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Putin looks to halt neighboring Georgia's Western ambitions in vital election

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Putin looks to halt neighboring Georgia's Western ambitions in vital election

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Georgians go to the polls on Saturday in crucial parliamentary elections as the country struggles to move closer to the West, all while under the watchful eye of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The stakes could not be higher for the small nation that sits in the troubled Caucasus region. Georgia, once part of the Soviet Union, has been caught between heavy Russian influence since it declared independence in 1991 and trying to join the European Union and move closer to the West.

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“It is within Russia’s interest to ensure Georgia’s alienation from its allies and halting of the EU integration process,” Natia Seskuria, an associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, told Fox News Digital.

HISTORIC RUSSIAN ALLY SNUBS PUTIN IN GROWING SHIFT TO EUROPEAN UNION

Supporters of the ruling Georgian Dream Party attend a rally in the center of Tbilisi, Georgia, on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Shakh Aivazov)

For Russia, the upcoming elections present an opportunity for Putin to keep Georgia in its orbit. If Georgia manages to conduct free and fair elections and restore relations with the European Union (EU), Seskuria says, this will be a defeat for Russia.

A group of bipartisan senators, led by Sens. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., and Jim Risch, R-Idaho, ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, put forth legislation that would hold Georgian government officials and individuals responsible for corruption, human rights abuses and efforts to advance the foreign influence law or facilitate its passage. 

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“The United States stands with the Georgian people and their pursuit of a Euro-Atlantic future. The Georgian government’s recent efforts to align with Russia reject the desires of Georgians and pose a significant threat,” the bipartisan group of senators said in a press release.

Russian President Vladimir Putin seen during the Navy Day Parade on July 31, 2022 in Saint Petersburg, Russia. (Contributor/Getty Images)

Many observers of the region believe the parliamentary elections will be one of the closest and most significant elections since its independence. For Putin, it will be Russia’s first opportunity to exert influence in a Georgian election since his country’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. 

“What we see right now is that the Georgian government has made this election as a choice between war and peace. They have tried to say that casting a vote for the opposition would be casting a vote for the war with Russia,” Ani Chkhikvadze, a journalist with Voice of America based in Tbilisi, told Fox News Digital.

Ivana Stradner, an expert on Russian disinformation with the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital that Putin is waging an ideological war against the West.

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“He is trying to reshape the world order and in order to accomplish his goals he does not need to send tanks and jets in the West. He is using proxies, such as the Georgian Dream Party, to spoil Georgia’s EU path and challenge the West,” Stradner said.

ZELENSKYY WARNS RUSSIA WANTS TO CAUSE ‘EXPLOSION’ IN THE BALKANS

Fox News Digital also spoke with opposition politician and former secretary of the national security council, Giga Bokeria of Georgia’s pro-European Federalist Party. Bokeria said that Russia’s strategic interest is to keep the current Georgian Dream government led by the oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili in power.

Campaign billboards of the ruling Georgian Dream Party depicting opposition parties’ leaders and activists and reading in Georgian “No to war, No to Agents” sit in Tbilisi on Oct. 22, 2024, ahead of Oct. 26 parliamentary elections. (GIORGI ARJEVANIDZE/AFP via Getty Images)

“Ivanishvili’s government has embraced the Russian propaganda line that the U.S. is an ‘imperialist power’ and has instigated the war in Ukraine.”

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Bokeria also alleged that Ivanishvili facilitated the infiltration of Georgia’s political system, economy and security structures by those sympathetic to Russia. 

Russia plans to use these close contacts to influence politics and society in Georgia. Statements from the Russian security services about Georgia are closely aligned with the narratives coming from Georgian Dream politicians. These entities praise the Georgian government and accuse the West and Europe of trying to drag Georgia into war with Ukraine.

While Georgia’s elite political class in the Georgian Dream Party want close ties with Russia, everyday Georgians know where they stand, firmly with the EU.

RUSSIAN INFLUENCE PEDDLING ADDS TO FEARS AFTER ELECTION OF UNTESTED PRESIDENT IN EUROPEAN NATION

Georgians have strong aspirations to join the EU, with polls showing up to 83% of Georgians in support. The Georgian Dream Party stalled Georgia’s efforts of joining the EU since it became a candidate member in 2023. The EU subsequently put Georgia’s process on hold after a controversial “foreign agent” law that required citizens, non-governmental organizations, media outlets and other civil society organizations that receive over 20% in funding from abroad to register as a foreign agent with the Justice Ministry.

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Demonstrators gather at the Parliamentary building during an opposition protest against the foreign influence bill in Tbilisi, Georgia, on May 28, 2024. The Georgian parliament has overridden a presidential veto of the “foreign agents” legislation that has fueled Western concerns and sparked massive protests for weeks. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)

If the Georgian Dream Party cements its hold on power, it could be catastrophic for its EU prospects. A Georgian Dream victory, FDD’s Stradner says, would be a victory for Putin.

Civic IDEA, a pro-Western nonprofit in Georgia, released a report outlining the Georgia Dream party’s dependency on Russian money, including those coming from people connected to sanctioned businesses. The report notes that most of the party’s major donors are backed by Russian funds and individuals whose interests are closely aligned with the Kremlin. 

Civic IDEA also reveals that not only do individuals have socio-political ties with Russia, but some are listed as “international sponsors of war.” 

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Minnesota braces for what’s next amid immigration arrests and in the wake of Renee Good shooting

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Minnesota braces for what’s next amid immigration arrests and in the wake of Renee Good shooting

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Already shaken by the fatal shooting of a woman by an immigration officer, Minnesota’s Twin Cities on Sunday braced for what many expect will be a new normal over the next few weeks as the Department of Homeland Security carries out what it called its largest enforcement operation ever.

Protesters screamed at heavily-armed federal agents and honked car horns, banged on drums and blew whistles in attempts to disrupt their operations in one Minneapolis neighborhood filled with single-family homes.

There was some pushing and several people were hit with chemical spray just before agents banged down the door of one home on Sunday. They later took one man away in handcuffs.

“We’re seeing a lot of immigration enforcement across Minneapolis and across the state, federal agents just swarming around our neighborhoods,” said Jason Chavez, a Minneapolis city councilmember. “They’ve definitely been out here.”

Chavez, the son of Mexican immigrants who represents an area with a growing immigrant population, said he is closely monitoring information from chat groups about where residents are seeing agents operating.

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People holding whistles positioned themselves in freezing temperatures on street corners in the neighborhood where 37-year-old Renee Good was shot and killed Wednesday, watching for any signs of federal agents.

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More than 20,000 people have taken part in a variety of trainings to become “observers” of enforcement activities in Minnesota since the 2024 election, said Luis Argueta, a spokesperson for Unidos MN, a local human rights organization .

“It’s a role that people choose to take on voluntarily, because they choose to look out for their neighbors,” Argueta said.

The protests have been largely peaceful, but the Twin Cities remained anxious. Minneapolis public schools on Monday will start offering remote learning for the next month in response to concerns that children might feel unsafe venturing out while tensions remain high.

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Many schools closed last week after Good’s shooting and the upheaval that followed.

While the enforcement activity continues, two of the state’s leading Democrats said on Sunday that the investigation into Good’s shooting death shouldn’t be overseen solely by the federal government.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and U.S. Sen. Tina Smith said in separate interviews Sunday that state authorities should be included in the investigation because the federal government has already made clear what it believes happened.

“How can we trust the federal government to do an objective, unbiased investigation, without prejudice, when at the beginning of that investigation they have already announced exactly what they saw — what they think happened,” Smith said on ABC’s “This Week.”

The Trump administration has defended the officer who shot Good in her car, saying he was protecting himself and fellow agents and that Good had “weaponized” her vehicle.

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Todd Lyons, acting director of ICE, defended the officer on Fox News Channel’s “The Sunday Briefing.”

“That law enforcement officer had milliseconds, if not short time to make a decision to save his life and his other fellow agents,” he said.

Lyons also said the administration’s enforcement operations in Minnesota wouldn’t be needed “if local jurisdictions worked with us to turn over these criminally illegal aliens once they are already considered a public safety threat by the locals.”

The killing of Good by an ICE officer and the shooting of two people by federal agents in Portland, Oregon, led to dozens of protests across the country over the weekend.

Thousands of people marched Saturday in Minneapolis, where Homeland Security called its deployment of immigration officers in the Twin Cities its biggest ever immigration enforcement operation.

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Associated Press journalists Giovanna Dell’Orto in Minneapolis, Thomas Strong in Washington, Bill Barrow in Atlanta, and John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, contributed.

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Netanyahu and Rubio discuss US military intervention in Iran amid ongoing nationwide protests: report

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Netanyahu and Rubio discuss US military intervention in Iran amid ongoing nationwide protests: report

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed the possibility of U.S. intervention in Iran, according to a report.

The two leaders spoke by phone Saturday as Israel is on “high alert,” preparing for the possibility of U.S. military intervention in Iran, according to Reuters, citing multiple Israeli sources. A U.S. official confirmed the call to Fox News Digital but did not provide additional details.

The report comes as nationwide anti-regime demonstrations across Iran hit the two-week mark.

On Saturday, the Iranian regime triggered an internet “kill switch” in an apparent effort to conceal alleged abuses by security forces and as protests against it surged nationwide, according to a cybersecurity expert. The blackout reduced internet access to a fraction of normal levels.

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KEANE WARNS IRANIAN REGIME TO TAKE TRUMP ‘DEAD SERIOUS’ ON PROTEST KILLING THREAT AMID ONGOING DEMONSTRATIONS

Secretary of State Marco Rubio holds his end-of-year press conference at the State Department in Washington, D.C., Dec. 19, 2025. (Kevin Mohatt/Reuters)

On Sunday, Iran’s parliament speaker warned that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America strikes the Islamic Republic.

Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf issued the threat as lawmakers rushed the dais in the Iranian parliament, shouting, “Death to America!” according to The Associated Press.

President Donald Trump offered support for the protesters on Saturday, writing on Truth Social that “Iran is looking at FREEDOM, perhaps like never before. The USA stands ready to help!!!”

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IRANIAN MILITARY LEADER THREATENS PREEMPTIVE ATTACK AFTER TRUMP COMMENTS

In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran’s Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)

At a news conference Friday, Trump said Iran was facing mounting pressure as unrest spreads across the country.

“Iran’s in big trouble,” he said. “It looks to me that the people are taking over certain cities that nobody thought were really possible just a few weeks ago. We’re watching the situation very carefully.”

The president said the U.S. would respond forcefully if the regime resorts to mass violence. 

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“We’ll be hitting them very hard where it hurts. And that doesn’t mean boots on the ground, but it means hitting them very, very hard where it hurts,” he said.

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Protests in Iran intensify for the 12th day. (The National Council of Resistance of Iran)

Fox News Digital reached out to the State Department and White House for comment.

Fox News Digital’s Emma Bussey, Brie Stimson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Four killed, 20 injured in overnight Russian strikes across Ukraine

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Four killed, 20 injured in overnight Russian strikes across Ukraine

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Russia fired more than 150 drones overnight into Sunday targeting close to two dozen locations across Ukraine, killing at least four people and injuring 20 more.

Ukraine’s Air Forces say they intercepted 125 drones aerially but confirmed that at least 25 strike drones struck their targets.

They added that Moscow’s latest barrage mainly targeted Kharkiv, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk, all of which were targeted in Saturday’s overnight strikes as well.

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Local officials in the southern region of Zaporizhzhia say the strikes targeted residential areas and energy infrastructure. More than 385,000 homes were affected by electric, gas or water outages, at a critical time as temperatures plunged to 10 degrees below Celsius.

Regional lawmakers say service was restored to most of the affected households and areas by Sunday morning, but added that emergency work was still being carried out to restore power to the remaining homes.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of timing their attacks with the cold peaks of winter as to maximise civilian suffering.

“They struck targets that have no military purpose whatsoever – energy infrastructure, residential buildings. They deliberately waited for freezing weather to make things worse for our people. This is deliberate, cynical Russian terror specifically against civilians,” wrote Zelenskyy in a post on X.

He also noted that this week had seen heightened Russian assault on Ukrainian cities, announcing that his country’s defence forces recorded thousands of attacks using a variety of different weapons.

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“Over the course of this week, Russia launched almost 1,100 attack drones against Ukraine, more than 890 guided aerial bombs, and over 50 missiles of various types – ballistic, cruise, and even the Oreshnik medium-range ballistic missile.”

The Ukrainian leader thanked all units responsible for protecting the country and responding to attacks, and praised their tireless efforts and resilience.

He also called on allies to ensure his embattled country maintains “stable support”, in defence and diplomatic fields as coordinated dialogue efforts continue in search of peace.

Meanwhile, Russia says that one person was killed in Ukrainian strikes on the western city of Voronezh. Officials say a young woman succumbed to her wounds at an intensive care unit of a local hospital after debris from a drone fell on her house during Saturday’s attacks.

They added that at least three others were injured in the attacks which targeted more than 10 residential apartment buildings, private homes and a high school.

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The city of Voronezh lies just 250 kilometres from the Ukrainian border and is home to approximately one million people. The attacks, which Kyiv have yet to confirm, came after the Kremlin’s major offensive on Ukraine in the early hours of Saturday.

Additional sources • AP

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