Author: disinfo1

The United States has seized a second oil tanker, this time in the Caribbean Sea, announced on Wednesday the Southern Command of the USA. According to the American military, the ship – described as a “stateless motor tanker, authorized for ghost fleet” – was detained in an operation carried out before dawn. “The intercepted ship, M/T Sophia, was operating in international waters and was conducting illicit activities in the Caribbean Sea,” stated a communique from the American authorities. According to the same source, the US Coast Guard is escorting the ship to US territory for final resolution. An American official…

In January, car manufacturers began to adjust price lists in Russia, and the scale of the price increases will only become clear at the end of the first working week, writes the director of the analytical agency “Avtostat”, Sergey Tselikov. However, it is already evident that the wave of increases will be widespread and long-lasting. In the new year, the following brands have updated their prices: Lada, Moskvich, UAZ, Belgee, Solaris, Omoda, Tenet, Tank, as well as Xcite — which is liquidating its last stocks, he notes. Six other brands increased their prices in the last two working days of…

The leader of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, has appointed his eldest son, Ahmad Kadyrov, aged 20, as the deputy prime minister of the regional government. Ahmad will combine this position with that of the Minister of Physical Culture and Sports, a post to which he was appointed in May 2024 (previously he had been the Minister of Youth in Chechnya). Another appointed deputy prime minister is Ahmad Dudaev, former assistant to Kadyrov and Minister of the Press. The announcement was made by the Chechen leader on his Telegram channel. According to Kadyrov, both appointees “have significant administrative experience and a deep…

The increase in VAT, the introduction of a “technology tax” and mandatory labeling, as well as the global shortage of RAM, promise a significant price increase for equipment and gadgets in Russia in 2026. Smartphone prices could increase by about 10%, and laptop prices by 20–30%, according to statements provided to Forbes by representatives of retailers and manufacturers. According to Kirill Ageev, the purchasing department director of Merlion and Citilink, the new prices will already appear in the first quarter: PCs and tablets will become 7–20% more expensive, and in the second half of the year, the price increase for…

Russians are complaining on social media that the weight of food products in stores has decreased: chocolate bars no longer weigh 100 grams, but only 73, and milk bottles contain 900 milliliters instead of a liter. Economists say that shrinking packaging is a common practice during periods of high inflation. In the case of Russia, the problem is even more disturbing: the price of products has increased, although the quantity has decreased. Blogger Nastia Sîsoeva films in the supermarket “Piatioroșka” and lists the products that have “shrunk”, but have become more expensive: “Who remembers that a chocolate used to weigh…

Russia is incapable of servicing its Arctic ports, revealing an ever-widening gap between Moscow’s ambitions and its actual capabilities, according to the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine, quoted by Kyiv Post. In a statement published on Tuesday, the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine conveyed that the ports on the Northern Sea Route will require dredging works of approximately 60 million cubic meters in the next five years, and similar works will be necessary in the ports of other regions of Russia. “Russia’s Arctic ambitions are hitting a basic infrastructure blockage,” the agency pointed out, emphasizing that Moscow had previously relied…

The German government responded firmly on Tuesday, January 6, to the statements of former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who suggested a hypothetical scenario involving the kidnapping of Chancellor Friedrich Merz, following the Maduro model. Berlin considers the statements unacceptable, but conveys that it sees no reason to intensify security measures following these statements, according to Kyiv Post. Everything started from a question addressed to Medvedev by the state agency TASS, which provoked him to comment on whether he could imagine a “special operation” against the leader of Germany. Dmitry Medvedev, currently the Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of Russia,…

The United States’ swift operation in Venezuela and the removal of dictator Nicolás Maduro have caused more than just a regime change in Caracas. For the Kremlin, it was a painful symbolic blow, revealing the real limits of Russia as a “great power” and directly affecting Vladimir Putin’s personal ambitions. The difference is striking: while Russia has been waging a bloody and costly war against Ukraine for years without achieving its stated objectives, Washington has shown that it can act quickly and decisively on the global stage. Journalist Eva Hartog writes in Politico that this demonstration of US power provokes…

The fugitive Veaceslav Platon, who is hiding from justice in London, has asked the court in Chisinau to be heard in the case concerning the theft of a billion, in which the oligarch Vladimir Plahotniuc is implicated. He requests that the hearing take place in a video conference format. The fact that Veaceslav Platon wants to testify in Vladimir Plahotniuc’s case was announced by the judges during the session on January 6, but they did not specify on whose behalf he wants to be heard: the defense or the prosecution. The officials of the General Prosecutor’s Office (PG) did not…

Ukrainian forces have downed a rare Russian reconnaissance drone, ZALA Z-20, using an interceptor developed by General Cherry company, reports Kyiv Post. According to the Telegram channel of the partisan detachment “Hnyla Chereshnya” (Rotten Cherry) from Melitopol, which also published a video recording, the drone was destroyed by a crew from the Separate 55 Artillery Brigade, Zaporizhzhia Sich. It was reported that a ZALA Z-20 drone is valued at approximately $200,000 and is equipped with artificial intelligence. According to the Manufacturers in the Rear website, the interceptor drone developed by General Cherry costs nearly 48,000 hryvnias (about $1,100). It has…