Tag: russia

Ukraine Hits Moscow Oil Refinery Causing Black Skies, But Kremlin Continues Advancing In Donbass-Kostiantynivka Falls, Ukrainian Drones Specifically Targeting Civilians In Russia Areas

Ukraine scored a public relations and tactical win this morning with strikes on the Moscow oil refinery, hitting a storage tank and causing black smoke to drift over the entire city.

Oil-like residue is falling over Moscow and the surrounding region, leaving marks on cars, windowsills, benches, and other surfaces.

The development caused Ukrainian President Zelenskiy to declare, “If Ukraine burns, your Moscow will burn too.If Putin does not want to end this war and wants to continue it, we will not sit quietly. We will respond.”

What Zelenskiy is not telling the world is that the city of Kostiantynivka in Donbass has recently fallen under the Russian advance. Russian forces are now focusing on Sloviansk, which once taken, will open the door to Kramatorsk in one or two months.

A situation is developing where a massive cauldron is forming, encircling thousands of Ukrainian troops and the Zelenskiy government will not order the withdrawal to save the soldiers.

“It is a deliberate slaughter of Ukrainian soldiers,” said a source in Kyiv. “It is intentionally losing a division.”

Russia has launched massive strikes on Kyiv as of late in response to Ukrainian attacks on civilian targets. Recently many attacks have been filmed of drones hitting civilian vehicles, such as buses and trucks carrying civilian personnel and cargo, raising Russian ire. One such video of a drone intentionally targeting a truck in the Belgorod region of Russia is below.

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Military doesn’t know how many recruits hold citizenship in China, Iran, Russia or other non-NATO states

The Canadian Armed Forces has recruited nearly 3,000 permanent residents since opening enlistment to non-citizens in late 2022, but military officials admit they do not track the foreign citizenships of those recruits.

The disclosure came in response to an order paper question from Conservative MP Scott Anderson regarding the CAF’s recruitment of permanent residents.

According to the Department of National Defence, the military enrolled 1,844 permanent residents into the regular force and another 1,017 into the reserve force between December 2022 and May 2026, for a total of 2,861 recruits.

Recruitment accelerated dramatically over the past year, with more than 1,800 permanent residents joining during the 2025-26 fiscal year alone.

The military also revealed that permanent residents are permitted to serve in dozens of occupations, including infantry, artillery, combat engineering, logistics, military police, intelligence-related roles, aerospace operations, naval positions and a variety of technical trades.

But when Anderson asked how many of those permanent residents were citizens of countries outside NATO, the government said it simply doesn’t know.

“The Canadian Armed Forces does not centrally record members’ citizenship of countries other than Canada,” the department replied.

The admission means the military cannot say how many permanent-resident recruits hold citizenship in countries such as China, Iran, Russia, Pakistan or any other non-NATO state.

The department also acknowledged that it cannot determine how many of those recruits have since become Canadian citizens because that information is not tracked in a way that can be readily reported.

The figures come as the CAF continues to grapple with a recruiting crisis and personnel shortages. In an effort to boost numbers, the military opened many occupations to permanent residents in 2022, ending a longstanding preference for Canadian citizens.

Since then, 292 permanent-resident recruits have already left the CAF, including 234 regular force members and 58 reservists.

While the CAF can provide detailed breakdowns of where permanent residents serve and what ranks they hold, it cannot say how many are citizens of foreign countries outside Canada’s military alliances.

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Russian Warship Fires ‘Warning Shots’ at British-Flagged Yacht in English Channel

It is believed a Russian Frigate fired at a passing yacht in British waters in the English Channel on Tuesday, prompting the Ministry of Defence to launch an investigation.

The UK Ministry of Defence confirmed they are investigating an incident in the English Channel after a British-flagged yacht reported the Russian frigate Admiral Grigorovich had fired warning shots at it on Tuesday morning.

The incident, if proven, would be the most direct confrontation by a foreign warship off the coast of Britain in many years.

Broadcaster Sky News states the yacht was sailing in the English Channel and that it was fired at when around 500 yards away from the Russian warship. There were no injuries or damage.

The incident is stated to have taken place around 20 nautical miles south of the Isle of Wight, which if correct would be within Britain’s Exclusive Economic Zone waters. Because the English Channel is so narrow, there are no international waters, with British and French maritime domains meeting in the middle.

The waterway is one of the busiest in the world and a traffic separation scheme — a “motorway” for the sea — is established through the centre to minimise the chances of crossing ships colliding. Foreign warships are typically escorted through the Channel and The Financial Times states British offshore patrol vessel HMS Mersey was shadowing the Admiral Grigorovich at the time of the incident. Sailors from the Mersey visited the yacht after the incident to speak to crew and assess if there had been damage.

The Ministry of Defence said “We are investigating reports of an incident in the Channel” but that they would add nothing more while the investigation was taking place. Russia has not yet publicly made any comment on today’s events.

The Admiral Grigorovich has been in and around British waters for months. The ship has been active in escorting Russian tankers through the North Sea, Western Approaches, and English Channel. The commanding officer of HMS Mersey said in May: “Monitoring the movements of RFN Admiral Grigorovich, ensuring the integrity of our waters remains at the forefront of our priorities. As ever, this is a team effort, and the opportunity to operate with our sister ship HMS Tyne is a fine example of the close relationship we have developed between our units.”

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POWDER KEG EUROPE: German Air Force Ready To Fight Russia ‘Tonight’, Luftwaffe Chief Says

The war against Russia is all that globalist regimes think about.

As Europe is reeling with the rearmament efforts of its countries, every day brings another escalation that can throw Europe into a massive military conflict.

Yesterday (15), reports arose that the German air force chief said that his country is ready to fight Russia ‘tonight’, and will defend “every inch” of NATO territory.

The Telegraph reported:

“In his first interview with a British newspaper, Lt Gen Holger Neumann, the chief of the Luftwaffe, said his forces would launch devastating air strikes on Russia if it attacked the Western alliance.

In a further warning to Moscow, he stressed there were “no different zones of security” in Nato, meaning an attack on Estonia would warrant the same response as an air raid on London.”

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Poland Suspends Transference of MIG Fighter Jets to Ukraine – The Stated Reason, and the Probable Unspoken One

Drone tech, or the worship of Nazi collaborators and war criminals?

After the war in Iran appears to have found its way towards a peace settlement, the eyes of the world again turn to the Black Sea, where the bloodiest European war since WWW2 continues unabated.

As the usual Euro-Globalists scramble to continue financing the Kiev regime’s war effort, one close ally is moving in the opposite direction.

Neighboring Poland has paused the transfer of promised MIG-29 Fighter Jets to Ukraine, to the dismay of Volodymyr Zelensky’s government and the MSM alike.

The stated reason for the pause was Kiev’s delay in sharing with of drone production technologies with the Polish.

This is a very believable reason – but for us following the Ukrainian bilateral relations, there is another very clear reason that is not being mentioned, as you can read in President Nawrocki Wants Zelensky Stripped of Top Polish Honor for Glorifying WW2 Nazi War Criminals.

​Zelensky has caused mass indignation in Poland by signing a decree recognizing a Ukrainian special forces unit’s ​contribution to the fight against Russian forces by naming it after the Ukrainian Insurgent ⁠Army (UPA).

The UPA was involved in ​the Volhynia massacres from 1943 to 1945, in which around 100,000 Poles were killed by Ukrainian nationalists.

Zelensky also transferred alleged WW2 war criminal Andriy Melnyk to a hero’s tomb in Kiev.

With all that, the relations soured considerably. Even Prime Minister Donald Tusk had to criticize the move.

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Russia Tells Banks to “Shoot Down Drones Yourself”

The line between civilian society and war is disappearing completely. That is the real story behind Russia now authorizing its central bank and Sberbank to operate anti-drone systems and arm personnel to defend financial infrastructure. A country’s banking system is no longer simply processing transactions or moving money. It is now becoming part of the battlefield itself.

Russia passed a new law allowing the central bank, Sberbank, and the Russian Cash Collection Association to deploy their own drone defense systems after repeated Ukrainian strikes deep inside Russian territory. Staff at these institutions can now reportedly be armed as well.

This is what happens when modern war evolves into economic warfare. I have warned repeatedly that World War III would not resemble World War II where armies simply lined up across borders. The entire economy becomes militarized. Banks, energy grids, payment systems, telecommunications, ports, railways, factories, and data centers all become targets because modern civilization itself depends on interconnected infrastructure.

Ukraine understands this perfectly. Their drone strategy has increasingly focused on striking oil facilities, energy infrastructure, logistics centers, and economic targets deep inside Russia because they know they cannot defeat Russia conventionally in a prolonged war of attrition.

What is extraordinary here is not merely the drone attacks themselves. It is the admission that the Russian state can no longer centrally defend everything. Moscow is effectively decentralizing air defense responsibilities and telling major corporations and financial institutions: defend yourselves. That is a major shift psychologically.

The Guardian even framed it bluntly: Russia is telling its banks to “shoot down drones yourself.”

This is precisely how long wars transform societies historically. Civilian infrastructure slowly merges with military infrastructure until there is barely any distinction left. During the later stages of major conflicts, factories become military targets, railroads become military targets, ports become military targets, and eventually financial institutions themselves become military targets because war is ultimately about resources and economic survival.

Sberbank is not some small regional bank. It is effectively intertwined with the Russian state itself. Sberbank controls roughly a third of Russian banking assets and acts as a pillar of the entire domestic financial system. The Russian central bank likewise sits at the core of wartime financing, sanctions management, currency stabilization, and capital controls.

Russia has pushed aggressively toward cashless payments, digital financial infrastructure, and central bank digital currency experimentation through the digital ruble system. But centralized digital systems become vulnerable during wartime because they create concentrated targets.

The more governments centralize financial systems digitally, the more vulnerable those systems become to cyberwarfare, EMP threats, sabotage, drone attacks, and infrastructure strikes. This is one reason governments are quietly preparing for a wartime financial environment globally.

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As Ukraine Runs Out Of Men, To Keep War Going, Zelenskiy To Create Mercenary Army – What Could Go Wrong?

As the number of fighting-age men dwindles in Ukraine, as the Christian ethnocide plays out, Ukraine is launching a major recruitment drive that will allow private companies to source, screen, and deliver foreign fighters to its armed forces, with the goal of filling 30 to 50 percent of its assault and infantry positions with non-Ukrainians. This will allow globalist forces to keep the war going at any cost.

There has also been talk of enabling mass migration of third world men into the area.

Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian men have deserted this year, and many of those have fled the country. Daily videos of violent bounty hunters clashing with civilians are appearing online as the war loses the support of more and more of the Ukrainian people.

Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov announced the target on Thursday, describing the initiative as a way to bolster combat units and preserve Ukrainian lives. Commander-in-Chief Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi echoed the statement, calling the plan “the first stage of a large-scale transformation” of the military.

Under the new system, private recruiting firms will handle the search, vetting, selection, and logistics for foreign volunteers. Companies will be compensated for each recruit who successfully signs a contract and joins a unit. Foreign fighters will serve under the same terms, pay, and conditions as Ukrainian personnel, without a separate foreign legion structure.“

We are opening the market for recruiting foreigners to strengthen combat units and save the lives of Ukrainian military personnel,” Fedorov said.

The recruitment effort forms the centerpiece of a broader military service overhaul announced by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the same day following a meeting with Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko, Fedorov, and Finance Minister Serhii Marchenko, writes SOFX.

As part of the reforms, minimum pay for rear-area personnel will rise to 30,000 hryvnias (approximately $670) per month — double the previous floor. Frontline infantry will receive 300,000 hryvnias (roughly $6,700) for a month of service, which Fedorov described as the highest infantry compensation rate globally. With combat bonuses, total monthly pay for assault troops can exceed $10,000 (about 460,000 hryvnias).

New contracts will last 10 to 14 months for infantry and assault roles, and 24 months for specialized units such as drone operators, artillery crews, and electronic-warfare personnel. Each contract will be followed by a demobilization window exempting soldiers from further mobilization.

Fedorov indicated that the army plans to begin discharging its longest-serving and most combat-experienced troops before the end of 2026, balancing the arrival of foreign recruits with the release of exhausted Ukrainian personnel.

Ukraine’s military has faced significant manpower challenges. Many long-serving troops are battle-weary with no fixed end to their service, while recent mobilization efforts have struggled to attract motivated infantry. A 2025 attempt to recruit 18-to-24-year-olds with competitive pay and short contracts saw limited uptake for ground combat roles, succeeding mainly in high-demand technical specialties like drone units.

Foreign volunteers already play a substantial role in frontline infantry duties, particularly fighters from Latin America. Colombians form one of the largest foreign contingents, with many deployed after minimal training. The Atlantic Council has estimated that 300 to 550 Colombians have been killed in Ukraine — the highest toll among foreign nationalities — with most losses attributed to FPV and kamikaze drones targeting infantry positions.

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Russian Governors Rush To Deny Fuel Crisis As Rationing Spreads

Russia’s authorities and regional governors are racing to assure residents there are no fuel shortages amid an intensified Ukrainian drone campaign at Russian refineries and fuel supply roads.

Ukraine has stepped up attacks this month on key fuel supply routes in its territories occupied by Russia, including Crimea and Mariupol. Several Russian regions have been experiencing fuel shortages as Ukraine hits Russian oil refineries.

Last week, the Moscow Times reported that some gasoline stations in Moscow and regions in northern Russia have started to cap fuel purchases per driver, in a move to prevent panic buying.

Officials are playing down the fuel crisis.

Alexander Drozdenko, governor of the northwestern Leningrad region, said this week that “Supplies are being delivered according to plan, there are no shortages,” as carried by Bloomberg.

Some isolated complaints about fuel shortages “do not reflect the overall situation,” the regional official said.

Governors all across Russia are looking to play down the extent of the crisis.

Meanwhile, earlier this month Russia admitted for the first time that its crude oil production is falling.

Russia’s crude oil production has declined since the beginning of the year as a number of local refineries are under unscheduled repairs and maintenance, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said, in the first public acknowledgement from Moscow that its output is flailing.

“We have a number of refineries under unscheduled repairs. However, we are maximizing the use of the export infrastructure,” said Novak, who represents Russia at the OPEC+ meetings and at discussions about the alliance’s output.

Russia is preparing to sharply reduce crude oil exports this month as mounting refinery disruptions, fuel shortages, and Ukraine’s bombing campaign force Moscow to divert more barrels into the domestic market.

Exports from Russia’s western ports of Primorsk, Ust-Luga and Novorossiysk are expected to fall to roughly 1.7 million barrels per day in June from 2.5 million bpd in May, according to Reuters calculations based on preliminary industry and trading data.

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Fully Autonomous Drones Have Killed Human Soldiers For the First Time

Longtime Slashdot reader MattSparkes shares a report from NewScientist, captioned: “For years we’ve had unconfirmed reports, rumors, hints… now we know.” From the report:Fully autonomous drones with no human oversight have killed soldiers on the battlefield for the first time. This is according to a senior figure in the Ukrainian defense industry, marking a watershed moment in warfare. The one-off test involved 10 AI-controlled “Terminator” drones on the front line of the Ukraine war. Russian soldiers were killed.

“We tried it,” says drone-maker Alexander Kokhanovskyy, who supplied the technology and spoke to New Scientist at a press event hosted by the Ukrainian embassy. “It’s a test. We never implemented it [more widely].” The test took place two years ago and involved quadcopter drones that were programmed to fly towards the front line, cover between 3 and 5 kilometres over around 10 minutes and then engage “Terminator mode,” in which an AI model searches for and intercepts targets. “We just launch it and we know everything will be dead — everything that will be found there in this particular area will be dead,” says Kokhanovskyy. “There is no connection to the drone at all, you cannot see the video, nothing… Everything it sees will be killed.”

With no way to tell what the automated drones had seen or targeted, human-piloted drones were sent into the area after the test to manually check results. Victims included “a couple of soldiers, one truck,” says Kokhanovskyy. While there is no recording of the automated drones attacking these targets, it was concluded that the drones had killed them. Kokhanovskyy says that he was not at the test personally but that it was carried out by an unnamed military unit near the cities of Bakhmut and Chasiv Yar as part of a Ukrainian counteroffensive push. The Ukrainian Ministry of Defence did not respond to questions about the test or the current legal position on the use of fully autonomous weapons.

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Hegseth warns Cuba: Acquiring drones from Russia and Iran invites U.S. confrontation

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth issued a stark warning to Cuba, stating that any attempt by Havana to acquire advanced weaponry capable of striking the U.S. or its assets would invite a direct military confrontation.

Hegseth delivered the firm message to American service members during a visit to Naval Station Guantanamo Bay on Wednesday, amid rising regional tensions.

The Pentagon chief integrated his security briefing with the troops by participating in a morning physical fitness session, meeting with stationed personnel, and hosting a traditional coin recognition ceremony to honor outstanding performance.

“It would be unwise of the government of Cuba to try to procure or get access to the types of weapons that could reach this base or the American homeland. They would be inviting the kind of confrontation not only do they not want but ​they could not stand. No country on Earth can match the capabilities of the United States of America,” he emphasized at the base.

According to intelligence leaks, Cuba has acquired more than 300 military drones from Russia and Iran since 2023 and recently discussed contingency plans to use them against the Guantanamo base, U.S. naval vessels and targets in Florida.

Washington has also warned of potential military action as U.S. warships continue to operate in the Caribbean Sea.

Meanwhile, the visit unfolds amid an intensifying U.S. energy and oil blockade against the island, which has further crippled Cuba’s power grid. President Donald Trump has repeatedly hinted that Havana could be the next government to fall under intense American pressure, following the recent collapse of the Venezuelan regime.

After the news hit headlines, Cuban foreign minister Bruno Rodriguez fiercely denied the intelligence reports, accusing the U.S. of fabricating a baseline pretext to plot its next conflict.

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