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Russian President Vladimir Putin, in separate telephone conversations on Friday, told Iran's president that Moscow condemned Israel's actions against Tehran and told Israel's prime minister that questions around Iran's nuclear programme could only be solved through diplomacy. A Kremlin statement said Putin told Iran's Masoud Pezeshkian that Russia "condemns the actions of Israel taken in violation of the U.N. Charter" and expressed condolences for those killed.

An ally of Russian president Vladimir Putin has said that "a full-scale war" in the Middle East is possible following Israel's airstrikes on Iran. -snip- Konstantin Kosachev, vice-speaker of Russia's upper house of parliament, made clear that Russia would stand by its ally, Iran. "Israel's actions cannot be justified from a legal, political, military or moral point of view. The only hope, albeit illusory, of avoiding a full-scale war is a consolidated condemnation of this operation by the international community," he said, according to Russia's official TASS news agency. "We can and must hope for another demonstration of restraint from...

Russia said on Friday that Israeli strikes on Iran were unprovoked and in breach of the United Nations charter, accusing Israel of wrecking diplomatic efforts to strike a deal to allay Western concerns about Tehran's nuclear programme. -snip- "Russia is concerned and condemns the sharp escalation in tensions between Israel and Iran," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told state media. President Vladimir Putin was getting real-time reports on the situation from Russia's SVR foreign intelligence service and the foreign and defence ministries, Peskov said. In a detailed statement drawn up at Putin's behest, the Foreign Ministry fiercely condemned Israel and blamed...

McDonnell’s body was hit with shrapnel from a pipe bomb and suffered in a hospital for two days. This is why his death is recorded on February 18 and the blast went off on February 16. One of the heavy metal staples from the bomb went through his eye and into his brain. Ayers’ fingerprints were found in a Weather Underground bomb factory discovered by the FBI in San Francisco in 1971. Photographs were taken of the materials, including C-4 plastic explosive. Members of the Weather Underground were taught how to make bombs by the Cuban intelligence service during trips...

New details of Moscow's intelligence work in Cuba were disclosed by Vasili Mitrokhin, a former KGB archivist who defected to Britain in 1992. ...Russian KGB officer Nikolai Leonov became "firm friends," with Mr. Castro's younger brother Raul in Prague in 1953 and then worked together with Fidel from 1956 and after he took power in 1959. The book, the second volume of what is known as the Mitrokhin archive, also reveals how Moscow sought to indirectly defeat the United States during the Cold War through large-scale "disinformation" and influence operations in the developing world. "The KGB really believed they could...

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered on Thursday to build and deploy drone troops as soon as possible, APA reports citing TASS. "We are currently building drone troops as a separate branch of the military, and these should be developed and deployed as soon as possible," the head of state said at a meeting discussing a new state arms program. Fighting against various unmanned aerial vehicles has required "new approaches and non-standard solutions," Putin explained. "The new state arms program should provide for forming a universal air defense system that would function in any situation and effectively hit means of air...

After suffering devastating naval losses in the Black Sea at the hands of Ukrainian asymmetric warfare, including drones and anti-ship missiles that sank its flagship Moskva, Vladimir Putin has launched an initiative to “re-vamp” the Russian Navy. However, this plan faces deep skepticism due to Russia’s struggling, sanctions-hit shipyards and the appointment of former KGB hardliner Nikolai Patrushev to lead the effort.

Ukraine’s successful use of cheap, commercially available drones to destroy high-value Russian military assets serves as a stark warning that US air bases could be similarly vulnerable. Veteran Navy SEAL Brandon Webb, invoking the legacy of the 1980s “Red Cell” security-testing unit, argues that a modern adversary could use inexpensive drones, 3D printers, and readily available technology to cause catastrophic damage to US air power.

A Russian Orthodox priest has sparked controversy with his provocative claim that Russian Muslims could be mobilized to commit violence against Christians. The statement was made as Moscow's Muslim community celebrated the holy festival of Eid al-Adha on Sunday. Schema-abbot Gavriil, during his sermon, referred to the Muslims congregating on Peace Avenue in Moscow for the festivities: "The entire space is covered with people. And these are healthy men, who do not drink alcohol, who wrestle and go to gyms for training." He made an alarming assertion: "This is a whole army. And if, one fine day, a mullah orders...

Ukraine just struck deep into Russia, destroying a key electronics factory in Cheboksary that powers Putin’s missiles, drones, and glide bombs. With only two stealth drones, Ukraine crippled a plant essential to Russia’s war machine—impacting everything from missile guidance systems to nuclear sub components. As smoke rises, Ukraine’s message is clear: nowhere is safe.

Ukraine's Western allies are not imposing new sanctions on Russia in part because of Kyiv's refusal to lower the mobilization age to 18, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with Valasz Online published on June 10. With the start of thefull-scale invasion, Ukraine updated its mobilization legislation and lowered the minimum age for compulsory military service from 27 to 25. Yet, some partners, includingthe U.S., still criticize Kyiv for setting the age threshold too high. "I do not believe that we should mobilize people from the age of 18, as the leaders of other countries have thought,"Zelensky said. "However,...

The top US military commander for the Middle East says he has presented US President Donald Trump with military plans to strike Iran and is prepared to do if so ordered. “I have provided the secretary of defense and the president a wide range of options,” Central Command head Gen. Michael Kurilla says during testimony before the House Armed Services Committee. Kurilla was responding to Representative Mike Rogers of Alabama, the chairman of the committee, who asked if CENTCOM was prepared to respond with overwhelming force if Iran does not permanently give up its nuclear ambitions. “I take that as...

Forfeiture Action is the Latest Disruption of an Indicted North Korean Official’s Efforts to Generate Revenue for North Korea and its Weapons Program Through Illegal IT Worker Schemes and Cryptocurrency Theft The Department of Justice filed a civil forfeiture complaint today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia alleging that North Korean information technology (IT) workers obtained illegal employment and amassed millions in cryptocurrency for the benefit of the North Korean government, all as a means of evading U.S. sanctions placed on North Korea. The funds were initially restrained in connection with an April 2023 indictment against...

Ukraine has achieved a breakthrough in its domestic missile program. A new Ukrainian ballistic missile has completed a combat test, striking a Russian command post nearly 300 kilometers from the launch site, military analyst and director of the Center for Army, Conversion, and Disarmament Studies Valentyn Badrak revealed. The missile’s development began in May 2022, with a successful test already conducted in the summer of 2024. According to Badrak, the system is now entering serial production, Badrak stated in a recent interview with Ukrainian news outlet Ukrinform on June 10. “I don’t know how many missiles we can expect per...

Russia has signed a contract with Iran to build eight nuclear power plants, with four to be built in Bushehr, a district in the southern part of the nation, according to an announcement by the head of the Atomic Energy Organization. Ebrahim Rezaei, the spokesman for the Iranian Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, commented that the Iranian people wish to support the nuclear industry, as it secures the country's future, according to The Iran Press.

[…]"It is vital that the response to this and other similar Russian attacks is not silence from the world, but concrete action," Zelenskyy said in his statement."Action from America, which has the power to force Russia into peace," he continued. "Action from Europe, which has no alternative but to be strong. Action from others around the world who called for diplomacy and an end to the war -- and whom Russia has ignored. There must be strong pressure for the sake of peace..."

What needs to happen is simple, but, at least for now, looks pretty suspect if you ask me. Russia would need to get so exhausted from the war that its lines collapse. After losing 1 million casualties, thousands of tanks and artillery pieces, and billions of dollars in bombers and drones, Moscow would one day see its war effort collapse in a mix of exhaustion, anger about the overall direction of the conflict, and a society that had had enough. This would allow Ukraine to reclaim the initiative and retake large swaths of territory. But from here, things get even...

The Ukraine war won't end until NATO withdraws troops from the Baltics, a top Russian official has warned. Sergei Ryabkov, Russia's deputy foreign minister responsible for U.S. relations, nonproliferation and arms control, made the remarks in an interview with state-run news agency Tass.

At a farm near Moscow, newly arrived guest workers from India are planting potatoes and cabbages - work closely monitored by central bank analysts as they prepare for board meetings to set interest rates. While in developed economies such as the United States food accounts for about 14% of the basket used to calculate inflation, in Russia it makes up a hefty 40% or so, and surging prices for potatoes and other staples have been a major reason for its tight monetary policy. The central bank trimmed its benchmark rate to 20% on June 6 but even that is around...

Symposium: When an Evil Empire Returns By Jamie GlazovFrontPageMagazine.com | June 23, 2006  The Cold War is back. Russian President Vladimir Putin, a former KGB agent, is leading his country back into the dark ages of Soviet totalitarianism and instigating a global confrontation between Russia and the United States -- as well as between Russia and the West as a whole. The Russian President has consistently rolled back democratic freedoms. And he is proving that the genie can be placed back into the bottle: he has centralized authority and suffocated dissent in the media and in the nation at large. Reformers making efforts to build...