Posts

Russia Cuts Deals with Cuba, Venezuela to Challenge U.S. in the West

/0 Comments/in , /by

Russia’s rubber-stamp legislature passed an “intergovernmental agreement on military cooperation” with the communist government of Cuba on Tuesday, formalizing an already existing alliance providing cannon fodder for the invasion of Ukraine.

Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro also announced on Tuesday that he had solidified a “strategic partnership” with Russia that could allow Moscow greater ability to leverage influence in the Western Hemisphere, challenging the United States.

According to the Russian news agency Tass, the upper house of the Duma ratified an agreement that “will provide legal grounds to define the goals, areas and forms of bilateral military cooperation,” suggesting that such cooperation already existed between the two countries informally. The agreement is one step below the commitments of the mutual defense treaty that Russia signed with North Korea in June 2024, which preceded Pyongyang admitting that it had deployed troops to the war theater against Ukraine in Kursk.

Alexander Stepanov, a purported Russian “military expert,” told Tass that the military agreement with Cuba was a form of retaliation against President Donald Trump for his ongoing support for Ukraine, in particular concerns that the United States may soon provide Ukraine with Tomahawk cruise missiles.

“This is about a symmetrical response to the potential supply of Tomahawks,” Stepanov stated plainly. “The ratified agreement maximally expands our military cooperation and allows, within the framework of bilateral interaction and in coordination with the government of the Republic of Cuba, to deploy virtually any offensive systems on the island’s territory.” (Read more from “Russia Cuts Deals with Cuba, Venezuela to Challenge U.S. in the West” HERE)

Photo credit: Flickr

Trump to Give Ukraine Intel for Attacks on Critical Energy Targets Deep Into Russia

/92 Comments/in , /by

By The War Zone. Reports indicate that the United States has agreed to provide Ukraine with targeting intelligence for its long-range strikes against Russian energy infrastructure. For many months now, Ukraine has been waging a campaign to degrade Russia’s oil and natural gas infrastructure, depriving it of critical resources for its offensive in Ukraine as well as revenue from energy exports.

According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, which cites unnamed U.S. administration officials, and another report from Reuters, the new policy is being adopted ahead of a possible transfer of longer-range and harder-hitting weapons that can be used against the same kinds of targets, and potentially others deep in Russia.

The officials who spoke to the WSJ reportedly said that President Donald Trump had recently signed off on the sharing of intelligence for the Ukrainian strikes, although the caveat that only attacks on energy infrastructure are covered is significant. Targeting data will be provided to Kyiv by U.S. intelligence agencies as well as the Pentagon. Meanwhile, U.S. officials are said to be pushing NATO allies to do the same.

This would be the first time, officially at least, that the Trump administration provides Ukraine with this kind of intelligence for its long-range strikes.

In the meantime, Ukraine has been repeatedly using long-range one-way attack drones, and to a lesser degree, cruise missiles of its own design, to hit Russian refineries, pipelines, power stations, and related infrastructure far beyond the front lines. (Read more from “Trump to Give Ukraine Intel for Attacks on Critical Energy Targets Deep Into Russia” HERE)

________________________________________________________

‘Impossible to believe’ Russia would attack NATO countries, says Putin

By The Sky News. Next up, Putin is attacking European countries that are “whipping up hysteria”, trying to “recreate the well-known enemy they invented hundreds of years ago: Russia”.

While Putin says that Europe’s “ruling elites” claim that war with Russia is near, he calls this “nonsense” that is “impossible to believe”. It would run counter to Russia’s security interests, he argues.

And European people are sceptical as well, as they “don’t know what is so bad about Russia and why they should tighten their belts to counter Russia”, the president says. (Read more from “‘Impossible to believe’ Russia would attack NATO countries, says Putin” HERE)

Russian Bear Nuclear Bombers Spotted Off Alaska Coast — Sending US Fighter Jets Scrambling

/1 Comment/in , /by

The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) detected two Russian nuclear bombers and fighter jets operating around Alaska’s air defense zone on Wednesday.

NORAD said two Tu-95 “Bear” bombers, which are nuclear-capable long-range bombers, and two Su-35 “Super Flanker” fighter jets were spotted at the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), adding that at no time did the jets enter America’s airspace.

“The Russian military aircraft remained in international airspace and did not enter American or Canadian sovereign airspace,” the agency said in a statement.

“This Russian activity in the Alaskan ADIZ occurs regularly and is not seen as a threat,” NORAD added.

The command subsequently responded to the Russian jets by deploying an E-3, four F-16s and four KC-135 tankers to the ADIZ. (Read more from “Russian Bear Nuclear Bombers Spotted Off Alaska Coast — Sending US Fighter Jets Scrambling” HERE)

Photo credit: Flickr

Zelensky Shares Ominous ‘Bomb Shelters’ Warning for Russian Officials Refusing to End War

/0 Comments/in , /by

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky ominously warned Russian officials to find the nearest bomb shelter if they continue to refuse to end the war.

“They have to know where the bomb shelters are,” Zelensky told Axios Wednesday. “They need it. If they will not stop the war, they will need it in any case.”

Zelensky went on to insist Ukraine would only target Kremlin officials and not Russian civilians because “we are not terrorists.”

“They have to know that we in Ukraine, each day, we will answer. If they attack us, we will answer them,” he said.

The threat came soon after President Trump made a surprise pivot by saying for the first time that he believes Ukraine could win the three-year war and retake land captured by Moscow.

Zelensky, who met with Trump this week while he was in New York for the UN General Assembly, said the president had suggested to him that Ukraine should repeatedly strike back against Russia. (Read more from. “Zelensky Shares Ominous ‘Bomb Shelters’ Warning for Russian Officials Refusing to End War” HERE)

Trump Says Ukraine Can Win Back All Lost Territory With NATO Support

/2 Comments/in , /by

Former U.S. President Donald Trump declared Tuesday that Ukraine, with backing from the European Union and NATO, can reclaim all of the territory it has lost to Russia since the start of the war, signaling a shift from his earlier position that both sides would need to make territorial concessions to achieve peace.

Speaking after his meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform, asserting that Ukraine’s pre-2022 borders remain a viable goal.

“With time, patience, and the financial support of Europe and, in particular, NATO, the original borders from where this war started are very much an option,” Trump wrote.

He went on to criticize Russia’s military performance in the war, calling it ineffective and directionless.

“Russia has been fighting aimlessly in a war that a real military power would have won in less than a week,” he wrote, adding that “Putin and Russia are in BIG economic trouble, and this is the time for Ukraine to act.”

Trump also reiterated that the United States would continue supplying weapons to NATO, “for NATO to do what they want with them” — suggesting a hands-off approach to how allies choose to support Kyiv militarily.

Trump has floated the idea of a direct meeting between Zelensky and Putin — potentially with himself as a participant — as part of a broader peace initiative. The proposal, while not formally endorsed by either side, remains a central element of Trump’s approach to ending the war, which began with Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Moscow has downplayed the idea of such a summit, saying that no meeting is planned and that any future talks would require a clear and well-structured agenda. Kyiv, for its part, has pointed to Russia’s ongoing military offensives and refusal to scale back its ambitions as evidence that Moscow is not serious about negotiations.

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr

Putin’s Right Hand Man Gives Middle Finger To Trump’s Peace Efforts

/0 Comments/in , /by

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov flatly rejected President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war in Ukraine.

Lavrov said territorial swaps would not “stop” Moscow’s campaign in a Tuesday meeting with foreign ambassadors, directly contradicting Trump’s proposal. The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) noted Trump recently argued peace would require land concessions. Lavrov also dismissed U.S. offers to restore trade ties as an incentive for Vladimir Putin.

He insisted any deal must resolve what the Kremlin calls the war’s “root causes,” which ISW analysts interpret as installing a pro-Russian government in Kiev, forcing Ukrainian neutrality and blocking NATO’s Open Door Policy.

Lavrov warned that Russia would view any European troops stationed in a postwar Ukraine as “legitimate military targets.” The threat echoed earlier declarations from senior Kremlin figures rejecting Western security guarantees for Kiev, according to ISW. (Read more from “Putin’s Right Hand Man Gives Middle Finger To Trump’s Peace Efforts” HERE)

Russia Is Losing the War in Ukraine, U.S. Envoy Keith Kellogg Says

/1 Comment/in , /by

Special Presidential Envoy Keith Kellogg on Monday said he and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff recently advised President Trump that Russia is losing its war on Ukraine — as Moscow has seen more than 1 million casualties while taking less than 1% of Ukrainian territory since November 2022.

Speaking at the Yalta European Security Conference in Kyiv, Kellogg revealed he and the chairman, Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, each reassured the president of Moscow’s wilting position roughly six weeks ago — shortly before Trump’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska.

“If Putin thinks Russia is winning, his definition of winning and my definition of winning are absolutely two different things,” Kellogg said. “If he was winning, he’d be in Kyiv. If he’s winning, he’d be west of the Dnipro River. If he was winning, he’d be on Odessa. If he was winning, he would have changed the government.

“Russia is, in fact, losing this war,” he added.

The two military experts gave their assessment in response to Trump’s then-prodding as to whether Putin’s grandstanding of supposed success in Ukraine was true, Kellogg said, giving a rare glimpse into private discussions at the White House. (Read more from “Russia Is Losing the War in Ukraine, U.S. Envoy Keith Kellogg Says” HERE)

Photo credit: Flickr

Trump Responds to Russian Drone Incursion Over Poland: ‘Here We Go!’

/0 Comments/in , /by

President Trump put out a cryptic response Wednesday to news overnight that Russian drones have been shot down over Polish territory.

“What’s with Russia violating Poland’s airspace with drones?” the president wrote on Truth Social before adding: “Here we go!”

Trump spoke to Polish President Karol Nawrocki about the drone incursion on Wednesday, per a European source.

The president did not immediately say how the US would react to the strikes and whether he thought NATO’s Article 5 should be invoked.

Poland was waiting to gather intelligence from allies, including the US, and was set to hold a national security council meeting on Thursday. (Read more from “Trump Responds to Russian Drone Incursion Over Poland: ‘Here We Go!’” HERE)

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr

Ukrainian Refugee Iryna Zarutska’s Look of Horror After She Was Fatally Stabbed on Train — As Her Final Moments Are Revealed

/1 Comment/in , , /by

Slaughtered Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska looked up at her killer with terror in her eyes after he repeatedly stabbed her with a pocket knife, as no passengers came immediately to her aid, disturbing newly-released surveillance footage shows.

The new extended clip from the Aug. 22 attack on the Lynx Blue Line train shows the 23-year-old cowering in fear and covering her face with her hands after the shocking, unprovoked attack, allegedly carried out by homeless repeat felon Decarlos Brown Jr.

Zarutska, who had come to the US in 2022 seeking safety after Russia invaded her country, pulls up her legs, which can be seen spattered with blood in the video.

It comes as the FBI announced on Monday that Brown was hit with federal charges on top of the state murder rap he already faces. The penalty includes the possibility of the death sentence if he is convicted.

She then falls to the floor about 15 seconds later, the video shows. (Read more from “Ukrainian Refugee Iryna Zarutska’s Look of Horror After She Was Fatally Stabbed on Train — As Her Final Moments Are Revealed” HERE)

Photo credit: Flickr

Russia Hammers Ukraine With One of the Largest Air Strikes of the War

/2 Comments/in , /by

Russia launched one of its biggest aerial attacks of the year on Ukraine, firing 574 drones and 40 ballistic and cruise missiles overnight, the Ukrainian Air Force said Thursday, while a recent diplomatic push to stop the three-year war is trying to gain momentum.

The attack mostly targeted western regions of the country, the air force said, where much of the military aid provided by Ukraine´s Western allies is believed to be delivered and stored. The strikes killed at least one person and injured 15 others, according to officials.

It was Russia´s third-largest aerial attack this year in terms of the number of drones fired and the eighth-largest in terms of missiles, according to official figures. Most such Russian attacks have hit civilian areas.

The strikes occurred during a renewed U.S.-led effort to reach a peace settlement following Russia´s February 2022 invasion of its neighbor. U.S. President Donald Trump discussed the war with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska last week, and at the start of this week hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders at the White House. (Read more from “Russia Hammers Ukraine With One of the Largest Air Strikes of the War” HERE)

Photo credit: Flickr