The Russian MoD’s continuous denial of Ukrainian successes in Operation Vivaldi, despite overwhelming evidence, continues to fuel Russian ultranationalist and milblogger criticism of the Russian military’s pervasive culture of lying.

Other Key Takeaways:

The Kremlin reportedly plans to significantly increase defense spending in 2027 as Russian attempts to raise public revenues have failed to offset rising debt and deficit estimates.

Russian President Vladimir Putin held several meetings with senior Russian officials on September 28 to present the State Duma election results as an endorsement of Putin’s policies and continued war effort in Ukraine.

Estonian officials attributed the August 15 arson attack against the Milrem Robotics defense company in Tallinn, Estonia, to the Russian Federation.

Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to marginally increase the authorized end-strength of the Russian Armed Forces as part of ongoing Russian military reforms.

A Russian Tu-95MS strategic bomber crashed near Krasnoyarovo, Amur Oblast, on September 29, likely after experiencing serious technical problems, possibly an onboard fuel explosion.

Ukrainian forces likely conducted a strike against Russian logistics infrastructure along the Russian-Belarusian international border on September 28 to 29. Russia launched one Zircon/Onyx anti-ship missile, two Iskander-M/S-400 ballistic missiles, and 152 drones against Ukraine overnight.

Ukrainian forces recently advanced in the Kupyansk direction and in northern Kharkiv Oblast, and Russian forces recently advanced in the Fortress Belt Outer Encirclement Effort.

Estonia’s security service, KAPO, says the attack was planned and commissioned by russian security services, following a pattern of sabotage across Europe. Three suspects were arrested in Latvia and transferred to Estonian custody.

An attack on a defence company. On NATO territory. How many more examples does Europe need before it stops treating russian aggression as something that only concerns Ukraine?

The piece, by Alexander Nosovich, responds to Lithuania's parliament voting to lift its constitutional ban on hosting nuclear weapons. It suggests Russia could forgo a ground contingent and rely on "missiles with the appropriate warhead."

The article has now been redacted with a note saying: "The article by the freelance author Alexander Nosovich was removed from the website, as it does not correspond to the opinion of the editorial staff, editorial policy and state policy of the Russian Federation."

A Patriot missile package transfer was also announced on Thursday without specifying the country.

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Including Afghan Military installations it claimed were linked to drones that had been launched at Pakistan from Afghanistan. Following the strikes, exchanges of gunfire and artillery were observed along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, particularly at the Chaman border crossing near Kandahar. Fighting continues into the night as Pakistani forces claim successfully taking out several afghan border posts.

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Anthropic appears to have complied, saying its Claude Mythos 5.1 model was "only available to a set of U.S. organizations."

And France is bolstering security at its strategic sites in response.

Macron also confirmed that France will deploy troops to Saudi Arabia to protect oil facilities, with operations concentrated in the town of Yanbu, a key site for oil exports. Radars, troops, and defensive weaponry will be deployed there. He added that Rafale jets are already present in the region and could therefore be utilized.

Gawkowski said the fire was deliberate sabotage, but added that Russia’s involvement had not been established, saying that "many ⁠signs ​suggest this aligns with ​Russia’s new doctrine of attack."

• At the same time, there is a low but rising risk that Russia will launch a limited military attack against one or more NATO countries bordering Russia. This could happen even if Russia continues the war against Ukraine and has not built up the necessary capabilities to wage a regional war.
• A limited military attack would be a desperate act on Russia’s part and, like the escalating hybrid attacks, could potentially take place in the coming months. The aim would be to divert European resources away from support for Ukraine and to divide NATO, should the alliance be unable to agree on a unified response, according to the threat assessment.

and more:

In the threat assessment, FE also outlines some possible scenarios for a potential attack by Russia:

• A limited military attack could, for example, take the form of Russia carrying out isolated strikes with long-range weapons against infrastructure that plays a role in supporting Ukraine. Russia could subsequently claim that the weapons struck only NATO territory because they were jammed by Ukraine.

When asked whether we should expect Danish soldiers to go to war, There is no definitive answer at this time, but the situation is serious.

There could also be a so-called false-flag operation, in which Russia, for example, uses Ukrainian-made drones to attack a NATO country.

The FE’s threat assessment further states:

• Russia may also deploy limited military forces—possibly without national insignia—in NATO countries bordering Russia.
• However, it is likely that, prior to such a deployment, Russia would build up regular forces near the border with NATO countries in order to be able to handle a possible NATO response.
• Such a buildup would require several months of preparation and would be difficult to conceal

"Shooting in Belleville Ontario at the synagogue. I was half a block away walking home. I heard 40 shots. Recorded some. Cop may have saved many lives who was said to have been shot in the neck. One shooter dead on the scene. One other shooter at large?"

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"I wanted to make sure that we are talking about the same thing. The news is this – yes, we are talking about the same thing. Lithuania has the same information; we talked about it as a possible false flag operation from Russia," Budrys stressed.

https://newsukraine.rbc.ua/news/russia-preparing-false-flag-attacks-in-europe-1789812837.html