In this high-voltage episode of The Restricted Handling Podcast, we dive headfirst into Russia’s latest parade of power plays, propaganda, and panic buttons. Vladimir Putin is once again flexing like it’s the Cold War reboot — and this time, he’s brought his new favorite toy: the Poseidon nuclear-powered underwater drone. Yeah, that’s right — a nuclear torpedo designed to trigger a radioactive tsunami. If that sounds like a supervillain plot, it’s because it basically is. Putin’s calling it “a weapon with no equal.” The rest of the world’s calling it “a really bad idea.”

Meanwhile, over in Washington, President Trump isn’t letting Putin have the spotlight to himself. Just days after publicly scolding the Russian leader to “end the war and stop testing missiles,” Trump dropped a bombshell of his own — announcing the first U.S. nuclear weapons tests since 1992. He says it’s about keeping up with Russia and China; critics say it’s like poking a bear that’s already foaming at the mouth. Either way, the arms race vibes are back, baby.

On the ground in Ukraine, Pokrovsk is hell on earth. Russian forces have pushed into the city after nearly a year of fighting, and street battles are raging in the rubble. Ukrainian commanders report Russian infiltration teams disguised as civilians, turning neighborhoods into chaotic war zones. The weather’s grounding drones, but not the bloodshed. Putin’s betting everything on turning Pokrovsk into a victory he can sell back home — even as his troops are being chewed up in the process.

And while Russia’s firing off nukes and nostalgia, the U.S. is quietly pulling troops out of Romania. The Pentagon insists it’s just “force balancing,” but NATO allies aren’t exactly reassured. The timing — right as Russia is waving around its nuclear arsenal — feels… let’s just say “unhelpful.”

Inside Russia, the crackdown continues. Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin is reviving Stalin-lite rhetoric, declaring “if there is Putin, there is Russia.” The Central Bank’s independence? Gone. The army’s discipline? Replaced with fear. Reports are pouring in of cadets trapped in academies and officers executing their own soldiers for refusing suicidal orders. It’s a grim look at a military — and a regime — eating itself alive.

We’re also tracking the U.S. lifting sanctions on Moscow’s Balkan buddy Milorad Dodik, India’s quiet retreat from its Central Asian base under Russian and Chinese pressure, and Lebanon’s scramble to disarm Hezbollah before the next regional explosion.

It’s nuclear chest-thumping, trench warfare, and geopolitical juggling all in one place. Tune in for RH 10.30.25 — because in Putin’s world, the Cold War never ended… it just got a Wi-Fi upgrade.