Today in our brief news:
Russia is bombing Ukrainian cities, killing children, and destroying the country's energy infrastructure. Washington is withholding Patriot missiles that have already been paid for, while a Republican senator accuses those responsible of having just as much blood on their hands as Putin.
Dead Russian soldiers lie in the streets near Dobropillia, while oil facilities burn in St. Petersburg. Meanwhile, Trump is spreading hatred against Muslims and immigrants in France without a shred of evidence. A U.S. Supreme Court justice warns that American democracy is being damaged. And secret Russian government documents expose the truth behind Putin's supposed economic might: China is getting Russian gas at rock-bottom prices. Once again, other people are paying the price for these policies.
America's Democracy Is Being Damaged: Supreme Court Justice Kagan Levels Serious Accusations Against Her Own Court
Elena Kagan knows the decisions she's talking about. She sits on the United States Supreme Court herself and has spent years watching its conservative majority reshape American voting rights. On Tuesday, speaking at the Catholic University of America in Washington, she delivered a scathing assessment of her fellow justices. Their rulings, she argued, have further divided the country politically and weakened its democracy. The very institution entrusted with protecting constitutional rights has, in Kagan's view, helped make the political system function worse. Just 2 weeks before the congressional elections, this is a remarkable public accusation coming from inside the Court itself.
Kagan was particularly harsh in her criticism of rulings on voting rights and campaign financing. The conservative majority, she argued, had weakened provisions intended to protect minorities from political discrimination. At the same time, restrictions on campaign contributions had been struck down. Money could now buy political influence even more freely. Back in 2019, the Supreme Court ruled that federal courts generally cannot intervene in the partisan manipulation of electoral district boundaries. Since then, politicians have been able to redraw districts to benefit themselves without having to fear federal court intervention in such cases. Both major parties have now joined this disgraceful competition, Kagan criticized. The political divide is only growing deeper.
Donald Trump himself is currently pushing to redraw electoral districts in an effort to preserve the Republicans' narrow majority in the House of Representatives in November. Another Supreme Court ruling this year has further weakened protections under the Voting Rights Act. For decades, that law had helped increase the political representation of racial and ethnic minorities. Kagan accused her colleagues of largely ignoring the damage their rulings have done to the democratic system. Americans, she said, have also become thoroughly disgusted by the enormous sums of money being poured into political campaigns. And they're right.
Kagan also made clear, however, that the conservative majority does not simply give Trump everything he wants. The Court has placed limits on the president in major cases involving tariffs, birthright citizenship, and voting by mail. Her criticism concerns decisions whose consequences extend far beyond any single presidency. Voting laws that do less to prevent political discrimination, along with electoral districts that parties can draw to suit their own interests, undermine public confidence in democratic elections. Kagan describes a democracy that has long since stopped functioning as well as it should. The fact that a justice on America's highest court feels compelled to publicly say this about the rulings of her own colleagues, just days before a decisive election, can hardly be dismissed as an ordinary disagreement among lawyers.
Dobropillia: Russian Soldiers Are Dying by the Hundreds as Moscow Sends More Men Into Ukrainian Positions
Ukraine's National Guard has released footage of a road near Dobropillia littered with the bodies of Russian soldiers. The 20th Liubart Brigade documented the consequences of Russian attempts to infiltrate Ukrainian positions along several routes. According to military observer Playfra, 3 such infiltration routes converge in this area. Ukrainian defenders can reportedly inflict heavy losses there, even on territory that is officially under Russian control. The images offer a disturbing glimpse of the price Moscow is paying for its territorial gains. However, the available information does not allow a definitive assessment of the actual number of dead.
The situation remains dangerous for Ukraine nonetheless. French military analyst Clément Molin reports that Russian soldiers are now entering Dobropillia and that parts of the city can no longer be clearly assigned to either side. He compares the situation to the fighting around Kostiantynivka a year ago. Ukrainian units reportedly still hold the city's flanks, with defensive positions prepared farther behind them. Ukraine also still has reserves, while Russia is trying to seize as much ground as possible before winter. Once the trees lose their leaves, advancing soldiers will find it harder to hide from Ukrainian reconnaissance.
Near Lyman, Ukrainian Brigadier General Andrii Biletskyi reports a particularly devastating blow against Russia's 144th Motor Rifle Division. During Operation Vivaldi, the division reportedly lost its ability to operate as a cohesive fighting force. According to Biletskyi, its original mission had been to advance toward Barvinkove, threatening Ukrainian positions around Sloviansk and Kramatorsk from the rear. Independent confirmation that the unit has been completely destroyed as an organized fighting force is not yet available.
Reports from Zaporizhzhia are also contradictory. Russia's Defense Ministry claims to have captured Omelnyk and Tymoshivka northeast of Orikhiv. However, both settlements remain under Ukrainian control on the Ukrainian DeepState battlefield map, located 12 and 14 kilometers, respectively, from Russian-controlled territory. Ukrainian soldiers are also reporting Russian preparations for mechanized attacks near Huliaipole. Moscow is reportedly assembling armored vehicles and trying to take advantage of bad autumn weather to achieve localized breakthroughs. Another objective is said to be an advance toward the outskirts of Zaporizhzhia. Ukrainian defenders must therefore contend with smaller groups of infiltrating soldiers while also preparing for possible attacks involving heavy armored vehicles.
Russian Drones Strike Children, Medicine Warehouses, and Power Plants: The War Against Ukraine's Civilian Population Continues
Families with children were spending time in the central park in Nova Vodolaha, in the Kharkiv region, when a drone struck. Six people were killed, including 2 girls. One was 11 years old. The other was just 1 year and 2 months old. Another 15 people were injured, including 7 children. A café, a store, and a children's art school were damaged. A car was also hit. The children had been in a place where families normally spend their free time. Now their names are among the victims of a war Russia continues to wage against Ukraine. For the families of the 2 dead girls, any political explanation about military targets has become utterly meaningless.
During the night of October 20 alone, Ukraine's Air Force reported 165 attacking drones and other unmanned aircraft. Among them were 105 jet-powered Shahed drones. According to Ukrainian officials, 115 aircraft were shot down or electronically suppressed. Even so, strikes were recorded at 30 locations, with debris falling at another 13. In Izium, 5 people were injured, and residential buildings and the city's education administration building were damaged. Near Dnipro, 2 people were killed in an attack on warehouses, and 4 others were injured. Commercial buildings were also struck in Kovel and Dubno. Three people were reported injured in Dubno.
Near Rivne, a drone attack destroyed a warehouse belonging to BaDM, one of Ukraine's largest pharmaceutical distributors. Medicines from international manufacturers such as Pfizer, Bayer, and Novartis were reportedly stored there. How much medication was lost and what consequences this could have for supplies remain unknown. In the Lviv region, several drones struck a major energy facility. According to the regional administration, the same facility was hit at least twice in succession. No deaths or injuries were reported there.
Military observer Clément Molin has analyzed Russian attacks since January 2026 according to their targets. During the spring, power plants and other electricity infrastructure were the main focus. Later, gas stations, industrial facilities, and transportation routes were targeted more frequently. In October, energy facilities and bridges have once again come under increasing attack. Then there are the consequences for companies that have nothing to do with the war itself. Polish manufacturer Cersanit was forced to shut down its plant in Zviahel completely after attacks in September and October. Around 1,000 people work at the company's Ukrainian operations. Production facilities have been severely damaged, and according to company management, employee safety can no longer be guaranteed under current conditions. As Russia continues its attacks, people are losing their jobs as well as their security.
Patriot Missiles Already Paid For, Washington Is Holding Them Back: Ukraine Is Told to Wait While Russia Keeps Bombing
Republican U.S. Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina on Patriot missiles: “I want to know who in the government is blocking these transfers. We're not even taking these missiles from our own stockpiles. We're simply allowing other European countries to transfer them. Whoever that person is has just as much blood on their hands as Vladimir Putin.”
European countries have already paid for Patriot air defense missiles for Ukraine. Yet the American government is delaying their transfer. According to Ukrainian government officials and military personnel, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is holding back a major shipment. AIM-9X air-to-air missiles for the NASAMS air defense system are reportedly also affected. While Russian missiles threaten Ukrainian cities, Kyiv is forced to fight for weapons whose financing has long since been settled. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy discussed the delays with American senators from both parties. He also raised the issue with Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The available information provides no convincing explanation for why the already-paid-for air defense missiles are being withheld.
Zelenskyy had even made a proposal to Trump's negotiators, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner: Ukraine would suspend its attacks on Russian oil refineries for 30 days in exchange for Patriot missiles. According to the Ukrainian president, the American representatives did not support the proposal. Meanwhile, Moscow can continue its attacks. Every missing interceptor missile is a serious problem for Ukraine's air defenses, especially as Russia continues launching ballistic missiles and an increasing variety of drones.
On top of that, there are restrictions affecting the military satellite internet system Starshield. According to Zelenskyy, the terminals still do not function reliably when moving at speeds between 130 and 161 kilometers per hour. This reportedly interferes with the deployment of Ukrainian interceptor drones and makes communication with helicopters fighting Russian Shahed drones more difficult. Military analyst Michael Kofman confirmed the technical limitations. Ukrainian specialist Serhii Beskrestnov also reported serious problems maintaining connections with the helicopters.
Another Ukrainian accusation is particularly serious. Washington allegedly once again failed to warn Kyiv in time about Russian ballistic missile launches. Asked about the matter, Marco Rubio said he did not know what had happened that night. He attributed earlier failures to share intelligence to a technical problem. For people in Ukrainian cities, what matters is whether those warnings arrive in time. An American government with access to the most advanced intelligence systems, while simultaneously withholding air defense missiles that have already been paid for, owes an explanation for why its support keeps faltering precisely when Russia continues its attacks. The Ukrainian population may be paying for these delays with their lives.
Ukrainian Drones Strike Russia's Oil Supply: Burning Tanks Near St. Petersburg and an Attack on the Druzhba Pipeline
Russia's oil supply is coming under increasing pressure from Ukrainian drone attacks. Satellite images taken after the October 18 attacks on St. Petersburg show serious damage to several major facilities, according to Ukrainian observers who examined the images. At the St. Petersburg oil terminal, 3 large storage tanks, each with a capacity of between 10,000 and 15,000 cubic meters, were reportedly damaged. One was said to have been completely destroyed. At the Ruchyi oil depot, a tank with a capacity of 5,000 cubic meters was reportedly destroyed, and another was damaged. Whether all the damage was actually caused by the reported attacks cannot yet be independently confirmed from the available information.
Additional images show the aftermath of a fire at a logistics center belonging to Russian online retailer Ozon. More than 10,000 square meters were reportedly affected by the flames. Damage was also found on the road surface of the Southern Fairway Bridge and on a movable section of the Finland Railway Bridge. A data center belonging to the Russian social network VKontakte was reportedly struck as well. According to the image analysts, drones penetrated the roof and damaged parts of the building's walls. Signs of a fire were also visible. Ukrainian attacks are now reaching facilities located far from the actual battlefields.
In the Tambov region, the Nikolskoye oil pumping station was also attacked during the night of October 20. Russian news channels, citing local residents, reported a burning diesel tank. Regional Governor Yevgeny Pervyshov confirmed that a fire had broken out at an industrial site in the Michurinsk district following a drone attack. There were reportedly no injuries. Nikolskoye is part of the Russian Druzhba pipeline system. The facility includes 3 tank farms, 2 pumping stations, and numerous connections for transporting and loading petroleum products. Its stated throughput capacity is around 300,000 metric tons per day. The station had already been attacked on August 18, 2025.
Meanwhile, Russian air defenses reported intercepting a total of 136 Ukrainian drones over numerous regions of the country during the night of October 20. Whether these figures are entirely accurate remains unclear. What cannot be overlooked, however, is that the war has long since reached Russia's energy facilities and transportation routes as well. Just shortly before, Tambov's governor had temporarily lifted restrictions on gasoline sales at Rosneft and Lukoil gas stations. The restrictions could return if further attacks worsen the situation. The Kremlin continues fighting its war on Ukrainian territory. Ukrainian attacks on Russian supply facilities show that Moscow must now also protect its own infrastructure against substantial damage.
Trump Lies About France's Immigrants: He Turns Burning Streets Into a Campaign of Hatred Against Muslims
Donald Trump sees France burning, and he's already picked his culprits. Muslims. Immigrants. People he accuses of hating the countries they now call home. Evidence? None. French investigators have so far established no connection between immigrants and the riots. That hasn't stopped the American president from spreading his accusations before thousands of supporters. While hundreds of thousands of French people protest unbearable living costs and schools starved of funding, Trump simply declares the social causes irrelevant. The protests have nothing to do with schools, he claims. Europe must close its borders and throw out the supposed immigrant criminals, or the continent is finished. A crisis in French society is thus turned into a story about unwanted people who allegedly came to Europe because they hate it.
His fellow Republicans are supplying the ideological backing. Senator Roger Marshall claims that radical Islam is the greatest threat to American democracy and freedom. France supposedly shows what happens when people are too accommodating toward Muslims. This is the dangerous logic of a political approach that places entire groups of people under suspicion because of their origin and religion. First, an entire population is associated with violence. Then its exclusion is presented as necessary self-defense. Such ideas are part of the political thinking of fascist movements. The fact that the backgrounds of many of those responsible for the violence in France remain unknown apparently doesn't bother them. French authorities do not release ethnic classifications of those arrested. In Milan, according to police, naturalized descendants of immigrants and foreign nationals were among those involved in the riots. That alone proves nothing about their actual motives.
Trump's handling of the facts becomes particularly outrageous when he starts talking about burning church steeples and allegedly religiously motivated attacks. A synagogue in Paris was damaged during what appears to have been an attempted burglary. So far, there is no evidence of an antisemitic motive. Nor is there evidence that businesses were deliberately targeted because of their owners' religion. Around 3,000 stores were damaged or looted. The burning tower whose images spread around the world belonged to the historic city hall in Limoges. Trump talks about burning church steeples. In his version of events, a city hall becomes supposed evidence of religious violence. He then claims that American Democrats want precisely these conditions to come to the United States. His accusations move straight from the violence on French streets to the American ballot box. What actually happened becomes an inconvenient detail.
The claim that France's entire wave of violence is the work of the radical left also fails under closer examination. According to investigators, far-left activists were involved in some attacks. However, policing researcher Sebastian Roché considers these groups far too small to account for the scale of the destruction. Much of the looting, he argues, was the work of ordinary criminals. Tens of thousands demonstrated peacefully in Paris while others rioted. Jean-Luc Mélenchon supported the protests while also calling for nonviolence. Trump shows little interest in that distinction. His political messages follow a line of thinking that turns social conflicts into ethnic conflicts, casts suspicion on entire groups, and uses unsubstantiated accusations to justify demands for tougher borders. The resemblance to fascist ideas lies in this systematic division of people according to where they belong and how supposedly dangerous they are. France has a serious violence problem whose causes need to be investigated. Trump is using it to blame Muslims and immigrants in an American election campaign. The evidence to support his sweeping accusations simply isn't there.
Investigations Reveal: Putin Is Selling Russia's Gas to China at Bargain-Basement Prices While the Kremlin Pretends to Its Own People That Russia Is a Great World Power
Vladimir Putin has Ukrainian cities bombed, wrecks Russia's relations with Europe, and keeps telling his own people how economically powerful their country is. The figures from his own Economy Ministry tell a very different story. China is getting Russian gas at prices European buyers could once only dream of. On average, 20 to 30 percent less than under the old Western European contract terms. And here's the remarkable part: Putin agreed to this deal back in 2014. At the time, Russia had not yet launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, its European gas business hadn't collapsed, and it was nowhere near as internationally isolated as it is today. Beijing negotiated. Moscow signed. Today, Gazprom is increasingly dependent on the very customer it was already giving substantial discounts to back when business was better. The supposedly brilliant Russian statesman has put his country in a position where China can exploit Moscow's economic weakness to its own advantage.
Just how embarrassing this is for the Kremlin became clear in September 2026. Russia's Economy Ministry published files containing economic forecasts and overlooked hidden spreadsheet tabs. Those tabs contained previously classified information about gas shipments and sales prices from 2022 through 2024. A Russian news channel discovered the data. Shortly afterward, the spreadsheets disappeared from the government files, and the channel withdrew its report, citing new secrecy regulations. Energy expert Sergei Vakulenko of the Berlin-based Carnegie Center was nevertheless able to analyze the figures and reconstruct how Russian gas prices for China are calculated. Moscow presents its people with an economic success story while its own authorities apparently go to considerable lengths to hide the actual terms of these deals from the public.
In 2025, China paid an average of $240.30 per 1,000 cubic meters of Russian gas. Other buyers outside the former Soviet Union paid $406.50. That amounts to a Chinese discount of around 41 percent. For 2026, the ministry expects $247.90 from China and $562 from other buyers. That would put the difference at 56 percent. The 2026 figures are still projections. But even the confirmed numbers for 2025 make clear just how differently Gazprom treats its customers. Behind the contract is a pricing formula that links the gas price to gas oil and fuel oil, using average market prices over the previous 9 months. Vakulenko compared these terms with Russia's earlier European gas contracts. Even when oil prices were high, China came out ahead. Chinese negotiators secured terms in 2014 that were already considerably worse for Gazprom than its European business.
Between 2011 and 2019, the Chinese pricing formula would have brought Gazprom around 18 percent less revenue than its actual gas sales to Hungary. During Europe's energy crisis, from mid-2021 to mid-2023, the Chinese contract price would even have been 77 percent lower than the European market price. Even Turkmenistan generally receives $40 to $60 more from China per 1,000 cubic meters, although Turkmen gas has to travel longer distances through Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. In some years, the Russian pricing formula was more favorable. That does little to change the fact that Gazprom granted its major Chinese customer substantial concessions over a long period. And now Russia, the same country that spent decades using its energy resources as a political weapon against Europe, has to hope Beijing will agree to buy even larger volumes.
The planned Power of Siberia 2 pipeline makes Putin's self-inflicted predicament particularly obvious. The Yamal Peninsula holds enormous gas reserves developed with European customers in mind. A large share of those customers is now gone. The Kremlin wants to redirect the gas to China. But why should Beijing do Russia any favors? China knows the 2014 contract. It knows Russia's problems finding buyers. And it knows Putin has destroyed economic opportunities through his war that he now desperately needs. The terms of future deliveries are still being negotiated. China's leadership can hardly have failed to notice just how much more urgently Moscow now needs the deal. Putin can keep talking about a new world order. At the negotiating table, Gazprom still has to explain why China should pay more for Russian gas than it has been paying.
Much of what political leaders now sell as great statesmanship is, on closer examination, nothing but one gigantic fucking con job on their own people. Russia, the United States, and China are driving worldwide destruction of the stability people once depended on through their policies. Russia's leadership is waging a war of aggression and accepting the devastation of Ukrainian cities. Under Trump, Washington uses tariffs as a form of economic blackmail and turns international relations into a never-ending series of threats. Beijing pursues its interests with economic ruthlessness, something that can also be seen in its negotiations with a weakened Russia. These governments deliberately choose their political course. They know the destruction caused by wars and economic confrontations. Yet they stick to decisions whose costs are borne by others. With Russian gas, you can calculate those costs right down to the dollar. Putin has forced a war on his country, thrown away an enormous market, and now has to negotiate new deals with China. Meanwhile, China's leadership can simply look at the old contracts. Back in 2014, it was already paying considerably less for Russian gas than Europe. Since then, Putin has made sure Moscow now has to negotiate from an even weaker position.
