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The death toll from a large Russian missile and drone attack on Kyiv overnight on Thursday has risen to at least 31 people. Five children — including a two-year-old — were among the victims of the strike which targeted several areas of the Ukrainian capital. Another 159, including 16 children, were injured, Ukraine's Interior Ministry said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the strike "vile" and said it "demonstrates the need for increased pressure on Moscow and additional sanctions." "In July alone, Russia used over 5,100 glide bombs against Ukraine, more than 3,800 Shaheds and nearly 260 missiles of various types...

John Brennan and James Clapper teemed up yesterday to write an opinion piece for the NY Times defending their work on an Intelligence Community Assessment about the 2016 election. It's titled "Brennan and Clapper: Let’s Set the Record Straight on Russia and 2016."The Brennan-Clapper opinion piece (BCOP) can really be broken down into three parts. First is a summary of the previous reviews of their work, all of which concluded it was fine.While some external critiques have noted that parts of the Russia investigation could have been handled better, multiple, thorough, yearslong reviews of the assessment have validated its findings...

The Kremlin is building its way toward a reality where it can soon launch 2,000 Shahed one-way attack drones in one night, according to two recent Western assessments. Maj. Gen. Christian Freuding, the German defense ministry's commander of planning and command staff, said in a Bundeswehr interview aired on Saturday that Russia was "striving to further increase production capacity" of its Shaheds. "They want to expand the drone attacks we just talked about," Freuding said. "The ambition is to be able to deploy 2,000 drones simultaneously." "We need to consider intelligent countermeasures," he added. In a separate assessment on Sunday,...

US President Donald Trump again displayed anger with Russia following its latest deadly attack on Kyiv -- a strike that killed 16 people and injured dozens -- calling the action “disgusting” and vowing to slap new sanctions on Moscow. “Russia, I think it’s disgusting what they’re doing,” Trump told reporters at the White House on July 31. “I think what Russia’s doing is very sad. A lot of Russians are dying.”

US President Donald Trump said on July 31 that Russia’s actions in Ukraine were “disgusting” and indicated that new sanctions against Moscow were coming over its invasion of its neighbour. “Russia – I think it’s disgusting what they’re doing. I think it’s disgusting,” Mr Trump told journalists. He also said he would send his special envoy Steve Witkoff, currently in Israel, to visit Russia next. Russian President Vladimir Putin has already met Mr Witkoff multiple times in Moscow, before Mr Trump’s efforts to mend ties with the Kremlin came to a grinding halt. Washington has given Moscow until the end...

Senator Chuck Grassley on Thursday released the newly declassified annex from former special counsel John Durham’s report “The Durham annex contains previously classified information exposing a reported Clinton campaign plan to falsely tie President Donald Trump to Russia,” Grassley said. Recall that it was just reported that FBI Director Kash Patel recently found the annex to the Durham report in a “burn bag” at the FBI. According to the newly declassified documents, Hillary Clinton personally approved the Trump-Russia hoax just a few days before FBI counter-intelligence agent Peter Strzok opened Crossfire Hurricane on July 31, 2016 to distract from her...

Declassified Durham Appendix Shows Hillary Clinton PERSONALLY Approved Trump-Russia Hoax and Used FBI to Put “More Oil on the Fire”

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday that India's purchases of Russian oil are helping to sustain Moscow's war efforts in Ukraine and it is "most certainly a point of irritation" in New Delhi’s relationship with Washington, although not the only point of irritation. In an interview with Fox Radio, Rubio claimed that the US President is frustrated with the fact that India continues to buy oil from Russia despite having so many other oil vendors available and helping to fund Russia's war effort against Ukraine. -snip- One of the biggest points of contradiction that has stopped India...

The US has sanctioned eight India-based companies and five Indian nationals as part of its latest Iran-related sanctions action targeting entities engaged in trade of Iranian oil, petroleum products, and petrochemicals, and those identified as part of a shipping empire controlled by Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani — the son of Ali Shamkhani, a top political advisor to the Supreme Leader of Iran. In the latest action, announced Wednesday, the US Department of the State imposed sanctions on 20 entities and identified 10 vessels as blocked property. Simultaneously, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated more...

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega sent a letter to Russian leader Vladimir Putin, offering his full support for Russia’s actions in Ukraine and recognizing the occupied Ukrainian territories of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia as part of Russia, as was reported on July 30. -snip- The letter, co-signed by Ortega’s wife and Vice President Rosario Murillo, expressed solidarity with the Russian people and praised the sacrifices of Russian military families. Ortega also reiterated Nicaragua’s support for Russia’s so-called “special military operation,” which the Kremlin claims is being conducted to protect Russian citizens and defend its sovereignty. In the letter, Ortega stated,...

U.S. President Donald Trump has made clear that he wants a deal to end Russia’s war in Ukraine by August 8, the United States told the United Nations Security Council on Thursday. “Both Russia and Ukraine must negotiate a ceasefire and durable peace. It is time to make a deal. President Trump has made clear this must be done by August 8. The United States is prepared to implement additional measures to secure peace,” senior U.S. diplomat John Kelley told the 15-member council.

WASHINGTON – Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) today is making public the formerly Classified Appendix (“Durham annex”) to John Durham’s 2023 Special Counsel report. The Unclassified Report and the Classified Appendix form the entirety of Durham’s Special Counsel Report. The Durham annex contains previously classified information exposing a reported Clinton campaign plan to falsely tie President Donald Trump to Russia. The annex also goes into further detail on matters discussed in the Unclassified Report, specifically: Potential election influence by a foreign government regarding Hillary Clinton; False statements to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA court) regarding FISA renewal...

Most of the US allies continue to buy Russian gas even after the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine War. The EU and NATO member states are close to Washington, and they have bought natural gas worth hundreds of billions of dollars from Moscow since the beginning of the war. Has President Donald Trump exposed the US hypocrisy over trade by imposing a 25% tariff on Indian goods plus a penalty for doing business with Russia? Though he has not said explicitly what it means and how much penalty India will have to pay for buying crude oil and military hardware from...

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov commented on Thursday regarding threats issued by U.S. President Donald Trump to BRICS, an organization comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates. Trump claimed the group has "anti-American policies" and said he will impose tariffs on it and its allies, with Peskov replying that BRICS "does not respond to threats" and is not aligned against any country, News.Az reports citing foreign media.

Indian state refiners have temporarily ceased purchasing Russian crude oil this week, primarily due to concerns over potential secondary tariffs threatened by U.S. President Donald Trump and reduced discounts on Russian oil. This decision by state-controlled refiners, which represent over 60% of India’s refining capacity, marks a shift from their regular imports of Russian oil since 2022. Indian refiners are now seeking alternative crude supplies from the Middle East and West Africa and have requested urgent guidance from the Indian oil ministry regarding future Russian oil flows.

Even after the Ukraine war ends, Russia will continue to pose a threat to its neighbours unless the world works to “change the Regime” in Moscow, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday morning. Russia’s leadership is mentally “stuck in another era” and rejects the “post World War Two” world order, warned President Zelensky as he called for regime change against Moscow to remove the threat permanently. Addressing an Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) conference remotely by a video link plagued with technical difficulties, when he could be heard the Ukrainian leader decried fresh overnight airstrikes by...

Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Security Council Dmitry Medvedev issued a pointed warning to US President Donald Trump, urging him not to ignore the peril posed by those he labels "dead." Medvedevs comments come in response to Trumps recent remarks about the Russian economy, as well as his criticisms of Medvedev himself, which he shared via his Telegram channel, TASS reported. "Regarding the so-called dead economy of India and Russia and the warning about entering dangerous territory - perhaps he should recall his favorite films about the walking dead and think about how dangerous a dead hand can be, even one...

Indian state refiners have stopped buying Russian oil in the past week as discounts narrowed this month and U.S. President Donald Trump warned against purchasing oil from Moscow, industry sources said. India, the world's third-largest oil importer, is the biggest buyer of seaborne Russian crude. Corp, Hindustan Petroleum Corp, Bharat Petroleum Corp and Mangalore Refinery Petrochemical Ltd - have not sought Russian crude in the past week or so, four sources familiar with the refiners' purchase plans told Reuters. IOC, BPCL, HPCL, MRPL and the federal oil ministry did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment. The four refiners...

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Thursday told U.S. President Donald Trump to remember that Moscow possessed Soviet-era nuclear strike capabilities of last resort after Trump told Medvedev to "watch his words". -snip- "If some words from the former president of Russia trigger such a nervous reaction from the high-and-mighty president of the United States, then Russia is doing everything right and will continue to proceed along its own path," Medvedev said in a post on Telegram. Trump should remember, he said, "how dangerous the fabled 'Dead Hand' can be," a reference to a secretive semi-automated Russian command system designed...

President Trump warned Russia’s former president Dmitry Medvedev that he risks entering “dangerous territory” after he slammed the US deadline for a cease-fire in Ukraine as “a step towards war.” “Tell Medvedev, the failed former President of Russia, who thinks he’s still President, to watch his words. He’s entering very dangerous territory!” Trump said regarding Russian President Vladimir Putin’s top ally on Truth Social Thursday morning.