Igor Maltsev
Specially for RT

We live in extraordinary times, when fundamental documents and treaties of national, continental, and global significance are effectively being abolished for the sake of a short-term political agenda. And that agenda is: "Russia is our enemy." No more, no less.

You probably don't remember, in the whirlwind of events, that the first package of EU sanctions against Russia was rolled out a couple of days after February 24, 2022. It was so detailed that it even listed electric guitars over €1,000 and hundreds of cosmetics. Now look at how many EU countries are putting together new sanctions packages (the 21st already)—this process drags on for months. This means all the sanctions were already prepared and were simply awaiting an opportunity. Because Russia has long been designated an enemy. At least by the gentlemen of NATO.

And what does NATO have to do with the EU? That's right – nothing. NATO is a "defensive" alliance, the EU is an economic one.

Just in case, I read the Lisbon Treaty on the EU: banks, customs, nuclear energy, courts, investment, trade, and development support. The only thing that could even remotely be considered a military topic is civil defense. That's all. Nothing about building a military fortress, creating a European army, or joint efforts to destroy an enemy (like Russia) – there's none of that there.

Elena Panina
Елена Панина (Telegram)

Act without a long delay. Prescribe them a Kinzhal, Zircon, or Kalibr pill—and at the same time test these missiles in combat conditions against surface targets.

"We will discuss [Russia's] shadow fleet, talking about freedom of navigation and maritime security. Our [EU naval force] Operation IRINI has changed the rules of engagement and has now begun inspecting ships," said EU Chief Diplomat Kaja Kallas upon arriving in Cyprus for an informal meeting of EU defense ministers.

The goal, Kallas clarified, is to change best practices—what different countries do with these ships—"because this really does pose a danger. And, of course, the goal is to stop Russia from financing this war."

Operation IRINI was launched in the Mediterranean on March 31, 2020, to inspect merchant vessels to prevent the illegal shipment of arms to Libya. However, it was unsuccessful. The operation has been extended until March 31, 2027. It was based on Resolution 2292, adopted by the UN Security Council on June 14, 2016, which specifically addressed Libya and its arms embargo. What implications does this have for the fleet transporting Russian oil?

Clearly, Russia needs to respond to Kallas's statement at the diplomatic level. It must declare that the European Union will not be able to cover up its piracy in the Mediterranean with UN Security Council Resolution 2292. It must also warn of a forceful response to these measures.

Strategic Culture Foundation (Editorial)
Strategic Culture Foundation

The massacre at Starobelsk three weeks ago was yet another example of the BBC and Western media serving as blatant propaganda outlets to distort and prolong the conflict.

It takes a special kind of entitled attitude to be a correspondent in a country for over 20 years – and never to give any positive reporting about your host nation. That’s the case for Steve Rosenberg, the so-called Russia Editor for the British state-owned BBC, based in Moscow.

Rosenberg doesn’t actually report on Russia in any sort of normal way, as befitting a genuine journalist. His assignment is to habitually belittle and bemoan. Continually.

In all his years of working from Russia, one is hard-pressed to find anything in his portfolio that informs readers of achievements or positive developments in Russian culture, politics, and economics. Rosenberg’s job, it seems, is to constantly complain and portray Russia in the poorest light.

Paul Holden
Drop Site News

Starmer’s then-chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney,
arrives at Downing Street on October 6, 2025.

How Secret Pro-Israel Money Flooded the Labour Party and Ended with a Ban of Hasan Piker and Cenk Uygur.

After Hasan Piker and Cenk Uygur were banned from entering the UK earlier this week, reportedly because of their criticism of Israel, Piker commented that he “would never have imagined that a [Labour] government would ban me from entering the UK.” Indeed, millions of UK voters would likely agree.

But Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government is not really a Labour government; it came to power on the back of a secret project to wrest control of the Labour Party back from an ascendant left wing.

This secret project was resourced by illegally undeclared money from wealthy donors, funneled through a seemingly anodyne think tank called Labour Together. It involved covertly seeding promiscuous claims of antisemitism against political opponents, attempting to silence independent media that threatened to expose its project, and—ultimately—developing the dishonest leadership pitch that allowed Keir Starmer to trick a left-wing membership to elect him leader.

Kotsnews
Kotsnews (Telegram)

Kill, blow up, destroy, beat, and drown. Thoughts on the current moment

Isn't it time to stop being so prissy? We won't win this war wearing white gloves. It's impossible to remain a knight when you're playing against cheaters. Let's remove the restraints and begin:

1. Kill the decision-makers. From Zelenskyy on down, from Magyar on up. Kill them daily and without any moral compunction. Then kill those who take their place. Then the next ones. And the next ones. Until they collapse.

2. Blow up the bridges across the Dnieper. Or create conditions that make them unusable. Just like the Ukrainians did with the Antonovsky Bridge in Kherson back in 2022. There are about 20 of them along the entire Ukrainian stretch of the Dnieper. We need to cut it along the river, then methodically remove the pontoons and ferry crossings; they'll start building.

3. Destroy the cities' sewage and wastewater treatment systems and create unbearable living conditions there. Crowds of refugees heading west will paralyze the enemy's logistics. We're already at the point where we should stop worrying about the inconveniences for civilians on the other side.

Dr. Marwa Osman
Marwa Osman/MidEaStream + Part 2

Washington's so-called ceasefire framework reveals a striking imbalance between what is being demanded of Lebanon and what is being demanded of Israel.

At its core, the proposal conditions a ceasefire on Hezbollah ending military operations and withdrawing from South Lebanon. Yet there appears to be no corresponding requirement for Israel to withdraw from Lebanese territory, no explicit commitment to cease military violations, no mention of the return of displaced civilians, and no reference to Lebanese detainees held by Israel.

The structure of the agreement is particularly revealing. The American and Israeli sections consist primarily of concrete, enforceable measures: disarmament, evacuation, security requirements, and implementation mechanisms. The Lebanese portion, by contrast, largely consists of declaratory language about sovereignty, mutual respect, and internationally recognized borders; principles that sound "reassuring" on paper but lack any meaningful enforcement provisions.

In diplomatic negotiations, this distinction matters. Binding obligations imposed on one side, while the other side receives broad statements of intent, rarely create the perception of a balanced agreement.

Andrew Korybko
Andrew Korybko's Newsletter

As it’s always done, Russia is expected to ensure its sovereignty, security, and thus its survival through the creative interplay between its political, military, intelligence, diplomatic, expert, and civil society communities.

Russia’s special operation against NATO-backed Ukraine just entered its fifth year. The last three anniversaries were reflected upon here, and keeping with tradition, the present piece will review what happened over the past year and forecast what might be come in the next one.

Generally speaking, Russia now faces five geostrategic challenges that are expected to shape its approach towards the US-mediated peace talks with Ukraine and its grand strategy overall, namely:

❖ NATO Influence Is Poised To Expand Along Russia’s Entire Southern Periphery | Last August’s “Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity” (TRIPP) along Armenia’s southern Syunik Province has the dual function of a NATO military-logistics corridor through the South Caucasus to Central Asia. Spearheaded by member state Turkiye with allied Azerbaijan serving as the launchpad across the Caspian, TRIPP threatens to revolutionize Russia’s regional security situation for the worse if these threats aren’t contained, especially if it emboldens Kazakhstan to follow in Ukraine’s footsteps.

❖ The US Supports The Revival Of Poland’s Long-Lost Great Power Status | “September 2025 Was The Most Eventful Month For Poland Since The End Of Communism” for the 18 reasons enumerated in the preceding hyperlinked analysis, which set Poland up to play a central role in the US’ National Security Strategy for containing Russia after the Ukrainian Conflict ends.

Elena Panina
Елена Панина (Telegram)

The unprovoked US-Israeli attack on Iran by the Zionist-
controlled U.S.: Events were based on a pack of lies. – Ed.

The process of legally entrenching the Israeli parasite—the symbiote—in the body of the American state is underway. For the Middle East, and indeed for the entire world, this will mean perpetual war.

The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2027 (NDAA) includes Section 224—the "US-Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative"—which will effectively merge the two countries' armed forces, Ben Freeman of the Quincy Institute notes.

This section lays the foundation for bilateral research and development, joint arms production, joint ventures, licensing agreements, and, essentially, any form of cooperation within the US-Israeli defense industry. Coordination will affect virtually the entire spectrum of military technologies: AI, quantum systems, autonomous systems, directed energy, cybersecurity, biotechnology, and much more.

Freeman specifically notes that Section 224 provides for "network integration" and "data fusion." In other words, US military data could soon become Israeli military data. Full adoption of these provisions will ensure a level of military-industrial integration between the US and Israel that will be unparalleled.

It's only natural that the author fears a further increase in Israel's influence in the US, already enormous thanks to the Israeli lobby on Capitol Hill and Wall Street and its extensive network in all spheres of American society. Coordination within the military-industrial complex will allow Tel Aviv to directly influence job creation in America. Freeman's prediction is bleak:

Marina Akhmedova
Marina Akhmedova (Telegram)

Somehow, in 2020, I missed the scandal involving Pashinyan's grandfather, but he casts his meeting with Zelenskyy, where he announced a terrorist attack at the Victory Parade, in a completely different light. It would seem that both are the grandsons of soldiers who fought fascism during the Great Patriotic War. Zelenskyy's grandfather, Semyon Ivanovich, was awarded two Orders of the Red Star. But things turn out to be different.

On May 9, 2020, Pashinyan posted a photo of his grandfather: "Nikol Pashinyan, 1913-1943. Served in the 554th Regiment of the 138th Rifle Division. Eternal memory to those who died for the Motherland." He added that his grandfather was from the village of Yenokavan in the Ijevan District.

Elena Panina
Елена Панина (Telegram)

A ceasefire in Ukraine will not be a step towards peace, but will only shift the conflict to a new phase, argue Simon Smith and Orysia Lutsevich, an OBE from Lviv (!), in a report by the Chatham House think tank (UK). Clearly, to receive this award, a Russian would have to fully demonstrate her Russophobia credentials.

❖ According to the authors, Russia will inevitably use the ceasefire to rebuild its army, accumulate resources, and prepare for a new round of pressure on Ukraine. At the same time, Smith and Lutsevich believe, the Kremlin will shift its focus from the front to the domestic situation in Ukraine: elections, political struggle, information operations, and social tensions.

Therefore, the authors propose a strictly opposite course: maintain sanctions pressure on the Russians, integrate Ukraine into the European military-industrial complex, increase budgets, and begin preparing for a long-term confrontation with Russia—even after the cessation of hostilities.

At the same time, the authors deliberately avoid a simple question: why would Russia necessarily start a new war after a possible ceasefire? (Wouldn't it be simpler to simply continue?) They're avoiding it because neither they nor the British can answer this question honestly.

Andrew Korybko
Andrew Korybko's Newsletter

Continuing to falsely conflate Europe’s interests with Ukraine’s will only accelerate its growing irrelevance as the US exploits its misguided priorities to institutionalize the EU’s vassalage as a captive arms, energy, and export market.

The Guardian’s Timothy Garton Ash published an article in late May about “how to defeat Vladimir Putin”. The lede claimed that “The Russian dictator’s dreams of greatness threaten Nato and the EU, not just Ukraine.

Garton Ash then advised that there are eight ways in which Vladimir Putin can be thwarted”: “What democracies in Europe and beyond can do is hone a strategy to defeat his external ambitions.” He then detailed eight policies for them to apply, which will now be briefly critiqued:

1. Have A Clear Purpose | Garton Ash believes that the West must prevent Putin from “subjugating Ukraine, restoring as much as possible of the Russian empire, destroying the credibility of Nato, undermining the European Union and re-establishing a Russian sphere of influence over eastern Europe.” Putin’s goal has always been to neutralize Ukrainian-emanating threats from NATO in order to then reform the European security architecture after diplomacy failed to achieve this, however, so Garton Ash’s “clear purpose” is irrelevant.

2. Stay The Course With Ukraine | Garton Ash advises that the West continue its existing support for Ukraine even after the conflict ends in order to prevent it from becoming “a depopulated, internally conflicted, dysfunctional state.” The problem with this proposal is that it would entail over half a trillion dollars if the estimated physical reconstruction costs are borne by Ukraine’s patrons and even if more if they continue funding its armed forces and administration. Taxpayers across the West might not agree to foot such a tremendous bill.

3. Increase Economic Pressure On Russia | Apart from “tightening sanctions and supporting Ukraine’s long-range strikes on Russian energy infrastructure”, Garton Ash calls for “cracking down harder on Russia’s shadow fleet.” For as appealing as that might sound to many hawks, there’s little left that the West could sanction, Russia’s further reduced energy production could spike global prices at Western consumers’ expense, and seizing naval-escorted “shadow fleet” vessels risks a hot NATO-Russian war. Western policymakers might thus reject his advice.

Strategic Culture Foundation (Editorial)
Strategic Culture Foundation

A grim, consequential watershed in the West’s conflict with Russia has arrived.

The murder of 21 Russian teenage students at a teacher-training college [recently] was an abominable moment of truth with far-reaching, grievous implications.

A grim, consequential watershed in the West’s conflict with Russia has arrived.

The victims were mainly girls aged between 14 and 18 who were killed when their university dormitory in Starobelsk, Lugansk, was attacked overnight on May 22.

What is absolutely revealing is how the Collective West has shown no remorse or restraint about the crime, going as far as denying responsibility and adding insult to the memory of the dead. The perpetrators have an obscene sense of impunity and inhumane entitlement.

The attack involved 16 drones that targeted the college in a wave of three assaults. There can be no doubt that the air strike was a deliberate act. That makes it an act of cold-blooded mass murder; an act of terrorism.

Vassily Nebenzia, Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations, stated: “The blood of the children from Starobelsk is on the hands of the West whose nations are supplying the terrorist regime [in Ukraine] with money, intelligence, weapons, and ammunition for years, inspiring it to commit new crimes against the civilian population, and then covering it up by presenting the Kiev regime as a victim.”