Yantar’s latest incursion into waters of the UK’s economic zone as part of a pattern of increasingly reckless Russian forays into NATO territory.

In recent months, drones have repeatedly crossed from Russia into NATO’s airspace, alongside other acts of sabotage. This week, Polish officials blamed Russia for an explosion on a key rail track from Poland to Ukraine, calling it an “unprecedented act of sabotage.” Overnight into Wednesday, NATO once again scrambled fighter jets over Poland and Romania after Russian airstrikes struck western Ukraine.

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/11/19/uk/ru...itain-intl

Obviously there in no country more peaceful than russia:

The acts of sabotage last weekend that damaged a train line in Poland were carried out by two Ukrainians on behalf of Russia, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has revealed. The pair then immediately fled to Belarus.

“As a result of the investigation, we now know it was the Russian Secret Services that commissioned the blast of the Polish railway and recruited two Ukrainians to do it,” wrote Tusk on social media. “We also know the identities of the perpetrators who immediately fled Poland for Belarus.”

Granted that shipyards aren't playing a crucial role in this war -- Ukraine has already essentially destroyed the Russian Black Sea Fleet -- this article foreshadows, I think, the coming economic crisis in Russia as a result of spending so much money on this war of aggression.

Quote:Yaroslavl Shipbuilding Plant employees say they have not received salaries for nearly two months, citing unpaid military orders and stalled production, according to Ukrainian outlet Ekonomichna Pravda.

The Yaroslavl Shipbuilding Plant, a Russian company under international sanctions for its cooperation with the country’s defense-industrial sector, has reportedly failed to pay its workers for nearly two months.

According to Ekonomichna Pravda, employees say the last payments were made in late September, and the plant has since placed much of its workforce on forced downtime.

“They promised to pay everything they owed on October 23, but again nothing,” one employee told. “At the meetings they say that the Ministry of Defense is not transferring money for the order.”

Public data shows the shipyard employs approximately 850 people and produces both civilian and military vessels, including landing ships, patrol boats, and other types of naval platforms. As noted by Ekonomichna Pravda, the plant plays a dual role in Russia’s shipbuilding sector, with output supporting both commercial and state clients.

The employee quoted by the outlet added that many workshops are currently shut down due to the wage dispute. Workers have been told that the lack of salary payments is due to “the employer’s fault,” and production has come to a near halt. In the meantime, some workers are considering leaving the plant altogether. “The prospects are vague,” one employee said.

https://defence-blog.com/russian-shipyar...ry-crisis/

Kremlin plotted to blame unpopular tax rise on west to shield Vladimir Putin

The Kremlin has decided to publicly blame the west for a forthcoming tax rise to spare Vladimir Putin from criticism that his war economy is starting to hurt ordinary Russians.

The budget will raise the rate of value added tax in Russia from 20 per cent to 22 per cent from January, going against Putin’s pledge not to raise taxes again before 2030.

The guidlines prescribe that the media should place responsibility for the tax rise on the west, arguing it is “not interested in a peaceful settlement” of the Ukraine war.

“Your money or your life?” is among the phrases the guidelines recommend using, along with “nothing matters more than security”.

The guidelines also required that any personal mention of Putin in relation to VAT news be avoided, while “positive” aspects of other tax changes introduced in the budget law — such as higher rates for gambling companies — should be emphasised.

Resorting to fiscal decisions so unpopular that they required a separate propaganda campaign to head off dissent suggests the Kremlin’s economic room for manoeuvre is shrinking.

That marks a stark contrast with the early years of the war when record revenues from oil and gas and strong economic growth allowed Russia to fund its military campaign in Ukraine without visible sacrifices at home.

“Even with the planned tax increases, next year’s budget plan does not seem realistic,” said Janis Kluge, an expert on Russia’s economy with the German Institute for International and Security Affairs. “It anticipates a significant reduction in war spending, but if the war continues, this is simply not feasible.”

The VAT rise — the second direct tax increase since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 — is just one of the measures Moscow has brought in to squeeze funds out of its slowing economy.

Others include cutting tax benefits for small businesses, raising payments from the IT sector, introducing new levies on technology and car imports, increasing duties on gambling companies and targeting the personal income of “foreign agents”, as the Kremlin formally labels its critics.

https://www.ft.com/content/212673d1-1527...03e4055fcd

The Putin regime is at its weakest point so far...so naturally the Trump administration is focusing on capitulation.

(Yesterday at 10:54 am)Mister Agenda Wrote: The Putin regime is at its weakest point so far...so naturally the Trump administration is focusing on capitulation.

Boru

(Yesterday at 2:40 am)Fake Messiah Wrote: “Your money or your life?” 

Sounds like the russian recruitment pitch, just have to swap the question mark for an exclamation point.