big ben

Sovereign Internet: the single point of failure In four days Ukrainian drones hit three Yandex data centers: • 8 Oct — Sasovo (Ryazan): full shutdown. Two of the three AI supercomputers used to train YandexGPT were there. • 9 Oct — Kaluga: the company’s largest site (63 MW). Several modules completely offline. • 11 Oct — Vladimir: full shutdown. The third supercomputer (“Galushkin”) was located there. Result: all three Yandex AI supercomputers targeted. 80+ cloud services disrupted. Taxi, payments, food delivery and other everyday tools went down across Russia. This is the logical outcome of the “sovereign internet” project. For years the Kremlin concentrated RuNet into a handful of key nodes and a few giant providers — almost all of them in European Russia, well within drone range. Personal-data laws and critical-infrastructure rules make foreign cloud backups legally toxic. You cannot leave, you cannot distribute, you cannot hide. The button that was supposed to belong only to the FSB is now available to any aircraft carrying a few dozen kilograms of explosives.

🚨 Azarov’s former spokesman reportedly injured in Moscow car blast. Russian Telegram channels identify the injured man as Sergei Zavorotny, a publicist and former spokesman for former Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov. He reportedly survived the explosion in Moscow’s Chertanovo district and was hospitalized. His identity and medical condition have not been officially confirmed. The cause of the blast remains unverified.

🇺🇦🇪🇺 EUROPE AT THE TABLE Zelenskyy says European representatives will join the next round of negotiations on ending Russia’s war against Ukraine, following his Dublin meeting with Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. ▪️ Possible venue: UAE or Switzerland. ▪️ POW exchange: preparations for what officials expect to be the largest of the war. ▪️ Next objective: a ceasefire and credible security guarantees. Kushner says Putin is ready to try negotiations with European participation. Europe must help shape any settlement affecting its own security. Its place at the table should never depend on the Kremlin’s permission. The real test is implementation: prisoners returning home, a verifiable ceasefire, and guarantees strong enough to deter another Russian attack. Judge diplomacy by what Russia actually does.

General Staff, 12 Nov: since 30 Oct Ukraine has struck the five largest Russian refineries — Omsk, Kirishi, Ryazan, Kstovo and Yaroslavl — plus Saratov and Novokuibyshevsk. A strike on Lukoil's Volgograd plant was reported overnight; Kyiv has not confirmed it. @alternative_war

🔥 VOLGOGRAD: WHY THIS REFINERY MATTERS Reports of a fire at Lukoil’s Volgograd refinery put a major Russian fuel producer back in focus. Its 2024 figures show the scale: ▪️ 13.7 million tonnes of crude processed — 5.1% of Russia’s total. ▪️ 6 million tonnes of diesel — 6.9% of national output. ▪️ 1.9 million tonnes of gasoline — 4.3%. Ukraine’s General Staff identifies the plant as a supplier to Russia’s armed forces. At its average 2024 production rate, a complete 30-day shutdown would mean approximately 492,000 tonnes of diesel and 156,000 tonnes of gasoline not produced, before replacement supplies. The likely military impact of a prolonged outage: greater pressure on stocks, additional fuel redistribution and higher transport costs. Inventories, export reductions and supplies from other refineries can cushion the immediate effect. The deeper risk is cumulative. Prolonged outages across several plants reduce the flexibility of the entire fuel supply system supporting Russia’s war. ⚠️ Current damage, shutdown extent and outage duration remain unconfirmed. The monthly figures are a scenario, not verified losses.

🇨🇳✈️ China’s “J-36”: a claimed 90° turn in under two seconds. The footage is striking. The figure remains unverified. A rapid roll or change in viewing angle can resemble a sharp turn. These images alone cannot establish actual turn rate, G-load, radar signature or combat readiness. Claims that this proves superiority over the F-47 go beyond the evidence. DARPA says U.S. experimental aircraft underpinning that programme first flew in 2019 and 2022. Those were technology demonstrators; their flights should be distinguished from the F-47 itself. China’s visible progress deserves attention. Reliable performance comparisons require flight data.

🇨🇿✈️ Czechia could supply Ukraine with up to 16 L-39 Skyfox jets, Deputy PM Karel Havlíček said after talks in Kyiv. ▪️ 4 aircraft previously agreed. ▪️ 12 additional aircraft under discussion. The Skyfox offers potential for intercepting Russian attack drones alongside pilot training. Ukraine’s final aircraft configuration and delivery timetable remain undisclosed. A promising step toward strengthening Ukraine’s air defences. Now the talks need to become deliveries.

🚨 The Kremlin’s “fresh ideas”: revive the 2021 ultimatum — and add more demands. After Putin’s talks with Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, aide Yuri Ushakov repeated Moscow’s demands: ▪️ No further NATO enlargement. ▪️ No weapons near Russia’s borders that Moscow considers threatening. ▪️ Return NATO’s force deployments to their 1997 configuration. Additional conditions? Announced, but not disclosed. This looks like an attempt to turn negotiations over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine into leverage over the security of an entire continent. Europe and Ukraine must decide their own future. Aggression must never buy Moscow a veto over its neighbours’ alliances.

🇺🇦 Air defence. Energy. Shelters. Support that saves lives. President Zelenskyy met key partners in Dublin to discuss stronger support amid relentless Russian attacks. The priorities: ▪️ Air defence missiles ▪️ Energy support ▪️ New shelters ▪️ Financial resilience ▪️ New contributions to PURL ▪️ Security guarantees Every interceptor, restored power supply and shelter helps protect Ukrainians. These discussions must translate into timely, concrete support.

🔥 Volgograd’s Lukoil refinery is burning again following a reported drone strike. Russia’s war machine runs on fuel. Ukraine keeps turning up the heat. The extent of the damage and a full production shutdown remain unconfirmed.

❗️ Kernel, Ukraine’s largest sunflower oil producer and exporter, says it has halted all its oilseed-crushing plants following Russian drone attacks. Production buildings, equipment and storage tanks were damaged. The shutdown is intended to protect workers and prevent major fires. Seed purchases are also suspended. Shipments from existing stocks continue. Russia’s attacks are disrupting Ukraine’s food industry.

Witkoff and Kushner show off Kremlin gifts: jackets bearing Russia’s state emblem. Souvenirs from a regime killing Ukrainians, displayed by men claiming to broker peace. The Kremlin couldn’t ask for a better propaganda photo.

🇨🇭 FT: Russia-linked investors helped finance the 2022 takeover of Sberbank Switzerland, now TradeXBank. m3 raised CHF125M from eight investors through bonds carrying 15% annual interest. One Solution Trading bought CHF10M of bonds. Its owner, Hector Garcia Velazco, was married until 2025 to the daughter of sanctioned Russian lawmaker Ivan Demchenko. Ugol Properties held another CHF20M. Its registered shareholder was a nominee company owned by sanctioned Cypriot lawyer Christodoulos Vassiliades. Velazco’s lawyer says he bought the firm from a founder outside the Demchenko family. Ugol’s lawyer says Vassiliades never beneficially owned the company. m3 says compliance checks were completed.

🇺🇸🇷🇺 Putin plans to continue discussions on ending the war in Ukraine with Donald Trump at the APEC summit, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov says. Trump has also said he expects to meet Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, while US officials have confirmed preparations for a possible trilateral meeting. The precise format and agenda of any meeting remain to be confirmed.

🚨 Russian monitoring channels are reporting drone alerts in several areas. The circulating screenshots do not establish how many drones are involved or confirm any strikes. The channels share some of the same reports, so they should not be treated as independent confirmation. The situation is developing. The scale and results remain unclear.

🛢️ Russian diesel is being offered to Brazil after plans for U.S. deliveries stalled, Bloomberg reports. At least four cargoes—about 1.1 million barrels—are on offer for November delivery. Brazilian traders say the prices are unattractive compared with U.S.-made fuel.

🇷🇺🇨🇳 Russia’s yuan pivot is faltering under U.S. secondary sanctions, Bloomberg reports. ~22% — the yuan’s reported share of Russian export payments, roughly half its 2024 peak. ~69% — the ruble share of Russian export receipts from Asia in August 2026. Chinese banks’ fear of sanctions is pushing Russian businesses toward slower payments, costly intermediaries and more complicated routes. Globally, the yuan accounted for 3.33% of payments by value through SWIFT in September 2026, ranking fifth.

🇺🇸 Jared Kushner reportedly says detailed talks with Putin will shape the upcoming conversation with Zelenskyy and multilateral negotiations next week. He believes progress has been made toward ending the war in Ukraine. Real progress must bring an end to Russian attacks and lasting security for Ukraine.

🚨 One person was killed and four others injured in a shooting in Washington, D.C.’s Logan Circle, about a mile north of the White House, AP reports. Police cordoned off the area, and nearby schools were placed on lockdown.

🇵🇱 Poland has stopped a cyberattack on ePUAP, its national platform for online public services, Digital Affairs Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski says. Security teams contained the attack. Work continues to restore full functionality. The perpetrators have not been publicly identified. 🇪🇪 Separately, hackers targeted refrigeration controls at an Estonian Selver supermarket. According to ERR, the incident was contained without product losses. Russian involvement has not been confirmed.

📡 New Starshield restrictions are already disrupting Ukraine’s mid-range strike drone operations, LIGA reports, citing Ukrainian military sources. A source in the 10th Army Corps says the restrictions kick in at around 160 km/h. Reliable battlefield communications save lives.