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Russia deploying General Armageddon
Anna Shreves, 10-5, 26, The Sun, PUTIN’S PANIC Desperate Putin unleashes ‘General Armageddon’ who called for war to ‘go nuclear’ after years in exile over Wagner coup, The Sun, https://www.the-sun.com/news/17097574/putin-unleashes-general-armageddon-war/
DESPERATE Vladimir Putin is set to deploy notorious warlord “General Armageddon” to the Ukraine frontline after years in exile. After years banished in Africa, fears are growing that bloodthirsty Sergei Surovikin, 59, will be deployed back to the war in Ukraine in a last-ditch effort by the Kremlin. RUSSIA-UKRAINE-CONFLICT 4 Exiled warlord General Armageddon is feared to be returning to the war in UkraineCredit: AFP Sergei Armageddon Surovikin 4 He spent years banished to head up Putin’s military operations in north AfricaCredit: East2West Surovikin, seen as a daring military tactician and one of Russia’s cruellest commanders, famously endorsed using nuclear weapons early on in the conflict. He is now reportedly back in Moscow as Russian military commentator Colonel Viktor Baranets confirmed Surovikin’s move, saying: “Generals like this don’t lie around on the sofa. Sign up for The US Sun newsletter Email address Your info will be used in accordance with our Privacy Policy “Russia and its army need such generals. “In the Kremlin and the Defence Ministry they are seriously racking their brains over how to fit Surovikin – a tough, decisive and powerful military commander – into the realities currently taking shape on the battlefield,” read more on the ukraine war BRIDGE BLAST Shock moment Russia drone slams into Ukraine bridge & engulfs cars in flames MISSILE MAYHEM Ukraine ‘kills Hero of Russia general’ in strike on base NINTCHDBPICT000831492190 4 He is known as a ruthless commanderCredit: AP NINTCHDBPICT000766544716 4 Putin sent the General to exile amid fears he was plotting a coupCredit: AP The ruthless returnee once headed the entire Russian war campaign in Ukraine from October 2022 until Putin pulled the plug on him in January 2023. He lost Putin’s trust amid Kremlin fears he was plotting a coup led by Wagner warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin that summer. Prigozhin was later killed in a suspicious plane crash that many believe was an assassination order from the despot. Surovikin, notorious for his brutality in wars in Syria and Chechnya, was punished by being sent into exile to oversee Putin’s military operations in north Africa. Most read in The US Sun NOT A PENNY King refuses to foot legal bill for shamed Andrew’s High Court police battle An image collage containing 1 images, Image 1 shows Hilly landscape surrounding the city of Noto, Syracuse under a blue sky DEATH RIDDLE Brit who was found dead in Italy attended ‘cult gathering with sex games’ An image collage containing 1 images, Image 1 shows An image collage containing 1 images, Image 1 shows Lisa Rusyniak, president and CEO of Goodwill Industries of the Chesapeake, stands in front of a recycling bin retail revamp Goodwill CEO issues warning about dropping off donations in garbage bags ON EDGE Unanswered question in Christa Pike botched execution could remain mystery forever With the prodigal commander back from exile, one theory suggests General Armageddon will spearhead operations to seize the Ukrainian stronghold cities of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, where Russian forces continue to lose ground. Other speculation is that he could spearhead a new offensive on Kyiv through to occupied Chernihiv. The decision to bring in the brutish ringer comes as stark new figures show how Putin is increasingly targeting civilians in Ukraine in his new “no rules” of war strategy. The despot aims to throttle Kyiv and force terrified residents to flee. The UN Human Rights Office said an average of more than 400 civilians were killed or wounded every week in Ukraine during the first eight months of 2026. This is a 55 per cent increase from the same period in 2025. A total of 15,280 civilians were killed or injured during the first eight months of the year, said the UN report. The swirling speculation over Surovikin came as Putin lost two war planes – a Su-35S and a Su-34 worth a combined total of £112million – in a Ukrainian drone strike on Khanskaya air base in Adygea region. Russian drones hit oil storage tanks in the Ukrainian port of Chornomorsk. This followed a successful Ukrainian hit on Europe’s largest oil tank farm in Samara region, which has cost Putin at least £151million in burning fuel. Meanwhile, in a show of strength to the West, Russia conducted naval anti-submarine drills in the Barents Sea against mock Nato forces. “The formation’s ships operated as part of a naval search-and-strike group, practicing the search for and destruction of a simulated enemy submarine in coordination with Northern Fleet submarines and anti-submarine aircraft,” said a statement. RECOMMENDED STORIES PLAGUE ALERT White House on high alert as scientist, 28, ‘dies from plague in lab accident’ HORROR INJURY Chiefs star suffers horror injury with comms gasping ‘I don’t want to look’ “Air defence tasks, including a series of anti-aircraft live-fire engagements, were also practiced during the exercise.”
Drones and AI deter attacks
Andrea Palasciano, October 5, 2026, NATO Drafts Plan to Defeat a Russian Attack With Drones and AI, https://archive.ph/tWft1#selection-1257.0-1257.62
NATO’s top military commander is working on a strategy for achieving a quick victory against a Russian attack on its eastern flank, with a particular focus on integrating new defense technologies like drones and AI into traditional power. The document, called “Theory of Victory,” which Bloomberg has seen in an unclassified form, will be presented by Supreme Allied Commander Europe, General Alexus Grynkewich, in Poland on Oct. 12 amid heightened tensions between NATO and Russia. It is meant to clarify how the alliance would handle a possible incursion into NATO territory, according to senior officials and diplomats familiar with the matter. There have been numerous recent reports that Moscow is considering such action. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said recently that there were no indications that Russia was preparing for a conventional attack on the alliance but that Europe should be prepared for enduring hybrid attacks. Grynkewich spokesman Colonel Martin O’Donnell declined to discuss details of the plan, but emphasized that the alliance was “purely defensive.” “The Supreme Allied Commander Europe’s theory of victory is simple: maintain NATO’s advantage,” O’Donnell said. “Given the unsettled and complex global security environment, we need to set conditions now to deter aggression and, if necessary, win if attacked,” Although the broad strokes of NATO’s warfighting principles are known, open communication about them is rare. The initiative is meant to reassure the public about NATO’s readiness while showing a more concrete picture of what is behind the heightened defense spending. The document is also meant to illustrate to allies how NATO would integrate traditional weapons with the new capabilities that have emerged since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and to urge more defense investment and better preparations, the people said, asking for anonymity to discuss private matters. The strategy insists on the defensive nature of NATO and on avoiding involuntary provocations, while explicitly mentioning the need to collectively counter hybrid threats — aggressive actions below the threshold of a conflict — as part of deterrence. By demonstrating readiness, NATO wants the enemy to conclude that it cannot win, the strategy says. But if NATO were attacked, it would block an incursion with a mix of land forces and other assets from NATO’s Eastern Flank Deterrence Initiative, a concept relying on low-cost drones, minimally crewed systems and AI-enabled targeting. After gaining freedom of maneuver, it would seek to destroy enemy command and control with the goal of defeating Russian forces quickly and overwhelmingly. NATO allies, especially in Europe, have massively ramped up defense spending, with tensions emerging about how to prioritize between traditional weapons such as tanks, and alternative technology that has come to the forefront in the Ukraine conflict. This summer, the US sent a questionnaire to NATO allies gauging their defense spending and support for President Donald Trump’s policies to inform decisionmaking on planned cuts of US military assets committed to defending Europe. As part of this questionnaire, the US asked whether allies had any more forces to commit to NATO for Grynkewich’s defense plans.
Russia threatening nuclear use
Marc Bennetts, October 01 2026, https://www.thetimes.com/world/russia-ukraine-war/article/putin-russia-nuclear-threat-l30j6nk0c,
Putin threatens to go nuclear if Russia faces crushing defeat
President Putin warned on Thursday that Russia could use nuclear weapons if it was faced with a crushing defeat over the war in Ukraine. “We must realise that the moment when nothing can be changed any longer may come very quickly and unexpectedly for everyone. The logic of escalating, increasingly harsh retaliatory measures leads to a fatal point of no return,” he told the annual Valdai foreign policy forum near Moscow. “At the heart of this escalation lie arrogance and overconfidence. This is a path to the brink of the abyss. All the more so today, when the arsenals of the world’s leading powers contain weapons capable of destroying all life or, at the very least, reducing the Earth to a catastrophic state. “Can we be sure that [a nuclear] weapon will never be used? Of course not,” he said. “The more openly the goal of inflicting a strategic defeat on the adversary is declared, the greater the likelihood that the conflict will escalate to its most brutal phase.” President Putin spoke at the Valdai foreign policy forum on Monday Putin paraphrased Anton Chekhov, the 19th-century Russian writer, to hammer home his point, saying: “If a gun is at the beginning of the performance, if it is on the stage, somewhere on the wall, it must eventually shoot.” Advertisement The Russian leader, who will turn 74 on Wednesday, appeared to have difficulty remembering the wording of the phrase. Portrait of Russian dramatist and writer Anton Pavlovich Chekhov. Anton Chekhov Time Life Pictures/Mansell/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images He showed no indication that he was preparing for peace in Ukraine, saying that Moscow could annex Ukrainian territories besides the five regions in the south and east of the country that it already claims as Russian land. He also ruled out a ceasefire on long-range strikes, claiming falsely that Moscow was carrying out retaliatory attacks. “They started it. Take this grenade, you fascist, from a Soviet soldier,” he said. He appeared to add an expletive. The phrase is a well-known Russian expression. Russia warned Nato on Wednesday that it would use nuclear weapons to defend Kaliningrad if any members of the western military alliance tried to cut off its western exclave from the rest of the country. It was unclear what prompted the warning. However, Putin reiterated the threat on Thursday, saying that Moscow would defend the Baltic exclave with “all the weaponry at our country’s disposal”. Putin and other Russian officials have issued several nuclear threats towards Kyiv’s western allies since the start of the war. While Nato has said there is no indication that Russia is preparing to launch nuclear missiles, officials in Kyiv have previously said they are concerned that Putin could break an eight-decade taboo on their use during wartime Roman Kostenko, the secretary of the Ukrainian parliament’s security, defence and intelligence committee, said in June that Russia could fire tactical nuclear weapons at Ukraine “to intimidate the world and demonstrate that the Kremlin is in the hands of a completely uncontrollable leader, who is ready to take any steps”. In 2024, Oleksandr Lytvynenko, when he was head of Ukraine’s national security council, told The Times that Putin could resort to nuclear weapons if Russia was “on the verge of a catastrophic defeat”. Putin’s comments were made as attacks by a new generation of Russian jet-powered drones increasingly make Kyiv resemble a frontline city. A major bridge and a school were hit in the Ukrainian capital on Thursday, as was the territory of a nuclear research institute. The schoolchildren were in a bomb shelter and no injuries were reported there or on the bridge. Officials said a nuclear reactor at the research institute was undamaged. Russian drones have also been targeting electricity pylons near Kyiv as the Kremlin seeks to knock out power in the city before the winter months. The Valdai forum event was originally scheduled to take place in the Black Sea city of Sochi but was relocated owing to security concerns, according to reports.