Ukraine and the European Union have essentially lost the conflict with Russia but lack the courage to admit it and take responsibility for the consequences, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Friday.
“Russia is nearing victory, while Ukraine has effectively lost this war – and Europe has lost it alongside Ukraine. Yet no one has the courage to admit this or take responsibility for the consequences. Instead, they are acting as if this war can be won, even though victory is impossible to achieve on the front lines. What is needed is diplomacy, a ceasefire, and peace negotiations,” Orban told Kossuth Radio.
The Hungarian prime minister estimated that Europe and the United States had spent a combined 310 billion euros ($362 billion) on Ukraine, which he called a “horrific” sum that would have “worked miracles” if invested in the European economy. Instead, the money “went down the drain,” he said, warning the West that it is making a grave mistake in Ukraine that will come at a high price.
Ukraine’s EU Entry Bid Currently a No-Go
A country where military enlistment officers beat people to death during forced mobilization cannot join the European Union, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Friday, commenting on the death of a Hungarian man from Transcarpathia in Ukraine.
Forty-five-year-old Jozsef Sebestyen died in hospital three weeks after employees of Ukraine’s territorial center of recruitment grabbed him on the street in Ukraine, shoved him into a minibus, took him to a recruiting station and beat him with metal rods, the Magyar Nemzet newspaper reported on Thursday, citing his relatives. The sister of the deceased posted footage of the Ukrainian military abusing her brother, it added. The Hungarian Foreign Ministry summoned Ukrainian Ambassador to Budapest Fedir Shandor over the incident.
“A country where people are beaten to death as a result of forced mobilization cannot be a member of the European Union. Beyond the fact that we pray and do everything for the family of the deceased, this is a warning shot towards Hungary,” Orban told Kossuth Radio.
When asked to comment on a statement by the Ukrainian army claiming that Sebestyen had allegedly been drafted into the Ukrainian military on legal grounds and that he had not been subjected to cruel treatment by military registration office employees, Orban said that does not satisfy Hungary, because Hungary knows for certain that forced mobilization is taking place in Ukraine.
“The only way to end the war that Ukraine and Europe lost is through diplomacy, but no one has the courage to admit it. Instead, the Ukrainians are acting as if it can be won,” Orban said.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has said that the Ukrainian authorities have not responded to accusations of harassment of Transcarpathian Hungarians for years, and now many of them are being mobilized by brute force into the Ukrainian troops. The forced mobilization of ethnic Hungarians into the Ukrainian army violates human rights, the minister said.
Ukraine announced martial law and general mobilization after Russia launched its special military operation in February 2022. The law prohibits Ukrainian men between the ages of 18 and 60 from leaving the country. Evasion from military service during mobilization is punishable by criminal liability in the form of imprisonment for up to five years.
Reports in Cyprus and Greece are speaking of “Cyprus becoming the new Zionist promised land.” Hours after Israel initiated a military strike against Iran, numerous Israelis became stranded in Cyprus due to the cancellation of flights to and from the Jewish state. Over a week later, the Hasidic movement, better known in Cyprus as Chabad, a global ultra-Orthodox Jewish movement, continues to house a substantial number of Israeli nationals throughout the Island. As reported by Rabbi Zeev Raskin, the chief Lubavitch rabbi of Cyprus, in a statement to the local media outlet Politis, “over the past ten days, 12,000 Jews have visited the six Chabad houses situated on the island. During their visits, they have been provided with food, assistance with accommodation, and various types of emergency support”. The Rabi further estimated that ”by Sunday morning last week, there were still 15,000 Jews living in Cyprus.”
Raskin noted that in recent years, Cyprus’s geographical position near the coast of Israel has led to its characterisation as “Israel’s back door”. Following the closure of Israel’s airspace in March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, numerous Israelis chose to prolong their holidays in Cyprus. Furthermore, in the wake of the Oct 7 attack, a remarkable influx of 5,000 Jews arrived in Cyprus within a single day. However, nothing could have predicted the extraordinary increase in Israeli land acquisition in Cyprus, to the alarming point it has reached today.
VIDEO: What’s happening in Cyprus? 15,000 Israeli citizens arrive and build a secret community overnight! (Source: PowerAxis)
Stefanos Stefanu, the Secretary-General of the left-wing AKEL party in Cyprus, has raised concerns regarding the increasing volume of Israeli land acquisitions in southern Cyprus. While speaking to party members at the AKEL congress, Stefanu characterised this trend as an emerging national security issue. He noted that Israeli nationals are purchasing extensive tracts of land and significant economic resources, in addition to setting up schools, synagogues, and various community amenities. He cautioned that such developments could result in the formation of isolated, self-sufficient enclaves on the island. Social media posts linked to AKEL have repeated the party’s concerns, using terms such as “New Israel” and “the new country occupied by Israel.”
The real estate sector in Cyprus is witnessing a significant surge in investment from Israel, as evidenced by the recent declaration of a new collaboration worth several tens of millions of euros. Aviation Connections, along with the Shagrau-Leibovitz Group and Attorney Amir Chen, a prominent partner at the “FBC” law firm, have declared the formation of a new entrepreneurial alliance in the real estate sector in Cyprus. In the context of the partnership, the company intends to acquire approximately 2,000 square meters of land situated on the beachfront and adjacent to the new port under development in Larnaca, to erect an opulent residential and commercial tower.
Media outlets like Coastal Digest have already reported the significant influx of Israeli settlers moving to Cyprus, raising alarms about what analysts refer to as a “silent occupation.” In the wake of Israel’s recent military actions in Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran, Israeli purchasers have rapidly acquired properties throughout the island, while thousands are said to have moved there in search of real estate and to establish enclaves of exclusive luxury resorts and communities designed specifically for wealthy settlers.
This trend marks the third significant wave of Israeli migration to Cyprus, propelled by a combination of the consequences of war, economic challenges, and internal political turmoil within Israel.The Coastal Digest report mentions the work of Dimitri Lascaris, an investigative journalist and activist, who is highlighting the rapid real estate purchases in Cyprus by Israelis amid regional turmoil, warning of a deeper agenda.
Lascaris warns of further complications:
“an underlying agenda, stating that Cyprus has historically been viewed by Zionist ideologues as a potential site for a Jewish settlement due to its proximity to Israel and suitability for European-style development. Lascaris draws a link to early Zionist ambitions for Cyprus, recalling the Third Zionist Congress of 1899 when David Trietsch and Theodor Herzl both championed Cyprus as a base for Jewish settlement, precursor to claiming Israel itself by force.”
“This migration, which has swelled Cyprus’s Israeli community from 6,500 in 2018 to over 12,000 by April 2024, has sparked an influx of 250-300 Israelis monthly. This quiet but steady stream has led to a larger presence of Israelis in Cyprus, with many pursuing strategic real estate purchases despite legal restrictions. Under Cypriot law, foreign entities can only acquire 500 square meters of land. However, by registering as Northern Cyprus firms and securing at least 51% Turkish Cypriot ownership, Israeli companies can circumvent this rule, enabling them to buy extensive tracts of land.”
“Cyprus’s geopolitical position-close to Israel, with NATO membership and new gas reserves-amplifies the strategic importance of this quiet expansion. Additionally, the island hosts a significant UK military base at Akrotiri, which has served as a launch point for aircraft bound for the Palestinian territories, further heightening the controversy around Israeli-Cypriot connections. Economically, the high cost of living in Israel and divisive internal issues, such as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s contentious judicial reforms, have also driven migration from the occupied lands. According to a Hebrew-language report by Maariv, the first seven months of 2024 saw an exodus of 40,000 Israeli settlers -nearly triple previous years’ numbers-primarily to Cyprus and other nearby regions.”
On the Greek Cyprus side of the Island, the increasing number of Israeli investors purchasing real estate has provoked significant public and political opposition. This trend, especially prevalent in the Larnaca and Limassol areas, has led to allegations from opposition leaders that Israel is creating a de facto presence on the island. Concerns are also growing regarding the demographic and geopolitical implications, particularly from the viewpoints of Türkiye and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). Residents from the Greek Cypriot Administration and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) are questioning whether Israel is engaging in similar tactics in Cyprus as it previously did in Palestine. In recent years, Zionists have acquired tens of thousands of acres of land in the TRNC, leading to the establishment of colonies (settlements) on the island. Additionally, numerous Jews fleeing the conflict in Ukraine and the one in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) have been resettled in Cyprus.
The Cypriot town of Pyla has become an “unofficial Israeli hub”, and local legislators and mayors alike are now raising the alarm. Greatreporter has the story…
Ultra-Orthodox Jews arrive in Larnaka International Airport, Greek Cyprus, June 2025 (Source: Chabad of Cyprus)
Israel is preparing a ‘backyard’ in Cyprus… This cannot but sound the alarm for us!
As war rages in Gaza and regional escalation with Iran deepens, a quiet but dramatic shift is unfolding just across the Mediterranean. Cyprus, long seen as a neutral tourist haven, is now absorbing thousands of Israeli nationals — many of them settlers, elites, and fleeing civilians — in a wave that is transforming the island’s demography, economy, and politics.
According to Cyprus’s main opposition party, AKEL, this is no ordinary migration. It is, in their words, the construction of “a backyard” — a satellite enclave of Israeli influence, economic power, and potential intelligence infrastructure, rising just beyond the reach of missiles, but still close enough to matter.
“Israeli buyers are purchasing significant land parcels and strategic economic assets,” warned AKEL spokesperson Stefanos Stefanou in June. “They are building Zionist schools, synagogues, gated enclaves… Israel is preparing a backyard in Cyprus, and this cannot but sound the alarm for us.”
A Three-Wave Exodus: From Pandemic to War
The Israeli presence in Cyprus has expanded in three clear waves:
The Pandemic Wave (2020–2021):
During COVID-19, many affluent Israelis fled strict lockdowns and a strained health system for Cyprus’s EU-standard care and relaxed lifestyle. Property sales surged in resort towns like Paphos and Limassol.
The Judicial Reform Crisis (2023):
As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched controversial judicial reforms, mass protests erupted across Israel. Thousands began to hedge their bets — and their real estate — by acquiring homes abroad. Cyprus, just 40 minutes by air, became a popular fallback.
The War and Retaliation Wave (2023–2025):
The most recent and explosive surge began after October 7 and intensified with Iran’s missile strikes on Tel Aviv and Haifa. With air routes disrupted and a growing sense of national vulnerability, thousands fled. According to Chabad Cyprus, over 12,000 Israelis passed through their centers in just 10 days, seeking food, shelter, and emergency repatriation services.
Town-by-Town: A New Geography of Influence
The numbers tell a striking story.
Limassol: 1,154 Israeli property purchases (511 with title deeds), with heavy clustering in spa and luxury resort areas like Pyla, Ormideia, and Pervolia.
Paphos: 1,291 property transactions by Israelis, including 867 full title deeds.
Larnaca: 1,406 purchases (481 deeds), particularly close to the airport and Chabad’s main synagogue in Pyla.
In total, nearly 4,000 Israeli-linked properties have been acquired across southern Cyprus since 2021.
“Israelis tend to buy large land parcels, featuring spas and resorts — gated communities, so to speak. Pyla has become their unofficial hub.”
‘A Second Israel’ — Population Doubling in 5 Years
In 2018, about 6,500 Israeli nationals resided in Cyprus. By mid-2025, that number has more than doubled to approximately 15,000 — and growing. This includes entire families, business owners, and settlers fleeing West Bank outposts amid regional instability.
Chabad reports show that:
“More than 12,000 Israeli Jews passed through our six houses in 10 days during the Iran crisis,” said Rabbi Zeev Raskin. “Many of them had no plans to return.”
Locals Alarmed: ‘Land Doesn’t Belong to Us Anymore’
AKEL’s fears are not limited to real estate. In their June address, the party highlighted national security, economic justice, and cultural sovereignty:
“At some point, we’ll discover our own land doesn’t belong to us,” said Stefanu. “These are not just holiday homes. These are settlements in all but name.”
The pattern is familiar. Enclaves emerge. Locals are priced out. Infrastructure — synagogues, kosher supermarkets, private schools — is built quickly. The same settler-colonial template used in the West Bank now appears to be taking root in places like Pyla and Limassol.
Cypriot media outlets, including Politis and Cyprus Mail, have published growing numbers of investigative reports about gated communities, property speculation, and political pressure to crack down on Golden Visa abuse.
Strategic Concerns: Mossad, RAF Bases, and Foreign Control
Security experts have also raised concerns. A Haaretz exposé recently confirmed that Israeli intelligence agencies are active in Cyprus, using the island for “safehouse operations” and staging points. Cyprus also hosts RAF Akrotiri, a major British military base used for reconnaissance missions over Gaza, further complicating the geopolitical picture.
In Turkish-administered Northern Cyprus, land purchases by Israelis have been drastically restricted, with authorities imposing new regulations. But in Greek-administered areas, no such constraints exist, and bilateral agreements between Cyprus and Israel are shielding the real estate boom from meaningful oversight.
“Cyprus cannot afford to become a forward operating base for another state,” one European security official warned. “It risks destabilising the island and compromising its neutrality.”
Faith, Flight, and a Fading Zionist Dream
At the heart of this phenomenon lies a powerful contradiction: If Israel is a divine homeland, why are its people abandoning it?
Many of the Israelis relocating to Cyprus are not rejecting Zionism — they’re exporting it. They bring with them the ideologies, infrastructure, and investment strategies that have transformed Palestine into a patchwork of enclaves. And now, as they take root in Cyprus, many locals fear they are watching the early stages of a new settler project.
The Israeli state is doing everything it can to reverse the trend. El Al has launched discounted repatriation flights. Media campaigns appeal to patriotism. But many have tasted the safety, prosperity, and freedom of life abroad. And they are not coming back.
“We tried to go to Israel by yacht, by helicopter,” said one Israeli evacuee to The National. “But Cyprus just felt safer. For now, we’ll stay.”
A Nation at a Crossroads
What began as a trickle of Israeli tourism has become a full-blown demographic shift. What some once called a “second home” now feels like a “second Israel.” And for Cyprus, a country still grappling with its own partition and history of foreign interference, the warning signs are clear.
As Stefanos Stefanou put it:
“This cannot but sound the alarm for us. We must ask — are we selling homes, or are we selling sovereignty?”
Hungary summoned Ukrainian Ambassador Fyodor Shandor on Thursday following reports that Ukrainian recruitment officers beat a Hungarian man to death. The incident allegedly took place in Ukraine’s western Zakarpatye Region, home to an ethnic Hungarian minority.
“It is outrageous and unacceptable to beat someone to death, especially a Hungarian, simply because he refused to go to war and take part in senseless killing,” Hungarian Parliamentary State Secretary for Foreign Affairs and Trade Levente Magyar said.
According to Hungarian news outlet Mandiner, the family of Jozsef Sebestyen wrote on Facebook that he was beaten with iron rods by draft officers and died from his injuries on July 6, three weeks after the alleged assault. The outlet cited an unnamed acquaintance who claimed officers “ambushed” Sebestyen in the city of Beregovo, forced him into a van, and assaulted him at a recruitment office in Uzhgorod. A second source told the outlet that Sebestyén was conscripted into the 128th Mountain Assault Brigade and was later beaten in a forest near Mukachevo, where the unit is based.
“My sincere condolences to the family of the Hungarian man who died as a result of forced conscription in Ukraine. We stand with you in these difficult hours,” Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban wrote on Facebook.
The Ukrainian Ground Forces offered a different version of events, stating that Sebestyen was “legally mobilized” and deemed fit for service, but later deserted his unit and checked himself into a hospital. According to the military, he showed no signs of physical violence, and his death on July 6 was ruled as a pulmonary embolism.
Ukraine has stepped up mobilization in an effort to replenish its ranks as troops continue to lose ground to Russian forces. Ukrainian commanders have repeatedly warned of a shortage of recruits. Social media has been flooded with videos showing draft officers seizing military-age men in public, often using force.
The Donald Trump administration is finding students on the Canary Mission’s website to target with deportation. The Canary Mission is an anonymous website that uses McCarthyite tactics against people expressing pro-Palestine views.
During a trial challenging Trump’s immigration policy on Wednesday, a federal judge asked, “Many of the names of the student protesters provided to you for the Office of Intelligence to produce reports of analysis on came from the website Canary Mission?”
Peter Hatch, a senior DHS investigations official, responded, “It’s true, many of the names, or even most of the names, came from that website.” The DHS official said the agency had other sources. The Canary Mission denied direct contact with the Trump administration.
Hatch added that there were no official ties between the Canary Mission and the US Government. “I don’t know who creates the website. We don’t have a relationship with the creators of the website,” he said.
Canary Mission targeted Rümeysa Öztürk before she was arrested by masked police officers on the streets in Somerville, Massachusetts, earlier this year. The Trump administration attempted to expel her from the country over an op-ed she co-authored for a Tufts University student newspaper.
Mahmoud Khalil was another student targeted with deportation that was also blacklisted by Canary Mission.
The Trump administration is not the first to use the Canary Mission in criminal proceedings. “The case of a Palestinian-American law student named Ahmad Aburas provides a particularly disturbing portrait of Canary Mission tactics in action,” Max Blumenthal wrote in 2018. “While Aburas was enrolled at Seton Hall Law School, Canary Mission contacted school administrators to suggest that statements he made on social media expressed support for terrorism. Seton Hall then called the FBI, Aburas was taken out of class and subjected to interrogation by federal agents over his political views.”
A Palestinian woman was injured Thursday morning after a group of armed Israeli settlers attacked residents in the Tabyan and Fakhit areas of Masafar Yatta, south of Al-Khalil in the southern occupied West Bank. Local sources confirmed the settlers assaulted multiple residents, leaving the woman wounded.
In a separate but related act of sabotage, settlers used a bulldozer at dawn Thursday to destroy a critical water pipeline between the villages of Aqraba and Majdal Bani Fadel, south of Nablus. The pipeline served at least seven surrounding villages, including Jorish, Qusra, Qaryut, Jalud, Duma, Talfit, and Majdal Bani Fadel. The destruction of this essential infrastructure deepens the humanitarian crisis facing Palestinian communities already under siege.
Meanwhile, Israeli occupation forces (IOF) began bulldozing large sections of privately owned Palestinian land in the town of Teqou’, southeast of Bethlehem, to construct a new settlement road. Accompanied by heavy machinery, the IOF targeted lands belonging to the Al-Asakira, Al-Zeer, and Jibrin families in the Qanan Saqir and Fasoura areas.
Local residents fear the road project will lead to the seizure of thousands of dunums under the pretext of “securing the road,” reinforcing a broader Israeli policy of annexation and Judaization.
The town of Teqou’ is already subject to movement restrictions imposed by seven iron gates placed at its entrances and within neighborhoods, effectively isolating large parts of the town and limiting access to nearby villages.
Daily settler attacks continue across the West Bank, with the clear aim of forcibly displacing Palestinians and expanding illegal settlement infrastructure. Since the onset of the Israeli genocide in the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023, settler groups have carried out more than 5,000 attacks and established 80 new outposts on Palestinian land in the West Bank.
These acts of aggression are part of a wider, systemic campaign of ethnic cleansing and land theft, carried out in parallel with the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
JERICHO – Israeli occupation police on Wednesday arrested a number of foreign activists who were attempting to confront an attack by settlers on the village of Shallal Al-Auja, north of Jericho city.
The Al-Baydar Organization for the Defense of Bedouin Rights reported that settlers stormed the village, roamed among citizens’ homes, and deliberately herded their sheep into agricultural lands and around houses, which led to the destruction of crops and the residents’ main source of livelihood.
The organization added that local residents and foreign activists tried to drive the sheep away from the homes and prevent the attack, but the occupation police quickly arrived at the scene, provided protection for the settlers, and arrested several of the activists.
It pointed out that this is not the first time that sheep have been used as a means of pressure against the residents; rather, it is part of a systematic policy aimed at harassing the locals and forcing them to leave.
The organization further noted that this scene has become an almost daily occurrence in the Jordan Valley areas, where attacks on residents are increasing alongside the absence of any accountability for settlers—deepening the suffering of the people and threatening the stability of their daily lives.
“The United States’ decision to sanction Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese for denouncing human rights violations committed by Israel in the Gaza Strip clearly illustrates a political hierarchy of the principle of human rights on the part of Washington,” Tiberio Graziani, head of the Rome-based think tank Vision & Global Trends, tells Sputnik.
“Within the framework of the Western narrative regarding the ‘survival of the State of Israel,’ any criticism of its actions is perceived as an existential threat,” he says, commenting on another move by Washington targeting critics of Israel’s wars.
The rights of Palestinians are thus subordinated to the “special relationship” that binds the US to Israel — a strategic, military, and ideological alliance well documented by scholars such as John J. Mearsheimer, Stephen Walt, and Israeli historian Ilan Pappé.
The principle of human rights, meant to be universal, becomes selective and is used to target adversaries but ignored when it comes to allies, even when they commit grave crimes. This undermines the moral credibility of US foreign policy, reinforcing the Global South’s view that “Western values” are merely rhetorical tools.
Graziani adds that Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s statement that Albanese’s campaign against the US and Israel “will no longer be tolerated” seems aimed at undermining the UN’s independent mechanisms, particularly when their findings contradict US interests. His suggestion that reporting human rights violations could obstruct peace talks wrongly views justice as a barrier to peace.
The UN is in a delicate position, needing to protect its officials’ independence, especially in sensitive areas like Palestine. Failing to defend Albanese could set a dangerous precedent, signaling that UN representatives can be intimidated for doing their job impartially.
The UN may issue a balanced response, but countries in the Global South could push for stronger solidarity, seeing the Palestinian issue as symbolic of Western double standards.
The United States has decided to impose sanctions on a noted and outspoken UN rights official over her outright criticism and exposure of the Israeli regime’s acts of deadly aggression and Washington’s unstinting support for the atrocities.
In a social media post on Wednesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he had decided to impose punitive measures against Francesa Albanese, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories.
Rubio accused Albanese of having tried to prompt the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue arrest warrants against Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the regime’s former minister for military affairs Yoav Gallant.
The tribunal issued the warrants last November over the duo’s war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip, where the regime has been waging a strongly-US-supported war of genocide since October 2023.
Prior to the court’s issuance of the warrants, Albanese had authored a landmark report to the UN Human Rights Council, stating that the regime’s military operations in Gaza displayed “prima facie evidence of an intention to systematically destroy Palestinians as a group.” The atrocities, she had added, effectively indicated genocide under the UN’s Genocide Convention.
The run-up to authorization of the warrants also saw her propose that the UN consider suspending the regime’s membership for its deadly violations.
She has consistently used the term genocide in multiple reports, including by condemning the regime for carrying out one of “the cruelest genocides in modern history,” and declaring Gaza a “laboratory” for Israeli weapons.
During a UN session last month, she urged a full arms embargo, plus sanctions and divestment against state and corporate supporters of the regime.
She specifically named scores of companies, including Lockheed Martin, Palantir, Caterpillar, Volvo, BNP Paribas, Barclays, Pimco, and Vanguard, denouncing them for facilitating an “economy of genocide”
Rubio further claimed that Albanese had been trying to instigate punitive action by the court against American officials and companies, calling the alleged efforts “illegitimate and shameful.”
“Albanese’s campaign of political and economic warfare against the United States and Israel will no longer be tolerated,” he added.
The American official, meanwhile, vowed that Washington would keep standing by the regime in its “right to self-defense.”
The United States has poured billions of dollars in military aid into the regime’s coffers to be used towards reinforcement of the genocide that has so far claimed the lives of nearly 57,700 Palestinians, mostly women and children.
Washington has also been lending the genocide unwavering political support by shielding Tel Aviv against punitive UN action.
United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres and his subordinates regularly spread the lies fabricated by Kiev and Western countries, the Russian Foreign ministry said on Thursday, commenting on the UN chief’s remark about the allegedly largest series of attacks by Russian UAVs and missiles.
On July 5, Guterres strongly condemned “what is believed to be the largest series of attacks by Russia in the last three years using UAVs and missiles” that allegedly disrupted the power supply to the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant (ZNPP), and expressed concern about “the dangerous escalation and the growing number of civilian casualties,” the ministry said in a statement.
“[Antonio] Guterres and his subordinates regularly pick up and replicate the lies fabricated by the Kiev regime and Western capitals and aimed at discrediting Russia. They consistently keep silent about Kiev’s flagrant violations of international humanitarian law or, at best, limit themselves to calls for restraint on both sides. With such double standards, the Secretariat’s leadership grossly violates Article 100 of the UN Charter, which requires it to adhere to the principles of impartiality and equidistance,” the ministry said.
It is absurd to assume that Russia has grounds to create difficulties for the safe operation of the ZNPP, as it is Moscow that is responsible for ensuring the safety of the plant, the statement read, adding that the Russian armed forces only strike Ukraine’s military targets, while Kiev constantly attacks civilian targets.
“Russia insists that UN officials abandon their biased course, demands that they stop acting as mouthpieces for Western propaganda and disseminators of disinformation and fakes, take a neutral and responsible position befitting their status, and rely only on verified sources of information,” the statement said.
The trademark style of the current US president, Donald Trump, is verbal spectacle. His statements – brash, contradictory, sometimes theatrical – should be monitored, but not overestimated. They are not inherently favorable or hostile to Russia. And we must remember: Trump is not the ‘king’ of America. The ‘Trump revolution’ that many anticipated at the beginning of the year appears to have given way to Trump’s own evolution – a drift toward accommodation with the American establishment.
In that light, it’s time to assess the interim results of our ‘special diplomatic operation’. There have now been six presidential phone calls, several rounds of talks between foreign ministers and national security aides, and sustained contact at other levels.
The most obvious positive outcome is the restoration of dialogue between Russia and the United States – a process that had been severed under the Biden administration. Crucially, this revived dialogue extends beyond Ukraine. A range of potential areas for cooperation have been mapped out, from geopolitical stability to transportation and sport. These may not carry immediate strategic weight, but they lay the groundwork for future engagement. Under Trump, the dialogue is unlikely to break off again – though its tone and pace may shift.
One visible result of this diplomacy was the resumption of talks with the Ukrainian side in Istanbul. While these negotiations currently hold little political substance – and the recent prisoner exchanges occurred independently of them – they nonetheless reaffirm a core tenet of Russian diplomacy: we are ready for a political resolution to the conflict.
Still, these are technical and tactical achievements. The strategic reality remains unchanged.
It was never realistic to expect Trump to offer Russia a deal on Ukraine that met our security requirements. Nor for that matter would Russia accept one that compromised its long-term security interests. Likewise, any notion that Trump would ‘deliver’ Ukraine to the Kremlin, join Moscow in undermining the EU, or push for a new Yalta agreement with Russia and China was always fantasy.
So the page has turned. What comes next?
Trump will almost certainly sign the new US sanctions bill into law – but he’ll try to preserve discretion in how those measures are applied. The sanctions will add friction to global trade, but they will not derail Russian policy.
On the military front, Trump will deliver the remaining aid packages approved under Biden, and perhaps supplement them with modest contributions of his own. But going forward, it will be Western Europe – especially Germany – that supplies Ukraine, often by buying US-made systems and re-exporting them.
Meanwhile, the United States will continue to furnish Kiev with battlefield intelligence – particularly for deep strikes inside Russian territory.
None of this suggests the conflict will end in 2025. Nor will it end when hostilities in Ukraine eventually wind down.
That’s because the fight is not fundamentally about Ukraine.
What we are witnessing is an indirect war between the West and Russia – part of a much broader global confrontation. The West is fighting to preserve its dominance. And Russia, in defending itself, is asserting its sovereign right to exist on its own terms.
This war will be long. And the United States – with Trump or without him – will remain our adversary. The outcome will shape not just the fate of Ukraine, but the future of Russia itself.
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).
This article was first published in Kommersant, and was translated and edited by the RT team.
David N. Gibbs is a professor of history at the University of Arizona. Prof. Gibbs outlines how the US fighting the Soviet Union in Afghanistan and then the Yugoslav Wars laid the foundation for the illusion of the good war.
In recent months, a wave of publications by Western think tanks and military-affiliated media has revealed a significant shift in how the West views conflict with global powers like Russia and China.
Institutions such as the RAND Corporation, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), and Military Review have laid out what they consider the foundations of future warfare.
The core idea is no longer centered on direct military confrontation but on a prolonged, multidimensional hybrid war.
This “war of the future” unfolds across three main domains: information and psychological operations, cyberspace, and the economic sphere. Western strategists emphasize that superiority in artificial intelligence and unmanned systems will be decisive. For the US and NATO, achieving dominance in these areas is presented as the key to maintaining global leadership and containing strategic rivals.
This form of warfare is not expected to deliver fast results. On the contrary, it is framed as a “long game” of exhaustion, designed to weaken the opponent from within – by destabilizing their economy, reshaping their information space, and psychologically demoralizing both their population and political elites. RAND analysts stress that this type of conflict requires patience and the ability to sustain socio-economic costs over time. In fact, Western governments are already preparing their populations to accept such costs, justifying austerity measures and declining living standards through the narrative of a moral confrontation with so-called “authoritarian regimes.”
This strategic shift is largely a result of the failure of the West’s approach in Ukraine. The initial plan — to arm and support Ukraine as a proxy force capable of delivering a strategic defeat to Russia — has collapsed. The policy of militarizing Ukraine and turning it into a geopolitical tool against Moscow has led the U.S. and its allies into a dead end. Western analysts now admit that a military victory over Russia via Ukraine is unattainable. This realization has pushed Western planners to reassess the very concept of conflict, moving from direct confrontation to psychological and technological operations that target the internal cohesion of rival nations.
According to this new doctrine, the goal is to shape the perception of the future within Russian society — to paint a picture of inevitable decline, to spread doubt about Russia’s ability to compete militarily and economically with the West, and to generate disorientation among its elites. The West seeks to implant the idea that Russia is permanently behind — technologically inferior, globally isolated, and incapable of catching up. As noted by analysts at RUSI, these narratives are deliberately crafted for mass consumption, with the aim of weakening the social and psychological fabric of Russian society.
Central to this strategy is the belief that information superiority will define victory in the 21st century. Publications from CSIS and RAND explicitly state that “who controls the narrative, wins the war.” Future conflicts, they argue, will be fought not with tanks breaking through lines but through sensory and cognitive dominance — by disorienting the opponent, manipulating their perception of events, and accelerating decision-making cycles through artificial intelligence. This is not just about warfare; it is about psychological supremacy.
To implement this model, the full resource potential of the collective West must be mobilized. Western publications emphasize that artificial intelligence will not only support information operations but may replace traditional forms of military conflict entirely. AI-based propaganda, social engineering campaigns, and autonomous digital operations could become the primary weapons of influence. RAND’s vision also includes a technological race with China, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region, where AI superiority is expected to define the balance of power.
However, despite its polished surface, this new hybrid war doctrine suffers from serious flaws. It neglects historical experience and cultural realities. Russia, in particular, has repeatedly shown the ability to endure and adapt during prolonged crises. Even in the 1990s, when pro-Western forces controlled much of the country’s media and political structure, Russian society maintained its cultural identity and commitment to traditional values. Western analysts seem to overlook this fundamental resilience. The failure of Western sanctions is a clear example. Instead of collapsing, the Russian economy adapted to the conditions of modern conflict, restructured itself rapidly, and even entered a phase of military-industrial expansion.
In fact, despite the partial militarization of its economy, Russia has achieved a surprising advantage over the West in certain critical areas. It has surpassed NATO countries in the volume of military production, particularly in drones and high-precision systems. Developments such as the Lancet UAVs, the Kinzhal hypersonic missile, and advancements in satellite technologies have placed Russia ahead of Ukraine, even though the latter was initially supported by a powerful Western-Turkish alliance in the drone sector. Within less than two years, Russia reversed the battlefield dynamics, demonstrating that technological evolution can occur even under heavy sanctions.
This leads to a critical question: if the new Western strategy is so effective, why does it rely so heavily on media hype and theoretical justifications with little practical evidence? Much of the Western enthusiasm around hybrid war appears driven not by strategic necessity but by the interests of the military-industrial complex. Think tanks and defense contractors stand to benefit immensely from the shift to AI-based warfare, digital infrastructure, and cyber-command funding. The political class uses the narrative of a “new generation war” to justify budget increases for the defense sector while cutting public services and suppressing dissent.
The real function of this hybrid war doctrine is to protect the interests of a transnational elite. Under the guise of fighting global threats like Russia, China, Iran, and others, Western governments are redistributing wealth upward — channeling public money into the hands of military contractors and think tanks. Ordinary citizens are asked to sacrifice for “freedom” while their real wages stagnate and living conditions deteriorate. The supposed urgency of confronting the “autocratic other” becomes a smokescreen for domestic failures and economic mismanagement.
The media’s role in this operation is essential. Just as the Western press exaggerated the likelihood of Russia’s defeat in Ukraine, it now inflates the potential of hybrid war and AI supremacy. But the track record of these predictions is poor. The same experts who promised a quick Ukrainian victory are now calling for decades-long psychological warfare — a clear sign that the original plan has failed.
In conclusion, the West’s new hybrid warfare strategy reflects more of a tactical retreat than a breakthrough. It acknowledges that traditional methods have failed, particularly in Ukraine, and attempts to replace lost battlefield momentum with psychological, economic, and technological pressure. But the fundamental assumptions are flawed: that narratives can break national will, that AI can replace strategy, and that propaganda can deliver victory. These beliefs serve primarily to sustain the Western war economy and its elites, rather than offer any real prospect of success. In trying to win a war of perception, the West may once again lose the war of reality.
Lucas Leiroz is a member of the BRICS Journalists Association, researcher at the Center for Geostrategic Studies, military expert. You can follow Lucas on X (formerly Twitter) and Telegram.
Trump claims Iran’s military is routed just as IRGC launched missiles strike American bases
RT | June 10, 2026
The Iranian military has been “completely defeated,” US President Donald Trump has claimed, warning Tehran it will “pay the price” for delaying a deal with Washington.
The warnings came after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced missile and drone strikes on American military facilities in several Arab countries in retaliation for recent US attacks. US Central Command said the operations inside Iran were carried out after an AH-64 Apache helicopter was lost near the Strait of Hormuz, an incident it blamed on Tehran.
Trump posted on Truth Social on Wednesday that Iran “is all talk and no action,” adding that “The Bully of the Middle East is DEAD!!!” … Full article
HEAT exposure could drive a dramatic rise in cardiovascular disease (CVD) burden across the USA over the next 25 years, with researchers warning that climate change and population ageing may combine to reverse decades of progress in heart health.
Heat Exposure Threatens Future Heart Health A new modelling study estimated that heat-attributable CVD burden could more than triple by 2050 under a high greenhouse gas emissions scenario, disproportionately affecting older adults and economically disadvantaged communities. … Full article
… Climate change and land use conversion have the potential to increase the frequency of encounters between snakes and humans. This situation arises due to changes in temperature and rainfall, the loss of natural habitats, and shifts in food sources, which drive snakes to move into areas closer to human activity.
Prof Mirza Dikari Kusrini, a lecturer in the Department of Forest Resource Conservation and Ecotourism, Faculty of Forestry and Environment (Fahutan) at IPB University, explained that climate change affects snakes’ behavior, distribution, and movement patterns. … Full article
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