The President's Daily Brief
PDB Afternoon Bulletin | December 10th, 2025: Russia Nearly Took Down U.S.-Bound Planes & Zelensky Read To Hold Elections
10 Dec 2025
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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Welcome to the PDB Afternoon Bulletin. I'm Mike Baker. Your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. First up, bombshell reporting reveals Russia's hybrid or shadow war nearly reached the U.S. European intelligence now says a Russian sabotage network was preparing to attack U.S.-bound aircraft. It's almost like Putin doesn't have any interest in peace. Huh.
Later in the show, a surprising statement from Ukrainian President Zelensky saying he's prepared to hold elections in Ukraine within three months if the US and allies are willing to secure the vote. But first, today's afternoon spotlight. We're starting things off with an intriguing report out of Europe, and it speaks to something that we've been tracking here on the PDB for quite a while.
We've been closely following Russia's hybrid or shadow war across Europe, the sabotage attempts, the arson plots, the drone incursions, the strange disruptions hitting rail lines, power cables, and military installations. It all points to Moscow running a far-reaching covert campaign designed to unsettle European governments and test NATO's defenses.
But according to new reporting from the Financial Times, that campaign came much closer to the US than anyone previously understood. In July of last year, explosive devices hidden inside DHL parcels detonated inside logistics hubs in the UK, Poland, and Germany. Now, these weren't small, insignificant explosives.
European security services later concluded that each device was powerful enough to bring down a cargo aircraft if it had detonated inside the plane. Investigators eventually tied the plot to a Russian-directed sabotage network operating across the continent. That alone, of course, is noteworthy, but it's what they found next that raises the stakes.
Authorities uncovered an additional six kilos of explosive material in the possession of the same group, and according to multiple intelligence officials who spoke with the FT, that extra material represented the next phase of the operation, and that was an attack on flights heading to the U.S.,
European officials now believe Russian operatives were preparing for an attack on US-bound aircraft, something that they say could have caused more disruption to global aviation than anything since the September 11th attacks. And according to reporting, this was not some theoretical exercise. It was the next step in a sabotage campaign that has been operational for some time.
And that campaign is evolving. Across Europe, intelligence services have disrupted plots to derail crowded passenger trains, set fire to shopping centers, poison water supplies, and damage or disable key pieces of infrastructure.
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Chapter 2: What recent threats did Russia pose to U.S.-bound aircraft?
The goal isn't always destruction. Sometimes it's reconnaissance. Sometimes it's confusion. Sometimes it's both. Which brings us back to the US. For months, we've reported that Russia's hybrid war against Europe was persistent and expanding. And this new reporting, well, makes that clear.
An attack on US-bound aircraft was not only possible, it was allegedly an act of planning before European authorities disrupted the network. Coming up next, Ukrainian President Zelensky says he's ready to hold elections if the US and Western allies are ready to help secure the vote. I'll be right back. Hey, Mike Baker here. Now, we've all seen those scary ads about owing money to the IRS.
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Chapter 3: How has European intelligence responded to Russia's actions?
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Again, text PDB to the number 989-898 today because Birch Gold's free silver with qualifying purchase promotion, well, that ends on December 22nd. Text PDB to 989-898. Welcome back to the Afternoon Bulletin. As a corruption scandal eats into his approval ratings, Ukrainian President Zelensky signals he's ready to let voters have their say.
He said Tuesday he'd be prepared to hold elections within three months if the U.S. and Europe can guarantee security of a wartime vote.
Now, for those unfamiliar, Zelensky's term expired last year, and while Ukrainian law bans elections under martial law, the Ukrainian president now faces renewed pressure from President Trump, who recently told Politico that Kyiv is using the war as an excuse to delay a vote. When word of Trump accusing Kiev of stalling reached Ukraine leadership, Zelensky was quick to answer.
He labeled that suggestion as, quote, totally inadequate and made clear that if Washington and European partners can secure the democratic process, Ukraine could be ready to head to the polls in 60 to 90 days.
As for why Trump is pursuing a vote, well, that stems from his belief that a new leader in Kyiv might finally break the stalemate in peace negotiations, which has swung between flashes of progress and long periods of drift. Well, now, whether that happens or not, a new leader would certainly please someone, and that someone would be Russian President Putin.
He's been calling for and hoping for Zelensky to leave office for almost the entire duration of his war. This has all put President Zelensky in an uncomfortable position, as you might imagine. Kyiv has been resistant to parts of a U.S.-backed peace plan that European allies say leans too far towards Moscow's preferences, despite Ukrainian and American negotiators hammering out a revision.
Add to that Zelensky's cabinet, insisting a vote cannot be held under daily Russian drone strikes, missile barrages, and mass displacement of civilians.
As we've been tracking here on the PDB, after nearly four years of war, millions of Ukrainians remain abroad or uprooted inside the country, and entire regions still living under Russian occupation, conditions that make even basic electoral logistics a massive question mark. That's what makes Zelensky's new openness to elections so striking.
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Chapter 4: What were the implications of the sabotage network uncovered in Europe?
But again, the unresolved challenges are substantial. How to protect polling stations under fire, how to register voters who've been displaced across multiple countries, and whether anyone in frontline or occupied regions could participate at all. And public sentiment reflects that tension. Ukrainians overwhelmingly oppose holding wartime elections, yet many also want political renewal.
After the corruption scandal last month, that damaged Zelensky's circle and accelerated his slide in the polls. According to a survey this month, only 20% of Zelensky's supporters would vote for him today, down from 24% before the scandal broke. But despite those low numbers, well, he's actually still in the lead.
As for challengers to the Ukrainian president, former Commander-in-Chief Valery Zeluzhny trails by just one point, with Military Intelligence Chief Kirill Budanov in third place at 5%. Now, it's important to note that neither has announced any political ambitions, though both are largely viewed as more militant than Zelensky.
Ironically, that could make peace negotiations even more difficult than they already are, and of course would backfire on Putin's long-standing effort to get Zelensky out of the way. Again, obviously, Putin's desire is to replace Zelensky with a pro-Russian option, similar to Hungary's Viktor Orban.
The reality is, any push by the White House to hold elections in Ukraine prior to a peace deal does in fact work in Putin's favor, or at least is in line with his long-standing demand that Zelensky be removed. And so, the broader political picture is one of a presidency under strain.
Trust in Zelensky has whipsawed since 2019, from 80% at his inauguration to 37% on the eve of Russia's invasion, then up to 90% in the war's first months. But just a few short months ago, polling from the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology found that while 60% still trust him, only 25% believe Zelensky should remain in office once the war ends.
And that, my friends, is the PDB Afternoon Bulletin for Wednesday, the 10th of December. If you have any questions or comments, and I hope you do, please just reach out to me at pdbatthefirsttv.com. And to listen to the show ad-free, you can do that, you know. Just become a premium member of the President's Daily Brief by visiting pdbpremium.com. I'm Mike Baker, and I'll be back tomorrow.
Until then, stay informed, stay safe, stay cool. Hey, Mike Baker here with a tip on how to feed your family right this holiday season.
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