MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia's Battlegroup Sever took control of the settlement of Bologovka in the Khrakov region, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Friday.

"In the Kharkov region, as a result of active operations, the settlement of Bologovka in the Kharkov region has been liberated," the ministry said in a statement.

At the same time, Russia's Battlegroup Vostok took control of the settlement of Pershotravnevoye in the Dnepropetrovsk region, while Russia's Battlegroup Tsentr took control of the settlement of Promin in the Donetsk People's Republic, the ministry added.

During the operation to liberate Pershotravnevoye, Russian troops took control of a Ukrainian defense area stretching over 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) and secured a bridgehead on the western bank of the Yanchur River, creating conditions for a further advance in the Dnepropetrovsk direction, the ministry said.

At the same time, Russia's Battlegroup Vostok took control of the settlement of Pershotravnevoye in the Dnepropetrovsk region, while Russia's Battlegroup Tsentr took control of the settlement of Promin in the Donetsk People's Republic, the ministry added.

Russia's Battlegroup Tsentr has eliminated more than 3,610 Ukrainian military personnel in the past week, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

"The enemy lost more than 3,610 servicepeople, three tanks, 18 armored combat vehicles, 37 cars and 41 artillery pieces," the ministry said in a statement.

Russia's Battlegroup Zapad has eliminated over 1,610 Ukrainian military personnel, while Battlegroup Yug has eliminated up to 1,485 soldiers, while Russia's Battlegroup Vostok eliminated over 2,365 Ukrainian soldiers and Battlegroup Severhas eliminated over 1,375 Ukrainian soldiers, the ministry said.

Additionally, the Russian armed forces launched one massive and six group strikes against Ukrainian defense industry complex enterprises, transport and energy infrastructure associated with the Ukrainian armed forces in response to Ukraine's terrorist attacks on civilian targets in Russia, the statement read.

"Air defense systems shot down a Su-27 aircraft of the Ukrainian Air Force, four cruise missiles, 18 guided aerial bombs, 15 rockets from the US-made HIMARS multiple launch rocket system, as well as 1,441 aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicles," the statement added.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20251024/russian-forces-liberate-bologovka-settlement-in-kharkov-region---mod-1123009787.html

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MEANWHILE: 

Ukraine received 1,000 fallen soldiers’ bodies from Russia, while Moscow retrieved 31 of its own. This marks the 13th exchange between the sides in 2025.

THIS GIVES A CLOSE COUNT ON HOW MANY UKRAINIAN VERSUS RUSSIAN SOLDIERS ARE KILLED ON THE BATTLEFIELD....

====================

PEACE IS IN THE HANDS OF THE WEST... THE WEST HAS TO ACCEPT RUSSIA'S DEMAND... BY FORCE OR BY NEGOTIATIONS, RUSSIA WILL GET WHAT IT WANTS AND DESERVES...

MAKE A DEAL PRONTO BEFORE THE SHIT (WW3) HITS THE FAN:

NO NATO IN "UKRAINE" (WHAT'S LEFT OF IT)

THE DONBASS REPUBLICS ARE NOW BACK IN THE RUSSIAN FOLD — AS THEY USED TO BE PRIOR 1922. THE RUSSIANS WON'T ABANDON THESE AGAIN.

THESE WILL ALSO INCLUDE ODESSA, KHERSON AND KHARKIV.....

CRIMEA IS RUSSIAN — AS IT USED TO BE PRIOR 1954

TRANSNISTRIA TO BE PART OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION.

RESTORE THE RIGHTS OF THE RUSSIAN SPEAKING PEOPLE OF "UKRAINE" (WHAT'S LEFT OF IT)

RESTITUTE THE ORTHODOX CHURCH PROPERTIES AND RIGHTS

RELEASE THE OPPOSITION MEMBERS FROM PRISON

A MEMORANDUM OF NON-AGGRESSION BETWEEN RUSSIA AND THE USA.

A MEMORANDUM OF NON-AGGRESSION BETWEEN RUSSIA AND THE EU.....

EASY.

THE WEST KNOWS IT.

READ FROM TOP.

On Ukraine and Venezuela, Trump needs to dump the sycophants
There's a lot of smoke being blown about big 'deals' and huge 'wins.' True military professionals would tell him the hard truths.

BY DOUGLAS MACGREGOR

While diplomats labored to produce the Dayton Accords in 1995, then-Secretary of Defense Bill Perry advised, “No agreement is better than a bad agreement.” Given that Washington’s allies in London, Paris, Berlin and Warsaw are opposed to any outcome that might end the war in Ukraine, no agreement may be preferable. But for President Trump, there is no point in equating the illusion of peace in Ukraine with a meaningless ceasefire that settles nothing. 

Today, Ukraine is mired in corruption, starting at the very highest levels of the administration in Kyiv. Sending $175 billion of borrowed money there "for however long it takes" has turned out to be worse than reckless. The U.S. national sovereign debt is surging to nearly $38 trillion and rising by $425 billion with each passing month. President Trump needs to turn his attention away from funding Joe Biden’s wars and instead focus on the faltering American economy. 

President Trump should make it clear that the Biden administration’s determination to help build a Ukrainian military establishment designed to wage offensive war against Russia rather than engage in the diplomacy necessary to avoid it before 2022 was a serious strategic error. Washington’s European allies are fundamentally wrong when they insist that Moscow had no right to challenge an existential threat from NATO on its border. Without the decades-long project of transferring technology, advice and cash to Ukraine, the threat to Russia in Ukraine might not have emerged. 

President Trump’s recent decision to reexamine the wisdom of shipping Tomahawk missiles for use in Ukraine is a step in the right direction. Just as Washington has legitimate interests in Mexico and the Caribbean Basin, it is time for Washington to recognize Moscow’s legitimate national security interests in regards to Ukraine and NATO member states in its own backyard. It is also time for Europe and the U.S. to realize that stability in the region is of everyone’s interest, and that means not encouraging, through endless war, a failed state in Ukraine.

Hopefully, President Trump was finally briefed on America’s missile inventory. His reticence to send Tomahawks that cannot operate without American mission planning and execution suggests that he and his staff may have also asked for the status of more vital missile systems such as the family of Standard Missiles. The exact numbers for the American missile inventory are unknown, but President Trump should demand detailed answers.

It’s also vital for him to understand that regardless of how much pressure he exerts on America’s defense industrial base to increase production, timelines for delivery will not change much. Wars are fought with precision strike weapons. The side with the most missiles on hand at the outset stands an excellent chance of prevailing. The side with too few will lose.

American military power is in a state of decline that will require a decade or more to reverse. In pursuit of true military strength, President Trump should not conflate the eagerness of his senior military leaders to comply with his policies or ideas as evidence of loyalty, professionalism or agreement. In Washington, DC, there is never a shortage of sycophantic, blowhard generals and admirals whose own experience with real war is at best at a cocktail level of familiarity. 

General Christopher Donahue, commander of U.S. Army Europe and Africa, achieved notoriety when he stated in June of this year that U.S. and NATO Forces could capture Russia's heavily fortified Kaliningrad region "in a timeframe that is unheard of." Perhaps, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth or President Trump welcomed these statements. Emotions often play a larger role in national decision-making than they should. However, generals who publicly broadcast claims of military supremacy should be treated with skepticism. It has happened before.

After the outbreak of the Korean War, Major General (MG) Dean, the 24th Infantry Division Commander, insisted that his men “had merely to make an appearance on the battlefield and the North Korean People’s Army would melt into the hills.” According to the historian Max Hastings, when the North Koreans attacked Dean’s division, the resulting rout “resembled the collapse of the French Army in 1940 and the British at Singapore in 1942.” 

General Paul Harkins, the American Commander of Military Assistance Command Vietnam, confidently predicted victory for the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) in its war with the Viet Cong by Christmas 1963. Described as an “American General with a swagger stick and cigarette holder,” General Harkins simply reported the defeat of South Vietnamese forces in the Battle of Ap Bac during January 1963 as a victory. Harkins understood the message Washington wanted to receive and he delivered it.

Before President Trump schedules a future meeting with President Vladimir Putin, he should abandon the false narratives of Russian weakness and alleged “Ukrainian strength” from Keith Kellogg, Marco Rubio, and a host of neocons on the Hill. He also needs to pay attention to revelations about the true state of readiness of the U.S. Armed Forces. 

A truthful briefing may give the president pause to reconsider pushing Moscow to the edge, hoping for a “win” that he can broadcast to the American public. An analysis of the contemporary U.S. Navy’s state of mind and readiness entitled, “The Navy’s Kuhnian Crisis,” is illuminating. The article is the latest in a series of warnings that reach back to the aftermath of Desert Storm and the so-called “peace dividend.” The “anomalies are everywhere” the author said, pointing to:

• Littoral Combat Ships decommissioned before they deploy—a $30 billion experiment that could not survive contact with reality. 
• Destroyers delayed by years—the Zumwalt class, conceived as revolutionary, delivered as dysfunctional. 
• the F-35C, a symbol of joint acquisition dysfunction. 
• And shipyards that can’t build or repair on schedule.

Problems are not limited to the U.S. Air and Naval Forces. According to congressional sources, most ground combat vehicles used by the U.S. Army and Marine Corps are not ready to support operations missions due to a lack of maintenance and shortages of spare parts. Tracked and wheeled vehicles that regularly fail to meet their expected standards of readiness include 18 key types of combat and support vehicles used by both services. 

Going to war with the forces you have is unavoidable, but conflict should be avoided if the forces are not effectively led, organized, trained, and equipped for the fight even when the opponent is as militarily weak as Venezuela. Before President Trump and his cabinet decide to begin a new conflict with Venezuela, the deficit Trump should worry most about is intellectual, not fiscal. 

As Commander-in-Chief, President Trump must suppress the unfortunate habit in the senior military ranks of obedience to dumb ideas and, instead, nourish a core group of military professionals with the integrity and the competence to cope with the unexpected when it arises. The history of warfare demonstrates time and again that Character, Competence and Intelligence (C2I) must exceed all other considerations in selection for promotion and command.

In sum, If President Trump’s reconsideration of the Tomahawk option signals a new inclination to a sobering self-assessment of the limits of American military power, it’s good news. Meanwhile, the key strategic challenge for President Trump is not to meddle in Ukraine, the Middle East, or Latin America. 

President Trump’s top priority is to restore American economic productivity and prosperity. In the future, the security of the United States will increasingly depend much more on its economic power than on its military power. “Twenty years’ peace,” Washington argued in 1796, “combined with our remote situation would enable us in a just cause to bid defiance to any power on earth.” President Washington’s words are still valid.

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/ukraine-trump-putin/

MAKE A DEAL PRONTO BEFORE THE SHIT (WW3) HITS THE FAN:

NO NATO IN "UKRAINE" (WHAT'S LEFT OF IT)

THE DONBASS REPUBLICS ARE NOW BACK IN THE RUSSIAN FOLD — AS THEY USED TO BE PRIOR 1922. THE RUSSIANS WON'T ABANDON THESE AGAIN.

THESE WILL ALSO INCLUDE ODESSA, KHERSON AND KHARKIV.....

CRIMEA IS RUSSIAN — AS IT USED TO BE PRIOR 1954

TRANSNISTRIA TO BE PART OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION.

RESTORE THE RIGHTS OF THE RUSSIAN SPEAKING PEOPLE OF "UKRAINE" (WHAT'S LEFT OF IT)

RESTITUTE THE ORTHODOX CHURCH PROPERTIES AND RIGHTS

RELEASE THE OPPOSITION MEMBERS FROM PRISON

A MEMORANDUM OF NON-AGGRESSION BETWEEN RUSSIA AND THE USA.

A MEMORANDUM OF NON-AGGRESSION BETWEEN RUSSIA AND THE EU.....

EASY.

THE WEST KNOWS IT.

READ FROM TOP.

YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT — SINCE 2005.

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.

James David Spellman

The world appears to have forgotten a key lesson of the global financial crisis: some problems were spotted earlier, but sidelined.

JPMorgan chief executive Jamie Dimon’s remark that “when you see one cockroach, there are probably more” is a blunt reminder of the global financial crisis in 2008. At the time, a flood of bad mortgages had revealed a tenuous labyrinth of complex, highly vulnerable financial products that saw some US investment banks collapse and equity markets struggle for six years to recover losses.

Evidence is mounting that we are approaching danger again, with revelations of bad debt exposure for regional and investment banks as a consequence of two bankruptcies. Auto parts maker First Brand Group filed for bankruptcy protection last month with US$11.6 billion in liabilities, while car dealership Tricolor did likewise with more than US$1 billion in liabilities.

It is true that US markets bounced back a day after some banks’ stocks suffered their steepest single-day losses in more than six months on 16 October. Wall Street’s fear index, the CBOE Volatility Index, shook off the anxiety after sharply jumping the day before.

However, many questions remain about the magnitude of exposure to holdings of other bad debt and the potential global fallout. Accompanying those is the backdrop of record sovereign debt worldwide, erratic trade policy confrontations and geopolitical tensions.

For the moment, chief executives are still leaning in, with more than half in an EY-Parthenon survey in September saying they are “investing to accelerate portfolio transformation”. But as the 2008 global financial crisis showed, situations change swiftly, especially in a highly interdependent global economy.

Meanwhile, chief executives are saying privately they have growing concerns about state capitalism and the erosion of independence at the US Federal Reserve, among other issues. These uncertainties could stop the music again, as former Citigroup chairman and chief executive Charles Prince put it when the global financial crisis was beginning to unfold.

Dimon’s warning reflects his role in helping Washington navigate emergency relief to contain the financial wildfires and stabilise capital markets, including JPMorgan’s rescue of failing rivals Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual, in 2008. His outlook reflects finance’s innate vulnerability: the history of Wall Street traces the mercurial rise and fall of institutions when value is destroyed after public trust implodes.

What Dimon saw during the global financial crisis is how events snowballed when increasing numbers of risky subprime mortgages defaulted as the US housing bubble burst. Years of low interest rates and easy credit created an unsustainable cycle. Housing values rose so fast that banks initially figured they would still have sufficient equity after foreclosure sales.

The music stopped. Housing sales collapsed in the face of rising interest rates. Marginal borrowers, holding adjustable-rate mortgages, saw payments soar. Home values plummeted, leaving such borrowers owing more than their houses were worth.

That set off a chain reaction. Mortgage-backed securities packaged bundles of individual mortgages to pass off risks to investors, who borrowed heavily to own these securities. MBS products magnified and accelerated the collapse. That, in turn, brought the demise of credit-default swaps, instruments designed as insurance policies against MBS defaults. These derivatives were poorly understood and there wasn’t enough capital set aside to pay out MBS losses.

Today’s macroeconomic backdrop is dramatically different, but in some ways even more problematic. “Financial stability risks remain elevated amid risks presented by stretched asset valuations, growing pressure in sovereign bond markets and the increasing role of non-bank financial institutions,” the International Monetary Fund’s Global Financial Stability Report observed earlier this month.

Interdependence among financial markets has intensified, heightening contagion risks, which facilitated a global recession during the global financial crisis. These markets “have become more connected, which has made it easier for financial conditions to spread across borders, including to major advanced economies”, the Bank for International Settlements concluded in a June report.

Global banks, asset managers, insurers and pension funds often hold overlapping exposures. This is more worrisome because the multilateral frameworks used to co-ordinate policies among the world’s largest economies, especially during a crisis, have been swept aside by bilateral and regional diplomacy.

Interdependencies accelerate ripple effects, which range from a liquidity squeeze in credit markets to capital flight, when investors demand higher returns for increased risks. The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in 2023 shows the velocity at which stress spreads.

Silicon Valley Bank collapse stuns tech firms around the world, global operations dismantled

Another structural change has enormous consequences, but the global financial crisis sheds little light on it. This is the transition of financial intermediation to non-bank institutions, such as hedge funds, private equity firms, leasing enterprises, digital concerns and pension funds.

This rise is demonstrated by the emergence of the private credit market, which reached US$3 trillion in January, compared to US$2 trillion in 2020. Morgan Stanley estimates growth to about US$5 trillion by 2029. Private credit risks include opacity, leverage, illiquidity and misaligned incentives between fund managers and investors – vulnerabilities akin to the global financial crisis.

Confidence in regional banks’ underwriting discipline has been shaken. Full, transparent disclosure must become standard practice. Investors need to see valuations of financial institutions’ assets and liabilities, risk concentrations and default rates. This would help them recalibrate counterparty risks and demand higher compensation for exposure.

Central banks and regulators should broaden oversight while strengthening early warning systems. They should also review liquidity backstops to be pre-emptively prepared. Stress tests must evolve to include the failures that unfolded over the past few weeks. One overriding lesson of the global financial crisis is that some problems were spotted earlier, but sidelined. That is too costly a lesson to ignore.

https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3329661/bad-debt-cockroaches-signal-new-threats-global-economy

READ FROM TOP.

YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT — SINCE 2005.

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.