Wednesday, 23 July 2025

Kremlin slams ‘militarization’ over reports of US nukes in UK

Kremlin slams ‘militarization’ over reports of US nukes in UK

Kremlin slams ‘militarization’ over reports of US nukes in UK




FILE PHOTO. Kremlin. © Getty Images / iDymax






Russia sees no grounds to hold a summit of the ‘Nuclear Five’, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said, citing what Moscow views as a deliberate Western policy of escalating tensions and nuclear militarization.







Speaking to journalists on Tuesday, Peskov was asked to comment on recent reports that the US had deployed tactical nuclear weapons to the UK for the first time in nearly two decades. Reporters asked whether this would be the right time to revive a summit of the five permanent UN Security Council nuclear powers – Russia, China, the US, UK, and France. President Vladimir Putin had previously proposed such a meeting in 2020.


“Our relevant agencies are monitoring the developments in this area and are formulating tasks to ensure our security against the backdrop of what is happening,” Peskov replied.


However, he emphasized that Moscow does not believe current conditions are suitable for a summit of the group of the five nuclear states. “We see a line towards escalation of tension, towards militarization, including nuclear militarization,” Peskov said.


Earlier this week, several media outlets, including The Times and The War Zone, reported that the US had deployed B61-12 thermonuclear gravity bombs to Royal Air Force Lakenheath base in Suffolk. They cited flight tracking data showing a C-17 transport plane flying from Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico to the UK last Thursday. Analysts said the flight appeared to be a one-way drop-off.


If confirmed, this would be the first time since 2008 that US nuclear weapons have been stationed in the UK. RAF Lakenheath hosted such weapons during the Cold War.


Neither the US Air Force nor British officials have publicly commented on the reported deployment.

















Tuesday, 22 July 2025

Russian media shows ‘largest drone assembly plant in the world’- Video

Russian media shows ‘largest drone assembly plant in the world’- Video

Russian media shows ‘largest drone assembly plant in the world’- Video




Source: Zvezda TV channel






Russian TV channel Zvezda has offered a rare peek into what it describes as the “largest drone assembly plant in the world” in the central part of the country, which produces thousands of drones to be used in the Ukraine conflict.







The report which aired on Sunday shows a vast drone manufacturing facility in the Alabuga Special Economic Zone in Tatarstan Region, more than 1,200km from the front line.


The plant focuses on producing Geran drones, described by Zvezda as “simple, cheap, and... mass-produced,” and highly accurate. Footage from the facility shows long rows of Geran airframes slightly taller than the height of an average person.


Timur Shagivaleev, the general director of Alabuga, said the current output has far exceeded initial expectations. “At one time there was a plan to produce several thousand Gerans. Right now, we are producing nine times more than the original plan,” he stated, without specifying the timeframe.


Source: Zvezda TV channel





The Geran is a long-range loitering munition with a delta-wing design and rear-mounted pusher propeller. It can carry an explosive payload of 40-50kg, has a cruising speed of around 180kph, and can travel over 1,000km on a single mission.


Most of the workforce at the plant are young people, many of whom come from a nearby college, which was set up by those who organized the Geran production, according to the report.


Zvezda said the plant was built from the ground up within the Alabuga economic zone. Before the escalation of the Ukraine conflict, it focused on attracting international technology and building import-substitution capabilities.


The report also featured a facility that assembles lighter reconnaissance and strike UAVs. Many of these drones are equipped with fiber-optic cables to withstand electronic jamming.


Russia has used mass-produced drones extensively in Ukraine to target expensive Western-supplied armored vehicles, troop concentrations, and military-related facilities, with Ukrainian officials saying recent strikes involved hundreds of drones.


Moscow maintains that it never targets civilians and that the drone strikes are a response to Kiev’s attacks on residential areas and critical infrastructure in Russia.
































Friday, 18 July 2025

Russian ‘alligator’ obliterates Ukrainian drone - Video

Russian ‘alligator’ obliterates Ukrainian drone - Video

Russian ‘alligator’ obliterates Ukrainian drone - Video




©Social media






A new video appeared online on Thursday purportedly showing the moment a Russian Ka-52 ‘Alligator’ attack helicopter took down a Ukrainian kamikaze drone.







The video, said to be taken by fishermen in Lipetsk Region, shows a large fixed-wing UAV flying at low altitude.


The aircraft is chased by the attack helicopter, which shoots an anti-aircraft missile at the drone out of view of the camera. The blast shatters the drone into small bits to the cheers of the fishermen, the video shows.


Moscow has been actively using attack helicopters as interceptors to repel Ukrainian long-range drone attacks. Conventional fighter jets are not suited for such a role, as the low speeds and altitudes of the drones pose a danger to intercepting aircraft.







Kiev’s attempts to use fighter jets to repel Russian Geran-2 kamikaze drone strikes have repeatedly resulted in loss of the aircraft due to technical reasons, friendly fire from the ground, and damage sustained by the jets from UAVs exploding mid-air.


Both sides of the conflict have actively exchanged long-range strikes lately. In recent days, for instance, the Russian military repeatedly attacked so-called Territorial Centers of Recruitment and Social Support (TCR) enlistment offices overseeing Ukraine’s chaotic mobilization drive, as well as other military and dual-use targets.


The Ukrainian military has continued its apparently indiscriminate attack on Russia. This week, Voronezh became one of the prime targets for Kiev’s troops, who scored multiple hits on residential buildings across the city.


The Russian authorities have accused Ukraine of resorting to attacks on civilian infrastructure to compensate for military setbacks on the front line. Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky reiterated on Sunday his intention to “bring the war to Russian territory,” saying his government is planning additional long-range strikes against the country.


































Thursday, 17 July 2025

Strike on Gaza Catholic church kills two, injures several, Patriarchate says

Strike on Gaza Catholic church kills two, injures several, Patriarchate says

Strike on Gaza Catholic church kills two, injures several, Patriarchate says




]A wounded Palestinian Christian woman is brought into at Al-Ahli Arab Hospital following an Israeli strike on The Church of the Holy Family, according to medics, in Gaza City July 17, 2025.... Purchase Licensing Rights






Israeli forces killed at least 22 people in attacks in the Gaza Strip on Thursday and several were hurt in a strike on a church that late Pope Francis used to speak to regularly, medics and church officials said.







Eight men tasked with protecting aid trucks were reported among the dead in airstrikes that were carried out as mediators continued ceasefire talks in Doha.


A U.S. official said this week the talks were going well but two officials from the Palestinian militant group Hamas told Reuters they had made no progress on key issues and had stalled.


Several people were wounded in a morning "raid" on the Holy Family Church, including parish priest Gabriel Romanelli, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said in a statement in the incident at the only Catholic church in Gaza.


Father Romanelli, an Argentine, used to regularly update the late Pope Francis about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. TV footage showed him sitting receiving treatment at Al-Ahly Hospital in Gaza, with a bandage around his lower right leg.


"The attacks against the civilian population that Israel has been carrying out for months are unacceptable. No military action can justify such an attitude," Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said in a statement.


The Vatican did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it was looking into the matter.


Palestinian medics said one airstrike on Thursday had killed a man, his wife and their five children in Jabalia in northern Gaza, and that another in the north had killed eight men who had been handed responsibility for protecting aid trucks.


Three people were killed in an airstrike in central Gaza and four in Zeitoun in eastern Gaza, medics said.



Italian PM slams Israeli forces over attack on church in Gaza



Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Thursday slammed Israel's deadly attack on a Catholic church in Gaza.


Two women were killed in the attack, according to press reports.


"Israeli raids on Gaza also hit the Holy Family Church. The attacks against the civilian population that Israel has been carrying out for months are unacceptable," Meloni wrote on X.


No military action can justify Israel's actions, she said.


Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani also described the attack as a "serious act against a Christian place of worship," adding that it is "time to stop and find peace."


"The attacks by the Israeli army against the civilian population in Gaza are no longer acceptable," Tajani wrote on X.






























Syrian president condemns Israel’s attacks on Damascus

Syrian president condemns Israel’s attacks on Damascus

Syrian president condemns Israel’s attacks on Damascus




Men walk among debris, after powerful airstrikes shook Damascus on Wednesday, targeting the defense ministry, as Israel vowed to destroy Syrian government forces attacking Druze communities in southern Syria and demanded their withdrawal, in... Purchase Licensing Rights






Israel launched powerful airstrikes in Damascus on Wednesday, blowing up part of the defence ministry and hitting near the presidential palace as it vowed to destroy government forces attacking Druze in southern Syria and demanded they withdraw.







The attacks marked a significant Israeli escalation against the Islamist-led administration of interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa. They came despite his warming ties with the U.S. and his administration's evolving security contacts with Israel.


Syria’s interim president has condemned Israel for “wide-scale targeting of civilian and government facilities” after the Israeli military struck Damascus on Wednesday as it sought to intervene in clashes between the Syrian army and Druze fighters


Describing Syria's new rulers as barely disguised jihadists, Israel has said it will not let them move forces into southern Syria and vowed to shield the area's Druze community from attack, encouraged by calls from Israel's own Druze minority.


"We have engaged all the parties involved in the clashes in Syria. We have agreed on specific steps that will bring this troubling and horrifying situation to an end tonight," Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on social media.


The United Nations Security Council will meet on Thursday to address the conflict, diplomats said.


"The council must condemn the barbaric crimes committed against innocent civilians on Syrian soil," said Israel's ambassador to the U.N., Danny Danon. "Israel will continue to act resolutely against any terrorist threat on its borders, anywhere and at any time."


On Wednesday, the Syrian government and one of the three spiritual leaders of the Syrian Druze community announced a ceasefire. It was unclear if the truce would hold, however, as another spiritual leader, Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri, vowed to keep fighting, calling the government a collection of “armed gangs”.


Syria said its army had begun to withdraw from Sweida, after the US call for government forces to leave the majority-Druze southern city. The Syrian government statement did not mention any withdrawal of other government security forces, which had deployed to the city on Tuesday with the stated aim of overseeing a previous truce agreed with Druze community leaders after days of deadly fighting with local Bedouin tribes.


Sharaa said in his televised address that those responsible for violence against Druze people would be held accountable as the Druze “are under the protection and responsibility of the state”. He added that “responsibility” for security in Sweida would be handed over to elders and local factions.


The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said the 350 killed in Sweida province violence included government forces, local fighters and 27 Druze civilians killed in “summary executions”.


Diplomats said the UN security council would meet on Thursday to address the Syrian conflict.


The clashes this week pitting mostly Sunni government forces against Druze fighters have prompted fears of a wider sectarian conflict. The violence is the most serious challenge to Damascus’s rule since the coastal massacres and has threatened to further push away everyday Druze from the state.


The Syrian army entered Sweida on Sunday in an attempt to restore calm between Druze fighters and Arab Bedouin tribes. Some Druze militias have vowed to prevent Syrian government forces entering Sweida and have attacked them, leading to escalating clashes.


As government forces entered Sweida, accounts of human rights abuses began to emerge.


Israel’s attacks on Wednesday marked a significant escalation against Sharaa’s Islamist-led administration. They came despite his warming ties with the US and his administration’s evolving security contacts with Israel.


After calls in Israel to help Druze in Syria, scores of Israeli Druze broke through the border fence on Wednesday, linking up with Druze on the Syrian side, a Reuters witness said.


The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said the Israeli military was working to help the Druze and urged Israeli Druze citizens not to cross the border. The Israeli military said it was working to safely return civilians who had crossed.



























Tuesday, 15 July 2025

Dmitry Trenin - World War III has already begun

Dmitry Trenin - World War III has already begun

Dmitry Trenin - World War III has already begun




©Getty Images/Getty Images






by: Dmitry Trenin is a research professor at the Higher School of Economics and a lead research fellow at the Institute of World Economy and International Relations. He is also a member of the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC).






Many now speak of humanity’s drift towards World War III, imagining events similar to those of the 20th century. But war evolves. It will not begin with a June 1941 Barbarossa-style invasion or a Cuban Missile Crisis-style nuclear standoff. In fact, the new world war is already underway – it’s just that not everyone has recognized it yet.







For Russia, the pre-war period ended in 2014. For China, it was 2017. For Iran, 2023. Since then, war – in its modern, diffuse form – has intensified. This is not a new Cold War. Since 2022, the West’s campaign against Russia has grown more decisive. The risk of direct nuclear confrontation with NATO over the Ukraine conflict is rising. Donald Trump’s return to the White House created a temporary window in which such a clash could be avoided, but by mid-2025, hawks in the US and Western Europe had pushed us dangerously close again.


This war involves the world’s leading powers: the United States and its allies on one side, China and Russia on the other. It is global, not because of its scale, but because of the stakes: the future balance of power. The West sees the rise of China and the resurgence of Russia as existential threats. Its counteroffensive, economic and ideological, is meant to put a halt to that shift.


It is a war of survival for the West, not just geopolitically but ideologically. Western globalism – whether economic, political, or cultural – cannot tolerate alternative civilizational models. Post-national elites in the US and Western Europe are committed to preserving their dominance. A diversity of worldviews, civilizational autonomy, and national sovereignty are seen not as options, but as threats.


This explains the severity of the West’s response. When Joe Biden told Brazil’s President Lula that he wanted to “destroy” Russia, he revealed the truth behind euphemisms like “strategic defeat.” Western-backed Israel has shown how total this doctrine is – first in Gaza, then Lebanon, and finally Iran. In early June, a similar strategy was used in attacks on Russian airfields. Reports suggest US and British involvement in both cases. To Western planners, Russia, Iran, China and North Korea are part of a single axis. That belief shapes military planning.


Compromise is no longer part of the game. What we’re seeing are not temporary crises but rolling conflicts. Eastern Europe and the Middle East are the two current flashpoints. A third has long been identified: East Asia, particularly Taiwan. Russia is directly engaged in Ukraine, holds stakes in the Middle East, and may become involved in the Pacific.


The war is no longer about occupation, but destabilization. The new strategy focuses on sowing internal disorder: economic sabotage, social unrest, and psychological attrition. The West’s plan for Russia is not defeat on the battlefield, but gradual internal collapse.


Its tactics are all-encompassing. Drone strikes target infrastructure and nuclear facilities. Political assassinations are no longer off-limits. Journalists, negotiators, scientists, and even their families are being hunted. Residential neighborhoods, schools, and hospitals are not collateral damage – they are targets. This is total war.


This is underpinned by dehumanization. Russians are portrayed not just as enemies but as subhuman. Western societies are manipulated to accept this. Information control, censorship, and historical revisionism are used to justify the war. Those who question the dominant narrative are labelled traitors.


Meanwhile, the West exploits the more open systems of its adversaries. After refusing to interfere in foreign politics for decades, Russia now finds itself on the defensive. But those days must end. As our enemies coordinate their attacks, we must disrupt their unity. The European Union is not a monolith. Hungary, Slovakia, and much of southern Europe are not eager for escalation. These internal fractures must be widened.


Western strength lies in unity among its elites and their ideological control over their populations. But this unity is not invulnerable. The Trump administration presents tactical opportunities. His return has already reduced US involvement in Ukraine. Yet Trumpism should not be romanticized. The American elite remains largely hostile to Russia. There will be no new détente.


The war in Ukraine is becoming a war between Western Europe and Russia. British and French missiles already strike Russian targets. NATO intelligence is embedded in Ukrainian operations. EU countries are training Ukrainian forces and planning attacks together. Ukraine is just a tool. Brussels is preparing for a wider war.


What we must ask is: Is Western Europe preparing to defend or attack? Many of its leaders have lost their strategic judgment. But the hostility is real. The goal is no longer containment, but to “solve the Russian question” once and for all. Any illusion that business as usual will return must be discarded.


We are in for a long war. It will not end like in 1945, nor settle into Cold War coexistence. The decades ahead will be turbulent. Russia must fight for its rightful place in a new world order.


So, what must we do?


First of all, we must strengthen our home front. We need mobilization, but not the rigid models of the Soviet past. We need smart, adaptive mobilization across all sectors – economic, technological, and demographic. Russia’s political leadership is a strategic asset. It must remain steady and visionary.


We must promote internal unity, social justice, and patriotism. Every citizen must feel the stakes. We must align our fiscal, industrial, and technological policy with the realities of a long-term war. Fertility policy and migration control must reverse our demographic decline.


Secondly, we must consolidate our external alliances. Belarus is a strong ally in the west. North Korea has shown reliability in the east. But we lack a similar partner in the south. This gap must be addressed.


The Israel-Iran war offers important lessons. Our adversaries coordinate tightly. We must do the same. Not by copying NATO, but by forging our own model of strategic cooperation.


We should also pursue tactical engagement with the Trump administration. If it allows us to weaken the US war effort in Europe, we should exploit it. But we must not confuse tactics with strategy. American foreign policy remains fundamentally adversarial.


Fellow European powers like Britain, France, and Germany must be made to understand they are vulnerable. Their capitals are not immune. The same message should reach Finland, Poland, and the Baltics. Provocations must be met swiftly and decisively.


If escalation is inevitable, we must consider pre-emptive action – firstly with conventional arms. And if necessary, we must be ready to use ‘special means’, including nuclear weapons, with full awareness of the consequences. Deterrence must be both passive and active.


Our mistake in Ukraine was waiting too long. Delay created the illusion of weakness. That must not be repeated. Victory means breaking the enemy’s plans, not occupying territory.


Finally, we must penetrate the West’s information shield. The battlefield now includes narratives, alliances, and public opinion. Russia must once again learn to engage in others’ domestic politics, not as an aggressor, but as a defender of truth.


The time for illusions is over. We are in a world war. The only path forward is through bold, strategic action.


































Monday, 14 July 2025

Iranian president lightly wounded while escaping Israeli attack

Iranian president lightly wounded while escaping Israeli attack

Iranian president lightly wounded while escaping Israeli attack










Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian was reportedly slightly injured during one of Israel's attacks on Iran last month.







Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian suffered minor injuries in an Israeli air strike on a meeting of the Supreme National Security Council in Tehran on June 15, a senior Iranian official said.


The assassination attempt targeted the heads of the three branches of government in an effort to overthrow it, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity


Iran's state Fars news agency, close to the revolutionary guard, says that on 16 June, six bombs targeted both access and entry points of a secret underground facility in Tehran where Pezeshkian was attending an emergency meeting of the Supreme National Security Council.


The president is said to have suffered leg injuries as he and others escaped through an emergency shaft. Iran is now reported to be following leads of infiltration by Israeli agents.


The Fars report has not been independently verified. Israel has not publicly commented on the report.


Videos posted on social media during the 12-day war showed repeated strikes against a mountain side in north-western Tehran.


Now it has emerged that the strikes on the fourth day of war targeted a secret underground facility in Tehran where Iran's top leaders were at the time.


The Fars news agency report says the Israeli strikes blocked all the six entry and exit points, and also the ventilation system.


The electricity to the facility was also cut off - but Pezeshkian managed to reach safety.


“This attempt will not pass without Israel paying a price,” he told said.


The strike was carried out shortly before noon during a meeting attended by the heads of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the government along with other senior officials.


The semiofficial Fars news agency also reported new details on the assassination attempt during Israel’s 12-day war with Iran, which was first announced by the Iranian president in an interview released on Monday.


The session was taking place in the lower level of a government facility in western Tehran when the attack started, Fars reported. The building’s entrances and exits were hit by six missiles to block escape routes and cut off air flow.



‘They did try’



Last week, Pezeshkian said in an interview with US media figure Tucker Carlson that Israel attempted to assassinate him. “They did try, yes … but they failed,” he said.


“It was not the United States that was behind the attempt on my life. It was Israel. I was in a meeting… They tried to bombard the area in which we were holding that meeting.”


The comments come less than a month after Israel launched its unprecedented June 13 bombing campaign against Iran, killing top military commanders and nuclear scientists.


The Israeli attacks took place two days before Tehran and Washington were set to meet for a new round of nuclear talks, stalling negotiations aimed at reaching a deal over Iran’s atomic programme.


At least 1,060 people were killed in Iran during the conflict, according to Iran’s Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs.


The Israeli attacks drew waves of retaliatory drone and missile fire, killing 28 people in Israel, according to authorities.


Iran targeted Israeli military and intelligence headquarters with ballistic missiles and drones before the US brokered a ceasefire.