The chaos continues, and today’s episode of The Restricted Handling Podcast is pure geopolitical adrenaline. In RH 12.19.25 | Russia: Nukes, Hackers, and Hovercrafts, we break down another 24 hours of high-stakes drama from Moscow to Brussels to the Baltic. Putin’s going full Cold War theater again, Europe’s barely keeping its financial unity intact, and Russian hackers are making the internet feel like the new front line. We start with Vladimir Putin’s marathon press conference, where he delivered what might as well have been titled “Same War, New Lies.” He’s sticking to his maximalist invasion goals—no peace unless Ukraine surrenders land and NATO dreams. He claimed Russian forces are advancing everywhere (spoiler: they aren’t) and bragged about seizing cities that Ukrainian troops are still standing in. It’s Putin’s greatest hits of propaganda, all wrapped in Soviet nostalgia. Then we head to Brussels, where the EU finally pulled together a massive €90 billion loan to keep Ukraine financially afloat. But the real story is how they did it—without touching the €210 billion in frozen Russian assets. Why? Because Belgium, sitting on most of that cash, is terrified of Russian lawsuits and GRU retaliation. Western intelligence confirms the Kremlin’s intimidation playbook is in overdrive—threats, cyberattacks, and even drone buzzings targeting Belgian officials and Euroclear’s CEO. Meanwhile, Belarus just went nuclear—literally. Lukashenko announced that Russian Oreshnik hypersonic missiles are now on combat alert. These Mach-10 monsters can hit nearly anywhere in Europe, a chilling new reminder that Putin’s nuclear brinkmanship is alive and well. Add to that a growing hybrid war—Russian cyber units burrowing into Western energy networks, Estonian border breaches by hovercraft (because, sure, why not), and a full-scale disinformation blitz—and you’ve got Cold War 2.0 running in 4K. On the battlefield, Ukraine’s not backing down. Kyiv’s drones and missiles are punching deep into Russia’s rear—taking out refineries, S-400 systems, and a shadow fleet tanker that’s been fueling Moscow’s war economy. Inside Russia, dissent brews quietly as one of Putin’s longtime allies, Dmitri Kozak, remains out after resigning over his opposition to the war. This episode’s got everything—nuclear threats, cyber skulduggery, battlefield grit, and geopolitical absurdity. If you want to understand how the world’s most dangerous chessboard is shifting—and laugh a little while doing it—this is the episode you don’t skip. Listen now: Putin’s nuclear saber-rattling, Europe’s financial scramble, Russia’s cyber games, and that hovercraft incursion everyone’s still trying to figure out. It’s all here, it’s all real, and it’s all in today’s Restricted Handling Podcast. 

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