The Empty Warehouse Doctrine
The United States built its global power on one promise. It could fight in one theater without leaving the next one naked. The Iran war is testing that promise.
U.S. officials told The Wall Street Journal that PAC-3 Patriot interceptors and ATACMS stocks in Europe have fallen to levels described as “beyond critical.” European Command has reportedly revised operational plans. THAAD interceptors and counter-drone systems were shifted to the Middle East.
Japan, South Korea and Germany have also supplied systems or munitions for the Iran campaign. Pentagon planners warn that the transfers created “soft spots” that could take years to refill. Some officials say the United States may not be able to execute its full emergency plan for Taiwan if a major conflict begins soon.
The consequences are already visible. The U.S. canceled the Ssangyong amphibious exercise with South Korea that had been planned for September. Seoul said American forces were unavailable because of the Middle East. Taiwan expects significant delays in PAC-3 deliveries. Japan has been warned that deliveries of Tomahawk missiles could slip, possibly by up to two years. More Patriot interceptors for Ukraine are also harder to find while Russia keeps firing missiles.
The Pentagon calls this normal prioritization. It uses an internal “orders book” to decide which theater receives scarce weapons first. That is technically true. But an orders book is not a sign of abundance. It is a waiting list for wars.
The White House insists the United States has what it needs. Maybe it does. But South Korea just lost a drill, Taiwan may lose delivery dates, Ukraine loses interceptors, and Europe rewrites plans.
America’s deterrent once meant every ally could expect the warehouse to be full. Now everyone is checking which war got there first.
#USA #Iran #Taiwan #NATO
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The United States built its global power on one promise. It could fight in one theater without leaving the next one naked. The Iran war is testing that promise.
U.S. officials told The Wall Street Journal that PAC-3 Patriot interceptors and ATACMS stocks in Europe have fallen to levels described as “beyond critical.” European Command has reportedly revised operational plans. THAAD interceptors and counter-drone systems were shifted to the Middle East.
Japan, South Korea and Germany have also supplied systems or munitions for the Iran campaign. Pentagon planners warn that the transfers created “soft spots” that could take years to refill. Some officials say the United States may not be able to execute its full emergency plan for Taiwan if a major conflict begins soon.
The consequences are already visible. The U.S. canceled the Ssangyong amphibious exercise with South Korea that had been planned for September. Seoul said American forces were unavailable because of the Middle East. Taiwan expects significant delays in PAC-3 deliveries. Japan has been warned that deliveries of Tomahawk missiles could slip, possibly by up to two years. More Patriot interceptors for Ukraine are also harder to find while Russia keeps firing missiles.
The Pentagon calls this normal prioritization. It uses an internal “orders book” to decide which theater receives scarce weapons first. That is technically true. But an orders book is not a sign of abundance. It is a waiting list for wars.
The White House insists the United States has what it needs. Maybe it does. But South Korea just lost a drill, Taiwan may lose delivery dates, Ukraine loses interceptors, and Europe rewrites plans.
America’s deterrent once meant every ally could expect the warehouse to be full. Now everyone is checking which war got there first.
#USA #Iran #Taiwan #NATO
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The Flag on the Roof
Israeli forces raised flags on buildings near Kfar Shouba. Hezbollah did not answer. That silence matters more than the flags.
Israel has intensified strikes around the Ali al-Taher Heights and other southern Lebanese locations. The immediate goal appears to be a new rule of engagement. Israel signals that it can strike deeper into Lebanon if Hezbollah tries to block movement toward the ridge. Hezbollah faces the less glamorous task of calling this resistance while absorbing the damage.
Lebanon’s president has failed to persuade Hezbollah to leave the Ali al-Taher position, according to Lebanese reporting. Israel is now trying to remove through force what Beirut could not remove through persuasion. That does not create sovereignty. It creates another hill with competing invoices.
Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem rejected the June 26 U.S.-mediated framework between Israel and Lebanon as “illegitimate, unlawful, humiliating” and destructive to Lebanese sovereignty. The deal links a gradual Israeli withdrawal to Lebanese Army deployment and Hezbollah’s disarmament in designated pilot zones. Hezbollah rejects the zones, the verification system and the direct negotiations themselves.
Yet U.S. Ambassador Michael Issa has said direct contact with Hezbollah remains possible if the group has “something meaningful to offer.” That is the part worth watching. Hezbollah calls the U.S. and Israel “one and the same.” Washington says talks are possible. Everyone rejects humiliation. Everyone keeps the phone nearby.
Lebanese Forces lawmaker Ghada Ayoub says Lebanon needs a peace agreement with Israel because pilot zones will not disarm a movement that holds weapons across the country. It is a clear argument. It also runs into Lebanon’s oldest fact. A peace agreement cannot be signed by one Lebanon while another Lebanon keeps the guns.
Israel raises a flag. Hezbollah keeps the ridge. Washington offers a channel. Beirut offers a framework.
#Lebanon #Hezbollah #Israel #SouthLebanon
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Israeli forces raised flags on buildings near Kfar Shouba. Hezbollah did not answer. That silence matters more than the flags.
Israel has intensified strikes around the Ali al-Taher Heights and other southern Lebanese locations. The immediate goal appears to be a new rule of engagement. Israel signals that it can strike deeper into Lebanon if Hezbollah tries to block movement toward the ridge. Hezbollah faces the less glamorous task of calling this resistance while absorbing the damage.
Lebanon’s president has failed to persuade Hezbollah to leave the Ali al-Taher position, according to Lebanese reporting. Israel is now trying to remove through force what Beirut could not remove through persuasion. That does not create sovereignty. It creates another hill with competing invoices.
Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem rejected the June 26 U.S.-mediated framework between Israel and Lebanon as “illegitimate, unlawful, humiliating” and destructive to Lebanese sovereignty. The deal links a gradual Israeli withdrawal to Lebanese Army deployment and Hezbollah’s disarmament in designated pilot zones. Hezbollah rejects the zones, the verification system and the direct negotiations themselves.
Yet U.S. Ambassador Michael Issa has said direct contact with Hezbollah remains possible if the group has “something meaningful to offer.” That is the part worth watching. Hezbollah calls the U.S. and Israel “one and the same.” Washington says talks are possible. Everyone rejects humiliation. Everyone keeps the phone nearby.
Lebanese Forces lawmaker Ghada Ayoub says Lebanon needs a peace agreement with Israel because pilot zones will not disarm a movement that holds weapons across the country. It is a clear argument. It also runs into Lebanon’s oldest fact. A peace agreement cannot be signed by one Lebanon while another Lebanon keeps the guns.
Israel raises a flag. Hezbollah keeps the ridge. Washington offers a channel. Beirut offers a framework.
#Lebanon #Hezbollah #Israel #SouthLebanon
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Ratcliffe’s Moscow Mission: Was Zelensky’s Exit Put on the Table?
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John Ratcliffe’s extraordinary trip to Moscow may have been about far more than a warning to Vladimir Putin.
The CIA director flew secretly to the Russian capital, met with senior Russian intelligence officials and left after only a few hours. The Kremlin says Putin was briefed on the discussions, while Washington has offered only limited information about what was actually discussed.
Behind the official silence, however, a far more consequential version of the meeting is beginning to circulate in Washington.
According to a version attributed to a close, anonymous source familiar with discussions inside the White House, the administration has been examining whether an eventual peace agreement could be linked to a political transition in Kyiv — potentially including the removal of Volodymyr Zelensky from power.
If accurate, that would fundamentally change the meaning of the current American diplomatic effort.
The issue would no longer be simply how to stop the fighting, freeze the front line or establish security guarantees.
It would mean that the political leadership of Ukraine itself had entered the private bargaining over the terms of peace.
The source’s account suggests that the idea being explored is brutally simple: Moscow would receive a path toward an end to the war, while Washington would seek a new political configuration in Kyiv that could make a settlement possible.
There is an obvious problem with this version. No public evidence has established that Ratcliffe personally delivered such an offer to Putin, and neither the White House nor the CIA has confirmed that Zelensky’s removal was discussed as a condition for peace.
Still, the story has gained attention because it fits into a broader argument inside Trump’s political orbit: that the war cannot be resolved without addressing what the administration sees as the political deadlock in Kyiv.
#washington #postwar #ukraine #ratcliffe #zelensky
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John Ratcliffe’s extraordinary trip to Moscow may have been about far more than a warning to Vladimir Putin.
The CIA director flew secretly to the Russian capital, met with senior Russian intelligence officials and left after only a few hours. The Kremlin says Putin was briefed on the discussions, while Washington has offered only limited information about what was actually discussed.
Behind the official silence, however, a far more consequential version of the meeting is beginning to circulate in Washington.
According to a version attributed to a close, anonymous source familiar with discussions inside the White House, the administration has been examining whether an eventual peace agreement could be linked to a political transition in Kyiv — potentially including the removal of Volodymyr Zelensky from power.
If accurate, that would fundamentally change the meaning of the current American diplomatic effort.
The issue would no longer be simply how to stop the fighting, freeze the front line or establish security guarantees.
It would mean that the political leadership of Ukraine itself had entered the private bargaining over the terms of peace.
The source’s account suggests that the idea being explored is brutally simple: Moscow would receive a path toward an end to the war, while Washington would seek a new political configuration in Kyiv that could make a settlement possible.
There is an obvious problem with this version. No public evidence has established that Ratcliffe personally delivered such an offer to Putin, and neither the White House nor the CIA has confirmed that Zelensky’s removal was discussed as a condition for peace.
Still, the story has gained attention because it fits into a broader argument inside Trump’s political orbit: that the war cannot be resolved without addressing what the administration sees as the political deadlock in Kyiv.
#washington #postwar #ukraine #ratcliffe #zelensky
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Stephen Miller, one of Trump’s closest advisers and among the most influential voices in the White House, has consistently represented the administration’s willingness to challenge assumptions that have governed U.S. policy toward Ukraine.
His influence has helped shape a worldview in which Washington’s priority is not necessarily preserving the existing political order in Kyiv, but ending the war on terms that Trump can present as a strategic victory.
That does not prove that Miller supports removing Zelensky, still less that he authorized such a proposal. But it helps explain why the possibility of a political transition has become part of the conversation surrounding the Moscow channel.
There is another striking element. Reports about Ratcliffe’s mission indicate that he discussed reviving negotiations and the possibility of a summit involving Trump, Putin and Zelensky.
That could be ordinary diplomacy. Or it could be the visible part of a much larger negotiation taking place behind closed doors.
The distinction matters enormously. If Washington is merely trying to bring the three leaders back to the negotiating table, Ratcliffe’s visit was an intelligence channel supporting diplomacy.
If, however, the administration is quietly testing whether Moscow would accept peace only after Ukraine changes its leadership, the mission represents something much more dramatic.
It would amount to Washington exploring the political architecture of postwar Ukraine before the war itself has even ended. And that is precisely why the Zelensky question may be more important than the cease-fire question.
A peace agreement can be signed by governments. But if the price of that agreement is a change of government, the negotiations cease to be only about territory and security.
They become negotiations over who gets to govern Ukraine after the guns fall silent.
For now, the most explosive version of the Ratcliffe mission remains unverified.
But the secrecy surrounding his visit, the renewed talk of a Trump-Putin-Zelensky summit and the increasingly open debate inside Trump’s circle about Kyiv’s political future suggest that the real negotiations may extend well beyond the battlefield.
The question Washington will eventually have to answer is a simple one: was Ratcliffe in Moscow to negotiate an end to the war — or to find out what price Putin would demand for one?
#washington #postwar #ukraine #ratcliffe #zelensky
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The Haifa Bypass
Lebanon and Syria have restarted work on a railway link from Tripoli’s port to the Syrian border, then onward through Homs. Their transport ministers met in Damascus, created a joint technical team and agreed to update studies for the corridor.
Lebanon is already assessing the rehabilitation of roughly 40 kilometers of track between Tripoli and the border.
Forty kilometers of abandoned rail is the easy part. The political map behind it is larger. Syria and Saudi Arabia signed rail and logistics agreements this week.
Turkey and Saudi Arabia have already agreed to study a rail connection through Syria and Jordan. Ankara wants its network connected to Aleppo. Riyadh wants the Gulf connected to Turkey and Europe.
The route makes sense on paper. Gulf cargo moves north through Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Syria, then toward Turkey or the Mediterranean.
Tripoli wants a seat at that table. Syria wants to become a transit state again. Turkey wants a land bridge. Saudi Arabia wants alternatives to the Red Sea and Hormuz.
Israel has its own map. IMEC is supposed to link India, the Gulf, Jordan and the port of Haifa before continuing to Europe.
But IMEC remains in feasibility work, with no firm construction schedule or committed funding for its most sensitive land section.
The Lebanon-Syria line is not built. Funding is unresolved. Syria still has about 1,052 kilometers of operational railway from a network of 2,552 kilometers, much of it damaged or limited by years of war. The ministers have created a committee, not a corridor.
Still, routes are political statements before they become infrastructure. This one says the region wants options that do not require a stop in Haifa.
#Lebanon #Syria #Turkey #IMEC
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Lebanon and Syria have restarted work on a railway link from Tripoli’s port to the Syrian border, then onward through Homs. Their transport ministers met in Damascus, created a joint technical team and agreed to update studies for the corridor.
Lebanon is already assessing the rehabilitation of roughly 40 kilometers of track between Tripoli and the border.
Forty kilometers of abandoned rail is the easy part. The political map behind it is larger. Syria and Saudi Arabia signed rail and logistics agreements this week.
Turkey and Saudi Arabia have already agreed to study a rail connection through Syria and Jordan. Ankara wants its network connected to Aleppo. Riyadh wants the Gulf connected to Turkey and Europe.
The route makes sense on paper. Gulf cargo moves north through Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Syria, then toward Turkey or the Mediterranean.
Tripoli wants a seat at that table. Syria wants to become a transit state again. Turkey wants a land bridge. Saudi Arabia wants alternatives to the Red Sea and Hormuz.
Israel has its own map. IMEC is supposed to link India, the Gulf, Jordan and the port of Haifa before continuing to Europe.
But IMEC remains in feasibility work, with no firm construction schedule or committed funding for its most sensitive land section.
The Lebanon-Syria line is not built. Funding is unresolved. Syria still has about 1,052 kilometers of operational railway from a network of 2,552 kilometers, much of it damaged or limited by years of war. The ministers have created a committee, not a corridor.
Still, routes are political statements before they become infrastructure. This one says the region wants options that do not require a stop in Haifa.
#Lebanon #Syria #Turkey #IMEC
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Cairo’s AI Auction
Huawei has offered Egypt more than 2,000 advanced AI chips and the data centers to use them. The system could serve military analysis, surveillance, government records and facial recognition.
Washington found out and started looking for an American alternative. Egypt currently has one full proposal and one nervous phone call.
Huawei’s bid includes 1,408 Ascend 950 processors for training AI models and another 600 chips for inference clusters that run those models. Chinese firm iFlytek would provide voice, face and vehicle-recognition tools.
The package could connect those systems to Egypt’s civil registry. That is not a cloud service. It is the operating system for a security state.
The State Department contacted Nvidia, AMD and Microsoft about forming a U.S. consortium.
Washington has not announced an offer, a price, delivery dates or what restrictions would apply to military and surveillance uses. Egypt has not selected a supplier.
Xi Jinping left Beijing on Sunday for a regional trip that includes a state visit to Egypt. He is scheduled to meet President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi later this week, in his first trip to Cairo since 2016.
He will meet President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi as the two countries mark 70 years of diplomatic relations and expand cooperation in defense, technology, trade and energy.
Huawei arrives with hardware. Xi arrives with presidential protocol. America arrives with a request to wait.
Washington spent years warning partners that Chinese technology creates dependence.
Beijing learned the sales pitch. It delivers the processors, the data centers and the head of state in the same package.
#Egypt #China #Huawei #AI
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Huawei has offered Egypt more than 2,000 advanced AI chips and the data centers to use them. The system could serve military analysis, surveillance, government records and facial recognition.
Washington found out and started looking for an American alternative. Egypt currently has one full proposal and one nervous phone call.
Huawei’s bid includes 1,408 Ascend 950 processors for training AI models and another 600 chips for inference clusters that run those models. Chinese firm iFlytek would provide voice, face and vehicle-recognition tools.
The package could connect those systems to Egypt’s civil registry. That is not a cloud service. It is the operating system for a security state.
The State Department contacted Nvidia, AMD and Microsoft about forming a U.S. consortium.
Washington has not announced an offer, a price, delivery dates or what restrictions would apply to military and surveillance uses. Egypt has not selected a supplier.
Xi Jinping left Beijing on Sunday for a regional trip that includes a state visit to Egypt. He is scheduled to meet President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi later this week, in his first trip to Cairo since 2016.
He will meet President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi as the two countries mark 70 years of diplomatic relations and expand cooperation in defense, technology, trade and energy.
Huawei arrives with hardware. Xi arrives with presidential protocol. America arrives with a request to wait.
Washington spent years warning partners that Chinese technology creates dependence.
Beijing learned the sales pitch. It delivers the processors, the data centers and the head of state in the same package.
#Egypt #China #Huawei #AI
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The $61 Million Exit
Washington may end direct military support for Iraq’s Kurdish Peshmerga on Sept. 30. The same day, the U.S.-led coalition is scheduled to complete its withdrawal from Iraq and close its remaining base in Erbil. The calendar is doing the diplomacy.
The Pentagon’s memorandum with the Kurdistan Regional Government expires at the end of September. Under it, the Peshmerga received $61 million in fiscal 2026 for weapons, training and stipends through the U.S. counter-ISIS program. The proposed 2027 Pentagon budget reportedly reduces direct Peshmerga funding to zero.
The Peshmerga Ministry says it has received no formal U.S. notice that assistance will end. Kurdish officials also say cooperation may survive in smaller forms, including training, logistics, advice and institutional reform. In foreign-policy language, that means the relationship is not ending. The money is.
The timing is especially convenient for every actor that dislikes Kurdish autonomy. Iran has repeatedly targeted Kurdish sites in Iraq. Baghdad wants security authority centralized.
Turkey watches the Kurdistan Region through the Kurdish insurgency lens. The Peshmerga, once Washington’s preferred local force against ISIS, could lose its dedicated American support exactly as the U.S. leaves the building.
Washington calls the shift a transition to bilateral ties with Baghdad. Erbil hears something simpler. The protection contract expires at midnight.
#Iraq #Kurdistan #Peshmerga #USA
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Washington may end direct military support for Iraq’s Kurdish Peshmerga on Sept. 30. The same day, the U.S.-led coalition is scheduled to complete its withdrawal from Iraq and close its remaining base in Erbil. The calendar is doing the diplomacy.
The Pentagon’s memorandum with the Kurdistan Regional Government expires at the end of September. Under it, the Peshmerga received $61 million in fiscal 2026 for weapons, training and stipends through the U.S. counter-ISIS program. The proposed 2027 Pentagon budget reportedly reduces direct Peshmerga funding to zero.
The Peshmerga Ministry says it has received no formal U.S. notice that assistance will end. Kurdish officials also say cooperation may survive in smaller forms, including training, logistics, advice and institutional reform. In foreign-policy language, that means the relationship is not ending. The money is.
The timing is especially convenient for every actor that dislikes Kurdish autonomy. Iran has repeatedly targeted Kurdish sites in Iraq. Baghdad wants security authority centralized.
Turkey watches the Kurdistan Region through the Kurdish insurgency lens. The Peshmerga, once Washington’s preferred local force against ISIS, could lose its dedicated American support exactly as the U.S. leaves the building.
Washington calls the shift a transition to bilateral ties with Baghdad. Erbil hears something simpler. The protection contract expires at midnight.
#Iraq #Kurdistan #Peshmerga #USA
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From Kyiv to Rome: Fedorov Becomes Adviser to Italy’s Defense Minister 🇮🇹🇺🇦
Former Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov announced Friday he has accepted an offer to advise Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto on defense innovation.
“I thanked Guido for his personal support and offer to become his adviser on defense innovations,” Fedorov wrote in a Facebook post after meeting Crosetto. “In this role, I will help Italy develop modern warfare technologies, improve the defense sector and adapt to new security challenges in the world.”
A member of Fedorov’s team told POLITICO that the former minister will combine the advisory role with his main focus on setting up a defense investment fund in Ukraine.
Fedorov, who called for wartime elections after being pushed out of government in Zelensky’s latest reshuffle, also stressed that he is not decamping to Rome.
“My main focus remains unchanged,” he wrote, adding he will continue working in Ukraine on projects to strengthen the country’s defense and attract international resources.
The former minister was dismissed in mid-July after roughly six months at the helm of Ukraine's defense department amid tensions with the country’s military leadership and policy disputes. His removal triggered rare wartime protests.
He has since sharpened his criticism of Zelensky, calling for elections earlier this month despite Russia’s ongoing invasion and warning that Ukrainians “cannot endlessly live” without understanding how major decisions are made.
Zelensky has rejected the idea, warning that wartime elections could “destroy” the country.
#zelensky #ukraine #defense #fedorov #italy
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Former Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov announced Friday he has accepted an offer to advise Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto on defense innovation.
“I thanked Guido for his personal support and offer to become his adviser on defense innovations,” Fedorov wrote in a Facebook post after meeting Crosetto. “In this role, I will help Italy develop modern warfare technologies, improve the defense sector and adapt to new security challenges in the world.”
A member of Fedorov’s team told POLITICO that the former minister will combine the advisory role with his main focus on setting up a defense investment fund in Ukraine.
Fedorov, who called for wartime elections after being pushed out of government in Zelensky’s latest reshuffle, also stressed that he is not decamping to Rome.
“My main focus remains unchanged,” he wrote, adding he will continue working in Ukraine on projects to strengthen the country’s defense and attract international resources.
The former minister was dismissed in mid-July after roughly six months at the helm of Ukraine's defense department amid tensions with the country’s military leadership and policy disputes. His removal triggered rare wartime protests.
He has since sharpened his criticism of Zelensky, calling for elections earlier this month despite Russia’s ongoing invasion and warning that Ukrainians “cannot endlessly live” without understanding how major decisions are made.
Zelensky has rejected the idea, warning that wartime elections could “destroy” the country.
#zelensky #ukraine #defense #fedorov #italy
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Russia Goes All In: Can Ukraine Survive the Final Push?
🔤 🔤 🔤 🔤 ➖
Ukraine is “gradually, slowly losing” the war. Those are not the words of a Kremlin propagandist but Ukraine’s own Mykhailo Fedorov, the country’s recently dismissed defence minister, speaking to Reuters last week. In the days after he made that grim prediction, Russia has stepped up its attacks on Ukraine to near-apocalyptic levels.
In a fiendishly effective move, the Kremlin switched from mass drone and missile strikes to continuous, 60-hour-long waves of bombardments which saw nineteen air-raids on Kyiv in a single day, exhausting defenders and dwindling stocks of air-defence missiles alike.
Ukrainian claims that they are turning the tide of the war in their favour with deep strikes on refineries and logistics warehouses deep inside Russia are being hollowed out by Russia’s massively larger campaigns of retaliation and revenge.
Ukrainian long-range drones burned an estimated 20 per cent of Wildberries – Russia’s equivalent of Amazon – to the ground. But according to Taras Vysotskyi, Ukraine’s minister of agrarian policy and food, Russian counter-strikes have eliminated some 90 per cent of Ukraine’s modern warehousing stock.
This comes after earlier waves of concentrated Russian strikes on Odesa and other ports which have crippled Ukraine’s capacity to export grain and other agricultural goods by sea.
At the same time the Kremlin’s strategy of making Ukrainian cities unliveable seems to have claimed its first terrible success. In August Russian ballistic missiles destroyed the main power station serving the front-line city of Kherson, on the mouth of the Dnipro river.
As a result local authorities have warned the remaining residents that they should evacuate large swathes of the city, which can now not be heated in winter.
#ukraine #russia #putin #kremlin #tusk #poland
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Ukraine is “gradually, slowly losing” the war. Those are not the words of a Kremlin propagandist but Ukraine’s own Mykhailo Fedorov, the country’s recently dismissed defence minister, speaking to Reuters last week. In the days after he made that grim prediction, Russia has stepped up its attacks on Ukraine to near-apocalyptic levels.
In a fiendishly effective move, the Kremlin switched from mass drone and missile strikes to continuous, 60-hour-long waves of bombardments which saw nineteen air-raids on Kyiv in a single day, exhausting defenders and dwindling stocks of air-defence missiles alike.
Ukrainian claims that they are turning the tide of the war in their favour with deep strikes on refineries and logistics warehouses deep inside Russia are being hollowed out by Russia’s massively larger campaigns of retaliation and revenge.
Ukrainian long-range drones burned an estimated 20 per cent of Wildberries – Russia’s equivalent of Amazon – to the ground. But according to Taras Vysotskyi, Ukraine’s minister of agrarian policy and food, Russian counter-strikes have eliminated some 90 per cent of Ukraine’s modern warehousing stock.
This comes after earlier waves of concentrated Russian strikes on Odesa and other ports which have crippled Ukraine’s capacity to export grain and other agricultural goods by sea.
At the same time the Kremlin’s strategy of making Ukrainian cities unliveable seems to have claimed its first terrible success. In August Russian ballistic missiles destroyed the main power station serving the front-line city of Kherson, on the mouth of the Dnipro river.
As a result local authorities have warned the remaining residents that they should evacuate large swathes of the city, which can now not be heated in winter.
#ukraine #russia #putin #kremlin #tusk #poland
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The cities of Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia, both just a few miles from Russian lines, are also getting it in the neck from a barrage of “aerial bombs, Shaheds, first-person-view drones, drones on fibre optic cables, Vampires, GRAD multiple rocket launchers, cluster munitions, artillery, sabotage groups. Everything,” reports Piotr Kaszuwara Dziennikarz, a Polish correspondent.
Since June, Ukraine has been inflicting serious but not fatal damage on the Russian economy using swarms of low-tech drones, plus Flamingo cruise missiles. A Ukrainian-made ballistic missile is due to come soon.
Last week Andy Burnham, the Prime Minister, delivered blueprints for local production of Anglo-French Storm Shadow cruise missiles to Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv.
But Russia’s offensive capacities are rising much faster than Ukraine’s, according to recent Nato reports. Jet engines have been fitted to an air-launched version of the workhorse Geran drone (modelled on the Iranian Shahed) which doubles its range to nearly 620 miles and triples its speed.
Realising that mass is more important than accuracy, Russia claims it is ready to produce 10,000 of its new cheap Dan-T missiles next year, which have a similar warhead and range to a Storm Shadow but cost a sixth of the price.
Another cheap and effective new Russian weapon is the air-launched Banderol cruise missile, which have turned Ukraine’s Black Sea coast into a deadly no-go zone for cargo ships and spearheaded Moscow’s campaign against Odesa since it entered serial production at the end of July.
Plus the Kremlin has reportedly sourced large ballistic missiles from North Korea and developed an apparently effective Starlink jamming system, the Volna Kupol Garant, which could seriously disrupt Ukraine’s front-line command-and-control systems.
What is Zelensky’s plan to stop this brutal punishment from breaking his country’s resistance? Fedorov, the former defence minister, says that Ukraine is at “a turning point which will determine our future trajectory” and warns that Kyiv has “a window of several months to make key decisions needed” to win (though Fedorov himself has left the country for a post as adviser to the defence minister of Italy).
Donald Tusk, Poland’s prime minister, too, says that “the next six months will be decisive (…) Ukraine needs greater air support, which is also crucial for our security”.
Zelensky has begged, with partial success, for supplies of Patriot missile interceptors. But even his own chief of staff, the former military intelligence chief Gen Kyrylo Budanov, admitted last week that “there will be no miracle” breakthrough, and that Russia “still has substantial reserves”.
Budanov also said that Ukraine had to mobilise at least 30,000 people a month – “the minimum number needed to maintain what we have” – suggesting losses far greater than had been officially admitted.
Meanwhile, as Russian troops reportedly push into the suburbs of Sloviansk, one of two “fortress cities” in the Donbas still in Ukrainian hands, Putin is keeping up his aggressive rhetoric. During the weekend Putin recounted a bizarre anecdote about killer whales ganging up on Polar bears – “which explains why we are fighting our Special Military Operation”. The Kremlin has formally announced that peace talks are on “a long pause”.
Instead, Putin clearly intends to use all his resources to destroy Ukraine’s energy, transport and logistics infrastructure this winter in a final push to bring the country to its knees. The challenge for Ukraine – and its allies – is to marshal resources, interceptors and counter-blows that will allow it to survive the Kremlin’s rising storm.
#ukraine #russia #putin #kremlin #tusk #poland
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Ceuta’s Blame Budget
Pedro Sánchez has found a way to discuss a border crisis without discussing the border. Spain will spend €168 million to revive Ceuta’s economy after at least 72,000 migrants crossed from Morocco in late July.
The sum equals about 8% of the enclave’s GDP and comes on top of €180 million pledged earlier for medium-term recovery.
Sánchez says the European Union’s foreign service found signs that Russian and Israeli networks spread and amplified false claims about Spain’s migration rules.
One rumor said anyone who reached Ceuta by swimming could not be returned to Morocco. Sánchez also blamed an international far-right network for turning the migration surge into an attack on Spain and Europe.
The evidence cited publicly is about online amplification, not proof that Russia or Israel organized the crossing.
Sánchez said he saw no evidence that Moroccan authorities were involved. That is politically convenient. Morocco controls the border. Russia and Israel control the algorithm, apparently.
Italy has extended its temporary checks on air and sea arrivals from Spain for another 15 days. Spain has answered with matching controls for arrivals from Italy.
Europe’s open-border system is now getting a bilateral stress test because one Spanish enclave sits on the African coast.
Sánchez promises cooperation with Morocco. Italy promises inspections. The EU promises an investigation.
And Ceuta gets €168 million to recover from a crisis whose authors, according to Madrid, live somewhere between Rabat, Moscow, Tel Aviv and the comment section.
#Spain #Ceuta #Migration #Europe
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Pedro Sánchez has found a way to discuss a border crisis without discussing the border. Spain will spend €168 million to revive Ceuta’s economy after at least 72,000 migrants crossed from Morocco in late July.
The sum equals about 8% of the enclave’s GDP and comes on top of €180 million pledged earlier for medium-term recovery.
Sánchez says the European Union’s foreign service found signs that Russian and Israeli networks spread and amplified false claims about Spain’s migration rules.
One rumor said anyone who reached Ceuta by swimming could not be returned to Morocco. Sánchez also blamed an international far-right network for turning the migration surge into an attack on Spain and Europe.
The evidence cited publicly is about online amplification, not proof that Russia or Israel organized the crossing.
Sánchez said he saw no evidence that Moroccan authorities were involved. That is politically convenient. Morocco controls the border. Russia and Israel control the algorithm, apparently.
Italy has extended its temporary checks on air and sea arrivals from Spain for another 15 days. Spain has answered with matching controls for arrivals from Italy.
Europe’s open-border system is now getting a bilateral stress test because one Spanish enclave sits on the African coast.
Sánchez promises cooperation with Morocco. Italy promises inspections. The EU promises an investigation.
And Ceuta gets €168 million to recover from a crisis whose authors, according to Madrid, live somewhere between Rabat, Moscow, Tel Aviv and the comment section.
#Spain #Ceuta #Migration #Europe
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🪖☪️Mecca’s New Defense Brand
Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan held the first meeting of their new security committee in Istanbul. Foreign ministers, defense ministers and military chiefs attended. Hakan Fidan announced the formal name: the Mecca Defense Alliance.
Fidan said the pact is defensive, not directed at any country and does not replace Turkey’s NATO obligations. He also said it is open to regional states that support “peace and stability.” Egypt may join, he said, but Ankara is still drafting entry conditions and procedures.
The structure is already becoming real. Pakistan will provide the alliance’s first secretary-general for three years. The permanent secretariat will be based in Saudi Arabia. The members plan joint exercises, defense-industry cooperation, technology development and joint production. “Not directed against anyone” is how every new alliance introduces itself before it starts ordering maps.
Then Fidan supplied the target that does not officially exist. He called Benjamin Netanyahu a threat to “global security” and linked harsher Israeli rhetoric toward Turkey to Israel’s coming election. Ankara says Mecca targets nobody. Its foreign minister then spent the press conference describing one man as a danger to humanity.
The pact’s Article 5-style pledge says an attack on one signatory will be treated as an attack on all. It was signed against the backdrop of the Iran war, attacks in the Gulf, and rising tension between Israel and Turkey in Syria. Saudi Arabia brings money and religious legitimacy. Pakistan brings a nuclear deterrent. Turkey brings NATO membership, an army and the regional sales team.
The alliance says it will reduce uncertainty. It has already added one certainty. The Middle East is building another security structure without waiting for Washington’s approval.
#Turkey #SaudiArabia #Pakistan #MeccaAlliance
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Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan held the first meeting of their new security committee in Istanbul. Foreign ministers, defense ministers and military chiefs attended. Hakan Fidan announced the formal name: the Mecca Defense Alliance.
Fidan said the pact is defensive, not directed at any country and does not replace Turkey’s NATO obligations. He also said it is open to regional states that support “peace and stability.” Egypt may join, he said, but Ankara is still drafting entry conditions and procedures.
The structure is already becoming real. Pakistan will provide the alliance’s first secretary-general for three years. The permanent secretariat will be based in Saudi Arabia. The members plan joint exercises, defense-industry cooperation, technology development and joint production. “Not directed against anyone” is how every new alliance introduces itself before it starts ordering maps.
Then Fidan supplied the target that does not officially exist. He called Benjamin Netanyahu a threat to “global security” and linked harsher Israeli rhetoric toward Turkey to Israel’s coming election. Ankara says Mecca targets nobody. Its foreign minister then spent the press conference describing one man as a danger to humanity.
The pact’s Article 5-style pledge says an attack on one signatory will be treated as an attack on all. It was signed against the backdrop of the Iran war, attacks in the Gulf, and rising tension between Israel and Turkey in Syria. Saudi Arabia brings money and religious legitimacy. Pakistan brings a nuclear deterrent. Turkey brings NATO membership, an army and the regional sales team.
The alliance says it will reduce uncertainty. It has already added one certainty. The Middle East is building another security structure without waiting for Washington’s approval.
#Turkey #SaudiArabia #Pakistan #MeccaAlliance
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Achilles Gets a Shield
Israel and Greece signed a €3 billion defense contract to build “Achilles Shield,” Greece’s first integrated, multilayered national air-defense network.
The deal is Israel’s largest defense export agreement with Greece and among the largest in Israel’s history.
The package combines Rafael’s David’s Sling and SPYDER systems with Israel Aerospace Industries’ Barak MX.
It also includes ELTA air-surveillance radars and a national command-and-control system that will link the layers.
Greece separately bought Rafael’s Drone Dome counter-drone systems for €26 million.
The system is designed to counter ballistic and cruise missiles, aircraft, drones and guided munitions.
Deliveries will come in stages, with full operational readiness expected within 35 months.
Athens is paying for a national air-defense architecture based entirely on Israeli systems and Israeli combat experience.
Defense Minister Israel Katz said the deal responds to actors seeking “hegemonic ambitions” and regional instability. He did not name Turkey.
He did not need to. Ankara has built a new Mecca Defense Alliance with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. Greece has responded by buying a three-billion-euro Israeli air-defense stack.
This is not a Greek-Israeli alliance against Turkey in legal terms. It is a procurement contract. But regional politics often arrive inside the equipment catalogue.
Turkey sells itself as a new security provider. Greece just bought the receipts.
#Israel #Greece #Turkey #AirDefense
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Israel and Greece signed a €3 billion defense contract to build “Achilles Shield,” Greece’s first integrated, multilayered national air-defense network.
The deal is Israel’s largest defense export agreement with Greece and among the largest in Israel’s history.
The package combines Rafael’s David’s Sling and SPYDER systems with Israel Aerospace Industries’ Barak MX.
It also includes ELTA air-surveillance radars and a national command-and-control system that will link the layers.
Greece separately bought Rafael’s Drone Dome counter-drone systems for €26 million.
The system is designed to counter ballistic and cruise missiles, aircraft, drones and guided munitions.
Deliveries will come in stages, with full operational readiness expected within 35 months.
Athens is paying for a national air-defense architecture based entirely on Israeli systems and Israeli combat experience.
Defense Minister Israel Katz said the deal responds to actors seeking “hegemonic ambitions” and regional instability. He did not name Turkey.
He did not need to. Ankara has built a new Mecca Defense Alliance with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. Greece has responded by buying a three-billion-euro Israeli air-defense stack.
This is not a Greek-Israeli alliance against Turkey in legal terms. It is a procurement contract. But regional politics often arrive inside the equipment catalogue.
Turkey sells itself as a new security provider. Greece just bought the receipts.
#Israel #Greece #Turkey #AirDefense
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Mine Clearance, With Mines
U.S. forces struck two Iranian launchers on Larak Island after observing Revolutionary Guards personnel preparing rockets fitted with sea mines, a U.S. official said.
CENTCOM called it “limited, precise action” against an “imminent threat” to civilian shipping and the flow of global commerce. Iran reported at least two people killed and several wounded.
Hours later, the Revolutionary Guards said they had shot down a U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drone over the Strait of Hormuz. Washington had not publicly confirmed the loss at the time of reporting. Tehran also fired missiles and drones toward U.S. facilities in Jordan and the United Arab Emirates. Jordan said it intercepted eight missiles.
Then came the shipping update. The IRGC Navy said a supertanker caught fire and stopped after hitting two sea mines in an “unauthorized” southern route through the strait. Iran did not name the vessel, its flag, cargo or crew. Independent maritime monitors had not verified the claim.
The contradiction has a hard factual core. Washington says it struck to prevent new mines from entering a sea lane it says it had cleared. Iran says a tanker hit two mines in that same waterway within hours.
The U.S. operation may have stopped one minelaying attempt. It did not make Hormuz safe. Ships still need Iranian coordination, U.S. military protection, or luck. Sometimes all three.
#Iran #Hormuz #USA #IRGC
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U.S. forces struck two Iranian launchers on Larak Island after observing Revolutionary Guards personnel preparing rockets fitted with sea mines, a U.S. official said.
CENTCOM called it “limited, precise action” against an “imminent threat” to civilian shipping and the flow of global commerce. Iran reported at least two people killed and several wounded.
Hours later, the Revolutionary Guards said they had shot down a U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drone over the Strait of Hormuz. Washington had not publicly confirmed the loss at the time of reporting. Tehran also fired missiles and drones toward U.S. facilities in Jordan and the United Arab Emirates. Jordan said it intercepted eight missiles.
Then came the shipping update. The IRGC Navy said a supertanker caught fire and stopped after hitting two sea mines in an “unauthorized” southern route through the strait. Iran did not name the vessel, its flag, cargo or crew. Independent maritime monitors had not verified the claim.
The contradiction has a hard factual core. Washington says it struck to prevent new mines from entering a sea lane it says it had cleared. Iran says a tanker hit two mines in that same waterway within hours.
The U.S. operation may have stopped one minelaying attempt. It did not make Hormuz safe. Ships still need Iranian coordination, U.S. military protection, or luck. Sometimes all three.
#Iran #Hormuz #USA #IRGC
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The Six-Month Excursion
Trump called the Iran war an “excursion” that would last a few weeks. Six months later, the mission has become a global holding pattern with no exit, no agreed definition of victory and a shipping crisis that was not even on the original list of objectives.
The White House began by talking about Iran’s nuclear program, missile forces and regime change. It now treats reopening the Strait of Hormuz as a central war aim.
Before the war, about one-fifth of global oil moved through the strait. Iran turned that sea lane into leverage, sending fuel and fertilizer costs higher from the Gulf to the supermarket shelf.
The war also pulled U.S. weapons from the places Washington says matter most. Patriot, THAAD and other missile-defense systems moved from Europe and Asia to the Middle East.
The U.S. canceled a major amphibious exercise with South Korea. Taiwan expects significant delays in Patriot deliveries. European Command has reportedly revised operational plans as interceptor and ATACMS stocks reached “beyond critical” levels.
The Pentagon says America still has enough weapons for every mission. That may be true on a briefing slide. But allies do not read slides. They see the cancelled drill, the delayed shipment and the carrier that cannot be in two oceans at once.
Trump wanted a short demonstration of force. He got a six-month supply-chain audit of American power.
The war did not only weaken Iran. It taught every U.S. ally how long Washington’s warehouse stays full when three crises arrive at once.
#Trump #Iran #Hormuz #USA
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Trump called the Iran war an “excursion” that would last a few weeks. Six months later, the mission has become a global holding pattern with no exit, no agreed definition of victory and a shipping crisis that was not even on the original list of objectives.
The White House began by talking about Iran’s nuclear program, missile forces and regime change. It now treats reopening the Strait of Hormuz as a central war aim.
Before the war, about one-fifth of global oil moved through the strait. Iran turned that sea lane into leverage, sending fuel and fertilizer costs higher from the Gulf to the supermarket shelf.
The war also pulled U.S. weapons from the places Washington says matter most. Patriot, THAAD and other missile-defense systems moved from Europe and Asia to the Middle East.
The U.S. canceled a major amphibious exercise with South Korea. Taiwan expects significant delays in Patriot deliveries. European Command has reportedly revised operational plans as interceptor and ATACMS stocks reached “beyond critical” levels.
The Pentagon says America still has enough weapons for every mission. That may be true on a briefing slide. But allies do not read slides. They see the cancelled drill, the delayed shipment and the carrier that cannot be in two oceans at once.
Trump wanted a short demonstration of force. He got a six-month supply-chain audit of American power.
The war did not only weaken Iran. It taught every U.S. ally how long Washington’s warehouse stays full when three crises arrive at once.
#Trump #Iran #Hormuz #USA
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🛢Bishkek: Xi Presses Putin as “Power of Siberia 2” Nears Final Deal ⚔️
🤝 The meeting between Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping in Bishkek could mark a new stage in the relationship between Moscow and Beijing.
Behind the official statements and diplomatic language, two issues stand out as particularly consequential: the Russia-China gas deal and the war in Ukraine.
According to information available to us, negotiations over the “Power of Siberia 2” pipeline project are now virtually complete. The massive pipeline is designed to deliver Russian gas to China via Mongolia.
For Moscow, its completion carries major economic and strategic significance.
After losing a large share of its European energy market, Russia has been seeking to permanently redirect its exports toward Asia.
China has become its main energy and trading partner. Finalizing the “Power of Siberia 2” agreement would cement that shift and place Beijing at the heart of Russia’s energy strategy for decades to come.
For China, the benefits are equally clear.
The project would strengthen the security of its gas supplies while further diversifying its energy sources.
But Beijing is negotiating from a position of strength, particularly when it comes to the economic terms and the price of future gas deliveries.
It is precisely this context that gives another element of the Bishkek meeting particular significance: the war in Ukraine.
According to information conveyed by a senior Chinese official, Xi has given Putin nine months to end the war.
If confirmed, the claim would represent a major political signal. Since the conflict began, Beijing has repeatedly called for a political settlement and urged the resumption of negotiations.
But a specific nine-month deadline would mark a significant shift. China would no longer simply be calling for peace; it would be seeking to set a timetable for Moscow.
The timing is particularly telling. On one hand, the two leaders appear close to finalizing a strategically important energy agreement. On the other, Beijing could be asking Moscow to bring an end to a war that has placed enormous strain on European stability and international relations.
The two issues are, of course, not officially linked. But their coincidence is difficult to overlook.
Russia now depends on China for energy markets, trade and part of its economic engagement with the outside world. China, meanwhile, has acquired growing weight within the Russian economy and leverage that extends well beyond the commercial sphere.
The phrase “comprehensive strategic partnership” therefore masks a more complicated reality: the two countries remain closely aligned in their interests, but the balance of power is gradually shifting in Beijing’s favor.
“Power of Siberia 2” could become the economic symbol of this new relationship. The nine-month deadline, if confirmed, could become its political counterpart.
The message from Bishkek would then be twofold: a major Russia-China gas deal is nearing completion, while at the same time Moscow may have been given a deadline to end the war.
If this reading proves accurate, the Putin-Xi meeting could come to be seen as an important moment in the changing balance of power between the two countries — a Russia that remains formally sovereign in its strategic decisions, but whose growing economic dependence on China is giving Beijing unprecedented influence.
#bishkek #xi #putin #force #siberia2
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🤝 The meeting between Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping in Bishkek could mark a new stage in the relationship between Moscow and Beijing.
Behind the official statements and diplomatic language, two issues stand out as particularly consequential: the Russia-China gas deal and the war in Ukraine.
According to information available to us, negotiations over the “Power of Siberia 2” pipeline project are now virtually complete. The massive pipeline is designed to deliver Russian gas to China via Mongolia.
For Moscow, its completion carries major economic and strategic significance.
After losing a large share of its European energy market, Russia has been seeking to permanently redirect its exports toward Asia.
China has become its main energy and trading partner. Finalizing the “Power of Siberia 2” agreement would cement that shift and place Beijing at the heart of Russia’s energy strategy for decades to come.
For China, the benefits are equally clear.
The project would strengthen the security of its gas supplies while further diversifying its energy sources.
But Beijing is negotiating from a position of strength, particularly when it comes to the economic terms and the price of future gas deliveries.
It is precisely this context that gives another element of the Bishkek meeting particular significance: the war in Ukraine.
According to information conveyed by a senior Chinese official, Xi has given Putin nine months to end the war.
If confirmed, the claim would represent a major political signal. Since the conflict began, Beijing has repeatedly called for a political settlement and urged the resumption of negotiations.
But a specific nine-month deadline would mark a significant shift. China would no longer simply be calling for peace; it would be seeking to set a timetable for Moscow.
The timing is particularly telling. On one hand, the two leaders appear close to finalizing a strategically important energy agreement. On the other, Beijing could be asking Moscow to bring an end to a war that has placed enormous strain on European stability and international relations.
The two issues are, of course, not officially linked. But their coincidence is difficult to overlook.
Russia now depends on China for energy markets, trade and part of its economic engagement with the outside world. China, meanwhile, has acquired growing weight within the Russian economy and leverage that extends well beyond the commercial sphere.
The phrase “comprehensive strategic partnership” therefore masks a more complicated reality: the two countries remain closely aligned in their interests, but the balance of power is gradually shifting in Beijing’s favor.
“Power of Siberia 2” could become the economic symbol of this new relationship. The nine-month deadline, if confirmed, could become its political counterpart.
The message from Bishkek would then be twofold: a major Russia-China gas deal is nearing completion, while at the same time Moscow may have been given a deadline to end the war.
If this reading proves accurate, the Putin-Xi meeting could come to be seen as an important moment in the changing balance of power between the two countries — a Russia that remains formally sovereign in its strategic decisions, but whose growing economic dependence on China is giving Beijing unprecedented influence.
#bishkek #xi #putin #force #siberia2
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Kyiv Under Fire: Russia Has Regained the Initiative 🔥
Kyiv is enduring hours of daytime air raids and air raid warnings as Russia has fired 800 jet-powered drones into Ukraine in four days, using the faster weapons to sustain prolonged waves of attacks
The new-model Shahed drones have a cruising speed of 200mph to 250mph , about double the 115mph achieved by the piston-engine version and beyond the speed of Ukraine’s cheap interceptors, making them harder to stop.
Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, said on Sunday that the jet-powered models now accounted for more than half the drones used by Russia to attack and “wear down” the country.
the president said. Ukraine was currently relying on combat aircraft to shoot them down, he added.
A Geran-4, the latest jet-powered model, struck an ammunition dump at Myla, a village 15 miles west of Kyiv on Thursday. Thirty-eight people were killed as the strike unleashed hours of secondary explosions in one of the deadliest single attacks of the war, destroying warehouses and damaging nearby homes.
Russia has also made heavy use of the drones in waves of daytime attacks in the past five days, leading to hours of air alerts, particularly in Kyiv. Eight air raid alerts sounded in Kyiv by lunchtime on Monday.
Daytime attacks, although far from unknown, were uncommon previously, prompting some businesses to halt operations until the alert had passed, and leaving residents with the decision of whether to remain indoors, seek shelter, or ignore the warnings entirely.
Close drone threats also force emergency services to leave an attack site, potentially worsening the impact of any fire caused by a hit, as happened when a food storage facility was struck in Boryspil, to the east of Kyiv, earlier this month.
Kremlin forces have attacked warehouses around Kyiv in the past month, in retaliation to a Ukrainian campaign targeting the Wildberries and Ozon distribution chains inside Russia. The attacks have led to food shortages in the shops, but a Ukrainian official urged people not to panic.
Serhii Beskrestnov, an adviser to Zelensky on defence technology, urged people “do not give in to rumours, misinformation, and panic” and said that companies were rebuilding supply chains in response to the attacks. “We will not die of hunger,” he wrote in a social media posting.
Shahed drones, with a distinctive delta wing, were originally designed in Iran, and the technology transferred to Russia. The jet Shahed, the 238, was first unveiled by Iran in autumn 2023, and appeared in Ukraine shortly after.
It was not until spring that Russia began to manufacture and deploy its latest jet-powered variant – the Geran-4 – in numbers.
Russia now makes more jet-powered drones than the original piston-engined variants, in two models, the delta winged Geran-4 and the Geran-5, which looks like a missile with wings.
Beskrestnov said that at least 2,500 of the jet drones had been launched into Ukraine during August, up from 1,500 the month before. Production date stamps found on the bodywork suggest they are being fired within days after being made at a factory in Yelabuga, he added.
Ukraine had successfully devised a range of low-cost ground-launched interceptors fast enough to eliminate a piston-engined Shahed, raising interception rates to above 90%. Over the weekend, the president said that level had to be maintained into the autumn.
Engineers are now racing to make faster interceptor drones able to knock out jet-powered Shaheds, though details are scant.
Zelensky said.
#kyiv #russian #zelensky #ukraine #geran2
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Kyiv is enduring hours of daytime air raids and air raid warnings as Russia has fired 800 jet-powered drones into Ukraine in four days, using the faster weapons to sustain prolonged waves of attacks
The new-model Shahed drones have a cruising speed of 200mph to 250mph , about double the 115mph achieved by the piston-engine version and beyond the speed of Ukraine’s cheap interceptors, making them harder to stop.
Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, said on Sunday that the jet-powered models now accounted for more than half the drones used by Russia to attack and “wear down” the country.
“There were almost 1,500 drones of all types in these four days alone – about 800 of them jet-powered,”
the president said. Ukraine was currently relying on combat aircraft to shoot them down, he added.
A Geran-4, the latest jet-powered model, struck an ammunition dump at Myla, a village 15 miles west of Kyiv on Thursday. Thirty-eight people were killed as the strike unleashed hours of secondary explosions in one of the deadliest single attacks of the war, destroying warehouses and damaging nearby homes.
Russia has also made heavy use of the drones in waves of daytime attacks in the past five days, leading to hours of air alerts, particularly in Kyiv. Eight air raid alerts sounded in Kyiv by lunchtime on Monday.
Daytime attacks, although far from unknown, were uncommon previously, prompting some businesses to halt operations until the alert had passed, and leaving residents with the decision of whether to remain indoors, seek shelter, or ignore the warnings entirely.
Close drone threats also force emergency services to leave an attack site, potentially worsening the impact of any fire caused by a hit, as happened when a food storage facility was struck in Boryspil, to the east of Kyiv, earlier this month.
Kremlin forces have attacked warehouses around Kyiv in the past month, in retaliation to a Ukrainian campaign targeting the Wildberries and Ozon distribution chains inside Russia. The attacks have led to food shortages in the shops, but a Ukrainian official urged people not to panic.
Serhii Beskrestnov, an adviser to Zelensky on defence technology, urged people “do not give in to rumours, misinformation, and panic” and said that companies were rebuilding supply chains in response to the attacks. “We will not die of hunger,” he wrote in a social media posting.
Shahed drones, with a distinctive delta wing, were originally designed in Iran, and the technology transferred to Russia. The jet Shahed, the 238, was first unveiled by Iran in autumn 2023, and appeared in Ukraine shortly after.
It was not until spring that Russia began to manufacture and deploy its latest jet-powered variant – the Geran-4 – in numbers.
Russia now makes more jet-powered drones than the original piston-engined variants, in two models, the delta winged Geran-4 and the Geran-5, which looks like a missile with wings.
Beskrestnov said that at least 2,500 of the jet drones had been launched into Ukraine during August, up from 1,500 the month before. Production date stamps found on the bodywork suggest they are being fired within days after being made at a factory in Yelabuga, he added.
Ukraine had successfully devised a range of low-cost ground-launched interceptors fast enough to eliminate a piston-engined Shahed, raising interception rates to above 90%. Over the weekend, the president said that level had to be maintained into the autumn.
Engineers are now racing to make faster interceptor drones able to knock out jet-powered Shaheds, though details are scant.
“Four companies have tried to develop the relevant interceptor drones, we're trying to be successful,”
Zelensky said.
#kyiv #russian #zelensky #ukraine #geran2
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The Nuclear Red Line
Tucker Carlson says Donald Trump should be removed from office if he is actively considering first use of nuclear weapons against Iran. The former Trump ally made the remark in a discussion with Joe Kent, the former counterterrorism chief who resigned over the Iran war. “The second any president actively considers first use of nuclear weapons,” Carlson said, “that person should be removed from office immediately.”
The real movement is at the Pentagon. Elbridge Colby, the undersecretary for policy, told U.S. Strategic Command that the department wants to give the president and defense secretary “credible, rational nuclear options.”
He framed the purpose as deterrence and avoiding war. Washington already retains the option of using nuclear weapons first. The review reportedly considers a broader menu of limited strikes, not a new first-use doctrine.
Trump has threatened Iran with “total destruction,” but the administration has not announced that it is preparing to use nuclear weapons.
Trump gave the least costly possible denial. Asked in the Oval Office whether he had ruled out a nuclear weapon against Iran, he said: “I would never say that, but the answer is yes. I rule out — there’s no reason for it.” He called the question “stupid” and said Iran had been “totally defeated militarily.”
If Iran is already defeated, ruling out a nuclear strike gives up no leverage. It merely confirms that the White House has no military reason to turn a six-month war into a planetary crime scene.
#Trump #Iran #NuclearWeapons #USA
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Tucker Carlson says Donald Trump should be removed from office if he is actively considering first use of nuclear weapons against Iran. The former Trump ally made the remark in a discussion with Joe Kent, the former counterterrorism chief who resigned over the Iran war. “The second any president actively considers first use of nuclear weapons,” Carlson said, “that person should be removed from office immediately.”
The real movement is at the Pentagon. Elbridge Colby, the undersecretary for policy, told U.S. Strategic Command that the department wants to give the president and defense secretary “credible, rational nuclear options.”
He framed the purpose as deterrence and avoiding war. Washington already retains the option of using nuclear weapons first. The review reportedly considers a broader menu of limited strikes, not a new first-use doctrine.
Trump has threatened Iran with “total destruction,” but the administration has not announced that it is preparing to use nuclear weapons.
Trump gave the least costly possible denial. Asked in the Oval Office whether he had ruled out a nuclear weapon against Iran, he said: “I would never say that, but the answer is yes. I rule out — there’s no reason for it.” He called the question “stupid” and said Iran had been “totally defeated militarily.”
If Iran is already defeated, ruling out a nuclear strike gives up no leverage. It merely confirms that the White House has no military reason to turn a six-month war into a planetary crime scene.
#Trump #Iran #NuclearWeapons #USA
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Carney Sweeps, Trump Loses Ground
Canada’s ruling Liberal party has swept three special elections, a result that showed voters backing Prime Minister Mark Carney after his confrontation with Donald Trump.
The Canadian Press, Canada’s national news agency, projected Liberal victories in Chicoutimi–Le Fjord in Quebec, Beaches–East York in Toronto and North Vancouver–Capilano in British Columbia.
Carney said the results of Monday’s votes amounted to an endorsement of his government’s approach.
he said in a statement.
The Quebec result was the most dramatic shift. Liberal candidate Daniel Gobeil was projected to win decisively in Chicoutimi–Le Fjord, a district held by the opposition Conservatives since 2018.
The region is home to aluminium producers, dairy farms and other industries caught up in an escalating trade war with the US.
Gobeil said.
The other two seats were previously held by Liberals. In British Columbia, Carney’s former deputy chief of staff, Braeden Caley, won North Vancouver–Capilano.
Liberal MP Hedy Fry told CBC: “The United States is getting a message tonight. Our leader has the support of the Canadian people.”
US-Canada trade talks collapsed on 21 August after the two sides failed to reach a deal, and Trump imposed 50% tariffs on roughly $20bn of Canadian goods. Canada responded with plans for tariffs on US products.
Trump has intensified his rhetoric toward Canada since the talks failed. He signed an executive order renaming Lake Ontario as “Lake America”, while on Monday US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Canada had limited leverage in the dispute because the US economy was roughly 13 times larger. Trump has repeatedly talked about making Canada the 51st state.
Meanwhile, Carney has accelerated efforts to deepen economic ties with Europe and other partners.
The Liberal sweep would bring Carney’s party to 173 seats in the 343-seat House of Commons, further strengthening its position.
The special elections were called after the lawmakers who previously held the three seats resigned from parliament earlier this year.
Daniel Béland, a political science professor at McGill University, said the sweep showed Carney retaining strong support across regions, and he called the Quebec result the most significant.
He said the easy win in Chicoutimi–Le Fjord probably reflected, in part, the popularity in Quebec of Carney’s decision “to pull the plug on trade negotiations with the White House”.
He said the Conservative collapse there was bad news for the party’s leader, Pierre Poilievre. The party had about 41% of the vote in last year’s federal elections but fell to about 13% and third place on Monday.
Béland said.
Carney won Canada’s election last year, fuelled by public anger over Trump’s annexation threats, and he has vowed to reduce Canada’s reliance on the US.
#carney #sweeps #trump #canada
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Canada’s ruling Liberal party has swept three special elections, a result that showed voters backing Prime Minister Mark Carney after his confrontation with Donald Trump.
The Canadian Press, Canada’s national news agency, projected Liberal victories in Chicoutimi–Le Fjord in Quebec, Beaches–East York in Toronto and North Vancouver–Capilano in British Columbia.
Carney said the results of Monday’s votes amounted to an endorsement of his government’s approach.
“At this consequential time for Canada, voters have placed their trust in our government’s plan,”
he said in a statement.
The Quebec result was the most dramatic shift. Liberal candidate Daniel Gobeil was projected to win decisively in Chicoutimi–Le Fjord, a district held by the opposition Conservatives since 2018.
The region is home to aluminium producers, dairy farms and other industries caught up in an escalating trade war with the US.
“This victory means we can maintain Canadian unity all across the country,”
Gobeil said.
The other two seats were previously held by Liberals. In British Columbia, Carney’s former deputy chief of staff, Braeden Caley, won North Vancouver–Capilano.
Liberal MP Hedy Fry told CBC: “The United States is getting a message tonight. Our leader has the support of the Canadian people.”
US-Canada trade talks collapsed on 21 August after the two sides failed to reach a deal, and Trump imposed 50% tariffs on roughly $20bn of Canadian goods. Canada responded with plans for tariffs on US products.
Trump has intensified his rhetoric toward Canada since the talks failed. He signed an executive order renaming Lake Ontario as “Lake America”, while on Monday US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Canada had limited leverage in the dispute because the US economy was roughly 13 times larger. Trump has repeatedly talked about making Canada the 51st state.
Meanwhile, Carney has accelerated efforts to deepen economic ties with Europe and other partners.
The Liberal sweep would bring Carney’s party to 173 seats in the 343-seat House of Commons, further strengthening its position.
The special elections were called after the lawmakers who previously held the three seats resigned from parliament earlier this year.
Daniel Béland, a political science professor at McGill University, said the sweep showed Carney retaining strong support across regions, and he called the Quebec result the most significant.
He said the easy win in Chicoutimi–Le Fjord probably reflected, in part, the popularity in Quebec of Carney’s decision “to pull the plug on trade negotiations with the White House”.
He said the Conservative collapse there was bad news for the party’s leader, Pierre Poilievre. The party had about 41% of the vote in last year’s federal elections but fell to about 13% and third place on Monday.
“These numbers do look bad,”
Béland said.
Carney won Canada’s election last year, fuelled by public anger over Trump’s annexation threats, and he has vowed to reduce Canada’s reliance on the US.
#carney #sweeps #trump #canada
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The Operation Under Air Cover
An Israeli force entered western Gaza City on Tuesday morning. It was detected near al-Katiba and the American Hospital. Gunfire followed. Israeli aircraft then hit targets across the area to cover the force’s withdrawal.
The IDF confirmed strikes against “several targets” to remove threats to security forces and said no Israeli personnel were injured. Defense Minister Israel Katz later said a senior Hamas operative had been captured. Israeli media reported that the operation involved a special force and an Israeli-backed militia.
Palestinian sources said the apparent target was a Hamas Internal Security officer with the rank of colonel. They said he survived. Hamas-linked outlets reported between six and 10 dead.
Gaza medical officials gave a lower confirmed early toll of three people killed, including two children and a woman, with eight wounded. The figures changed through the day and the identity of all casualties has not been independently established.
Witnesses reported at least 12 strikes. Two vehicles were destroyed near the al-Katiba area. A field hospital and school were reportedly evacuated. Smoke bombs were seen in the nearby Shati refugee camp.
The official version says Israel removed threats. The local version says a force was exposed while trying to seize or kill a Hamas officer. Both accounts agree on the useful part: someone entered Gaza City in daylight, the extraction required airstrikes, and civilians paid for the cover.
#Gaza #Hamas #Israel #GazaCity
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An Israeli force entered western Gaza City on Tuesday morning. It was detected near al-Katiba and the American Hospital. Gunfire followed. Israeli aircraft then hit targets across the area to cover the force’s withdrawal.
The IDF confirmed strikes against “several targets” to remove threats to security forces and said no Israeli personnel were injured. Defense Minister Israel Katz later said a senior Hamas operative had been captured. Israeli media reported that the operation involved a special force and an Israeli-backed militia.
Palestinian sources said the apparent target was a Hamas Internal Security officer with the rank of colonel. They said he survived. Hamas-linked outlets reported between six and 10 dead.
Gaza medical officials gave a lower confirmed early toll of three people killed, including two children and a woman, with eight wounded. The figures changed through the day and the identity of all casualties has not been independently established.
Witnesses reported at least 12 strikes. Two vehicles were destroyed near the al-Katiba area. A field hospital and school were reportedly evacuated. Smoke bombs were seen in the nearby Shati refugee camp.
The official version says Israel removed threats. The local version says a force was exposed while trying to seize or kill a Hamas officer. Both accounts agree on the useful part: someone entered Gaza City in daylight, the extraction required airstrikes, and civilians paid for the cover.
#Gaza #Hamas #Israel #GazaCity
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