Tag: russia

‘We’re Impressed’: Zelensky Now Sings Trump’s Praises & CIA Director Breathes Sigh Of Relief

“They have to be able to defend themselves,” Trump said Monday, offering confirmation of his weapons to Ukraine policy U-turn. “They’re getting hit very hard. … We’re gonna have to send more weapons.”

A presidential aide to Volodymyr Zelensky has offered new insight into how Trump’s reversal came about, especially related to his phone call with the Ukrainian president held last Friday, after a prior ‘disappointing’ Putin call.

Yermak described that Trump’s decision to reverse course on the pause in weaponry was “very well received in Ukraine, especially after very substantial phone conversation” on Friday. He added in a NY Post interview that the US President clearly remains “fully supportive of continuation of the aid to Ukraine.”

“He was quite disturbed by recent strikes — they’ve been happening for more than three years — but by recent strikes, murders with drones and missiles that fall in Ukrainian cities, including the capital of Ukraine,” Yermak told the Post. “Absolutely, [Trump and Zelenskyy] are united in this. These two leaders definitely want peace, and they are absolutely against the killing.”

The latest Russian assault, being widely reported Wednesday morning, involved a staggering more than 700 drones, as well as at least a dozen cruise and ballistic missiles. Moscow indicated it is seeking to destroy military airfields and logistics hubs tied to foreign defense aid.

“We’re here to make things happen. Good deals — that’s what matters,” he said. “But let’s be honest: when Russia launches over a hundred Shahed drones almost every night, along with ballistic and cruise missiles, any delay in deliveries becomes a real concern.”

And then he hailed Trump, after his term in office started on a very rocky note with Zelensky. “We’ve seen President Trump’s recent messaging on Ukraine — and frankly, we’re impressed,” Yermak said. “No exaggeration. The clarity, the leadership, the determination — we truly appreciate it.”

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France detains Russian basketball star at request of US – AFP

Russian basketball player Daniil Kasatkin has been detained in France at the request of the US on suspicion of being a member of a hacker group, AFP reported on Wednesday evening.

Kasatkin, a point guard playing for Russia’s national team, was detained on June 21 at Charles de Gaulle Airport after arriving in France with his fiancée, AFP said.

At a hearing on Wednesday, a judge ruled to keep him in custody pending extradition.

The US alleges that Kasatkin, who had studied in the country, had negotiated ransom payments on behalf of a hacker gang that targeted around 900 companies and two federal institutions from 2020 to 2022.

The athlete denies any wrongdoing, his lawyer Frederic Belot told reporters, claiming that Kasatkin has “poor computer skills” and had bought a used computer that was “either hacked or a hacker sold it to him using another person’s name.”

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Russia Builds Ammunition Plant in Venezuela to Produce 70 Million Rounds Annually

Russia’s state arms exporter Rosoboronexport has completed the first phase of a new ammunition plant in Venezuela, designed to produce 7.62 mm cartridges for Kalashnikov assault rifles, Russian state conglomerate Rostec announced on July 2.

The facility, now partially operational, features four production lines. Two are designated for steel-core bullets, while the others will manufacture tracer and blank rounds. According to the announcement, the plant is already capable of producing tens of thousands of rounds per shift, with an annual output projected to reach 70 million cartridges.

A test program conducted at a dedicated inspection station reportedly confirmed the ammunition meets the stated performance standards.

The project marks a significant step toward establishing a full-cycle production capability on Venezuelan soil. Rosoboronexport’s executive director noted that the remaining production buildings will be commissioned soon.

In addition to the main manufacturing lines, the plant has launched a waste disposal facility, intermediate storage for ammunition components, and a 210-meter firing range for testing tracer rounds. Auxiliary infrastructure, including a fire reservoir, is also in place.

Rosoboronexport CEO Alexander Mikheev acknowledged the project faced major logistical and technical challenges due to international sanctions imposed on both Russia and Venezuela. The manufacturing lines and commissioning efforts were carried out by the Koshkin Design Bureau of Automatic Lines.

“For Rosoboronexport, the construction of the ammunition plant in Venezuela came with serious challenges, including sanctions pressure on both countries. Despite these objective constraints, together with Rostec, we carried out this complex infrastructure project and demonstrated to the world that we always fulfill our commitments to our partners,” said Alexander Mikheev.

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Peace In Ukraine Won’t End The West’s Hybrid War On Russia

Their refined Hybrid War model will involve efforts to win the “tech race”, a new Western division of labor for containing Russia in Europe, and AI-generated anti-Russian infowars.

Russia’s natural resource wealth and new role in accelerating multipolar processes incentivize the West to continue its Hybrid War on Russia even in the event of peace in Ukraine. The US’ neoconservative policymaking faction and the EU’s liberal-globalists (essentially one and the same at this point) continue to perceive Russia as an enduring rival to contain and ideally dismember.

That’s why they’re expected to refine their ongoing Hybrid War on Russia in the coming future through the following three means.

  • The first involves their efforts to win the “tech race”, specifically in terms of AI and the Internet of Things, which they envisage will enable them to lead the “Fourth Industrial Revolution” (4IR). The consequent economic and military edge that they anticipate is supposed to “leave Russia in the dust” as they see it. They believe that economic and then political instability will eventually follow in Russia. This could take the form of Color Revolutions, renewed terrorist insurgencies, and/or uncontrollable elite infighting.
  • The second aspect concerns the West’s division of labor in containing Russia. The US will “Lead From Behind” by providing back-end support for its European junior partners as it prioritizes containing China. Meanwhile, the UK wants a sphere of influence in the Arctic-Baltic, Germany just in the Baltic, Poland in Central & Eastern Europe, and France in Romania-Moldova. The EU’s associated €800 billion “ReArm Europe Plan”, which will likely lead to social spending cuts, is being spun as a ‘defense of democracy’.
  • And finally, the last element of the West’s refined Hybrid War on Russia will focus on AI-generated anti-Russian infowars, both to demoralize Russians and boost morale among Westerners. They’ll write entire articles, control more realistic bots on social media, create lifelike videos, and ultimately masquerade as policy experts and average folks alike. Years of secretly scraping Mainstream Media, Alt-Media, social media (including non-Western platforms), and YouTube for data will make these fakes very convincing.

For as compelling as these plans may be, they won’t destabilize Russia. Its economy has already proven itself remarkably resilient and China can help it catch up to the West in the tech race. As for conventional Western military threats, Russia’s military-industrial production far surpasses NATO’s, while Russia’s effective “Democratic Security” policies have preemptively neutralized infowar threats. The end result will be that Europe becomes more subordinate to the US without either of them subordinating Russia.

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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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Ukrainian Oligarchs Have Become Incredibly Rich From The War Writes Swiss Newspaper

Ukraine was widely recognized as the most corrupt country even before the Ukraine war, but since war broke out and tens of billions of euros have flowed into the country, corruption has flourished like never before.

Swiss newspaper Neue Züricher Zeitung details how a clique of oligarchs, many of them close to President Volodymyr Zelensky, have grown famously wealthy.

“These big businessmen are profiting enormously from the war, while also being patriotic, pro-Western and very discreet,” wrote the Swiss Neue Züricher Zeitung‘s (NZZ) Kyiv correspondent, Guillaume Ptak.

In other words, instead of showing off with sports cars, these new oligarchs know they have to keep their wealth hidden amid a devastating war. The paper details five individuals who have profited enormously.

“The war, which has entered its fourth year, is proving to be a profitable field for businessmen like Andri Stawnizer, Andri Kobolev, Oleksander Hereha, Andri Kolodyuk, and Vasil Khmelnitsky. The quintet has established itself in the war economy, investing in rebuilding what the Russian army destroys time and again. earns a fortune in strategic sectors such as logistics, energy, or construction materials. Typical war profiteers? Sure. But not entirely,” writes the Swiss paper.

They are making a fortune in strategic sectors. While this could be considered typical war profiteering it is also seen in a more positive light, since they ultimately support the army and the civilian population. According to the NZZ journalist, they are therefore“not like their classic predecessors, who recovered after the change of regime. They were mostly swept away by the war. The new generation does not buy TVs, newspapers or representatives, nor parties or private armies.”

NZZ writes that this new generation of oligarchs is not like the old one, and that “reins are held by President Volodymyr Zelensky.”

While Ukrainian authorities welcome most of the new oligarchs, this does not mean that they automatically have good relations with the presidential office. The paper notes that Kobolev, in particular, was known for his anti-corruption activities even before the war. He reportedly does not have the best relationship with Zelensky and has now been charged with corruption himself.

As for the other four, the paper does not make any allegations of corruption, but Ukraine is known as a country where corruption is entrenched from the top to the bottom of the system. Many leading officials have been charged with corruption, but skeptics claim that in many cases, these are only the officials who ran afoul of someone with more power, who wanted to remove a rival or settle a score.

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Russia Army Captures Two More Settlements In 3rd Straight Month Of Advance In Ukraine’s East

Russia’s military announced on Sunday that its forces had taken control of two additional settlements in eastern Ukraine, specifically one in the Donetsk region and the other in Kharkiv.

The statements indicated the villages of Piddubne in Donetsk and Sobolivka in Kharkiv are now under Russian control, though the Ukrainian side has not yet acknowledged this.

Piddubne had an estimated pre-war population of about 500 and is located merely 4 miles from the Dnipropetrovsk oblast border.

As for, Sobolivka, it lies about two miles west of Kupiansk and is outside of areas previously claimed by Russia, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

Russia’s Defense Ministry said in a couple of social media posts that its troops had “liberated” the settlements, and made reference to “Poddubnoye” and “Sobolevka” – according to the Russian spellings.

According to analysis presented in AFP, this marks the third straight month of Russian forces’ advance in Ukraine’s east, after stagnant front lined during the winter.

“Russia’s military advance in June accelerated for a third consecutive month and made its largest advance since November, according to AFP’s analysis of data from US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW),” AFP writes.

“The Russian army took 588 square kilometers (227 square miles) of Ukrainian territory in June, compared with 507 square kilometers in May, 379 square kilometers in April, and 240 square kilometers in March, according to ISW data,” the publication adds.

Drone assaults from both sides continues to be a feature of the war, with Russia just days ago having unleashed an unprecedented 500 drones on Ukraine.

Kiev was targeted again overnight Friday, and the next day the city’s mayor Vitali Klitschko said the number of people killed had increased to two, with an additional 31 people wounded.

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The UK Aims To Entrench Its Influence In Estonia In Order To Lead The Arctic-Baltic Front

The possible deployment of nuclear-capable F-35As there, which could be equipped with US air-to-ground nukes since the UK no longer has its own, would give London a leading role in managing the joint Arctic-Baltic front against Russia that’s expected to remain even after the Ukrainian Conflict ends…

Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur told the Postimees newspaper after last month’s NATO Summit that his country is interested in hosting nuclear-capable F-35As from its allies, with the outlet suggesting that the UK could deploy some of the 12 that it plans to purchase after they’re transferred. The UK’s other announcement that it’ll join NATO’s dual-capable nuclear aircraft mission raises the chance that these jets could be equipped with US nukes since the UK no longer has its own air-to-ground ones.

The Wall Street Journal explained how “U.K. Shifts Nuclear Doctrine With Purchase of U.S. Jets”, which could lead to it obtaining the aforesaid nukes from the US, while Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declared that Estonia’s readiness to host nuclear-capable jets from any NATO country poses an “immediate danger” to Russia. All this follows Russia’s Foreign Spy Service warning in mid-June that the Brits and Ukrainians are cooking up two false flag provocations in the Baltic to rope Trump into the war.

Seeing as how it was assessed in late April that “Estonia Might Become Europe’s Next Trouble Spot”, it’s therefore likely that they’ll let the UK deploy nuclear-capable F-35As at Tapa Army Base, where it already has some troops as part of its largest overseas deployment. Putting everything together, it can therefore be concluded that the UK is actively expanding its sphere of influence in the Baltic on anti-Russian pretexts and via associated means, with Estonia playing a leading role by hosting its regional forces.

The Baltic front of the New Cold War is connected to the Arctic one due to Finland joining the alliance in 2023 and Russia responding by building up its forces along their border to deter NATO-emanating threats from there. This joint front, which is expected to remain tense even after the Ukrainian Conflict ends, will also see the construction of the “EU Defense Line” that’ll stretch along Finland’s, the Baltic States’, and Poland’s eastern borders with Russia and Belarus as a 21st-century Iron Curtain.

It’s within this context that Trump reportedly plans to pull some US troops out of Central & Eastern Europe (CEE), perhaps in exchange for Russia reducing its own presence in Belarus (possibly including its tactical nukes), as part of their plans to build a new European security architecture. Be that as it may, the “EU Defense Line” – which includes new border fortifications and the deployment of extra-regional countries’ forces like the UK’s and Germany’s – ensures that the EU-Russian security dilemma will persist.

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Trump says Ukraine will need Patriot missiles for its defense, chides Putin

U.S. President Donald Trump said Ukraine would need Patriot missiles for its defenses, after speaking with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Friday, and voiced frustration over Russian President Vladimir Putin’s failure to end the fighting.

Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that he had a good call with Zelenskiy, repeating that he was “very unhappy” about his call with Putin a day earlier, given what he called the Russian leader’s refusal to work on a ceasefire.

Asked whether the United States would agree to supply more Patriot missiles to Ukraine, as requested by Zelenskiy, Trump said: “They’re going to need them for defense… They’re going to need something because they’re being hit pretty hard.”

Trump touted the efficacy of the Patriot missiles, calling the weapon “pretty amazing.”

Asked about the prospects for a ceasefire, Trump said, “It’s a very tough situation… I was very unhappy with my call with President Putin. He wants to go all the way, just keep killing people – it’s no good.”

Zelenskiy said he had agreed to work on increasing Kyiv’s capability to “defend the sky” as Russian attacks escalate, adding in a message on Telegram that he discussed joint defense production, as well as joint purchases and investments with the U.S. leader.

Ukraine has been asking Washington to sell it more Patriot missiles and systems that it sees as key to defending its cities from intensifying Russian air strikes.

A decision by Washington to halt some shipments of weapons to Ukraine prompted warnings by Kyiv that the move would weaken its ability to defend against Russia’s airstrikes and battlefield advances. Germany said it is in talks on buying Patriot air defense systems to bridge the gap.

A source briefed on the Trump-Zelenskiy call told Reuters they were optimistic that supplies of Patriot missiles could resume after what they called a “very good” conversation between the presidents.

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German MPs demand more money for Ukraine – Bild

A group of German lawmakers from the Green Party has called on Chancellor Friedrich Merz to urgently increase military aid to Ukraine, saying Berlin must contribute more in light of a slowdown in US arms deliveries, according to a letter obtained by Bild.

The letter, signed by Bundestag deputies Robin Wagener, Sara Nanni, Sebastian Schafer, and Anton Hofreiter, criticized the federal government’s recently announced increase in military assistance from €7.1 billion to €8.3 billion as insufficient.

The lawmakers pointed to the US decision to pause certain weapons shipments to Kiev as a critical factor, arguing that Berlin should raise the figure to at least €8.5 billion and commit to maintaining that level through 2029.

The Green MPs, who have been among Kiev’s most vocal supporters in the Bundestag, reportedly said the government still has room to maneuver within the approved budget framework, and argued that the constitutional limits on debt spending could be sidestepped through special exemptions.

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