The criminal attacks against civilians continue. The Russian Federation is a terrorist state, guilty of repeated war crimes, and of course guilty of the wider crime of aggression against Ukraine. Russia's actions are regularly described as criminal, barbaric, or in this case as perpetrated by scum.

”Developing oil sites, extracting and transporting crude requires a huge range of highly specialized equipment,many of which Russia lacks because of sanctions” Everything is more expensive.All these pressures..very hard for Russia to raise production even in the near term www.wsj.com/world/russia...

Elbridge Colby strikes again. The intention is to make it harder for us Europeans to defend ourselves from actual and potential Russian aggression. The conclusion is simple. We need comprehensive military autonomy. We need the ability to deter and defeat Moscow by ourselves.

Former Brexit Party Member of Parliament Nathan Gill has confessed to making pro-Russia statements in exchange for money. www.euronews.com/my-europe/20...

Ukraine built deep-strike missiles because Western allies restrict donated weapons Now Ukrainian crews hit targets hundreds of km inside Russia, destroying missile teams But they've also become prime tartets. Map shows August's crew-vs-crew strikes across border euromaidanpress.com/2025/09/25/b...

⚡️ Chancellor Merz: Germany no longer lives in peace

An impressive performance by the French justice system. The world would be a better place if more countries had a genuine separation of powers, not as an abstract theory like in the United States, but as a practical and institutional reality. www.bbc.com/news/article...

Kremlinese-to-English translation: Groundless --> grounded, justified Unworthy of attention --> worthy of your careful attention Denied --> we did it and it's my job to say we didn't

Poland’s Foreign Minister cracking his knuckles.

Interesting remarks by President Zelensky - worth the watch. www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YKA...

Trump's UN speech made me seem sane.

1-15 Reflecting on the Palestine recognition issue - as a dual citizen of the UK and of Belgium - I believe Belgium's position is more mature and suggests greater political solidity than what we saw from the UK. At the UN, Belgian PM De Wever specified key conditions: (source follows at 14-15)

Time for Framce to announce its new stance

A Western camp based on nationalism and unreliability in foreign policy won't be an alliance but a smorgasbord of corrupt short-termism and backstabbing from which only large foreign powers would benefit. No strategist would ever propose it. But a regime that fears political competition might.

1-8 Well over a year ago I denounced Colby for being effectively pro-Russian. (And I've also long suspected that he's been looking for excuses to abandon Taiwan.) Yes he dislikes Europe - beyond reason in fact - he doesn't understand Europe's economic importance for America and doesn't want to.

UK, Canada, Australia formally recognise the Palestinian state. www.bbc.com/news/live/cp...

A very important development. The way to deal with the Russian Empire is to have spears of steel.

Escorting Russian drones as they detour over Romania before hitting Ukraine. Escorting instead of stopping the threat. Yes, as Cyrille writes, we have lost our minds.

Happy Independence Day, Ukraine 🇺🇦 Ukraine will defeat the terrorists and emerge victorious. Our history will never be rewritten, our identity cannot be erased, and Ukraine will never bow to tyrants. Слава Україні 💙💛

More videos of the strike on the Signal radio plant in Russian Stavropol. According to preliminary information, the strike may have hit a workshop containing finished ammunition. A new type of UAV was also recorded hitting a workshop at the Stilsoft defense enterprise.

Navalny supporter and anti-war activist Leonid Melekhin fled Russia to avoid persecution and made his way to the US. America sent him back and he’s now in jail awaiting trial.

German AfD moves to expel young politician who fought Russians in Ukraine A 22-year-old German politician who secretly served in Ukraine’s army faces expulsion from the pro-Russian Alternative for Germany party after calling his own leadership “Russia-kissers" euromaidanpress.com/2025/07/26/g...

Trump’s new plan involves sending a “full complement” of weapons to Ukraine via NATO. That includes Patriot batteries, and possibly also short-range missiles, Howitzer rounds, and medium-range air-to-air missiles. NATO allies will buy the arms, then transfer them to Kyiv, CNN reports.

Since the beginning of the year, the size of Russian missle/drone attacks on the people of Ukraine has grown by a factory of 5.

A key conclusion

I wonder what it will take to put Europe on a war footing? Must there be a mass casualty attack carried out by Russia? An invasion of a European country by Russia? What will it take?

Is it escalation o’clock yet?

The American People’s Liberation Front. Or something. www.bbc.com/news/article...

⚡️ Norway’s Kongsberg opens office in Kyiv to boost missile and sea drone production.

Nice one.

It's done! There's a deal on the NATO summit statement. 5% of GDP for annual defence and security-related spending by 2035 @andrewramsaygray.bsky.social @sasilink.bsky.social www.reuters.com/world/europe...

Very true. Iran's foreign policy has been aggressive and expansive for decades. Iran is a mid-sized power that intervenes violently, through proxies, in the affairs of a good half dozen countries in its region. An agitated and deeply stupid revolutionary government, fit for the dustbin of history.

1-5 America First? Madman Theory? Not sure any existing theory fits to explain U.S. foreign policy behaviour - because under Trump 47 it seems the U.S. is not behaving like a Great Power - one that strategizes, leads, and shapes - but like a follower power. But who or what does America follow?

Wise words

Sechs GBU-57A/B MOP Bomben auf Fordow, abgeworfen von B-2. 30 Tomahawk Marschflugkörper von U-Booten aus auf Natanz und Ishafan. Krater und Trümmer - eine echte Schadensbewertung ist jedoch schwierig. Einen Regimewechsel im Iran gibt es dadurch nicht automatisch. Was jetzt?

A Letter to @theguardian.com - "There is only one warmonger on the European stage: Vladimir Putin" Very glad to have supported this initiative by @umland.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

A well-worded analysis of the strategic level regarding the Israel-Iran War: www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...

If only the Tsar knew... Just another aspect of the Putinisation of the U.S. system.

Very useful thread on current developments re Israel-Iran. The post below in particular: be careful what you showcase in your propaganda 🫣

Just released this free post. Its clear after statements by Rubio and Hegseth over the last few days that Putin has won. The US government is now operating under his almost total reflexive control. Trump has made the Russian narrative the US mindset. open.substack.com/pub/phillips...

Israelis have both good intel and significant capabilities. And it shows.

**Operation Spiders Web** I resisted a hot take. So, on sober reflection… Op Spiderweb was one of the most impressive, and strategic attacks ever. Short thread 🧵 #russia #Ukraine

⚡ The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied the statements of its ambassador to Ukraine, Michael Brodsky, who said that Ukraine had received Patriot systems. According to Ynet, Russia demanded explanations from Israel following Brodsky's statement.

The enemy state, the Russian Federation, is a criminal and barbaric entity. There's no other way to describe a state that systematically tortures, mutilates, and kills prisoners of war as well as civilians.

A strong line-up of experts at the European Defence & Security Summit 2025 - the conference of the European defence industry's leading industry association, ASD Europe. This afternoon: two successive panels about Ukraine and lessons learned from the Russia-Ukraine War.

Russia’s goal is not peace. Today, we're ramping up pressure on Russia with an 18th package of hard-biting sanctions. Targeting Russia’s energy and banking sectors. → europa.eu/!qG9bx3

Russia has launched fresh drone and missile attacks on the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and port city of Odesa, killing three people and hitting a maternity hospital, Ukrainian officials said. u.afp.com/SGjP

George Galloway, Jeffrey Sachs, Alex Jones, Elon Musk's father -- an open list of some of Moscow's most successful political prostitution projects.

My new piece, on Europe’s need for new defence arrangements. I used to think enthusiasts for reviving the WEU were quaint, but with the US an unreliable ally & the EU unable to run real defence operations, for those who want to be serious about defence something like a new WEU looks more attractive.

Kyiv Independent: "An operation by Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) has hit "more than 40" Russian bombers at air bases "in the rear of the Russian Federation," a source in the agency told the Kyiv Independent" Excellent news! kyivindependent.com/enemy-bomber...