🇺🇦🇺🇸 ZELENSKYY SAYS UKRAINE NO LONGER ASKS WASHINGTON WHERE IT CAN STRIKE RUSSIA 🇷🇺 Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Ukraine is using its own weapons to strike targets inside Russia without consulting the United States about where those attacks should take place. The statement draws an important distinction between military assistance supplied by Washington and weapons developed or produced by Ukraine itself. For much of the war, the use of certain Western-supplied weapons against targets inside Russian territory has been subject to restrictions and political disagreements. Those limitations have complicated Kyiv’s efforts to attack military infrastructure beyond its borders, even when that infrastructure supports Russian operations against Ukraine. Ukraine’s growing domestic strike capabilities give Kyiv greater freedom to select targets and plan operations without depending on foreign authorisation for every decision. That independence matters particularly for long-range attacks. Russian airbases, ammunition depots, logistics hubs and defence-industrial facilities can contribute to military operations hundreds of kilometres from the front. Ukrainian-developed weapons offer a way to threaten such infrastructure without relying exclusively on foreign-supplied missiles. Zelenskyy’s remarks do not mean Ukraine has stopped cooperating with American intelligence agencies or that restrictions on US-supplied weapons have disappeared. His point concerns Ukrainian weapons and Kyiv’s authority to decide how to employ them. Ukraine remains dependent on international military assistance in several areas, but its domestic strike capabilities are giving its commanders greater operational autonomy. Kyiv’s position is that decisions about where Ukrainian-made weapons strike Russian military targets belong to Ukraine.

🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦 According to CNN, Zelensky’s workday begins between 3 and 4 in the morning, when the first battlefield reports arrive. He drinks strong black coffee, no sugar, to push through the early hours. Even under constant pressure, he has not lost his sense of humor and still finds brief moments to reset. The years of war, strain, and emotional weight are visible on him. No one carries that kind of burden without it showing. And yet he remains standing. Respect to Volodymyr Zelensky.

🇷🇺 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE WILL FALL HISTORY SPARES NONE

🇷🇺🇺🇦 RUSSIA MASSES ARMOR NEAR DOBROPILLIA AS FOG COULD OPEN THE WAY FOR A MAJOR ASSAULT Russian forces are reportedly concentrating large numbers of armored vehicles near Dobropillia in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, raising concerns that Moscow is preparing another wave of mechanized assaults against Ukrainian defensive positions. Fighting in the sector remains intense. Russian troops have been attempting to infiltrate Ukrainian positions, exploit gaps between defensive lines and advance along the flanks, while sustaining substantial casualties according to battlefield accounts. But the reported buildup of armor suggests Russian commanders may be preparing something larger than the infantry assaults currently taking place. Weather could play an important role. Russian forces may be waiting for dense fog and deteriorating visibility before committing their armored formations. Ukrainian reconnaissance drones and FPV operators have made large-scale mechanized attacks extraordinarily dangerous, often detecting approaching vehicles well before they reach their objectives. Fog could temporarily interfere with that surveillance, reducing the time available for Ukrainian defenders to identify and engage advancing columns. It would not, however, eliminate the threat posed by Ukrainian artillery, mines, anti-tank weapons and drones operating under difficult visibility conditions. There is also a considerable risk for the Russians. Concentrating armored vehicles for an offensive creates valuable targets, particularly if Ukrainian reconnaissance identifies assembly areas before the attack begins. Once committed, mechanized formations can become vulnerable on predictable approach routes and in terrain that restricts maneuver. The reported preparations suggest Moscow may be attempting to combine its existing infiltration tactics with concentrated armored assaults, using poor weather to compensate for Ukraine’s surveillance advantages. The scale of the buildup and the timing of any offensive remain unconfirmed. Dobropillia could soon face another serious test of its defenses. Whether Russia can turn an armored concentration into a breakthrough will depend not simply on the number of vehicles assembled, but on whether those vehicles can survive long enough to reach Ukrainian positions.

🇺🇦🇷🇺 UKRAINIAN FORCES GO ON THE OFFENSIVE NEAR LYMAN, CONTESTING RUSSIAN POSITIONS IN THE FOREST Ukrainian troops are conducting offensive operations in the wooded terrain near Yampolivka, along the Lyman axis in Donetsk Oblast, where renewed fighting is challenging Russian positions. According to battlefield reports, the contested gray zone has expanded by approximately 0.68 square kilometers. That figure reflects an increase in territory where neither side has established confirmed control, rather than a verified Ukrainian advance. The distinction matters. On a battlefield where positions can change hands repeatedly, pushing Russian troops out of a trench or entering a wooded area does not necessarily mean that ground has been permanently secured. The forests around Lyman are particularly difficult terrain. Tree cover and dense vegetation can conceal infantry movements, observation posts and defensive positions, making it harder to establish exactly where the front line runs. Even relatively small changes in control can affect access routes, local defensive arrangements and the ability to observe enemy movements. By contesting Russian positions near Yampolivka, Ukrainian forces could complicate Moscow’s efforts to consolidate its presence and sustain pressure along this part of the front. But the available reports do not establish that Ukraine has liberated the additional 0.68 square kilometers. Confirming a lasting gain would require evidence that Ukrainian units have occupied and retained the contested positions. For now, the development points to increased Ukrainian offensive activity in a sector where control remains disputed, not a confirmed territorial breakthrough.

🇺🇸🇺🇦🇷🇺 RUBIO ADMITS RUSSIA IS DEMANDING UKRAINIAN TERRITORY ITS ARMY HAS FAILED TO CONQUER Marco Rubio has identified a fundamental obstacle to ending Russia’s war against Ukraine: Moscow is demanding territory that its military has been unable to capture, while Kyiv refuses to surrender land it continues to defend. The US Secretary of State described control over the remaining Ukrainian-held areas of Donbas as the central territorial dispute preventing a negotiated settlement. “Although people constantly talk about the war in Ukraine, in reality, this war is about Donbas. We’re talking about one specific region of the country,” Rubio said. He pointed to approximately 11% of the territory under discussion as the immediate sticking point. “Russia wants to take it but cannot do so militarily, while Ukraine is unwilling to surrender it.” That admission exposes an uncomfortable reality at the heart of the negotiations. After years of fighting, enormous casualties and repeated offensives, Russian forces have still failed to achieve all of Moscow’s territorial objectives in Donbas. Yet Russia wants a diplomatic agreement to deliver territory its soldiers have not managed to seize. For Ukraine, accepting such a demand would mean withdrawing from positions it continues to hold and relinquishing communities that remain under Ukrainian control. It would also raise a much larger question: what would prevent Moscow from making further territorial demands after securing concessions through negotiations? Rubio’s emphasis on Donbas captures an important part of the deadlock, but the war cannot be reduced entirely to one region. Russia also occupies Crimea and territory elsewhere in southern Ukraine, while Kyiv’s long-term security depends on credible guarantees against renewed aggression. Even an agreement over the front line would leave those questions unresolved. The immediate contradiction is difficult to escape. Moscow is demanding at the negotiating table what it has failed to obtain on the battlefield, and Ukraine is being asked to consider surrendering territory that Russia has not conquered.

🇺🇦🇺🇸🇷🇺 ZELENSKYY CHALLENGES TRUMP OVER PUTIN, UKRAINIAN TERRITORY AND AMERICAN MILITARY SUPPORT Volodymyr Zelenskyy has delivered a remarkably direct assessment of Ukraine’s relationship with Washington, openly discussing Donald Trump’s ties to Vladimir Putin, restrictions affecting Starlink, critical shortages of air defence missiles and the territorial concessions Russia wants Ukraine to make. His position on occupied territory was unequivocal. According to Zelenskyy, Russia currently controls 19.3% of Ukraine, not the 25% sometimes cited in discussions about the war. “When someone talks about 25%, that means we would have to leave Donbas ourselves. Then, yes, they would control 25%.” That distinction matters enormously. Zelenskyy is prepared to consider stopping the fighting along the existing front line, but he refuses to legally recognize Russian sovereignty over any occupied Ukrainian territory. A ceasefire, in other words, is negotiable. Surrendering Ukraine’s territorial claims is not. The Ukrainian president was equally direct when discussing Trump. “I don’t play games with Trump. That’s the difference between Putin and me. I’m direct and honest.” Asked whether Trump and Putin were friends, Zelenskyy replied: “I think so, yes. They have quite a good relationship.” He also insisted that Ukraine cannot afford political weakness while fighting for its survival. Without a strong army, president and population, he argued, Russia would simply overwhelm the country. But perhaps the most consequential part of his remarks concerned Ukraine’s increasingly strained air defences. Zelenskyy said approximately 2,000 interceptor missiles were used during the first 84 hours of fighting in the Middle East, while Ukraine received just 24 missiles from a strategic partner over the previous 90 days. The figures concern different operational circumstances, but the contrast illustrates the competition for limited air defence supplies. Ukraine is still facing Russian missile and drone attacks while struggling to replenish the weapons needed to intercept them. When asked whether Washington had blocked European countries from supplying additional missiles, Zelenskyy offered a revealing distinction. “They didn’t prevent it. They didn’t sign off on sending the missiles.” The practical consequence can be similar: without the necessary authorization, weapons cannot be transferred, even when another country is prepared to provide them. Zelenskyy also said SpaceX had restricted Starlink operating speeds, adding that he believed Elon Musk was now aware of the problem. The extent and circumstances of those restrictions remain unclear. Taken individually, these disputes concern territory, diplomacy, military equipment and communications technology. Together, they reveal the difficult position Kyiv faces. Ukraine is being asked to negotiate with a country that still occupies nearly a fifth of its territory, while some of the military and technological support essential to its defence remains uncertain. Zelenskyy’s position is that Ukraine can negotiate an end to the fighting without accepting Russia’s conquests as legitimate. But its ability to resist further Russian pressure depends heavily on whether its partners continue providing the means to defend it.

🇺🇦🇱🇹🇱🇻 UKRAINE AND BALTIC ALLIES DEVELOP A 700 KM/H JET-POWERED DRONE HUNTER TO COUNTER RUSSIA Ukraine, Lithuania and Latvia have joined forces to develop the X-12, a high-speed interceptor drone designed to hunt down some of Russia’s more advanced attack UAVs, including the Geran-5. Unlike many conventional interceptor drones that rely on propellers, the X-12 uses a turbojet engine, allowing it to reach a claimed maximum speed of 700 km/h. That speed could be particularly important as Russia introduces faster attack drones that are increasingly difficult for slower Ukrainian interceptors to catch. Developed under the Strategic Defense Alliance (SDA), the X-12 has reportedly already undergone testing in actual combat conditions. Its developers say Ukrainian military personnel have evaluated the system positively and that it is ready to enter serial production. The advertised specifications are substantial for a relatively compact unmanned interceptor: Maximum speed: 700 km/h Cruising speed: 350 km/h Maximum range: 126 km Operational ceiling: 10,000 metres Maximum flight endurance: 12 minutes The developers also emphasize that the X-12 contains no Chinese components. Its parts are sourced from the participating countries, with the turbojet engine manufactured in Lithuania. That manufacturing arrangement could prove almost as important as the drone’s performance. Ukraine’s air defence problem is no longer simply about detecting Russian drones. It is also about destroying large numbers of them without exhausting stocks of expensive surface-to-air missiles needed against cruise missiles, ballistic missiles and aircraft. A fast, mass-produced interceptor could help fill the gap between inexpensive propeller-driven drone hunters and sophisticated missile systems. The X-12’s claimed performance would potentially allow Ukrainian forces to engage faster targets at greater altitudes, although its actual interception success rate, production cost and ability to operate against electronic warfare have not been publicly established. There is also a broader European dimension. By combining Ukraine’s battlefield experience with Lithuanian and Latvian engineering and manufacturing, the three countries are developing a defence supply chain that does not depend on Chinese components. The real test will be whether the X-12 can be manufactured in sufficient quantities and consistently destroy Russian drones at a sustainable cost. If its advertised capabilities translate into reliable battlefield performance, Ukraine could gain another important tool against Russia’s evolving aerial threat.

🇺🇸🇮🇷 AMERICAN WARSHIPS PREPARE FOR ANOTHER POSSIBLE WAR WITH IRAN AS TRUMP WEIGHS NEW STRIKES The United States is intensifying military preparations in the Middle East, with American warships being supplied with long-range cruise missiles and powerful precision-guided bombs as Donald Trump considers another round of strikes against Iran in the coming weeks. According to The Wall Street Journal, US naval forces in the Arabian Sea are conducting extensive flight operations and ammunition resupply activities. Journalists visiting an American aircraft carrier and a guided-missile destroyer observed preparations consistent with maintaining the ability to conduct another major military operation. Among the weapons involved are long-range land-attack missiles and bunker-buster bombs designed to penetrate hardened structures before detonating. These weapons serve different purposes. Cruise missiles launched from warships can strike targets hundreds or even thousands of kilometres away without requiring aircraft to enter heavily defended airspace. Aircraft-delivered penetrating bombs, meanwhile, are intended to attack fortified facilities that conventional explosives may struggle to destroy. Together, they would give Washington options for targeting a wide range of Iranian military infrastructure, including heavily protected installations. The reported preparations come as Trump weighs whether to authorize further military action. No final decision to launch additional strikes has been publicly confirmed. There is an important distinction between preparing for war and deciding to start one. The Pentagon routinely positions forces and replenishes ammunition to ensure that military options remain available. Such deployments can also strengthen Washington’s negotiating position by demonstrating that threats of military action are backed by actual capabilities. But the risks are substantial. Iran could respond to another American offensive by targeting US military facilities, naval assets or regional partners. Even limited exchanges could disrupt shipping, threaten energy infrastructure and place additional pressure on countries already exposed to instability across the Middle East. The presence of an aircraft carrier, guided-missile warships and specialized strike weapons gives the United States considerable offensive reach. It does not guarantee that Iran’s ability to retaliate could be eliminated. For now, the most significant development is the scale of the visible preparations. Washington is ensuring that its forces are equipped for another confrontation while Trump considers whether to authorize one. The weapons are being positioned. The decision to use them remains with the White House.

🇮🇷🇺🇸🇮🇱 IRAN’S REVOLUTIONARY GUARDS CLAIM A “FINAL WAR” WILL MAKE TEHRAN THE WORLD’S MOST POWERFUL SUPERPOWER An Iranian Revolutionary Guard general has made an extraordinary declaration amid escalating tensions with the United States and Israel, suggesting that a coming “final war” will transform Iran into the most powerful country on Earth. “God willing, in the final war, we will become the world’s absolute superpower,” declared Brigadier General Mohebi, a representative of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The language is striking, even by the standards of Tehran’s confrontational military rhetoric. Mohebi is not simply promising that Iran will survive a confrontation with its adversaries. He is presenting a future war as an opportunity for the Islamic Republic to emerge at the very top of the international order, surpassing powers whose economic, military and technological capabilities currently dwarf its own. There is an enormous gap between that ambition and Iran’s actual capabilities. The United States possesses global military reach, advanced air and naval forces, extensive intelligence capabilities and a defence budget vastly larger than Iran’s. Israel, meanwhile, maintains sophisticated air power, missile defence systems and intelligence capabilities that would present formidable challenges in any direct confrontation. Iran has invested heavily in ballistic missiles, drones, underground military facilities and asymmetric warfare capabilities. Those investments give Tehran ways to threaten American forces, Israeli targets and critical infrastructure across the region, but they do not provide a credible conventional path to global military supremacy. A major war could also devastate Iran’s own infrastructure, further weaken its economy and expose its population to severe consequences. What makes Mohebi’s statement significant is the way he frames the possibility of war. Rather than describing military confrontation as a danger to be avoided, he portrays it as a historic struggle through which Iran could achieve unprecedented power. His remarks do not establish that Tehran has decided to launch such a conflict or that this vision represents an official operational plan. They do, however, offer a revealing glimpse of the ideological language being used by figures within the Revolutionary Guards. At a time when Washington is weighing further military action and tensions with Israel remain high, talk of a “final war” carries consequences well beyond political theatre. The danger is that a conflict described in such absolute terms can leave increasingly little room for compromise, even when the military and human costs of escalation would be enormous.

🇺🇸🇮🇷 WASHINGTON FEARS IRANIAN ATTACKS AS U.S. EMBASSIES BEGIN WITHDRAWING PERSONNEL ACROSS THE MIDDLE EAST American intelligence agencies are warning that Iran has sharply intensified efforts to organize attacks against U.S. government personnel, prompting Washington to reduce diplomatic staffing across several Middle Eastern countries as fears of a wider confrontation grow. According to Axios, a classified intelligence memorandum from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to Secretary of State Marco Rubio describes an increasingly serious threat to American personnel, potentially extending beyond the region. The warning has reportedly generated such concern that officials are considering briefing government employees who would not ordinarily have the security clearances necessary to receive the intelligence. Washington is also reducing embassy personnel in Jordan, Lebanon, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. U.S. officials cited by Axios identify the Iranian threat as one of the factors behind those precautions. Another concern involves Yemen’s Houthi movement, which American officials fear could expand its military operations beyond Saudi Arabia, potentially exposing additional American interests and regional partners to attack. The combination presents a difficult security problem for Washington. A confrontation with Iran would not necessarily remain confined to exchanges between conventional military forces. American diplomatic facilities, military personnel and other government employees could face threats across several countries simultaneously. Iran has spent decades developing asymmetric capabilities, including missile and drone forces and relationships with armed groups operating beyond its borders. These provide Tehran with potential means of retaliation even against an adversary possessing overwhelming conventional military superiority. But the intelligence warnings should not be confused with confirmation that specific attacks are imminent. The precise nature, operational readiness and credibility of the suspected Iranian plans have not been publicly established. The embassy reductions are nevertheless significant. Protecting diplomatic personnel becomes considerably more complicated when threats could emerge in multiple countries, particularly during a period of escalating military tensions. As Donald Trump considers further action against Iran, American intelligence officials are confronting the possibility that another round of strikes could trigger retaliation far beyond Iranian territory. Washington is preparing not only for what its military might do to Iran, but also for what Tehran and its regional partners might attempt in response.

🇺🇦🇷🇺 UKRAINIAN DRONES REACH 2,500 KM INTO RUSSIA, WITH OMSK CHEMICAL PLANT REPORTEDLY HIT Ukraine may have carried out one of its deepest long-range drone operations yet, with reports indicating that a chemical plant in Omsk, more than 2,500 kilometres from the Ukrainian border, was struck by Ukrainian UAVs. If confirmed, the attack would demonstrate the extraordinary distances Ukrainian-developed strike drones can cover, reaching industrial facilities deep inside Russian territory, far beyond the areas most frequently targeted during the war. Omsk is a major industrial centre in southwestern Siberia, home to important chemical and energy infrastructure. An attack at this distance presents a different challenge for Russian air defences, which must protect critical facilities across an enormous territory while also supporting military operations closer to Ukraine. The reported strike also raises questions about how effectively Russia can defend industrial sites far from the front. Protecting every potentially vulnerable facility would require substantial surveillance, interception capabilities and coordination across multiple regions. However, the identity of the facility, the extent of any damage and the precise origin of the drones have not yet been independently established. Ukraine has steadily expanded the operational reach of its domestically developed UAVs, allowing it to threaten targets that were once considered geographically insulated from the fighting. A confirmed strike in Omsk would mark another demonstration of that growing reach, although the attack’s actual military or industrial consequences will depend on what was hit and how seriously it was damaged.

🇮🇷🇺🇸🇪🇺 WASHINGTON FEARS IRAN COULD STRIKE AMERICANS IN EUROPE AND EVEN INSIDE THE UNITED STATES The United States is preparing for the possibility that an escalating confrontation with Iran could bring attacks against Americans far beyond the Middle East, including on European soil and potentially within the United States itself. According to The New York Times, American officials are warning that the threat from Tehran has reached its highest level since the February war. Washington has raised security alerts for government personnel across the Middle East and begun reducing staffing at embassies and consulates in the region. Donald Trump is receiving regular intelligence briefings on threats that officials believe could extend across several continents. Among the concerns is intelligence suggesting that Iranian operatives may already be present inside the United States. American officials acknowledge, however, that Tehran’s capacity to organize and execute attacks on US territory remains limited. The existence of potential operatives does not establish that an attack is imminent or that an operational network is ready to act. Europe is also part of the threat assessment. US officials are examining the possibility that Iranian-linked actors could target American diplomatic, military or other personnel stationed in European countries. Such an attack would create a different kind of crisis from the missile and drone exchanges associated with fighting in the Middle East. It could involve law enforcement, intelligence agencies and security services in countries thousands of kilometres from Iran, potentially drawing additional governments into an already dangerous confrontation. Tehran has previously relied on relationships with armed groups and other networks beyond its borders, giving Washington reason to examine threats that do not involve conventional Iranian military forces. But the specific warnings described by American officials remain intelligence assessments, not confirmation that attacks have been authorized or prepared. The reduction of US diplomatic personnel is nevertheless significant. Governments do not need certainty that an attack will occur before taking precautions when the potential consequences are severe. Washington is now confronting a troubling possibility: a new military escalation with Iran might not remain confined to the Middle East, and Americans far from the battlefield could become targets.

🇺🇸🇺🇦🇷🇺 TRUMP COURTS PUTIN WHILE THE CIA HELPS UKRAINE STRIKE DEEP INSIDE RUSSIA While Donald Trump pursues better relations with Vladimir Putin, America’s intelligence services are reportedly becoming more aggressive in their operations against Russia, with the CIA continuing to help Ukraine identify and strike targets deep inside Russian territory. According to The Atlantic, the agency is maintaining extensive intelligence cooperation with Kyiv, providing information used to prepare attacks against Russian military targets and advance warnings of incoming missiles and drones. Sources cited by the publication describe CIA operations against Russia as having intensified, even as the White House publicly seeks a diplomatic opening with Moscow. It is a striking contrast. Trump’s approach emphasizes negotiations and improving relations with Putin. Meanwhile, American intelligence is reportedly helping Ukrainian forces threaten Russian military infrastructure far beyond the front line. For Ukraine, this cooperation is enormously important. Long-range weapons are only as useful as the intelligence guiding them. Identifying valuable targets, establishing their locations and understanding Russian military movements can determine whether a strike produces meaningful results or wastes scarce ammunition. Early warnings of Russian missile and drone attacks serve an equally important purpose, giving Ukrainian defenders additional time to prepare interceptions and protect threatened areas. The apparent contradiction does not necessarily mean the CIA is acting against Trump’s wishes. Intelligence cooperation can continue alongside diplomatic negotiations, and The Atlantic’s account does not establish a rebellion against White House policy. But it does reveal how much of Washington’s relationship with Ukraine operates beyond the public exchanges between presidents. There is also a strategic calculation. If the United States wants Ukraine to negotiate a settlement, weakening Kyiv’s ability to defend itself or impose military costs on Russia could reduce its bargaining power. Putin may be hearing conciliatory messages from Washington, but according to The Atlantic, American intelligence is still helping Ukraine make Russia pay a military price for continuing the war. The diplomacy and the intelligence operations are moving along very different tracks. How long Washington intends to maintain both remains an important question.

🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦 Do you support Ukraine joining NATO?😉

🇺🇸🇺🇦🇷🇺 TRUMP WANTS UKRAINE TO STOP STRIKING RUSSIA. HIS OWN CIA IS HELPING IT. Donald Trump has been pressuring Ukraine to stop attacking Russian territory, particularly oil infrastructure. Yet under his own CIA director, American intelligence operations against Russia have reportedly become more aggressive than they were during Joe Biden's presidency. According to Shane Harris, writing for The Atlantic, the CIA under John Ratcliffe continues providing critical intelligence support to Ukraine, including information that enables deep strikes inside Russia. American spy satellites also give Ukrainian forces early warning of incoming Russian missiles and drones, helping protect cities, military installations and critical infrastructure. The contradiction is extraordinary. While Trump publicly criticizes Volodymyr Zelenskyy and pushes for an end to Ukrainian strikes, the intelligence agency answering to his administration continues supporting operations that have inflicted significant damage on Russia's energy industry and military supply chains. Ukraine's attacks on Russian refineries have repeatedly disrupted production and imposed additional costs on Moscow. Trump, however, has blamed such strikes for rising diesel prices and wants them stopped. Ratcliffe now finds himself managing two competing realities: a president seeking to restrain Ukraine's attacks and an intelligence operation that has become deeply integrated into Ukraine's ability to fight. Ukrainian officials reportedly regard Ratcliffe as someone willing to give Trump an accurate assessment of the battlefield, even when that assessment contradicts the president's preferred narrative. The CIA director reportedly travelled to Moscow in August through a private intelligence channel, delivering an assessment to Russian security officials that neither side was winning and that Russia had failed to achieve meaningful territorial advances. The intention, according to the account, was for that assessment to reach Vladimir Putin. This makes Ratcliffe's position particularly unusual. He is simultaneously involved in intelligence cooperation that helps Ukraine impose costs on Russia and in efforts to communicate directly with Moscow's security establishment. But there is an important limit to how far that independence extends. People familiar with Ratcliffe's approach told The Atlantic that if Trump explicitly ordered an end to intelligence support for Ukraine, the CIA director would comply rather than campaign to reverse the decision. That distinction matters enormously. Ukraine's intelligence relationship with Washington is not limited to identifying targets. It also provides warning time against Russian aerial attacks, a capability with direct consequences for civilian protection and military readiness. A political decision to restrict that relationship could therefore affect considerably more than Ukraine's ability to strike Russian refineries. For now, the reported reality is that Trump's public demands and his intelligence agency's activities are moving in different directions. And despite Moscow's efforts to persuade Washington to constrain Kyiv, American intelligence continues helping Ukraine fight a war that Russia has still failed to bring to its desired conclusion.

🇷🇺🇨🇫 PRIGOZHIN DIED AFTER REBELLING AGAINST PUTIN. HIS SON NOW RUNS A $400 MILLION AFRICAN EMPIRE Yevgeny Prigozhin led Wagner's armed rebellion against Russia's military leadership in June 2023, sending his mercenaries marching toward Moscow. Two months later, he died in a plane crash. But his death did not mean the end of his family's mercenary empire. According to an investigation by The Wall Street Journal, his 28-year-old son, Pavel Prigozhin, has inherited and expanded a sprawling network in the Central African Republic that generates more than $400 million annually. The operation reportedly includes approximately 500 Wagner fighters, lucrative gold mines, weapons trafficking, commercial businesses and a growing presence in the local drug trade. From Bangui, Pavel oversees a private military network whose fighters protect President Faustin-Archange Touadéra, conduct operations against insurgents and help secure some of the country's most valuable mineral resources. One gold mine, originally seized under his father's leadership, has reportedly expanded into an operation generating approximately $250 million a year. The investigation also describes an arrangement under which Wagner-linked gold is classified as government property, with shipments recently being routed to Belarus. But gold is only part of the business. Pavel has reportedly continued his father's arms-trading activities, supplying weapons to armed groups in Sudan and Libya. Wagner-linked businesses also produce vodka and beer, while the organization allegedly controls a substantial share of the local tramadol market, involving a prescription opioid. The allegations surrounding that trade are particularly disturbing. According to the investigation, masked Wagner fighters wearing police uniforms seized Mahamat Abderman, a man who had previously operated within their alleged opioid distribution network before establishing an independent business. He was beaten, and his subsequent fate remains unknown. “We don't know whether he is alive or dead,” a relative said. Lou Osborn, an investigator with Inpact who tracks Wagner's activities in Africa, described the organization's transformation: “Wagner went from a powerful special-forces group to a disowned network which seems to be falling into organized crime.” Pavel's involvement in the family business began long before his father's death. By the age of 20, he was managing luxury properties, and he subsequently appeared in photographs associated with military activities in Syria and Ukraine. In 2022, Yevgeny Prigozhin publicly acknowledged his son's involvement in Russia's invasion of Ukraine. After the failed rebellion and his father's death, the Kremlin moved to take control of Wagner's Russian assets and established the Defence Ministry's Africa Corps to consolidate Moscow's military presence on the continent. Yet the Central African Republic presented a complication. President Touadéra reportedly resisted replacing Wagner personnel with regular Russian military forces, preferring to retain the fighters who had become deeply embedded in his country's security apparatus. Pavel subsequently established himself in Bangui, where he reportedly stays at the Ledger Plaza hotel under the protection of masked gunmen carrying assault rifles. Even officials and diplomats must pass security checks to meet him. The Journal also describes Wagner helicopters conducting reconnaissance around gold-mining areas near the South Sudanese border, illustrating how the organization continues combining armed force with commercial interests. The resulting arrangement is remarkable. Moscow dismantled much of Prigozhin's domestic power after his rebellion, yet his son reportedly continues operating a highly profitable armed network abroad, in a country where Russian influence, presidential security and access to natural resources have become closely intertwined. The organization once associated with one of the most serious challenges to Putin's authority now appears to survive through a mixture of military protection, resource extraction and alleged criminal enterprises. Yevgeny Prigozhin lost his confrontation with the Kremlin and died shortly afterward. His son, however, appears to have retained something extremely valuable: a mercenary business that still generates hundreds of millions of dollars far from Russia's borders.

🇮🇷🇺🇸🇮🇱 IRAN CONSIDERS STRIKING UNDERSEA INTERNET CABLES AS WAR THREATENS GLOBAL COMMUNICATIONS Iran is considering an attack on critical submarine internet cables in response to a potential new military offensive by the United States and Israel, according to Reuters. The implications could reach far beyond the Middle East. Thousands of kilometres of fibre-optic cables run across the seabed, carrying the international data traffic that keeps financial markets, banking systems, businesses and everyday communications functioning. Despite the enormous attention given to satellites, these underwater networks remain the backbone of global connectivity. The Middle East is particularly sensitive because major cable routes connect Europe, Asia and Africa through waters including the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. Disruptions at key points could affect communications between countries that have no direct involvement in a military confrontation with Tehran. The reported Iranian preparations have not been independently confirmed, and there is no indication that an attack has already taken place. Nor would cutting a single cable necessarily bring down the internet. Modern networks have alternative routes, and operators can redirect traffic when infrastructure is damaged. The danger grows when several important connections are disrupted simultaneously, overwhelming backup capacity and complicating repairs. Restoring damaged cables is not as simple as replacing a severed wire. Specialist repair vessels must locate the damage, recover the cable and splice it back together, a process that can become particularly difficult in contested waters. What makes the possibility so concerning is the potential expansion of the battlefield. A confrontation beginning with American or Israeli strikes against Iranian targets could spill into infrastructure supporting economies thousands of kilometres away. For countries dependent on uninterrupted international connectivity, an attack on submarine cables could turn a regional military escalation into a much broader economic and technological crisis. The world’s digital infrastructure may be global, but some of its most important connections still pass through remarkably vulnerable stretches of water.

🇺🇸🇷🇺 A SANCTIONED RUSSIAN GIANT, TRUMP'S INNER CIRCLE AND A $25 BILLION ALASKA DEAL Imagine running an American energy company, believing you're working with someone close to Donald Trump's family, only to discover that a sanctioned Russian energy giant is allegedly involved in the project. That is the controversy surrounding Polar Train LNG, a proposed $25 billion energy development in Alaska. Joel Riddle, the company's CEO, reportedly resigned after discovering the involvement of Novatek, a Russian natural gas producer under U.S. sanctions. Riddle had believed he was working with Gentry Beach, a longtime friend of Donald Trump Jr. The story becomes even more politically sensitive when the negotiations reach Moscow. According to accounts of the discussions, the Alaska project came up during talks involving Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner and Vladimir Putin. The White House acknowledged that the proposal had been discussed, although it characterized the conversation as brief. Brief or not, the questions are substantial. What exactly was Novatek's role? Who stood to profit from the project? Were American sanctions being respected? And how much did politically connected intermediaries know about the Russian company's involvement? Alaska's energy resources represent enormous economic and strategic value. A project of this scale could influence American energy exports, infrastructure investment and commercial relationships for decades. Russia provides plenty of examples of what happens when politically connected interests capture the wealth generated by natural resources. Some of its richest resource-producing regions have struggled to translate that wealth into broad prosperity, while profits and political power remain concentrated elsewhere. There is also an uncomfortable diplomatic question. The Trump administration has been pressuring Ukraine to accept a settlement while pursuing renewed engagement with Moscow. The reported Alaska discussions do not establish that American policy toward Ukraine was influenced by private commercial interests, and allegations of corruption require evidence beyond political connections. But that makes transparency more important, not less. When a sanctioned Russian energy company becomes linked to a $25 billion American project involving people with access to the president's circle, the public deserves to know who was negotiating, who would have benefited and whether any conflicts of interest existed. The White House may describe the conversation as brief. The financial stakes were anything but.

🇺🇦 THE MAN BEHIND AZOV: THE UNUSUAL LIFE OF UKRAINE’S ANDRII BILETSKYI Andrii Biletskyi is now described as the commander of Ukraine’s Centre Forces Group and a recipient of the Hero of Ukraine title. His journey from Kharkiv to the upper ranks of Ukraine’s military is far from conventional. He has no formal military education, studied history, helped establish the Azov movement and became one of the country’s most recognisable military figures. But some of the lesser-known details of his life are considerably more unusual. Biletskyi grew up in Saltivka, a district of Kharkiv, in a family of engineers. According to biographical accounts, he refused to join the Soviet Pioneers as a schoolboy and helped raise a Ukrainian flag over his school. His father introduced him to Anton Lototskyi’s History of Ukraine for Children, a book banned under Soviet rule that reportedly helped shape his Ukrainian national identity. His political trajectory was controversial long before Russia’s full-scale invasion. In 1999, he attempted to travel to Kosovo with a group of athletes from Kharkiv to fight alongside Serbian forces, but the war ended before he arrived. He later became associated with far-right nationalist movements, a part of his biography that cannot be separated from his subsequent public career. In 2011, Biletskyi survived a shooting that left him wounded in the jaw and arm. He subsequently spent more than two years in pre-trial detention in a case he and his supporters described as politically motivated. His military career developed without the conventional path through an officer academy. Under his leadership, Azov became known for efforts to professionalise its training and adopt NATO practices. During the 2022 siege of Mariupol, Biletskyi also helped organise dangerous helicopter missions to reach Ukrainian defenders trapped at the Azovstal steelworks. Away from military affairs, accounts from people close to him describe a man with an extraordinary fascination for history, capable of discussing battles from antiquity to modern warfare in minute detail. He has personally designed military flags, insignia and patches, although not Azov’s original blue-and-yellow emblem. There are stranger details, too. He reportedly cannot identify the make of his own family car, can sculpt remarkably lifelike figures from clay and once spent an illness assembling and painting 500 Warcraft miniatures. He loves cats. His family life offers a glimpse of what the war has taken from ordinary routines. His son, Severyn, is said to have seen the sea only on the internet. In another family anecdote, Biletskyi calculated that the price of an expensive dress purchased by his wife could contribute toward a wounded soldier’s prosthesis. According to the story, she never wore it, and he subsequently raised the money himself. His marriage has also had its less solemn moments, including an argument over a fish dinner after he had driven 700 kilometres without stopping. One of his personal projects is reportedly the restoration of an old brigade building into what he calls a “Hogwarts for combat wizards,” with a library, fencing hall and exercise facilities. He is said to draw plans for the complex himself and help fund its renovation. These anecdotes, many of which come from personal accounts rather than independently documented records, reveal dimensions of Biletskyi rarely visible in battlefield coverage. His story also contains difficult political history. Biletskyi’s association with far-right nationalism remains an important part of understanding his public career, alongside his later role in organising and commanding Ukrainian combat formations. From a history-obsessed boy in Saltivka to a senior Ukrainian military commander, his life has followed an improbable path through nationalism, imprisonment, war and military leadership. And at 47, that story is still being written.