Russian Drones Overwhelm Ukrainian Defenses

Russian drone attacks appear to be overwhelming Ukraine’s besieged air defenses with their highest hit rates since the war began, it was reported Monday.

Moscow’s military has used “swarm” tactics, with drones striking targets at three times the typical rate in recent months, Financial Times reported, citing official data.

Roughly 15% of Iranian-designed drones, manufactured in Russia, penetrated defenses on average between April and June. That was up from only 5% during the previous three months.

The war began in February 2022 when, in an unprovoked attack, Russia invaded Ukraine.

The increased effectiveness of the slow-moving Shaheds — drones that Russians have renamed Gerans — is due to modifications that have allowed them to fly faster and beyond the range of Ukrainian truck-mounted machine guns, Financial Times reported.

“The problem is not [that] the Ukraine air defense is getting worse. Instead, what we see is that new swarming tactics and drones are now flying in higher altitude, [which] makes them more effective,” according to Yasir Atalan, of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

“The increase in sheer size in launches saturates the defense systems which increases the hit rate.”

The Ukrainian air force has used electronic warfare to jam the drones’ GPS guidance systems, and anti-aircraft guns including the advanced German Oerlikon Skynex, an advanced air defense cannon.

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Analyzing The Ambiguity Over The American-NATO Arms Arrangement For Ukraine

The offensive dimension of Trump’s new three–pronged approach to Ukraine involves the sale of American weapons to NATO who’ll in turn transfer them to Ukraine.

This aligns with what Trump told NBC several days prior to the aforesaid announcement.

According to Reuters’ sources, however, “Trump presented a framework – not a fleshed-out plan”, and some of the six countries that NATO chief Rutte mentioned will participate in this scheme allegedly only found out about it during that time.

Other reports then circulated about France, Italy, and Czechia’s refusal to participate on various pretexts ranging from their principled support for the European defense industry, which would struggle to fulfill its potential if EU countries buy more expensive US arms, to simple budgetary concerns.

The resultant ambiguity over the American-NATO arms arrangement for Ukraine that Trump announced accordingly raises questions about what’s really going on.

There are three likely explanations.

  • The first is that there were innocent communication issues between the US, NATO, and the bloc’s individual members, but that’s difficult to believe since everyone just gathered for the latest NATO Summit less than a month ago. This arrangement was presumably discussed during that time. It would also contextualize their agreement to raise defense spending to 5% of GDP, especially if the Europeans expected to purchase more expensive arms for transfer to Ukraine as part of this arrangement.
  • The second explanation is that nothing concrete was agreed to, at least with all members, during that summit. This would account for why some of them were reportedly caught by surprise and others refuse to participate. In this scenario, Trump’s announcement would have been meant to pressure them into this profitable arrangement to “save face” since all but Hungary and Slovakia (which also won’t participate) have consistently claimed that they’ll support Ukraine “for as long as it takes”.
  • And finally, the last possibility is that the analyzed media reports are part of a deception campaign along the lines of what Israeli media claimed that Trump and Bibi pulled off ahead of them bombing Iran. This version of events assumes that there’s much more agreement between NATO members behind the scenes than has been reported. The purpose of claiming otherwise would be to get Russia’s guard down ahead of what could be NATO’s rapid rearmament of Ukraine with American weapons.

Whichever explanation(s) one adheres to, more clarity will be forthcoming from Russian media reports, which will reveal the existence of these new arms on the battlefield or lack thereof ahead of the expiry of Trump’s 50-day deadline. If lots of US arms flood into Ukraine, then it’ll show that there was enough agreement and capacity to back up his threat. If not, then he might blame the Europeans for fumbling it, after which he might only impose some secondary sanctions but no longer militarily escalate.

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Out of Options, West Again Floats Flushing Zelensky?

In seeming coordination this week, multiple publications began to throw Zelensky under the bus.

At the same time Seymour Hersh again mounted his oracle pulpit and declared—per his sources—that Zelensky is due to be replaced by Zaluzhny in the near future. Many have criticized Hersh for his record with previous predictions, however last month his prediction of strikes on Iran mere days before they happened did pan out quite accurately.

B at MoA covered this in full, so I don’t need to rehash every detail. But suffice it to say that it accords with Trump’s alleged recent opinion that Zelensky is the ‘main obstacle to peace’, despite new misgivings about Putin. B does point out that Hersh reportedly makes a perplexingly off-target claim about Russian losses, as follows:

I have been provided with new Russian casualty numbers, from carefully evaluated US and British intelligence estimates, that show that Russia has suffered two million casualties—nearly double the current public numbers—since Putin started the war in early 2022.

If the same sources who’ve furnished Hersh with such outlandish casualty figures are the ones who’ve relayed the latest Zelensky intel, then it certainly casts doubt on the rest of their info.

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Israel Orders Evacuations In Central Gaza, Widening Military Offensive

On Sunday, the Israeli military (IDF) issued new evacuation orders for parts of central Gaza, which even after years of war with Hamas is an area where Israeli ground forces have rarely operated, further restricting access between Deir al-Balah and the southern cities of Rafah and Khan Younis.

This strongly suggests that indirect efforts to achieve another ceasefire are far from producing anything effective, and it points to Prime Minister Netanyahu pursuing his ultra-controversial plan for mass resettlement of Gaza’s Palestinian population.

Netanyahu has continued to assert that intensifying military pressure in Gaza could compel Hamas to negotiate on terms favorable to Israel and for the return of remaining hostages.

At this moment, the Israeli military claims to control at least 65% of land in Gaza. This is after 21 months of war triggered by the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas terror attack, which many have considered to be “Israel’s 9/11”.

The Hostages Family Forum, which represents many of the families of hostages, has condemned the evacuation announcement – as it signals the going pursuit of a military solution to the crisis. Families have continued to demand that Netanyahu strike a peace deal, for the return of all remaining living and deceased hostages.

“Enough! The Israeli people overwhelmingly want an end to the fighting and a comprehensive agreement that will return all of the hostages,” the forum said Saturday on the occasion of tens of thousands of protesters marching in Tel Aviv to the US Embassy location. 

Meanwhile, 65 Palestinians were reported killed Sunday while trying to access humanitarian aid, according to local hospitals, amid growing international spotlight on a controversial program which has seen a US security firm try to spearhead aid distribution.

There are also ongoing concerns of famine and unprecedented levels of malnutrition among the Palestinian population, and reports of more children dying. 

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Pentagon shifts focus to drone warfare to bolster American military power

Drone warfare is emerging as a central strategic tool in the Trump administration’s plan to expand American military power.

The U.S. pioneered remotely piloted weapons during the war on terrorism in the post-9/11 era, when the term “drone” became a verb for effective strikes against al Qaeda figures in several corners of the world. The military term for missile attacks by large Predator and later Reaper unmanned aerial vehicles was simply “death from above.”

Since the early 2020s, drone weaponry has advanced dramatically from those initial, long-range missile carriers to an entirely new generation of warfare that has come into sharper focus during the Russia-Ukraine war.

In one recent two-day period, Russia fired 355 Iranian-made Shahed-type drones, including decoys, at Ukrainian targets. The wide-scale use of such one-way attack quadcopters and other pilotless aircraft underscores how drone warfare is rapidly becoming the face of modern warfare.

It’s not just Russia and Iran. Other U.S. adversaries are now in the drone manufacturing game, often pioneering inexpensive ways to mass-produce basic but deadly small drones.

China has notably developed a vast slate of drones for attack and support operations and is said to be producing as many as 100,000 small drones monthly. By contrast, the U.S. defense industrial base produces about 5,000 to 6,000 small drones monthly.

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Russia Will Target Any ‘Coalition Of The Willing’ Forces In Ukraine

The Russian Foreign Ministry said any troops from third countries deployed to Ukraine will become targets. European nations have discussed plans to send their soldiers to Ukraine if a ceasefire with Russia is reached. 

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova explained that any country that joins a coalition of the willing and deploys troops to Ukraine will become targets. “We have repeatedly stated that a deployment of armed forces of other countries in Ukraine under any pretense would be absolutely unacceptable,” she said.

“We regard this as preparations for foreign military intervention. We will consider these so-called ‘multinational forces’ as legitimate military targets,” she added.

Several European countries have said they would be willing to join a “coalition of the willing” to deploy soldiers to Ukraine after a ceasefire with Russia is reached. Earlier this month, UK Defense Minister John Healey said, “The prime minister has always been clear that he’s ready to put troops into Ukraine to help reinforce a ceasefire.”

“The coalition of the willing” is an infamous phrase used by the George W. Bush administration to try to sell the Iraq War. 

Moscow says it is unwilling to enter into a ceasefire with Ukraine and is seeking a permanent end to the conflict that addresses the Kremlin’s security concerns. 

Multiple leaks throughout the war have exposed that a small number of American and NATO troops are inside Ukraine. However, Europeans are now discussing a large-scale deployment meant as a deterrent to a future Russian invasion. 

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China Might Not Want Russia To Lose, But It Might Not Want Russia To Win Either

A Russian loss would be catastrophic for China’s security, while a Russian victory could end the discounted energy bonanza that’s helping it maintain its economic growth amidst the slowdown, not to mention accelerate the US’ “Pivot (back) to (East) Asia” for more muscularly containing it.

The South China Morning Post (SCMP) cited unnamed sources to report that Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his EU counterpart that China doesn’t want Russia to lose in Ukraine because the US’ whole focus might then shift to China. His alleged remarks were spun by the Mainstream Media as an admission that China isn’t as neutral as it claims, just as they and their Alt-Media rivals suspected. Both now believe that China will help Russia win, as in obtain its maximum goals, but that’s likely not the case.

Assuming for the sake of argument that Wang did indeed say what was attributed to him, it would align with the assessment around the conflict’s one-year anniversary in February 2023 that “China Doesn’t Want Anyone To Win In Ukraine”. The SCMP channeled the gist of the preceding analysis by writing that “One interpretation of Wang’s statement in Brussels is that while China did not ask for the war, its prolongation may suit Beijing’s strategic needs, so long as the US remains engaged in Ukraine.”

To explain, not only would the US be unable to “Pivot (back) to (East) Asia” for more muscularly containing China at the scale that Trump envisages if the Ukrainian Conflict drags on, but the continued pressure placed upon the Russian economy by Western sanctions would benefit the Chinese economy. China already imports a staggering amount of discounted Russian oil, which helps maintain its economic growth amidst the slowdown that it’s experiencing, but this could end if sanctions were curtailed.

Additionally, the greater that China’s role becomes in serving as a valve for Russia from Western sanctions pressure (both in terms of energy imports for helping to finance the Russian budget but also exports that replace lost Western products), the more dependent Russia will become on China. The increasingly lopsided nature of their economic relations could then be leveraged to clinch the most preferential long-term energy deals possible as regards the Power of Siberia II and other pipelines.

These outcomes could restore China’s superpower trajectory that was derailed during the first six months of the special operation as explained here at the time, thus strengthening its overall resilience to US pressure and therefore making it less likely that the US can coerce a series of lopsided deals from it. It’s for this reason that Trump’s Special Envoy to Russia Steve Witkoff is reportedly pushing for the US to lift its energy sanctions on Russia in order to deprive China of these financial and strategic benefits.

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War Expansion? Zelensky Threatens Strikes On Russia, While Germany Calls For Universal Conscription

Is a war going to expand rapidly and engulf the world like a wildfire? Two separate headlines may offer some insight into what could be happening regarding the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

Not to mention that the United States just recently said it will resume supplying military aid to Kiev, after claiming its stockpiles of weapons were low. The Ukrainian ruler, Volodymyr Zelensky, said that Ukraine is preparing for a visit by US presidential envoy Keith Kellogg and will “work with partners on arms deliveries and scaling up joint production of essential defense assets.”

Zelensky also just threatened to strike deep within Russian territory using long-range missiles. Zelensky made the threat after a meeting with Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Aleksandr Syrsky, and Chief of the General Staff Andrey Gnatov on Sunday.

“Our units will continue to destroy the occupiers and do everything possible to bring the war onto Russian territory. We are preparing our new long-range strikes,” Zelensky wrote on X, according to a report by RT. 

This news comes as the German president calls for universal conscription.

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Alarming: The Chinese Communist Party may have exploited Biden’s policies to invade the US with massive illegal immigration.

An explosive report from the House Homeland Security Committee, published in April 2024, reveals that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) may have taken advantage of the Biden administration’s lax immigration policies (2021–2025) to facilitate a 7,000% increase in illegal Chinese immigration to the United States.

According to official data, undocumented Chinese immigrant entries through the southern border rose from 342 in 2021 to 24,214 by the end of fiscal year 2023, an exponential increase that experts describe as a direct threat to national security.

Lora Ries, director of the Border Security and Immigration Center at the Heritage Foundation, warned Fox News that this phenomenon is not accidental, but rather a “tactic” by the CCP to exploit the immigration crisis generated by Biden’s open border policies.

The expert pointed out that the majority of migrants are “military-aged men,” which heightens concerns about potential destabilizing intentions.

Additionally, the Department of Justice charged seven Chinese nationals on July 8, 2025, with operating a multimillion-dollar marijuana trafficking network, using Mexico as a front and illegal immigrants as labor for illicit crops.

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Amid Collapsing Morale, Ukrainians ‘Lost Faith’ in Zelensky, With 70% Convinced That Kiev Regime Leaders Are Using the War to Enrich Themselves: REPORT

Ukrainians have had enough of Zelensky.

During the three and a half years of the war in Ukraine, the western Globalist politicians and the obedient mainstream media have painted Volodymyr Zelensky as the defender of democracy, a historical, mythological figure comparable to WW2’s Winston Churchill.

Then, of course, came Donald J. Trump, calling him ‘a moderately successful comedian’, ‘the greatest salesman on earth’, and ‘a dictator, with no elections’.

Now, even as Trump promised Kiev air defenses with new Patriot batteries and is threatening Russia’s Vladimir Putin with sanctions, a Spectator article shows Ukraine about to be ‘engulfed in a critical military, political and social crisis that threatens to destroy it from within.’

Spectator reported:

“Putin chose war over peace this spring because his spies and generals told him that Ukraine is on the brink of collapse. Alarmingly, they may be right. Ukraine is running out of fighting men, its frontline soldiers are exhausted and US military support has narrowed to focus on air defense. The Kiev government is racked by corruption scandals and purges, public faith in their future and in their leaders is tanking and pressure to make peace at almost any price is growing.”

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