Tag: russia

NATO Holds Drills Near Russian Border Based on Israel-Iran Conflict Tactics

NATO forces near Russia’s border in Karelia have recently conducted drills simulating a breakthrough of Russian air defenses, based on scenarios from the recent Israeli-American campaign in Iran, the Izvestia newspaper said citing unnamed sources.
According to the outlet, NATO aircraft maneuvers in Finland near the Russian border took place as part of the Atlantic Trident 25 exercises held from June 16 to 27. The drills involved over 40 aircraft from the air forces of Finland, the United States, France, and the United Kingdom. Notably, the Izvestia reports that RQ-4D Phoenix reconnaissance drones were deployed to Finland for the first time during the exercise.

In parallel with Atlantic Trident 25, NATO also reportedly conducted another set of maneuvers titled Itakaira-2025/2, which were not officially announced by the alliance. These exercises included rapid aircraft launches, air combat, gaining air superiority, striking ground targets, and penetrating Russian air defense systems, according to the publication.

Military analyst Yuri Lyamin stated that NATO’s growing strike presence along Russia’s border necessitates a reinforcement of Russia’s fighter aviation and air defense systems.

Another expert, Dmitry Kornev, suggested that in the event of actual hostilities in the region, NATO could deploy over 70 aircraft against Russia.

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Russia captures over 100-acre lithium reserve, one of Europe’s biggest ‘white gold’ sites

Russian forces have seized control of a key lithium-rich zone near the village of Shevchenko in Ukraine’s Donetsk region.

The site, located roughly 2 miles (3 km) from the border of Dnipropetrovsk oblast, spans approximately 100 acres (40 hectares) and contains one of the largest lithium reserves in Europe, according to a report by The New York Times. 

One of Europe’s richest lithium sites

The Shevchenko deposit lies about 6 miles (10 km) from Velyka Novosilka, a town that fell to Russian forces in January. 

Though the village holds little tactical value, its subsurface resources are of growing strategic significance. 

Lithium, often called “white gold,” is a critical input for producing electric vehicle batteries, aerospace alloys, energy storage systems, and electronics.

With global demand for lithium rising parallel with decarbonization efforts and military modernization programs, control over such reserves offers more than a battlefield advantage. 

It provides long-term leverage over industrial supply chains. In 2022, lithium prices peaked at over $80,000 per metric ton. 

As of June 27, 2025, the price in China stands at approximately $8,500 per ton, down significantly, yet still commercially and strategically relevant, according to Defence Blog.

The Russian occupation of the Shevchenko site allows Moscow to further consolidate its hold over Ukraine’s natural resources. 

The war shows a pattern of attacks on military targets and important resources like energy, minerals, and industry.

These attacks can hurt Ukraine’s recovery after the war and may impact future investments from the West.

Before the invasion, the Shevchenko area had attracted foreign interest and was under consideration for development by Ukrainian state agencies aiming to reduce dependence on imported raw materials.

Analysts suggest the seizure may form part of a larger Russian campaign to dominate resource corridors and inhibit Ukraine’s access to domestic revenue streams. 

With critical mineral extraction sites under Russian control, Ukraine faces new obstacles in rebuilding its industrial base, even as reconstruction frameworks gain international support.

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Russian Military Instructs China How To Beat US & NATO Weapons

One key trend to have emerged over the course of the Russia-Ukraine war is that China, Iran, and Russia are increasingly and very openly cooperating militarily and technologically, including Moscow sharing experience gained in the course of its Ukraine ground operations.

Newsweek reports that “Russia plans to train hundreds of Chinese military personnel this year on lessons learned from its ongoing invasion of Ukraine,” based on regional sources. Some of what has been ‘learned’ is how to defend against US-made and NATO-supplied weaponry – something which Beijing is surely interested in amid the long-running Taiwan standoff with Washington.

“Instructors will cover methods for countering weapons systems used by Ukrainian forces that were produced by the United States and its NATO allies, a source in Ukraine’s top intelligence agency told the outlet,” the Newsweek report continues.

Specifically ‘lessons for a Taiwan conflict’ would be gleaned:

This training would further strengthen security ties between Russia and its “no limits” ally China, which in recent years has stepped up joint military exercises. Battlefield insights into U.S. weaponry could offer an advantage as China seeks to surpass the U.S. as the leading military power in the Indo-Pacific.

And Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence Directorate has told local media, the Kyiv Post, that “The Kremlin has decided to allow Chinese military personnel to study and adopt the combat experience Russia has gained in its war against Ukraine.”

Not only have Russian forces destroyed and disabled possibly dozens of Western-supplied main battle tanks, including M1 Abrams, UK Challengers, and French Leopard 2’s – but F16s have also been shot down.

American troop carriers have additionally been destroyed, and in some places Western armored vehicles have been put on display in the capital of Moscow, as trophies recovered from the battlefield.

Meanwhile, China this week hosted defense ministers from Iran and Russia for a meeting in its eastern seaside city of Qingdao.

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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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‘One-sided game’ in relations with West has ended – Putin

Russia will no longer play “one-sided” games with the West, President Vladimir Putin has told journalists on the sidelines of the summit of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) in Minsk. Western nations have repeatedly betrayed Russia by not fulfilling their promises related to NATO expansion and resolving the Ukraine conflict, he stated at a press conference on Friday.

NATO is currently justifying its planned defense spending hike to 5% of its members’ GDP and military buildup in Europe by pointing to Russia’s “aggressiveness,” Putin said, adding that the bloc’s members are “turning everything upside down” when they make statements such as these.

“No one is saying a word about how we’ve come up to the Russian special military operation,” the president said, adding that the roots of the Ukraine conflict go back decades when Moscow was “blatantly lied to” about NATO expansion. “What followed was one expansion wave after another,” he stated.

Russia’s security concerns about the bloc’s activities have been consistently ignored and met with silence, according to Putin. “Isn’t it aggressive behavior? That is precisely aggressive behavior, which the West does not want to pay attention to.”

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“Drag The EU Into A Direct Conflict” – Orbán Confronts Zelensky, Tells Him EU Was Created For Peace, Not War

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is leading an effort to ensure Ukraine, which is currently at war with Russia, does not join the European Union due to the high potential for a conflict that could spread to all of Europe.

In this regard, he is now confronting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky directly on X on the issue.

“President (Zelensky), with all due respect: the European Union was founded to bring peace and prosperity to its member states. Accepting a country that is at war with Russia would immediately drag the EU into a direct conflict. It is unfair to expect any member state to take this risk,” wrote Orbán.

Orbán had responded to a post from Zelensky, in which the Ukrainian leader thanked EU leadership after a meeting, stating that they discussed, among other things, Ukraine’s ascension into the EU.

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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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Russian Troops Take Another Eastern Ukraine Town As NATO Leaders Wrangle Over ‘What’s Next’

As NATO leaders met in The Hague for their major annual summit – where the focus was collective increased defense spending, Trump’s proclamation of Iran’s nuclear program having been ‘obliterated’, and more support for Ukraine – Russian forces gained another town in Eastern Ukraine.

According to Reuters on Wednesday, “Russian forces have taken control of the settlement of Yalta in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, the state-run RIA news agency reported on Wednesday citing the Russian Defense Ministry.”

“Battlegroup East units liberated the settlement of Yalta in the Donetsk People’s Republic through active and decisive actions,” the defense ministry said in the statement.

While Reuters and others are not able to independently verify the battlefield report, this is part of Russian forces’ slow but steady momentum in the east, and even lately expanding west of Donetsk as part of establishing Putin’s big security ‘buffer zone’. 

At this point it’s clear that Kiev’s backers in NATO can do nothing about this, except throw more money and weapons at the conflict, and President Trump met with Zelensky on Wednesday on the sidelines of the NATO meeting.

The two reportedly discussed Ukraine procuring more US anti-air defense systems, which ironically enough will likely be purchased with US taxpayer funds already poured into Kiev’s coffers.

As for Ukraine’s push for more US sanctions on Moscow, the response from The Hague was as follows:

“If we did what everybody here wants us to do, and that is come in and crush them [Russia] with more sanctions, we probably lose our ability to talk to them about the ceasefire – and then who’s talking to them?” Rubio said at the NATO summit.

Trump will “know the right time and place” for fresh punitive measures, he added. “If there’s an opportunity for us to make a difference and get them [Russia] to the table, we’re going to take it,” the state secretary emphasized.

But meanwhile, Russia will be busy gaining more territory, and future leverage at the negotiating table, as war fatigue has continued to set in among Ukraine’s Western backers.

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All of Nato, including US, ‘totally committed’ to keeping Ukraine in fight, Rutte says

The whole of Nato, including the United States, is “totally committed” to keeping Ukraine in the fight against Russia’s invasion, alliance secretary-general Mark Rutte told Reuters in an interview on June 25.

Speaking at the end of a summit of Nato leaders in The Hague, Mr Rutte also said nobody in Nato was naive about Russia and all alliance members “have more or less the same assessment” of Moscow.

US President Donald Trump’s more conciliatory stance towards Russia in his efforts to bring an end to the war in Ukraine has prompted questions about US commitments to Kyiv.

“The whole of Nato, including the United States, is totally committed to keep Ukraine in the fight, to make sure that if there is a peace deal, that peace deal – or the ceasefire – will be lasting, will be durable,” Mr Rutte said.

He said the clear direction of travel was that Europeans would be responsible for more of the military aid to Ukraine.

But he said the US would still be “very much involved with intelligence-sharing, with also practical military support” including potentially air defence systems.

“I think there will still be a huge, big American involvement,” Mr Rutte said.

The Trump administration has also told Europeans that they must take over primary responsibility for their own security, rather than relying on the US through Nato.

Mr Rutte said this process would be possible as Europeans had committed to spending more on defence, and it would be “well-organised” to avoid any gaps that Russia could exploit.

“I’ve had these discussions in Washington over the last couple of months,” he said.

“For years, the US has said ‘we have to pivot more towards Asia’. Now that the Europeans are stepping up, that also makes it possible,” he said.

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Trump’s Disbanding Of A Secret “Deep State” Working Group Raises Hopes Of Peace With Russia

Reuters reported in mid-June that the Trump Administration had recently disbanded a secret inter-agency working group overseen by now-dismissed National Security Council members tasked with formulating strategies for coercing Russia into concessions to Ukraine.

According to their three unnamed US official sources, Trump’s hitherto refusal to escalate American involvement in the conflict led to this initiative losing steam, though he could still potentially reverse gears in the future.

At any rate, what’s most significant about Reuters’ report is that it confirms that a secret group of officials from the US’ permanent military, intelligence, and diplomatic bureaucracies (“deep state”) was set up to manipulate Trump into pressuring Russia, which could have worsened tensions had it succeeded. Just as significantly, however, was its failure to do so thus far. Nevertheless, the plans that they devised could still be implemented by subversive deep state elements and therein lies the problem.

According to Reuters, “Ideas ranged from tailored economic deals designed to peel some countries out of Russia’s geopolitical orbit to covert special operations efforts”, the first scenario of which included a proposal to “incentivize” Kazakhstan into cracking down on Russia’s evasion of Western sanctions. That country has been drifting Westward for some time already, which could pose challenges for Russia and China as explained here in summer 2023, but it doesn’t appear that anything came from that scheme.

The second scenario, however, might have speculatively been connected to Ukraine’s strategic drone strikes against Russia in early June. No one can say for certain whether or not Trump knew about this in advance, but Reuters’ revelation about the existence of this previously unreported “deep state” working group lends credence to those of his supporters who claimed that he didn’t. After all, it’s entirely possible that this was orchestrated by them without his knowledge, which he might have told Putin.

There’s also the possibility that these “covert special operations efforts” included the two false flag plots in the Baltic Sea that Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service recently warned about.

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