Tag: russia

Russia Launches Massive Drone And Missile Assault On Ukrainian Western Border Crossings Amid Escalation Signs. Pentagon Halts 4,000 Troop Deployment To Poland.

In one of the largest aerial assaults of the ongoing conflict, Russia on Wednesday unleashed hundreds of kamikaze drones and missiles targeting Ukrainian infrastructure, with a notable focus on border crossings to Western neighbors. Ukrainian officials and regional reports described the strikes as unprecedented in scale, raising concerns about efforts to isolate Ukraine economically and logistically from Europe.

According to Ukrainian Air Force data, Russian forces launched 753 strike drones—primarily Geran-2 (Shahed-type) models, along with decoys—between 08:00 and 18:30 local time. Air defenses reportedly neutralized or suppressed around 710 of them, though strikes caused damage in multiple regions, including western areas near NATO borders, reported Military.com.

At least 150 Geran-2 drones specifically targeted Ukraine-side border crossings with Poland, according to preliminary assessments. Slovakia temporarily closed all its border crossings with Ukraine for security reasons after Russian drones approached the Zakarpattia region and the city of Uzhhorod. Operations resumed after a brief suspension.

Drones were also spotted in Moldovan airspace during the assault. Moldovan authorities reported the incursion but took no interceptive action, observing the drones flying near the Romanian border, wrote Spectator.

The attacks included a significant missile component, with reports of hypersonic Kinzhal missiles among the strikes on targets across Ukraine.

Analysts and observers note that the emphasis on western border infrastructure suggests an intent to disrupt not only weapons flows but also cross-border trade and economic links. This comes as some describe the conflict shifting from Russia’s initial “special military operation” framing to a more conventional full-scale war.

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‘Zelensky thrives on war, why would he end it?’: Former press secretary exposes Ukraine’s posturing

Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky is prolonging his country’s conflict with Russia in order to enrich himself and his associates in his cabinet, former spokeswoman Yulia Mendel has claimed in an interview with Tucker Carlson.

Mendel, Zelensky’s press secretary from 2019 to 2021, launched a series of stinging allegations of corruption and drug use as Andrey Yermak, Zelensky’s former influential chief of staff, was named a suspect in a money laundering case. Zelensky’s longtime former business partner, Timur Mindich, fled the country last year to avoid arrest in connection with another major corruption scandal involving energy-sector kickbacks that has seen several other close associates of the Ukrainian leader placed under suspicion.

In an episode of the Tucker Carlson Show released on Monday, Mendel described her former boss as a “dictator” who has grown “detached from reality” and employed “thousands of talking heads” to craft a favorable image both at home and abroad.

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Trump Also Says That the Russia-Ukraine War Will End Very Soon

Is the war about to end?

The war between Russia and Ukraine entered its fifth year, and while the advances by Moscow troops is nowhere as fast as last year, the war is still ongoing, as brutal as ever.

People around the world were surprised, when on Sunday, after their ‘Victory Day’ parade, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that he believed that the war in Ukraine was near the end.

Yesterday, this statement was reinforced by Kremlin’s spokesman Dmitri Peskov.

So, today, US President Donald J. Trump came to public to say the very same thing: the war is almost over.

Reuters reported:

“President Donald Trump said ​on Tuesday that ‌the war in Ukraine is very ​close to ​ending and he believes ⁠there will be ​a settlement between ​Russia and Ukraine.

‘The end of the war ​in Ukraine I ​really think it’s getting ‌very ⁠close’, Trump told reporters as he left the White ​House ​for ⁠a trip to China. ​Trump’s comments echoed those ​made ⁠by Russian President Vladimir Putin ⁠on ​Saturday.”

Putin has admitted that Trump is the only foreign head of state that truly wants to bring an end to the war between Russia and Ukraine.

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Oz: Chinese Government Involved in Fraud, Suspect Russia, Cuba as Well

On Monday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Jesse Watters Primetime,” CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz discussed fraud and said that “We’ve got the Chinese government involved in a big fraud ring in New York” in addition to suspected fraud that the Russian and Cuban governments are involved in.

Guest host Kayleigh McEnany asked, [relevant exchange begins around 2:25] “[L]ast time, when I spoke with you, you talked about the Cuban government possibly being involved in some Florida fraud, but it’s bigger than that. There are many foreign [governments] that are getting taxpayer dollars and taking advantage of taxpayers, tell me about what you found.”

Oz responded, “Well, we’ve got Russian government involvement, we believe, in Los Angeles. We’ve got the Chinese government involved in a big fraud ring in New York. And, of course, the Cuban connection that you mentioned was pointed out to me by the former mayor of Miami, Francis Suarez, who pointed out that we’ve got twice as many durable medical equipment suppliers — they sell wheelchairs and canes — twice as many as there are McDonald’s in South Florida and the owners all seem to be Cuban and they flee back to Cuba with the money when we come after them.”

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When one man, a civilian, controls the kill switch for military ops

In September 2022, Ukrainian forces prepared to launch a drone strike on the Russian naval fleet anchored off Crimea. The drones never arrived.

Elon Musk had decided, unilaterally, not to activate Starlink coverage over the region. But he wasn’t simply declining to help. SpaceX had already been managing battlefield access for both sides: restricting Russian use, imposing speed limits to prevent drone integration, and maintaining a verified whitelist with Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense. One private citizen, with no security clearance and no accountability to any electorate, was governing the battlefield connectivity of an active war.

The public debate treats this as a story about Elon Musk — his politics, his proximity to the White House, his X posts. That framing lets the actual problem off the hook. Replace Musk with the most patriotic, internationalist, apolitical CEO imaginable and the structural problem remains identical. The Pentagon has spent a decade building critical military functions on infrastructure it can’t legally compel, and the consequences are now arriving in real time.

A common reflex is to argue that private defense contractors have always been central to American military power. Lockheed Martin builds the F-35; Raytheon builds the Patriot. What’s different now is the control plane: who has real-time administrative control during use. When the government buys a tank, it owns it. The keys don’t expire. The manufacturer can’t disable it mid-mission or impose terms in combat. Software and AI are different. Vendors keep ongoing control — updates, access, and usage limits. They don’t sell a capability; they license access to one, and the license has conditions.

Those conditions have already collided with active operations. After months of failed negotiations, the Pentagon formally designated the AI firm Anthropic a supply-chain risk because of restrictions on how its model could be used. The Pentagon was explicit in its decision: “The military will not allow a vendor to insert itself into the chain of command.” Emil Michael, the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, described the moment he fully grasped the vulnerability: Anthropic’s models were already embedded across combatant commands and intelligence agencies, wired into classified workflows. Anthropic retained the control plane inside the Pentagon’s cloud — able to update, restrict, or shut off access. When Michael raised hypothetical crisis scenarios, Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, offered exceptions case by case. “Just call me if you need another exception,” Michael recalls him saying. In a genuine crisis, a commander can’t call a vendor to authorize military action, nor should he have to.

This isn’t about whether Anthropic’s rules are reasonable. They weren’t set by anyone accountable to the joint force, there’s no override mechanism, and the Pentagon had made itself dependent on systems it doesn’t control.

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Ukraine has violated Victory Day ceasefire – Moscow

The Ukrainian military has violated the Victory Day ceasefire on 8,970 occasions since it took effect at midnight on Friday, including drone and artillery strikes, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.

Moscow said on Friday that it had ordered all of its troops along the Ukraine front line to halt combat operations and stay at their positions.

In a statement on Saturday, the Russian Defense Ministry stressed that its forces were continuing to abide by the ceasefire. By contrast, the Ukrainian military had conducted “strikes on our forces’ positions involving unmanned aerial vehicles and artillery,” military officials in Moscow reported. On top of that, a number of Russian regions, including Crimea, Bryansk Region, Belgorod Region, Kursk Region, and Moscow Region, have come under Ukrainian attacks.

According to the ministry, of the 8,970 ceasefire violations on Kiev’s part, 1,173 attacks were conducted by Ukrainian artillery, multiple launch rocket systems, mortars and tanks. The Russian military has additionally recorded a total of 7,151 enemy drone strikes.

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US greenlights bomb deal for Ukraine

The administration of US President Donald Trump has approved the potential sale of precision-guided bomb kits worth $373.6 million to Ukraine, following congressional pressure over stalled arms deliveries.

The move was announced by the State Department on Tuesday, greenlighting a possible Foreign Military Sale of 1,532 JDAM-Extended Range (JDAM-ER) tail kits and related support equipment to Kiev. The equipment could be used to convert heavy bombs into GPS-guided munitions that can hit targets dozens of kilometers away. Boeing, headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, is listed as the primary contractor.

The deal does not guarantee that the weapons will be delivered, while the figures represent the maximum quantity and value of the purchase, with details subject to further negotiations and congressional review.

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Putin Announces Truce for Victory Day on May 8 and 9, Warns Ukraine: If It Disrupts Celebrations, Russian Forces Will Strike Kiev’s Center

Victory Day truce may unleash unprecedented strikes.

We are approaching May 9, the date where Russians traditionally celebrate their defeat of Nazi Germany in the Second World War, or – as they prefer – in the ‘Patriotic War’.

Just like last year, the celebration that gathers the Russian elite and a large number of foreign dignitaries will happen under the shadow of a possible drone-missile combined strike by Ukraine.

Not only that, but after Moscow announced a truce on May 8 and 9, Kiev came today with their own truce to begin on Wednesday (6).

Also today, the Russian Defense Ministry has warned Kiev of massive retaliation if it disrupts the celebrations.

Bloomberg reported:

“Russian President Vladimir Putin designated a ceasefire for May 8-9, the Defense Ministry said in a post on Telegram. But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said there was no coordination with his government. He declared his own ceasefire regime starting at midnight on the night of May 5, saying Ukraine will act reciprocally starting from that moment.

‘There has been no official appeal to Ukraine regarding the modality of a cessation of hostilities’, Zelenskiy said on X after Russia’s announcement. ‘It is time for Russian leaders to take real steps to end their war, especially since Russia’s Defense Ministry believes it cannot hold a parade in Moscow without Ukraine’s goodwill’.”

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Russian Forces Edging Towards Fortified Ukrainian Stronghold of Konstantinovka, in Northern Donetsk Region

The city is part of the Slavyansk-Kramatorsk Agglomeration, the last Ukrainian bastion in Donetsk.

While the Russia-Ukraine war has lost the media spotlight to the Middle East Conflict, the hostilities continue, every bit as brutal as ever.

And while the Russian advances are not as fast or as meaningful as last year, they still managed to conquer over 80 settlements in 2026, and are approaching, slowly but relentlessly, the ultimate prize in the Donetsk region that is the cradle of the war.

We’re talking about the Slavyansk-Kramatorsk Agglomeration, a heavily defended area that is the last major bastion in the Donbas (Donetsk plus Luhansk).

News has arisen from Ukrainian sources that Russian troops are edging toward the city of Konstantinovka, trying to gain a foothold close to a heavily defended belt.

Watch – Putin: Kyiv regime spent 10 years building fortresses in Slavyansk, Kramatorsk & Konstantinovka

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Russia Claims Frontline Progress in War With Ukraine, as Drone Strike Kills Two in Kherson

Two people were killed after a Russian drone attacked a minibus in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, local officials said Saturday, in the latest barrage of civilian areas, a hallmark of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor.

Seven people were also wounded in the attack, regional head Oleksandr Prokudin said. Hours later Russia attacked another minibus in Kherson, wounding the driver, he said.

Meanwhile, along the northern border with Belarus, Ukraine recorded “rather unusual” activity on Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a post on Telegram on Saturday. Without elaborating, he said activity was seen on the Belarusian side of the border and that Ukraine would act if matters escalated.

“We are closely documenting and keeping the situation under control. If necessary, we will react,” he said.

Belarus, a close ally of the Kremlin, has allowed Russia to use its territory as a staging ground to send troops into Ukraine and to host some of Moscow’s tactical nuclear weapons.

On Ukraine’s Black Sea coast, a Russian strike damaged port infrastructure in the city of Odesa. No casualties were reported.

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