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Tag: ukraine

  • Family of Four Killed in Ukraine’s Sumy Region, Governor Says

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    (Reuters) -Two brothers aged four and six and their parents were killed in an overnight Russian drone attack on a village in the northern Sumy region, the regional governor Oleh Hryhorov said on Tuesday.

    “Last night, the enemy purposefully hit a residential building with an attack drone in the village of Chernechchyna,” Hryhorov wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

    He added the family’s bodies were pulled from under the rubble.

    Reuters could not immediately verify the report.

    Russian forces are engaged in a long, grinding war along the front line through eastern and southern Ukraine, but have also tried to gain a foothold in areas like Sumy, which borders Russia’s Kursk region.

    Russia denies targeting civilians in its almost daily drone and missile attacks on Ukraine. Thousands of civilians have been killed and homes, apartment blocks and commercial property damaged and destroyed.

    (Reporting by Anna Pruchnicka; Editing by Mike Collett-White and Kate Mayberry)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

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  • Videos appear to show captured Cubans who were fighting for Russia in Ukraine

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    In its push to hold captured territory in Ukraine, Russia has turned to countries like North Korea for added manpower. Now, it appears additional support is also coming from Cuban mercenaries. Cristian Benavides reports.

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  • Opinion | Trump Flips the Global Script

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    Walter Russell Mead is the Ravenel B. Curry III Distinguished Fellow in Strategy and Statesmanship at Hudson Institute, the Global View Columnist at The Wall Street Journal and the Alexander Hamilton Professor of Strategy and Statecraft with the Hamilton Center for Classical and Civic Education at the University of Florida.

     

    He is also a member of Aspen Institute Italy and board member of Aspenia. Before joining Hudson, Mr. Mead was a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations as the Henry A. Kissinger Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy. He has authored numerous books, including the widely-recognized Special Providence: American Foreign Policy and How It Changed the World (Alfred A. Knopf, 2004). Mr. Mead’s most recent book is entitled The Arc of A Covenant: The United States, Israel, and the Fate of the Jewish People.

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    Walter Russell Mead

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  • Opinion | Time to Abandon ‘Active Defense’ in Ukraine

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    The doctrine proved to be ineffective after Vietnam, but better ideas came with Reagan’s military buildup.

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    Mark T. Kimmitt

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  • UK treasury chief says ‘harsh global headwinds’ from wars and tariffs are harming the country’s economic outlook | Fortune

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    Britain’s Treasury chief warned Monday that “harsh global headwinds” from wars in Ukraine and the Middle East and U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs have worsened the U.K.’s economic outlook since the governing Labour Party won power last year.

    Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves told Labour’s annual conference that her economic plans must be “fit for an uncertain world,” a hint she will raise taxes in her autumn budget on Nov. 26.

    “In the last year the world has changed, and we are not immune to that change,” she told the BBC before the speech. “Whether it is wars in Europe and the Middle East, whether it is increased barriers to trade because of tariffs coming from the United States, whether it is the global cost of borrowing, we’re not immune to any of those things.”

    Since ending 14 years of Conservative rule in July 2024, Labour has struggled to deliver the economic growth it promised. Inflation remains stubbornly high and the economic outlook subdued, frustrating efforts to repair tattered public services and ease the cost of living.

    Labour pledged during the election not to raise taxes on working people, but has since hiked levies on employers.

    Reeves told the BBC she was “determined not to increase those key taxes that working people pay,” stopping short of ruling out any hikes at all.

    In her speech, interrupted by repeated standing ovations from hundreds of Labour members — and by a lone pro-Palestinian protester — Reeves leavened her sober assessment of the country’s finances with a touch of optimism. She outlined the government’s investments in defense, transport, energy and education, claiming they were making a difference to millions of people.

    She pledged to end long-term youth unemployment, saying everyone under 25 who has been unemployed for 18 months will be offered guaranteed paid work. One in eight 16–24-year-olds in Britain — about 1 million people — is currently not in education, work, or training.

    Reeves also said the government was working on an “ambitious agreement on youth mobility” with the 27-nation European Union. British citizens lost the right to move and work freely in the EU when the country left the bloc in 2020.

    Thousands of Labour members are in Liverpool, northwest England, for the party conference -– a mix of policy forum and pep rally that this year is lacking in pizazz.

    The hard right is a key concern

    Labour lags behind Nigel Farage ’s hard-right Reform UK party in opinion polls, and some party members are losing faith in Prime Minister Keir Starmer, even though there may be four years until the next election.

    Many are rallying around Andy Burnham, the ambitious Labour mayor of Manchester, who said Sunday that the party is in “peril” and needs to change direction.

    Reeves took aim at those in Labour, such as Burnham, who argue the government should borrow more to spend more on public services. She cited former Conservative Prime Minister Liz Truss’ disastrous 2022 plan for unfunded tax cuts, which sent the value of the pound plunging and the cost of government borrowing soaring.

    “When spending gets out of control, when market confidence is lost … it is felt immediately in the growing cost of essentials, and rising interest rates,” Reeves said.

    The threat posed by Reform is top issue among Labour delegates at the four-day conference, which ends Wednesday. Farage’s party has only five lawmakers in the 650 seat House of Commons, and Labour has more than 400. Nonetheless, Starmer said Reform is now Labour’s chief opponent, not the main opposition Conservatives.

    Starmer has described the fight between Labour and Reform as “a battle for the soul of this country.” On Sunday he accused Farage of sowing division with plans by Reform to deport immigrants who are in the U.K. legally. Starmer said such a policy would be “racist” and “immoral.”

    The U.K. government has toughened its own language about immigration, though. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood told the conference the government must question some of “the assumptions and legal constraints” around migration.

    She said she plans to raise the bar immigrants must meet to gain permanent residency. Under the proposals, people will have to have a “high standard” of English, no criminal record and give back to their communities to get the right to settle in the U.K.

    “Unless we have control of our borders, and until we can decide who comes in and who must leave, we will never be the open, tolerant and generous country that I know we all believe in,” she said.

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    Jill Lawless, The Associated Press

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  • High Time for Europe to Stand With Taiwan, Foreign Minister Says in Poland

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    WARSAW (Reuters) -It is high time for Europe to stand with Taiwan given both face the same threats from authoritarian neighbours, the island’s foreign minister said on Monday, seeking to find common cause with European democracies during a visit to Poland.

    Taiwan, which China views as its own territory, has found an increasingly sympathetic ear in parts of central and eastern Europe since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, even though almost all European countries only maintain formal diplomatic ties with Beijing and not Taipei.

    Addressing the Warsaw Security Forum, Taiwan Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung said economic security was inseparable from national security.

    “Today, authoritarian regimes, namely China, Russia, Iran and North Korea, have formed an axis of upheaval to challenge the rule-based international order. China is largely seen as the decisive enabler behind Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” he said.

    Europe faces threats from Russian hybrid operations, similar to what Taiwan faces from China, like cyber attacks and military exercises, Lin added.

    “It is high time for Europe to stand with Taiwan, to forge a robust coalition for our shared values and halt the expansion of authoritarian regimes. Taiwan is ready to work with Europe; is Europe ready to work with Taiwan?”

    This is Lin’s second visit to Europe this month, after earlier trips to Prague, Rome and Vienna, all of which earned a stern rebuke from China, especially as he was in Austria just a week after Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

    China says Taiwan is one of its provinces with no right to state-to-state ties, a view the government in Taipei strongly rejects.

    Lin said Europe should put forward policies to welcome more companies from semiconductor powerhouse Taiwan, and pointed to the example of major chipmaker TSMC’s investment in Germany.

    “Through such economic interactions, Taiwan and Europe can forge a powerful synergy, one that fosters a resilient and diversified tech ecosystem and contributes to Europe’s strategic re-industrialisation which is essential in rearming Europe.”

    (Writing by Ben BlanchardEditing by Tomasz Janowski)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

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  • Hungary Blocks 12 Ukrainian News Sites in Tit-For-Tat

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    BUDAPEST (Reuters) -Hungary said on Monday it was blocking access to 12 Ukrainian news sites after a similar move by Kyiv, worsening relations between the two neighbours that have been fraught during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

    Earlier this month, Ukraine blocked various websites deemed to contain pro-Russian views at the request of the security services. They included eight Hungarian-language portals, among them a popular pro-government news site origo.hu. 

    “A sovereign country must give a proportional response to an entirely unjustified attack,” Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s chief of staff Gergely Gulyas said in a Facebook post on Monday, announcing the measure.

    Most of the websites targeted by Hungary are widely read in Ukraine. One, European Pravda, closely tracks Ukraine’s EU accession aspiration and Hungary’s efforts to block that.

    Gulyas said Ukraine banned the Hungarian portals because they wrote critically about sanctions against Russia and military support for Ukraine and criticised the European Union and NATO alliance for being fragmented and ineffective.

    “If the fragmentation of the European Union provides grounds for state censorship in Ukraine, then it is time for Ukraine to renounce its intention to join,” he wrote.

    Gulyas said the Hungarian sites were also banned in Ukraine because they “dared to report on the influence activities of the Soros Foundation.” Hungarian-born financier George Soros and his liberal views have been a perennial target of Orban’s Fidesz party over the past decade.

    Orban has been sceptical about Western military aid for Ukraine and has maintained more cordial relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin than other NATO and EU member states.

    There was no immediate response from Ukraine to Hungary’s move to block the websites.

    (Reporting by Anita Komuves in Budapest and Yuliia Dysa in Kyiv; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

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  • JD Vance says U.S.

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    The White House is weighing Ukraine’s request for long-range Tomahawk missiles to defend the country against Russian forces, Vice President JD Vance said Sunday. 

    “We’re certainly looking at a number of requests from the Europeans. And one of the things, again, that I think has really worked about the president’s policy in Ukraine and Russia is that it’s forced the Europeans to step up in a big way. … It’s something the president’s going to make the final determination on,” Vance said on “Fox News Sunday.”

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during a bilateral meeting with President Trump at the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly at the U.N. headquarters on Sept. 23, 2025, in New York City.

    Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images


    Axios reported Friday that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had asked President Trump for the long-range missiles at a meeting between the two at last week’s U.N. General Assembly. CBS News has reached out to Ukrainian officials, including Zelenskyy’s office, for comment on those talks. 

    The Trump administration has implemented a policy of selling weapons to Ukraine that would be paid for by European NATO countries in August, under terms of a deal struck between Mr. Trump and NATO leaders earlier in the summer.  

    On Sunday, Vance said the U.S. was considering the sale of Tomahawk missiles in line with that policy. “What we’re doing is asking the Europeans to buy that weaponry that shows some European skin in the game. I think that gets them really invested in both what’s happening in their own backyard, but also in the peace process that the president has been pushing for, for the last eight months,” Vance said. 

    The U.S.-made Tomahawk missile has a range of about 1,500 miles, which would place Moscow well within the range of Kyiv should the Ukrainian government obtain them. 

    On Monday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov implied that the U.S. was directly interfering in the war between Russian and Ukraine. “Moscow has heard Washington’s statements about possible Tomahawk deliveries to Ukraine and is carefully analyzing them,” Peskov said at a news conference. “It is important to understand who will be directing and launching the Tomahawk missiles from Ukrainian territory – the Americans or the Ukrainians themselves.” 

    Speaking to Fox News later on Sunday, U.S. Special Envoy to Ukraine Keith Kellogg said “there are no such things as sanctuaries” in war and that Ukraine should have the ability to conduct long-range strikes on Russia. 

    “I think reading what he (Mr. Trump) has said, and reading what Vice President Vance has said … the answer is yes. Use the ability to hit deep,” Kellogg said. 

    Russia Hits Kyiv With Large Aerial Attack

    KYIV, UKRAINE – SEPTEMBER 28: People try to clear the damage and locate their belongings at the scene of a Russian strike on September 28, 2025 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Ukrainian authorities said Russia launched another large overnight drone and missile attack on the capital.

    Ed Ram / Getty Images


    Russia fired more than 600 drones and missiles at targets across Ukraine in the early hours of Sunday morning,  the Ukrainian Air Force said in a statement. The attacks killed four people and wounded dozens more, Ukrainian officials said, and was one of the largest aerial barrages Ukraine has faced since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of the country in 2022. 

    Mr. Trump has grown increasingly frustrated with Russia’s failure to come to the table to negotiate a peace deal with Ukraine, and he has offered Ukraine encouragement over the past week in its fight to repel Russian troops. 

    “Russia has been fighting aimlessly for three and a half years a War that should have taken a Real Military Power less than a week to win. This is not distinguishing Russia. In fact, it is very much making them look like ‘a paper tiger,’” Mr. Trump said in a Truth Social post Tuesday. 

    “I think Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, is in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form. With time, patience, and the financial support of Europe and, in particular, NATO, the original Borders from where this War started, is very much an option,” Mr. Trump said. 

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  • Russia’s Belgorod Region Scrambles to Restore Power After Ukrainian Missile Attack, Governor Says

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    MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia’s Belgorod region is working to restore power and hot water after Ukrainian missile strikes caused significant outages and injured at least three civilians, the area’s governor said on Monday.

    Vyacheslav Gladkov said Ukraine had targeted the region’s infrastructure, forcing certain facilities to switch to backup power generators and had twice struck the regional capital – Belgorod – with six warheads in total.

    Unverified social media footage showed what looked like a powerful missile attack on a power station in Belgorod with a series of loud explosions followed by smoke rising into the sky.

    Reuters could not verify the footage and there was no immediate comment from Ukraine whose own power infrastructure comes under regular attack from Russia.

    Gladkov said Kyiv’s forces had shelled other parts of the region, which borders Ukraine, and had launched at least 76 attack drones in the last 24 hours, some of which had been shot down near residential areas.

    The Russian Defence Ministry said it had shot down 21 Ukrainian drones over Belgorod overnight.

    Gladkov, who posted footage of Belgorod’s philharmonic orchestra playing by torchlight during one of the missile attacks, said emergency repair crews had worked through the night to restore power.

    (Reporting by Andrew OsbornEditing by Guy Faulconbridge)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

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  • Moldova’s pro-EU party wins clear parliamentary majority, defeating pro-Russian groups

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    Moldova’s pro-Western governing party won a clear parliamentary majority, defeating pro-Russian groups in an election that was widely viewed as a stark choice between East and West.

    European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen hailed the election outcome in a social media post Monday. 

    “Moldova, you’ve done it again. No attempt to sow fear or division could break your resolve.  You made your choice clear: Europe. Democracy. Freedom,” Von der Leyen said. “Our door is open. And we will stand with you every step of the way.” 

    Hundreds of members and supporters of the ruling Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) join Prime Minister Dorin Recean during a pro-EU rally on the final day of the electoral campaign in Chisinau, Moldova, Sept. 26, 2025.

    NurPhoto via Getty Images


    With nearly all polling station reports counted on Monday, electoral data showed the pro-EU Party of Action and Solidarity, or PAS, had 50.1% of the vote, while the pro-Russian Patriotic Electoral Bloc had 24.2%. The Russia-friendly Alternativa Bloc came third, followed by the populist Our Party. The right-wing Democracy at Home party also won enough votes to enter parliament.

    The tense balloting Sunday pitted the governing PAS against several Russia-friendly opponents but no viable pro-European partners. Electoral data indicate the party will hold a clear majority of about 55 of the 101 seats in the legislature.

    It is likely that President Maia Sandu, who founded the PAS in 2016, will opt for some continuity by nominating pro-Western Prime Minister Dorin Recean, an economist who has steered Moldova’s government through multiple crises since 2023, to stay on as prime minister. Recean has also previously served as Sandu’s defense and security adviser.

    The election was widely viewed as a geopolitical choice for Moldovans between a path to the European Union or a drift back into Moscow’s fold. The outcome of Sunday’s high-stakes voting was noteworthy considering Moldovan authorities’ repeated claims that Russia was conducting a vast “hybrid war” to try to sway the outcome.

    Moldova applied to join the EU in 2022 in the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and was granted candidate status that year. Brussels agreed to open accession negotiations last year.

    The alleged Russian schemes included orchestrating a large-scale vote-buying scheme, conducting more than 1,000 cyberattacks on critical government infrastructure so far this year, a plan to incite riots around Sunday’s election, and a sprawling disinformation campaign online to sway voters.

    Speaking via videolink to a security conference in Poland Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia had failed to “destabilize” Moldova, even “after spending huge, huge resources to undermine it and to corrupt whoever they could.” 

    On Friday, Moldova’s President Sandu had said it was the country’s “most consequential election.”

    “Its outcome will decide whether we consolidate our democracy and join the EU, or whether Russia drags us back into a grey zone, making us a regional risk,” Sandu said in a post on X. 

    2025 Moldovan parliamentary elections

    Maia Sandu, President of the Republic of Moldova, votes during the Moldovan parliamentary elections in Chisinau on 28 September 2025.

    Diego Herrera Carcedo/Anadolu via Getty Images


    Cristian Cantir, a Moldovan associate professor of international relations at Oakland University, told The Associated Press that PAS’s victory is “a clear win for pro-European forces in Moldova, which will be able to ensure continuity in the next few years in the pursuit of their ultimate goal of EU integration.”

    “A PAS majority saves the party from having to form a coalition that would have most likely been unstable and would have slowed down the pace of reforms to join the EU,” he said, adding that “Moldova will continue to be in a difficult geopolitical environment characterized by Russia’s attempts to pull it back into its sphere of influence.”

    In an interview with the AP days before the vote, PAS leader Igor Grosu also warned of Russian interference and said Sunday’s results would define the country’s future “not just for the next four years, but for many, many years ahead.”

    “But I believe in the determination and mobilization spirit of Moldovans, at home and in the diaspora,” he said.

    Election day was dogged by a string of incidents, ranging from bomb threats at multiple polling stations abroad to cyberattacks on electoral and government infrastructure, voters photographing their ballots and some being illegally transported to polling stations. Three people were also detained, suspected of plotting to cause unrest after the vote.

    PAS campaigned on a pledge to continue Moldova’s path toward EU membership by signing an accession treaty to the 27-nation bloc by 2028, doubling incomes, modernizing infrastructure, and fighting corruption.

    After a legislative election, Moldova’s president nominates a prime minister, generally from the leading party or bloc, which can then try to form a new government. A proposed government then needs parliamentary approval.

    Some 1.6 million people, or about 52.1% of eligible voters cast ballots, according to the Central Electoral Commission, with 280,000 of them coming from votes in polling stations set up abroad.

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  • Kremlin Says British and French Arsenals Must Ultimately Be Part of Nuclear Disarmament Talks

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    (Reuters) -Talks on reducing strategic nuclear weapons must first be conducted between Russia and the U.S., but the arsenals of Britain and France will ultimately have to be included in negotiations, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying on Sunday.

    Peskov’s remarks come amid a Kremlin proposal to the U.S. this month to voluntarily maintain for a year the limits on deployed strategic nuclear weapons set out in their New START arms control treaty once it expires next year if the U.S. does the same.

    White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Putin’s proposal sounded “pretty good,” but the issue was up to U.S. President Donald Trump. The U.S. president has said he wants to open denuclearisation talks with Russia and China.

    “Naturally, we have to start talks at the bilateral level. New START is after all a bilateral document,” Peskov told TASS.

    “But in the long term, you cannot remain abstract with these arsenals. All the more so that these arsenals are a component of the overall problem of global European security and strategic stability.”

    New START was signed by then-presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev in 2010, came into force a year later and was extended in 2021 for five more years after U.S. President Joe Biden took office.

    In 2023, Putin suspended Russia’s participation, but Moscow said it would continue to observe the warhead limits. Putin this month made his offer to maintain the treaty’s limits as Ukraine tries to convince Trump to impose harsher sanctions on Russia over its February 2022 invasion of its smaller neighbour.

    Russia and the U.S. have by far the biggest nuclear arsenals in the world. New START caps the number of deployed strategic nuclear warheads at 1,550 and the number of delivery vehicles – missiles, submarines and bomber planes – at 700 on each side.

    France and Britain, which were never a party to New START or its precursor treaties, have much smaller arsenals numbering between 250 and 300 warheads each.

    (Writing by Ron Popeski; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

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  • 4 people killed, dozens injured in major Russian attack on Ukraine’s capital

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    Russia launched hundreds of drones and missiles at Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, overnight. Four people were killed and dozens were injured in what was one of the most sustained attacks since Moscow’s invasion. Leigh Kiniry has more on the impact.

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  • Moldova’s Pro-EU Party Has 40% of Votes With 28% of Votes Counted – Electoral Commission

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    CHISINAU (Reuters) -Moldova’s ruling pro-European Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) has won 40% of the votes counted so far in Sunday’s parliamentary election versus 31.5% for the pro-Russian Patriotic Bloc, with 28% of votes counted, according to the country’s Central Electoral Commission.

    (Reporting by Dan Peleschuk; Editing by Mike Collett-White)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

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  • Large Russian drone and missile attack on Kyiv kills 4 and wounds at least 10

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    Russia unleashed a barrage of drones and missiles on Ukraine overnight into Sunday, killing at least four people, with the capital city of Kyiv suffering the heaviest assault.This is the first major bombardment since an air attack on Kyiv left at least 21 people dead last month.Kyiv bears the brunt of the attackTymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv City Administration, confirmed Sunday’s casualties via Telegram and said 10 others were wounded in the attack that targeted civilian areas across the city. A 12-year-old girl was among the dead. Thick black smoke could be seen rising from a blast near the city center.“The Russians have restarted the child death counter,” Tkachenko wrote on Telegram.Russia fired a total of 595 exploding drones and decoys and 48 missiles, Ukraine’s air force said Sunday. Of those, air defenses shot down or jammed 566 drones and 45 missiles.Besides Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the bombardment targeted the regions of Zaporizhzhia, Khmelnytskyi, Sumy, Mykolaiv, Chernihiv, and Odesa. Zelenskyy wrote on X that at least 40 people were wounded across the country. Later, Ukraine’s Interior Ministry stated the number of the wounded rose to 70, with over a hundred civilian objects damaged.Zaporizhzhia’s regional head, Ivan Fedorov, said three children were among the 27 wounded in the region, adding that over two dozen buildings were damaged in the capital that bears the same name.“This vile attack came virtually (at) the close of UN General Assembly week, and this is exactly how Russia declares its true position. Moscow wants to keep fighting and killing, and it deserves the toughest pressure from the world,” Zelenskyy wrote.Speaking at the U.N. General Assembly, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov insisted to world leaders Saturday that his nation doesn’t intend to attack Europe but will mount a “decisive response” to any aggression.Residents shakenThe strikes that began overnight and continued after dawn on Sunday also targeted residential buildings, civilian infrastructure, a medical facility and a kindergarten, according to Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko, who also said damage was reported at more than 20 locations across the capital.At Kyiv’s central train station, passengers arrived to the crackle of anti-aircraft gunfire and the low buzz of attack drones. Mostly women, they waited quietly in a platform underpass until the air raid alert ended. Parents checked the news on their phones while children played online games.“The sky has turned black again,” said one woman at the station, who gave only her first name, Erika. “It’s happening a lot.”Ilona Kovalenko, a 38-year-old resident of a five-story building struck in Kyiv’s Solomianskyi district, told The Associated Press she woke up because of the explosion, which shattered windows.“A neighbor kept knocking on our door. She was completely covered in blood and shouting, ‘help, save my daughter,’” said Kovalenko, who fled the building with her grandmother after the strike.Oleksandra, the neighbor’s daughter, was the 12-year-old killed in the attack.“Sadly, she died on the spot,” Kovalenko said. “We are in shock, to be honest.”Another multi-story residential building was heavily damaged by the attack. Emergency services personnel used power saws to clear the debris. Piles of glass littered nearby sidewalks as building residents, some looking shaken, sat on benches.Russian officials did not immediately comment on the attacks.Polish military responses triggeredThe assault also triggered military responses in neighboring Poland, where fighter jets were deployed early Sunday morning as Russia struck targets in western Ukraine, according to the Polish armed forces.Polish military officials characterized these defensive measures as “preventative.”International concerns have mounted recently that the fighting could spread beyond Ukraine’s borders as European countries rebuked Russia for what they said were provocations. The incidents have included Russian drones landing on Polish soil and Russian fighter aircraft entering Estonian airspace.Russia denied its planes entered Estonian airspace and said none of its drones targeted Poland.The latest bombardment follows President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s announcement Saturday of what he called a “mega deal” for weapons purchases from the United States. The $90 billion package includes both the major arms agreement and a separate “drone deal” for Ukrainian-made drones that the U.S. will purchase directly.Meanwhile, Russia’s Defense Ministry said its air defenses shot down 41 Ukrainian drones overnight into Sunday. Morton reported from London.

    Russia unleashed a barrage of drones and missiles on Ukraine overnight into Sunday, killing at least four people, with the capital city of Kyiv suffering the heaviest assault.

    This is the first major bombardment since an air attack on Kyiv left at least 21 people dead last month.

    Kyiv bears the brunt of the attack

    Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv City Administration, confirmed Sunday’s casualties via Telegram and said 10 others were wounded in the attack that targeted civilian areas across the city. A 12-year-old girl was among the dead. Thick black smoke could be seen rising from a blast near the city center.

    “The Russians have restarted the child death counter,” Tkachenko wrote on Telegram.

    Russia fired a total of 595 exploding drones and decoys and 48 missiles, Ukraine’s air force said Sunday. Of those, air defenses shot down or jammed 566 drones and 45 missiles.

    Besides Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the bombardment targeted the regions of Zaporizhzhia, Khmelnytskyi, Sumy, Mykolaiv, Chernihiv, and Odesa. Zelenskyy wrote on X that at least 40 people were wounded across the country. Later, Ukraine’s Interior Ministry stated the number of the wounded rose to 70, with over a hundred civilian objects damaged.

    Zaporizhzhia’s regional head, Ivan Fedorov, said three children were among the 27 wounded in the region, adding that over two dozen buildings were damaged in the capital that bears the same name.

    “This vile attack came virtually (at) the close of UN General Assembly week, and this is exactly how Russia declares its true position. Moscow wants to keep fighting and killing, and it deserves the toughest pressure from the world,” Zelenskyy wrote.

    Speaking at the U.N. General Assembly, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov insisted to world leaders Saturday that his nation doesn’t intend to attack Europe but will mount a “decisive response” to any aggression.

    Residents shaken

    The strikes that began overnight and continued after dawn on Sunday also targeted residential buildings, civilian infrastructure, a medical facility and a kindergarten, according to Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko, who also said damage was reported at more than 20 locations across the capital.

    At Kyiv’s central train station, passengers arrived to the crackle of anti-aircraft gunfire and the low buzz of attack drones. Mostly women, they waited quietly in a platform underpass until the air raid alert ended. Parents checked the news on their phones while children played online games.

    “The sky has turned black again,” said one woman at the station, who gave only her first name, Erika. “It’s happening a lot.”

    Ilona Kovalenko, a 38-year-old resident of a five-story building struck in Kyiv’s Solomianskyi district, told The Associated Press she woke up because of the explosion, which shattered windows.

    “A neighbor kept knocking on our door. She was completely covered in blood and shouting, ‘help, save my daughter,’” said Kovalenko, who fled the building with her grandmother after the strike.

    Oleksandra, the neighbor’s daughter, was the 12-year-old killed in the attack.

    “Sadly, she died on the spot,” Kovalenko said. “We are in shock, to be honest.”

    Another multi-story residential building was heavily damaged by the attack. Emergency services personnel used power saws to clear the debris. Piles of glass littered nearby sidewalks as building residents, some looking shaken, sat on benches.

    Russian officials did not immediately comment on the attacks.

    Polish military responses triggered

    The assault also triggered military responses in neighboring Poland, where fighter jets were deployed early Sunday morning as Russia struck targets in western Ukraine, according to the Polish armed forces.

    Polish military officials characterized these defensive measures as “preventative.”

    International concerns have mounted recently that the fighting could spread beyond Ukraine’s borders as European countries rebuked Russia for what they said were provocations. The incidents have included Russian drones landing on Polish soil and Russian fighter aircraft entering Estonian airspace.

    Russia denied its planes entered Estonian airspace and said none of its drones targeted Poland.

    The latest bombardment follows President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s announcement Saturday of what he called a “mega deal” for weapons purchases from the United States. The $90 billion package includes both the major arms agreement and a separate “drone deal” for Ukrainian-made drones that the U.S. will purchase directly.

    Meanwhile, Russia’s Defense Ministry said its air defenses shot down 41 Ukrainian drones overnight into Sunday.

    Morton reported from London.


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  • NATO general says Ukraine improving strikes deep inside Russia

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    Ukraine has significantly improved its ability to strike military targets deep inside Russia, German Major General Maik Keller told dpa, highlighting advances in personnel, equipment and training.

    “The Ukrainians are getting better at reaching militarily relevant targets in Russia’s depth. This is a question of capability, and capability means personnel, material and training,” he said.

    Keller serves as deputy commander of the NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine (NSATU), which coordinates alliance support from its base at the Lucius D Clay Barracks in Wiesbaden, Germany.

    Experts from 30 nations, including non-NATO partners Australia and New Zealand as well as Ukraine itself, work in Wiesbaden to ensure Kiev’s needs for weapons, ammunition, spare parts and equipment are met. The mission also advises Ukraine and aligns its forces with NATO standards — though Keller stressed the learning goes both ways.

    According to the NATO general, drones are a prime example of how Ukraine has advanced warfare. Few can teach the Ukrainians much in this field, he noted, pointing to combat, logistics and even medical evacuation drones, as well as naval systems.

    The German military and NATO allies were learning from these innovations in technology, operations, and doctrine, he added.

    “Our core mission is to coordinate support for Ukraine,” Keller said. “But we would be foolish not to use this knowledge to improve ourselves and spare our own soldiers from repeating Ukraine’s hard lessons.”

    Keller’s remarks come as Berlin pledged €300 million ($351 million) to help Ukraine produce thousands of long-range drones. Kiev has recently stepped up its strikes, targeting Russian oil refineries and infrastructure critical for diesel and petrol production.

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  • Airstrikes and gunfire kill at least 59 people in Gaza as pressure grows for ceasefire, hostage deal

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    Israeli strikes and gunfire killed at least 59 people across Gaza, health officials said Saturday, as international pressure grows for a ceasefire and hostage return deal while Israel’s leader remained defiant about continuing the war.Related video above: Palestinian president speaks by video at UNAmong the dead were those hit by two strikes in the Nuseirat refugee camp — nine from the same family in a house and, later, 15 in the same camp, including women and children, according to staff at al-Awda Hospital, where the bodies were brought. Five others were killed when a strike hit a tent for the displaced, according to Nasser Hospital, which received the dead.Israel’s army said it was not aware of anyone being killed by gunfire Saturday in southern Gaza, nor of a strike in the Nuseirat area during the time and at the location provided by the hospital.The director of Shifa Hospital in Gaza City told The Associated Press that medical teams there were concerned about Israeli “tanks approaching the vicinity of the hospital,” restricting access to the facility where 159 patients are being treated.“The bombardment has not stopped for a single moment,” Dr. Mohamed Abu Selmiya said.He added that 14 premature babies were treated in incubators in Helou Hospital, though the head of neonatal intensive care there, Dr. Nasser Bulbul, has said that the facility’s main gate was closed because of drones flying over the building. Netanyahu and Trump scheduled to meet as pressure growsThe attacks came hours after a defiant Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told fellow world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly Friday that his nation “must finish the job” against Hamas in Gaza.Netanyahu’s words, aimed as much at his increasingly divided domestic audience as the global one, began after dozens of delegates from multiple nations walked out of the U.N. General Assembly hall en masse Friday morning as he began speaking.International pressure on Israel to end the war is increasing, as is Israel’s isolation, with a growing list of countries, including the United Kingdom, France and Australia, deciding recently to recognize Palestinian statehood — something Israel rejects.A U.N. commission of inquiry recently determined that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.Countries have been lobbying U.S. President Donald Trump to press Israel for a ceasefire. On Friday, Trump told reporters on the White House lawn that he believes the U.S. is close to achieving a deal on easing fighting in Gaza that “will get the hostages back” and “end the war.”Trump and Netanyahu are scheduled to meet Monday, and Trump said on social media Friday that “very inspired and productive discussions” and “intense negotiations” about Gaza are ongoing with countries in the region.Yet, Israel is pressing ahead with another major ground operation in Gaza City, which experts say is experiencing famine. More than 300,000 people have fled, but up to 700,000 are still there, many because they can’t afford to relocate.Hospitals are short on supplies and targeted by airstrikesThe strikes Saturday morning demolished a house in Gaza City’s Tufah neighborhood, killing at least 11 people, more than half of them women and children, according to Al-Ahly Hospital, where the bodies were brought. Four other people were killed when an airstrike hit their homes in the Shati refugee camp, according to Shifa Hospital. Six other Palestinians were killed by Israeli gunfire while seeking aid in southern and central Gaza, according to the Nasser and Al Awda hospitals.Hospitals and health clinics in Gaza City are on the brink of collapse. Nearly two weeks into the offensive, two clinics have been destroyed by airstrikes, two hospitals shut down after being damaged and others are barely functioning, with medicine, equipment, food and fuel in short supply, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.Many patients and staff have been forced to flee hospitals, leaving behind only a few doctors and nurses to tend to children in incubators or other patients too ill to move.On Friday, aid group Doctors Without Borders said it was forced to suspend activities in Gaza City. The group said Israeli tanks were less than a kilometer (half a mile) from its facilities, creating an “unacceptable level of risk” for its staff.Meanwhile, the food situation in the north has also worsened, as Israel has halted aid deliveries through its crossing into northern Gaza since Sept. 12 and has increasingly rejected U.N. requests to bring supplies from southern Gaza into the north, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said.Israel’s campaign in Gaza has killed more than 65,000 people and wounded more than 167,000 others, Gaza’s Health Ministry said. It doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants, but says women and children make up around half the fatalities. The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government, but U.N. agencies and many independent experts consider its figures to be the most reliable estimate of wartime casualties.Israel’s campaign was triggered when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostage. Forty-eight captives remain in Gaza, around 20 of them believed by Israel to be alive, after most of the rest were freed in ceasefires or other deals. Magdy reported from Cairo, Egypt.

    Israeli strikes and gunfire killed at least 59 people across Gaza, health officials said Saturday, as international pressure grows for a ceasefire and hostage return deal while Israel’s leader remained defiant about continuing the war.

    Related video above: Palestinian president speaks by video at UN

    Among the dead were those hit by two strikes in the Nuseirat refugee camp — nine from the same family in a house and, later, 15 in the same camp, including women and children, according to staff at al-Awda Hospital, where the bodies were brought. Five others were killed when a strike hit a tent for the displaced, according to Nasser Hospital, which received the dead.

    Israel’s army said it was not aware of anyone being killed by gunfire Saturday in southern Gaza, nor of a strike in the Nuseirat area during the time and at the location provided by the hospital.

    The director of Shifa Hospital in Gaza City told The Associated Press that medical teams there were concerned about Israeli “tanks approaching the vicinity of the hospital,” restricting access to the facility where 159 patients are being treated.

    “The bombardment has not stopped for a single moment,” Dr. Mohamed Abu Selmiya said.

    He added that 14 premature babies were treated in incubators in Helou Hospital, though the head of neonatal intensive care there, Dr. Nasser Bulbul, has said that the facility’s main gate was closed because of drones flying over the building.

    Netanyahu and Trump scheduled to meet as pressure grows

    The attacks came hours after a defiant Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told fellow world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly Friday that his nation “must finish the job” against Hamas in Gaza.

    Netanyahu’s words, aimed as much at his increasingly divided domestic audience as the global one, began after dozens of delegates from multiple nations walked out of the U.N. General Assembly hall en masse Friday morning as he began speaking.

    International pressure on Israel to end the war is increasing, as is Israel’s isolation, with a growing list of countries, including the United Kingdom, France and Australia, deciding recently to recognize Palestinian statehood — something Israel rejects.

    A U.N. commission of inquiry recently determined that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

    Countries have been lobbying U.S. President Donald Trump to press Israel for a ceasefire. On Friday, Trump told reporters on the White House lawn that he believes the U.S. is close to achieving a deal on easing fighting in Gaza that “will get the hostages back” and “end the war.”

    Trump and Netanyahu are scheduled to meet Monday, and Trump said on social media Friday that “very inspired and productive discussions” and “intense negotiations” about Gaza are ongoing with countries in the region.

    Yet, Israel is pressing ahead with another major ground operation in Gaza City, which experts say is experiencing famine. More than 300,000 people have fled, but up to 700,000 are still there, many because they can’t afford to relocate.

    Hospitals are short on supplies and targeted by airstrikes

    The strikes Saturday morning demolished a house in Gaza City’s Tufah neighborhood, killing at least 11 people, more than half of them women and children, according to Al-Ahly Hospital, where the bodies were brought. Four other people were killed when an airstrike hit their homes in the Shati refugee camp, according to Shifa Hospital. Six other Palestinians were killed by Israeli gunfire while seeking aid in southern and central Gaza, according to the Nasser and Al Awda hospitals.

    Hospitals and health clinics in Gaza City are on the brink of collapse. Nearly two weeks into the offensive, two clinics have been destroyed by airstrikes, two hospitals shut down after being damaged and others are barely functioning, with medicine, equipment, food and fuel in short supply, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

    Many patients and staff have been forced to flee hospitals, leaving behind only a few doctors and nurses to tend to children in incubators or other patients too ill to move.

    On Friday, aid group Doctors Without Borders said it was forced to suspend activities in Gaza City. The group said Israeli tanks were less than a kilometer (half a mile) from its facilities, creating an “unacceptable level of risk” for its staff.

    Meanwhile, the food situation in the north has also worsened, as Israel has halted aid deliveries through its crossing into northern Gaza since Sept. 12 and has increasingly rejected U.N. requests to bring supplies from southern Gaza into the north, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said.

    Israel’s campaign in Gaza has killed more than 65,000 people and wounded more than 167,000 others, Gaza’s Health Ministry said. It doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants, but says women and children make up around half the fatalities. The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government, but U.N. agencies and many independent experts consider its figures to be the most reliable estimate of wartime casualties.

    Israel’s campaign was triggered when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostage. Forty-eight captives remain in Gaza, around 20 of them believed by Israel to be alive, after most of the rest were freed in ceasefires or other deals.


    Magdy reported from Cairo, Egypt.

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  • Analyzing Trump’s shift in tone on Russia, Ukraine

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    A Ukrainian military official said the front lines have grown by about 120 miles in the past year, with the battlefield stretching nearly 800 miles in total. CBS News contributor Sam Vinograd has the national security roundup.

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  • Zelenskyy ‘ready’ to exit office if war ends, open to elections in ceasefire

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    NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

    President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has suggested he is ready to step down from office once Russia’s war on Ukraine ends.

    During an interview with Axios Wednesday, the Ukrainian leader also maintained his primary focus remains achieving peace rather than securing another term.

    “My goal is to finish the war,” Zelenskyy told Barak Ravid on The Axios Show following his address to the United Nations General Assembly in New York and before heading back to Kyiv.

    When pressed on if Ukraine would hold elections during a ceasefire, Zelenskyy was firm.

    EUROPEAN LEADERS WILL JOIN TRUMP-ZELENSKYY MEETING, SIGNALING SOLIDARITY WITH UKRAINE

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy answers questions during an exclusive appearance on Fox News’ “Special Report” with Bret Baier. (Fox News)

    “So do you commit that if tomorrow, President Putin agrees for a ceasefire of three months, six months, whatever you will push forward to go for elections in Ukraine?” Ravid asked. “Yes,” Zelenskyy responded.

    When asked whether he envisioned leading Ukraine in peacetime, Zelenskyy again suggested his intent to step aside once the war is won. 

    “If we will finish war with Russia? Yes,” Zelenskyy said, before clarifying that elections were not his personal ambition. 

    “It’s not my goal, elections,” he explained. “I want it very much, in a very difficult period of time, to be with my country, help my country. Yes, that is what I wanted. My goal is to finish the war,” he stated.

    PUTIN DEMANDS CONTROL OF KEY UKRAINIAN TERRITORY IN EXCHANGE FOR PEACE: EUROPEAN DIPLOMAT

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during the Ukraine Recovery Conference 2025 at Roma Convention Center La Nuvola, on July 10, 2025. (Antonio Masiello/Getty Image)

    The Ukrainian leader’s remarks come as his country is under martial law, imposed since Russia’s full-scale invasion started in February 2022.  

    Under martial law, elections can’t be held.

    CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

    Zelenskyy, first elected in 2019 in a landslide, would have seen his five-year term end in May 2024 if the war with Russia had not started. 

    Now Zelenskyy has been in office for over six year which is beyond his original mandate. 

    Fox News Digital has reached out to Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office for comment.

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  • U.S. fighter jets scrambled to intercept Russian warplanes near Alaska

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    U.S. fighter jets were scrambled Wednesday to identify and intercept four Russian warplanes flying near Alaska, the North American Aerospace Defense Command said in a statement

    NORAD said two Russian Tu-95 long-range strategic bombers and two Su-35 fighter jets were flying in the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), which is international airspace that abuts U.S. and Canadian sovereign airspace.

    NORAD responded Wednesday by sending an E-3 early warning and control aircraft, along with four F-16s and four KC-135 tanker planes, “to positively identify and intercept” the Russian aircraft in the Alaskan ADIZ.

    A Russian Tupolev Tu-95 strategic bomber flies over Moscow, accompanied by fighter jets, during a rehearsal for the Victory Day parade in Russia’s capital, in a May 7, 2022 file photo.

    Sefa Karacan/Anadolu Agency/Getty


    NORAD said Russian military activity in the ADIZ is common and not considered a threat, but it was the latest in a series of flights by Russian aircraft seen by many as testing the preparedness of U.S. and allied NATO nations. It came as officials in Denmark continued investigating still-unattributed, large drones that flew close to Copenhagen Airport on Tuesday and Wednesday, disrupting traffic.

    Danish police have said the drones were operated by a “capable actor.”

    European nations have been on alert amid Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Russian drones were shot down by Polish and allied NATO warplanes after crossing into Polish airspace on Sept. 9. Ten days later, Estonia said several Russian fighter jets entered its airspace.

    The Russian planes entered the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone on Wednesday about one month after a very similar incident, which also saw the U.S. scramble fighter jets for an interception.

    In late August, NORAD said it had detected and surveilled a Russian military reconnaissance aircraft inside the ADIZ after intercepting the same type of spy plane over the region three times in the preceding days.

    In September 2024, NORAD posted dramatic video of a Russian jet flying “within just a few feet” of NORAD aircraft off the coast of Alaska. At the time, a U.S. general said the conduct of the jet’s crew was “unsafe, unprofessional, and endangered all.”

    The ADIZ is “a defined stretch of international airspace that requires the ready identification of all aircraft in the interest of national security,” NORAD said.

    None of the situations thus far has resulted in Russian warplanes entering U.S. or Canadian sovereign airspace.

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  • Trump’s Ukraine reversal

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    What just happened? President Donald Trump’s greatest bug—or feature—might be his flightiness, coupled with a certain showmanship, a bit of flair. What holds one day may not hold the next. This results in chaotic whiplash, like with tariffs and “Liberation Day” rates that, in many cases, did not end up holding. It results in executive orders that make news cycles but don’t actually change all that much, like this week’s executive order classifying antifa a domestic terrorist group. It makes it hard for firms and individuals to plan ahead, to know what type of workers they’ll be hiring and how expensive materials will be and what the law permits.

    In foreign policy, it means a longstanding approach might not in fact be so. Like Trump’s reversal, yesterday afternoon, on Ukraine, following a meeting with that country’s president:

    “After getting to know and fully understand the Ukraine/Russia Military and Economic situation and, after seeing the Economic trouble it is causing Russia, I think Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, is in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form,” wrote the president on Truth Social:

    “With time, patience, and the financial support of Europe and, in particular, NATO, the original Borders from where this War started, is very much an option. Why not? Russia has been fighting aimlessly for three and a half years a War that should have taken a Real Military Power less than a week to win. This is not distinguishing Russia. In fact, it is very much making them look like ‘a paper tiger.’ When the people living in Moscow, and all of the Great Cities, Towns, and Districts all throughout Russia, find out what is really going on with this War, the fact that it’s almost impossible for them to get Gasoline through the long lines that are being formed, and all of the other things that are taking place in their War Economy, where most of their money is being spent on fighting Ukraine, which has Great Spirit, and only getting better, Ukraine would be able to take back their Country in its original form and, who knows, maybe even go further than that! Putin and Russia are in BIG Economic trouble, and this is the time for Ukraine to act. In any event, I wish both Countries well. We will continue to supply weapons to NATO for NATO to do what they want with them. Good luck to all!”

    (Does Trump mean the February 2022 borders, before the current iteration of the war, or does he also mean the return of Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014? It’s not totally clear.)

    It’s possible this is a tactic to try to get Russian President Vladimir Putin to come to the negotiating table. It’s possible it’s a tactic to get NATO to step up its commitments—the timing of which would make sense, as NATO has been issuing forceful rebukes to Putin following Russian drones entering Polish airspace (and being shot down) and Russian fighter jets entering Estonian airspace two weeks ago and now drones over Copenhagen Airport yesterday that might be linked to Russia—and to take Article 5 more seriously. It’s also possible, since it’s Trump, that it’s a genuine reversal of his own beliefs and his administration’s approach, which would be quite a shift given Vice President J.D. Vance’s aggressive tack taken with Volodymyr Zelenskyy back in February (described by Politico as “the stunning humiliation of Zelenskyy”).

    Then again, is it a true reversal? Trump said, back in March following the spat, that he’s “not aligned with anybody.” “I’m aligned with the United States of America,” he added. The only commitment Trump is making now is the continuation of U.S. weapons support for NATO. It’s possible Trump is trying to exert more influence over how NATO handles territorial incursions. It’s possible Trump learned new information over the course of his meeting with Zelenskyy. But this might also be a somewhat toothless pronouncement from Trump, or, possibly, some sort of foreign-policy 4D chess move that will reveal itself prudent in time. With Trump, it’s very hard to say.


    Scenes from New York: “The Secret Service found and seized an illicit network of sophisticated equipment in the New York region that was capable of shutting down the cellular network as foreign leaders prepared to gather nearby for the annual U.N. General Assembly, the agency announced on Tuesday,” reports The New York Times. “Officials said the anonymous communications network, which included more than 100,000 SIM cards and 300 servers, could interfere with emergency response services and could be used to conduct encrypted communication. One official said the network was capable of sending 30 million text messages per minute, anonymously. The official said the agency had never before seen such an extensive operation.” The Secret Service is in charge of security for U.N. meetings held in New York. There’s not yet information on a specific plot that had been planned to put these devices to use, but “initial analysis of the data on some of the SIM cards has identified ties to at least one foreign nation, as well as links to criminals already known to U.S. law enforcement officials, including cartel members.” President Donald Trump has taken this and run with it, naturally. But there’s also some early indicators coming out that the Secret Service is not being totally truthful here, so take it all with grains of salt.


    QUICK HITS

    • “Three people were shot at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Dallas on Wednesday morning, ICE officials said,” per The New York Times. “Kristi Noem, the secretary of homeland security, said there were ‘multiple injuries and fatalities’ and the shooter was found dead of a ‘self-inflicted gunshot wound.’”
    • “If over time, desistance becomes more common, ‘that might be a good argument for why social transition at a young age should be done cautiously,’ said Dr. Laura Edwards-Leeper, a psychologist who also worked at the Boston clinic and who has become a critic of what she sees as reckless approaches to youth transition,” writes Jesse Singal, covering the findings of The TransYouth Project, the longitudinal effort to track children who transition genders very early in life. Singal reports that the study found that 18.4 percent of the early-transitioning children had not stuck to their new identity, either reverting to their birth sex or coming out as a category that’s neither cisgender nor transgender. “Edwards-Leeper also noted that a nonbinary gender identity might just be a way station, of sorts, on the way toward some of these kids reidentifying with their birth sex. ‘It might be easier for them to admit to themselves and everyone in their lives that they are JUST shifting to nonbinary, rather than back to cis—as a first step,’ she said. ‘This is definitely the way it often goes with transitioning from cis to trans—it feels safer to try out nonbinary first. I would suspect that some of those nonbinary kids will shift to cis as they get a bit older.’” Singal also grapples with social contagion as a very plausible explanation for why we’ve seen an explosion in youth transgender identification over the last decade, and critiques some researchers’ inability to make sense of this.
    • In case you’re interested in why there’s lotsa GOD in this newsletter these days.
    • Inside Los Angeles’ Tesla Diner: “Early visitors to the diner were greeted by robots, but on the day I came, none was to be found, disappointing the many, many people I heard ask about them. No roller skates, either. And although it is ostensibly a diner, it has no table service; this is more like a fast-food joint with higher prices and extra seating. The menu has also shrunk considerably since opening day: When I visited, the only options were a burger, a grilled-cheese sandwich, a tuna melt, a fried-chicken sandwich, a hot dog, chili, fries, and apple pie. Most of these dishes were served in a cute cardboard container made to look like a Cybertruck, and had been made fancier in ways nobody asked for,” writes Ellen Cushing for The Atlantic.
    • “Trads believe women shouldn’t work” is pretty much entirely made up by the haters, not endorsed by traditionalists themselves, points out New Hampshire woodsman/thinker Simon Sarris:

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    Liz Wolfe

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