Tag: drones

Russia Attacks Ukraine With 728 Drones Overnight, Trump Continues Weapons Flow, Medvedev Mocks

Russia launched its largest combined attack on Ukraine overnight, targeting it with nearly all missiles and drones. Ukraine’s Air Force says 728 drones and 13 missiles were used—an all-time record. 296 drones were shot down. 415 were jammed or lost via electronic warfare.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz declared, “Diplomatic options to end the war in Ukraine are exhausted.”

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said ,”The top American is riding his favorite political rollercoaster again.

“I am pleased with my conversation with Putin.” / “I’m very disappointed with the conversation with Putin.” / “We are not supplying new weapons to Ukraine.” / “We will send more weapons to Ukraine” for defense. 

“How should we treat this?

“Just like before. The way our warriors do. The way our Commander-in-Chief does.

“…Business as usual. 

“Push forward to achieve the goals of the Special Military Operation. 

“Reclaim our land.

“Keep working for our Victory.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth didn’t look happy at the announcement, but CIA Director Radcliffe sure did.

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The Spiderweb & The Lion: Subversive Infiltration And US National Security

Over a decade ago, when I was working on force protection issues for Navy air logistics missions, the threat of drone attacks was just beginning to be seriously discussed. We kicked around contingencies and “what ifs,” but those discussions were largely in the background of mission planning. Over the course of the past ten years however, that threat has exploded to the forefront of the military operational planning world and has presented something altogether new in modern warfare.

In the early hours of June 1, 2025, Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) executed Operation Spiderweb, an audacious drone assault on Russian airfields that destroyed or damaged a number of Russia’s most prized aircraft, including possibly two A-50 early-warning planes and as many as a dozen strategic bombers. Drones, smuggled into Russia over 18 months and concealed in remote-controlled containers, were launched from within Russian territory, catching Moscow’s defenses off guard.

Just days later, on June 13, 2025, Israel’s Mossad orchestrated a similarly bold strike, dubbed Rising Lion, targeting Iran’s nuclear and missile programs. Mossad agents, operating covertly within Iran, established drone bases near Tehran and smuggled precision weapons to dismantle air defenses and eliminate key figures, including Revolutionary Guards commanders and at least one senior nuclear scientist. Allow me to emphasize, the drone attacks came from within Russia and from within Iran.

These operations quite possibly signal a new era of warfare: patient, subversive infiltration by committed adversaries willing to play the long game.

The United States—due to years of lax borders and insufficient oversight of foreign land purchases—is alarmingly vulnerable to such tactics, especially from a strategic rival like China, whose land acquisitions near U.S. military bases pose a clear risk.

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Russian forces discover cache of Ukrainian chemical drone munitions – FSB

Russian troops have discovered a makeshift chemical lab and vials containing banned toxins at a former Ukrainian hideout in the Donetsk People’s Republic, the Federal Security Service (FSB) announced on Tuesday. The cache, found near the village of Ilyinka during an advance by Russian forces, marks the second such discovery this year, the agency said.

In footage released by the FSB, personnel in chemical protection gear are seen handling the vials, which reportedly contain chloropicrin – a choking agent prohibited under the Chemical Weapons Convention. According to the agency, the substances were packaged with plastic explosives and rigged into improvised munitions designed to be dropped from drones.

“This year we have discovered two caches with munitions intended for drone strikes on Russian positions. These munitions were a mix of chloropicrin and plastic explosives, to maximize the area of effect,” an FSB officer stated.

The official further claimed that the use of prohibited warfare methods by Ukrainian forces has become “commonplace,” recalling prior discoveries of a lab for producing hydrogen cyanide in May 2024 and a chloropicrin stockpile uncovered last October.

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SoCal Police to Use Drones to Catch Illegal Fireworks on July 4

Police in fire-ravaged Southern California, plan to use drones to catch people who use illegal fireworks on and around the Fourth of July celebrations.

While many, even in California, might ordinarily balk at the use of drones for surveillance and law enforcement, the fact that recent Los Angeles wildfires could have been sparked by illegal fireworks means that many communities are on edge entering Independence Day week.

The Pasadena Star-News reports:

Revelers who once could illegally ignite fireworks and scatter before police officers arrive or who suffer from collective amnesia when questioned about who lit the fuse may still find themselves lighter in the wallet. For the first time in parts of Southern California, stealthy aerial surveillance will attempt to nab them in the act.

Riverside, Hemet and Brea, and possibly other cities, will launch drones to film illegal activity as municipalities increasingly marry new technology with old-fashioned legislation to prevent injuries and the type of fast-moving fires that devastated the region in January.

Offenders or their landlords will then receive a surprise: Those cities are mailing citations to property owners, in some cases without ever first contacting them, regardless of whether they were present when the fireworks sparkled, smoked or skyrocketed.

While the Eaton Fire, which erupted in Pasadena and Altadena on January 7, was likely caused by faulty power lines, the Palisades Fire on the other side of town was likely caused by a reignited fire that originally started on New Year’s Day due to illegal fireworks, local residents believe.

Governor Gavin Newsom’s office issued a warning: “The sale, transport, or use of fireworks without the ‘Office of the State Fire Marshal Safe and Sane’ seal is illegal, as is possessing or using any fireworks in communities where they are not allowed. Violators face potential fines up to $50,000 as well as a year in jail.”

The governor’s office said that 600,000 pounds of illegal fireworks had been seized in 2025 thus far.

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Israel and Ukraine Used Smuggled Drones To Wreak Havoc on Their Enemies. Could China Do the Same?

A covert Israeli drone base secretly installed in the heart of Iran. More than 100 Ukrainian remote-controlled military aircraft smuggled deep into Russia, concealed under wooden sheds. Israel and Ukraine have activated these assets to devastating effect over the past year, decimating the Iranian military command and crippling Russia’s Air Force—all with a flip of a switch.

The stunningly successful asymmetric attacks have some experts wondering: Could China, America’s “number one geopolitical foe” in the words of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, be laying the groundwork to do the same in the United States?

“Mossad did this in secret. The Chinese Communist Party is doing it openly,” warned Michael Sobolik, a veteran China analyst with the Hudson Institute. “The mullahs in Iran had no idea. Putin had no idea. But we know, and we have no excuse. Do we have the political will and the self respect to make sure we can survive in a crisis?”

Several China experts told the Washington Free Beacon that the United States has left the door wide open for its communist adversary to establish a foothold in the country. Top of mind for many is the Chinese-owned farmland adjacent to at least 19 military bases across the United States, which Craig Singleton, a senior China fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, described as the elephant in the room following Israel’s covert strikes against Iran.

“Letting firms or individuals with CCP ties buy property next to U.S. bases hands Beijing the hardest part of that playbook—the forward staging area—no smuggling required,” Singleton told the Free Beacon. “A prudent policy starts with the assumption that a determined, tech-savvy adversary will exploit every acre it controls.”

The threats, however, go far beyond Chinese-owned farmland. Former FBI director Christopher Wray warned in a speech last April that China has been laying the groundwork to “physically wreak havoc on our critical infrastructure at a time of its choosing.”

That includes America’s shipping ports, which are almost entirely reliant on automated cranes manufactured by ZPMC, a Chinese state-owned military contractor. A joint congressional investigation in 2024 discovered unauthorized cellular modems embedded in some of those cranes, potentially giving China the ability to remotely shut down U.S. ports and wreak havoc on America’s food chains and manufacturing capabilities.

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Russia Launches Another Massive Drone Strike On Kyiv

The Russian Federation launched another massive drone and missile strike on the nation of Ukraine today in the ongoing war; over 400 drones, and 40 missiles were used, according to local news reports.

Many of the attacks appear to have targeted civilian infrastructure, as Russia pressures the Ukrainian population.

There is no moral authority on either side, as targeting civilians has become a feature of this war for both combatants.

Ukraine continues its ‘mobilization’, further traumatizing the population, as the draft age appears to have been reduced to 18 as Ukraine runs out of soldiers.

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ISIS-Inspired Drone War Plans Leaked From US National Security Council

According to leaked documents, British and American academics advised the U.S. National Security Council to encourage Ukraine to adopt ISIS-style drone tactics against Russian railways.

In a report published by investigative journalist Kit Klarenberg for The Grayzone on Monday, Project Alchemy, a secret academic-intelligence cell whose mission was “to keep Ukraine fighting” by imposing “strategic dilemmas, costs and frictions upon Russia” was revealed as the network allegedly behind these plans.

The academic recommendations were delivered to Colonel Tim Wright, who served as the Biden administration’s Director for Russia at the National Security Council from August 2021 to July 2022. The proposals came from three key drone experts within a broader Ukraine Working Group composed of “approximately 60 experts hailing from states throughout NATO” who sought to “assist Ukraine’s defense (short of deploying combat forces).”

Zachary Kallenborn from George Mason University’s Schar School advocated for “two-stage attacks like ISIS did frequently” on Russian railways, recommending Ukraine “break the track, and wait for the engineers to come to fix it, then use the drone to kill them.”

An unnamed Durham University researcher identified as “M.E.D.” cited Islamic State’s “innovative” use of drones as documented in a July 2018 West Point paper, suggesting commercial drones could be “modified via a simple drop mechanism… to serve as effective munitions delivery platforms.”

Dominika Kunertova, formerly of ETH Zurich’s Center for Security Studies and currently directing drone warfare research at the Atlantic Council, recommended targeting “anything that uses” railroads as opposed to the infrastructure itself.

These academic blueprints proved prophetic when Ukraine launched Operation Spider Web late last month conducting bold drone attacks inside Russia that killed seven people and injured more than 30, including two children.

The timing proved particularly significant as these attacks took place “on the eve of scheduled negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.”

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NSC advisors urged ‘ISIS’-style drone attacks on Russian rail, leaked files show

A coterie of British and American academics advising the US National Security Council explicitly urged Ukraine adopt the tactics of ISIS in a detailed proposal for “anti-rail drone operations,” according to leaked documents reviewed by The Grayzone.

The aggressive war plans recommended in the files eerily foreshadowed Ukraine’s Operation Spider Web, which consisted of a series of brazen drone attacks waged inside Russia between May 24 and June 1 – the eve of scheduled negotiations between Russia and Ukraine. A pair of Ukrainian bombings of Russian trains in Bryansk on May 31 and Kursk and the following day left seven dead, and injured more than 30 people, including two children.

The attacks on Russian rail infrastructure have continued since the launch of Operation Spiderweb, suggesting the British-born strategy has heavily influenced the thinking of Kiev’s increasingly desperate military.

The leaked plans reviewed by The Grayzone explore the use of “inexpensive drones” as “a low-cost means for disrupting Russian logistics,”  but also include blueprints for terror attacks composed by three “drone experts” before being passed to the Biden administration’s then-Director for Russia at the National Council, Col. Tim Wright.

Those experts belonged to a secret academic-intelligence cell called Project Alchemy, whose existence was first exposed by The Grayzone, and which was founded with a mission to “to keep Ukraine fighting” by imposing “strategic dilemmas, costs and frictions upon Russia.”

As previously reported here, Project Alchemy researchers called “to take a page from ISIS’ playbook,” presenting the jihadist group’s psychological operations as a model for Ukrainian attacks on Russian civilians. The Grayzone can now reveal that Alchemy’s team also urged US war planners to look to the Islamic State for inspiration in using commercial drones for attacks on Russian civilian targets.

One academic advising the Alchemy cell, Zachary Kallenborn of George Mason University, recommended Ukraine carry out “two-stage attacks like ISIS did frequently” on Russian-held railways, suggesting that Kiev first “break the track, and wait for the engineers to come to fix it, then use the drone to kill them.” In other words: double tap kamikaze drone strikes.

“Drones also could provide ISR [intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance] in finding and tracking trains to support larger actions,” with satellite imagery exploited for targeting purposes, Kallenborn added.

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Russia conducts heavy missile and drone strike on Ukrainian military airfield – MOD

The Russian military struck a military airfield and energy infrastructure in Ukraine in an overnight attack involving missiles and kamikaze drones, the Defense Ministry in Moscow has reported.

In a statement on Saturday, the ministry said that the attack, which was carried out with high-precision air-, land-, and sea-based weapons, as well as explosive-laden unmanned aerial vehicles, targeted the infrastructure of a military airfield and an energy facility that supplied Ukrainian forces in Donbass with fuel.

“The goal of the strike has been accomplished. All designated targets have been hit,” Russian military officials reported, without disclosing the location of the targets.

In a separate statement on Saturday, the ministry claimed that Russian warplanes, drones, missiles, and artillery had destroyed several UAV production workshops, as well as ammunition depots in Ukraine.

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Review of Bilderberg 2025: AI Drones, Technocracy and the Transatlantic Alliance

The Bilderberg conference, an elite three-day get-together of business, political and academic elites — largely ignored by the mainstream media — is over for another year. At the 2025 conference, held at a five star hotel in Stockholm, around 120 politicians, military leaders, academics and corporate CEOs discussed the pressing issues of the day such as the US economy, depopulation, the Middle East, Ukraine and AI.

Gathered at the Grand Hotel alongside the Finnish president and the King of the Netherlands were the heads of huge multinational companies such as BP, Santander, Saab, Citigroup, Microsoft and a healthy smattering of tech billionaires such as PayPal founder Peter Thiel and former Google boss Eric Schmidt. The amount of private wealth at Bilderberg is giddying, many of the biggest conglomerate bosses are representatives of vast family holdings, such as Robert Maersk Uggla, chair of Møller-Maersk, the fifth generation of the Maersk family to lead the company.

American delegates at this year’s conference included Admiral Samuel Paparo, head of the US Indo-Pacific Command, Republican congressman Jason Smith, and one of Trump’s closest economic advisors, Robert Lighthizer, who has been a vocal advocate of US trade tariffs against China. They were joined by two senior members of the Trump administration: Kevin Harrington, a senior director at the National Security Council and Michael Kratsios, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Kratsios and Harrington are both, predictably, former employees of Peter Thiel. Looking somewhat exhausted, Thiel was in and out of the Bilderberg venue all weekend, never resting, perhaps never even sleeping. Too much to do. Too many side meetings to attend.

The list of power players at the meeting would be less concerning were it not for the plethora of public officials also attending the conference, including the Greek PM, the vice president of the EU parliament, the Polish foreign minister, the UK minister for Health and Social Care, and a handful of EU commissioners. The summit was also thick with finance ministers, including those from Canada, Germany, Sweden and Turkey. The Norwegian finance minister was also present – Jens Stoltenberg, former co-chair of the group, is a conference veteran attending as the head of NATO, until he was replaced in the role by another Bilderberg regular, former prime minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte.

The Stockholm conference appears to have been conceived as a welcome to Sweden and Finland upon first entering NATO. In fact, the negotiator for the Scandinavian NATO deal, Oscar Stenstrom, was also the Bilderberg 2025 conference organiser. He now works for the Bilderberg steering committee member, Marcus Wallenberg, who hosted the meeting — funding it largely through donations from the Wallenberg family’s Investor AB group. The Wallenberg family was also represented at the conference by Marcus’s cousin Jacob, also a former Bilderberg steering committee member; it’s clear that the Swedish seat on the Bilderberg steering committee is a family one .

Although the celebratory NATO party, attended by the Swedish prime minister Ulf Kristofferson, lasted for Thursday night, it wasn’t long before the hangover set in when Sweden and Finland woke up to being part of NATO with World War 3 very much on the horizon. Several delegates such as the Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis quickly and discreetly left the conference on the Friday morning — an interesting development given that the Israeli government’s official plane, The Wing of Zion, landed in Athens, Greece at 1.06pm on Friday 13th June.

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