Tag: ukraine

Russia reaffirms nuclear doctrine amid U.S.-Ukraine weapons speculation

Kremlin reaffirmed Russia’s nuclear doctrine on Wednesday, July 16. This announcement comes amid rumors that the United States might supply Ukraine with longer-range weapons capable of striking deeper into Russian territory.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov emphasized the continued validity of Russia’s nuclear doctrine, stating, “The nuclear doctrine remains in force, and consequently, all its provisions apply.”

This statement was made in response to a question about whether the doctrine’s provision, which considers any attack by a non-nuclear state supported by a nuclear power as a joint attack, was still in effect.

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered last year to revise the doctrine in response to the U.S. allowing Ukraine to use ATACMS missiles, with a range of about 190 miles, against Russian targets. The amendments expanded the scope of countries and military alliances subject to nuclear deterrence and broadened the list of military threats. The doctrine now classifies any attack by a non-nuclear state, backed by a nuclear power, as a joint attack. This change reflects Russia’s growing concern over the involvement of Western nations in the Ukraine conflict. (Related: Putin revises nuclear doctrine, making it easier for Russia to target Ukraine with nukes.)

The situation took a dramatic turn when reports emerged that President Donald Trump had privately encouraged Ukraine to intensify its strikes on Russian territory. According to sources briefed on the discussions, Trump asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky if his forces could hit Moscow or St. Petersburg if the U.S. provided longer-range weapons. Although Trump later denied considering such a move, the conversation highlighted his frustration with Putin’s reluctance to engage in ceasefire talks.

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Five Reasons Why No Amount of Additional NATO Support to Ukraine Can Stop Russian Steamroller

The US and its European NATO allies are working on new arrangements to keep the proxy war against Russia in Ukraine going for as long as possible. Here’s why the outcome will be the same no matter how much additional support is delivered.

  1. Ukraine Has Already Lost

Long term, “there is no material-technical nor political strategy” to avoid Ukraine’s defeat, Quincy Institute fellow Almut Rochowanski told Responsible Statecraft this week, stressing that the West simply doesn’t have the capacity to arm Kiev sufficiently to stop it from losing more territory, troops, arms and infrastructure.

  1. Russia’s Advance Has Become Unstoppable

Case in point? The ongoing summer offensive, which even the Russophobic NYT admits has scored “its biggest monthly gains in territory since the beginning of the year” in June – attributable to advantages in troops, airpower and the “methodical” destruction of Ukraine’s army.

  1. Any New Resources Delivered Will Be Wasted

Currently, new deliveries include promises of additional Patriot batteries, sourced from European (not US) stocks, and 49 used Australian M1 Abrams tanks.

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GERMANY wants IMMEDIATE ATTACKS ON RUSSIAN Territory. After Moscow threat of 2,000 Drone vs Ukraine

Freuding, head of the German Ministry of Defense’s Ukrainian Situation Center, stated that attacks on airfields and military infrastructure could prevent the Russian military from unleashing its offensive potential. He stated that attacks should be conducted with long-range weapons and aircraft, striking before Russian forces can commit their own resources. In addition to airfields, the general suggested targeting the Russian defense industry, while acknowledging Moscow’s significant progress in missile production. He emphasized the need to find ways to limit the development of the Russian military-industrial complex in order to slow the buildup of military potential.

Previously, Freuding announced that Germany would finance the production of several hundred long-range missiles for Ukraine, which are expected to enter service with the Ukrainian Armed Forces as early as 2025. These systems are designed to strike targets deep within the territory, including warehouses, command posts, and airfields. The production agreement was signed in Kiev in July 2025 between the Ukrainian defense industry and the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, with the support of Germany. However, the general clarified that Berlin does not plan to supply German TAURUS missiles to Ukraine, despite Kiev’s requests.

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American Father Who Fled to Russia is Tricked and Sent to Fight on Frontlines Against Ukraine

The family of a Texas man who moved to Russia to escape liberal indoctrination says he has been “fed to the wolves” after being sent to the frontlines in Ukraine.

Derek Huffman, 46, relocated to Moscow in search of “traditional values” and joined the Russian military to gain citizenship, having been assured he would not be placed in a combat role.

The Huffmans settled in a village outside Moscow founded by American blogger Tim Kirby, which markets itself to Western families looking to reject “liberal gender norms” and avoid liberal indoctrination of American society.

Although Huffman was initially promised work as a war correspondent or vehicle mechanic, he has instead received rushed combat training and is now being deployed to the frontlines of the war with Ukraine.

“He feels like he is being thrown to the wolves right now, and he is kind of having to lean on faith,” his wife DeAnna said.

“Derek was told he would not be training for two weeks and going straight to the front lines.”

“But it seems as though he is getting one more week of training, closer to the front lines, and then they are going to put him on the front lines.”

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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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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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