RH 11.27.25 | Russia: Leaks, Missiles, and the "Peace" That Keeps Exploding

The latest episode of The Restricted Handling Podcast dives straight into Moscow's latest round of geopolitical chaos — and wow, it's a wild one. The Kremlin's talking peace while launching missiles, Washington's peace team is leaking like a broken samovar, and Europe's trying to clean up the diplomatic confetti flying everywhere.  In this episode, we break down how Russia officially rejected any concessions in the U.S.-backed Ukraine peace plan just as explosive new leaks hit the headlines. Remember Trump's real estate buddy–turned–envoy, Steve Witkoff? The guy who got caught coaching Putin's aide on how to butter up Trump? He's back, and somehow still running point on peace talks in Moscow. Trump's standing by him, calling it "standard negotiation." Congress? They're calling it treason.  Meanwhile, U.S. Army Secretary Dan "Drone Guy" Driscoll has gone from Pentagon reformer to global dealmaker overnight. We've got the inside scoop on his whirlwind diplomacy tour from Kyiv to Abu Dhabi, his dire warnings about Russia's missile buildup, and how he's using the threat of 3,000 new cruise and ballistic missiles a year to pressure Ukraine into settling. If it sounds like a plot from a geopolitical action movie, that's because it basically is.  Europe isn't taking this sitting down. Macron, von der Leyen, and the "Coalition of the Willing" are crafting their own version of peace guarantees — part NATO, part "we're doing this ourselves." Ukraine's Zelensky is juggling it all, publicly playing along while privately watching Russia's "unstoppable" advance slow to a crawl. On the ground, Ukrainian forces are fighting back around Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad, turning cheap drones and improvised tech into logistical lifelines.  We'll also unpack Moscow's newest wave of long-range strikes — 823 missiles and drones in one day — and why Russia keeps calling terror campaigns "air interdiction." Plus, we've got fresh reporting on the Belgorod reservist buildup, new NATO airspace violations over Moldova and Romania, and how the Kremlin's blaming everyone but itself for what's clearly a pattern.  And beyond the battlefield? Putin's pushing forced assimilation in occupied Ukraine under a new decree to make 95% of residents identify as Russian by 2036 — the Soviet playbook reissued for the digital age. Belarus tightens its embrace of Moscow, China quietly reins in Russia's nuclear saber-rattling, and an American watchdog group spots a tiny sanctions loophole that could choke Russia's tank production faster than a winter diesel freeze.  Listen now to RH 11.27.25 | Russia: Leaks, Missiles, and the "Peace" That Keeps Exploding — your daily unfiltered take on the global chessboard, with a side of swagger.  This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit restrictedhandling.substack.com/subscribe