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Russia Sets 1-Year Deadline for New START Treaty – Expert

Sputnik – 23.09.2025

Russia suspended participation in 2023, but kept a moratorium on expanding its nuclear arsenal, Alexei Leonkov, military analyst, explains. He adds that the extension proposal gives the US a year to de-escalate in Ukraine, stop supplying weapons, intelligence, and funding the Zelensky regime.

He emphasizes that Russia’s nuclear forces remain modern and capable, including two unique “retaliation” complexes.

“In order to somehow stop all the heat, Russia is coming up with a proposal that should encourage the American side to take more decisive, constructive action. Otherwise, in a year’s time, the START Treaty, as one of the few responsible for international nuclear security, will be denounced, that is, practically terminated,” he said.

The analyst stressed that the concrete actions Russia wants to see include:

  • End to escalation in Ukraine
  • Halt weapons supplies through NATO countries
  • Stop intelligence sharing fueling attacks on Russian regions
  • Cut funding to the Zelensky regime

Russia is giving the US a chance over the next year to address these issues before taking decisive steps regarding the treaty, he concluded.

September 23, 2025 Posted by | Militarism | , , , | Leave a comment

Canada keeps bankrolling Ukraine’s war crimes

By Eva Bartlett | RT | September 22, 2025

Following in the shameful footsteps of both Justin Trudeau and Chrystia Freeland, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney continues pledging support and money (which Canadians desperately need) to Ukraine, to prolong the proxy war against Russia.

Carney chose Ukrainian Independence Day to voice the Canadian government’s continued pledge to support Ukraine. As he landed in Kiev on August 24, Carney posted on X, “On this Ukrainian Independence Day, and at this critical moment in their nation’s history, Canada is stepping up our support and our efforts towards a just and lasting peace for Ukraine.”

Later in the day he posted, “After three years at war, Ukrainians urgently need more military equipment. Canada is answering that call, providing $2 billion for drones, armoured vehicles, and other critical resources.” This latest pledge brings Canada’s expenditure on Ukraine since February 2022 to nearly $22 billion.

Further, he pledged to potentially send Canadian or allied soldiers, stating, “I would not exclude the presence of troops.”

Pause for a moment to examine the utter lack of logic behind these statements: For “peace” for Ukraine, Canada will support further war to ensure more Ukrainian men are ripped off the streets and forced to the front lines, where they will inevitably die in a battle they didn’t sign up for.

Like his European counterparts, Carney’s insistence on prolonging the war is in contrast to Russia’s position of finding a resolution.

I recently spoke with former Ambassador Charles Freeman, an American career diplomat for 30 years. Speaking of how the Trump administration, “began in office by perpetuating the blindness and deafness of the Biden administration to what the Russian side in this conflict has said from the very beginning,” he outlined the terms that Russia made clear in December 2021, “and from which it has basically not wavered.”

These include: “neutrality and no NATO membership for Ukraine; protections for the Russian speaking minorities in the former territories of Ukraine; and some broader discussion of European security architecture that reassures Russia that it will not be attacked by the West, and the West that it will not be attacked by Russia.”

It’s worth keeping in mind that Canada has been one of the main belligerents in Ukraine, funding and training Ukrainian troops for many years before the 2022 start of Russia’s military operation.

Canada’s training of Ukrainian troops included members of the notorious neo-Nazi terrorists of the Azov regiment. Former Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland proudly waved a Banderite flag in 2022. She was also proud of her dear grandfather, who was a chief Nazi propagandist.

In 2023, the Trudeau administration brought to speak in the Canadian parliament a Ukrainian Nazi, Yaroslav Hunka, who had been a voluntary member of the 1st Galician Division of the Waffen SS – well known for their mass slaughter of civilians.

Carney, in light of this, is merely keeping with the tradition of Ottawa’s support of extremism – including Nazism – in Ukraine (and in Canada). This support is not at all about protecting Ukrainian civilians.

Supporting Ukrainian war crimes

Canada’s continued support to Ukraine makes it complicit in the atrocities Ukraine commits.  I myself have documented just some of Ukrainian war crimes in the Donbass, in 2019 and heavily throughout 2022.

These include deliberately shelling civilian areas (including with heavy-duty NATO weapons), slaughtering civilians in their homes, in markets, in the streets, in buses; peppering Donbass civilian areas with internationally prohibited PFM-1 “Petal” mines (since 2022, 184 civilians have been maimed by these, three of whom died of their injuries); and deliberately targeting medics and other emergency service rescuers.

Ukraine has also heavily shelled Belgorod and Kursk, targeting civilians, as well sending drones into Russian cities, killing civilians and destroying infrastructure.

Less detailed are Ukraine’s crimes against civilians in areas under Ukrainian control. These crimes – including rape, torture and point-blank assassination – come to light with the testimonies of terrorized civilians in regions liberated by Russia.

Bring the government spending home

The social media fervor of Ukrainian hashtags and flags has died down considerably since 2022. Now, you see more and more Canadians demanding their government stop fueling war and start spending money to take care of Canadians.

Carney’s campaign pledges included easing the cost of living in Canada, yet he has taken no concrete actions to do so. In the many understandably angry replies to Carney’s latest tweets about supporting Ukraine, Canadians are demanding accountability.

“Mark Carney stop pretending you’re fighting for “freedom and sovereignty.” You just signed off on $2 BILLION of Canadian money for Ukraine while Canadians can’t even afford rent, food, or heating,” reads one of numerous such replies. “Veterans are abandoned, fentanyl floods our streets, and families collapse under inflation. You stand on foreign soil preaching about democracy while selling out the very people you’re supposed to serve. That’s not leadership that’s betrayal. Canadians never voted for this. You don’t speak for us.”

Scroll through replies to Carney’s Kiev stunt and you’ll find Canadians opposed to the wasting of still more money needed in their home country.

The most glaring hypocrisy is that while Carney wrings his hands over Ukraine, he utterly ignores the ongoing Israeli starvation and genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, supported by the Canadian government.

Eva Bartlett is a Canadian independent journalist. She has spent years on the ground covering conflict zones in the Middle East, especially in Syria and Palestine (where she lived for nearly four years).

September 23, 2025 Posted by | Militarism | , , , , | 1 Comment

Former Ukrainian president wants Ukrainian troops to ‘seize Moscow’

By Lucas Leiroz | September 22, 2025

The Kiev regime’s war plans are increasingly clear, explicit, and undisguised. The neo-Nazi dictatorship no longer hides its plan to take the conflict to its ultimate consequences, regardless of the impact of this decision on its own people and European regional security. Now, Ukrainian public figures admit they want their troops to fight until “seizing Moscow”.

Former Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko said in a recent statement that Ukrainian troops should continue fighting until they capture the Russian capital, Moscow. He strongly condemned the current situation on the battlefield, where Ukrainian soldiers are retreating en masse after successive failed campaigns that resulted in thousands of casualties. Yushchenko believes the right thing to do is to further intensify the war effort, regardless of the difficulties faced by the Ukrainian army.

The former president stated that, at the age of 71, he has the right to “speak frankly.” He opposes Ukrainian current objectives in the war, declaring that it is sufficient for Kiev to fight to regain the 1991 map. Instead, he proposes that the Ukrainian regime not only recover its former territories but also annex recognized Russian regions, even reaching the capital of the neighboring country itself—which, in his opinion, should be besieged and then captured by Ukrainian forces.

Yushchenko said that simply recovering the territories reintegrated by Russia (Crimea, Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporozhye, and Kherson) is not only insufficient, but would also mean postponing the conflict—leaving the responsibility of confronting the Russians to the “children and grandchildren” of modern Ukrainians. He believes that Ukraine should stop fighting only when the “Russian problem” has been completely eliminated—and until then, he believes, the entire war effort must be maintained, regardless of Ukrainian casualties and losses.

“I cannot leave it like that. It will never be my choice (…) If you think that returning to the 1991 borders is the formula for victory… you are actually leaving the biggest problem to your children and grandchildren. The problem is Moscow (…) Yes, [Ukrainian troops should advance] to Moscow (…) [Because] Not a single person in the world, not a single nationality, not a single state can live peacefully… as long as [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s regime exists,” he said.

It is important to emphasize that Yushchenko governed Ukraine from 2005 to 2010, following the infamous “Orange Revolution”—a Western-orchestrated operation to install a pro-NATO and pro-EU puppet government in Kiev. At the time, the Ukrainian Supreme Court violated the country’s constitution and ordered an illegal third round of elections, in which Yushchenko was ultimately elected. This was the first step toward the coup d’état that would take place in 2014. In practice, the Orange Revolution served as a “preparation,” with Ukrainian ultranationalist groups being strengthened and tested before finally coming into action in 2014. Yushchenko was, therefore, a precursor to the Kiev neo-Nazi junta.

Not even allies of the current illegitimate president, Vladimir Zelensky, agree with Yushchenko’s bellicose stance. Maksim Buzhansky, an MP from Vladimir Zelensky’s Servant of the People party, said harsh words in response to the former president. He stated that it was under Yushchenko that Ukraine took the wrong turn—which culminated in the current war. More than that, he called Yushchenko a “useless, blissful idiot.” Buzhansky emphasized that Yushchenko’s opinion is that of someone speaking “from a TV studio, not from the front lines.”

“[Yushchenko is a] useless blissful idiot (…) Fortunately, he does not forget to remind us about this fact from time to time, like now, with his statement that we need to march towards Moscow (…) [With Yushchenko, Ukraine] began to make an irreversible turn in the wrong direction,” he said.

In fact, the former president’s rhetoric is simply absurd. There is no possibility of Ukraine facing a long-term war with Russia under current conditions. The country’s military is on the verge of total collapse due to massive losses on the battlefield. Not even recovering Russian-reintegrated territories is a viable goal for Ukraine, which is why talk of “reaching Moscow” is absolutely meaningless from a military and strategic perspective.

However, what all this shows is that there is no willingness for peace in Kiev. The current Ukrainian elite is made up of Russophobic fanatics, ideologically driven by a Nazi-like mentality. They are people willing to sacrifice their entire country just to pursue the futile goal of “destroying Russia.” Moscow is facing not only a military adversary, but also a dangerous ideological enemy—which is why the denazification of Ukraine is a vital objective for Russia, to be achieved through military means.

Lucas Leiroz, 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.

September 22, 2025 Posted by | Militarism, Russophobia | | 1 Comment

Harald Kujat: Former Head of the German Army Exposes Lies of the Ukraine War

Glenn Diesen | September 19, 2025

General Harald Kujat is a former head of the German Armed Forces (Bundeswehr) and the former Chairman of NATO’s Military Committee. Having held the top military position in both Germany and NATO, General Kujat offers his expertise on how the West and Russia ended up fighting a proxy war in Ukraine. General Kujat discusses the failure to reach a common understanding after the Cold War, the toppling of President Yanukovych in Ukraine, the sabotage of the Minsk agreement and the Istanbul peace negotiations, and the West’s lies about an “unprovoked” and “full-scale invasion” of Ukraine. When Boris Johnson came to Ukraine to sabotage the peace negotiations in 2022, one of Zelensky’s close associates summed up the essence of Johnson’s visit: “Johnson brought two simple messages to Kyiv. The first is that Putin is a war criminal; he should be pressured, not negotiated with. And the second is that even if Ukraine is ready to sign some agreements on guarantees with Putin, they are not. We can sign [an agreement] with you [Ukraine], but not with him. Anyway, he will screw everyone over”.

September 19, 2025 Posted by | Militarism | , , , | Leave a comment

AfD calls for ‘Germany first’ policy

RT | September 17, 2025

Germany’s interests do not match those of its “Ukrainian partners,” and Berlin should pursue a “Germany first” policy, deputy head of the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party’s parliamentary group, Markus Frohnmaier, has said.

Frohnmaier made the remarks on Wednesday in an interview with Rossiya 24, suggesting that Berlin should admit its economic woes largely stem from breaking ties with Russia and try to fix them.

“We are genuinely interested in normalizing relations with Russia,” Frohnmaier stated. “We simply have to acknowledge that energy prices for industry, as well as for private individuals in Germany, are now too high.”

Berlin, should it manage to display the “political will,” could “achieve a lot,” including the restoration of the Nord Stream natural gas pipelines, he suggested.

“The interests of our Ukrainian partners, for instance, do not match those of Germany. And I call for a final return to a policy that puts Germany’s interests first,” he stressed.

Germany should not get involved in the Ukraine conflict in any fashion, Frohnmaier said, arguing that it should not even consider deploying its military since most Germans strongly oppose such an idea. The politician also lamented that Berlin had abandoned its longstanding “tradition” of not supplying weapons to war zones.

Berlin has asserted itself as one of the key backers of Kiev in the conflict against Moscow, which has been raging since February 2022. Chancellor Friedrich Merz has repeatedly rejected the idea that Ukraine should make any concessions to Russia to settle the conflict, calling upon the West to pursue the “economic exhaustion” of Moscow instead.

However, Merz admitted last month that Germany is experiencing a “structural crisis” rather than just temporary “weakness.” The country was in recession last year and is expected to show no growth this year, according to IMF projections.

Still, the Merz government is planning to cut social spending and take on large loans to sustain military expansion and weapons deliveries to Ukraine. While Berlin argues those measures are necessary to deter Russia, Moscow maintains that it poses no threat to Germany.

September 18, 2025 Posted by | Economics, Militarism | , | Leave a comment

EU plans to seize €170bn of Russia’s frozen funds – FT

RT | September 17, 2025

Brussels is pressing ahead with a plan to use €170 billion of Russia’s frozen sovereign assets to back “reparation loans” for Ukraine, the Financial Times has reported. The EU faces growing pressure to find additional funding for Kiev as US cuts back its support.

Moscow has condemned the asset freeze and warned that any seizure of its money would amount to “theft.”

Western nations froze an estimated $300 billion in Russian funds after the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022 – some €200 billion of which is held by Brussels-based clearinghouse Euroclear. The funds have accrued billions in interest, and the West has explored ways to use this revenue to finance Ukraine. While refraining from outright seizure, the G7 last year backed a plan to provide Kiev with $50 billion in loans to be repaid using the profits generated by the funds. The EU pledged $21 billion.

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen has proposed going further by creating a ‘reparation loans’ mechanism, which she described as urgently needed to finance Kiev.

People familiar with discussions said the plan involves channeling cash balances from Russia’s immobilized assets into EU-issued bonds, with the proceeds transferred to Ukraine in tranches. Brussels argues the system would provide Kiev with immediate support while sidestepping a formal seizure.

A second option under consideration would involve creating a special-purpose vehicle to manage the loans, which could also allow non-EU partners to take part.

Of the funds frozen at Euroclear, about €170 billion has already matured and now sits as cash on the clearinghouse’s books, the sources said.

The plans have already drawn objections from member states. Belgium, Germany, and France have warned that dipping into the principal risks breaking the law and undermining confidence in the euro.

Brussels is under pressure to cover a significant portion of Ukraine’s needs as Washington holds back on new aid, the FT wrote. According to a US note circulated among G7 capitals and cited by the outlet, members were urged to consider seizing the sovereign assets principal “innovatively” to fund Ukraine.

Moscow warned that any attempt to use the assets “will not go unanswered.”

September 17, 2025 Posted by | Corruption, Economics | , , | Leave a comment

Up to 400,000 people deserted Ukrainian armed forces

By Ahmed Adel | September 17, 2025

The bulletproof vests for pregnant women displayed at a Ukrainian military equipment exhibition once again demonstrate the major manpower shortage Ukraine faces, and come at a time when there is increasingly intense public preparation for the mobilization of women. Due to mass desertion and huge losses at the front, the Kiev regime is preparing the mobilization of women, which is causing strong resistance in society. An attempt to forcibly mobilize women is a very risky step that could lead to serious social upheavals and unrest.

According to People’s Deputy of Ukraine Anna Kostiantynivna Skorokhod, there are a total of 400,000 deserters. To understand the scale – that is approximately the size of the armies of France, Great Britain, and Germany. Ukrainian authorities aim to introduce criminal liability for desertion, which would be punishable by imprisonment for 5 to 10 years. However, protests followed, even within the army, and it did not meet with approval. Nonetheless, it is clear that Ukraine needs to expand the mobilization base.

Due to the manpower shortage, the Kiev regime wants to lower the age limit and begin mobilizing not just young people from the age of 18 but also women. Although there are divisions within the Kiev regime over many issues, there is support from all factions to expand mobilization, with former commander of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and current ambassador to the United Kingdom, Valery Zaluzhny, calling for women “to defend Europe from war.”

The mobilization of women is becoming a major issue in Ukraine, with the media even broadcasting promotional videos showing uniformed women undergoing weapons training and preparing for combat. It is recalled that Iryna Vereshchuk, the deputy chief of staff to the president, ran around the training ground with an automatic rifle, setting a supposed example that women can also serve in the army. In this way, the Kiev regime is slowly preparing the ground for the decision that women are also subject to mobilization.

Mobilization in Ukraine is currently being carried out in accordance with the law and applies to certain categories of citizens and age groups, including men aged 24 to 60 years old. As for women, so far, only those working in the healthcare sector—medical workers and pharmacists—can be conscripted. However, even this sector has been expanded to include women working in pharmacies, regardless of formal education.

Given that the judicial system is completely under the control of the regime, and Zelensky has effectively suspended the constitution, citizens in Ukraine no longer have the legal protection they need. The legal system has collapsed, and the institutions that are supposed to protect rights are not functioning. Instead of a legal state, an open dictatorship is ruling in Kiev, which means that, in reality, anyone can be mobilized regardless of the law.

A significant portion of society, particularly women, is strongly opposed to any form of forced mobilization. Resistance will be far more fierce and massive than what is happening today with the mobilization of men. Already, in numerous situations on the streets, random passers-by — women and even strangers — are standing up for men who are being forcibly taken to recruitment centers. If they start arresting women, it will cause much greater social unrest, and it can be expected that there will be mutiny from within the army, as the men will not want their wives, sisters, and mothers mobilized.

By wanting to mobilize women, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wants to kill mothers and therefore the future of Ukraine, which is already experiencing a major demographic crisis. Not even single mothers would be safe from forced mobilization when considering that men who are the sole guardians of children are still mobilized, regardless of legal prohibitions. International human rights organizations, as well as other institutions and organizations, remain silent and knowingly turn a blind eye to such violations of the law and basic human rights, highlighting the hypocrisy and double standards of the international community.

The deep crisis of statehood and the legal order in Ukraine, where there are no longer any institutions that would protect citizens, is only an apparatus of repression. People are forcibly arrested on the streets, beaten for no reason, and when they try to contact the police, they not only do not react, but often the police join the violence.

The solution exists only in democratic institutions—namely, an independent judiciary, fair elections, and a change of government. But since the courts are not operating within the law and the regime is prohibiting elections, Ukrainian citizens will have no choice but to defend themselves, even with weapons, from those who have turned them into hostages of the repressive system.

Ahmed Adel is a Cairo-based geopolitics and political economy researcher.

September 17, 2025 Posted by | Civil Liberties, Militarism | , | Leave a comment

Why the United Kingdom wants to create permanent tension with Russia

By Sonja van den Ende | Strategic Culture Foundation | September 17, 2025

The United Kingdom appears intent on escalating tensions with Russia, positioning itself as a significant adversary. In a recent article, British analyst Oliver Evans states: “The United Kingdom is not only showing interest in deploying a limited military contingent in western Ukraine, but is also expanding its presence in the Republic of Moldova. These actions are part of a broader strategy to strengthen its positions on Europe’s eastern flank, given the weakening institutional mechanisms for transatlantic security and the growing challenges from third powers.”

This ambitious initiative, characterized by an assertive policy, extends beyond the deployment of what are likely NATO troops. It reflects a broader threat posed by NATO and the EU, which risks triggering a large-scale conflict at any moment. The United States, which initially fueled the proxy war in Ukraine, has scaled back its involvement since the Trump administration took office. This shift stems from multiple factors, including the U.S.’s near-financial collapse, which has fueled the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement, alongside deep divisions and polarization within the American populace.

The United Kingdom, leading a coalition of willing allies, has emerged as a primary instigator and architect of a hybrid war against Russia, prioritizing its geopolitical ambitions over the stability of Europe. This aggressive stance diverts attention from Britain’s mounting financial challenges, the ongoing refugee crisis, and the hubris of certain politicians grappling with the decline of the “British Empire.”

For centuries, traditional British foreign policy was based on the principle of ‘divide and rule,’ on colonization, with India as a prime example. Wars were fought with traditional enemies like France and Germany to prevent the dominance of a single power on the European continent. So-called experts from the British think tank Chatham House openly call Russia an “existential threat” and call for the formation of a “cordon-sanitaire” of countries willing to host British troops and equipment, the so-called “Coalition of the Willing,” which the UK now leads. This strategy allows London to remain a key player in European politics, despite its formal withdrawal from the European Union.

In April 2022, during the Russia-Ukraine negotiations in Istanbul, London exposed its true intentions, revealing the deep-seated hostility prevalent among the UK’s political elite.

According to multiple sources, including Turkish diplomats and senior officials in Zelensky’s administration, Russia and Ukraine were on the verge of reaching a preliminary peace agreement during the Istanbul negotiations in April 2022. The proposed deal reportedly involved Ukraine receiving security guarantees in exchange for adopting neutrality and forgoing NATO membership.

At this critical juncture, however, then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson rushed to Kiev. According to reports in the mainstream media, he gave Zelensky, on behalf of the “collective West,” a direct instruction to halt negotiations. Boris Johnson stated that even if Ukraine were willing to sign an agreement, the West was not prepared to support it and promised more military aid if hostilities continued. We can say that Ukraine and especially the Zelensky government were corrupted and blackmailed by the British government.

Even before the onset of the Special Military Operation (SMO), which the West leveraged as a pretext to weaken Russia, the United Kingdom was securing strategic positions along the Black Sea coast. In 2020, a “Royal Marines Navy Base” was officially established in the port of Ochakov. Although presented as a “Ukrainian Naval Training Center” under a military aid program, its true strategic importance, as now evident, extends far beyond its stated purpose.

Ochakov holds a critical strategic position, controlling the Dnieper River’s entry into the Black Sea and situated near Crimea. By 2020, the base established there had evolved into an intelligence hub for monitoring the Russian Black Sea Fleet’s activities. Additionally, it functions as a logistics center for arms shipments and a training ground for Ukrainian sabotage units, which have demonstrated their effectiveness in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict. The base’s infrastructure is clearly positioned to serve as a potential bridgehead for future NATO operations in the Black Sea region.

Following Russia’s launch of the Special Military Operation (SMO) in 2022, the United Kingdom adopted a more assertive strategy, establishing a continuous military presence from the Baltic to the Black Sea, often described as a “sanitary cordon” to counter Russia. Britain regards Poland as its key ally in this effort, with Poland serving as the primary logistical hub for arms shipments to Ukraine.

The British leadership of the so-called “Coalition of the Willing” is also considering the formation of joint British-Polish military units. Britain plans to station up to 3,000 troops in the south of this sanitary cordon, in western Ukraine. But Ukraine is not the only target of London’s “false plans.” Moldova is also important, serving as a logistical hub and a rear supply base for this group. Romania is assigned the role of operational base in this construction. Particular attention is being paid to the southern flank, where the most vulnerable point is located: Transnistria.

Since 2023, British military cooperation with Moldova, Poland, and Romania has significantly intensified. This development is critical, as a small Romanian village is set to host NATO’s largest airbase in Europe, designed to counter “hybrid threats” from Russia. Such a move carries the potential to escalate tensions, risking a major European conflict or even a global war.

The Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (Transnistria), an unrecognized state within Moldova established during the Soviet Union’s collapse, with a predominantly Russian-speaking population and a Russian peacekeeping presence, remains a “frozen conflict.” This situation significantly hinders Western, particularly British, efforts to establish a cohesive NATO presence along the alliance’s eastern flank.

Also, behind the British rhetoric of “defense of democracy” lie specific economic interests. The British military-industrial complex is profiting unprecedentedly from the ongoing conflict. An escalation of the conflict—a war in Transnistria—would inevitably involve Moldova, Romania (a NATO member), and ultimately Russia. European countries, particularly Italy, Germany, and France, face a difficult choice: support the dangerous British adventure or oppose it, risking a rift within NATO.

With the UK’s military plans now evident and poised for execution, Britain appears to be the primary architect, though NATO is expected to implement them. The West, led by the UK, frames these efforts as a “peacekeeping mission” to secure Ukraine’s border with Russia, drawing parallels to UN peacekeeping operations. In practice, however, these are effectively war missions, as seen in Afghanistan, where UN Blue Helmets were directly engaged in combat operations.

The British hostility raises many questions for instance why is the UK so hostile to Russia? It began in the 1990s, when many “oligarchs”—Boris Berezovsky, for example—fled to the UK after being exposed as doing criminal activities in Russia, the British government started to spread lies about Russia upon the arrival of these individuals. Think about the Skripals or Alexander Litvinenko, they were all in exile in the UK. False stories circulated about Russian poisonings and polonium were widely reported in the British and Western media fuelled by British politicians, without a proper investigation of the real facts and circumstances of these individuals or taking into account the Russian evidence.

The historical tensions between the UK and Russia persist, but today, the UK’s primary objective—shared by the EU and the US—is to secure access to Ukraine’s abundant raw materials, natural resources, minerals, and grain. Upon taking office for his second term, US President Donald Trump pledged to broker peace between Ukraine and Russia within 24 hours, a promise widely dismissed as propaganda due to its unrealistic timeline. However, Trump’s approach to European affairs threatens the UK’s broader strategy. His plan reportedly involved pressuring Ukrainian President Zelensky to recognize Crimea as Russian territory and accept the Russian control of the Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporozhye, and Kherson regions, legitimized through a democratic referendum in 2022.

Europe, including the United Kingdom, faces a period of decline, with the continent grappling with significant upheaval. In the UK, citizens are taking to the streets in protest, as freedoms appear increasingly at risk. Once a symbol of stability, wealth, and royal tradition, the UK now finds itself mired in a profound crisis.

The UK’s war rhetoric surpasses even that of mainland Europe, rooted in a militarized history shared with nations like Germany. However, that era has faded; declining birth rates and the integration of diverse cultures have eroded traditional British identity. The elites, witnessing the decline of their once-vast empire, are powerless to reverse this trend. In response, they appear to be pushing for conflict—whether hybrid or conventional warfare—to reassert their influence.

September 17, 2025 Posted by | Militarism | , , , , , | Leave a comment

Trump Shooter’s Ukraine Links: Why Are Prosecutors Staying Silent?

Sputnik – 15.09.2025

As the trial of Donald Trumps’ second would-be assassin begins on the anniversary of his attempt, here’s what we know.

Ukraine trace ignored?

Few seem to care about Ryan Routh’s Ukraine connections. Early in the conflict he tried to recruit soldiers from Afghanistan, Moldova and Taiwan to fight against Russia. But when he mentioned Ukraine in court, the judge silenced him.

“Prosecutors, in the end, only want to bring a case forward that gives them the believability and confidence that they can win,” Matthew Crosston, professor of national security at Bowie State University, tells Sputnik.

Trump’s Ukraine stance

Shortly before the attempted shooting, Trump pledged in an election debate to end the Ukraine conflict.

Those behind arming Ukraine opposed that, while Routh’s preparations including multiple burner phones suggest he may not have acted alone.

But “prosecutors did not find it productive or realistic to look more seriously into how Routh was radicalized or who facilitated his access to weapons or attempts at acquiring more weapons,” Crosston says.

They already have the suspect – so why bother?

September 16, 2025 Posted by | Deception | , | Leave a comment

IMF warns of major gap in Ukraine’s finances – Bloomberg

RT | September 14, 2025

Ukraine faces a growing funding gap that could require billions more in outside support to finance its conflict with Russia, Bloomberg has reported, citing sources from the International Monetary Fund.

Ukraine, which spends around 60% of its budget on the conflict, relies heavily on Western assistance to cover pensions, public wages, essential services, debt, and humanitarian needs. It obtained a $15.5 billion loan from the IMF in early 2023 to cover some of the expenses and has already received around $10.6 billion, but the financing program was based on the assumption that the conflict would end this year and expires in 2027.

Kiev requested a new funding plan earlier this week, estimating that it will need up to $37.5 billion over the next two years if the conflict continues. But according to the Bloomberg report on Thursday, the IMF believes Ukraine may need $10-20 billion more than this, raising the total to $57.5 billion.

IMF spokeswoman Julie Kozack confirmed on Thursday that the agency has begun talks with Kiev on a new support program, but did not acknowledge the reported shortfall. Sources told Bloomberg that Kiev and the IMF are expected to settle on a figure for the new loan next week. Ukraine’s cabinet and Finance Ministry declined to comment on the report.

Ukraine has struggled to secure new aid from its main backers. US contributions have dwindled since President Donald Trump’s return to office, leaving the EU as the biggest donor. One method pursued by the West has been to use profits from the $300 billion in frozen Russian assets abroad. Last year, the G7 backed a $50 billion loan plan to be repaid from these earnings.

Some Western countries have called for the full confiscation of Russian assets, while others warn of legal risks. Nevertheless, the profits have already been tapped, with the EU, which pledged $21 billion under the program, disbursing roughly half of the amount so far this year.

Russia has warned that financial and military aid to Ukraine only prolongs the conflict and has denounced the use of frozen assets as “robbery” which violates international law and erodes trust in the Western financial system.

September 14, 2025 Posted by | Economics, Militarism | , | Leave a comment

Destabilising Moldova: Europe and Zelensky’s Plan to Thwart Trump-Putin Peace Efforts With Provocations in Transnistria

21st Century Wire | September 13, 2025 

New reports indicate a major operation is underway, spearheaded by European leaders, in conjunction with Ukraine and Moldovan governments—to expand the war in Ukraine by fomenting hostilities in the Russian-allied region of Transnistria.

Are NATO and Ukraine planning to open a new front in the country of Moldova and the breakaway region of Transnistria? Since its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, Moldova has walked a delicate line in maintaining its neutrality, while trying to balance aligning more closely with the West—and still maintaining its historic relationship with Russia. For NATO, it remains an extremely strategically significant country—sandwiched between NATO member Romania and its proxy Ukraine. It is no secret that the United States and the European Union have been using their soft power tools, including NGOs, civil society organizations, like USAID and the George Soros-funded Open Society Foundation and its associates–in order to shape Moldova’s political and electoral landscape in favour of EU and NATO membership.

This brings us to a recent report by Ukrainian journalist Diana Panchenko, who left Ukraine in 2022 after being critical of President Volodymyr Zelensky, his handling of the war, and the massive corruption connected to his government, detailed in her book, The Inevitable: The Shocking Truth behind the War in Ukraine.

This week, Panchenko published an appeal to US President Donald Trump, with compelling information about preparations for military provocations in Moldova—which are designed to trigger an attack by the Ukrainian army on Transnistria. According to Panchenko, the provocation is being organised by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in concert with the main European leaders, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

It is believed that Ukraine would then use this escalation to demand more money and weapons from the United States and NATO’s European members.

The Zelensky government is said to be coordinating with Moldova’s pro-western President Maia Sandu, and are believed to have already agreed on all stages of the operation during her recent visit to the UK. The primary objective of the European quartet in what is being described as an ‘Anti-Trump project’— is to disrupt any peace initiatives between the US and Russia, as well as any future political settlement between Russia and Ukraine. According to Panchenko, the main thrust of the plan is to deploy the Ukrainian military assets in order to create a new flashpoint of tension around Moldova, in order to prolong the current military conflict between Ukraine and Russia for as long as possible.

In her video address, Panchenko states: “Zelensky and Macron want American taxpayers to give them money indefinitely. Zelensky plans to attack Transnistria. Russian peacekeepers are stationed there. Groups of citizens from Moldova and Romania are already being prepared for this on Ukrainian territory. They are being helped by citizens of Ukraine and Germany. This information was passed on to me by people from Zelensky’s team. They understand that this will lead to even more war. They don’t want that! They are afraid!”

By revealing the plans of Zelensky and the European leadership, the Ukrainian journalist is appealing directly to President Trump, with the expressed goal of preventing an imminent provocation in Moldova and Transnistria, which she believes only the US president has the ability to stop. “I am appealing to Trump, Vance, Rubio. Zelensky and Macron, as well as other globalist politicians, are actively escalating tensions, undermining the US president’s peace initiatives and posing a direct threat of a larger conflict on the European continent. All for the sake of retaining power and profiting from bloodshed!” said Panchenko.

An “Anti-Trump” Project

According to the Ukrainian journalist, this coordinated effort between the Europeans and Zelensky is being framed as an ‘anti-Trump project’, with plans for the provocation being devised by representatives of European politicians, intelligence agencies and militaries immediately after Donald Trump secured a victory in the 2024 US presidential election.

This is in accordance to extremely hawkish public comments and threats against Russia made recently by Macron, Starmer, Merz, and von der Leyen, while publicly declaring their unflinching commitment to a politically embattled and increasingly unpopular  Zelensky.

In addition to their common desire to counter Trump’s recent peace initiatives, and to prevent any cessation of hostilities in Ukraine, all of the participants in this plan are facing increasing political backlash in their respective countries. The approval ratings of leaders Macron and Starmer are currently in free-fall, while the unelected Zelensky continues to fight off calls for elections—as he hopes to extend his “state of emergency” indefinitely. Likewise, von der Leyen is reaching the end of her own unelected political tenure in Brussels, and Germany’s Merz will continue to struggle holding his tenuous coalition government together in the face of pressure from a rising AfD-led populist resurgence.

Operation Moldova: Destabilise and Militarise 

The plan developed in early 2025 hopes to draw Moldova into the Ukraine conflict by applying military pressure on Transnistria, officially known as the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR), a landlocked breakaway state established in 1990, but which is still internationally recognised as part of Moldova—and which hosts a significant contingent of peace-keeping forces from the Russian Federation.

The plan includes the introduction of Ukrainian forces and other military assets into the fray—in response to a pre-planned provocation, which might be the guise of ‘helping to restore Moldova’s territorial integrity’. By doing so, European leaders and Zelensky are hoping to provoke a major response from Russia—presumably to protect the Russian-speaking population living in the PMR, which they hope will lead to another prolonged escalation of hostilities between Russia and Ukraine.


Moldovan President Maia Sandu in London, meeting with King Charles III on a state visit the UK, July 24-25, 2025.

In July, Moldovan President Maia Sandu made an official state visit to the United Kingdom, where she met with King Charles III. Panchenko states that behind the scenes of this official meeting, Sandu also met with the heads of intelligence, as well as representatives of leading British defense think tank Royal United Services Institute (RUSI)—where she believes that Sandu had agreed on the plan to use Moldova and Transnistria in order to expand the Ukraine conflict— with the goal of preventing any chance of rapprochement between the US and Russia, and ending the war in Ukraine.

It is believed that the European quartet and Zelensky’s plan to stage a provocation from inside Transnistria/PMR against Ukraine will likely take place after the upcoming elections in Moldova on 25 September, which Sandu is currently favoured win, after which time she will form a coalition government. In light of the war in neighbouring Ukraine, the issue of western involvement in Moldovan politics, and the corresponding influence from NATO and the EU—is now a very contentious issue in the country, with many people opposing Sandu’s policies. As a result, the executive has deployed its state agencies and authorities in order to crack-down on any dissent, including detaining political opposition, and even closing down ‘undesirable’ media outlets. Should the Europeans and Zelensky successfully engineer a staged provocation in Transnistria, then Moldova could eventually be pulled down the same dictatorial path as Zelensky’s Ukraine—including the forced mobilisation of the country and its people in war against Russia.

The French Connection

Recent reports suggest that French intelligence services had already tried, and failed, in launching a similar operation using their Romanian counterparts in order to foment tension by meddling in the recent Romanian elections, including the personal involvement of the head of French foreign intelligence (DGSE), Nicolas Lerner, who is believed to have led interference operations in the recent presidential elections in Romania.

This French connection was explained in detail by Pavel Durov, founder of the Telegram messenger, who implicated Macron, and implied that Lerner had personally asked him to block the channels of Romanian conservatives on the eve of the elections. Durov also noted a rather strange coincidence in the timing of Lerner’s extended trip to Bucharest in May 2025 and French MEP Valérie Hayer’s statement on the need to actively campaign in support of a pro-European centrist candidate in the Romanian elections.

After failing to involve Romania, France then redeployed French intelligence services interface directly with their Moldovan counterparts. Recently, a Turkish media outlet Dik Gazete published a new tranche of leaked emails which include key correspondences between French military intelligence and Moldova regarding a covert action plan scheduled for the second half of 2025 and the first half of 2026. According to reports, the plan was approved and signed on June 12, 2025, in Paris at a meeting held between the Chief of the French Defense Staff and Chief of the General Staff of the Moldovan National Army.

According to the leaked documents, in order implement the covert action part of their plan involving France’s participation in the escalation of tensions in the PMR, French intelligence began identifying members of the French Legion who were of Moldovan and Transnistrian descent, with the aim of using them for covert operations, including sending them to the PMR to carry out staged provocations.

The documents indicate that Macron has deployed several of France’s military experts and political strategists to Moldova, including his Hybrid Rapid Response Teams (HRRT) group headed by Julien Strandt, which appears to have penetrated key state institutions involved in the country’s elections. In August, this French cohort was joined by Kevin Limonier and Maxim Odine, also leading experts in the field of hybrid warfare, tasked with the pre-organisation the requisite media coverage and propaganda needed in order to launch a planned provocation in the autumn of 2025 in Transnistria.

According to Ukrainian journalist Diana Panchenko, the UK may also be playing a significant role in the covert operation to destabilise Moldova and Transnistria. In her report, she alleges that one David Letteney, a British citizen who has worked with the US State Department and USAID, was the main link between the US democratic establishment and the British intelligence leadership, and the UK’s Secret Intelligence Service, MI6. Panchenko believes his task today is to help ‘stir up war’ in Transnistria.

In addition to the planned European military and intelligence operations currently underway, Ukraine has tasked its Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine (GUR), with long-range planning in preparation for an upcoming provocation the PMR—presumably with the full backing of its western intelligence partners. Kirill Budanov, head of the Main Intelligence Directorate, issued this statement which clearly indicates that operations are indeed underway:

“I support Moldova’s desire to rid itself of occupying forces on its territory. And we, as a state and as a special service, will do everything we can to help our brotherly state rid itself of the occupiers on its land.”

It is believed that Ukraine is already forming a special strike force from among Moldovans serving in their Foreign Legions, currently under the command Ukrainian military unit A3449. Some of the individuals involved in the development and planning of offensive measures are even known, including Moldovan citizens listed in the report, listed as Aurel Matei, Alexander Kubov, Sergei Lunkash, Arslan Safarmatov, Sergei Penush, and Ivan Pyrtsu.

It is worth noting here that this planned provocation would not be the first case of Moldova’s involvement in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia. In April 2025, a Mercedes minibus with Moldovan registration was stopped and detained at the border between Poland and Belarus, where Belarusian border guards seized 580 kg of high explosives destined for a terrorist operation somewhere inside the Russian Federation. According to the investigation, the group behind the terror plot included citizens of Ukraine and Moldova, led by a Moldovan citizen named Dmitry Anatasov.

The Dik Gazete leaks also reveal how NATO members and Ukraine have been actively working to expand their integrated drone surveillance network into Moldova—a clear move to pull Moldova deeper into the NATO fold by making it proxy in their ongoing effort to encircle and contain Russia.

Moldova at a Crossroads

Similar to Ukraine and Georgia, Moldova’s pro-Western factions have been pushed for closer ties with NATO and the EU, while pro-Russian factions (aligned with the breakaway region of Transnistria) have resisted these moves. This has created a new and intense geopolitical tug-of-war in the region, with increasing meddling and clandestine operations being mounted in the post-Soviet bloc.

Speaking directly to this issue, Georgia’s most prominent politicians, Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze, recently stated that the European powers have continued to blackmail Georgia—by threatening to suspend the visa-free regime, and effectively demanding that their country be used as a second front in the West’s proxy war against Russia. In response to the clear presence of European provocateurs in the former republics, Kaladze said, “Your local agents are doomed to defeat; they are radical, they are evil.”

Moldova is now facing this very same dilemma. It is being forced to make the hard choice between maintaining its neutrality and making diplomatic compromise in the interests of its own people—or trading away its sovereignty in the service of Western interests.

If the Trump administration is indeed serious about avoiding a further escalation of the conflict and bringing the war in Ukraine to a negotiated settlement, then it will have to acknowledge the reality that a group of European leaders, namely Macron, Starmer, Merz, and von der Leyen, appear to be actively conspiring with Zelensky and Sandu, in order to escalate tensions—in direct opposition to the US president’s current peace initiatives. Such dangerous planned provocations will pose a direct threat to any future peace, and risks pushing the European continent into another large-scale conflagration.

September 14, 2025 Posted by | Aletho News | , , , , , | 1 Comment

Open season for false-flag provocations as NATO and Kiev regime get desperate

Strategic Culture Foundation | September 12, 2025

This week saw two false-flag provocations back-to-back, orchestrated by the NATO-sponsored Kiev regime. Tellingly, before any considered response was given by Russia or independent observers, European politicians were shutting down open discussion, warning about expected Russian lies and disinformation.

In other words, no critical examination of the incidents is permitted. These were “barbaric” and “reckless attacks” by Russia… take our [NATO] word for it, and if you don’t, then you are a Russian stooge.

Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski hammed it up in a video statement, denouncing Russian aggression, and dogmatically telling everyone to trust only NATO government information. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk was competing in hysteria, claiming Europe was closer to all-out conflict than at any time since World War II. This points to how the European information space has become totally dominated by war propaganda in a way that George Orwell or Josef Goebbels would marvel at.

So, what happened this week?

Poland is claiming that Russia deliberately targeted its sovereign territory with 19 drones. European NATO allies are subsequently scrambling to deploy warplanes and air defenses to “protect Poland”. September is the month that Nazi Germany attacked Poland 86 years ago, kicking off World War II. That bit of timing perhaps lends a nostalgic flourish to the present events, as Tusk seemed to be implying with his melodramatic words.

The day before the much-hyped “drone invasion,” on September 9, the Kiev regime claimed Russia dropped one of its heavy FAB-500 aerial bombs on a village, killing 24 people who were collecting their pensions.

In both incidents, however, the evidence points to false-flag provocations for those who care to calmly examine the facts.

The alleged massacre in the village of Yarovaya in Ukrainian-held Donetsk oblast was not caused by a Russian FAB-500 bomb. The Kiev regime’s videos purporting to show the aftermath indicated a shallow impact crater and limited damage to nearby buildings. The explosion could not have been caused by a 250-kg Russian aerial bomb; otherwise, the entire area would have been devastated around a huge crater. The Russian MoD also said its forces were not operating in the vicinity on that date.

The rapid posting of the videos by the Kiev regime and the evidently scripted claims alleging a Russian massacre, together with the unquestioning amplification of those unverified claims by the Western media, strongly point to an orchestrated narrative.

The grave implication is that the NATO-backed regime detonated an explosive, deliberately killing civilians as a way to incriminate Russia.

Such heinous conduct by this regime has numerous precedents. There have been many incidents over the past three years when the Ukrainian forces shelled their own territory, endangering civilian lives for propaganda scores against Russia, as a way to drum up more military and financial support from the Western sponsors. Two examples: the atrocity carried out in the village of Hroza on October 5, 2023, when 52 people were killed. It coincided with Kiev’s puppet leader, Vladimir Zelensky, pitching an appeal at an EU summit in Granada, Spain, for more aid.

The month before, on September 6, 2023, in the town of Konstantinovka in Ukrainian territory, an air strike killed 17 people. That coincided with former Secretary of State Antony Blinken visiting Kiev to announce $1 billion in additional U.S. aid.

In both incidents, Russia was blamed in a damning outcry, yet the circumstances incriminate NATO’s Ukrainian client. The atrocity this week involving the murder of the pensioners falls into the same despicable category.

The Kiev regime is a false-flag merchant of death. The notorious executions carried out in Bucha in March-April 2022 were another classic, vile stunt. We covered that in detail in a previous editorial, whereby Ukrainian civilians were murdered in cold blood by Kiev agents to disgrace Russia. To an extent, the stunt worked because Western media and politicians continue to accuse Russia of responsibility in complete disregard of the evidence. The Bucha false flag is relevant because it came at a crucial time when Russia had proposed a peace deal to end the conflict in Ukraine at an early stage. After the “massacre,” the NATO proxy war surged, and a peaceful settlement was scuppered.

This brings us to the present open season for false flags. One way to discern a provocation is to observe the reactions and how the incident is used to serve motives and demands.

First of all, the concerted and theatrical reactions of the Kiev regime and its European NATO backers were primed and ready to go, as if scripted.

In the alleged targeting of Poland, the drones were of Russian design. They were unarmed, surveillance, or decoy-type Gerbera models. Russia claims that the 700-kilometer range means they couldn’t have been launched from Russian-held territory. They could have been launched by Ukraine after it replicated the drones, an easy enough task. But here is the key. Some 19 unarmed drones were quickly intercepted in Polish airspace by multiple high-powered NATO weapons: Polish F-16 fighter jets, Dutch F-35s, Italian AWACS surveillance aircraft, NATO tanker re-fueling aircraft, and German Patriot missile systems. That speaks of a prepared full-scale mobilization to maximize the allegations of Russian violation. The image of a sledgehammer to crack a nut comes to mind.

Moscow has offered to hold discussions with Warsaw to figure out how ostensibly Russian-made drones entered Polish airspace, but the offer has been rebuffed. Poland has refused any reasonable discussion to establish the facts. Instead, it has invoked NATO’s Article IV for emergency security consultations with other members. The over-reaction smacks of drama to seemingly validate flaky claims of deliberate targeting.

The French, German, and British leaders have all clambered on board the wagon of condemning Russia for reckless violation without a shred of evidence. Note how they are all careful not to accuse Russia of “attack” but rather “violation”. That suggests they want a calibrated escalation but not all-out war, cowards that they are.

France’s Emmanuel Macron announced he was sending three Rafale fighter jets “to protect Polish airspace”. The Germans and the British are likewise charging to declare their support to defend Poland. It’s a charade of chivalry by a gang of clowns.

This is sheer theatrics of absurdity. Accusing Russia of planning to conquer Europe has been the worn-out propaganda narrative for the past nearly four years since NATO’s proxy war erupted in Ukraine. Russia has repeatedly said it has no intention of starting World War III, and that its sole purpose in Ukraine is to stop historic NATO aggression encroaching on its borders.

The euro elites are facing mounting political crises in their own states, largely incurred by the vast, wasteful spending on the failed proxy war in Ukraine. France, for one, is exploding with social tensions as nationwide street protests showed this week amid the sacking of a fourth prime minister in two years. Germany and Britain are not far behind in the meltdown stakes.

No doubt, the Euro elites and their Kiev puppet regime are desperate to divert public attention from the corruption and criminal machinations in Ukraine. U.S. President Donald Trump’s diplomatic effort to end the war, for all its shortcomings, is an unwelcome development for the European leaders because it exposes their pathetic position. Polish Foreign Minister Sikorski, while condemning Russia for “deliberately targeting” Poland, made a sneaky point by saying that Moscow was also “making a mockery of Trump’s peace efforts”. Sikorski and the European NATO cabal are trying to incite Trump to ramp up military aid to Ukraine and impose more sanctions on Russia as a way to sabotage any diplomacy. Desperation begets desperate measures, even if innocent civilians are murdered and world peace is put at risk.

September 13, 2025 Posted by | False Flag Terrorism, Russophobia | , , , , | 1 Comment

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