Norway seizes Russian Arctic science vessel at Kiev’s request
RT | September 3, 2026
Norwegian authorities have seized a Russian research vessel in Svalbard at the request of Ukraine’s state-owned energy company Naftogaz, amid growing tensions between Moscow and NATO states over access to and control of the Arctic.
The Professor Molchanov was detained on Wednesday while docked in Barentsburg, a Russian settlement on the Norwegian-administered archipelago. The Governor of Svalbard said the move followed an August 31 order by the Nord-Troms and Senja District Court granting Naftogaz the right to seize the ship. The vessel has been barred from leaving Barentsburg until further notice.
The crew and passengers aboard the vessel learned about the seizure from media reports, a TASS correspondent traveling with the expedition said. Russian Far East and Arctic Development Minister Aleksey Chekunkov said on Thursday that “the crew is safe,” adding that lawyers for the Arktikugol trust would soon issue a legal response and intended to challenge the seizure order.
The Professor Molchanov is a Russian state-owned research vessel operated by the country’s hydrometeorological service, Roshydromet. Alongside scientific expeditions, it has served since last year as a regular passenger and cargo link between Murmansk and Barentsburg, transporting scientists, employees of the state-owned Arktikugol, contractors, their families and supplies to the Russian settlements on Svalbard.
Direct air links between Russia and Svalbard ceased in 2020, while direct maritime passenger service was restored in 2025. The Professor Molchanov is currently the only vessel operating the route, with ten round trips between Murmansk and Barentsburg planned for 2026.
Under the 1920 Svalbard Treaty, Norway exercises sovereignty over the archipelago, while signatory nations are granted equal rights to engage in commercial and scientific activities there. Russia has maintained a presence on Svalbard for decades, with Arktikugol serving as its principal economic operator on the islands.
Naftogaz said it sought the seizure as part of an international effort to enforce a Hague arbitration award over assets it lost in Crimea following the peninsula’s reunification with Russia in 2014.
Russia has rejected the arbitration tribunal’s jurisdiction over the dispute, arguing that the Crimean assets in question could not qualify as Ukrainian investments made on Russian territory under the relevant bilateral investment treaty.
Acting Naftogaz chief Sergey Fedorenko praised the move as “another important step toward restoring justice,” pledging to continue the hunt for Russian assets worldwide.
Naftogaz, which claims Moscow currently owes it approximately $4.22 billion, plus interest and legal costs, has previously pursued Russian state property elsewhere in Europe. Finnish authorities froze a number of Russian-owned properties in 2024 at the company’s request. The Kremlin vowed to challenge the measures, while the Russian Foreign Ministry denounced them as illegitimate and warned of possible retaliatory steps.
The latest seizure comes just weeks after Moscow issued unusually explicit warnings against Western attempts to detain Russian vessels.
President Vladimir Putin described plans to seize Russian ships and sell their property as “piracy and robbery,” warning that Moscow would respond in kind and could do so in whatever part of the world it considered appropriate. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov subsequently said Russia would choose its own targets, including vessels operating in the interests of countries that had made such seizures their policy.
Tensions have also been mounting in the Arctic itself. In an article published earlier this week, Lavrov accused NATO states of seeking to turn the region into a “new front” against Russia and its partners. He pointed to large-scale Western military exercises and expanding command infrastructure near Russia’s northern borders, warning that the buildup increased the risk of an armed confrontation with potentially disastrous consequences.
Lavrov maintained that Moscow wants the Arctic to remain an area of peace and cooperation, but warned that Russia would defend its interests “by all available means” if confronted with hostile actions.
Cuba: Negotiations With the US at a Standstill
By Kyle Anzalone | The Libertarian Institute | September 1, 2026
A Cuban official said that there are no ongoing negotiations with the US. President Donald Trump has threatened to conduct a regime change in Havana after the US concludes its war against Iran.
“The channel for dialogue is at a complete standstill,” Lianys Torres Rivera, Cuba’s Ambassador to the US, said in an interview with Bloomberg on Tuesday. The two sides are unable to even settle on a basic agenda, she added. “There are no negotiations.”
Since returning to the White House, President Donald Trump has stepped up economic warfare on Cuba and threatened the government in Havana. The tightening of the US embargo on Cuba has resulted in repeated blackouts, but has not resulted in an uprising against the government.
Last month, Washington announced a new round of sanctions against Havana and deployed additional intelligence assets to Cuba. A source told Politico that the White House had recently sent additional spies and intelligence assets to Cuba. The outlet notes, “Such intelligence moves could portend actions ranging from a US military operation in Cuba to stepped up efforts to turn Cuban officials or ordinary citizens against the regime.”
Secretary of State and National Security Adviser Marco Rubio is a long-time advocate of replacing the government in Havana with one chosen by Washington. One source told the outlet Cuba is a “huge priority of Rubio’s.”
Trump has posted images on Truth Social naming himself and Rubio as the leaders of Cuba.
Greece inks $3.5bn arms deal with Israel for ‘multi-layered’ air defenses
The Cradle | August 31, 2026
Israel and Greece signed on 31 August an air defense agreement worth $3.5 billion, which will see Tel Aviv beef up Athens’ defenses and build a “multi-layered” system for the country.
According to the Israeli War Ministry, it is the largest-ever defense export deal with Greece and one of the biggest in Israeli history.
It has been dubbed the “Achilles Shield” agreement, referencing the Greek mythological figure Achilles.
It will see Israel export several air defense systems, including its David Sling, SPYDER, and BARAK MX, the War Ministry said.
It is the “largest defense export deal in the history of Israel-Greece relations, and one of the largest in the history of the State of Israel,” the War Ministry statement added, while also declaring that this marked the first time Israel supplied another state with a “complete defense array against a wide range of threats.”
These threats include ballistic missiles and drones, according to the Israeli ministry.
The agreement was signed at the War Ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv by Ministry Director General Amir Baram and his Greek counterpart Ioannis Bouras.
“Under the deal, Israel will build Greece a comprehensive, multi-layered air defense array, drawing entirely on Israeli-made systems and on the extensive operational experience Israel’s defense establishment has gained during the war,” the Israeli War Ministry stressed.
Greece said the deal marked the “greatest reform of its armed forces in its history.”
Security and economic cooperation between Greece, Cyprus, and Israel continues to expand.
Earlier this month, the Israeli military announced a meeting between army Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir and his Greek counterpart, Dimitrios Choupis.
The meeting “highlights the strategic importance and relevance of the military relationship already in place between Israel and Greece,” the Israeli army announced.
A private diplomatic conference held in Athens in May laid bare Greek, Cypriot, and Israeli plans to capitalize on the Iran war by deepening their ties into a “formal strategic alignment.”
“This cooperation must deepen into a formal strategic alignment focusing on energy, infrastructure, joint defense efforts, and economic innovation – acting as a crucial pillar of stability in the region,” said Averof Neophytou, a prominent Cypriot MP and former president of the Democratic Rally of Cyprus, during that conference.
He also called on Israel to “finish the job” in Iran.
Israeli, Greek, and Cypriot ties have accelerated in recent years. According to reports from last year, the three states have considered the formation of a joint “rapid-response” military force in the eastern Mediterranean.
In late 2025, Tel Aviv, Athens, and Nicosia signed a trilateral military “action plan” for 2026, said to be aimed at confronting Turkish influence and strengthening defense cooperation.
Ukraine ‘Ideologically Selects’ PoWs by Reclaiming Some and Writing Others Off – Expert
By Ekaterina Blinova – Sputnik – 13.08.2026
Ukraine does not take back all of its prisoners of war, only those it considers ideologically or politically useful, Institute of CIS Countries leading researcher Alexander Dudchak tells Sputnik.
“Those who could tell the truth about conditions in Russian captivity – that they are fed, receive medical care, and are treated humanely – are taken back last, or not taken at all,” Dudchak says.
Who is given priority?
- Ukraine agrees to take back only those prisoners who are willing to speak about alleged “brutality” by Russian forces and can be used in the information war
- Priority is given to officers, nationalists, Azov fighters.
- In April, Ukraine refused to take back rank-and-file soldiers and contract troops, demanding only unit commanders
“According to Ukrainian human rights activists, around 40% of the prisoners Ukraine could take back remain on the lists for years because Kiev does not submit exchange requests or blocks the process,” the pundit notes.
The Dead are of No Use to Ukraine
The situation is especially troubling when it comes to the dead. Ukraine is extremely reluctant to take back the bodies: they must be identified, processed, transported, and families must then be compensated.
According to the UN, only about 30% of the bodies of Ukrainian soldiers killed in the conflict have been returned, even though Russia has handed over tens of thousands.
The rest remain in morgues on the Russian side, because Ukraine has little incentive to take them back: each body means compensation payments to the family, which authorities are trying to minimize.
Ideological Selection
“The Ukrainian side is lying when it claims that Russia is constantly delaying prisoner exchanges,” Dudchak stresses. “Its media says Russia has never taken a single humanitarian step – that is an outright lie.”
Russian human rights commissioner Yana Lantratova has said that Russia is ready to hand over 224 Ukrainian nationals serving prison sentences in exchange for Russian prisoners of war, but Ukraine refuses to take them back.
This is not an isolated case: Ukraine has rejected exchange proposals more than ten times since the start of 2026, each time setting new conditions, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense.
“Ideological selection is not just a figure of speech. It is a real practice: instead of taking back all their people, they choose whom they can use and whom they can simply write off,” Dudchak concludes.
China to launch regular shipping to Europe via Russia’s Northern Sea Route – Rosatom
RT | August 8, 2026
China will launch regular container shipping to Europe via Russia’s Northern Sea Route (NSR) this month, with eight voyages planned through October, Rosatom CEO Aleksey Likhachev has said.
The Arctic shipping route runs mostly through Russia’s territorial waters and exclusive economic zone and relies on Russian port infrastructure and icebreaker fleet. Rosatom, Russia’s state atomic energy corporation, is principally responsible for the route’s development.
Chinese firm Sealegend Shipping sent its first freight shipment through the waterway to Felixstowe Port in England late last year, making the voyage in 20 days. A voyage via the Suez Canal would have taken around 37 days, Likhachev told reporters on Friday.
“Today, we are taking the next step. The Chinese shipping company Sealegend Shipping is indeed planning to launch the first regular route to Europe, and Rosatom has already issued permits for seven vessels to transit the NSR,” the Rosatom CEO said.
While prior container shipments were largely experimental or one-off in nature, this year’s program envisions weekly voyages from August to October, ice conditions permitting, he said.
The growing demand for shipping through the NSR comes amid a “permanently difficult situation” in the Persian Gulf, he said. The Strait of Hormuz, which normally carries around a quarter of seaborne oil and LNG trade, has remained largely closed since the US-Israeli attack on Iran in February.
According to Likhachev, Chinese container traffic via the NSR has grown markedly in recent years, more than tripling from 2023 to 2025. Today, bilateral shipping between Chinese and Russian ports makes up 15% of all traffic through the passage. Total cargo traffic between Russia and China is expected to reach 20 million tons by 2030, he added.
India and Russia are also working to finalize a pact on maritime cargo cooperation along the NSR.
The Arctic shipping route remains the shortest maritime passage between the Asia-Pacific region and northern Europe. Russia, which operates the world’s largest icebreaker fleet of more than 40 conventional and nuclear vessels, is investing in the NSR with the aim of making it a pivotal global trade artery.
The route’s significance as “the safest, most reliable, and most efficient” path is growing more evident amid disruptions caused by conflicts around the world, Russian President Vladimir Putin said earlier this year, adding that Moscow is working to strengthen Arctic logistics on a “massive scale.”
Israel strikes Syria as Turkish FM visits Damascus, exposing rivalry for control
Press TV – August 7, 2026
Israeli forces have launched an artillery attack on Syria’s Quneitra Province while Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan was visiting the Arab country.
The attack, reported by Syria’s state news agency SANA, targeted agricultural land surrounding the village of al-Samadaniyah al-Gharbiyah.
Israeli military incursions and aggressions in southern Syria, along with harassment of local citizens, have become recurrent amid inaction from Syria’s Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) regime led by former Daesh and al-Qaeda deputy Abu Muhammad al-Jolani.
No injuries were reported on Thursday, but the timing was no coincidence. Israel appeared to be sending a clear message that while Turkey’s proxy regime sits in the capital, Israel’s military boots are on the ground, and its artillery is within range.
In his remarks in Damascus on Thursday, Foreign Minister Fidan warned that Israeli attacks on Syria are among the greatest threats to the country’s stability.
“Israel’s attacks targeting Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity are among the greatest threats to the country’s stability,” he said.
Fidan urged the international community to respond more strongly to Israel’s occupation policy and press the regime to ensure compliance with the 1974 Disengagement Agreement and respect for Syria’s sovereignty.
The agreement’s Demilitarized Buffer Zone—a UN-monitored strip of land separating Israeli and Syrian forces—was unilaterally renounced by Israel following the fall of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared the agreement “collapsed” and ordered his military to invade and occupy the buffer zone, along with additional Syrian territory beyond it.
Since the Turkish-backed coup that installed Jolani’s al-Qaeda-affiliated militants in Damascus, Israeli occupation forces have waged a systematic campaign of agricultural terror across southern Syria—poisoning croplands with chemical sprays deployed from aircraft, bulldozing orchards and olive groves, and abducting local farmers.
In a deliberate strategy of ecocide and economic strangulation, Israeli troops have sealed off entire communities from their ancestral lands, blocking hundreds of families from accessing their fields and grazing grounds while destroying agricultural infrastructure that once sustained the region’s rural population.
“Around 100 families are completely barred from accessing their land. Most of the agricultural roads have been destroyed by Israeli tanks. Furthermore, the occupation forces have take control of large areas of grazing land,” Hassan al-Din Ahmed, a farmer, told Al Jazeera.
Ahmed, whose son was kidnapped by Israeli forces, stressed that “farmlands aren’t the only things Israelis have taken.”
He was grazing cattle when “occupation forces came and arrested my child Saddam from the land”, he told the broadcaster.
“It has been two years, four months without any charge being brought against him,” the farmer added.
According to director of agriculture in Quneitra Mohammad Rahal, Israeli occupation forces used glider aircraft to spray herbicides on agricultural land in the area, causing very significant damage.
The Israeli violations have affected the entire Arab country and triggered a hunger crisis there.
In May, the World Food Programme halved emergency assistance from 1.3 million people to just 650,000, amid critical funding shortfall.
It also halted a nationwide bread subsidy that helped about four million Syrians afford bread every day.
Thursday’s shelling was just the latest chapter in Israel’s systematic dismantling of Syria.
Since Assad’s fall, the Zionist regime has conducted hundreds of airstrikes against military installations, arsenals, and civilian infrastructure—reducing Syria’s defenses to rubble while its military advances beyond the occupied Golan Heights, seized since 1967.
Netanyahu has instructed his military to advance further into Syrian territory, surpassing the Golan Heights occupied since 1967, and to capture multiple strategic sites.
Despite the HTS’s commitments to collaborate with Tel Aviv, Israel has shown no inclination to retreat from Syria.
The two parties have engaged in intermittent discussions aimed at reaching a “security agreement”, but no agreement or significant progress has been reported.
Tel Aviv’s real grievance lies not with Jolani’s al-Qaeda pedigree, which Israel has historically tolerated or even exploited, but with his absolute dependence on Turkey—a patron that armed his militants, bankrolled his coup, and now dictates the political direction of Damascus.
Fidan’s visit laid bare the cynical rivalry between two occupying powers. Israel views Turkey’s growing influence in Damascus with deep suspicion—fearing that Ankara’s ambitions may eventually challenge Zionist expansionist plans.
Turkey, meanwhile, is consolidating its grip on Jolani’s regime, signing military cooperation agreements and training Syrian security forces to ensure Damascus remains a compliant satellite.
Investigation Points to Wind Farm Power Line in Greece’s Devastating Wildfire
By Tasos Kokkinidis | Greek Reporter | August 5, 2026
Authorities in Greece have identified apparent issues in the private electricity network supplying a wind farm as the likely origin of the devastating wildfire that scorched vast areas of Attica and neighboring Boeotia, according to a preliminary investigation report.
The inspection, carried out by the Fire Service’s Arson Crimes Directorate (DAEE), found no evidence of arson, discarded cigarettes, fireworks, hot works, or other human activity that could have ignited the blaze at its point of origin near the village of Mavro Spithari in Boeotia.
Instead, investigators documented a series of technical deficiencies, construction flaws, and maintenance issues in the privately operated power line serving the wind farm. According to the report, these defects may have caused a short circuit or electrical arcing, generating sparks that ignited dry vegetation.
Previous fire on same power line
One of the report’s most significant findings is that another wildfire had already broken out along the same electricity line on June 27, approximately 150 meters from the latest ignition point. That earlier fire was attributed to a short circuit after two energized conductors came into contact, sending sparks into surrounding dry vegetation.
Investigators noted that the apparent deficiencies identified following the earlier incident were not fully corrected, raising concerns that similar problems may have contributed to the latest blaze.
Technical evidence of wildfire investigation
The forensic report is accompanied by photographs and GPS coordinates identifying the fire’s point of origin directly beneath the overhead electricity line leading to the wind farm.
Inspectors found a fallen wooden utility pole and sections of electrical conductors on the burned ground. They also documented localized deformation and heat damage to the metal conductors that, according to the report, appeared to predate the wildfire rather than result from it.
A mechanical engineer also revealed that thermal imaging inspections carried out on June 20 had detected unusually high temperatures at two points where the underground cable connects with the overhead line. One of those locations was in the vicinity of the area where both the June and August fires started.
An independent electrical engineering expert concluded that strong winds likely caused the energized conductors to sway, either allowing them to touch and create a short circuit or bringing them close enough to generate an electrical arc due to structural deficiencies in the line.
Investigation continues
Authorities have not conclusively determined the wildfire’s cause, and the investigation remains ongoing. The preliminary findings, however, focus attention on the private electricity infrastructure serving the wind farm and whether previous technical issues were adequately addressed prior to the fire.
Kuwait Ratifies Landmark Defense Agreement with Pakistan
Sputnik – 27.07.2026
Kuwait has officially ratified a broad defense cooperation pact with Pakistan that was signed in June 2023. The ratification follows high-level military contacts between the two countries.
“This agreement reintroduces Pakistan as a direct security stakeholder in the Gulf, beyond its traditional role of providing manpower and training,” said Sultan M. Hali, writer and retired Group Captain of the Pakistan Air Force.
Key points from his commentary:
1️. New role. Pakistan ceases to be merely a supplier of troops. The pact positions Islamabad as a direct security stakeholder in the Gulf.
2️. Hedging strategy. Kuwait is reducing excessive dependence on the US and NATO by relying on a nuclear-armed Muslim-majority ally.
3️. Multipolarity. Arab monarchies are turning to China, Turkiye, and South Asia in response to a fragmented world order.
4️. Basing. Permanent bases are unlikely, but joint exercises, rotational deployments, and maritime patrols are realistic scenarios.
5️. Defense industry. Kuwait may consider the Pakistani-Chinese JF-17 Thunder — cheaper than Western analogs and less vulnerable to embargoes.
6️. Forward presence. Expands Pakistan’s capability to monitor Gulf maritime traffic, including energy chokepoints.
7️. Defense diplomacy. Strengthens Pakistan’s leverage in Gulf councils and its position vis-à-vis India.
8️. Economic dividends. Military cooperation often accompanies labor, trade, and energy agreements, boosting Pakistan’s regional integration.
“Kuwait’s move signals recognition that multipolarity in defining relations is now essential for resilience in an increasingly fragmented regional order,” Hali said.
Preparing for Regional Escalation: Iran Appears to Be Pre-Empting the US’ Attack Strategy
By Robert Inlakesh | Palestine Chronicle | July 15, 2026
The US Trump administration sought to weaponize diplomacy once again against the Islamic Republic of Iran and implement a surprise attack strategy – this time, Tehran appears to have preempted the American-Israeli plot.
The Iran-US Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) officially died this week, but in reality it was terminated on June 26 with the Lebanon-Israel deal that Washington brokered. The reason why was simple: the United States decided to print on paper a new deal that violated the former by granting Israel de facto permission to maintain a belligerent occupation of southern Lebanese lands.
Throughout the month that the MoU technically held, the US committed various violations of a number of clauses of the agreement, including by direct threats from Donald Trump himself to assassinate the entire Iranian negotiating team. But the Lebanon issue was far more indicative of where things were heading than the limited skirmishes in the Persian Gulf and threats to commit war crimes.
Clause 1 of the MoU concerned the ensuring of the war’s termination on all fronts, with Lebanon being explicitly mentioned. Tehran made it clear that this meant a full withdrawal of Israeli occupation forces from southern Lebanon and the protection of Lebanese sovereignty.
Instead of implementing the clause, Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu coordinated a careful approach to the Lebanon war, one that would not result in a withdrawal or end to the war, while simultaneously being careful not to provoke any Iranian retaliatory strikes. Therefore, the US worked with Israel to develop a new conspiracy. This involved the use of the US-proxy regime in Beirut to stir division within Lebanon, an attempt to force the Lebanese army to clash with Hezbollah, combined with an initiative to pressure neighboring Syria to invade the Bekaa Valley region in order to take on Hezbollah.
Meanwhile, as this plot was developing, the Israelis returned to the pre-March 2 status quo more or less in Lebanon – Hezbollah froze its retaliatory operations, while Israel continued to blow up civilian homes, bomb on a lower scale, while maintaining its presence inside south Lebanon.
A US military advisory force is being deployed to Beirut in order to guide the Lebanese army on its newly agreed-upon mission to clash with Hezbollah, the stated goal of which is to disarm the movement. Speculation also has it that the US may even be considering deploying thousands of combat troops into Lebanon in order to help prop up the regime in Beirut if the situation goes sideways, although this assertion is yet to be fully substantiated.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) has been documenting the ongoing mobilization and military buildup along the Lebanese-Syria border, as Trump himself has repeatedly stated in public that he seeks to use Syria’s forces to invade Lebanon.
Hezbollah’s sudden silence and lack of operations indicate that it has been taking these threats very seriously. Fighting Israel alone has been a battle that it has proven capable of managing, but preparations to fight US-proxies inside Lebanon, the possible collapse of the Lebanese Army into warring factions, and combating a Syrian invasion all demand new defensive and even perhaps offensive preparations.
Iran, for its part, was clearly also coordinated more heavily with Yemen’s Ansarallah leadership. The Yemen front never fully opened during the war earlier this year. Tehran openly challenged Saudi Arabia’s blockade on Yemen, while Ansarallah was mobilizing its forces and declared that it would fight to break the blockade. When Riyadh took the decision to strike Sana’a International Airport, this reopened the Yemen-Saudi War for the first time since early 2022, collapsing the UN-brokered ceasefire.
Yemen’s role in the renewal of the regional war will add major pressure, especially as it holds the card to shut down the Bab Al-Mandab Strait, imposing a blockade in the Red Sea that will choke the global economy further than it has been under the pressure of the Strait of Hormuz blockade. Ansarallah’s capabilities have also significantly developed since 2022, meaning that they will be able to aid Iran in their war efforts against targets in the Arabian Peninsula.
If the US succeeds in pressuring Damascus to launch an assault on Lebanon, then Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) have already threatened to enter the fight on the ground. The PMU would likely seek to seize areas in eastern Syria, like Deir Ezzor, which would open up new supply lines inside Syrian territory and put enormous pressure on its forces.
A US-Israeli plot to collapse the Lebanese State in order to weaken Hezbollah is a major gamble to say the least, one which will inevitably lead to a rise in regional sectarianism. It is also very likely that Arab Gulf media will also act to portray the conflict as a new Sunni-Shia war, as they begin to take more active roles in support of the US-Israeli war effort.
Ultimately, it appears as if the Iranians are not taking any chances and are being proactive, which has been reflected in the scale of their strikes on US assets in the region, including a surprise attack that took out US ATACMS missiles in Kuwait earlier this week.
A return to full-scale war this time around could trigger a series of conflicts that will spiral out of control and thus make any easy off-ramp impossible. The Global economic repercussions will be horrendous, as the only end to the war is total victory or total defeat. The US will be put in a position where it will be forced to withdraw from the region, while Israel is betting on the idea of Iran being significantly weakened as a result of the conflict’s continuation.
No side appears to be backing down, so unless the US suddenly decides to perform a 180-degree pivot in its approach, West Asia is about to erupt into total chaos.
– Robert Inlakesh is a journalist, writer, and documentary filmmaker. He focuses on the Middle East, specializing in Palestine. He contributed this article to The Palestine Chronicle.
US/Israeli equipment failing against new hypersonic tactic
Sputnik – 10.07.2026
The Russian military’s strategy of combined aerial attacks, involving waves of strike drones followed up by ballistic, cruise or hypersonic missiles, has proven highly effective not only in the Ukrainian theater, but Iran’s defense against US and Israeli aggression, says Russian defense analyst Alexander Stepanov.
The tactic, almost impossible to defend against, involves:
- drones (slow-flying Geran-2s, faster Geran-4s or rocket-powered Geran-5s – which fly at speeds up to 800 km/h) which by themselves are “extremely difficult” to down using small arms and air defense means available to mobile fire teams
- “multiple wave” tactics designed to overwhelm and expend expensive and limited Patriot missile stocks and overload enemy air defenses, forcing Ukraine to disperse its Patriot launchers
- follow-up precision ballistic and quasi-ballistic missile attacks
Patriots, the last line of defense in Kiev’s arsenal, have four missiles per launcher in their PAC-2 variant, and up to 16 in PAC-3. Typically, two missiles are assigned to a single target.
Playing the Numbers Game
When Russia launches hundreds of projectiles across multiple waves, defense essentially becomes impossible, and involves expending interceptors which cost tens if not hundreds of times more than the strike systems they’re targeting ($4.2-5.3M per Patriot interceptor, compared to tens of thousands of dollars in the case of Geran drones).
“All these points create extreme vulnerabilities for SAM operators forced to respond quickly to serious threats, including in the context of massive combined attacks,” Stepanov says.
“Even if they manage to repel the first wave of attack drones, [the next waves include] ballistic weapons, high-precision missiles that can fly along a quasi-ballistic trajectory, including Iskanders, and hypersonic ones, like Zircons and the air-launched Kinzhals.”
“There is a clear understanding that the equipment being shipped, primarily through NATO countries and the United States, are incapable of countering these speeds. We saw this as well in the Iranian campaign, when expensive systems, including THAAD over-the-horizon interceptors, failed to cope with attacks and were destroyed, along with expensive radars and the regional component of the US’s global early warning system,” Stepanov summed up.
Leaked Israeli report shows Iran strikes’ true cost
Mehr News | July 1, 2026
Leaked official Israeli documents reveal that Iranian missile attacks on the Bazan refinery in Haifa destroyed critical infrastructure, including a storage tank.
Quds News Network reported on Tuesday that an official draft document published by the Israeli regime’s Interior Ministry reveals significantly broader damage than previously disclosed following the Iranian missile strikes.
The document, which was published as part of procedures to approve reconstruction work at the Bazan refinery complex in Haifa Bay, reportedly details damage to gas turbines, steam boilers, electrical rooms and other auxiliary systems that had not previously been publicly reported.
It also states that an oil derivatives storage tank struck during the March attack is beyond repair and must be replaced with a new tank with a capacity of up to 12,700 cubic meters.
The June strike on the complex severely damaged its power plant, disrupted refinery operations and killed three workers. At the time, Bazan estimated the losses at $150-200 million, while Israeli officials maintained that fuel supplies would not be affected.
According to the Interior Ministry document cited by QNN, the damage extends beyond physical infrastructure and has affected the refinery’s operational capacity.
The document states that the destruction of the storage tank has “directly affected the ability to produce gasoline that meets the specifications required by the market and to supply it to consumers.”
This contradicts previous statements by then-Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen, who said the strikes had not damaged production facilities and would not affect fuel supplies.
The document further reveals that the area approved for reconstruction is almost double that authorized after the June attack, indicating that the scale of the destruction was considerably greater than previously acknowledged.
According to the Interior Ministry document cited by QNN, the complete restoration of the Bazan complex is not expected before 2028, only about three years before the Israeli cabinet’s planned evacuation of the Haifa Bay petrochemical industries in 2031.
The document concludes that the damage affects “essential operational and storage components” within one of the Israeli regime’s most important energy facilities, requiring years of reconstruction while maintaining production and fuel supplies.
Ukrainian spies likely behind Monaco bomb attack on oligarch – media
RT | June 30, 2026
Investigators believe that the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) likely carried out the bombing attack on Ukrainian-born businessman Vadim Ermolaev in Monaco, Le Figaro has reported. The attack seriously injured Ermolaev and two members of his family.
An explosive device packed with shrapnel detonated at the entrance to a residential building on Rue Reverend Pere Louis Frolla, near the principality’s French border, on Monday evening. Ermolaev, his wife, and his 13-year-old child were all seriously wounded, with both parents in critical condition and the boy burned but in stable condition, according to Le Figaro.
According to Le Figaro’s sources, “investigators are focusing on the possibility that the attack was orchestrated by the SBU, the Ukrainian intelligence service.” Detectives reportedly believe that the bomb was not meant to kill Ermolaev, but to deliver “a warning” to the 58-year-old businessman.
Ermolaev ran a web of legitimate businesses, but was allegedly involved in the operation of hundreds of scam call centers based in his native Dnepropetrovsk. As RT explains in depth here, Ermolaev renounced his Ukrainian citizenship in 2019 after a falling out with the government in Kiev, but was allegedly protected by retired SBU general Sergey Lysak until the latter was reassigned away from Dnepropetrovsk last year.
Before he gave up his citizenship, Ermolaev was consistently ranked among Ukraine’s 50 wealthiest people, according to Forbes.
Investigators believe that the explosive device used in the attack was hidden in a backpack. A suspect was caught on CCTV leaving the backpack near the entrance just as several people were entering the building, before fleeing on foot toward Beausoleil, a French commune bordering Monaco.
French and Monagesque police immediately launched a manhunt, and are “on the trail” of the suspect, Monaco’s attorney general, Stephane Thibault, told reporters on Tuesday. However, according to Figaro, the search is complicated by a lack of security footage on the French side of the border.
“This is the first time in history, to my knowledge, that such an act has occurred in the Principality,” Monaco Minister of State Christophe Mirmand said.
On the French right, anger toward Kiev is growing. “Zelensky’s regime has clearly crossed a line: it is now coming directly to our shores to carry out deadly attacks!,” ‘The Patriots’ leader Florian Philippot wrote on X. “How [can we] welcome Ukrainian troops on the Champs-Elysees on July 14?”
“Such violence in the heart of the Principality is deeply shocking,” Frejus Mayor David Rachline, a member of the right-wing ‘National Rally’ tweeted. “Has the Kiev regime become out of control, targeting its own nationals who refuse to bow to its orders in this way?”
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Only a Beginning… Charles Malik’s vision of an emergent Pax Judaica
By David Miller | Tracking Power | November 12, 2026
In August 1949, three months after Israel joined the United Nations, Lebanon’s envoy in Washington sent his government a long report. Charles Malik, no firebrand, had signed the UN Charter and helped draft the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. His Report on the Present Situation lay largely unread until Dar An-Nahar printed it in 2002. … continue
Blog Roll
Aletho News- Trita Parsi: Trump’s Swiss Cheese Iran Plan & U.S. Break with Israel?
- Iran’s NPT exit debate: How repeated attacks exposed the failures of global nuclear safeguards
- Mainstream Israeli Media Celebrates Deadly Floods In Gaza
- Australian Censor Chief Rejects Claims Digital Duty of Care Will Drive Censorship
- Why a New European Security Architecture Will Be Born Through War
- EU incapable of speaking with one voice on Ukraine – analyst to RT
- Moscow, Kabul Planning to Sign Intergovernmental Agreement on Trade – Official
- Ukraine training Sahel militants to use drones – Russian envoy
- EU trying to boycott ties between Niger and Algeria
- Independence movement declares mobilization against Morocco
- If Americans Knew
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- No Tricks Zone
- New Study: Barents Sea Temperatures Were Warmer And Sea Ice Less Extensive In The 1700s Than Today
- German Authorities Start Initiative To Evaluate Public Register For Climate “Disinformation” Spreaders!
- Zonal Asymmetry of Temperature Change in the Antarctic Circumpolar Current
- New Study: The Net Fossil Fuel Contribution To Rising Atmospheric CO2 Has Been Zero For 500 Years
- Germany’s Green Energy Transition Becoming Increasingly Expensive…Another 6 Trillion Euros!
- Sudden Stratospheric Warming, Powerful El Niño Combination May Lead To Extreme Europe Cold, Energy Crisis!
- Two New Studies Find Thwaites Glacier Melt Cannot Be Driven By Human Activity Or A Warming Ocean
- E-Cars Reduce CO2 Emissions By Only 41% Compared To Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles
- Predictions Made By Renowned Climate Professor Over Past Decades Have Been Proven To Be Poor
- New Study Suggests Large Regions Of The Pacific Ocean Have Been Cooling For The Last 80 Years
