It is high time Ukraine found itself a new representative to negotiate peace with Russia, US President Donald Trump has said, adding that Vladimir Zelensky “doesn’t know what he’s talking about.” He also stated that he was ready to discuss a resolution to the conflict with Russia and China.

The statement comes amid a deepening rift between Trump and Zelensky over the Ukrainian military’s continued targeting of Russian refineries at a time when the American president has struck a deal with Moscow aimed at reining in skyrocketing global energy prices through Russian diesel exports.

“Zelensky’s a man that should have this war settled a long time ago,” Trump told reporters on Monday when asked about the Ukrainian leader’s criticism of his deal with President Vladimir Putin.

“Zelensky doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” Trump said. “To be honest, I think it’s time for someone else to negotiate on behalf of Ukraine. Maybe it’s time for Zelensky to get someone else to negotiate.”

The agreement between Trump and Putin, reached earlier this month, involved the US easing restrictions on Moscow’s diesel exports and waiving the “bone-crushing” sanctions, including 500% tariffs on imports from Russia and 100% tariffs on major buyers of Russian oil and gas, in exchange for Moscow supplying diesel to the global market and potentially to the US as well.

Kiev has continued to target Russian oil infrastructure despite repeated requests by Trump to curb the attacks, which he blames for surging global energy prices. On Monday, the US president reiterated that Kiev was acting ungratefully towards America.

“We’ve given a lot to Ukraine, they’ve given nothing to us… We’ve given hundreds of billions of dollars,” he said.

When asked if he would be ready to negotiate a settlement of the Ukraine conflict with Moscow and Beijing, without Zelensky present, Trump said he just wanted the conflict to end and would do “anything I can do to end the war, whether somebody is there or not.”

Earlier on Monday, the Kremlin said that Putin, Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping could potentially meet on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit next month.

Trump’s remarks on Monday follow a series of similar statements he has made in recent days. Over the weekend, the American president accused Zelensky of being unwilling to ever end the conflict. “He doesn’t want to end this war, and probably never did,” Trump stated at the time.

On Sunday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also suggested that Zelensky has “no desire” to reach a settlement because his government would collapse if Ukraine signed a deal acceptable to both the US and Russia. Moscow has long accused Ukraine’s Western backers, including former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, of sabotaging the 2022 peace talks in Istanbul. Russia has also identified the stance of Ukraine’s European backers as one of the key obstacles to resolving the conflict.

Elon Musk has pledged to give every child in the United States a share of his SpaceX company next year, in a massive giveaway potentially worth more than $10 billion that has earned praise from President Donald Trump.

The world’s richest man, whose fortune is estimated at around $1 trillion, announced the initiative on Monday, saying it would be the beginning of a broader effort to distribute his wealth. The announcement comes as Musk deepens his political and financial support for Trump and the Republican Party ahead of November’s midterm elections.

“Next year, I will give one of my SpaceX shares to every kid in America,” Musk wrote on X. “This will be the first of many.”

Next year, I will give one of my SpaceX shares to every kid in America. This will be the first of many.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 19, 2026

With approximately 73 million children under 18 in the US and SpaceX shares closing at $147.97 on Monday, up 1.33%, the promised giveaway could be worth around $10.8 billion.

Trump enthusiastically welcomed the announcement, saying the shares would be distributed through government-backed investment accounts established under his administration.

“A BIG THANK YOU to our legendary friend, Elon Musk, for his incredible generosity in giving SpaceX Stock to millions of American children through TRUMP ACCOUNTS!” the president wrote on Truth Social.

Trump said the initiative demonstrated how the private sector could help invest in America’s future and “give every American Child a piece of the American Dream.”

The so-called Trump Accounts are tax-advantaged investment vehicles designed to help children build savings from an early age. Under the program, the federal government provides $1,000 in seed funding for eligible children born between 2025 and 2028, while parents, employers and private donors can make additional contributions.

Musk has not explained precisely how the shares would be distributed, whether the giveaway would cover all minors living in the US or only American citizens, or what additional donations he plans.

The pledge follows an announcement by rival artificial intelligence company Anthropic that it would commit 5% of its equity to a new public benefit fund. Musk responded by recommending that companies distribute shares directly to ordinary people.

Musk and Trump publicly feuded last year over the president’s spending legislation but have since reconciled, with the billionaire emerging as a major financial backer of the Republican midterm campaign. According to the New York Times, Musk has donated more than $276 million to Republican groups since July, bringing his political contributions during the 2025–2026 election cycle to approximately $366 million.

An explosive-laden Ukrainian attack drone crashed in Lithuania on Sunday, damaging a passenger car, Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevicius confirmed on Monday.

The drone triggered a high-level air alert in several Lithuanian regions before crashing in the northern Pasvalys district, near the Latvian border. Debris from the UAV damaged a passing car, but no one was injured, according to National Crisis Management Center head Vilmantas Vitkauskas.

Sinkevicus said the response to the incident was different from standard procedures because the drone arrived from a fellow NATO nation. “The drone entered from the Schengen Area, crossing the border with Poland, so the response was slightly different. Fighter jets were, of course, scrambled and tracked the moving object, but they were unable to see it visually due to adverse weather conditions,” the prime minister said.

On Monday, Sinkevicus confirmed that the UAV had been identified as a Ukrainian strike drone. “There is no doubt that it was carrying an explosive payload,” he said.

According to Lithuanian Defense Minister Robertas Kaunas, the drone was likely a part of a major Ukrainian attack on the Russian city of St. Petersburg. “Some of the drones were diverted off course by Russia’s electronic warfare systems and ended up in our territory. This particular drone is a consequence of the attack on St. Petersburg,” the minister told the LRT broadcaster. He also identified the drone as a Ukrainian FVP-1 model.

The Ukrainian drone attack on St. Petersburg on Sunday night killed one person and injured five others, according to Governor Aleksandr Beglov. It also damaged more than a dozen apartment buildings and sparked a fire at an oil terminal.

Moscow has repeatedly condemned the Ukrainian strikes on Russian civilian and energy infrastructure calling them “terrorist” attacks aimed at compensating for setbacks on the battlefield, where Russian forces have continued to advance.

Despite identifying the drone as Ukrainian, Lithuania blamed Russia for the incident. The case would be investigated as part of a Lithuanian probe into “Russia’s aggression against Ukraine,” a police official told the Lithuanian Elta news agency. Kiev said it regretted the drone incident while calling Moscow’s actions “the root cause of the security threats in our region.”

Kiev has been ramping up its long-range UAV attacks on energy infrastructure in Russia’s Leningrad Region, which surrounds the country’s second-largest city, St. Petersburg, since spring. The campaign resulted in a number of incidents where explosive-laden drones crashed in nearby NATO member states – Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia – while on their way to Russia.

In July, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Galuzin said that Moscow had “verified data indicating that Latvia and other Baltic republics have already provided air corridors for Ukrainian drones that have attacked our country’s civilian infrastructure.”

The Baltic nations and Finland, which have been among the staunchest backers of Kiev in the EU during the Ukraine crisis, had previously denied any involvement in the drone attacks on Russia.

Russian Security Council Secretary Sergey Shoigu had previously warned that if it turned out that the Baltic states and Finland “deliberately provide their airspace” to Ukrainian UAVs, Moscow would have the right to self-defense in response to an “armed attack” under Article 51 of the UN Charter.

Elon Musk has quietly forked out more than $400 million to Republican organizations since July, making him the largest known donor of the 2026 midterm elections. But can money alone buy the midterms?

The windfall represents a change in tune from May 2025, when Musk, in the middle of a political feud with President Donald Trump, grumbled, “In terms of political spending, I’m going to do a lot less in the future.”

The donations come at a critical time for the Republicans who are struggling in the popularity polls amid a sluggish economy, political infighting, and an on-again, off-again war with Iran, a potential quagmire that has the MAGA crowd furious. Nevertheless, the slush fund is helping Republicans, who currently control both the House of Representatives and the Senate as part of the 119th United States Congress, to purchase pricey late-campaign advertising. Meanwhile, the Democrats have no billionaires in their corner who can match Musk’s financial power.

The biggest Musk payout was awarded to the Senate Leadership Fund, the primary super PAC that supports Republican Senate candidates. Musk lavished the organization with nearly $200 million over the summer, which was a quarterly record for one donor at the group and more than its Democratic counterpart raised from all sources in the same quarter.

At the same time, America PAC, the political action committee which Musk founded in 2024, got around $75 million from him over the same period. His federal committee contributions for the 2025-26 cycle now total around $400 million, including $90 million given before July. Musk previously gave around $290 million during the 2023-24 cycle.

America PAC spends most of its midterm budget on door-to-door canvassing and intensive field operations. PAC officials said nearly 3,000 paid canvassers worked across the country last month, and knocked on 6.5 million doors in seven Senate battlegrounds and nearly three dozen House races. The mission focuses on registering and turning out conservative voters, especially those who vote irregularly, a more difficult objective in a midterm year without Trump leading the ballot.

The PAC’s messaging focuses on socialism and transgender policy, hot button topics for their Democratic rivals. Its canvassers are focusing on connections between Democratic candidates to New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, two highly controversial figures who are members of the Democratic Socialists of America. Never before have socialists held such high positions in the US and that has many Americans vexed. At the same time, its best-known advertisement in Texas features Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico, who remarked in 2021 that God is “nonbinary.”

“If Democrats take control of Washington and win key gubernatorial and attorney general races this November, then America risks becoming a socialist, woke and borderless country,” America PAC spokesman Andrew Romeo told reporters in a recent interview. “These robust investments have allowed the G.O.P. apparatus to get its message out so Republicans can have a fighting chance to defy history.”

In other spending sprees, from July through September, Musk gave $20 million to the Congressional Leadership Fund, $10 million to the Republican Governors Association, and $2 million to the Republican Attorneys General Association.

Meanwhile, Texas, which accounts for more than a third of America PAC’s disclosed spending, has received more of Musk’s cash than any other state. He forked over $10 million to Lone Star Liberty PAC, which backs Republican Senate nominee Ken Paxton, at a time when Democrats were seriously outspending Paxton.

The Republicans, especially Trump, owe a lot to the world’s first trillionaire. Musk endorsed Trump for the 2024 presidential election and became one of his largest political donors, reportedly spending hundreds of millions backing him and other Republican candidates. Trump returned the favor by putting Musk in charge of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to slash federal spending.

The seemingly unbreakable relationship between Trump and Musk collapsed after the US president pushed through his One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which Musk has called a “disgusting abomination,” “debt slavery,” and “political suicide.” The fracture between the two men was so serious that Musk went on to create the America Party to challenge the two-party system.

Today, Musk, apart from funneling massive amounts of money into Republican campaign coffers, has remained on the sidelines of the political process to devote more time to his various business ventures. His dream of a third party has also been put on hold as he did not file formal registration paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to legally establish the America Party.

In the meantime, the native of South Africa will have to wait and see if his vast funds can make a difference in one of the most momentous midterm elections in history.

Fyodor Dostoevsky, the great 19th century Russian author of ‘Crime and Punishment’, the ‘Idiot’, and ‘The Brothers Karamazov’, was a counterintuitive thinker who could have appeared on RT. That’s the opinion of Times literary supplement editor Martin Ivens who, in a piece for Bloomberg arguing against censorship of Irish author Sally Rooney in the UK, mentioned the Russian great.

The suggestion is not without merit. Dostoevsky knew persecution, famously spending ten years in Siberia, four of which were in captivity and another five in military exile having completed his initial present sentence in February 1854.

Rooney is a best-selling author who has publicly taken a stand to back Palestine Action, a group whom it is illegal to support, and about whom it is illegal to make public gestures of support in the UK. British police have made hundreds of bizarre arrests of elderly protesters holding signs supporting the group. Her books have been banned in Britain.

Ivens has used his platform in the Times Literary Supplement to highlight how Russian writers often assume the status of prophets. In his Bloomberg piece he reaffirmed that censoring literature is counter-productive and only serves to feed resentment against the mainstream already in the body politic.

However, his suggestion that Dostoevsky could appear on RT inspired us to inquire as to what topics the great man might hold forth on in 2026.

On Europe

Like many since, Dostoevsky viewed Western Europe with a complex mix of cultural admiration and affinity, moral revulsion, and spiritual anxiety. His experience in captivity – where he was subject to a mock execution – is said to have destroyed his faith in secular humanism. He argued that discarding God led to a moral chaos where “everything is permitted.” 

“Conscience without God is a terrible thing; it can stray into the depths of immorality”

He also predicted that attempts to build a so-called paradise on earth through rationalism and secularism alone would inevitably lead to political tyranny.

On the EU’s crisis

Dostoevsky would likely and emphatically make the case that Western European leaders have by now displayed a total political bankruptcy and that Western Europeans should renounce materialism and seek meaningful social relations. The riots engulfing major European capitals, and the unfettered profiteering and immigration that have given rise to such tensions, are a symptom of the malaise of the Western European mind. Forcing humanity into rationalist conformity will only lead to extreme bloodshed, he claimed.

“Starting from unlimited freedom, I arrive at unlimited despotism”

On liberalism 

Dostoevsky, would have undoubtedly lamented the emergence of the European Union as a bureaucratic bearer of so-called liberal values. He would have highlighted how his book ‘Demons’ predicted the so-called democratic deficit that characterizes the EU – a tiny, largely unelected bureaucratic elite unreachable to the regular population who are stripped of freedoms.

He would have called the Covid-19 pandemic a brutal event in the restriction of human experience.

Abandoning God and zealously attempting to replace spiritual authority with a moral relativism where everything is permitted will only lead to social and spiritual collapse, Dostoevsky believed. He would have stoutly defended the emphasis and respect for traditional values in popular Russian culture.

“The Westernizers have placed themselves above the people as a paternalistic intelligentsia, rejecting the people”

He also enjoyed the mess, and this is where he probably would’ve got into trouble with Brussels. The EU notoriously wishes to regulate everything, where Dostoevsky emphasized the irrational and fundamentally spiritual nature of human beings.

On techno-fetishism

He foresaw the loss of grace in the world and its replacement by either authoritarian Catholicism, rational individualistic Protestantism, or indeed technological fetishism. Artificial intelligence in this respect may have represented the apotheosis of his foreboding.

Similarly, Dostoevsky rejected the idea that humans could be rendered calculable and rational beings in their entirety and in that sense would undoubtedly have been horrified at the creeping legislation and legalization of everyday life.

“Human nature acts as a whole, with everything it possesses, consciously and unconsciously”

The European Union’s Digital Services Act, which allows the behemoth to interfere in the local elections of member countries, would represent such a bureaucratic and legalistic invasion. He would’ve taken a strong stand against the nullification of anti-systemic narratives but would also have emphasized that such political and authority and overreach was inevitable given the collapse of religion and morality.

Dostoevsky would have been as much energized as he would have been horrified by developments in 2026. Were he to be with us today it’s highly likely his voice would contribute to the choir of outspoken and brave commentators who make the channel what it is.

A Florida judge has issued an arrest warrant for former Cuban President Raul Castro, 95, the state’s attorney general announced on Monday. The move marks another escalation in Washington’s months-long pressure campaign against Havana.

The warrant pertains to the 1996 shooting down of two American planes operated by anti-communist Cuban exiles off Cuba’s coast. US authorities accuse Castro of ordering the attack.

“Today, we are announcing state charges against Raul Castro with an arrest warrant for conspiracy to commit first-degree murder,” Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said at a press conference in Miami. Prosecutors had gathered evidence and witness testimony linking a Cuban spy network to the operation that allegedly led Castro to order the planes shot down, he said.

In May, the US Justice Department separately indicted Castro and five others on charges including murder, conspiracy to kill US nationals and destruction of aircraft. Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel called the indictment a “political maneuver, devoid of any legal foundation” and accused Washington of using it as a pretext to justify future military action against Havana.

In February of 1996, Cuban fighter jets shot down two US planes operated by Brothers to the Rescue, a Miami-based Cuban exile group, killing four men. Havana has maintained that it acted in self-defense against aircraft that violated its airspace.

The CIA has a long history of working with Cuban exile groups against Havana, most notably during the failed Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961. Washington imposed a broad trade embargo on Cuba the following year.

US President Donald Trump has intensified pressure on Havana as part of what he called the “Donroe doctrine” – a modern interpretation of the 19th-century hegemonic political strategy known as the Monroe Doctrine, which aims to assert US dominance in the Western Hemisphere.

After US forces kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in January, Trump imposed a near-total energy blockade of Cuba and announced that the island will be “next” in line for regime change. The restrictions have led to a widespread energy crisis and frequent blackouts in Cuba.

Russia, China, Mexico and several other nations have provided humanitarian aid to Cuba. Moscow delivered around 700,000 barrels of oil to the island in March.

Israel is threatening to turn its occupation of southern Lebanon into a permanent military presence while pursuing the so-called “Gaza model.” RT correspondent Steve Sweeney reports from Beirut on the destruction of entire villages, mass displacement and efforts to secure an Israeli withdrawal.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz declared over the weekend that troops would not withdraw from areas they currently control and warned that the military could advance further towards Nabatieh and the Litani River if Hezbollah launches additional attacks on Israel.

Katz claimed that more than 60 villages and 23,000 homes had been destroyed across an Israeli-controlled area of approximately 700 square km in southern Lebanon and that around 200,000 residents had been displaced. 

“All the villages have been wiped out,” he said. “This is the Gaza model, and this is the model we are implementing.” 

The reference is to Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, launched in response to the Hamas-led attack in October 2023, which killed around 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage. The offensive has left much of the Palestinian enclave in ruins, displaced most of its population and killed more than 74,000 people, according to local health authorities.

Fighting in Lebanon has subsided since a US-brokered ceasefire took effect in June, although Israeli strikes and demolitions have continued in the south. The UN estimated that approximately 330,000 people remained displaced as of late September.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also insisted that the IDF would remain in southern Lebanon until Hezbollah is disarmed.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has accused the Jewish state of violating the June agreement through continued attacks and demolitions. He has also warned that the occupation itself is preventing the Lebanese army from deploying along the internationally recognized border, as required under UN Security Council Resolution 1701.

The latest escalation began in early March, after Hezbollah attacked Israel following the start of US-Israeli strikes on Iran. Israel responded with a major air and ground campaign.

The June agreement envisages a gradual Israeli withdrawal alongside Lebanese army deployments and the removal of Hezbollah’s weapons and infrastructure from designated areas. However, its implementation has stalled.

At least 4,389 people have been killed and 12,424 injured in Lebanon since March 2, according to recent Health Ministry figures.

A Lebanese military delegation is due to attend US-brokered talks in Tampa, Florida, on Tuesday, where Beirut will seek an end to Israeli attacks and a timetable for withdrawal.

“The question is whether these talks can deliver an end to occupation or whether Israel intends to make its presence in southern Lebanon a permanent reality,” Sweeney said.

Watch the full report below.

Lithuania has been stripped of the right to host stages of the 2027 Modern Pentathlon World Cup over its refusal to admit Russian and Belarusian athletes, local media reported on Monday.

The decision was reportedly made at the International Modern Pentathlon Union (UIPM) executive board meeting earlier this month. Lithuanian Modern Pentathlon Federation President Justinas Kinderis said the move was “sad” but unsurprising, as the international body had repeatedly questioned Lithuania’s refusal to admit Russian and Belarusian competitors.

In a letter cited by Delfi, UIPM President Rob Stull said host countries must comply with International Olympic Committee (IOC) recommendations and ensure equal opportunities for athletes seeking to qualify for the 2028 Olympics.

In July, the IOC decided to provisionally lift restrictions on the Russian and Belarusian Olympic committees, potentially opening the way for their athletes to compete at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics under national symbols. It also recommended that international sports federations let athletes from both nations enter championships.

Last month, the Lithuanian Science, Sport and Education Ministry condemned the decisions by the IOC and international sports organizations to ease the restrictions and said that its own recommendations to national sports bodies to ban athletes from both nations stay in place.

Kinderis also criticized the UIPM for failing to understand Lithuania’s position. “We would like our many years of work organizing championships and winning medals to be respected and appreciated more. We expected simple human decency,” he told Delfi on Monday.

According to the Lithuanian federation head, the nation could also lose its right to host the 2028 World Cup stage and the junior and youth championships.

Moscow and Minsk have yet to comment on the development.

National federations have until October 25 to submit bids to host the stage that was originally scheduled to take place in the Lithuanian city of Kaunas. If no candidate comes forward, the UIPM could hold just three stages next year instead of four, according to Delfi.

Lithuania, together with fellow Baltic nations Latvia and Estonia, has taken one of the most hardline anti-Russian stances in the wake of the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022. The three former Soviet republics, which all have sizable Russian-speaking minorities, introduced travel restrictions targeting Russian nationals and intensified efforts to counter what they claimed was Russian influence.

Estonia has similarly lost the right to host two international sports tournaments over its hardline position on Russian and Belarusian athletes. In January, the International Fencing Federation (FIE) stripped it of the right to hold the 2026 European Fencing Championship. The next year’s European Air Weapons Championship was also moved from Estonia to Spain.

Meanwhile, the EU is reportedly considering measures to curb the return of Russian and Belarusian athletes to international sports under their national flags. According to Euractiv, proposals discussed include targeted sanctions, visa restrictions and cuts to funding for sports organizations that allow athletes from the two countries to compete under national symbols.

Anti-government rioters have torched Albania’s education ministry and supreme court, as protests spread across the Balkan nation. Prime Minister Edi Rama is refusing to step down and blames the unrest on Russia. What’s really going on?

As of October 19, the Albanian capital of Tirana has been rocked by seven consecutive days and nights of rioting, while protests and clashes between demonstrators and police have been reported in the cities of Lezhe, Vlore, Elbasan, and Shkoder. A large group of rioters breached the perimeter of the education ministry in Tirana on October 14, setting the building on fire. 

Running battles between demonstrators and police have broken out around the ministry on several occasions since. On October 19, hundreds of demonstrators pelted rocks at riot police, who responded with tear gas and rubber bullets. The previous night, offices of the Albanian Supreme Court were set on fire, and arson attacks on several police stations in the city were reported.

Some 500 demonstrators had been detained and 167 of them formally arrested as of October 17, according to Reuters. 295 people had been injured, including 196 police officers, as of October 19, according to Interior Minister Ervin Demo.

What do the protesters want?

The protests follow more than a year of unrest in Albania, which began when Rama banned TikTok in the runup to last March’s parliamentary elections, following similar measures inposed by the EU during every major election across the bloc since 2024. The ban was lifted in February of this year, but demonstrations broke out again in May after Rama’s government authorized the sale of protected wetlands to a development company operated by US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

The protesters demanded the resignation of Rama and his entire cabinet, and the cancellation of a planned twin-phase resort project on the wetlands and on nearby Sazan Island. 

The protesters’ core demand – that Rama resign – remains unchanged. However, the movement is now calling for a root-and-branch reform of the entire Albanian establishment, with demonstrators accusing both Rama and opposition leader Sali Berisha of corruption. Unemployment, underfunding of schools, and declining living standards have also been cited by protesters as grievances.

What did Rama say about the protests?

Despite the repeated chants of “Rama resign” heard at the protests, Rama has claimed that the demonstrators do not oppose his government, but Albania’s “mission” of joining the EU. 

“I am not being challenged,” he said in a video address on October 18. “The government is not being challenged, a government majority or a winning party in the elections is not being challenged but a path is being challenged, a mission is being challenged”

“Albanians need to think ​very clearly,” he continued. “Do they want this, do they want that, or do they want the EU?”

Rama has refused to resign, and blamed the protests on “foreign hands that do not wish for Albania to be at peace.” Back in June, Rama accused “the enemies of Albania and of Israel” of waging a “hybrid war” to stop the wetlands development. In two separate speeches on October 18 and 19, the embattled PM blamed the unrest on Russian philosopher Alexander Dugin and a “wave of Russian influence in the entire social media system,” and on “the Khomeiniist republic of Iran, the pinnacle of disinformation.”

Was Russia involved?

In short, no. Rama has not backed up any of his accusations, and they are being treated with skepticism and ridicule by demonstrators and opposition media. Albania’s Publik Media news outlet criticised Rama for “return[ing] to the Berisha, Russia and Iran alibi,” while Pamfleti, an investigative outlet, dismissed his claims as an “ignorant reaction to those protesting his misgovernance” 

Even the US-run Radio Free Europe noted that Rama “did not present public evidence” to back up his allegations. 

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has rejected Rama’s accusations. “No, Edi Rama,” she said on October 18, “it is the citizens of your country who have taken to the streets in protest.”

“This has all the hallmarks of the ‘highly likely’ British approach,” Serbian journalist Nebojsa Malic told RT on October 19, referring to British Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s failed attempts to blame the 2016 Brexit vote on Russia and a recent ‘terror plot’ at a US airbase on Iran. “We’ll just make an accusation and provide no evidence but say ‘oh it’s highly likely that Russia’s behind this’, and everybody is going to take it for granted.”

Rama is “doing this because he’s hoping it will stick,” Malic said. “He has nothing to lose. He’s seen plenty of leaders in western Europe essentially getting away scot free with covering for their malice and incompetence by blaming Russia.”

“Rama is just as opportunistic as [French President Emmanuel] Macron or any British prime minister in the last ten years,” Malic concluded. “They will say or do whatever, because they think that Russia is not able to defend itself.”

Why did Rama mention Israel?

Rama’s claim that “enemies of Albania and Israel” were behind this summer’s environmental protests stems from the involvement of Kushner in the wetlands project. A close associate of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Kushner has extensive family and financial ties to Israel. His investment firm, Affinity Partners, has funneled Emirati, Saudi, and Qatari cash into multiple Israeli businesses, including five arms manufacturers.

However, all available information suggests that the funding for Kushner’s Albanian projects comes from Albanian, American, and Qatari individuals and entities. Affinity Partners is leading the €1.4 billion Sazan Island project, while Kushner himself is a minority partner in the wetlands development. 

Rama visited Israel and addressed the Knesset in January. Less than 24 hours later, Israel’s Channel 12 claimed that the Albanian PM had struck a deal with Netanyahu to accept up to 100,000 Palestinian refugees from Gaza. As speculation spread that the Palestinians would be resettled on land developed by Kushner, Rama clarified that no such deal had been, or would be, made.

Regardless, Rama’s close relations with Netanyahu are at odds with public opinion in Albania, where a 2024 poll found that 73% of the population believe that Israel should be sanctioned over its war on Gaza. Kushner is widely seen in Albania as representing Israeli interests, and Rama’s decision to amend environmental laws and grant “strategic investor” status to Affinity Partners has fueled accusations that the PM is placing Washington and West Jerusalem’s interests above Tirana’s.

Will there be an Albanian Maidan?

Some images emerging from Tirana – burning barricades, police officers set on fire with Molotov cocktails, and smouldering government buildings – are reminiscent of the scenes that played out during the 2014 ‘Maidan’ coup in Ukraine. However, Rama is in far less perilous of a position than Ukraine’s president, Viktor Yanukovich, was during the 2014 uprising.

Unlike the present unrest in Albania, the Maidan coup was planned and directed by foreign actors, namely the US State Department and the British embassy in Kiev. Rama, on the other hand, is a close partner of the EU and US, and neither Washington nor Brussels have backed the protesters. Instead, Rama has apparently been given carte blanche to squash the demonstrations, with columns of military vehicles seen entering Tirana between October 15 and 19.

The EU has condemned the use of violence by protesters, with the European Commission criticizing them for “arson, attacks on State institutions and the destruction of public and private property.” In a statement on October 18, the commission praised Rama’s progress toward EU membership and welcomed his “commitment that the right to protest will be protected.”

One week earlier, an EU delegation in Tirana said that Brussels was “aware of allegations of excessive use of force by the police against protesters and journalists,” adding that the government’s response to protests and riots “must remain within the law.”

The EU took a far more interventionist position in 2014, sending officials to meet with demonstrators in Kiev and endorsing protests even as they devolved into violent riots. Brussels prepared sanctions on Yanukovich, and once he had been toppled, it gifted an €11 billion aid package to Ukraine, which would elect the pro-EU Petro Poroshenko president months later.

The West is still firmly on Rama’s side, and he is unlikely to face any calls for resignation from abroad. However, he is still facing the most sustained public pressure campaign of his 13-year stint in power, and if the protests continue and more buildings burn, he may be left with no choice but to admit defeat and step down.

The diesel deal between Moscow and Washington has once again shaken up the geopolitical chessboard, with each passing day bringing fresh and unexpected developments. Most striking is Kiev’s behavior. Despite his enormous dependence on Washington, Vladimir Zelensky has decided to challenge Donald Trump directly, adopting an unusually confrontational approach.

A more pragmatic politician might have announced a moratorium on strikes against Russian oil refineries until the US congressional elections, particularly as Washington had demanded no further concessions. Instead, Zelensky has chosen confrontation, creating a diplomatic crisis of his own making, but whether it develops into something more serious remains to be seen.

Relations between Kiev and Washington have deteriorated before, most notably following the notorious Oval Office confrontation, although that rupture lasted only a few weeks. Western European leaders and congressional hawks worked tirelessly to repair the damage. This time, however, the circumstances are different.

The NATO Europeans appear to have abandoned attempts to charm Trump, Senator Lindsey Graham is no longer on Capitol Hill, while Keith Kellogg, previously sympathetic to Kiev, has departed the administration, thus the pressure on Trump has diminished, although that hardly guarantees a fundamental change in American policy.

For one thing, the diesel agreement has done little to clarify the prospects for peace, given, according to leaks from Washington, American officials continue to promote proposals, including freezing hostilities along existing lines, that Moscow considers unacceptable.

Even if Washington succeeds in forcing Kiev back to the negotiating table, there’s no guarantee that the understandings reached at Anchorage can be revived and Trump could just as easily reverse course, as he has done before, and blame Russia for another diplomatic deadlock. Meanwhile, influential figures within his administration, particularly Secretary of State Marco Rubio, remain deeply skeptical of Moscow, so their relative silence should not be mistaken for acquiescence.

Nor is there much reason to believe Russian diesel exports to the US will quickly bring down fuel prices or transform the electoral landscape.

The agreement is primarily a political gesture, intended to reassure Trump’s increasingly disillusioned core supporters that their president understands their economic difficulties and is attempting to find a way out, yet it’s unlikely to prevent Republicans from losing control of the House of Representatives. The Senate remains uncertain, but its fate will depend on numerous factors, with diesel prices only one consideration.

A Democratic-controlled Congress would almost certainly confront the White House over Ukraine, seeking to preserve American assistance to Kiev, while another impeachment campaign cannot be ruled out either. Such a confrontation could consume Trump’s attention and leave greater responsibility for foreign policy in the hands of officials such as Rubio, whose instincts towards Russia are considerably less accommodating.

There’s also the possibility of a more fundamental reshaping of the Ukrainian political project, where replacing Zelensky, under external pressure, with a leader more acceptable to Washington could help reconcile American and Western European approaches and the growing crisis of governance in Kiev makes this scenario increasingly conceivable.

None of this diminishes Moscow’s diplomatic achievement in securing the diesel agreement, where it’s demonstrated that Washington is prepared to negotiate directly with Russia when American interests demand it, regardless of Kiev’s objections.

But diplomatic success shouldn’t breed complacency and the underlying contradictions remain unresolved, the prospects for a durable settlement are uncertain, and too many powerful interests still favor prolonging the confrontation.

The diesel deal may have changed the immediate political calculations, but it hasn’t altered the fundamental dynamics of the conflict.

This article was first published by Kommersant, and was translated and edited by the RT team

France will introduce localized curfews as the unrest over rising living costs and deteriorating public services has escalated into widespread violence and destruction, leaving the authorities struggling to restore order.

The unrest escalated over the weekend, with nearly 2,400 people arrested, hundreds of businesses looted, and buildings set on fire across the country. Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said police lost control in several major cities.

French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu announced on Monday that he instructed the regional authorities to introduce curfews following an emergency government meeting.

“They will be partial and may be highly localized,” Lecornu said, adding that declaring a state of emergency cannot be ruled out.

Later on Monday, Paris police imposed an overnight curfew from 11pm to 6am in designated areas around Republic Square and the Les Halles district, restricting access for both adults and minors.

Nearly 1,000 police officers and gendarmes were injured over the weekend, according to the Interior Ministry. In Limoges, rioters set fire to the city’s historic 19th-century town hall, causing the roof to collapse. Clashes, arson, and looting were also reported in Paris, Marseille, Lyon, and other cities.

Nunez offered his resignation on Sunday, acknowledging failures in anticipating and containing the violence. President Emmanuel Macron refused to accept it, instead ordering a review of security planning and intelligence failures and demanding changes to policing tactics.

More than 2,500 businesses were targeted on Saturday alone, according to Alain Di Crescenzo, the president of the French Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

The Association of Mayors of France called for gatherings outside town halls on Monday, denouncing failures in policing and warning of a “real risk to the entire nation.”

The protests began in September at a high school in Creteil, near Paris, over teacher shortages and deteriorating facilities. The movement has since spread to public sector workers and trade unions demanding higher wages, better services, and relief from rising living costs, while opposing spending cuts in the government’s proposed 2027 budget.

France is grappling with growing public debt (around 119% of GDP) and a substantial budget deficit. The government is seeking to reduce the shortfall through spending cuts and tax measures, while growing political uncertainty has pushed borrowing costs to the highest levels in more than 20 years.

The protests echo the 2018 Yellow Vest movement, which challenged Macron’s economic policies. Yellow Vest activists have joined the demonstrations and called for another round of protests on October 24.

The crisis has intensified pressure on Macron in the final months of his presidency, drawing criticism from across the political spectrum ahead of the 2027 election.

Right-wing politician Marine Le Pen, who leads in first-round presidential polling, called Macron a president “without credibility or authority” who has “lost all touch with reality.”

Jean-Luc Melenchon, leader of the left-wing La France Insoumise (LFI) party, blamed “ten disastrous years”of Macron’s policies for the crisis and accused Nunez and police commanders of “complete incompetence.”

Israeli security forces arrested ten suspected extremist settlers in the occupied West Bank on Monday following attacks on a US journalist and European diplomats that sparked international outrage.

The suspects were detained during a joint operation dubbed “Olive Leaf,” involving police, the Shin Bet security agency, and the IDF, Israeli police said in a statement on Monday.

The arrests were part of an investigation assigned to the police’s Judea and Samaria District investigative unit, the authorities said, using Israel’s name for the West Bank. Ten suspects were arrested in the pre-dawn operation, evidence linking them to the incidents was seized, and several vehicles were confiscated, the police said.

“The law in Judea and Samaria applies to everyone, regardless of identity or affiliation,” Israeli Police Commissioner Danny Levy stated.

The first attack took place on Friday, when Israeli settlers brutally beat Washington Post photojournalist Heidi Levine during their reported raid on an olive harvest in the West Bank, breaking four of her vertebrae and a rib, according to WaPo. IDF soldiers reportedly witnessed the event, but did nothing to help her.

The following day, masked settlers attacked a convoy of European diplomats in the Palestinian territory. Bernard Baudoux, mayor of the French town of Aulnoye-Aymeries, accused the attackers of kicking him and beating him with metal bars.

The attack drew condemnation and demands for action from France, Belgium, and Poland, whose diplomats were part of the delegation. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Saturday that Washington had urged Israel to “crack down” on the violence.

The violence came amid Israel’s accelerating expansion of settlements in the occupied West Bank, where they are considered illegal under international law. Israel advanced plans for nearly 11,000 settlement homes this year in a push championed by far-right members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet, according to Israeli watchdog Peace Now.

More than 2,060 settler attacks resulting in casualties or property damage took place this year to date, with 244 incidents since late September, the UN said last week. More than 160 attacks targeting the Palestinian olive harvest were recorded in the two weeks covered by the report, it added.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will meet Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in Mumbai on Tuesday and visit a major oil refinery in western India the next day as he makes his second visit to the country this year. 

Washington’s top diplomat is leaving New Delhi out of his itinerary and is focusing instead on diesel supplies and business deals as high fuel prices weigh on the prospects of US President Donald Trump’s Republican Party ahead of November’s midterm elections.

Rubio is scheduled to visit the Jamnagar refining complex of Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries on Wednesday, where he is expected to meet with its billionaire owner Mukesh Ambani.

The Trump administration is emphasizing business deals over policy and politics as American voters focus on the economy, experts told CNBC.

Why Jamnagar has become important for US

Reliance, India’s largest private company, operates the world’s biggest single-site refining complex at Jamnagar – in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Gujarat state – which is capable of processing around 1.4 million barrels of crude a day.

The facility’s importance as a major supplier of refined fuels globally has increased as disruptions in the Middle East and Russia squeeze diesel supplies, with ripple effects on US markets. 

US diesel prices averaged $6.29 a gallon in September, according to the Energy Information Administration. The International Energy Agency has warned that global shortages could persist into 2027.

Reliance has cranked up increased exports amid the crunch. Its diesel shipments to Europe reached around 4-5 million barrels in July, a ten-month high, while exports to Brazil also rose, Reuters reported.

Any additional Indian diesel flowing to global markets would help ease diesel prices and explain Rubio’s trip to Jamnagar. 

Reliance, long a major buyer of Russian crude, has increasingly turned to Venezuela after receiving US authorization to purchase oil directly from the South American country earlier this year.

Jamnagar, unlike many other refineries in India, can process Venezuela’s heavy crude. Venezuelan deliveries scheduled for India could more than double to around 465,000 barrels a day in October, according to ship-tracking firm Kpler. All of those listed Sikka, the port serving Jamnagar, as their destination, Bloomberg reported. 

Trump has also waived key sanctions and tariff provisions under a new law targeting the Russian energy trade, potentially making more Russian crude available to refiners. Rubio said that Washington was assessing the economic impact of further restrictions, including on countries dependent on Russian oil such as India.

Ambani has invested in Trump’s dream

Rubio’s meeting with Ambani is significant for another reason. 

Reliance is backing a proposed refinery in Brownsville, Texas, designed to process American shale oil. The planned facility would handle 168,000 barrels a day, with the company agreeing to purchase the output under a 20-year arrangement, Reuters reported.

The developer has described it as the first new US refinery in half a century. It will be designed designed for American shale oil. The full investment and construction costs remain undisclosed.

The refinery is key to bringing to the US consumer the benefits of Trump’s efforts – under the political slogan “drill, baby, drill” – to increase domestic fossil fuel production.

The project also adds another strand to the economic ties between New Delhi and Washington, even as both countries inch toward closing a bilateral trade deal following months of negotiations. 

The deal’s first phase has entered legal drafting, Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said last week.

Washington and New Delhi are “very close” to finalizing the deal, Rubio said Monday, adding that trade negotiations were among the factors considered in Washington’s sanctions decisions.

Trillionaire vs. billionaire

Rubio’s expected meeting with Ambani comes on the heels of Elon Musk’s public outbursts attributing delays to the launch of his Starlink satellite internet service in India to the Indian billionaire.

Musk, who has Trump’s ears, accused powerful business interests of obstructing Starlink’s entry and even blamed Ambani for the delay, referring to him as “Prime Minister Ambani” in a X post.

Reliance, whose telecommunications business Jio serves more than 530 million customers in India, has denied blocking competition. It has welcomed Starlink and pointed out that its own satellite venture was awaiting New Delhi’s security clearance.

India has also denied favoring domestic companies in the approval process. Musk subsequently acknowledged Reliance’s response, saying, “Much appreciated.”

Rubio cannot avoid politics

Rubio’s decision to hold talks in Mumbai rather than New Delhi has drawn criticism from India’s opposition Congress party.

Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi snarked that Rubio “summoned his employee to Mumbai,” while senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh questioned why the American ambassador announced details of Jaishankar’s schedule.

In the US, six Democratic lawmakers urged Rubio to raise concerns over the detention of anti-government protesters in New Delhi and the alleged use of excessive force. Their October 16 letter also sought an investigation into reports that Indian diplomatic missions monitored protesters in the US.

Meetings with foreign dignitaries outside the capital are not unusual, India’s Foreign Ministry pointed out, citing previous engagements in several cities. It confirmed that Rubio and Jaishankar would discuss energy, trade, investment, defense, and emerging technologies.

The Trump administration prioritizes business over politics, and it may well be that the global energy situation – and a billionaire – have placed New Delhi in a sweet spot to benefit from that.

Israel helped facilitate nearly $2 billion in Qatari payments to Gaza over more than a decade and urged Doha to maintain the funding, even as Israeli officials publicly accused the country of financing Hamas, Time Magazine reported on Sunday, citing official correspondence and testimony from senior Israeli, US, and Arab officials.

Qatari payments to Gaza, long a source of controversy, came under renewed scrutiny after the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel. Qatar has denied that the funds were intended for Hamas and has argued that Israel was responsible for any money that reached the group, as West Jerusalem oversaw the aid mechanism.

According to Time, Israel’s role went beyond simply allowing Qatar to send aid to Gaza. Israeli officials reportedly determined who received the money, facilitated cash deliveries into the enclave, and pressed Doha to keep the payments flowing.

The report highlights a contradiction between Israeli officials’ public accusations that Qatar was financing Hamas and their private requests for Doha to continue the payments. The discrepancy reportedly angered Qatari officials, according to source in the first administration of US President Donald Trump as cited by Time.

The publication also details how Israel facilitated the payments, including cash deliveries to Gaza in suitcases and a UN-backed payment mechanism. The magazine cited a 2020 letter in which then-Mossad chief Yossi Cohen thanked Qatar’s Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani for the assistance. Two weeks before the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack, then-Mossad chief David Barnea reportedly traveled to Doha and asked Qatar to renew the funding for another two months.

By 2018, Qatar had sent roughly $1.1 billion to Gaza, according to an analysis provided to Israeli ministers. The funds covered humanitarian assistance, fuel, and government salaries. Under the arrangement, Qatar paid for fuel and electricity purchased from Israel, financed projects through the UN, and provided monthly $100 payments to some of Gaza’s poorest families, distributed by the World Food Programme after Israeli authorities vetted recipients.

Netanyahu defended the policy as necessary to avert a humanitarian crisis and maintain essential services in Gaza, the magazine noted. The PM’s office has declined to comment on the latest findings.

Qatar told Time that all its assistance was intended for Palestinian civilians and delivered through mechanisms coordinated with Israel and international partners. At the same time, Doha argued that Israel bore responsibility if any funds reached Hamas because it had overseen delivery and created the mechanism.

Israel is prepared to attack Iran without US participation if necessary, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said, pledging to overthrow Tehran’s government and make striking first a central principle of his security doctrine.

The declaration comes amid ongoing indirect negotiations over the war launched by the US and Israel in February. Israel, a major recipient of American military funding and weapons, has justified its offensives on security grounds, even as the conflict has spread across the region, disrupted Hormuz shipping, and driven up global energy prices.

Presenting his security doctrine in a speech on Sunday, Netanyahu argued that Iran would rebuild its nuclear and military capabilities as long as its government survived and made clear that Israel was prepared to launch further attacks without waiting for American participation.

“If we need to act alone, we will act alone,” he said.

Netanyahu presented Israel’s earlier campaign against Iran as a model, recalling that he told US President Donald Trump he would attack Tehran “either way” and invited American participation in a strike on the Fordow nuclear facility.

He framed further action against Iran as unfinished business, explicitly identifying the overthrow of the country’s government as the ultimate objective. “We are working on it and we will do it,” Netanyahu said.

Despite Tehran repeatedly stressing that its nuclear program is peaceful and denying seeking nuclear weapons, Netanyahu once again claimed that the US-Israeli attacks had prevented Iran from acquiring an atomic bomb intended to destroy Israel.

Netanyahu framed the renewed strikes as part of a broader doctrine prioritizing attack over defense. He compared striking first to gaining the advantage in childhood street fights and said Israel could establish bases far beyond its borders.

“We will have to live by our sword in order to live for many years,” he said.

He also described plans to seize and destroy what he called threat centers in the occupied West Bank, listed preventing Palestinian statehood as a fundamental principle, and included disrupting military and “civilian systems” in his deterrence strategy.

US-Iran negotiations are already deadlocked. Trump rejected Tehran’s proposal last month as “unacceptable,” insisting the US blockade had left Iran “losing so badly” and seeking a deal on Washington’s terms.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi reiterated on Saturday that normal shipping in the Strait of Hormuz could resume within seven days if Washington accepted Tehran’s conditions, including lifting the naval blockade, easing oil export restrictions, releasing frozen assets, and ending hostilities on all fronts, including Israel’s operations in Gaza and Lebanon.

Trump has nevertheless threatened renewed bombing, with Axios recently reporting that US officials expected major combat operations could resume after November’s midterm elections.

Tehran has warned that another attack would trigger broader retaliation, potentially targeting American technology infrastructure across the Gulf.

Kenyan runners Agnes Ngetich and Alexander Mutiso set new course records after winning the women’s and men’s races at the Tokyo Legacy Half Marathon in Japan on Sunday.

Ngetich finished the 21.1km race in one hour, four minutes and 23 seconds (1:04:23), cutting three minutes off the previous women’s course record. Her compatriot Tabitha Njeri Kamau came second in 1:08:28, according to the results.

Mutiso won the men’s competition in 59 minutes and 51 seconds, beating the previous course record by one second. He finished five seconds ahead of fellow Kenyan Kiprono Sitonik, who took second place. 

Speaking after the race, Ngetich said she that was pleased with her victory and surprised by her finishing time. She also noted that the course had been challenging, with hills and numerous sharp turns. “I didn’t think I’ll get that time. The course was not easy,” she said.

Mutiso said his victory had boosted his confidence ahead of his next marathon. He explained that he made his decisive move on a hilly section of the course between the 17km and 18.5km marks.

“I feel good. I see now I am in a good position to prepare well for [my] coming marathon,” he said.

The course began and ended at Japan’s National Stadium and followed roads used during the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. 

Ngetich’s victory came less than a month after she broke the women-only half marathon world record at the World Athletics Road Running Championships in Copenhagen. The 25-year-old completed that race in 1:05:15.

Kenyan distance runners have also recorded major victories in other international competitions this year. In April, Sebastian Sawe became the first athlete to complete an official competitive marathon in under two hours, winning the London Marathon in a world-record 1:59:30. Fellow Kenyan John Korir also won the Boston Marathon that month, setting a course record of 2:01:52.

The London Marathon also saw a record-breaking performance in the women’s race. Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa set a new women’s-only marathon world record of 2:15:50.

Nearly 350 people were arrested in Paris on Sunday and overnight amid violent unrest sweeping France despite President Emmanuel Macron’s appeals for calm, the authorities said on Monday.

Hundreds of thousands protested rising living costs and education funding cuts over the weekend, with demonstrations escalating into clashes with police, arson and looting.

The violence erupted Saturday as Yellow Vest demonstrations merged with student protests that began last month at a high school in Creteil, near Paris, over teacher shortages and deteriorating facilities. The movement has since broadened into protests against inequality and rising living costs, with labor unions joining in opposition to the government’s proposed 2027 budget and spending cuts.

Despite Macron’s Friday appeal for “calm and respect,” Paris endured two days of rioting. On Sunday, protesters clashed with police near Place de la Republique as vehicles and trach cans burned, shops were looted and officers deployed tear gas and water cannons.

Footage showed charred wreckage, shattered storefronts, smashed advertising signs and graffiti-covered businesses.

🇫🇷 Paris? Its looks like a third world country 😢 Writer: Samuel https://t.co/rbd0fwCwm6

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) October 19, 2026

A crowd also attacked RT Arabic correspondent Wafa Fakkani while she was filming the protests. Her cameraman captured the incident before the crew escaped and resumed reporting.

A day prior, violence hit some of the capital’s wealthiest shopping districts, where luxury retailers were targeted by vandals and looters. Paris Mayor Emmanuel Gregoire said “entire streets” had been “systematically devastated.”

Galeries Lafayette in Paris is being looted tonight. It’s the French equivalent of Harrods in London or Bergdorf Goodman in NYC https://t.co/F5jZU4bswZ

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) October 17, 2026

Clashes also erupted in Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Bordeaux, Angers, and Limoges, damaging businesses and public buildings. Alain Di Crescenzo, head of the CCI France chamber of commerce network, estimated that more than 2,000 businesses were affected, with damage reaching “hundreds of millions of euros.”

Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin put nationwide turnout at 550,000, including 110,000 in Paris, while organizing trade unions, including the CGT, and student groups estimated that 800,000 people took part. Darmanin told France 2 on Monday that, in total, more than 2,330 people had been detained over the weekend, including around 855 in the capital. Nearly 1,000 police officers and gendarmes were reportedly injured.

Although the worst rioting had subsided by Monday morning, students and union activists blocked access to the iconic Louvre Museum, denouncing “police repression.” Footage showed demonstrators gathering outside the museum’s glass pyramid after passing security, prompting its temporary closure.

🚨🇫🇷 ALERTE INFO ! "ACAB, ACAB, ACAB !" Devant la pyramide du Louvre à Paris, des étudiants d’écoles d’art et de culture manifestent et bloquent l’entrée du musée. (@JBSemerdjian / Le Figaro) https://t.co/zpH7KcHPX4

— Impact (@ImpactMediaFR) October 19, 2026

Action and reaction

Politicians across France’s political spectrum blamed Macron and his government for the unrest, accusing the administration of undermining public services and failing to maintain order.

Marine Le Pen, who leads first-round polling for the 2027 presidential election, called Macron a president “without credibility or authority,” describing his administration as “a government on its last legs.” Jean-Luc Melenchon, leader of the left-wing France Unbowed party, blamed “ten disastrous years” of Macron weakening public services. The mayors of Paris, Marseille and Limoges accused Interior Minister Laurent Nunez and police commanders of incompetence in maintaining public order.

Nunez initially blamed “opportunistic troublemakers” for the unrest, but admitted Monday that police had suffered “a loss of control” due to poor planning. He said he offered his resignation Sunday, but Macron refused, instead ordering a new policing strategy, faster deployment and transparency over intelligence failures. Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu ordered partial curfews in several cities.

Macron condemned the rioting, insisting there was “no place for violence” and promising punishment for vandals and looters. In a televised address Sunday, he said “nothing justifies” the destruction, but pledged to address students’ complaints over school conditions. Meanwhile, he portrayed the unrest as an attempt by political opponents to disrupt the democratic process and influence voters ahead of the presidential election in six months.

Despite the unrest, Macron departed on Monday for a three-day visit to the Middle East, leaving his government to deal with the fallout at home.

The crisis comes as Macron’s approval ratings hit record lows. An October Ipsos BVA-CESI poll for La Tribune Dimanche put his approval at 15%, with 82% disapproving, the lowest since he took office in 2017. An Ifop survey recorded 17% approval and 83% dissaproval. Le Pen leads first-round polling for the April 2027 election with 32-36% support.

Protests spread beyond France

France was not alone in facing unrest over the weekend, as tens of thousands protested living costs, housing shortages and government policies across Europe. Demonstrations in several countries escalated into clashes, vandalism and arson.

In Belgium, students opposed rising education costs and reforms they say threaten access to higher education. In Italy, marches against living costs and wars turned violent in Milan and Bologna. In Portugal, tens of thousands protested low wages, rising rents and housing shortages. In Albania, student-led protests entered a fifth day, with demonstrators demanding Prime Minister Edi Rama’s resignation over corruption allegations, unemployment and poor prospects for young people.

Former Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz described the unrest across Europe over the weekend as resembling “scenes from a civil war,” warning in a post on X that “we risk seeing the same scenes soon in Berlin, Vienna and Munich.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described the European unrest as “bordering on chaos,” calling it a major crisis.

“It’s hard to say whether the crisis is systemic or not, but it is obvious that it is a big crisis,” he told reporters on Monday.

Some experts who spoke to RT linked the unrest to EU’s confrontation with Russia. Italian journalist Davide Carbonaro called the severing of economic ties with Moscow “economic and political suicide,” saying that young Europeans felt betrayed and deprived of a future. Serbian journalist Nebojsa Malic accused Western leaders of scapegoating Russia to hide their failures.

RT’s Chay Bowes examined how Europe’s continued support for Ukraine and sanctions against Russia are fueling economic pressures and public discontent as unrest spreads across the continent.

Russian and Indian warships have completed joint naval drills off Russia’s Pacific coast, conducting live-fire exercises and practicing defenses against drone attacks as part of the wider Indra-2026 military exercise.

The maritime phase of the drills took place in the Gulf of Peter the Great near Vladivostok, involving the Russian Pacific Fleet corvette Aldar Tsydenzhapov and the Indian Navy frigate INS Sahyadri, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Saturday.

INS Sahyadri arrived in Vladivostok on October 10 and conducted harbor engagements before operations at sea.

The crews fired naval artillery at surface and aerial targets, carried out coordinated maneuvers, and tested communications between the vessels. They also practiced repelling attacks by unmanned boats and aerial drones representing a simulated enemy. The Russian corvette used 30mm automatic guns, small arms, and electronic warfare systems to counter the simulated threats.

The exercises culminated in a simulated joint operation to rescue a civilian vessel seized by pirates. Russian and Indian naval counterterrorism units boarded the vessel and neutralized the attackers, with drone operators coordinating their movements.

The two navies also practiced helicopter operations, including reconnaissance, cross-deck landings, and medical evacuations.

An Indian helicopter landed aboard the Russian corvette shortly after a Russian helicopter took off. The crews then exchanged mannequins representing wounded sailors as part of a casualty evacuation exercise, RT correspondent Igor Zhdanov reported from aboard the Russian warship.

Indra-2026 began on October 14 and involves land, naval, and air forces from both countries.

The land component will continue in Russia’s Chelyabinsk Region until October 23, with troops practicing joint command and control and operations against simulated armed groups. Russian and Indian aircrews are also conducting exercises involving Su-30SM fighter jets and Mi-8 helicopters.

The previous edition of the exercise was held off the coast of the southern Indian city of Chennai.

The deployment builds on the longstanding defense partnership between Moscow and New Delhi and carries forward cooperation discussed during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to India last December, India’s Defense Ministry said.

Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has said he wants to run for president again if an election is held before the conflict with Russia ends. His five-year term expired two years ago, prompting Moscow to question his legitimacy, while US President Donald Trump has called for him to be replaced.

Zelensky has refused to call a new election since his term expired in May 2024, citing martial law, which was imposed after the conflict with Russia escalated in February 2022. During his 2019 election campaign, he promised to only serve one term.

Speaking to NBC News’ ‘Meet the Press’ on Sunday, Zelensky said he would seek another term if an election is held while the fighting continues.

“If it will be during the war – of course. It’s my responsibility, because I have to defend my country from the very beginning to end of this war,” he stated.

Zelensky once again demanded a ceasefire of at least 60 days to prepare for the election, claiming that the country needs time to amend its laws and put election infrastructure in place.

Moscow has rejected the demand. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said Kiev could use an election as a pretext to secure a 60-day ceasefire to “regroup,” recover its military losses, and resume the fighting. He added, however, that Russia is prepared to suspend strikes on election day.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has argued that Zelensky’s presidential powers should have passed to the parliament after his mandate expired, and questioned whether he can sign binding peace agreements. He called Zelensky’s refusal to hold elections a “strategic mistake.”

Zelensky’s ambitions also face opposition at home. A survey in September by the Kiev International Institute of Sociology found that 53% of respondents believe he should only serve one presidential term, up from 46% in December 2025.

Trump has stepped up pressure on Zelensky, accusing him of prolonging the conflict while receiving billions in Western assistance. Earlier this month, he called for a new president, arguing that Zelensky has repeatedly rejected opportunities to end the fighting.

“I suggest they get a new leader who can make a deal,” Trump told reporters. 

He also blamed Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries for the worsening global diesel crisis and rising prices which hurt American farmers, accusing Zelensky of creating “problems for the world” despite his repeated demands to stop the attacks.

In a Truth Social post on Sunday, Trump said Zelensky “doesn’t want to end this war, and probably never did,” arguing that he could have secured a better deal with Russia two years ago. He added that Ukraine is “in shambles,” describing its male population as “low, wounded, and/or dead.”

Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have killed at least 11 people, including nine children, in a drone attack on a displacement camp in West Darfur, according to the region’s Health and Social Welfare Minister, Babiker Hamdin.

In a statement published on Sunday, Hamdin said that the attack targeted displaced civilians on the Sudan-Chad border. According to preliminary figures, the victims included nine children aged between five and ten and two women aged 23 and 36. Five others were injured.

The victims had reportedly fled their villages last year after RSF fighters allegedly burned and looted their homes. They subsequently sought refuge in Sanakit, near the Chadian border, where they were living in difficult humanitarian conditions before the latest attack.

Hamdin condemned the strike as “a horrific crime and a grave violation of international humanitarian law, reflecting the militia’s indifference to the lives of innocent people.”

He called on the international community to hold those responsible accountable and designate the paramilitary group as a terrorist organization.

Sudan was plunged into a civil war three years ago after a struggle for power broke out between the SAF and the RSF. 

The RSF has faced similar accusations from rights groups over attacks on civilians. In September, the Sudanese Alliance for Rights reported that five people were killed in an attack on a market in North Kordofan, while the Committee for Justice blamed the group for a courthouse strike that killed ten. On October 9, the Sudan Doctors Network accused the rebels of a drone attack on a displacement camp in Blue Nile state that killed 31 people, including four children.

Earlier this month, Russian diplomat Yulia Zhdanova said that Sudanese troops recovered US-supplied weapons intended for Ukraine from RSF fighters near Bara. Their markings indicated that they had been transferred to Kiev in December 2024, she said, according to TASS.

India has asked Meta to review how Facebook and Instagram recommend content, citing concerns that their algorithms disproportionately promote certain narratives, amid protests over disputed voter rolls in New Delhi.

The advisory from India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) calls for changes to content-ranking systems to prevent misleading, manipulated, or out-of-context material from being repeatedly recommended to users, news agency PTI reported on Monday after reviewing the document which was issued on October 10.

Meta has been asked to act immediately and inform the government of the steps taken.

The advisory comes amid demonstrations by the youth-led Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) and opposition parties demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over a nationwide electoral-roll revision.

Opposition groups allege that legitimate voters have been excluded and that the exercise benefits Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The Election Commission and BJP deny manipulating voter lists. The advisory does not identify any specific protest as the reason for its issuance.

The document calls on Meta to prevent users from being disproportionately exposed to a “single or limited set of narratives” and ensure greater diversity of credible information.

India’s IT Ministry has received reports from government agencies suggesting that Meta’s algorithms favor certain kinds of content, PTI reported, citing sources in the ministry.

The ministry has flagged videos, photographs, and graphics relating to public events, particularly police action and restrictions, being promoted without adequate context. It wants stronger checks on old or selectively edited visuals presented as current events and unverified claims about official measures.

Meta has also been asked to identify potentially harmful content gaining significant reach more quickly and cooperate with authorized law-enforcement agencies under India’s information technology laws. The request follows a broader advisory issued to social media companies on October 8, directing them to prioritize complaints from government agencies and label misleading or manipulated content related to public events.

Although the advisory is not legally binding, it amounts to a “continuing censorship directive,” Internet Freedom Foundation founder-director Apar Gupta said. He urged the government to withdraw it and Meta to disclose content removals or reductions in visibility carried out under its provisions.

The ministry maintains that the measures are intended to protect public order while respecting lawful expression.

A Catholic priest in Ecuador has been killed after a large wooden crucifix fell from a church wall and struck him on the head during Mass.

The tragedy occurred on Saturday at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in the southern city of Guayaquil. The service was livestreamed on social media, according to local media reports.

Footage shows the 53-year-old parish priest, Father Patricio Alfredo Sanchez Molinari, standing near the altar when the crucifix mounted on the wall behind him suddenly tilts forward and falls on him. The incident occurred roughly 30 minutes into the service leaving the congregation stunned and bereaved.

The Archdiocese of Guayaquil subsequently confirmed the priest’s death in an official statement, saying Cardinal Luis Cabrera joined “in prayer for the eternal rest of his soul and expresses its solidarity, affection and love to the Redemptorist family, to his families and friends.”

Parishioners at San Lorenzo in Vinces, where Father Patricio had previously served, also paid tribute to the priest, recalling his “dedication and pastoral love” to their community.

Ecuadorian authorities have not publicly commented on the incident, and the cause of the crucifix’s fall remains unknown.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to visit Russia next year for his annual summit with President Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin said on Monday, after preparing for a visit this year.

”More likely next year,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told TASS when asked whether Modi would visit before the end of the year.

Putin invited Modi to Russia for the 24th Russia-India Annual Summit during his visit to New Delhi last December. The two leaders meet on a rotating basis under a strategic partnership established in 2000.

Preparations for the visit were already under way in May. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Modi confirmed during their meeting in New Delhi that it is his turn to visit Russia this year. Lavrov was in India for a meeting of BRICS foreign ministers.

Modi and Putin last met in September during the BRICS summit in New Delhi, when the Russian president renewed his invitation. Modi accepted, with the dates to be finalized through diplomatic channels, according to the Indian Prime Minister’s Office.

Moscow, however, raised the possibility of a 2027 visit last month. A visit this year is possible if Modi’s schedule permits, but Russia will otherwise arrange the meeting in the first half of next year, Kremlin presidential aide Yury Ushakov said.

The two countries are working toward an annual trade target of $100 billion by 2030, with energy, investment, and industrial cooperation central to their economic relationship. Bilateral trade reached $38 billion in the first six months of 2026, Indian Ambassador to Russia Vinay Kumar said at a business forum in Kazan last week.

Cooperation has also advanced on workforce mobility. Putin signed an agreement on the temporary employment of Indian and Russian nationals last week.

India remains a natural partner for Russia as Moscow strengthens its relations with Asian countries, Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar said last week. Maintaining strong ties serves the interests of both nations and the world, he added.

Negotiations to end the Ukraine conflict are making “great progress,” US President Donald Trump has said, defending his decision to hold back economic pressure on Russia to keep diplomacy moving.

In a Truth Social post on Sunday, Trump said his priority is securing a settlement rather than taking steps that could undermine ongoing negotiations.

“I am in the process of negotiating peace in the war between Russia and Ukraine, and don’t want to do anything that will drive, foolishly, Russia away from the bargaining table,” he wrote.

“Great progress is being made, and that includes current hostage negotiations!” Trump added, without specifying who he meant. His administration has previously negotiated the release of several Americans jailed in Russia and has also helped mediate several prisoner-of-war exchanges between Moscow and Kiev, including a May agreement providing for the return of 1,000 prisoners on each side. 

The president’s remarks followed his waiver of sweeping penalties pushed by the late US lawmaker Lindsey Graham, dubbed the “sanctions from hell,” including tariffs targeting Russia and major purchasers of its energy. Washington also eased restrictions on Russian diesel exports earlier this month to alleviate rising global fuel prices.

Trump noted that he retains the option to enact the sanctions later, but argued that Russia is “doing very little, if anything, to help the Islamic Republic of Iran, compared to what they could be doing, and I want to keep it that way, and will, unless stupid people get in the way.”

He also accused Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky of resisting a settlement despite extensive Western funding, while criticizing Kiev’s continued attacks on Russian refineries for disrupting global diesel markets.

Moscow welcomed Washington’s continued diplomatic engagement on Monday. “The American side continues its mediation and peacemaking efforts, which we highly appreciate,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

However, a final settlement is impossible without participation by someone representing Kiev who is prepared to take responsibility, he added.

Kirill Dmitriev, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s investment envoy and a participant in negotiations, also applauded Trump’s message for exposing Zelensky’s “true hidden motivation” and pointing out that the Ukrainian leader “doesn’t want to end this war, and probably never did.”

At Friday’s EU summit in Brussels, Zelensky sought another €70 billion ($78.5 billion) in foreign financing for next year, in addition to the €90 billion already being paid out by the bloc to bankroll Kiev’s war effort.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico rejected participation in further financing, while Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis ruled out guarantees from Prague. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, however, said the European Commission would nevertheless examine further funding options.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has rebuked Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky over his insistence that his country must defeat Russia, rejecting his all-or-nothing stance as a “false binary” and insisting that the conflict must end through a negotiated settlement.

Speaking to NBC’s ‘Meet the Press’ on Sunday, Zelensky said Ukraine must win the conflict with Russia, calling victory essential to preserving the country’s independence, geopolitical alignment, and national identity. He lamented that Ukraine “will not prevail” if the US sides with Russia.

“Zelensky presents a false binary this morning that Ukraine must win,” Bessent told the show shortly after Zelensky’s appearance, arguing that the priority should be ending the conflict rather than determining a winner. “The war must end, and that will be with some kind of a negotiated settlement.”

Bessent stressed that Trump made it clear “he wants to end this war,” noting that the president’s decisions are aimed at securing a negotiated settlement.

Zelensky’s remarks came amid a growing spat with Trump over sanctions on Russian and Ukrainian strikes on Russian energy facilities. Last week, Trump invoked a national-interest exemption to suspend the sanctions he signed into law last month, including 500% tariffs on Russian imports and 100% tariffs on major buyers of Russian oil and gas.

The move followed Trump’s decision days earlier to lift sanctions on Russian diesel exports to ease rising fuel prices. According to US media reports, Trump eased the restrictions after Zelensky refused to halt strikes on Russian energy facilities, which the president blamed for global fuel shortages and soaring prices at the pump – a critical issue just weeks before the US midterm elections. The moves sparked outrage in Kiev, where they were seen as a betrayal of Ukraine’s efforts to maintain Western pressure on Russia.

In a Truth Social post on Sunday, Trump defended the moves, saying Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries are driving up prices, while stressing that he is focused on brokering a peace deal and does not want to “do anything that will drive, foolishly, Russia away from the bargaining table.” Trump also argued that Zelensky does not want to end the conflict and probably never did, despite receiving billions in Western aid.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov echoed his criticism, suggesting on Sunday that Zelensky has “no desire” to reach a settlement because his government would collapse if Ukraine signed a deal that’s acceptable to both the US and Russia.

Zelensky, whose presidential term expired in 2024, has refused to hold a new election, citing martial law. Moscow maintains that Zelensky is illegitimate; Trump recently called for his resignation, saying Ukraine should get “a new president.”

Since returning to office, Trump has revived talks with Russia, which were largely suspended under his predecessor, Joe Biden. His efforts to broker peace have produced some results, including POW exchanges, but the diplomatic push has been overshadowed by the US war against Iran and has yet to yield a peace deal.

Moscow has said it would prefer a negotiated settlement. Last month, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia expects to hold trilateral talks with Ukraine and the US in the foreseeable future. President Vladimir Putin, however, stressed that the conflict must end on terms that are acceptable to Russia – stressing that a settlement must address the root causes of the conflict and include the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from Russian territory, protection for Russian-speakers in Ukraine, as well as denazification and neutral, non-nuclear status for Ukraine.

Kenya has confirmed its eighth case of Ebola after a man tested positive for the virus, health authorities announced on Sunday. Director-General for Health Patrick Amoth announced the latest infection following a new round of testing. 

“Today, 38 people were tested, and one tested positive. He is a 49-year-old man who is not a healthcare worker and developed fever, headache and muscle pain,” Dr. Amoth said. 

Kenya recorded its first Ebola case in early October 2026, when a man who had traveled from DR Congo to Nairobi was diagnosed with the disease. The patient died at a hospital in the Kenyan capital on October 5. His infection prompted heightened surveillance and contact tracing amid concerns about further transmission.

The authorities have identified 28 contacts, including relatives and healthcare workers, and are tracing another 23 passengers and four crew members who were on the same flight as the patient. 

The developments come as DR Congo struggles to contain a major Ebola epidemic. The African state is battling its 17th recorded Ebola outbreak, which was declared on May 15. It involves the Bundibugyo strain of the virus for which there are currently no approved vaccines or targeted treatments available. 

According to a situation report by the country’s Health Ministry dated October 16, the outbreak has affected eight provinces, with North Ubangi becoming the latest to report infections. Two cases, including one death, were identified in the province’s Wapinda health zone. 

The report put the nationwide toll at 9,415 confirmed infections and 4,536 deaths, representing a case fatality rate of 48.2%. A total of 66 health zones across the eight affected provinces have reported infections. 

Earlier this month, Congolese Health Minister Roger Samuel Kamba said the outbreak had passed its peak, citing a decline in new infections and fewer areas reporting active transmission. However, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) cautioned that the epidemic was not yet under control, warning that insecurity in affected areas had disrupted surveillance.  

The Ebola outbreak had also affected neighboring Uganda, which declared itself free of the virus on July 28 after. According to Uganda’s Health Ministry, the outbreak resulted in 20 confirmed cases, including 15 imported infections and five locally transmitted ones. Two people died and 18 recovered.

The US has warned of severe consequences for EU businesses if Brussels goes ahead with plans to restrict American firms such as Elon Musk’s Starlink from accessing satellite spectrum in the bloc.

The warning, issued by US Ambassador to the EU Andrew Puzder, comes after the European Commission proposed earlier this year to reserve a share of the spectrum used for direct smartphone-to-satellite connections for EU market players beyond 2027, when current licenses expire.

The move could limit access to satellite frequencies for foreign providers as part of Brussels’ stated push for technological sovereignty.

“If the purpose is to make US less competitive, I think that that’s not a legitimate goal of this kind of legislation,” Puzder said in an interview with the Financial Times published on Monday. “You don’t make European companies more competitive by making US companies less competitive.”

The envoy stressed that EU businesses “should be wary” that US retaliation “would be very devastating” for them, given the size of the American market.

Proposed in May, the EU measure envisages allocating part of the harmonized 2 GHz band for government services and the remainder for commercial use, with access regulated to favor European operators. The EC has said the plan would encourage market entry and diversification among EU suppliers while remaining open to non-EU operators.

Politico reported earlier this month that European telecoms groups Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Vodafone, and Telefonica have begun discussing an alliance to jointly bid for the frequencies and to “squeeze” Starlink out of the direct-to-smartphone satellite connectivity market.

In June, SpaceX, which operates the Starlink satellite internet network, criticized the proposal, claiming it could degrade connectivity in Ukraine, which uses the service to carry out drone strikes deep inside Russia. Earlier this month, Kiev stated that access to the service had been restricted as US President Donald Trump continued to step up pressure on Vladimir Zelensky to halt attacks on Russian oil refineries.

Beyond the spectrum proposal, Brussels has also put forward a Cloud and AI Development Act that would introduce digital sovereignty requirements for cloud service providers. The previously adopted Digital Services Act (DSA) and Digital Markets Act (DMA) allow Brussels to impose hefty fines on major tech companies, including Google, Apple, and Meta, for anti-competitive practices and violations of online content rules.

The laws have drawn criticism from the US, which has also condemned the European Commission’s €120 million ($136.51 million) fine against Elon Musk’s X platform for alleged violations of the DSA.

In his FT interview, Puzder questioned whether Brussels is seeking to promote competition or generate revenue for the EU budget through multibillion-euro fines on US tech companies. The envoy also told the newspaper that the bloc’s ambitions to strengthen its tech industry risk being undermined by regulations that discourage US investment and fuel frustration among American tech firms.

Seven civilians were injured in a series of Ukrainian drone attacks targeting Belgorod Region, Russia, local officials report. The strikes impacted a number of locations, including the regional capital and a highway, causing damage to homes and commercial properties.

In one village, a man suffered shrapnel wounds after a drone detonated, the emergency headquarters said on Sunday. Four other men were seriously injured when a drone struck a passenger vehicle.

Another drone attack targeted an infrastructure facility in the regional capital, injuring two men – one suffered shrapnel wounds to the neck, and the other sustained multiple injuries to his face, chest, shoulder, and legs. The assault also damaged technological equipment at the site.

The strikes caused widespread damage across the region, where homes and vehicles were hit.

The attacks come as civilian casualties mount in Russian regions bordering Ukraine. Also on Sunday, Leonid Pasechnik, the governor of Russia’s Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR), reported three fatalities and three injuries in the region. A woman was killed in Severodonetsk, a man died in a strike in the Troitsky district, and another driver died when his vehicle was hit near a village.

Moscow has accused Kiev of intentionally targeting civilian infrastructure and residential areas with long-range drones to make up for setbacks on the battlefield, where Russian forces continue to advance.

Kiev also continues to target Russian oil infrastructure despite demands by US President Donald Trump to end the attacks, which he says are affecting global energy prices.

Ukrainian forces launched a major drone attack on St. Petersburg on Sunday, killing one person, injuring five others, and causing a fire at a local oil terminal. Twelve apartment blocks and two private homes sustained damage during the raid, which local Governor Aleksandr Beglov called an attack by “the Ukrainian Nazis.” The oil terminal is the largest facility of its kind in the Baltic region, handling 125 million tons of liquefied product per year.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the drone strike on St. Petersburg “final manifestations of agony” from Ukraine, adding that “the Kiev regime is fighting back but cannot alter the course of history.” He added that Russia has been conducting “systematic, massive strikes” that “yield results.”

Two of at least seven Ukrainian drones used in a strike on a Russian college which killed 21 people earlier this year were equipped with Starlink terminals, investigators have established.

The nighttime attack on a college dormitory in Starobelsk in the Lugansk People’s Republic took place in May and was classified as a deliberate terrorist attack by Russia’s Investigative Committee. Its chairman, Aleksandr Bastrykin, discussed findings from the investigation in an interview with RIA Novosti published on Monday.

“The Ukrainian armed forces used at least seven drones identified as Fire Point 1, Fire Point 2, Sichen and RZ-100, two of which were controlled via the Starlink satellite communication system,” he said.

The strike also injured scores of civilians and caused an estimated $14.5 million in damage, according to Bastrykin. Investigators identified Robert Brodi, commander of Ukraine’s drone forces, Oleg Ivashchenko, head of Ukrainian military intelligence, and Andrey Klimenko, commander of the 414th drone brigade, as the main suspects, he added.

Kiev’s use of Starlink in territory that Washington recognizes as part of Ukraine became a source of friction with the US this month after Ukrainian officials claimed new restrictions had been imposed on faster-moving platforms. If true, the limitations would disrupt so-called “middle-strike” operations against targets behind the front line but within Starlink’s permitted coverage area, including Starobelsk.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has denied imposing such restrictions, accusing Vladimir Zelensky of making false claims and suggesting the Ukrainian leader does not know “what he’s talking about.” Starlink owner Elon Musk has also rejected the Ukrainian allegations.

Rubio further stated that Ukraine has no access to Starshield, Starlink’s military-grade sister service.

Bloomberg reported that Kiev had obtained access to Starshield years earlier, with a contract signed in 2024 to expand connectivity through regular Starlink terminals. Recent Reuters reporting suggests Starshield access remained active as of last week, albeit with new restrictions affecting its use in Ukrainian drone operations.

Kiev and Brussels fear the EU’s next package of sanctions against Russia could be its last, with officials rushing to secure its adoption before Marine Le Pen potentially becomes France’s next president, according to The Telegraph.

The right-wing National Rally politician, who opinion polls put in the lead of the race, has strongly criticized Brussels’ approach to Ukraine. She has compared Kiev’s proposed accession to the EU to economic suicide and repeatedly called for suspending all aid to the country.

Kiev and Brussels are “wargaming contingency measures” in case Le Pen wins the election next April, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. One source described February as possibly the “last opportunity” to adopt new sanctions against Russia.

The EU has imposed 21 rounds of sanctions since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022 and is preparing a 22nd. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Friday contrasted the bloc’s unwavering stance with that of US President Donald Trump, who has eased restrictions on Russian diesel to alleviate domestic fuel shortages.

Some observers, including The Telegraph, count the recent addition of roughly 1,600 Russian individuals and organizations to the EU’s blacklist as the 22nd package.

As the Ukraine conflict has dragged on, Brussels has found it increasingly difficult to identify new Russian targets for sanctions. The latest negotiations reportedly stalled over France’s push to remove billionaire Alisher Usmanov from the EU’s blacklist.

The move was presented in the media as part of a backroom deal to secure the release of convicted French spies in Azerbaijan. Skeptics, however, pointed to Usmanov’s successful legal challenges exposing weaknesses in the EU’s justification for sanctioning him as another major factor.

Negotiations over the 21st sanctions package, adopted in July, also faced firm resistance from several member states. Greece secured an exemption allowing Greek shipping company Dynagas to continue transporting LNG from Russia’s Yamal project. Bulgaria prevented the blacklisting of Russian Orthodox Church leader Patriarch Kirill, while Germany and Portugal defended their imports of Russian seafood. Tourist destinations France and Italy, meanwhile, opposed tighter entry restrictions on Russian military personnel.

The concessions substantially weakened the commission’s original proposal. This happened despite the replacement of former Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who supporters of Kiev had frequently portrayed as the principal obstacle to new sanctions during earlier negotiations.

Egypt has pledged to support Saudi Arabia in its escalating conflict with Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, the country’s top security body has announced.

Riyadh has been pressing allies for assistance following Houthi attacks on Saudi airports and oil facilities in retaliation for its military operations in Yemen. The group has demanded that Saudi Arabia lift its blockade of Yemeni airports and ports, describing its approach as “an eye for an eye.”

Egypt’s National Defense Council, chaired by President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, announced the decision on Sunday, a day after he sought parliamentary authorization to deploy troops and military equipment abroad. The council pledged “all possible forms of support” to help Saudi Arabia defend its security but did not specify what assistance Egypt would provide.

The renewed confrontation began in July when Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces struck Houthi-held Sanaa Airport, ending years of relative calm following a UN-brokered truce in 2022.

The Houthis retaliated with missile strikes, declared a maritime blockade, and seized territory along Yemen’s Red Sea coast, including Mokhaa and islands in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. Riyadh subsequently intensified its airstrikes and backed a counteroffensive by Yemen’s internationally recognized government.

Houthi strikes on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport on October 10-11 killed at least 14 people and wounded more than 300, according to the Saudi authorities. Last week, Saudi-led forces struck oil storage facilities in Sanaa.

An airstrike on a house in Yemen’s northern Saada province killed at least nine people, including five children and two women, and wounded 19 on Sunday, the Houthi-run Health Ministry said. It blamed Saudi Arabia, which did not immediately comment. Across the border, the Saudi authorities said a Houthi projectile wounded six people in a residential area of Najran province.

The Houthis’ chief negotiator, Mohamed Abdulsalam, blamed Riyadh for the escalation and accused it of obstructing mediation efforts. He said Oman proposed a five-day truce to facilitate talks and that the rebels agreed to halt attacks if Saudi Arabia meets unspecified humanitarian demands.

A Saudi diplomat offered a conflicting account last week, saying the kingdom proposed talks in Oman in July to resolve their differences but that the Houthis refused to take part.

Most Italians oppose aid to Ukraine in the conflict with Russia, Defense Minister Guido Crosetto has said, as the country grapples with cost-of-living protests.

“We are fully aware that the majority of our public opinion, also influenced from abroad, is opposed to aiding Ukraine,” he told the BBC in an interview published on Saturday.

“It is difficult to explain that you have to help a nation resist and that helping it resist does not mean that you are opposed to peace.”

He nevertheless argued that Italy should continue to support Kiev, while acknowledging public anger over rising energy prices linked to the sanctions on Russia. He went on to claim that ‘Russian disinformation’ is fueling discontent.

“We cannot give in to public opinion when we believe that public opinion is wrong,” Crosetto said, adding that “it is difficult to explain that, at this moment, we cannot give Russia any gift.”

An Eumetra poll conducted last month found that 61% of Italians opposed supplying weapons to Ukraine, while 20% supported it and 18% expressed no opinion.

Around 290,000 Ukrainian citizens are officially resident in Italy, according to the latest figures from the Istituto Nazionale di Statistica. Most of them are reluctant to return to their home country, Italian media reports.

US President Donald Trump lifted sanctions on Russian diesel exports earlier this month after Kiev refused to halt strikes on Russian refineries, which Trump blamed for soaring prices. Crosetto argued that it was “a major mistake” for Trump to reduce support for Ukraine at such a critical time.

Crosetto’s remarks came as anti-government demonstrations swept northern Italy over the weekend, with clashes erupting in Milan, Turin, and Bologna. Protesters demanded more funding for public services and accused Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government of prioritizing military spending over education and welfare. Demonstrators in Milan chanted “more money for families, less for wars.”

Under Meloni, a staunch supporter of Kiev, Italy has maintained military assistance to Ukraine, totaling more than €3 billion ($3.4 billion) since 2022. Supplies have included artillery systems, armored vehicles, and SAMP/T air defense systems developed jointly with France. Italian media also reported deliveries of Storm Shadow cruise missiles capable of striking targets deep inside Russia.

Meloni’s policy has faced resistance within her governing coalition, including from Matteo Salvini’s League party. Last week, Roberto Vannacci, the leader of the right-wing National Future party, accused Vladimir Zelensky of treating Europe “like an ATM” after the Ukrainian leader requested another €70 billion ($79 billion) in aid. Vannacci argued that Italian taxpayers should not have to foot the bill.

An Austrian Airlines flight carrying 57 people from Tel Aviv, Israel to Vienna made an emergency landing in Bulgaria following a bomb threat.

According to a statement from Bulgaria’s Transport Ministry, the crew of Austrian Airlines flight OS82, an Airbus A320, reported that it received a bomb threat while flying near the Romanian border on Sunday.

Bulgarian MiG-29 fighter jets were scrambled to escort the aircraft to Vasil Levski Sofia Airport. All 51 passengers and six crew members disembarked safely.

Austrian Airlines spokeswoman Anita Kiefer said the passengers will be rebooked on alternative flights following a police search of the aircraft.

The incident follows two bomb threats involving Delta Air Lines flights between New York and Tel Aviv on October 13. One aircraft was evacuated and searched after landing at Ben Gurion Airport, while another was held at New York’s JFK Airport before departure. Both were cleared after security inspections found no explosives.

The latest scare also comes after an attempted terrorist attack aboard a Flydubai flight carrying mostly Israeli passengers from Dubai to Tel Aviv on September 30. A co-pilot attacked the captain with an emergency axe and attempted to seize control of the aircraft. Passengers and crew members overpowered the assailant, allowing the plane to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia. The pilot, Indian national Smit Machchhar, sustained serious injuries.

According to Emirati prosecutors, the suspect, an Omani national, planned to crash the aircraft into the passenger terminal at Ben Gurion Airport to cause mass casualties.

Following the attempted hijacking, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered tighter security checks on foreign airline crews and a comprehensive review of security procedures.

French opposition leaders have blamed President Emmanuel Macron and his government’s policies for the wave of violent unrest sweeping the country.

The latest round of demonstrations by students and public sector workers over the high cost of living and deteriorating public services descended into rioting, vandalism, and looting in Paris and other cities on Saturday. Thousands of people were arrested and hundreds of police officers were injured.

Marine Le Pen, who leads first-round polling for the 2027 presidential election, described Macron as a president “without credibility or authority” who has “lost all touch with reality,” calling his government “a government on its last legs.”

“We are experiencing a profound crisis of trust and authority that threatens democracy. This should serve as a warning: Our country is caught in a vice, even held hostage, between violence and powerlessness,” she said in a message on X.

In July, a Paris appeals court upheld Le Pen’s conviction for misusing EU funds but modified her sentence, lifting a ban that prevented the veteran politician from the right-wing National Rally (RN) from running for president. She denied any wrongdoing and argued that the case was politically motivated.

“We are paying the price for decades of laxity, the erosion of authority, and the moral and material weakening of our domestic security forces,” RN President Jordan Bardella said. “I expect Emmanuel Macron to apologize and step down.”

Jean-Luc Melenchon, the leader of the left-wing La France Insoumise (LFI) party, told French broadcaster LCI that the protests are “the result of ten disastrous years during which President Macron has undermined the functioning of the state and public services.”

He accused Interior Minister Laurent Nunez and police leaders of “complete incompetence” in handling the protests and criticized the use of riot-control weapons. LFI previously rejected government accusations that it incited violence.

In a televised address on Sunday evening, Macron distinguished peaceful demonstrators from rioters, insisting that legitimate grievances must be heard while those responsible for violence face punishment.

“We will show no leniency. Listening and dialogue do not mean weakness or impunity,” he said.

Macron also pledged to address the concerns of protesting students, who have complained about staff shortages and poor learning conditions. “Their voices must be heard, without prejudice and without downplaying their difficulties.”

Macron’s approval rating has fallen to just 15-19%, according to opinion polls this month. Le Pen leads first-round polling for the election in April, with support ranging from 32% to 36%.

Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky does not want to end the conflict with Russia and probably never did, US President Donald Trump has said, citing the billions in aid Kiev has received from the West as among the reasons. 

In a post on Truth Social on Sunday, Trump defended his decision to ease the sanctions on Moscow, while reiterating his claim that Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries have contributed to rising energy prices.

“Zelenskyy doesn’t care, and frankly, with all of the money that Europe is famously giving him, and that Crooked Joe Biden gave him in the past, he doesn’t want to end this war, and probably never did. He could have made a better deal two years ago than he can now,” Trump wrote.

He added that Ukraine was “in shambles,” describing its male population as “low, wounded, and/or dead.”

Trump lifted sanctions on Russian diesel exports earlier this month to curb rising energy prices ahead of the US midterm elections. On Friday, he suspended the tariffs targeting major buyers of Russian oil and gas.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he is focused on brokering peace between Russia and Ukraine and does not want to “do anything that will drive, foolishly, Russia away from the bargaining table.”

Ukraine defied Trump’s demand to halt strikes on Russian energy facilities, launching a drone attack on an oil terminal in St. Petersburg overnight on Sunday and setting it on fire.

Zelensky said he felt betrayed by Trump. According to US media reports, Ukrainian officials were blindsided by his diesel deal with Russia.

“I hope that he will change his decisions, because I think that it’s all mistakes, and it will not help us, and it will not help [the] United States,” he told NBC News’ Meet the Press on Sunday.

On Sunday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov suggested that Zelensky has “no desire” to reach a settlement because his government would collapse if Ukraine signed a deal acceptable to both the US and Russia. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Ukraine “cannot alter the course of history” by intensifying strikes deep inside Russian territory.

Russia has long accused Ukraine’s Western backers, including former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, of sabotaging the 2022 peace talks in Istanbul. Johnson has denied the allegations.

Zelensky, whose five-year presidential term expired in 2024, has refused to call a new election, citing martial law, which was imposed shortly after the conflict with Russia escalated in February 2022.

He has since argued that an election can only be held after a months-long ceasefire. Russia has warned that Ukraine could use a prolonged truce to replenish its military and has offered to suspend attacks only on election day.

Ukraine has been rocked by a series of high-profile corruption scandals since 2025, including an alleged $100 million kickback scheme in its embattled energy sector that implicated Zelensky’s former business partner, Timur Mindich. His government has also faced political controversies, including attempts to curb the powers of Western-backed anti-corruption agencies and the abrupt dismissal of popular Defense Minister Mikhail Fyodorov in July, which sparked protests in Kiev.

Two Saudi Air Force officers died when an ​AH-6i reconnaissance helicopter crashed in southwestern Najran province, Saudi-led coalition spokesman Major General Turki al-Maliki has said. Yemen’s Houthi militants claim they shot it down.

According to the Saudi authorities, the helicopter crashed because of a technical malfunction. Riyadh did not comment on the militant group’s claims.

Separately, the Saudi General Directorate of Civil Defense reported on Sunday that six civilians were injured in a Houthi missile strike on the city of Najran in the same area. Three homes and three vehicles were damaged in the attack, it added.

The militant group, known officially as the Ansar Allah movement, published a video on social media purporting to show the moment of the strike against the helicopter. The black-and-white video shows a glowing object being hit with a projectile, resulting in a major explosion. It is unclear whether the object was a helicopter or whether the video is related to Sunday’s incident.

On Saturday, ‌Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree also claimed in a statement on X that the militants shot down a Saudi Apache helicopter near Najran. The post was ridiculed by al-Maliki, who published a photo of several Apaches lined up at an airfield and promised that they “will enter the battlefield soon.”

Najran province borders Yemen and has been targeted in Houthi attacks over recent weeks as violence between the militants and the Saudi-led coalition escalates. A Houthi offensive last month triggered the latest flare up in the civil war, which began in 2014. In a rapid advance, the militants captured the strategic port of Mokha and Perim Island in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a vital shipping route connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean.

The development prompted the Saudi-backed, internationally recognized government to launch a counteroffensive to retake the lost territory. The Houthis, an Iranian-backed Shiite group, accused Riyadh of targeting civilians. According to the militants, Saudi forces launched nearly 120 airstrikes in just one day earlier this week. At least 385 people have been killed or wounded by Saudi strikes since September 3, including many women and children, the Houthi health authorities stated.

The group responded by targeting Saudi infrastructure, including civilian airports, using missiles. Last weekend, a strike on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh left 12 people dead, including four Saudi nationals, and more than 300 injured. Another attack the following day killed a Pakistani national and injured 11 others.

Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has repeatedly undermined peace negotiations with Russia because he fears that any agreement acceptable to Moscow and Washington would end his rule, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Sunday.

Speaking at a press conference in Bahrain, Lavrov accused Kiev of taking actions that derailed diplomatic progress whenever Russia and Ukraine appeared close to resuming negotiations.

“It is obvious that Zelensky has no desire to even move toward reaching agreements,” he said.

“Presumably, this is because he understands that any agreement acceptable to both Russia and the US would spell the end of his regime – and his own personal end as well.”

Ukraine has repeatedly attacked civilian targets shortly after signs of progress in peace talks, including discussions backed by US President Donald Trump, the foreign minister said. These incidents have convinced Moscow that Zelensky does not want negotiations to succeed, he added.

Lavrov pointed to a December 2019 summit in Paris where Ukraine, Russia, France, and Germany agreed on steps toward implementing the Minsk peace agreements, which Kiev subsequently failed to honor. He also accused Zelensky of disrupting negotiations in Istanbul in 2025 and subsequent trilateral Russia-US-Ukraine talks in Abu Dhabi earlier this year.

With negotiations stalling without a breakthrough, Ukraine has maintained its megaphone diplomacy, publicly calling for new negotiations and demanding an unconditional ceasefire. Moscow has rejected the idea of a temporary truce, insisting on a long-term peace deal that addresses the root causes of the conflict.

Trump’s latest peace initiative included an energy ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia, which he announced on October 11, following a US deal to temporarily ease sanctions on Russian diesel exports. However, neither Moscow nor Kiev confirmed the truce. Zelensky said the announcement surprised him; the Kremlin acknowledged ongoing discussions. Kiev struck two major Russian refineries just days after the US president’s announcement.

Trump has repeatedly demanded that Ukraine stop attacking Russian oil facilities, blaming the strikes for global fuel shortages and squeezing Americans at the pump – a politically sensitive issue with the US midterm elections just weeks away.

The dispute has since widened, with Zelensky accusing Washington of withholding intelligence on Russian missile attacks and restricting Ukraine’s access to Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite network, which Kiev uses for drone guidance. Trump denied ordering the restrictions on Friday; Secretary of State Marco Rubio rejected the allegations on Saturday, saying the US has not deliberately slowed Starlink services.

Washington has urged Israel to “crack down” on extremist settler violence following a brutal attack on an American journalist in the occupied West Bank, even as President Donald Trump has given Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu his “Complete and Total Endorsement” ahead of Israel’s October 27 elections.

The conflicting messages come amid reported tensions between Trump and Netanyahu over Israeli military operations in Lebanon, Gaza, and Iran. Nevertheless, the US president praised Netanyahu as a “Great Warrior Prime Minister” in a Truth Social post on Sunday, prompting the Israeli leader to thank him for his “tremendous support and the joint work.”

A day earlier, Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemned the attack on American photojournalist Heidi Levine when questioned by reporters in Maryland.

“We’re very disturbed by those images and what we’re seeing. We’ve asked the Israelis, and continue to ask them, to crack down on that stuff,” he said.

Trump does not want to see “a crisis going on in the West Bank,” Rubio added. “The whole thing was just disturbing, not a good look.”

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee also condemned the assault.

“Attacking a female photographer is despicable act of terror carried out by masked cowards. Dishonorable act of senseless violence,” he wrote on X, calling for an investigation, arrests, and prosecution of the perpetrators.

Levine was attacked near the West Bank village of Abu Falah on Friday while covering the local Palestinian olive harvest, which has faced recurring settler violence. According to the Washington Post, Israeli settlers knocked down the veteran photographer, who was wearing a protective vest marked ‘PRESS’, stole her equipment, and repeatedly kicked her, breaking four vertebrae and a rib. Israeli soldiers were reportedly present but did not intervene.

On Saturday, masked Israeli settlers also attacked a convoy carrying European diplomats near Taybeh, a predominantly Christian Palestinian village in the West Bank.

The incidents came amid a surge in settler violence. UN officials said Friday that attacks had reached their highest level since 2006, with more than 1,600 incidents recorded between January and August.

Israel has also expanded settlement construction, approving nearly 11,000 new housing units in the West Bank this year, according to Israeli watchdog Peace Now.

The expansion has been championed by far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and backed by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, both key members of Netanyahu’s governing coalition.

On January 8, 1654, drums resounded in the town square of Pereiaslav. Cossacks, townsfolk, and commanders formed a large circle and Hetman Bogdan Khmelnitsky stepped into the center. This was a man who had seen it all: six years of war, stunning victories and crushing defeats, burned cities and villages, and the betrayal of allies. On that day, he offered the people a choice that would shape their future.

He told the people that four figures could potentially rule over them. The first option was the Turkish Sultan – a Muslim who was known to oppress Orthodox Christians in Greece. Then, there was the Crimean Khan – also a Muslim who couldn’t really be trusted since he often betrayed allies. The Polish king was not a viable option, since everyone remembered how the Polish lords had oppressed the population. And finally, there was a fourth option: the Tsar of the East, a fellow Orthodox Christian. 

The people responded with a cry, “We want to serve the Eastern Orthodox Tsar!”

The choice between the West and Russia is often considered a recent phenomenon. Yet for the inhabitants of Ukraine, this choice first presented itself 400 years ago – and it was made not by politicians behind closed doors, but by the public in the middle of a town square. Why did these free Cossacks, accustomed to electing their own hetmans and exercising self-governance, choose to serve the Russian tsars? And why did many Cossacks remain loyal to Russia time and again, even when their hetmans betrayed their oath to the tsar? 

This week, the Day of the Ukrainian Cossacks was observed, and RT remembers how they first made the choice to join Russia.

17th-century-style Eurointegration 

By the mid-17th century, much of present-day Ukraine was under the control of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. And this was far from an appealing image.

The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was governed by the Polish Catholic nobility, many of whom viewed the local Orthodox population as second-class citizens. They referred to Orthodox Ukrainians as ‘bydlo’ (cattle), stripping them of all rights.

The Orthodox population was barred from professional guilds and faced restrictions in holding municipal offices. Peasants were effectively enslaved, while many Orthodox churches and monasteries were seized and shut down. Priests and monks suffered persecution, humiliation, and violence.

The common people lost many of their defenders. Many noble Orthodox families converted to Catholicism en masse – not out of conviction, but to ‘become Polish’. For example, Ieremiah Vishnevetsky, a man from an Orthodox family whose ‘conversion’ was driven by a desire for status and career advancement, became one of the primary oppressors and tormentors of the Orthodox people. 

At the same time, the southern territories of what is now Ukraine faced regular raids by the Crimean Tatars, who pillaged border settlements, capturing people and enslaving them. Fleeing from the oppressive rule of the Polish on one side and seeking protection from the constant invasions of the Tatars on the other, Ukraine’s Orthodox population retreated into the so-called Wild Field. In the expansive, fertile steppes stretching from the Dniester to the Don rivers, there was no authority to govern them. These people established their own communities and formed self-defense groups; they became known as Cossacks. Living on the frontier, in conditions far harsher than those of America’s Wild West, they always had their weapons at hand.

The Cossacks launched campaigns against the Crimean Khanate and the Ottoman Empire, but their primary focus was on preserving their Orthodox faith and resisting Polish oppression. Throughout the first half of the 17th century, uprisings frequently erupted across Ukraine, but due to the Cossacks’ poor organization and the superior military training of the Poles, these rebellions were consistently crushed with brutal force. 

By 1648, it seemed that the Poles had eradicated all the rebellious Cossacks and subjugated the populace. For the Polish, it seemed like there was nothing more to worry about. However, this was a grave mistake.

Unity of faith

Against the background of the horrifying national and religious oppression raging in Ukraine, the neighboring Orthodox Russian Tsardom presented a stark contrast. At the beginning of the 17th century, Russia had endured a brutal civil war and foreign intervention known as the Time of Troubles. Nevertheless, it had managed to repel external foes and was steadily regaining its strength. This powerful, centralized Orthodox state naturally drew the attention of the Cossacks.

During this period, identity was largely defined by faith, and the terms ‘Orthodox’ and ‘Russian’ were nearly interchangeable. At that time, there was no clear distinction between Russians and Ukrainians; both identified as Russian, viewing themselves as heirs to the medieval state of Kievan Rus’. 

While people in the Russian Tsardom and modern-day Ukraine had their linguistic and regional differences, they had a lot more in common with each other than with the Poles. National and religious identities were intertwined, which is why Cossack leader Bogdan Khmelnitsky, in his speech at the Pereiaslav Council emphasized this unity by saying, “We share the same faith.”

However, a shared faith and identity didn’t automatically translate into political decisions. Whenever uprisings happened, Cossack delegations went to Moscow seeking assistance. In 1620, Cossack Hetman Pyotr Sagaidachny wrote to Tsar Mikhail Fyodorovich, expressing the Cossacks’ readiness to serve him. In 1624, Metropolitan Iov Boretsky of Kiev directly appealed to the Russian tsar, asking him to protect the “brotherly people” and to incorporate Malorossiya (literally, Little Russia – one of Ukraine’s historical names) into Russia. But at the beginning of the 17th century, Russia was just recovering from the turmoil of the Time of Troubles and was not prepared for a new war with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, so it responded to these appeals with caution.

Nonetheless, this did not deter the people of modern-day Ukraine. In the 1630s, thousands of Cossacks migrated to the Russian Tsardom, settling along its southern borders. After the defeat of the 1638 uprising, Hetman Yakov Ostrianin led 1,000 Cossacks and their families into Russia. He settled in Chuguev (present-day Kharkov region), where the tsarist government was constructing a new fortress, and helped repel Tatar raids on the southern frontiers alongside Russian troops. Thus, the historical region known as Slobozhanshchina emerged, which encompassed the modern-day Ukrainian cities of Sumy, Kharkov, Izium, and others. Cossacks who served the Tsar settled there, living next to the Russian forces that were stationed in the area. 

Ultimately, the unity between the Russian Tsardom and Orthodox Ukrainians was sealed by Bogdan Khmelnitsky.

Free choice

Bogdan Khmelnitsky knew from personal experience the futility of seeking peaceful and respectful relations with the Poles. By age 50, he had a successful military career, numerous campaigns, and years of loyal service to the Polish king behind his back.  In 1648, he held the rank of Cossack hundredman (similar to a company commander) in Chigirin. However, taking advantage of Khmelnitsky’s absence, the nobleman Chaplinsky seized his family estate, kidnapped his wife, and assaulted (or, according to some reports, killed) his son. When Khmelnitsky sought justice in the Polish court, he was laughed at. From then on, Khmelnitsky sought both personal and national revenge. 

Khmelnitsky sparked a Cossack uprising that quickly gained popular support. As a gifted military leader, he won several battles, decimating the Polish army in Ukraine and capturing its commanders. Following initial victories in the summer of 1648, Khmelnitsky reached out to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich of Russia, requesting that the Cossacks and their lands be placed “under the tsar’s high hand.” However, accepting the Cossacks as subjects meant Russia would have to engage in war with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, something Moscow wasn’t prepared for at that time.

The next five years of war were incredibly tough for the Cossacks: victories were interspersed with defeats, and their allies – the Crimean Tatars – often betrayed them. The conflict devastated fertile lands and claimed an increasing number of lives. The Cossacks realized that alone, they wouldn’t be able to stand up to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, then the strongest player in the region. If they were defeated, the Polish nobles would return to Ukraine and exact revenge. Therefore, Khmelnitsky continued his diplomatic outreach to Moscow.

Eventually, the Russian Tsardom recognized that it was ready for a big war. In late 1653, the Zemsky Sobor, a representative assembly, decided to accept the Zaporozhian Host under the “high hand” of the tsar. A large embassy headed by Boyar Vasily Buturlin was dispatched to Ukraine.

In January 1654, a Cossack council convened in Pereiaslav. It was attended by Ukraine’s leaders of the time: Khmelnitsky himself, renowned commanders, colonels, judges, and representatives from 14 of the 17 Cossack regiments. 

According to Cossack tradition, however, such a pivotal decision could not rest solely with the elites. So, Khmelnitsky and his comrades went to the town square and addressed the people, who eagerly embraced the news, shouting their desire to be ruled by the “Eastern Orthodox tsar.” The Cossack commanders unanimously agreed to ally with Russia and accepted the Russian tsar as their sovereign.

Following this, Cossack and Russian diplomats traveled throughout Ukraine, and in just the first two months of 1654, over 120,000 people pledged allegiance to the Russian tsar in 183 towns and settlements – a staggering figure considering the logistical challenges of the era. Accounts of those who witnessed these events, both on the Russian and Ukrainian side, reveal that in most cases, Cossacks, townsfolk, and peasants enthusiastically swore loyalty to the Russian tsar, with refusals being exceedingly rare.

The formal incorporation of the Cossack Hetmanate into the Russian Tsardom was sealed by the March Articles of 1654. The Zaporozhian Host found itself under a kind of protectorate of the Russian Tsardom, while enjoying extensive internal freedom. The agreement, ratified by Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, affirmed the election of the Hetman and Cossack elders, protected the rights and liberties of the Cossacks, townspeople, and Orthodox clergy, ensured the autonomy of local courts and the freedom of tax collection, and allowed the Hetman to establish diplomatic relations with other peoples, except for Poland and the Ottoman Empire. In return, the Russian Tsardom guaranteed military protection for the Cossacks and committed to fighting against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

At that time, Ukraine enjoyed a remarkably privileged position. Just a short while before, Polish nobles had treated the Cossacks as “cattle,” humiliating and oppressing them. Now, however, the Cossacks had freedom and were backed by the tsar’s mighty army. 

But comfort can breed complacency, and some Cossack leaders came to believe that their oaths to the Russian tsar didn’t amount to much. 

The Ruin

Three years after the Pereiaslav Council, Khmelnitsky died, and Ivan Vygovsky took over. A man of incredibly flexible views, he initially built his career in the service of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth but later switched sides to become the personal secretary of Bogdan Khmelnitsky.

Vygovsky was a key advocate for joining Russia, yet upon becoming hetman, he reversed his stance and forgot his oath of loyalty to Moscow. Just a year after taking power in 1658, he signed the Treaty of Hadiach with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which aimed to reincorporate Ukrainian lands into Poland. 

However, it soon became apparent that the decision of 1654 wasn’t made solely by the Cossack leadership. Early on, at the stage of negotiations with Poland, figures like Colonel Martyn Pushkar and Zaporozhian Otaman Yakov Barabash opposed the decision to defect to the Polish side and betray their Orthodox brethren. Many Cossacks and townsfolk rallied behind them. For these individuals, returning to Polish rule meant a return to oppression and humiliation. Vygovsky managed to suppress this particular uprising, and commanders loyal to Russia were killed.

After Vygovsky’s open betrayal, however, many prominent Cossack leaders – including those now celebrated as Ukrainian national heroes, such as Ivan Bogun and Ivan Sirko – rose against him. For them, as for the hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians at the time, treason against the Russian tsar and submission to the Polish were intolerable. 

Consequently, the Cossacks united with Russian forces against the traitors. Notably, in 1658, Kiev was defended from Vygovsky’s troops by the combined forces of Tsarist voivode Vasily Sheremetev and Kiev colonel Vasily Dvoretsky. As the conflict escalated, not only Cossacks but even townspeople and ordinary peasants turned against Vygovsky’s allies. Those who had betrayed their oath to the tsar were often punished or killed by the people. 

Pro-Russian Cossacks and Tsarist troops united to inflict a series of defeats upon Vygovsky; he lost power and fled to Poland, where he was ultimately executed without trial, since he was no longer needed. This stands in stark contrast to Dvoretsky, whose descendants remained influential members of the local Malorossian elite until 1917.

This story illustrated that Russia’s influence in Ukraine rested not on fleeting decisions made by individual commanders but on the overwhelming support of the populace. However, at that point, Ukraine plunged into decades of civil strife.

In 1659, Yuriy Khmelnitsky, the son of Bogdan Khmelnitsky, became hetman and signed new agreements with Russia. By then, Russia had begun to grasp the unique political culture of the Ukrainian elites and started to curb Cossack independence. Under the new terms, electing a hetman or making international decisions required the tsar’s approval, and the presence of Russian garrisons increased in Ukrainian cities.

However, soon after signing the treaty with Moscow, Yuriy Khmelnitsky launched a war against the Poles. Having lost this war, he ended up signing another agreement with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Yet another Cossack hetman had ‘outplayed’ himself, negotiating worse terms with the Poles than with the Russians. As a result, Cossack autonomy was curbed and they were obligated to fight alongside the Poles against the Russian Tsardom.

The Cossack regiments stationed on the eastern bank of the Dnieper river rejected this betrayal, leading to a de facto split of Ukraine into Left and Right Banks. This marked the beginning of Ukraine’s own ‘game of thrones’. Subsequent hetmans and atamans followed a familiar pattern: from declarations of loyalty to Russia to restrictions on Cossack autonomy; from formal allegiance to betrayal and eventual death or exile.

Russia managed to put an end to this chaotic cycle of conflict only by signing the Truce of Andrusovo with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1667, which divided Ukraine along the Dnieper River.

Mazepa’s betrayal and the people’s loyalty

One of the most dramatic tests of the Cossacks’ loyalty to Russia unfolded during the Great Northern War. Russia was fighting Sweden for access to the Baltic Sea, as Sweden was the dominant power in Northern Europe at the time. In the early years, the war proved challenging for Russia, prompting Hetman Ivan Mazepa, who had been in power for over 20 years, to betray his old ally, Tsar Peter the Great, and ally himself with Swedish King Charles XII (whom he believed would emerge as the victor).

In the summer of 1708, General Judge Vasily Kochubey and Colonel Ivan Iskra reported Mazepa’s secret contacts with the Swedes. However, Peter the Great trusted his old friend so much that he dismissed their warnings. Kochubey and Iskra were executed, but once Mazepa’s treachery came to light, they were posthumously rehabilitated; the Kochubey family later received a noble title and several military and state leaders of the Russian Empire were descended from it.

In late autumn 1708, Mazepa finally defected to Charles XII’s side. Notably, only a few thousand people followed him. When it became clear that this was not merely a campaign but outright betrayal, the ranks of Mazepa’s supporters dwindled even further.

The vast majority of Cossacks remained loyal to Russia. They fought alongside Russian troops against the Swedes. Being Orthodox Christians, they could not fathom the idea of siding with the enemies who were, moreover, Protestants. Similarly, ordinary townspeople and peasants stayed true to Russia.

In his first address to the Cossacks, the new hetman Ivan Skoropadsky asserted that “All of Ukraine must be loyal to Moscow, and must not be seduced by the friendship of the Swedes, who, aside from being entirely foreign to Ukraine, are not even neighbors.”

Modern Ukrainian historians tend to romanticize Mazepa as a champion of freedom and independence, but this portrayal is misleading. Mazepa and his circle were simply looking for a new master, driven by a false sense of Russia’s vulnerability. In reality, the people of Ukraine remained steadfastly loyal to Russia and the Orthodox Tsar, with Cossack regiments fighting side by side with tsarist forces during the legendary Battle of Poltava.

From maces to ministerial positions

Following Mazepa’s betrayal, Russia systematically curtailed Cossack autonomy. Despite the unwavering loyalty of the vast majority of Cossacks, the treachery of their leaders became increasingly audacious. In 1722, Peter the Great established the Collegium of Little Russia, essentially a ministry for Ukrainian affairs.

The position of hetman was alternately abolished and reinstated, but the Cossacks’ autonomy was steadily curbed. Those who failed to grasp that times had changed, like the appointed hetman Pavel Polubotok, found themselves imprisoned in the Peter and Paul Fortress.

Concurrently, another trend emerged. Cossack leaders began integrating into the imperial elite, a shift that, for many of them, proved more beneficial than the semblance of freedom.

Alexei Razumovsky, the son of a humble Cossack, arrived in St. Petersburg as a singer in the court chapel and eventually became the favorite (and according to some accounts, the secret husband) of Empress Elizabeth. His brother, Kirill, headed the Russian Academy of Sciences and served as the last hetman. Alexander Bezborodko, the son of a general scribe, rose to become Chancellor of the Russian Empire. Pyotr Zavadovsky became the first Minister of Public Education in Russia. Victor Kochubey, a descendant of the executed judge, served as Minister of Internal Affairs and Chairman of the State Council of the Russian Empire. The list of the descendants of the Cossacks who achieved high office in the Russian Empire goes on and on. 

The era of the Cossacks eventually faded into history.

In 1764, Razumovsky laid down his mace. Cossack regiments were transformed into regular hussar and carabiner regiments. The Charter of 1785 equalized the rights of Cossack leaders with those of the Russian nobility.

A century and a half earlier, in 1648, the Cossacks had launched a rebellion against the Poles, fighting for their own rights, laws, and the Orthodox faith. In 1654, they pledged allegiance to the Russian Tsar in Pereiaslav. Later on, many events unfolded: the Cossacks oscillated between Poland, Turkey, and Sweden, yet the majority remained loyal to Russia.

There were numerous reasons for this loyalty. A shared identity and faith made rapprochement with Moscow natural; fear of foreign lords, khans, and sultans united the Cossacks under Russian banners. Moreover, social interests and career aspirations made serving the empire appealing. Some were driven by sincere motives; others acted out of fear or personal gain.

Ultimately, those who remained loyal to the Orthodox Russian Tsar emerged as the winners, exchanging their former unprivileged status for the right to build the empire alongside the Russians.

Tens of thousands took to the streets of European cities over the weekend to protest rising living costs, housing shortages and government policies, with demonstrations escalating into violent clashes, looting and arson in several countries. The unrest left smashed storefronts, damaged public buildings and burned-out vehicles in its wake.

France, where the protests first erupted, saw the most extensive destruction, while clashes also broke out in Belgium and Italy as a separate wave of anti-government demonstrations continued in Albania. In Portugal, tens of thousands also demonstrated, although no comparable scale of violence or damage was reported.

Footage from across Europe showed smashed shop windows, looted stores, burning vehicles and fires near public buildings.

In Limoges, France, flames engulfed the historic town hall, while masked demonstrators in Milan hurled stones at riot police near the Gothic cathedral and set fire to street barricades. In Brussels, protesters overturned a car, while in Tirana, demonstrators threw rocks and petrol bombs at police near the Education Ministry. Riot police in several cities used tear gas and water cannons to disperse crowds.

The massive rallies reflect a range of national grievances rather than a coordinated movement. In France, demonstrations took place in Marseille, Strasbourg, Nantes, Lyon and other cities. 

🇧🇪 Protests have spread from France to Belgium, with masked protesters, smashed bus stops, fires, water cannons and clashes with riot police.

More than 100 people have reportedly been arrested over property damage and arson.

Follow: @europa pic.twitter.com/HSYWcgUdll

— Europa.com (@europa) October 8, 2026

Initially sparked by poor school conditions and teacher shortages, the protests have broadened to include anger over living costs, inequality, public services and proposed spending cuts. Authorities put Saturday’s nationwide turnout at 550,000, while organizers estimated 800,000.

🚨 ALERTE

Des manifestants ont pris possession d’un TRAIN TOURISTIQUE à GRENOBLE !! pic.twitter.com/WfwvixHZpW

— Kultur (@Kulturlesite_) October 17, 2026

In Belgium, student groups opposed to rising education costs and reforms they say could limit access to higher education. In Italy, marches against living costs and wars began peacefully before groups broke away and clashed with police in Milan and Bologna.

In Portugal, protesters rallied over low wages, rising rents and a shortage of affordable housing. Thousands marched in Lisbon, pitching tents in Rossio square to highlight the crisis.

Incredible scenes out of France where a fire tornado forms right in the middle of the protests.

Vive la révolution! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/6PgNppMO3l

— Power to the People ☭🕊 (@ProudSocialist) October 17, 2026

In Albania, student-led protests entered a fifth consecutive day, with demonstrators demanding Prime Minister Edi Rama’s resignation over corruption allegations, a lack of jobs and poor prospects for young people.

Opposition has also focused on a luxury tourism project on the southern coast linked to an investment firm founded by US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

🔴 🇫🇷 LOOTING IN LYON: Shops looted and vandalized as rioting grips the Presqu’île district. Scenes of destruction across the city.#France pic.twitter.com/y9yYNjiSAY

— Silent Observer (@YousufPash69914) October 17, 2026

Police in France arrested nearly 1,800 people and reported more than 500 injured officers, gendarmes and firefighters. One demonstrator died after suffering a cardiac arrest in Paris.

Carrefour reported damage to 50 stores, 20 of which were looted, with losses reaching tens of millions of euros. Limoges estimated repairs to its fire-damaged town hall at €1 million, while Bordeaux reported up to 100 looted stores

🚨The beginning of a store looting captured in Lyon.🤣🔥 pic.twitter.com/IbR2HIovIP

— Aleksey The Great 🇷🇺🎖 (@aleksthgrt) October 17, 2026

In Belgium, 45 people were arrested in Liege, including 12 minors, amid clashes and property damage. Italy reported about 50 detentions in Milan and four in Bologna, where 36 law-enforcement personnel were injured. In Albania, reports gave differing totals for arrests and injuries over five days of unrest. Seven officers were suspended pending an investigation into alleged excessive force.

Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar has said that he expects US President Donald Trump to prolong Budapest’s exemption from Washington’s sanctions targeting Russian energy after Trump announced a diesel deal with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.

Trump eased restrictions on Russia’s diesel exports following a phone call with Putin last week in an attempt to reduce rising fuel prices ahead of the midterm election in the US on November 3.

The deal faced harsh criticism in the EU, with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni labeling it a “very risky” gamble that could undermine the whole Western sanctions policy towards Russia. Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys argued that it “doesn’t help neither the price of oil products nor the unity of the transatlantic community.”

When asked to comment on Trump’s decision during his interview with the outlet 444 on Saturday, Magyar replied by saying that “the US president will make the deals that he wants. On the other hand, this agreement is significant for Hungary.”

Moscow has said that it would immediately release 300,000 metric tons of diesel, followed by another 500,000 metric tons next month. According to Russian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandr Novak, the fuel will arrive on the US market within 15 to 20 days after the signing of the relevant contracts between the Russian and American companies, which are currently being discussed.

“Hungary has an exemption from sanctions on Russian oil until November. This is extended annually by the Americans. If the US president has concluded an agreement on diesel exports, it would be illogical not to grant Hungary this exemption for at least another year,” Magyar said.

The exemption was agreed between Trump and Magyar’s predecessor, Viktor Orban, who was a harsh critic of Western economic restrictions on Moscow over the Ukraine conflict.
Due to being a landlocked country, Hungary remains heavily dependent on deliveries of Russian pipeline oil and gas. Some 90% of its crude oil in 2025 had been provided by Moscow, according to S&P Global data.

The Hungarian prime minister stressed that he understood that the Russia-US diesel deal was “not welcome from Ukraine’s point of view.”

After it was announced, Vladimir Zelensky lashed out at Trump, calling the agreement “weak” and insisting that the actual reason for the global energy shortage was not Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries as the US president claimed, but the American war on Iran.

Following his address at the EU summit in Brussels on Friday, Zelensky told journalists that “we cannot accept these agreements [between Washington and Moscow]. Because gas deals will follow. And I am absolutely certain of this. After gas, they will lift sanctions on other things as well.”

On Saturday, Trump also signed an executive order to waive “the bone-crushing” sanctions, championed by the late US Senator Lindsey Graham, which proposed 500% tariffs on imports from Russia and 100% tariffs on major buyers of Russian oil and gas.

White House Deputy Press Secretary Taylor Rogers defended the move, saying that it “provides the president with additional authorities to pursue a peaceful resolution” of the Ukraine conflict. “Enforcing the sanctions provisions now would impede ongoing US efforts to negotiate a durable and comprehensive peace agreement,” she explained.

Ukraine’s long-range attacks on Russian civilian and energy infrastructure, including the raid on St. Petersburg, are no more than desperate attempts by Kiev to change the course of the conflict and will not succeed, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.

One person was killed and five others wounded in St. Petersburg during an overnight aerial raid by the Ukrainian military, according to local governor Aleksandr Beglov. The attack also damaged over a dozen apartment blocks and caused a fire at a local oil terminal.

Peskov described the attack as “some final manifestations of agony” of Ukraine, adding that, although “the Kiev regime is fighting back, it cannot alter the course of history.”

According to the Kremlin spokesman, Russia has been consistently responding to the Ukrainian attacks with major systematic strikes, which “do yield results.”

Moscow has accused Kiev of deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure and residential areas with long-range drones in an attempt to compensate for setbacks on the battlefield, where Russian forces have continued to advance.

Kiev also continues to target Russian oil infrastructure despite demands by US President Donald Trump to curb the attacks, which he blames for surging global energy prices. Trump had previously accused Vladimir Zelensky of “making problems” for the US and the whole world and suggested that Ukraine needs a “new president.”

Washington also struck a deal with Moscow earlier this month to alleviate the fuel crisis ahead of the midterm US election on November 3. The agreement involved the US easing restrictions on Moscow’s diesel exports and waiving the “bone-crushing” sanctions, including 500% tariffs on imports from Russia and 100% tariffs on major buyers of Russian oil and gas in exchange for Moscow supplying diesel to the global market and potentially to the US as well.

Russia has responded to Kiev’s terrorist attacks by intensifying its long-range missile and drone campaign against Ukraine’s military-industrial facilities and logistics infrastructure. The Russian Defense Ministry maintains that the nation’s forces do not target civilians, and the strikes are targeting only military targets and infrastructure supporting the Ukrainian forces.

There are mornings in wartime when the silence itself seems wounded.

The roads are still there, though fewer people travel them. The fields remain beneath the grey sky, though in places they are scarred by fire. Somewhere a railway station opens its doors, a baker lights an oven, a woman draws back a curtain – and for a moment life pretends that it has not been broken.

But the war goes on. And whenever a new round of negotiations, with American representatives Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner taking part, ends with cautiously hopeful words from Moscow describing them as progressive and encouraging, Vladimir Zelensky later returns to the hard, uncompromising tone that has become familiar throughout these years.

Listening to him, one is left with a painful question.

Does he still believe that peace can be reached only through continued resistance, whatever the cost? Or has the language of war become so deeply rooted in Ukrainian politics that another language – the language of compromise, exhaustion and survival – has become almost impossible to speak?

It is a question that becomes harder to avoid as Ukraine itself disappears, piece by piece, beneath the war. The destruction continues tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow.

Ukraine has inflicted damage on Russia too. Its attacks have reached across the border, and Russian civilians have also suffered. But the scale and weight of destruction borne by Ukraine are impossible to ignore. The country is losing not only buildings and infrastructure, but something more difficult to measure: the fabric of ordinary life.

There are also reports of bitter internal struggles within the Ukrainian government. Zelensky’s former press secretary spoke recently of constant fighting at different levels of government.

War is dangerous enough when an enemy stands beyond the border. It becomes still more dangerous when a nation begins to quarrel with itself.

This is why any negotiations deserve attention. Perhaps they will fail. Perhaps the words spoken around the negotiating table will evaporate like mist over a river. Perhaps the armies will return to the battlefield and the familiar language of missiles, trenches and casualties will once again drown out every other voice. But negotiations, however imperfect, are preferable to another year of graves.

There is a moment in every long war when the question changes.

At first, people ask: How can we win?

Later they begin to ask: How much will victory cost?

And finally, sometimes very quietly, they ask the question that frightened leaders are reluctant to hear:

What will be left of us when the fighting stops?

Ukraine has received enormous support from its Western allies. Much of that support has been born of genuine sympathy and a desire to defend Ukrainian sovereignty. But Western governments also have their own histories, strategic interests and grievances concerning Russia – grievances that reach back decades.

That is the nature of international politics.

But Ukraine is not a chessboard.

It is a country where people wake before dawn because the electricity has returned. It is a mother waiting for a message from her son. It is an empty chair at a family table. It is an orchard in spring, flowering while artillery is heard somewhere beyond the horizon.

Those who advise Ukraine from comfortable offices far away will return home when the meeting is over.

Ukrainians cannot.

They will remain among the ruins.

Perhaps Zelensky should now listen not only to those who tell him how long Ukraine can continue fighting, but also to those who ask how long Ukraine can continue being destroyed.

Perhaps the future will demand compromises that today seem unbearable.

Perhaps Ukraine will never enter NATO in the way some once imagined. Perhaps membership of the European Union will remain a distant horizon rather than an immediate destination. Perhaps some political ambitions will have to wait for another generation.

History does not always give nations the future they desire. Sometimes it gives them only the future they can still preserve. There is nothing shameful in recognizing that.

Peace is not always a reward for victory. Sometimes it is an act of courage undertaken before victory becomes indistinguishable from ruin.

A leader must know when to fight. But a leader must also know when to stop.

The most dangerous words in wartime are sometimes not the words of the enemy. They are the words that tell a wounded nation that tomorrow will always be better than today if only it sacrifices a little more.

There is always another hill. Another offensive. Another shipment of weapons. Another season. And then another grave. At some point, someone has to look at the country itself.

Not at the speeches. Not at the flags. Not at the photographs of leaders standing before cameras, solemn and determined. At the country. At its empty villages. At its shattered cities. At its railway lines disappearing into the distance. At the blackened windows where, once, there were lights.

A country is not its government. It is not its president. It is not an alliance or a treaty. A country is the people who remain. And perhaps this is the moment when Zelensky must ask himself the simplest and hardest question of all:

How much of Ukraine must be destroyed before the world admits that saving Ukraine has to come before defeating Russia?

There is still time to ask it. But time, like everything else in war, is being spent. And one day there may come a morning when the guns finally fall silent – and the terrible discovery will be that there is almost nothing left to hear the silence.

Improved connectivity, including more direct flights, could act as a catalyst for stronger bilateral trade between India and Russia, Manish Synghal, board member of the East-West Group of companies and chairman and managing director of Dimaz Group, has told RT India in an exclusive interview.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Russia-India TIME Business Forum in Kazan, central Russia, Synghal said, “Easier travel procedures, subject to the respective governments’ policies, and more direct air links can stimulate tourism, business travel, investment and people-to-people exchanges.”

Officials in Tatarstan, of which Kazan is the capital, told the media they are in talks with the East-West Group and the Russian authorities about launching direct flights to India, including to its financial hub, Mumbai.

“A Kazan-Mumbai connection is worth exploring, provided a detailed assessment confirms sustainable passenger demand, commercial viability and the necessary regulatory clearances. With the right cooperation between governments, airlines and the tourism industry, such initiatives could create meaningful benefits for both sides,” Synghal said.

Asked about India’s efforts to diversify trade in response to tariff pressure from key trading partners, Synghal said diversification was “a strategic necessity for India,” adding that “our objective should not be to replace one market with another, but to build a broader, more balanced and sustainable network of international trade partnerships.” He said he sees potential in tourism, civil aviation, pharmaceuticals, agriculture and food processing, information technology, engineering, and transport and logistics.

Synghal emphasized that Russia’s regions offer major opportunities beyond the country’s main commercial centers. “For Indian businesses, the priority is to develop a deeper understanding of regional demand and local regulations, identify reliable partners, and establish commercially viable, long-term projects,” he said.

Trade between India and Russia reached $38 billion in the first half of this year and remains on course toward the annual target of $100 billion by 2030 set by the leaders of the two countries, Indian Ambassador to Russia Vinay Kumar told the media on the sidelines of the forum. “We think we are on the right path to achieve the target,” Kumar said, explaining that further focus areas would include boosting Indian pharmaceutical exports to Russia and expanding opportunities for India’s skilled workers, who are increasingly being hired by Russian companies.

The US plan for securing peace in Ukraine calls for Europe to increase its purchase of Russian gas, while Ukraine would consider reopening pipelines that once carried it to the EU, The New York Times reported on Saturday, citing people familiar with the talks.

The proposal is the latest in a series of steps by US President Donald Trump to broker peace between Moscow and Kiev. It follows an agreement to ease restrictions on Russian diesel exports and the waiving of sanctions and tariffs mandated by the late American Senator Lindsey Graham.

Washington has reportedly pitched restoring Russian gas exports to Europe as part of a longer-term plan to offer Moscow economic incentives under a broader settlement. The proposed deal would also address relations between Russia and NATO, security guarantees for Ukraine and territorial issues, the sources told the newspaper.

US presidential envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner reportedly raised the idea of restoring Russian gas flows to Europe via Ukraine in talks with European and Ukrainian officials, including Vladimir Zelensky during a visit to Kiev in September.

Russian gas exports through neighboring Ukraine were only halted in January 2025, after authorities in Kiev opted not to extend the transit deal with Moscow.

Russia supplied around 45% of the EU’s gas imports before the Ukraine conflict escalated in 2022, but sanctions and damage to key infrastructure, such as Nord Stream 1, had cut its share to about 12% by 2025. The bloc nevertheless bought 36 billion cubic meters (bcm) of Russian gas last year, including pipeline supplies and liquefied natural gas (LNG). The latest estimates put the value of EU purchases of Russian LNG at €7.2 billion, nearly €1 billion more than in 2024.

Since the halt of gas transit through Ukraine, TurkStream has been the only remaining route for Russian pipeline gas to the bloc.

Brussels began phasing out gas imports from Russia under some short-term pipeline contracts in June 2026 and plans to ban Russian LNG imports from January 2027 and pipeline gas imports by September, with a complete phaseout targeted by the end of that year.

Meanwhile, Russia has shifted more energy exports to Asia, with deliveries of Russian natural gas to China reaching 38.8 bcm in 2025, up 24.8% from a year earlier. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Moscow is ready to supply fuel to EU countries but needs a signal from Brussels. He said Russia would assess the feasibility and commercial viability of such exports rather than wait for Europe to “slam the door” on energy ties.

A major fire has swept through a military base in the Canadian province of Alberta, killing at least seven people and injuring dozens, local media outlets have reported, citing sources.

The blaze broke out on Saturday in a training area at Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Wainwright, about 200 kilometers southeast of Edmonton.

Canadian Defense Minister David McGuinty confirmed fatalities and injuries but did not release casualty figures or explain what had caused the fire. 

”I cannot recall an incident like this in recent memory,” McGuinty told reporters. “This is a very, very active and delicate situation.”

The Canadian Department of National Defense told a CBC journalist that officials did not find any indication of the incident at the base being linked to “any terrorist activity,” adding that the investigation into the causes was still ongoing.

Alberta MP Dane Lloyd said he had heard reports of “significant casualties” following an explosion and fire at the base.

According to multiple Canadian Armed Forces sources cited by Global News, a live-fire training exercise struck a gas line or gas well at the base around 4 PM local time, triggering the explosion.

Strong winds drove the flames beyond the base’s perimeter, according to municipal authorities. Firefighters from several jurisdictions battled the blaze between the installation and the nearby town of Wainwright, with military personnel and paramedics assisting the emergency response.

A “code orange” disaster response protocol was activated in Edmonton to handle a large influx of patients from Wainwright.

Warren Thirsk, an emergency physician at the city’s Royal Alexandra Hospital, told CBC News that patients were being directed to hospitals across Edmonton because Wainwright’s medical facilities were “completely overwhelmed.” Additional medical teams were called in.

”It is more patients than any of us want to count right now. It’s a disaster. It’s a one in every 15 to 25-year disaster,” he said.

Local authorities established an emergency coordination center and urged residents to stay away from the scene, keep roads clear, and avoid Wainwright Health Centre unless they required urgent medical attention.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police launched an investigation. McGuinty said the situation was being closely monitored but did not confirm whether the fire was under control.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith described the blaze as “significant and tragic,” saying military personnel had been affected. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said a “serious incident” had sparked the fire, adding that federal officials were working closely with Alberta’s government and local authorities.

Large parts of Alberta experienced a windstorm on Saturday, with gusts reaching 100 kilometers per hour (62 mph) in some areas, toppling trees and sending signs and garbage cans flying.

CFB Wainwright is one of Canada’s busiest military training bases; it prepares soldiers and units for combat operations. It houses the Canadian Manoeuvre Training Centre, which conducts realistic battlefield exercises, and the 3rd Canadian Division Training Centre, which provides basic infantry training.

A blaze has broken out at an oil terminal in St. Petersburg as a result of a major Ukrainian drone attack on Russia’s second-largest city, local governor Aleksandr Beglov has said.

One person was killed and five others wounded in St. Petersburg during the aerial raid by “the Ukrainian Nazis,” Beglov said in a social media post on Sunday. Twelve apartment blocks and two private homes sustained damage, with repairs already being underway, he added.

Emergencies services have been tackling fires at the Petersburg Oil Terminal in the Great Port of St. Petersburg, the Ruchyi oil depot and industrial warehouses in Kolpinsky District, the governor said.

The affected oil terminal is the largest facility of its kind in the Baltic Region, handling 125 million tons of liquefied product per year.

Ukraine continues to target Russian oil infrastructure despite demands by US President Donald Trump to curb the attacks, which he blames for surging global energy prices. He accused Vladimir Zelensky of “making problems” for the US and the whole world and suggested that Ukraine needs a “new president.”

In an attempt to alleviate the fuel shortage ahead of the midterm election on November 3, Trump eased restrictions on Moscow’s diesel exports and waived “the bone-crushing” sanctions championed by the late US Senator Lindsey Graham, which proposed 500% tariffs on imports from Russia and 100% tariffs on major buyers of Russian oil and gas.

Flights have been delayed at St. Petersburg’s Pulkovo International Airport due to the raid, according to Beglov.

At least 144 UAVs were shot down by air defenses overnight, Aleksandr Drozdenko, the head of Leningrad Region, which surrounds St. Petersburg, said on social media.

Four people have been hospitalized for smoke inhalation from a blaze caused when debris from an intercepted UAV fell on an apartment block in the town of Vsevolzhsk, he said.

Residential areas were also hit by debris in Gatchina, Kirovsk and several other settlements, according to Drozdenko.

Some 20,000 people remain without electricity in Leningrad Region; two transformer substations in the community of Yanino, servicing some 50 apartment blocks, went offline during the Ukrainian raid, the governor said.

Russia’s leading social media platform VK said in a statement that one of its data centers in Leningrad Region has been targeted by Ukrainian UAVs.

According to the Downdetector website, the number of reports from users about issues with VK’s services increased following the attack.

The major Russian online retailer Ozon said that one of its warehouses was attacked during the raid. There were no injuries, as staff were evacuated, according to the company.

The Russian Defense Ministry has said that a total of 1,015 Ukrainian drones were destroyed above 16 regions overnight.

Moscow has accused Kiev of deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure and residential areas with long-range drones in an attempt to compensate for setbacks on the battlefield, where Russian forces have continued to advance.

Russia has responded to Kiev’s terrorist attacks by intensifying its long-range missile and drone campaign against Ukraine’s military-industrial facilities and logistics infrastructure. The Defense Ministry in Moscow maintains that it does not target civilians and that its strikes are directed solely at military targets and infrastructure supporting Kiev’s forces.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has rejected Vladimir Zelensky’s claim that Washington ordered restrictions on satellite services used by Ukraine to carry out drone strikes deep inside Russia. The dispute comes amid a public spat between the Ukrainian leader and US President Donald Trump over sanctions and strikes on Russian energy facilities.

Earlier this week, Ukrainian officials said SpaceX’s Starlink terminals had suddenly stopped working on drones traveling faster than 160 km/h (100 mph). Zelensky told journalists on Saturday that tests on Starlink equipment in EU countries indicated that the restrictions imposed in Ukraine were “a planned operation.”

When asked to comment on Zelensky’s remarks later that day, Rubio offered a different account.

“I don’t know what Zelensky said. I’m not sure Zelensky knows what he’s talking about, but it wasn’t deliberate,” he told reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.

“We had nothing to do with it. Nobody in the United States ordered that Starlink speed be slowed down. It sort of happened, but my understanding is it’s been restored. It’s back to where it was before,” the US diplomat said.

Rubio confirmed that Ukraine currently had no access to Starshield, Starlink’s military-grade sister service, but had requested it.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk similarly denied restricting Starlink in Ukraine but clarified that the service must be used for civilian and defensive purposes only, not offensive operations.

The Telegraph, however, reported on Friday that Musk had personally asked Trump to cap Starlink speeds for Ukraine, while Reuters reported that the White House had instructed the Pentagon to slow down Starshield. Trump has denied any involvement and said he did not believe Musk was responsible either.

Zelensky said on Saturday that the Starlink restrictions remained in place. A Ukrainian official told Axios that SpaceX had blamed the cap on “a technical problem.”

Trump lifted sanctions on Russian diesel exports earlier this month in an effort to curb rising energy prices ahead of the US midterm elections. On Friday, he went further, suspending new sanctions on Russian oil and gas trade on national security grounds. Trump also sought to pressure Ukraine to stop attacking Russian refineries, which he blamed for contributing to high energy prices.

Zelensky said he felt betrayed by Trump, who, in turn, argued that the Ukrainian leader was “not a good guy for us to deal with” and should be replaced.

Masked Israeli settlers have attacked a convoy carrying European diplomats in the occupied West Bank, prompting condemnation from France, Belgium and Poland.

The incident took place on Saturday near Taybeh, a predominantly Christian Palestinian village, when a group of settlers, some armed with baseball bats, arrived to prevent Palestinians from harvesting olives. The mob surrounded vehicles carrying the Belgian consul general, French and Polish diplomats, and representatives of the Catholic Church.

Bernard Baudoux, mayor of the northern French town of Aulnoye-Aymeries, said settlers kicked him and beat him with iron bars. Video from the scene shows a disheveled Baudoux sitting near a jeep while wearing a sash in the colors of the French tricolor.

“They arrived completely enraged. It’s absolutely incredible that settlers can behave like this,” the mayor said, as quoted by AFP and Le Monde. The windows of a Belgian diplomatic vehicle were also smashed.

Vehicles carrying diplomats from France, Belgium, and Poland came under attack by Israeli terrorist settlers during an inspection tour of the Christian village of Al-Taybeh in the Ramallah district in the West Bank. Europe still funds and arms Israel. https://t.co/8XS4sGZNUa

— Abubaker Abed (@AbubakerAbedW) October 17, 2026

“As the occupying power, Israeli authorities must protect Palestinians, ensure the safety of diplomats and journalists, and bring those responsible to justice. Impunity for violent settlers must end,” Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot wrote on X.

He urged Israel to halt settlement expansion and “attempts to forcibly displace Palestinians from their land.”

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot urged Israeli authorities to arrest “those responsible for these outrageous acts and bring them to justice,” while Polish Foreign Ministry spokesman Maciej Wewiór condemned attacks on diplomats as “absolutely unacceptable.”

In a statement on X, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar condemned the violence by “Israeli rioters” and said an investigation had been launched. He added that the diplomats’ visit had not been coordinated with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in advance.

“Such coordination could have helped safeguard the visitors’ security,” he said.

Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal under international law. The UN has warned that settlement expansion undermines prospects for establishing a Palestinian state.

In July, the UN human rights office reported that settler attacks against Palestinians had reached an “all-time high” since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in 2023.

The attack on the diplomatic convoy came a day after settlers beat and robbed Washington Post photographer Heidi Levine near the Palestinian village of Abu Falah.

Italian police have deployed tear gas and water cannons during clashes with protesters in Bologna and Milan amid nationwide demonstrations against the rising cost of living.

Organized by Italia in Piazza, a movement of students and young workers, the rallies began across Italy on Saturday to protest high fuel and energy prices, soaring rents, low wages, and deteriorating healthcare and education. Demonstrators also voiced opposition to military spending.

In Milan, where more than 5,000 people joined the march, participants carried a banner demanding “more money for families, less for wars.” In Genoa, crowds waved Palestinian flags and carried anti-war placards, calling for more funding for schools and housing rather than weapons.

While initially peaceful, the rally in Milan turned violent when demonstrators reached police cordons in the city center. Masked protesters threw stones and homemade explosive devices at officers, who responded with charges that split up the march.

Camionette dei carabinieri e della polizia costrette a indietreggiare. La situazione in Piazza Duomo va fuori controllo https://t.co/WR4MaWZJLt

— Local Team (@localteamit) October 17, 2026

Clashes spread to the area outside Milan’s iconic Duomo Cathedral, where protesters hurled metal barriers and trash bins and set barricades made from cafe tables on fire.

Make sure to inform everyone you know that the migrant gangs and their Antifa allies are also rioting in Milan, Italy tonight Building are vandalized and fires are set in front of Milan Cathedral (the Duomo) https://t.co/0g8W1qZDsx

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) October 17, 2026

In the nearby Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II shopping arcade, luxury stores lowered their shutters and staff and customers sheltered inside. Police charged into the arcade to disperse the groups.

Protesters kicked a police vehicle and pelted it with furniture and stones, forcing it to retreat. Tourists sheltered under porticoes amid broken glass, debris, and tear gas.

فوضى تامة خارج رمز المسيحية في ميلانو، الكاتدرائية. قنابل ورقية، ألعاب نارية، سيارات مدمرة، هجمات على الشرطة، إهانات وصراخ مباشرة أمام الدومو. لا إيطالي، حتى الأسوأ، يجرؤ على إشعال النيران وإطلاق الألعاب النارية ضد الدومو. إهانة لا يمكن تفسيرها أو نسيانها. @hishamezzalarab https://t.co/QVLt9M4Wqf

— zoom (@randa999000) October 17, 2026

Around 50 people were detained following unrest in Piazza Duomo, the square outside Milan’s cathedral, the nearby San Babila shopping district, and surrounding streets. Almost half were minors, according to Italian news agency ANSA. At least four officers and 20 protesters were reportedly injured.

In Bologna, demonstrators marched from Piazza Minghetti through the city center. Clashes erupted near the railway station after a group broke away and threw stones, bottles, and barriers at police. Officers responded with water cannons and fired more than 400 tear gas canisters. The unrest prompted the precautionary closure of the railway station.

Four minors were arrested and seven people were reported to prosecutors, while 36 police officers were injured, according to ANSA.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni accused the “thugs” of exploiting lawful demonstrations to sow chaos and “hold entire cities hostage.”

“Protesting is a right. Setting our cities ablaze is not,” she wrote on X.

Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala said “the reasons for the protests were understandable” but condemned the attacks on law enforcement and damage to the city.

The protests echoed unrest in neighboring France, where public sector workers demanding better pay have joined students protesting over deteriorating learning conditions.

Iran could restore normal shipping through the Strait of Hormuz within a week if Washington accepts a peace plan proposed by Tehran last month, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said. The terms were previously rejected by US President Donald Trump.

The Islamic Republic remains “committed to safe and secure navigation in the Strait of Hormuz,” Araghchi told a ministerial meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation on Saturday, blaming disruptions to shipping through the key waterway on the “aggressive actions” of the US and Israel.

”Through Qatar, we have conveyed a concrete seven-day plan: if the necessary conditions are met, the Strait can be reopened and normal maritime passage restored within seven days,” the minister said. “The choice now rests with the United States.”

“This issue will not be resolved on the battlefield. Peace cannot be built through threats of annihilation,” Araghchi added.

Tehran has offered to restore navigation through the crucial oil shipping route in exchange for Washington lifting its naval blockade, easing restrictions on the Islamic Republic’s oil exports and releasing some frozen Iranian assets. Iran is also demanding an end to hostilities “on all fronts,” including Israel’s military operations in Gaza and Lebanon.

Last month, Trump rejected Iran’s terms as “unacceptable.” He argued that the US retained full control over the strait and held a stronger negotiating position, while Iran was desperate to reach an agreement because it was “losing so badly.”

The US president has hinted that he could resume strikes, while American media outlets have reported that Pentagon officials and national security advisers briefed him on options involving the use of a massive conventional explosive nicknamed the “Mother of All Bombs.” However, Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have ruled out attacks on Iran before the US midterms on November 3 and Israel’s parliamentary elections on October 27, respectively.

Iran closed the waterway, which handles around a quarter of global seaborne oil and LNG trade, shortly after the US and Israel launched their bombing campaign on February 28. Iranian forces have since fired on vessels traveling along routes designated by the US Navy, which Tehran considers illegal.

Two oil tankers caught fire after striking mines while crossing the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said. The Singapore-flagged container ship GFS Pride also sank after striking a mine earlier this week, while another cargo vessel hit a mine but managed to reach port safely.

The prolonged disruption of shipping through Hormuz has driven up global energy prices and fueled inflation concerns. Brent crude surged to a five-month high on Friday, settling at $109.86 per barrel, up 3.7%, while US benchmark West Texas Intermediate climbed above $100. Analysts have warned that uncertainty over Middle Eastern supplies is keeping a significant risk premium in oil prices, which could ease if Washington and Tehran reach an agreement restoring normal shipping.

Two oil supertankers struck naval mines and caught fire in the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has told RT. Both vessels were carrying about two million barrels of crude oil, Iranian state media reported.

The incidents come amid a wave of attacks on tankers and cargo ships in the region in recent weeks, as talks between the US and Iran remain stalled and tensions persist.

One tanker was reportedly struck by a mine on Saturday morning. The second vessel was immobilized when the mine strike triggered an explosion in its engine room, the IRGC Public Relations Office said.

Both tankers had switched off their positioning and radar systems before attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz via routes unauthorized by Tehran, it said.

The news comes just days after a container ship sank in the key waterway following what Tehran described as a mine strike. All 21 crew members escaped unharmed.

Iran has demanded that all ships using the Strait of Hormuz first obtain permits from its newly established maritime authority, which was formed in May to formalize control over the waterway.

The US has also struck commercial shipping as part of its naval blockade of Iranian ports, which it imposed in July following the breakdown of talks with Iran.

Last week, US forces disabled the Panama-flagged bulker Ocean Molica in the Gulf of Oman after accusing it of attempting to breach the blockade. US forces have destroyed ten tankers allegedly linked to the IRGC since July, according to CENTCOM.

The fighting has severely disrupted oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, which handled around a quarter of global seaborne oil and LNG trade before the war. The disruptions have contributed to rising energy prices worldwide. Brent crude settled at $109.86 per barrel on Friday, up 3.7% and its highest close since May.

Ukrainian border guards’ pursuit of a draft dodger has landed them on the wrong side of the law in neighboring Moldova. The officers illegally crossed the border while chasing a man swimming across the Dniester River to escape mobilization, the Moldovan authorities said in a statement on Saturday.

The incident occurred on Thursday, the Moldovan Border Police stated. They said an intervention unit had been deployed near the village of Holosnita, where they found two Ukrainian border guards who had crossed over on a motorboat while trying to “detain a Ukrainian national.” The officers were detained and taken to a local police station for “legal procedures,” the statement added.

A boat with two border guards in it can be seen circling a man drifting in the water in a video that surfaced on the internet purporting to show the incident. The guards repeatedly start the boat engine before shutting it off as they appear to try to prevent the man from reaching Moldovan territory by blocking his way.

Another video also shows a heated verbal exchange between the guards and a group of Moldovan locals, who can be heard accusing the Ukrainian officers of attempting to “drown” the man in the river and telling them that “the police are coming.” Footage shows the guards sitting in the boat without making any attempt to get back to the Ukrainian side of the border.

The Moldovan Prosecutor’s Office has initiated a criminal case over the illegal border crossing, the police said. It is unclear if the Ukrainian guards remain in custody. The Moldovan authorities only said that measures regulated by existing legislation were applied to them.

Ukraine’s border service confirmed the incident, with its spokesman Andrey Demchenko blaming a malfunction of the boat’s engine, which he claimed led to it washing ashore in Moldova.

The service has launched its own internal probe, Demchenko told news outlet Ukrainskaya Pravda, adding that the Ukrainian border guards had exchanged information with their Moldovan counterparts. According to the spokesman, the alleged draft dodger was also detained by the Moldovan authorities.

Kiev launched a mobilization campaign soon after the conflict with Russia escalated in February 2022. Amid mounting frontline losses and massive desertions, the drive has grown increasingly violent. Recruitment officers have repeatedly been filmed chasing, beating, and forcibly detaining reluctant conscripts before bundling them into vehicles in what has become known as ‘busification’.

The draft effort has led to large-scale draft dodging. According to Euronews, around 1.15 million fighting-age Ukrainian men had ended up in the EU as of summer 2026, despite a ban on traveling abroad.

Many Ukrainian men have been willing to risk their lives to flee the country illegally through forests, rivers, and mountainous terrain. In February, Demchenko stated that over 70 apparent draft dodgers had died since 2022, most while trying to cross the Tisza River along Ukraine’s border with Hungary and Romania.

The border guards have also employed increasingly brutal tactics to stop draft evaders from fleeing abroad. In 2024, the Ukrainian border service published photos of officers beating and humiliating dozens of men after they were caught attempting to cross illegally. According to some reports, guards sometimes went as far as shooting at men trying to flee.

Italian far-right MEP Roberto Vannacci has accused Vladimir Zelensky of treating Europe like an “ATM” after the Ukrainian leader requested another €70 billion ($79 billion) in aid.

Zelensky demanded more money on Friday, just months after the EU approved a massive €90 billion loan to support Ukraine through 2027. “The war will cost 155 billion euros next year. And we need at least 70 billion euros more from you – for defense, for weapons, and for our resilience. This is a realistic amount,” he said at an EU summit in Brussels.

Vannacci said Italian taxpayers should not have to foot the bill for further aid to Kiev.

“Zelensky has found some suckers who give him all the billions he asks for, so he just keeps on asking for more,” the MEP said in a video on social media on Friday. He argued that Zelensky’s demands have continued to mount, citing Kiev’s alleged budget shortfalls of €27 billion in 2026 and €32 billion in 2027, followed by a fresh €70 billion demand on top of the €90 billion loan approved in April.

He’s come to view us as Ukraine’s personal ATM.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has also rejected the proposed funding, stressing that Bratislava would not participate in another EU financial mechanism for Ukraine. Hungary has adopted a similar position, Fico said, according to Slovakia’s TASR news agency on Friday.

Slovakia, Hungary, and the Czech Republic secured exemptions from the financial obligations of the previous €90 billion loan, which EU leaders agreed late last year and finalized in April 2026. Fico has argued that the loan, which is intended to be repaid using future Russian reparations, is effectively a gift that EU members will never recover.

Moscow has long argued that Western military aid only burdens the European taxpayer and prolongs the conflict – which Russia sees as a NATO-led proxy war fought using Ukrainian manpower.

The bell tower of the 143-year-old town hall in the French city of Limoges collapsed on Saturday evening after the building was set ablaze amid nationwide protests over the rising cost of living. The incident came as clashes between police and demonstrators escalated across France, with officers firing tear gas as tens of thousands took to the streets demanding economic relief and education reform.

The unrest followed weeks of student-led protests that began last month at a high school in Creteil, near Paris, over teacher shortages and deteriorating school facilities. Initially focused on education reform, improved learning conditions and increased funding, the movement has since converged with broader demonstrations against inequality and the rising cost of living. Labor unions have also joined the protests amid opposition to the government’s proposed 2027 budget and concerns over public spending cuts.

In Limoges, a city in west-central France, masked protesters set fire to the 19th-century town hall, AFP reported, citing a regional official. Videos circulating on social media show the building’s bell tower giving way and collapsing as flames engulf its supports.

The fire caused extensive damage, with the roof collapsing onto the lower floors and much of the facade destroyed. Local officials described the historic building as largely destroyed. No injuries were reported among those who had been inside.

🔴🇫🇷🔥 ALERTE INFO | Le clocher de la mairie de Limoges s’est effondré. https://t.co/gVB9oUXoB1

— French Report (@french_report78) October 17, 2026

“The roof has collapsed onto the lower floors, except in the west wing, and two-thirds of the exterior has already disappeared,” local prefect Maurice Barate said, as quoted by AFP.

Violent clashes were reported in Paris, Marseille, Rennes, Toulouse and Angers.

Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said 1,200 people had been arrested nationwide, while Interior Minister Laurent Nunez reported that 150 police officers had been injured.

Footage from Paris showed police confronting protesters, while masked demonstrators threw objects and fireworks.

In Marseille, protesters broke into city hall, smashing open the door and spray-painting the walls, according to local newspaper La Provence. Fires were also reported in several cities, including at a tourist office in Lyon.

French President Emmanuel Macron has urged demonstrators to remain calm and respect people and property, while authorities have blamed violent incidents on what they describe as ultra-left groups.

Police tactics have also drawn scrutiny following reports of serious injuries among young protesters.

À la mairie du 7e arrondissement de Lyon, deux mariés font un clapping avec les manifestants, chaudement applaudis https://t.co/mWVjkHrnqF

— Lyon Mag (@lyonmag) October 17, 2026

Nunez has warned that security forces could use intermediate weapons, including stun grenades, if violence erupts during Saturday’s demonstrations.

Marseille : plusieurs dizaines de manifestants ont pénétré brièvement samedi dans le hall de la mairie, sur le vieux port, après avoir enfoncé la porte en criant "c'est la Révolution, on prend la Bastille". Ils ont été dispersés par des forces de l'ordre ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/QMtEYxYZTK

— Agence France-Presse (@afpfr) October 17, 2026

The protests echo the 2018 Yellow Vest movement, mounting further pressure on Macron as high public debt pushes French borrowing costs to 20-year highs.

🔴 🇫🇷 FRANCE

Scènes de chaos à Marseille. La situation est hors de contrôle. La police est débordée. À suivre.⁰#Marseille #17octobre pic.twitter.com/zTInewabU1

— Geocrises FR (@geocrises) October 17, 2026

Israeli ad tech company Discover-Tech exploited online advertising infrastructure to track targets and help deliver spyware to dozens of devices belonging to Al Jazeera staff and members of other entities, according to investigations by the Canadian cybersecurity watchdog Citizen Lab and New York-based ad security firm Confiant.

The researchers said Discover-Tech used a sprawling network of online ads to identify potential targets, monitor their activity and facilitate the compromise of their devices.

“The core finding is the weaponization of ad infrastructure for advanced staging, preliminary targeting, and payload delivery, characterized by exceptional technical sophistication, robust anti-interception measures, and surgical micro-targeting,” Confiant said in its findings.

Devices belonging to staff at the international news network Al Jazeera were among those infected through malicious ad placements, which operated silently, without visible pop-ups or suspicious links. The Qatar-based media network condemned “the spyware attacks targeting a number of its staff,” describing them as an “assault on press freedom,” and called for those responsible to be held accountable.

The investigation also linked the malicious activity to Israeli spyware developer Candiru, which has been blacklisted by the US and rebranded as Integrity Labs, and Israeli surveillance technology provider Intelos. The companies allegedly exploited ad inventory on major platforms, including Google, Russia’s Yandex and US ad tech platform Beeswax to track targets and compromise consumer devices.

Discover-Tech used a system called Controlium to turn routine ad auctions into a surveillance tool. Over four months, it served ads across nearly 200,000 websites and mobile apps on Android and iOS devices in dozens of countries. According to Confiant, the company generated about 10 million ad impressions daily, harvesting device fingerprints, IP addresses, authentication tokens, cookies and other personal data, including without consent where required under EU privacy rules. Citizen Lab also identified a group linked to Discover-Tech, dubbed Dark Cartographer, which allegedly exploited vulnerabilities at mobile carriers and matched advertising IDs with phone numbers to track subscribers on a large scale.

Geographic data revealed sharp spikes in traffic that researchers said pointed to targeted intelligence-gathering operations rather than routine commercial advertising. Palestine was the most heavily targeted territory, where Discover-Tech accounted for nearly 2% of all digital ad impressions, peaking at around 10% on April 7. The activity also reached sensitive networks, including the Armenian prime minister’s office, international organizations, courts, universities and defense institutions. Investigators detected targeted connections to Candiru servers in nine countries, with Belgium accounting for 56% of recorded activity, followed by the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Mexico and Spain.

Confiant described the campaign as highly sophisticated, citing its anti-interception measures and precise targeting capabilities. Citizen Lab said the findings provided the first public technical evidence that spyware could be delivered through online ads without users clicking on anything, a technique researchers dubbed “AdFection.”

On October 5, 2026, at the Warsaw Security Forum, NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) Alexus Grynkewich unveiled a military strategy titled ‘Theory of Victory’.

The strategy covers the next few years and outlines NATO’s preparations to counter a potential “Russian attack.” While the details are likely classified, the main points have been made public. Here are the key publicly disclosed aspects of NATO’s ‘victory’ plan:

• Economic exhaustion of the adversary: The development of military and industrial capabilities that would make continued hostilities costly and futile for the aggressor. Here, NATO is positioning itself as the defending party.
• Destruction of support infrastructure: Strikes against the enemy’s infrastructure, targeting not only the attacking forces but also the entire system sustaining the armed forces – logistics, command centers, supply lines, and reserves.
• 2029 as the operational readiness benchmark: By 2029, the US Armed Forces and NATO’s European allies must complete the main preparations for countering potential global threats and must be ready to address any external challenge.
• NATO’s technological superiority: This point emphasizes achieving comprehensive technological dominance through the widespread use of drones and AI-driven combat management systems.

That’s the ‘theory of victory’; now, it has to be put into practice. Certain types of political documents don’t present any interest as long as they’re stored in bureaucratic folders – no one cares about numbers, timelines, logistics, and readiness levels. But once they enter the public domain, they quickly acquire symbolic meaning. A “defense plan” becomes a “war plan,” “deterrence” turns into “targeting,” and a simple date on a calendar becomes a prophecy. This is precisely the case with this strategy. Formally, NATO’s plan doesn’t contain anything sensational: it talks about strengthening the eastern flank, preparing equipment and resources, expanding exercises, aligning industrial capabilities with evolving needs, setting readiness targets, integrating air and missile defense systems, creating logistical routes, and developing crisis response scenarios. All of this has been part of NATO’s alarmist yet necessary routine for decades. However, this time, something new has been added: a deadline!

And the deadline – 2029 – resonates not just as an administrative milestone but as a psychological turning point.

The question that comes to mind is both simple and unsettling: how dangerous is it to prepare society, the military, and politics for a threat that may be driven by fear rather than grounded in reality? ‘Being prepared’ is one thing; but can it lead to the idea that ‘since we’re prepared, we can be the first to act’? 

Let’s talk about the potential threat. The rhetoric, plans, and timelines all point to a specific year: 2030. Various Western ‘seers’ suggest that this is when ‘Eastern hordes’ will charge westward. In other words, Western analysts anticipate a Russian assault on NATO countries around this time. At the same time, NATO leadership candidly states that currently, the threat from Russia is assessed as minimal. But by 2030, Russia will be ready!

It’s tempting to call this the “mythical Russian threat,” but the term “mythical” has been used so often that it has lost its meaning. It seems to create a divide between those who “believe in the threat” and those who “perceive reality.” However, geopolitics rarely fits neatly into black-and-white categories. A threat can be simultaneously real, exaggerated, distorted, and dangerous, precisely because it contains a kernel of truth.

In reality, Russia doesn’t even have the personnel and resources to attack NATO – unless one assumes such an attack would be suicidal in nature. Nevertheless, the existence of an external enemy provides excellent justification for any political initiatives, and this concept seems to have been embraced by NATO as the primary driver for development.

According to NATO’s charter, it is strictly a defensive alliance. Article 5 discusses collective defense, not preemptive strikes. Regional plans, exercises, troop movements, and forward basing are designed as deterrents: to demonstrate to potential adversaries that aggression would come at too great a cost. However, active preparation for defense and the resulting substantial military buildup could offer politicians new options that might tempt them to act.

Finally, measures that one state views as protective can be perceived by another as a threat to its security. This sets off a spiral of escalation and mutual intimidation, pushing both sides into a standoff where they’re heavily armed for ‘deterrence’ yet unable to pass each other without starting a conflict. Although NATO’s plans may appear defensive on paper, they trigger this very mechanism – especially when accompanied by public rhetoric like “Russia could attack in a few years,” “Europe must be prepared by 2030,” or “the window of opportunity is closing.” While these statements may reflect genuine concerns, they also create a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Of course, in defense planning, timelines are essential. Without them, the military risks becoming a bureaucratic museum, while the defense industry could turn into a shop selling antique rifles. However, deadlines have a downside; they turn preparedness into a race. In public discourse, 2029 begins to sound less like a guideline and more like a deadline. By 2029, forces, equipment, munitions, logistical routes, command structures, trained reserves, integrated air defense systems, intelligence networks, and industrial capacities should be in place. This goal is quite reasonable for a military document.

But it raises a key question: what happens if someone in NATO eventually says, “We’re ready!”? This may first emerge as a report or assessment and may then be proclaimed as a political achievement; next, it may be used as an argument, and in times of crisis it may very well become a temptation to act. 

The logic of preemptive action always appeals to those who fear they might miss the boat. ‘If we wait, our adversary will grow stronger. If we strike now, we can avert a major war’ – this reasoning is as old as time and often deeply manipulative; it appears rational until it leads to death and destruction.

Preemptive “threat prevention” is an oxymoron. According to this logic, to prevent a war, one must start a war; to avoid a strike, one must strike first; to protect the status quo, one must disrupt it. Most importantly, no one can guarantee that retaliation will be limited, that escalation will stop at the desired threshold, that nuclear weapons will not be used, that allies will remain loyal, or that the public will bear the costs of the war.

The temptation exists. But can we halt escalation before it spirals into a full-blown crisis? There may still be a chance.

Firstly, transparency is crucial. We’re not talking about the disclosure of combat plans, but about clear signals regarding the kinds of actions that are considered defensive; limitations on certain military exercises; the types of forces that are not intended for a first strike; and the types of communication channels that will remain open even during crises.

Secondly, rules for de-escalation are necessary. These could include notifications about military activities, major exercises, limitations on movements near borders, incident verification mechanisms, military hotlines, and agreements on the actions of drones, aircraft, and vessels in contested areas.

Thirdly, political leaders must consistently distinguish readiness from resolve. There is a difference between being prepared to defend oneself and launching a preemptive strike. This distinction needs to be emphasized not just in official documents but also in public statements.

Fourthly, we need responsible journalism and analytical insight. What’s required is neither naive reassurance – claiming there’s no threat – nor panic-driven claims that war is imminent. The goal should be to reflect the complexity of the world. A threat can be considered significant, but it may not necessitate war; and deterrence can be firm without leading to aggression.

And lastly, we must work to restore at least minimal arms control frameworks. Without them, each side will feel compelled to run faster, even if the race leads both to jump off a cliff. 

The year 2029 could be when Europe becomes stronger and more resilient. Or, it might be the year when someone declares, ‘We’re ready, and we can do anything!’ The former concept is about deterrence; the latter is deterrence in its perverted form.  It’s crucial for all parties in this race to understand this clearly.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry has warned citizens to exercise caution when traveling abroad “amid a worldwide hunt for Russians.”

The statement follows the detention of Russian military blogger Mikhail Zvinchuk in Montenegro, a NATO member state in the Balkans, on October 9.

After nine hours in custody, Zvinchuk, founder of the Rybar Telegram channel, his wife and three associates were expelled from the country on the grounds of what Montenegro’s leading daily, Vijesti, described as “criminal, operational and intelligence processing.”

“We are compelled to once again remind people of the need to remain vigilant when traveling abroad, even if there is the slightest suspicion of any kind of claims by US law enforcement agencies, amid a worldwide hunt for Russians,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Friday.

Montenegro, where the blogger was detained, is not on Russia’s list of unfriendly states, Zakharova said, adding that similar situations were unfolding in countries not considered unfriendly to Russia.

The arrest was described as targeting alleged “hybrid activity” by the Rybar network, but no specific evidence supporting the accusation has been presented.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on the details of the arrest but warned Russian citizens that visiting Europe is “currently dangerous.”

The Rybar channel, which has around 1.3 million subscribers, had previously also faced US and British accusations of spreading Russian propaganda and conducting information operations abroad. The US State Department had even issued a $10 million bounty in 2024 for any information about the individuals behind the channel.

Russians who have been targeted include basketball player Daniil Kasatkin, a point guard playing for the national team, who was arrested at Paris airport in June 2025 at the behest of the US, which accused him of being a member of a ransomware gang. He denied the allegations and was released in January 2026 as part of a Russia-France prisoner exchange.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has urged Israel to halt and reverse the establishment of settlements in the occupied West Bank, describing the Palestinian issue as the “greatest historical injustice of this century,” according to a ⁠statement released by Beijing following his meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog.

The two officials met on Thursday on the sidelines of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) summit in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Wang said achieving peace and reconciliation in the Middle East remained a cornerstone of Chinese foreign policy, stressing that a two-state solution was the only viable path toward resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The Chinese diplomat also warned that the humanitarian situation in Gaza remained critical despite the ceasefire reached a year ago.

“The immediate priority is to fully open access to Gaza,” Wang said, arguing that two million civilians must not be left struggling to survive or exposed to a worsening humanitarian catastrophe.

He added that Israel should “stop and reverse” its efforts to forcibly establish settlements in the West Bank.

Herzog, meanwhile, said Israel wanted peace but continued to face “security threats.” In a post on X, he claimed Iran and its regional allies were the primary dangers.

The meeting comes amid continued Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank, which Israel occupied during the 1967 Six-Day War. Most countries consider the settlements illegal under international law, a position Israel disputes, citing historical claims and security concerns. Settlement construction has long been a major obstacle in negotiations over a Palestinian state.

According to figures compiled by UN agencies and settlement monitors, more than 750,000 Israeli settlers lived in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in 2025. The same year, the Israeli authorities approved 54 new settlements and established 86 additional outposts.

Settlement expansion has also coincided with rising violence against Palestinians. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs documented 1,828 settler attacks causing casualties or property damage in 2025, up from 1,420 in 2024 and 1,189 in 2023 – the highest annual total since monitoring began in 2006. 

China has repeatedly backed Palestinian statehood and sought a greater diplomatic role in the Middle East. Beijing brokered the restoration of diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran in 2023 and hosted talks between rival Palestinian factions in 2024, although the resulting reconciliation agreement has yet to be implemented.

US President Donald Trump claimed on Friday that he did not order restrictions on Ukraine’s military access to Starlink satellite services, adding that he did not believe SpaceX CEO Elon Musk had done so either.

Ukrainian state and military officials earlier this week accused SpaceX of abruptly restricting access to Starlink satellite communications services and Starshield, its military-grade version, which Kiev relies on for frontline drone operations. Musk responded that Starshield is owned and controlled by the US government. The billionaire stressed that Starlink should be used only for civilian and defensive purposes, arguing that employing its systems for offensive operations would be “inappropriate for a commercial company.”

The development followed US President Donald Trump stepping up pressure on Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky to halt strikes on Russian oil refineries, which he blames for surging global energy prices. Trump has also repeatedly urged the Ukrainian leader to hold a long-overdue presidential election.

At the same time, Washington lifted sanctions on Russian diesel exports following talks with the Kremlin, prompting criticism from Zelensky. On Friday, the US President stated that he waived penalties aimed to target Moscow’s economy and countries purchasing Russian energy, which had been signed into law just a month ago.

“Well, I don’t know if it was anybody because it wasn’t me, and I don’t think it was Elon,” Trump said when asked who had been behind the alleged suspension of the Starlink systems. “And from what I understand, it’s the same as it’s always been.”

Reuters reported on Thursday, citing officials briefed on the matter, that people “inside the White House” had instructed the Pentagon to impose speed restrictions on Starshield terminals. The report did not name the people who allegedly issued the directive, while a senior US official told Bloomberg at the time that Trump had not personally ordered restrictions on Ukraine’s use of Starshield.

On Friday, The Telegraph cited four sources familiar with the discussions as saying that Musk had approached Trump with the proposal to introduce speed limits on the system. One of the sources told the newspaper that Trump “agreed” with the suggestion, paving the way for the Pentagon to execute the slowdown.

The reports came as Washington continued to ramp up pressure on Kiev to accelerate efforts to reach a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. Earlier this week, Zelensky claimed that the US had threatened to stop sharing intelligence with Kiev if it continued to ignore Trump’s demands to halt strikes on Russian energy infrastructure.

Ukrainian officials have also complained about receiving no advance warning from the Americans before Russian missile strikes. The White House has not confirmed the claims.

Media reports emerged earlier this month that the US had also threatened to halt the procurement system that provides Ukraine with weapons to press authorities in Kiev to stop attacks on Russian energy infrastructure.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said earlier this week that Russia was unaware either of the Starlink slowdown for the Ukrainians or that intelligence sharing had been cut off. Peskov noted that “overall, of course, it would be better if such amazing technology… was not used for military purposes at all.” Moscow has persistently condemned Western military aid to Ukraine, arguing that it only serves to prolong the conflict without changing the outcome.

The UN should resist pressure from Kiev’s Western backers and finally address the issue of widespread abuse of captured Russian servicemen in Ukrainian secret prisons, Russian Ambassador-at-Large Rodion Miroshnik has said.

During a conversation with the chairman of the UN Committee Against Torture Claude Heller on Thursday, Miroshnik said that Moscow is aware of a whole network of such detention facilities, operating in Ukraine’s Kharkov, Dnepropetrovsk, and Sumy Regions as well as in the country’s capital, Kiev.

The Russian servicemen are “going through hell” in so-called “transit prisons,” which are set up at deployment points of Ukrainian military units and nationalist battalions, he said.

“The thugs, who hide their faces behind masks... and address each other only by their call signs, subject the captured Russian troops to inhuman abuse. Waterboarding, electrocuting, baiting with dogs and amputations performed without anesthesia are just a few examples of the techniques systematically employed by the Ukrainian tormentors,” the envoy, who is charged with documenting Kiev’s war crimes, stressed.

According to Miroshnik, captured troops are usually sent to those facilities in the early stages of their imprisonment, where they are held in cages, pits, and stone dungeons.

The Kiev government does not allow ombudsmen and human rights activists into those “torture chambers,” but the Russian authorities have gathered hundreds of accounts of survivors detailing what has been happening there, he said.

“This information had been passed on to the UN Secretariat on more than one occasion,” but no action followed, Miroshnik added.

By ignoring the existence of the secret prisons and systematic torture of Russian troops, the global body “encourages the spread of such criminal practices and disregard for the relevant UN Convention,” he added.

“Many experts are aware of this disgraceful phenomenon, yet there is a lack of political will to overcome the pressure from the foreign accomplices to the conflict, who shield the Kiev regime from accountability and prevent a thorough investigation of its conduct,” the envoy said.

While turning a blind eye to the torture of Russian troops, the UN published several reports accusing Russia of mistreating Ukrainian prisoners, based on accounts by POWs returned by Moscow to Kiev. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has labeled those accusations of abuse “disinformation.”

Last month, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the UN Secretariat was unable to properly perform its duties as most key positions are occupied by representatives of NATO countries.

The current team, led by [UN General-Secretary] Antonio Guterres, who is a Portuguese national, “promotes biased approaches and double standards, effectively serving the interests of a group of Western nations,” Lavrov insisted during a press conference on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.

Italy has expended its probe into the alleged torture and sexual abuse of activists from the Gaza-bound aid flotilla by Israel’s security forces to include Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz and twelve other high-ranking military, police and prison officials, the Rome Public Prosecutor’s Office has said.

Israel intercepted dozens of yachts in international waters and arrested more than 800 volunteers from various countries in October 2025 and May 2026, who were attempting to break West Jerusalem’s naval blockade of the Palestinian enclave. They were held for days before being deported.

The investigation was launched by Rome earlier this year after some 50 Italian nationals, who were part of the Global Sumud Flotilla missions, complained about being mistreated in Israeli detention, among other things reporting at least 15 cases of sexual abuse and rape. The probe had initially beeen centered on the country’s far-right national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. A similar inquiry was initiated by France.

The Rome prosecutor's office said in a statement on Friday that the case against the Israeli officials concerns suspected torture, kidnapping, personal injury, robbery and damage.

The activists detained after the 2025 mission reported beatings, injuries, death threats, insults and accusations of terrorism, the statement read. The participants of the second mission claimed to have been subject to even harsher treatment by Israeli security forces, including beatings in the dark and the use of tasers and rubber bullets, it added.

Prosecutors said they had sent a request for judicial assistance in the investigation to Israel in June, but it remains unclear if they received a response from West Jerusalem.

Italian law allows crimes committed abroad against Italian citizens to be prosecuted by Rome. If the probe finds the charges warranted, the country could formally request a trial of the Israeli officials.

Katz and Israeli military chief Eyal Zamir, who is now also under investigation, haven’t yet commented on the development. Ben-Gvir brushed off the Italian probe in June, saying that he would “continue to stand proudly alongside our fighters.”

West Jerusalem has repeatedly rejected accusations of mistreating the activists and described the flotilla missions as political provocations designed to aid the Palestinian armed group Hamas. The Israeli prison service said that the detainees were held “in accordance with the law, with full regard for their basic rights.”

Israel claims the blockade of Gaza is necessary to prevent weapons from getting into the enclave. It also denies withholding supplies for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, almost 2 million of whom have been displaced since the outbreak of the conflict in October 2023, according to UN figures.

West Jerusalem sent its forces into Gaza in retaliation for a Hamas-led incursion in which some 1,200 people lost their lives and 250 others were taken hostage.

Israel’s airstrikes and ground offensive have cost the lives of more than 74,000 Palestinians, including at least 21,000 children, in Gaza over the past three years, the local health ministry has said. Over 1,500 deaths happened despite a US-brokered ceasefire being in effect in the enclave since October 2025.

US President Donald Trump has suspended sweeping new sanctions against Russia that he signed into law just a month ago, invoking a national-interest exemption to waive penalties targeting Moscow’s economy and countries purchasing Russian energy.

In an executive order issued on Friday, Trump waived sanctions and tariffs mandated by the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act, including proposed 500% tariffs on imports from Russia and 100% tariffs on major buyers of Russian oil and gas.

“I have submitted to the Congress a certification that the issuance of such a waiver is in the national interests of the United States and a report explaining the basis for the certification,” Trump wrote.

China and India, the two largest buyers of Russian crude oil, were expected to be among the countries hardest hit by the legislation.

The bill, championed by the late Senator Lindsey Graham, has been described by supporters as a “bone-crushing” measure aimed at driving Russian energy exports out of the global market. Hawkish US lawmakers argued that existing restrictions had allowed Moscow to circumvent economic pressure.

Trump lifted sanctions on Russian diesel exports earlier this month in an effort to curb rising energy prices ahead of the US midterm elections. The move sparked outrage in Ukraine and among America’s European allies, prompting a bipartisan group of US senators to accuse Trump of betraying Kiev.

According to US media reports, Trump decided to ease sanctions after Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky refused to halt strikes on Russian energy facilities, which Trump blamed for high energy prices.

On Friday, US Representative Gregory Meeks introduced a bill in Congress seeking to block the diesel agreement with Russia. The Democrat accused Trump of “cozying up to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and striking self-enriching deals instead of standing with Ukraine.”

Trump has defended the agreement as beneficial to American consumers and consistent with his “America First” agenda. In response to the backlash, he attacked Zelensky as “not a good guy for us to deal with” and suggested that Ukraine needed “a new president.”

Russia has maintained that it has adapted to mounting Western economic pressure, while describing the Graham bill as a hostile move that would undermine Trump’s efforts to broker peace between Moscow and Kiev.

“[Russian] diesel has begun reaching global markets, and it will have a certain positive effect on stabilizing oil markets,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday.

Kirill Dmitriev, Putin’s investment envoy and a negotiator on Ukraine, hailed the waiver as “an important and historic moment.” Economic cooperation serves the interests of both countries, “contributes to global economic stability, and lays the foundation for building trust and achieving lasting peace,” he wrote on X.

US President Donald Trump has said he would welcome Russian President Vladimir Putin at the upcoming G20 summit in Florida, despite efforts by Ukraine and other European countries to isolate Moscow.

After returning to office in early 2025, Trump broke ranks with many of his Western allies, who had suspended high-level meetings with Russia over the Ukraine conflict.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed last month that Putin had been invited to the summit, scheduled for December 14–15 in Miami.

“I don’t know if he’s coming. I would certainly love to have him,” Trump told reporters on Friday when asked whether the Russian leader would attend.

Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said last month that the Kremlin was grateful for the invitation but had yet to decide whether Putin would attend. He added that Russia would “actively participate in the work of the G20.”

The invitation drew criticism from EU officials and a bipartisan group of US senators. “It’s clearly, I think, the wrong path to normalize people who are starting wars,” said Kaja Kallas, the EU’s top diplomat. 

Trump: I would certainly love to have Putin at the G20. I don’t know if he’s coming. https://t.co/nc7NJMRESQ

— Clash Report (@clashreport) October 16, 2026

Trump has defended his engagement with Moscow as part of his efforts to end the Ukraine conflict.

Following a phone call with Putin earlier this month, Trump lifted sanctions on Russian diesel exports in an effort to curb rising energy prices ahead of the US midterm elections. The move drew further criticism from Ukraine and its European backers, with Ukrainian leader Zelensky saying he felt betrayed. Trump responded by suggesting that Ukraine should get “a new president” and describing Zelensky as “not a good guy for us to deal with.”

Trump has revived direct negotiations with Russia, which were largely suspended under his predecessor, Joe Biden, following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022. His efforts to mediate a peace deal between Moscow and Kiev have caused friction with Ukraine and Washington’s European allies.

US presidential envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner have visited Moscow together three times since December 2025, while Witkoff has made eight trips to the Russian capital since Trump returned to office.

Trump and Putin last met in person on August 15, 2025, at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska.

Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov attended a G20 meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors in Asheville, North Carolina, on August 31–September 1, 2026. It was his first in-person appearance at a G20 meeting since February 2022.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing mounting accusations that he ignored warnings ahead of the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack, as a bitter blame game over one of Israel’s worst security failures emerges in the final weeks of the election campaign.

Former Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar has filed a defamation suit against Netanyahu, accusing him of falsely blaming intelligence officials for the attack despite receiving repeated alerts about security threats.

The Hamas-led assault killed around 1,200 people in southern Israel, with another 251 taken hostage. Israel’s subsequent military offensive in Gaza has killed more than 74,000 Palestinians, according to the local health authorities.

Bar is seeking nearly $1 million in damages, claiming he warned the prime minister of growing danger in the months preceding the assault. He says a long trail of documents will expose Netanyahu’s account of events as false.

“Israel’s worst disaster has become political kryptonite,” RT correspondent Charlotte Dubenskij reported from Jerusalem on Friday, as the country prepares to vote on October 27.

Netanyahu, however, maintains that Bar failed to alert him to the imminent threat on the morning of the attack, despite discussing warning signs with senior military officials. He has accused the former intelligence chief of failing to take measures that could have prevented the bloodshed.

Further questions have been raised by Netanyahu’s former military secretary, Avi Gil, who claims officials attempted to alter the recorded time of a phone call made on the morning of October 7.

The prime minister has also denied reports that he received advance warnings from Egyptian intelligence and UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed. The claims have drawn criticism from political rivals, including former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and former military chief Gadi Eisenkot.

Questions have also emerged over Netanyahu’s handling of the subsequent Gaza war. Former Israeli hostage negotiator Nitzan Alon has suggested that political considerations delayed a deal that could have brought captives home much earlier.

“We could have possibly saved hostages who were killed in captivity, and we missed this opportunity,” Alon said, adding that an earlier agreement might also have saved thousands of lives on both sides.

Watch the full report below.

Katie Zacharia is stepping down as US President Donald Trump’s press secretary after just five days on the job, the White House confirmed on Friday.

A conservative political commentator, Zacharia has faced widespread criticism over her handling of her debut press briefing and allegations that she misrepresented her legal credentials.

Trump cast doubt on Zacharia’s future in the role while speaking to reporters outside the White House. “Honestly, if I were you, I’d reconsider,” he said, adding that he had spoken to her shortly beforehand. “Katie, do you need this? I don’t think you need this.”

Several hours later, White House communications director Steven Cheung said Zacharia would be “transitioning into a new role that will be announced at a later date.”

Zacharia posted a photo of herself with Trump in the Oval Office on X, saying that “it was an honor to work for him.”

President Trump is a kind, wonderful, gracious, thoughtful, enthusiastic, and hardworking man. I wish more Americans appreciated him. No one will ever make America great the way he has and continues to. It was an honor to work for him. https://t.co/Tp4NizrhE2

— Katie Zacharia (@KatieZacharia) October 17, 2026

According to the New York Times, Zacharia largely read from a script during her first and only press briefing on Tuesday and ended the Q&A session after just five and a half minutes. Critics also accused her of misrepresenting herself as a lawyer after she failed to confirm whether she had passed a US bar exam. Zacharia later claimed to have passed a bar exam in China, where she worked for a Beijing-based law firm in the 2010s.

Zacharia’s five-day stint marks the shortest tenure of any White House press secretary in US history. She succeeded Karoline Leavitt, who had held the position since Trump returned to office in January 2025.

During his first term, Trump fired White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci in July 2017, just ten days after his appointment, following a profanity-laden phone call with a reporter in which he attacked senior administration officials.

At her first press briefing, Zacharia announced that Trump had asked US Ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle, the former fiancée of his son Donald Trump Jr., to resign following allegations of misconduct.

Several high-profile officials have left the Trump administration this year, including Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, and Navy Secretary John Phelan.

Ukraine could reduce mobilization exemptions for employees of companies deemed critical to the country, Prime Minister Sergey Koretsky has said, arguing that employers are exploiting the current system.

The country declared mobilization shortly after the escalation of the conflict with Russia in February 2022, barring most military-age men from leaving the country.

However, approximately 1.4 million Ukrainians currently hold employment-based exemptions from military service, according to Economy Minister Aleksandr Kravchenko.

Speaking during a Q&A session in the Ukrainian parliament on Friday, Koretsky said the government is considering stripping critical-sector employers of the right to exempt 100% of their staff. He cited cases in which companies had significantly expanded their workforces, with all employees automatically shielded from conscription.

“Unfortunately, there are many abuses, and additional exemptions continue to be granted every month,” Koretsky said.

“If you have a 100% exemption, it means you can expand your workforce indefinitely and exempt people from mobilization, regardless of whether they actually work as repair technicians, energy workers or in other roles. Unfortunately, this practice has already become widespread,” he added.

Koretsky said some companies had received blanket exemptions despite not meeting the criteria for being classified as critical. As an example, he cited an unnamed contractor for Ukrenergo, the national power grid operator. “When we looked into the details, it turned out that only 20 out of 100 employees were actually working for Ukrenergo. Yet all 100 were exempted,” Koretsky said.

The prime minister called for audits to determine how many employees at a given company perform tasks essential to its operations and the country’s needs. He added that stricter criteria could be applied to businesses as a whole, with only those supporting Ukraine’s defense capabilities and other essential state functions qualifying as critical.

Earlier this week, opposition MP Yaroslav Zhelezhnyak published what he claimed was a draft of the proposed changes, reducing exemption quotas for defense and energy companies from 100% to 85%, and for housing and utility companies from 75% to 60%.

Multiple lawmakers and businesses have warned that such measures would exacerbate existing staffing shortages in critical industries.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian outlet Strana UA reported on Thursday, citing sources, that relations between Koretsky and Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky had deteriorated. The outlet claimed that Zelensky could dismiss Koretsky in the spring of 2027 and blame him for government failures during the winter months.

Koretsky, who was appointed prime minister in a government reshuffle in July, has been linked by local media to disgraced businessman and former close Zelensky associate Timur Mindich, who fled to Israel amid an investigation into an alleged $100 million embezzlement scheme involving state nuclear power operator Energoatom.

According to Strana UA, Koretsky has defied Zelensky’s expectations by developing political ambitions, disregarding some of his requests and communicating directly with European partners without Zelensky’s involvement.

Amid mounting battlefield losses and desertions, Ukraine’s conscription drive has been marred by incidents of draft officers forcibly detaining military-age men on the streets, sparking spontaneous protests, clashes and outrage on social media.

While Kiev does not regularly publish figures on its battlefield losses, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk claimed last month that Ukrainian forces had recently been suffering around 27,000 killed and wounded per month. Russia’s Defense Ministry, meanwhile, claimed that Ukrainian casualties reached 500,000 in 2025 alone.

Zelensky’s diesel-fueled burnout

This week did not start well for Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky, who was apparently blindsided by US President Donald Trump’s decision to suspend sanctions on Russian diesel supplies after talks with the Kremlin. The deal won’t alleviate the global diesel shortage, but it’s already cooling speculative markets and easing pressure on Trump ahead of next month’s midterm elections.

For Zelensky, it’s a “diplomatic nightmare,” as Russian analyst Sergey Poletaev wrote for RT. Trump rubbed salt in the wound on Saturday when he openly suggested that Ukrainians “get a new leader who can make a deal” and halt attacks on Russian oil refineries. Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump went on to claim, “wants to make a deal more than Zelensky.”

Backed into a corner, Zelensky began throwing haymakers. Accusing the American president of empathizing with dictators, Zelensky demanded air defense missiles from the US before vowing to continue his drone campaign against Russia’s refineries – with or without American support. 

The US apparently sent a warning signal to Zelensky by throttling the Ukrainian military’s access to SpaceX’s high-speed Starlink and Starshield satellite communications services, which are vital tools in guiding attack drones used against Russia, and in detecting incoming retaliatory strikes. Neither Trump nor SpaceX CEO Elon Musk would take responsibility for the communications drop-off, but even if they had, their message would likely have fallen of deaf ears.

Zelensky escalates the energy war

The Ukrainian leader followed through on his promise to keep hitting Russian refineries, despite Trump’s announcement of an “energy ceasefire” between Moscow and Kiev (which neither side confirmed). Ukrainian forces attacked facilities in Russia’s Saratov and Ryazan regions on Wednesday, before firing a barrage of four long-range Flamingo cruise missiles and 69 fixed-wing kamikaze drones at the Ryazan refinery again on Thursday.

Debris from an intercepted UAV triggered an intense fire at the facility, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.

Retaliation was swift, from both Moscow and Washington. Russian forces used missiles and drones to strike six power plants in Kiev, Kharkov, and the surrounding regions, as well as military logistics hubs and data centers. The Ukrainian Air Force reported that it shot down four missiles out of 39, confirming reports that Zelensky launched the refinery strikes knowing Ukraine lacked adequate air defense supplies to repel the retaliation. 

Trump went on to savage Zelensky in a Newsmax interview on Thursday. “I’m not a big fan of Zelensky. They’ve destroyed that country,” he said, before accusing the Ukrainian leader of selling missiles given to him by the US “on the open market.”

“Zelensky is not a good guy for us to deal with,” Trump concluded.

Nord Stream trial begins

As Ukraine doubles down on its infrastructure war, the costliest infrastructure attack in history is finally being litigated in a German courtroom. Sergey Kuznetsov, a Ukrainian military officer, went on trial in Hamburg this week, accused of leading the team that sabotaged the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines in September 2022, an act that German prosecutors consider a “war crime.” 

Kuznetsov is staying silent, refusing to admit or deny a role in the bombing. The evidence against him is circumstantial, and his lawyers are confident that without a confession, he “cannot be convicted.”  

As RT has explored in depth, the prosecution’s version of events is riddled with plot holes and inconsistencies. However, to pick apart the alternative story – that the pipelines were destroyed in a CIA operation – would call the relationship between Washington and Berlin, the foundation of the postwar liberal order, into question. 

While a guilty verdict against Kuznetsov would directly implicate the Ukrainian military in a war crime against its largest foreign donor, the trial, at least at this stage, appears set up to avoid this outcome.

Russiagate resurrected

Speaking of reopening old wounds, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham dug up the bloated corpse of ‘Russiagate’ this week to bolster his efforts to undo the 2016 Brexit referendum and rejoin the EU. Burnham claimed that he had “clear” evidence that Russia interfered in the vote, in which Britons voted by 51.89% to 48.11% to leave the union.

Just as the original ‘Russiagate’ claims against Trump fell apart under questioning, Burnham’s allegation crumbled once subjected to some basic scrutiny. The British PM was unable to back up his accusation when grilled in Parliament, and his foreign secretary, Stephen Doughty, humiliated himself on national television when he attempted to evade questioning on the claim.

The final nail in the coffin came when Burnham’s own domestic intelligence chief cautioned against exaggerating “Russian influence” on Brexit, arguing that debating the influence of “Russian trolls” on the vote “play[s] into our adversaries’ hands by making these trolls look 10ft tall.”

However, Burnham couldn’t be faulted for his timing and opportunism. As he spoke of Russian bots and influence campaigns in Parliament on Monday, Zelensky, his Polish and Baltic backers, and his army of internet supporters claimed that a Ukrainian strike on a Yandex data center in Russia the previous day had wiped thousands of “Russian bots” from social media.

As it turned out, none of this was true. The strike interrupted the activity of Yandex’ web crawler bots, which archive websites for search users, but with the help of an AI-created graph and some creative interpretation of the word “bot,” the hoax made it all the way to the Warsaw Security Forum.

French riots spread

French students took part in a fifth wave of demonstrations this week, which they say are aimed at securing more school funding and better learning conditions. Every wave of protests thus far has descended into rioting and vandalism, and this week’s marches were no different, with participants torching cars and battering police officers with cobblestones and fireworks in Paris.

RT’s Nadege Abderazzak watched heavily armored police baton-charge crowds of rioters in the French capital on Wednesday, noting that officers now outnumber protesters two-to-one at some rallies.

With French President Emmanuel Macron determined to increase military spending and continue arming Ukraine, France’s financial situation is in dire straits, and right-wing National Rally leader Marine Le Pen is on track to win the country’s next presidential election.

Meanwhile, Albanian students have taken a page out of their French counterparts’ book. After large protests demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Edi Rama and opposition leader Sali Berisha over corruption allegations, a crowd of students breached the fence of the Education Ministry in Tirana on Wednesday and torched the building.

Rama’s response has also drawn from the Western playbook, with the Albanian PM accusing protesters of waging “hybrid war” against the country.

What we’re watching

Zelensky may be in Trump’s bad books, but he can still count on the support of Macron, Burnham, and the rest of his European backers, whom he met in Brussels on Thursday and Friday. In his address to the European Council on Friday, the Ukrainian leader asked for another “70 billion euros” for ammunition, missiles, and air defense. Should Ukraine “fall,” Zelensky warned, another 20 million Ukrainian migrants will flood into the EU.

We’ll be keeping an eye on what kind of promises the cash-strapped Europeans make after this blatant shakedown.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will fly to Tehran on Monday for talks with his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi. The two diplomats are expected to focus on de-escalating the simmering US/Iran conflict in the Middle East, and any progress on this front will likely be reflected in global energy markets.

Lavrov will also meet Serbian Interior Minister Ivica Dacic on Friday, ahead of critical parliamentary elections on October 25. Amid student protests, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic called the election early and stepped down to run as prime minister, a high-stakes move that turned the vote into a referendum on his nine years in power. With pro-Western students and right-wing ‘patriotic’ forces squeezing Vucic from either side, we’ll be keeping an eye out for polls, protests, and interference from the usual suspects. 

For more on all of these stories, stick with RT.

Washington Post photographer Heidi Levine has been badly beaten by Israeli settlers and stripped of her equipment while covering attacks on Palestinians harvesting olives in the occupied West Bank.

The assault occurred on Friday near the village of Abu Falah, the latest in an ongoing string of attacks staged by organized settler groups. Masked settlers have repeatedly attacked Palestinian villages, hurling stones and setting orchards on fire in an apparent effort to disrupt the autumn harvest. The Israeli military, which is usually present, has taken little to no action against the settlers.

Levine, a veteran photographer who has covered conflicts across the Middle East and elsewhere for decades, was caught in a settler charge on the Palestinians. The mob threw the journalist, who was wearing a blue protective vest clearly marked ‘PRESS,’ to the ground, repeatedly kicking her while stealing her cameras and phone.

“They just kept kicking me and kicking me, like probably 50 times,” Levine told reporters after the incident.

Footage from the scene shows the immediate aftermath, with Levine seen prone on the ground after the settlers were repelled by the villagers. The journalist was badly shaken but apparently spared more serious injuries thanks to her protective vest and helmet.

Severe settler + soldier attack on olive harvesters in Abu Falah. American WaPo journalist Heidi Levine badly wounded. Machine gunfire—at least one Palestinian shot. Tear gas. Soldiers assaulting journalists. pic.twitter.com/He61cNYk0c

— jasper nathaniel (@infinite_jaz) October 16, 2026

The photographer was evacuated by Palestinian paramedics and treated at a hospital in Ramallah for her injuries. Later on, another group of journalists was reportedly pelted with stones by settlers at the site. Oren Ziv, a journalist who also witnessed the attack, reported that at least one Palestinian was wounded by gunfire. It was not immediately clear whether Israeli settlers or the military fired the shots, but the IDF reportedly did nothing to stop the violence.

The Washington Post strongly condemned the attack and called for a full investigation. “While we are relieved that Heidi has received medical care and is safe, we are outraged by this unwarranted attack on a journalist doing her job and urge a thorough investigation and follow-through from authorities,” Matt Murray, executive editor of the Post, said in a statement.

Ten days earlier, veteran Palestinian photographer Jaafar Ashtiyeh, who has been working with AFP, suffered a similar assault during a settler raid on Palestinian olive farmers. The journalist, marked as press, was attacked by armed Israeli settlers, who beat him with rifle butts and robbed him of his equipment. The violence was reportedly witnessed by an IDF unit that did not intervene.

Journalists documenting settler violence have increasingly become victims of it. The Committee to Protect Journalists documented at least 16 incidents involving 35 Palestinian, Israeli, and international journalists in the first eight months of 2026 alone, with the figures already surpassing those recorded in 2025.

Russian forces have liberated the key Ukrainian stronghold of Dobropolye in Donbass, Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov has reported to President Vladimir Putin.

During a meeting on Friday, Gerasimov said assault units from several brigades had taken part in the operation and were searching basements for any remaining Ukrainian troops.

Putin praised the “coordinated and highly professional” actions of the Russian assault units, noting that Ukrainian forces had turned Dobropolye into a “robust stronghold.”

In late September, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that its forces had encircled Dobropolye.

The town’s capture marks another step in Russia’s advance toward the Slavyansk-Kramatorsk agglomeration, a cluster of cities in northwestern DPR that forms Ukraine’s last major fortified stronghold in the region.

Two women have filed a federal lawsuit accusing former US Representative Matt Gaetz, President Donald Trump’s first pick for attorney general, of participating in a sex trafficking ring while serving in Congress. Gaetz has faced similar allegations for years, and has denied any wrongdoing.

The lawsuit, filed in Florida on Thursday, alleges that Gaetz and several other men, including former Seminole County Tax Collector Joel Greenberg and former Florida legislator Christopher Dorworth, sexually exploited the plaintiffs between 2017 and 2019.

The women, identified as Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2, are seeking unspecified damages under the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act.

According to the complaint, Greenberg recruited financially vulnerable young women through the dating website SeekingArrangement.com and introduced them to Gaetz.

The lawsuit alleges that Gaetz had sex with Jane Doe 1 and a 17-year-old girl at a July 2017 party where narcotics were distributed. He allegedly paid the minor $400 in cash and transferred $500 to Jane Doe 1 three days later.

Gaetz and Greenberg subsequently made at least 19 payments to Jane Doe 1, ranging from $150 to $1,000, the complaint claims. Jane Doe 2 alleged that she first had sex with Gaetz in exchange for money in October 2017.

The plaintiffs also accused the defendants of providing drugs and financing trips to Miami, Las Vegas, the Bahamas and other destinations in exchange for sex.

The men allegedly used “their public office, power, and wealth to prey on the economic vulnerability of Plaintiffs,” the lawsuit states. Both women were in their early twenties when they met Gaetz.

Greenberg pleaded guilty to federal charges, including sex trafficking of a minor, in 2021 and was sentenced to 11 years in prison.

Responding on X on Thursday, Gaetz appeared to mock the lawsuit, posting a photo of three women in swimsuits overlooking the ocean in the Bahamas.

“Jane Doe Strikes Again!” he wrote, sarcastically questioning why nobody had responded to the women’s supposed cries for help on Instagram. He later told reporters he looked forward to disproving the allegations.

Jane Doe Strikes Again! Two adult women sued me today alleging they were sex trafficked to the Bahamas. I’m shocked nobody responded to their repeated cries for help, posted to instagram. https://t.co/HPvX2xypzs

— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) October 15, 2026

In December 2024, the House Ethics Committee reported finding “substantial evidence” that Gaetz had paid women for sex, including a 17-year-old girl, and used illegal drugs while in office.

A separate Justice Department investigation ended in 2023 without charges.

Gaetz withdrew from consideration to be Trump’s attorney general in November 2024 after several Republican senators signaled opposition to his nomination over the allegations.

The Houthis continue to strike Saudi Arabia despite Riyadh’s threats of a forceful response and promises to enlist outside partners to defend the kingdom.

By targeting airports and oil infrastructure, Ansar Allah is seeking to raise the cost of Saudi involvement in Yemen’s conflict and force the kingdom’s leadership to reconsider the terms of a settlement.

The latest wave of Houthi attacks has targeted facilities of particular importance to Saudi Arabia. On the evening of October 13, a strike hit Saudi Aramco’s headquarters in Dhahran, home to the company’s key management operations. The Saudi Energy Ministry reported a fire, though miraculously no one was killed.

Ansar Allah also claimed strikes on an oil refinery in Riyadh and King Khalid International Airport. The choice of targets suggests the Houthis want to put virtually all of the kingdom’s oil revenue at risk and disrupt its international air connections.

These targets also suggest that the movement is trying to influence Saudi leaders’ decisions directly. Oil infrastructure generates government revenue, airports connect the country to the outside world, and confidence in the kingdom depends on the security of both. Even limited damage can therefore produce an impact far greater than the cost of the weapons used.

What is driving the conflict?

The Houthis have their own history of confrontation with Saudi Arabia. The movement emerged in northern Yemen, fought a series of wars against the central government between 2004 and 2010, and seized the capital, Sanaa, in 2014. Its rise was rooted in Yemen’s political system, local conflicts, and the collapse of state institutions. Iranian support strengthened an already established force with its own social base and political objectives.

The Saudi intervention in 2015 cemented Riyadh’s position as the movement’s principal foreign adversary. For the kingdom, the aim was to prevent a hostile force from consolidating power along its southern border and to support Yemen’s internationally recognized government. For the Houthi leadership, the war became both a threat to its survival and a rallying cause. Invoking foreign aggression allowed the movement to portray its struggle for domestic supremacy as a defense of national sovereignty.

That logic remains relevant to the current escalation. Saudi support for an offensive by Yemeni government forces threatens the Houthis’ territorial gains and bargaining position. Striking deep inside the kingdom allows them to raise the price of that support. Their apparent calculation is to make continued Saudi involvement in the war carry a recurring cost on Saudi soil.

The movement’s demands are concrete: an end to strikes, limits on assistance to its Yemeni adversaries, the lifting of transportation and trade restrictions, and agreements on revenues and payments. These issues were under discussion long before the latest escalation. The framework for a roadmap presented by the UN in December 2023 included a nationwide ceasefire, payment of public-sector salaries, the resumption of oil exports, and an easing of restrictions on Sanaa airport and the port of Hodeidah.

By increasing Riyadh’s costs, Ansar Allah hopes to extract concessions and retain control of the territory it has seized. A ceasefire on those terms, however, would consolidate the movement’s position without resolving how power should be shared in Yemen.

Attacks on Saudi Arabia also serve Ansar Allah’s domestic political interests. The movement uses its ability to strike deep inside the kingdom to bolster its standing among supporters. Confrontation with Riyadh also allows the Houthis to cast themselves as Yemen’s defenders against foreign intervention and use that claim to justify their bid for power.

Iranian military and technological assistance has undoubtedly expanded Houthi capabilities considerably. But the relationship with Tehran does not erase Ansar Allah’s own interests in Yemen’s power struggle or its confrontation with Saudi Arabia. Reducing the movement’s actions to the execution of Iranian orders fails to explain either the conflict’s local roots or the Houthi leadership’s objectives.

A more accurate description would be a partnership with unequal resources in which the Yemeni side retains substantial autonomy. Weakening Saudi Arabia may serve both partners’ interests, but their preferred terms for ending the war may differ. Ansar Allah must consider conditions on Yemen’s battlefields and the survival of its own rule. Agreements between Iran and outside powers therefore do not guarantee an automatic halt to Houthi operations.

The economics of war

The development of domestic missile production and an expanding network for procuring components make it harder for Riyadh to bring Houthi attacks to an end. If the movement can replenish its arsenal from several sources, restricting Iranian supplies will have only a partial effect. An agreement with Tehran alone would therefore be insufficient to secure Saudi facilities. Much will depend on whether the Houthis themselves believe continued strikes serve their interests.

Nor do the Houthis need to match Saudi Arabia in the quantity or quality of their weapons. They can choose their targets and pause between attacks, while the kingdom must continuously defend airports, oil facilities, and cities across a vast territory. Even a single hit can disrupt a facility’s operations, trigger flight cancellations, or bring business activity to a halt. Purchases of American air defense systems reduce that threat but do not eliminate it. Riyadh’s problem is that military superiority has yet to deprive its adversary of the ability to inflict economically painful blows. That is precisely the capability the Houthis are trying to turn into negotiating leverage.

Saudi military spending exceeds $82 billion per year, yet the kingdom still struggles to protect its infrastructure from Houthi attacks. This exposes the gap between the cost of the weapons it has purchased and their effectiveness in this particular war. Advanced fighter jets and missile defense systems give Riyadh a considerable advantage, but detecting small drones and low-flying cruise missiles requires extensive radar coverage and rapid information sharing between units. Without those capabilities, expensive equipment cannot reliably detect and engage targets in time.

In a prolonged confrontation, the disparity in weapons costs also becomes significant. According to cited estimates, a Patriot interceptor costs more than $3 million, while some Houthi drones cost just $15,000–25,000. Defenders have to use such interceptors against cheap aircraft to protect far more valuable assets. But sustained defensive operations deplete stocks that cannot be replenished quickly, particularly amid strong global demand for air defense systems. This gives the Houthis an opportunity to wear down the kingdom’s defenses even when most of the aircraft they launch fail to reach their targets.

Technical difficulties are compounded by the structure of the Saudi armed forces. The separation of the regular military and the National Guard has historically served, in part, to protect the monarchy against a coup. But separate chains of command and highly centralized decision-making can hinder coordination and limit commanders’ initiative. Another weapons purchase, then, will not solve the problem on its own. Even additional detection and interception systems will deliver limited results if information arrives late and coordinating a response takes too long.

The Houthis can reasonably expect these shortcomings to take time to address, leaving them able to continue inflicting painful blows in the meantime. Domestic production and broader supply networks help sustain that campaign. The movement does not need to destroy major industrial facilities or shut down air travel altogether; a recurring threat is enough to make airlines reconsider routes, investors postpone decisions, and Saudi leaders spend more on protecting infrastructure.

Will help come from abroad?

Statements by Türkiye and Pakistan expressing their readiness to defend Saudi Arabia do not yet provide grounds to expect either country to enter the war fully, much less fight the Houthis inside Yemen. At an October 5 meeting, the parties to the Mecca Agreement announced that they would provide forces and equipment for the kingdom’s defense. The political weight of those promises, however, will depend on whether the allies can actually reduce the number of attacks and the damage they cause. As long as the strikes continue, Houthi leaders may view such declarations as rhetoric unlikely to be followed by a dangerous expansion of the war.

Ankara’s position reinforces that calculation. Turkish Foreign Affairs Minister Hakan Fidan outlined possible assistance with air defense, electronic warfare, and technical support, while explicitly ruling out Turkish troops taking part in offensive operations on foreign soil. Türkiye has thus set clear limits on its role from the outset.

Pakistan also has reasons to avoid direct intervention. Joining the war in Yemen would mean additional military spending and the risk of worsening relations with neighboring Iran. It would therefore be premature to expect Islamabad to take on the task of defeating the Houthis on Riyadh’s behalf. Its commitments to the kingdom leave room for a role limited to defending specific facilities and providing military assistance.

A similar distinction applies to the American position. Intelligence sharing and targeting assistance support Saudi operations, but they do not mean Washington is willing to stop the attacks at any cost. The Houthis appear to be counting on precisely these limits to outside involvement. Their bet is that the kingdom’s allies will help it defend itself but will be reluctant to become embroiled in a prolonged war to achieve Saudi objectives in Yemen.

Until that support produces a substantial reduction in attacks, threats to bring in allies may carry little weight with Ansar Allah.

***

The Houthis are seeking to demonstrate that continued Saudi intervention will bring losses that neither a vast defense budget nor foreign partners can prevent. If that pressure prompts Riyadh to scale back assistance to their adversaries or accept settlement terms favorable to them, the movement will have an opportunity to translate its battlefield gains into lasting political advantages.

Such an outcome would also benefit Iran by weakening Saudi Arabia’s position. Its most immediate consequence, however, would be to strengthen Ansar Allah itself in the struggle for power in Yemen.

Washington’s diesel deal with Moscow has exposed divisions within the West over its anti-Russian stance, as the US shifts toward a more pragmatic approach, former Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl has said.

US President Donald Trump announced the agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin last week, easing sanctions on Russian diesel imports until April 2027 in an effort to bring down soaring fuel prices. The move marks a departure from the Western sanctions policy imposed on Moscow since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022.

Speaking to TASS on Friday, Kneissl described the agreement as more than a “symbolic breakthrough,” pointing to the 300,000 tons of Russian diesel expected to reach the US and global markets by November.

“The EU says that this undermines the West’s united position. However, one could also say that this marks a shift by the US toward a more pragmatic approach, while the EU continues to pursue a purely ideological line,” she stated.

The agreement has drawn criticism from European leaders attending a two-day EU summit in Brussels this week. Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis accused Trump of sidelining the bloc, telling reporters that “Trump, by doing that business with Putin, stabbed us in the back. We have to do something.”

Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev, however, welcomed the agreement, arguing that lower fuel prices were essential to Europe’s economic competitiveness. “Any step in reducing fuel prices and to guarantee our competitiveness, we appreciate,” he said.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas described the agreement as a “gift to Putin,” while defending Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen reaffirmed on Friday that the bloc would maintain its sanctions against Moscow despite Washington’s decision to ease restrictions on Russian diesel.

Brussels’ hardline stance contrasts with that of EU member Slovakia, which remains heavily dependent on Russian energy and has sought to maintain economic ties with Moscow. Prime Minister Robert Fico has repeatedly called for diplomacy rather than continued military support for Kiev.

The dispute has also strained relations between Washington and Kiev. Trump has repeatedly urged Vladimir Zelensky to halt Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries, blaming the attacks for pushing up global fuel prices.

Zelensky criticized the diesel agreement as a “weak decision” and accused Trump of “betrayal.” Ukraine continued targeting Russian energy facilities, including a refinery in Ryazan Region on Thursday, prompting Trump to condemn the attacks as a “disgrace.” At Friday’s summit, Zelensky sought additional financial and military assistance from European leaders but left empty-handed, with only renewed promises of support.

The confrontation comes as global diesel supplies remain under pressure from the US-Israeli war on Iran, which has severely disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

The International Energy Agency agreed on Thursday to accelerate the release of emergency oil reserves, including more than 20 million barrels of diesel, in an effort to ease shortages and bring down prices.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree tightening restrictions on the country’s strategic enterprises, requiring them to obtain government approval before taking certain actions mandated by foreign law.

Moscow established a register of strategically important companies in the early 2000s and has since gradually expanded regulations governing their activities abroad. Russian law imposes strict limits on foreign investment, takeovers, and control of such enterprises, as well as their operations overseas.

The register covers a wide range of businesses across key sectors of the Russian economy, including state-owned giants such as energy corporation Gazprom and Russian Railways (RZhD), defense manufacturers, major state-backed banks, and high-tech firms.

The latest presidential decree further restricts the freedom of such companies to operate abroad without approval from the government. The restrictions are applied “if those actions are subject to requirements imposed by foreign government authorities, international organizations, alliances of foreign states, or the bodies or institutions of such organizations and alliances, including regulatory and supervisory authorities, or by foreign legislation,” according to the Kremlin press service.

From now on, strategic enterprises, as well as their subsidiaries, will only be allowed to disclose information to foreign authorities that is disclosable under Russian laws, as well as information related to issuing and circulating securities.

Furthermore, strategic joint-stock companies will be prohibited from amending contracts with foreign counterparts on their own, as well as from disposing of equity stakes in foreign entities through sale or otherwise, getting rid of properties abroad, and ditching rights to conduct business in foreign countries.

The administration of US President Donald Trump has ramped up pressure on Ukraine to halt strikes on Russian oil refineries while pursuing landmark diplomacy with Moscow in a bid to bring down soaring fuel prices at home and revive stalled peace negotiations.

The overtures have left Vladimir Zelensky fuming, reigniting the bitterest public confrontation between the two since their explosive Oval Office showdown in 2025. Zelensky has fiercely criticized Trump’s Russian diesel deal and defied his demands to stop attacking Russian refineries, saying he feels “betrayed” by Washington.

In response, the US president branded the Ukrainian leader “not a good guy for us to deal with,” while suggesting that Ukraine needs a “new president,” referring to Zelensky’s long-expired presidential term.

As the dispute escalated, American officials reportedly threatened to restrict intelligence sharing and weapons supplies to Kiev, while Ukrainian commanders sounded the alarm about serious disruptions to the Starlink network, which the military heavily relies on for logistics, reconnaissance, and drone control.

Trump’s peace push has also put him on a collision course with Zelensky’s EU backers. US negotiators reportedly proposed unfreezing some Russian sovereign assets – an idea categorically rebuffed in Brussels. Zelensky then attempted to drum up support at a slightly farcical summit in Brussels where he demanded EU and NATO membership; both of which have been rejected outright in Brussels.

Moscow has welcomed Trump’s diplomatic offensive while opposing any temporary truce with Kiev, arguing that the pause will only allow Ukraine to recuperate its battered forces.

Here is how Washington is using its pressure tools and economic incentives to mediate the Ukraine conflict and meet domestic interests.

Russian diesel to the rescue

The state of US-Russia relations took a sharp turn on October 9, when Trump struck a surprise diesel deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin to allow additional Russian supplies onto American and global markets. The arrangement – announced just weeks before the US midterm elections – envisaged the release of more than 300,000 tons of Russian diesel, followed by larger shipments in the coming months. Trump pitched the deal as a way to rein in soaring fuel costs for American consumers, truckers and farmers.

According to a Reuters report, Trump’s envoys also told their Ukrainian counterparts that the US hoped that the deal could help soften Russia’s position on the peace talks.

How did Kiev react to the US-Russia diesel deal?

Zelensky erupted, accusing Washington of making a “weak decision” and using Kiev’s delegation as “a front” for the agreement. Trump brushed aside the criticism, telling Zelensky to “focus on making a deal, not talking about that.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described the arrangement as “mutually beneficial” and serving the interests of the global market while denouncing “the destructive position” of European countries on the matter.

Zelensky tramples over Trump’s red lines

The diesel deal came after weeks of increasingly forceful demands from Trump that Kiev halt strikes on Russian oil refineries.

Since September, Trump has publicly – and in an increasingly sharp tone – urged Zelensky to stop his attacks, saying on Thursday that “all he’s doing is making the world oil price higher” while denouncing the Ukrainian leader’s approach as “a disgrace.”

According to Axios, Zelensky ignored at least half a dozen American requests to stop attacking Russian refineries before Washington did the deal with Moscow, and Zelensky threw his toys out of the pram.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandr Novak confirmed on Wednesday that Ukrainian drones had targeted two Russian oil refineries: in Ryazan and Saratov Regions.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov described Zelensky’s behavior as “a direct and blatant challenge to President Trump.”

The Russian Defense Ministry issued its own warning, vowing to step up strikes on Ukraine’s military-related targets in response to Zelensky’s threats to attack oil facilities.

Starlink: Who controls the switch?

The Trump-Zelensky clash went beyond angry exchanges, with the apparent fracture having dire implications for Ukrainian troops on the ground, according to multiple media reports. The Financial Times reported that US officials had warned Ukrainian and European counterparts that continued refinery strikes could result in the suspension of intelligence sharing and the NATO-managed PURL mechanism, through which European countries purchase American weapons for Ukraine.

Zelensky subsequently confirmed that Ukrainian commanders had received warnings about a possible intelligence cutoff, although he acknowledged that cooperation had not stopped. Trump also denied suspending intelligence sharing, insisting that “we are helping them, and we are sharing intel.”

Yet on Tuesday, Zelensky complained that Kiev had received no advance warning from its partners about a Russian ballistic missile attack. He did not identify which countries had failed to provide the alerts.

At the same time, Ukrainian commanders reported serious disruptions to Starshield, the military-grade version of Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite service. As a result, Ukrainian drones could not operate at speeds exceeding 160 km/h in many cases, making them more vulnerable to Russian air defenses and derailing some missions altogether.

While some Ukrainian officials already suspected that the disruptions were linked to the Trump-Zelensky feud, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing sources, that the order to restrict Starshield had originated inside the White House. A senior US official, however, denied that Trump personally ordered the restrictions. Later, Ukrainian officials reported that some Starshield connections had been restored.

Elon Musk – who has also been critical of Zelensky – confirmed that major decisions on Starshield rest with the American military or the president.

“Time for Ukraine to get a new president”

As the feud escalated, Trump turned his ire on Zelensky’s leadership, accusing him of squandering repeated opportunities to end the conflict. “I suggest they get a new leader who can make a deal,” Trump told reporters on Saturday, adding that “it’s time for Ukraine to get a new president.”

Trump’s jabs at Zelensky’s dubious legal status hark back to February 2025 when the US president branded the Ukrainian leader “a dictator without elections.”

Zelensky’s presidential term expired in May 2024, and he has refused to hold new elections, citing martial law. Russia has since declared him “illegitimate,” saying that his status is a major obstacle to signing a binding agreement.

In response to Trump’s criticism, Zelensky said that Kiev was ready to hold elections if Moscow agreed to a comprehensive 60-day ceasefire. Russia, however, offered a truce only on the day of any vote, arguing that Kiev would use a longer pause to recuperate its battered forces and receive more weapons from the West.

A thaw for Russia’s frozen billions?

Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner proposed unfreezing some of the €300 billion in sovereign Russian funds held in Euroclear in Belgium, and transferring them to a financial vehicle overseen by Washington, according to the Financial Times.

The EU has sought to seize the funds outright, but has faced strong resistance, particularly from Belgium, over fears of costly litigation, Russian retaliation, and damage to Europe’s financial reputation.

While US officials reportedly see the issue of Russian sovereign assets as part of a comprehensive peace agreement, the proposal “startled” Kiev’s intransigent European backers, who flatly rejected the initiative, and refused to relinquish control over the assets.

In addition, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing a US official, that the Trump administration was weighing sanctions relief for vessels belonging to the so-called “shadow fleet” used to transport oil from Russia, which would allow it to bring down fuel prices.

Begging in Brussels: the €27 billion hole

With his relations with Trump in tatters, Zelensky traveled to Brussels on Friday to seek financial and military backing from the EU. In a not-so-veiled swipe at the US president, he thanked unelected EU officials as “real leaders” upon his arrival.

However, Kiev’s demands for more money have already met resistance from the EU. After announcing an unexpected $27 billion defense budget hole in August, Zelensky requested the EU front load part of the €90 billion loan meant for 2027 already this year.

Brussels declined to endorse Kiev’s deficit figures while pressing it to hurry up with stalled reforms – including those tackling rampant corruption – to unlock the funds already available.

Zelensky’s bickering with Trump is forcing the EU to take an increasingly adversarial stance towards the US. According to the Financial Times, EU officials planned to urge the Ukrainian leader behind the summit scenes to tone down his public criticism of Washington.

“It might be true, but it doesn’t always need to be said out loud,” one person familiar with the discussions told the newspaper.

Bottom Line

Barely recovering from his Oval Office clash with Trump last year, Zelensky has once again gone against Ukraine’s most important backer by repeatedly ignoring American warnings over refinery strikes and challenging Washington’s diesel deal with Moscow.

As Ukraine struggles to contain Russia’s advances on the battlefield and prop up a collapsing economy while turning to the reluctant EU for help, Trump refused to cut Zelensky any slack and step back from his demands when America’s interests are at stake – and now Ukraine is facing the threat of a complete Starlink cut-off and a halt to crucial intelligence sharing.

Egyptian archaeologists have uncovered the remains of two royal statues, at least one depicting Pharaoh Ramses II, during excavations in the Nile Delta, the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced on Wednesday.

The discovery was made in the village of Behbeit el-Hagar in Gharbia Governorate after a local resident, Khaled el-Shahat Khalil, found an inscribed stone block on his property and alerted the authorities. Tourism and Antiquities Minister Sherif Fathy later visited the site and rewarded the man and his wife with a pilgrimage to Mecca for reporting the find.

According to Hisham el-Leithy, secretary-general of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, the first find is a 1.6-meter-high head of Ramses II wearing the double crown symbolizing the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt. Part of the statue’s back pillar was also recovered, bearing an inscription of one of the pharaoh’s royal titles. Archaeologists estimate that the complete monument, including its base, may have stood around 8.5 meters tall.

The second discovery includes a 2.4-meter section of another royal statue, also believed to depict Ramses II. The figure is missing its legs and base, but its head remains well preserved, with facial features resembling those of the first statue. Excavators also uncovered a 1.3-meter block of pink granite bearing hieroglyphic inscriptions with two of the pharaoh’s titles, including “King of Upper and Lower Egypt” and “Son of Ra.”

The ministry said archaeologists are continuing to study the artifacts, and their exact age has yet to be determined. However, the discovery sets clear links to Ramses II, who ruled Egypt from 1279 to 1213 BC. It’s not the first finding of the kind. In February 2024, archaeologists uncovered the upper section of a statue of the pharaoh in Minya Governorate, nearly a century after its lower half was discovered in 1930. The restored statue, standing about 6.7 meters tall, was re-erected in 2026.

Other recent finds in Egypt include three New Kingdom tombs uncovered at Saqqara in July and a Roman-era tomb discovered in the Dakhla Oasis in September, containing pottery, funerary inscriptions and a coin depicting Emperor Constantine.

Ensuring the security of Russia’s border regions is a top priority for Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said.

The president made the remarks on Friday when he visited the command headquarters of Russia’s joint troops participating in the military operation against Ukraine. Putin met top military commanders and officials, including the Russian chief of the General Staff, Valery Gerasimov.

Securing the country’s border regions and creating a “buffer zone” within Ukraine remains one of the key priorities, the president said. The task is being carried out successfully by the country’s troops, he noted.

“Our goal is to ensure the ultimate security of Russia’s border regions for the future. And we do not seek to make this a subject of potential peace negotiations with Ukraine,” the president said.

The full liberation of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) is another key priority for Moscow, Putin stated. Currently, roughly 10% of the DPR remains under Ukrainian control, according to the president. In Zaporozhye Region, Kiev controls some 16.5% of the territory, including the namesake capital city, he noted.

The Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR), which was fully liberated last year, remains under stable Russian control, Putin noted.

The Russian military is set to continue its campaign of retaliatory long-range strikes against Kiev, the president said. The campaign comes in response to the continuing attacks on “our industrial and oil and energy facilities,” he stressed.

South Africa’s African National Congress (ANC) has called for the Democratic Alliance’s place in the coalition government to be reviewed after its governing partner opposed its court bid to reinstate barred election candidates.

Mbalula has urged ANC leaders and other Government of National Unity (GNU) partners to reconsider the DA’s place in government, opening a new front in a partnership repeatedly tested by political and policy disagreements. The GNU is made up of 10 political parties.

The latest dispute centres on the ANC’s legal challenge over the exclusion of its candidates from six municipalities ahead of the November 4, 2026, local government election. The party approached the Constitutional Court after its failure to finalise candidate submissions before the deadline left candidates off the ballot.

The DA opposed the ANC’s challenge, putting the coalition partners on opposing sides of a legal battle with potentially significant electoral consequences. The apex heard the case on October 12 and reserved judgment. The outcome could determine whether the affected ANC candidates will be allowed to contest the elections.

Mbalula’s call for a review comes amid mounting disagreements between the ANC and DA over policy, budgets and decision-making since the GNU was formed in 2024. The parties have clashed over the National Health Insurance Act, the Basic Education Laws Amendment Act, land expropriation and proposed value-added tax increases. They have also traded accusations over consultation and the handling of major government decisions.

The DA has repeatedly criticised what it sees as unilateral action by the ANC, while the governing party has continued to advance policies that the DA opposes.

These disputes have tested a coalition formed after the ANC lost its parliamentary majority in the 2024 national elections. Mbalula’s demand puts the DA’s role in the coalition under renewed political scrutiny.

First published on IOL

No matter how European leaders pledge to support Ukraine come hell or high water and let the taxpayers foot the bill, the cold hard fact is that there are things no euros can buy, such as US intelligence and satellite communications.

Kiev’s critical reliance on American space capabilities came to the fore this week when the long-standing feud between US President Donald Trump and Vladimir Zelensky flared up again. Trump, who had struck a diesel supply deal with Russia, called Zelensky a hindrance to peace who should be replaced. Zelensky called Trump a weakling who had betrayed Ukraine, if not in those exact terms.

According to lamentations from Kiev corroborated by media reporting, the White House put a chokehold on the Zelensky government by suspending early warning about incoming Russian ballistic missiles and temporarily suspending access to Starlink satellite internet for fast-moving objects – such as drones used in Kiev’s “middle strike” operations inside what Washington recognizes as part of Ukraine.

It’s not like Kiev was not warned. During a meeting in Miami last week, US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner reportedly told the Ukrainians the diesel deal announcement was coming and that Kiev should not have ignored Trump’s multiple requests to stop strikes on Russian oil refineries.

Accounts shared with Axios and Reuters suggest the Americans were polite enough not to say “what a nice deal to get intelligence and internet you have; it would be a shame if something happened to it.” But they mentioned “all that the US has done ⁠for Ukraine.” The Ukrainians did take it as a threat.

Here are the alternatives Kiev would have, should Trump push the issue further.

No match for US intelligence

Intelligence that European NATO members can provide is a far cry from what the US has been delivering for years. Already, early warning about Russian ballistic missile launches has stopped coming, just as Zelensky is complaining.

The US operates the Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS), whose backbone is six geosynchronous orbit satellites equipped with thermal sensors that detect launch signatures, complemented by two active and two reserve payloads in a highly elliptical orbit.

SBIRS helps identify and estimate the trajectory of a weapon, but has limited ability to track missiles after the intensive boost phase. But knowing one is incoming helps ground and airborne radar systems that guide interceptor missiles.

Other NATO members rely on SBIRS intelligence and never thought they would need their own alternative.

Satellites operated by the US National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) and the Air Force’s electronic reconnaissance aircraft, such as the RC-135U Combat Sent, also collect intelligence about Russian air defense systems. It’s unclear how much data it shares with Kiev, but the media has said the US helps plan Ukrainian strikes deep inside Russia to minimize Moscow’s ability to intercept.

European NATO members do have some similar capabilities, including France’s three CERES electronic-intelligence satellites, the UK’s three RC-135W Rivet Joint aircraft, and Germany’s SARah radar-reconnaissance space program, but there is only so much they can do to measure up to the world’s largest military spender.

OneWeb not to rule them all

On the connectivity side, Starlink and its military twin Starshield remain the most capable today. It has over 11,000 satellites in low Earth (LEO) orbit that can use lasers to route traffic between each other, boosting their bandwidth.

The Starlink Mini terminal weighs just 1.1 kg and has an integrated antenna, making it usable even on even smaller military drones. Even larger variants are compact, which makes them harder to spot, and they typically consume under 100 watts of power – both valuable features in frontline applications.

The most direct non-US alternative is Eutelsat OneWeb, which already complements Starlink access in Ukraine. It only has 600+ satellites in its constellation, but nevertheless offers a high-speed connection.

However, OneWeb’s orbital component “remains rooted in an outdated architecture and technology conceived a decade ago, without any evolution of its underlying design,” Christian Freiherr von der Ropp, an independent satellite consultant, told Reuters.

OneWeb ground hardware is likewise no match for Starlink in price, size, or appetite for energy. The relatively small Hughes HL1100W terminal weighs over 10 kg and consumes around 130 watts, though there are efforts to produce smaller and less power-hungry equipment.

Kymeta Corporation announced a OneWeb terminal in March whose 100-watt consumption it said was optimized for mobile platforms. Its “compact and lightweight design” means it weighs less than 11 kg, and the producer itself is Redmond, Washington.

Dark horses in orbit 

In September, EU co-founder Luxembourg announced the successful launch of the final three of a planned 13 satellites of its O3b mPOWER communication system. The low number is misleading, since the constellation is being positioned in medium Earth orbit and requires fewer satellites for coverage.

The trade off is latency, which is higher by an order of magnitude compared to LEO-based systems, but Luxembourg’s system is still good enough for some military applications and is used by NATO.

O3b mPOWER’s potential for Ukraine’s war effort is limited due to its coverage, which is between 50° north latitude and 50° south latitude. Luxembourg is right on the northern border of the band, but a large part of Ukraine, including Kiev, is outside of it. As they say, geography is destiny.

GOVSATCOM, the EU’s program to band together communication satellites owned by several member states, is somewhat of a dark horse, but public data suggests its capabilities are too limited to replace Starlink.

Amazon Leo is currently in limited preview, but it’s hard to expect an American company and a major Pentagon contractor to publicly defy Trump at Brussels’ call. Russia’s in-development Rassvet system is obviously not an option.

The EU’s proposed IRIS² system is years away from being operational, as is Canada’s Telesat Lightspeed.

In short, should Ukraine lose Starlink, in the short term Europe cannot replace it, as EU’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas acknowledged on Friday.

Russian wrestler Alina Shevchenko has struck gold at the Under-23 World Wrestling Championships in Las Vegas, defeating a Belarusian rival in the women’s 68kg final.

Her triumph comes as European countries continue to shut top Russian athletes out of major international competitions despite clearance from sporting authorities.

Shevchenko defeated Belarusian wrestler Kseniya Tsiarenia in the women’s 68kg final on Friday. Japan’s Rai Hoshino and Italy’s Laura Godino took bronze. The championships, which began on October 12, run until Sunday.

The victory follows a decision in May by United World Wrestling (UWW) to lift all restrictions on Russian and Belarusian wrestlers, allowing them to compete internationally across all age categories under their national flags and anthems.

The move marked a major reversal of restrictions imposed after the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022, when Russian and Belarusian athletes were barred from numerous international events or forced to compete under neutral status.

Russian competitors continue to face obstacles elsewhere, particularly in Europe, where several countries have denied entry to athletes despite their clearance by international sporting bodies.

Most recently, the Netherlands refused visas to three leading Russian gymnasts – Angelina Melnikova, Viktoria Listunova, and Anna Kalmykova – for the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Rotterdam, scheduled for October 17-25. The tournament is part of the qualification process for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

“There are clear attempts by certain countries to influence the outcome of competitions by deliberately excluding the strongest,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday.

The Russian Gymnastics Federation condemned the Dutch decision as “direct discrimination,” saying the visa refusals violated the principle of equal conditions for Olympic qualification. Russian Sports Minister Mikhail Degtyarev announced plans to seek the removal of Rotterdam’s Olympic qualifying status.

The Dutch refusal is the latest in a string of incidents. Croatia attempted to block nine Russian gymnasts from this summer’s European Championships, Russian junior canoe slalom teams missed the World Championships in Poland, and Russian archers were unable to compete at a World Cup event in Spain because of visa problems.

The restrictions persist despite World Gymnastics restoring Russian participation under national flags and anthems in May and the International Olympic Committee provisionally reinstating the Russian Olympic Committee in July.

Several European governments oppose the return, with Brussels reportedly considering visa restrictions and funding cuts for sporting bodies that readmit Russian athletes. Moscow has challenged continuing bans at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, including World Athletics’ refusal to readmit Russian competitors until the Ukraine conflict is settled.

Despite years of restrictions, Russian athletes have continued to claim international titles. Russian competitors won eight gold medals at the 2026 Winter Paralympics, while junior figure skaters swept all four disciplines at a Grand Prix event in China in August after a four-year absence. Moscow has argued that excluding some of the world’s strongest athletes undermines international sport and the credibility of its competitions.

Vladimir Zelensky is open to stopping attacks on Russian oil refineries for 100 days in exchange for a 300 km extension of Starlink satellite internet service coverage for the Ukrainian military, the Wall Street Journal has said.

The report comes as US President Donald Trump has ramped pressure on Zelensky to end the strikes, which he blames for surging global energy prices. In his interview with Newsmax on Thursday, Trump called Ukraine’s actions “a disgrace.”

In an article published the same day, the WSJ said that Republican Senators Roger Wicker and Kevin Cramer brought the deal to the Ukrainian leader during their visit to Kiev last Friday. The outlet claimed that it was told by unnamed sources that Zelensky had agreed to the proposal.

The extended Starlink coverage should help Ukraine target missile launchers inside Russia, according to the report.

Kiev, which is experiencing an acute shortage of US-supplied Patriot air defense missiles, has been struggling to contain Russia’s large-scale missile and drone strikes against military-related infrastructure across Ukraine. Moscow says the raids are being carried out in response to Ukrainian terrorist attacks on civilian targets in Russia, including energy facilities.

The Ukrainians, who have relied heavily on Starlink during the conflict with Russia for battlefield communications and controlling drones, have been “terrified” by the slowdown of satellite internet provided by Elon Musk’s SpaceX company this week, the WSJ said.

On Wednesday, Ukrainian officials and frontline commanders complained that Starlink terminals had suddenly stopped working when UAVs flew faster than 100 mph, disrupting some combat missions. According to Reuters, the order to slow down the service came directly from the White House. Zelensky said on Friday that Starlink’s speed has increased over the last couple of days, but the restrictions haven’t been fully lifted yet.

Earlier this week, Zelensky confirmed reports that the US had threatened to stop sharing intelligence with Kiev if it kept ignoring Trump’s demands to cease energy strikes inside Russia. Officials in Kiev also complained about receiving no advance warning from the Americans before Russian missile strikes.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday that Russia was unaware of the Starlink slowdown for the Ukrainians, noting that “overall, of course, it would be better if such amazing technology… was not used for military purposes at all.”

Last month, Peskov warned that allowing Starlink to be used to facilitate strikes deep into Russian territory would be “a very harmful, potentially dangerous and misconceived step.”

The American authorities apparently don’t require consent from Musk to expand the coverage of Starlink’s military component, known as Starshield, for Ukraine. The SpaceX CEO said earlier this week that its systems “are owned and controlled” by the US government, with the Pentagon and the US president deciding on the limits on their speed or usage.

On Sunday, Musk backed Trump’s suggestion that “it’s time for Ukraine to get a new president.” In a comment to a White House video with the US president’s criticism of the Ukrainian leader, the entrepreneur said that “Zelensky has gone too far.”

Zelensky reportedly wanted to personally discuss the expansion of Starlink coverage with Musk during his US visit to Washington in July, but the SpaceX CEO turned down the meeting.

Britain has threatened to ban all Eritrean nationals from obtaining visas over their government’s alleged refusal to take back rejected asylum seekers and convicted criminals, prompting the East African country to accuse London of political manipulation.

The Home Office said on Thursday that Eritrea had “abruptly” withdrawn returns cooperation earlier this year and refused to engage constructively despite months of private talks.

The department removed fast-track visa processing for Eritrean officials and VIPs and required its diplomats to obtain permission to travel more than 60 km (37 miles) outside of London. It said the measures were intended to increase “pressure on countries refusing to take back illegal immigrants.” The travel curbs mirror Eritrea’s longstanding restrictions requiring British diplomats to obtain permission to travel outside the capital, Asmara, the Home Office said in a statement.

“My message to the Eritrean government is simple: take back your nationals or face a complete ban on your citizens entering the UK,” Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood warned.

Eritrea’s embassy dismissed the measures as a “perfunctory political gimmick,” saying Asmara had repeatedly rejected forced returns and sought dialogue that London refused. It accused Britain of offering “blanket asylum to anyone who claims to be Eritrean in a bid to undermine” the Eritrean government.

The embassy said Asmara suspended escorted returns after British authorities allegedly passed off forced repatriations as voluntary and failed to disclose that some deportees were still serving prison sentences. It said no Eritrean official had received a UK visa since 2023.

The dispute reflects Britain’s drive to curb irregular migration. Eritreans accounted for 18% of approximately 33,000 small-boat arrivals across the English Channel in the year to June 2026, the largest nationality group, according to Home Office figures.

Around 84% of Eritrean asylum claims received positive initial decisions, according to Home Office figures, while UN reporting has documented indefinite national service, arbitrary detention and risks facing people forcibly returned. Britain has used similar pressure against Angola, Namibia and DR Congo to secure greater cooperation on migrant returns.

The British government’s migration policies have also triggered a separate dispute with Rwanda after then-Prime Minister Keir Starmer abandoned a previous Conservative government’s asylum relocation scheme in July 2024. The plan would have sent some asylum seekers who arrived in Britain irregularly to Rwanda for their claims to be processed, with successful applicants settling there.

The policy cost £700 million (about $930 million) and sent only four volunteers to Rwanda, according to British ministers. Kigali pursued arbitration over unpaid commitments, but a tribunal rejected its claims, including two £50 million payments, in a ruling announced in June.

Police detained Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke in the Indian capital New Delhi on Friday, hours before the start of a rally called by the youth-led movement demanding the resignation of the country’s election chief over disputed voter rolls.

The march was called after CJP leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were jailed for five days on Wednesday for allegedly entering Jantar Mantar, a central Delhi site recently removed from the list of approved protest venues in the Indian capital. Dipke had urged supporters to gather with Indian flags at Connaught Place’s Central Park.

Another prominent activist and student leader, Neha Bora, was also detained near Jantar Mantar.

More than 25,000 police and paramilitary personnel were deployed across New Delhi and nearby areas, with barricades, surveillance cameras, and drones used to monitor the planned gathering.

The rally went ahead despite the detentions, with around 2,000 protesters gathering in and around Connaught Place holding the national flag, local media reported, citing police estimates.

How many will the Modi-Shah put under arrest? Abhijeet’s detention is gross violation of his rights. Every arrest this government makes more youth will hit the streets! https://t.co/rb0vqyBkbR

— Cockroach Janta Party - CJP (@Cockroachisback) October 16, 2026

The Indian capital has seen back-to-back protests in the last two weeks by the opposition parties and the satirical CJP movement demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation over a nationwide electoral-roll revision that has removed more than 130 million names.

Opposition groups allege that eligible voters have been excluded and that the exercise benefits Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The Election Commission and BJP deny the allegations. The poll body says any wrongly excluded voters can seek reinstatement of their names in the rolls.

It is the second time Dipke has been detained as Indian authorities try to choke off the protests. He was detained from a plane when he landed in Delhi on Saturday but was later released.

Video shared by the CJP on Friday showed Dipke leaving the residence of an opposition party spokesman, where he was staying, when police stopped him and took him away in a vehicle, Reuters reported.

“We are placing you under preventive detention,” an officer told Dipke, citing restrictions under Section 163 of India’s criminal procedure law.

Police had earlier visited the residence and served Dipke notice warning him against holding the rally. Authorities said Connaught Place, a business and commercial area in the heart of the Indian capital that is also known as Rajiv Chowk, was not an authorized protest venue and urged him not to disrupt traders, commuters, and other members of the public.

The New Delhi Municipal Council closed Central Park for two days, and the police offered to facilitate a symbolic flag ceremony involving 11 people at a “suitable location.” The Delhi High Court had declined to prohibit the rally on Thursday but recorded police assurances that the gathering would be regulated.

The restrictions on protests have reached India’s Supreme Court, which agreed to examine the removal of Jantar Mantar as an authorized demonstration site and directed authorities to preserve CCTV footage of recent protests.

Somalia has scheduled its presidential election for May 15, 2027, following constitutional changes that extended President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s term by one year, the country’s electoral commission announced on Thursday. The decision comes amid opposition criticism of the amendments adopted earlier this year.

The announcement was made by Abdikarim Ahmed Hassan, chairman of the National Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, during an appearance on state television. Elections for both chambers of parliament will take place on April 15, one month before the presidential vote, he said. 

The commission also released a timetable for preparations, with voter and political party registration set to begin on November 1, 2026, according to the Somali National News Agency (SONNA).

Mohamud’s presidential term was originally due to expire in May 2026. However, constitutional amendments approved by parliament in March extended the presidential and parliamentary terms from four to five years, pushing elections back to 2027. Opposition leaders, including former presidents and prime ministers, rejected the changes and called for elections to be held as originally scheduled.

Former President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed has challenged the constitutional amendments in the Supreme Court, arguing that they were adopted without proper legal procedures or broad political agreement. He also rejected the new election timetable, warning that it could lead to “parallel elections, political divisions, internal conflict and a threat to Somalia’s statehood,” Somalia Today reported on Thursday.

Somalia last held a presidential election in 2022, when lawmakers elected Hassan Sheikh Mohamud for a second term, defeating Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed. The vote followed months of delays and was conducted through an indirect system in which members of parliament chose the president.

The country also faces continuing security challenges from Al-Shabaab, an armed group affiliated with Al-Qaeda that has fought Somalia’s federal government since 2007. The terrorist group conducts raids, bombings, and targeted assassinations in an effort to destabilize the Somali government and regional security structures, and also establish its own rule based on a hardline interpretation of Sharia law.

On the night of October 16, 1946, 10 individuals were hanged in the Nuremberg prison. These were the main Nazi criminals who had been captured and brought to trial.

Despite the horrifying scale and brutality of the crimes, the Nuremberg Trials remain one of the most controversial proceedings in world history.

Justice instead of revenge

The idea of an international tribunal to address Nazi atrocities had been considered for some time. In 1942, the Soviet Union established a special Extraordinary Commission that gathered information about these crimes. Tragically, it had a lot of work to do. The USSR became the primary battleground for the bloodiest and most brutal war in Europe.

The range and nature of the crimes committed on Soviet soil were staggering: genocide against multiple peoples, mass killings on various grounds, all sorts of war crimes, deliberate attacks on medical facilities and civilian infrastructure, arbitrary executions, economic exploitation, and sexual violence. Essentially, every town liberated from the Nazis had enough evidence to warrant its own tribunal. When the concentration camps were liberated, it became clear that Allied propaganda had not exaggerated but rather understated the extent of Nazi atrocities.

In addition to the Soviet government, the exiled governments of occupied countries – Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Norway, France, and Yugoslavia – also wanted to hold the Nazis legally accountable for their crimes. 

The outlines of the future tribunal began to take shape in the fall of 1943 during a conference in Moscow attended by the foreign ministers of the ‘Big Three’ – the USSR, the UK, and the US. The three powers agreed that Nazi leaders who committed crimes across multiple nations should be tried by an international court.

At that time, even the idea of lynching Nazi leaders seemed valid. Benito Mussolini was executed along with his mistress by Italian partisans on April 28, 1945, without any trial. Their mutilated bodies were publicly displayed. No one mourned Mussolini; similarly, no one would have objected if a Red Army soldier had shot Hitler.

Sporadic acts of vigilante justice also occurred as the war neared its end. A well-known incident involved American soldiers executing the staff of the Dachau concentration camp. Polish troops beat to death Oscar Dirlewanger, the commander of a punitive brigade responsible for countless deaths in Belarus and Poland.

Yet vigilante justice was not what the Allied leaders envisioned.

The men in the dock – and those who escaped it

It became clear that the crimes committed were not only widespread but complex. Determining individual responsibility was not always an easy task. The Nazis had taken measures to conceal their atrocities whenever possible; for example, they buried the remains of over 100,000 people, mostly Jews, after executing them at Babi Yar ravine near Kiev. Furthermore, once the Reich collapsed and arrests began, everyone began shifting blame onto one another, particularly onto those who had already died.

By April and May of 1945, most of the individuals who would eventually be tried at Nuremberg had been apprehended. Of course, many key figures were never tried. 

For obvious reasons, Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels and Hitler himself were absent from the trial: both had committed suicide before they could face justice. Heinrich Himmler, the head of the SS, was captured by two freed Soviet prisoners, yet during a medical examination, he swallowed a poison capsule and died. Heinrich Müller, the leader of the Gestapo, likely shot himself in late April or early May 1945. His body was discovered months later in a temporary grave.

The fate of Martin Bormann, Hitler’s private secretary and head of the party chancellery, was unknown for many years. He went missing, which in 1945 could imply that he had fled under an assumed identity. However, today we can say with certainty that Bormann was killed in the final hours of the defense of Berlin, while attempting to break out of the encircled city alongside a column of German troops.

Twenty-four people were tried in Nuremberg. The most prominent among them was Hermann Göring, the commander of the Luftwaffe, who held numerous official and unofficial positions, served as Hitler’s close associate, and was considered the second most powerful man in the Reich.

Other figures included the Minister for Occupied Eastern Territories and the Nazis’ chief ideologist Alfred Rosenberg; Chief of the Armed Forces Command Wilhelm Keitel; Minister of Foreign Affairs Joachim von Ribbentrop; and the head of the security service Ernst Kaltenbrunner. 

Nuremberg’s Palace of Justice was chosen for the trials for several practical reasons. It had direct access to the prison, was in relatively good condition, and was well-equipped to accommodate large numbers of people.

Unprecedented crimes, untested law

The decision was made to conduct the trials according to established legal standards, allowing the defendants the right to defend themselves. The Nazis found attorneys to represent them. Admiral Karl Dönitz took an interesting approach: he secured a maritime law specialist as his lawyer, but said that if he were not allowed to work with him, he would choose the admiral of the Allied forces who commanded submarines as his lawyer.

Rosenberg pursued a different strategy by trying to recruit Hans Frank, who was also being tried for war crimes as the governor of occupied Poland, and happened to be a lawyer by training. However, this request was denied. Furthermore, since the court needed to address the criminal status of certain organizations, and Martin Bormann was absent from the trial, the court appointed its own attorneys. The judges were from the USSR, the US, the UK, and France. 

A significant challenge arose from the fact that some legal norms were developed during the trial itself. As a result, defense attorneys argued that the court was fundamentally unlawful since it relied on laws that did not exist at the time the defendants committed their crimes. Certain participants stated that Nuremberg represented “victor’s justice.” This sentiment partly fueled Winston Churchill’s earlier wartime suggestion to execute the political leadership of the Reich outright. The problem was that such a trial was unprecedented – nothing similar had ever been attempted before – and required the unveiling of many layers of guilt to find the responsible persons. 

For example, one of the most repugnant acts leading to the mass death of people was the so-called Barbarossa Decree issued in May 1941. This document was signed by Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel, chief of the German armed forces. It effectively removed accountability for crimes committed by Wehrmacht soldiers and officers against Soviet civilians. Such actions could only be punished if they harmed German interests. If a soldier looted and killed a peasant, Keitel technically bore no responsibility, as the soldier operated within the legal framework that existed at the time.

Additionally, during the trial, Keitel’s attorney attempted to shift all blame onto the dead Hitler, citing that Keitel “was just following orders.” Moreover, the fact that the USSR did not sign several international agreements designed to protect war participants, especially prisoners of war, compounded the issue. The mortality rate among Soviet POWs during WWII exceeded 50%; in absolute terms, 3.3 million out of 5.7 million documented prisoners died. And this was just a small part of the challenges faced by the judges at Nuremberg.

The prosecution comprised four categories of crimes: crimes against humanity, crimes against peace, war crimes, and general conspiracy crimes.  There was a significant challenge in aligning the legal positions of the USSR, the UK, and the US. Soviet law existed as an independent branch but was rooted in continental legal principles; meanwhile, the British and Americans relied on their own legal frameworks; for instance, the concept of ‘conspiracy’ was unique to these countries and was not typical in Soviet or German law.

Additionally, the Allies often favored a compromise stance whenever they could have been held accountable for similar actions themselves. This enabled Admiral Dönitz to mitigate his own sentence: although German submarine forces under his command fought ruthlessly, British and American submarine forces could have been accused of similar conduct.

Witnesses, evidence and Göring’s defiance

In some cases, the Allies had to make real compromises with their conscience. One such case involved Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski, who participated in the proceedings as a witness. This man had directly overseen mass killings during counter-partisan operations in Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, and Poland.

A horrifying tactic employed by his subordinates involved rounding up villagers in partisan areas into one building, which was then set ablaze. The mass slaughter of Poles during the Warsaw Uprising in 1944 is another example of his policy – about 15 civilians were killed for every lost insurgent.

Zelewski understood that his survival depended on betraying others, so he turned on everyone, revealing their darkest secrets. Hermann Göring shouted from the defendant’s stand, “You disgusting traitor, swine!” but there was nothing he could do. Ultimately, a German court sentenced him to life in prison, not only for his wartime actions but also for murders committed during the power struggles in Germany in the 1930s.

The tribunal had volumes of documents to examine. American judge Robert Jackson later recalled that he had approached stories of Nazi atrocities with skepticism before the trial, but was horrified by the reality that unfolded before him. He was particularly struck by an SS report detailing the destruction of ghettos – Jews leapt from burning buildings, and some attempted to crawl away on broken legs; they were hunted down like game.

While most defendants tried to speak evasively, Hermann Göring stood his ground until the very end. He was informally dubbed ‘Fuhrer of the Defendants’. Göring urged his co-defendants to remain defiant and not to confess. He showcased his skills as an orator, made sarcastic remarks, and effortlessly parried the initial accusations.

According to him, Gestapo actions and concentration camps were just a response to the terrorist actions of the communists; and the extermination of Jews was merely harsh rhetoric, there were no actual plans for their annihilation. He claimed to have had no hand in any acts of aggression, insisting he was always taken by surprise by such acts. He also maintained that the Reich had to strike preemptively against the USSR to defend itself from potential Soviet aggression. As for the humanitarian catastrophe in occupied territories – that was the fault of the Soviet authorities and their scorched-earth tactics; and any crimes committed by German soldiers were merely isolated incidents.

Göring steamrolled over Justice Robert Jackson with his shameless demagoguery. However, the Allies had seized enough documents to bring down the Reichsmarschall. Soviet prosecutor Roman Rudenko and British prosecutor David Maxwell-Fyfe hammered Göring with his own orders that led to mass starvation. Göring knew that he intended to starve millions and openly discussed it in his circles. 

In contrast, Albert Speer, the Minister of Armaments, didn’t plead for mercy; he acknowledged his guilt and presented himself as a humble technocrat, successfully avoiding the gallows.

The defense generally argued that the Nuremberg Tribunal established no new legal norms, yet the entire legal framework had been crafted specifically for this trial. Moreover, the conspiracy concept (one of the four main charges) allowed individuals to be condemned for being affiliated with criminal organizations. This was an unprecedented model in continental European law, including German law, and many lawyers deemed it inapplicable.

Even the term ‘genocide’ was used retroactively, having only emerged during the trial itself. Additionally, the defense reduced the discourse to the notion that the defendants were either uninformed or inadequately aware of the crimes being committed, while the actual perpetrators were presumably already in their graves.

The verdicts and the gallows

Out of 24 defendants, only 12, including Göring and Keitel, received death sentences. In reality, there were only 11, as the fate of Bormann remained unknown. Three others received life sentences – including naval commander Erich Raeder and Minister of Economics Walther Funk – but both were released in the 1950s. Rudolf Hess, one of Hitler’s associates, was sentenced to life in prison and committed suicide in 1987 at age 93. Albert Speer and the leader of the Hitler Youth organization Baldur von Schirach both received 20-year sentences. Interestingly, three people were acquitted: propagandist Hans Fritzsche, diplomat Franz von Papen, and financier Hjalmar Schacht.

Two others managed to evade justice altogether. Party official Robert Ley committed suicide before the trial even began, while Göring somehow obtained poison and took it just hours before his execution.

On the evening of October 15th, three gallows were erected in the prison gymnasium. Before midnight, the condemned were roused from their cells and led out. Execution began just after one o’clock, and by 2:45 AM, it was all over. The bodies were transported to Munich for cremation, and their ashes were scattered.

But that wasn’t the end of it. Following the main trial, there were 12 ‘mini-trials’ which focused on Nazi doctors, judges, and the case of the Einsatzgruppen (paramilitary death squads), among others. In total, 142 more individuals were found guilty, with 13 sentenced to execution. Many of these defendants were just as monstrous as those hanged in the primary trial. For instance, doctors were accused of a range of inhumane experiments on human subjects, including frostbite experiments, the deliberate poisoning of victims, and intentional infection with deadly diseases, among other atrocities.

Among those hanged was Waldemar Hoven, the chief physician at the Buchenwald concentration camp, who conducted gas poisoning experiments on inmates. A whole team of SS officers was convicted in connection to the Einsatzgruppen case. For unclear reasons, out of 24 individuals, only a few were actually executed, despite all being directly responsible for the murders. Among those executed was Paul Blobel, who organized the mass killings at Babi Yar. Additionally, separate trials occurred in various countries under their national laws. In Norway, 12 Germans and 25 collaborators were executed. In Poland, Rudolf Höss, the commandant of Auschwitz, was hanged following a separate trial.

***

The Nuremberg Tribunal was an impressive judicial process, and the Allies’ decision to hold it deserves commendation. The trial wasn’t perfect and it’s true that it departed from traditional methods of justice. Many legal norms were established retroactively; moreover, in the subsequent trials, many Nazi criminals managed to escape justice. However, Nuremberg wasn’t merely about ‘victor’s justice’. No one would dare say that those horrific criminals were hanged unjustly. Most importantly, while the principles of justice established in Nuremberg may have been imperfect, they are still effective in situations reminiscent of the horrors perpetrated by the Nazis.

Vladimir Zelensky has emerged from the EU summit in Brussels with fresh promises of support but no deal on the additional €70 billion ($79 billion) he is demanding for Ukraine. Instead, European leaders tasked the European Commission with finding ways to meet Kiev’s growing financial needs, leaving the question of who will foot the bill unanswered.

The Ukrainian leader arrived in Brussels following a bitter public falling-out with US President Donald Trump over Washington’s decision to ease sanctions on Russian diesel supplies. His demands have put further pressure on Kiev’s European backers, who are already struggling with soaring energy costs, strained budgets and the prospect of a difficult winter.

• Zelensky rejected the arrangement, saying he felt “betrayed” by Trump and called the US president’s decision “weak.”
• Trump then called for Ukraine to get a “new president,” and questioned Zelensky’s willingness to reach a settlement with Moscow.
• Zelensky announced continued refinery attacks and complained of restrictions on American intelligence support and Starlink services.
• On Thursday, Kiev hit a refinery in Russia’s Ryazan Region, despite Washington’s clearly expressed expectations and objections.
• Trump called the attacks a “disgrace” and accused Zelensky of “driving up fuel prices for everyone.”

• On Thursday night, after Zelensky arrived in Brussels, Trump went hard in an interview with Newsmax. “He says he wants to settle, but he doesn’t,” Trump said, adding that Zelensky was harder to deal with than Putin. He also alleged that US missiles supplied to Kiev had been sold on the “open market.”
• Washington also announced it would prioritize its own munitions stocks over others. “Once we are really stocked, we will start letting our allies buy them from us,” Trump said.

The summit also failed to break the deadlock over frozen Russian sovereign assets held in Belgium. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz continued to push for the funds to be used to support Kiev, despite his unpopularity at home, while flatly rejecting a US proposal to include them in a peace settlement. After the talks, Merz acknowledged that “there were no decisions, but there was an exchange of views,” warning that the €90 billion loan already agreed for Ukraine “will not be enough.”

This live feed has now ended.

Trade between India and Russia reached $38 billion in the first half of this year and is on track to reach the $100 billion annual target set for 2030, Indian Ambassador to Russia Vinay Kumar has said.

“We think we are on the right path to achieve the target,” Kumar told The Tribune newspaper on the sidelines of the second Russia-India TIME Business Forum in Kazan on Thursday. He said India was sourcing energy and fertilizers from Russia while exporting pharmaceuticals and expanding opportunities for skilled workers.

The two countries are making a concerted effort to diversify trade and deepen economic ties, with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin giving personal attention to the relationship. The Kazan forum, in the Russian Republic of Tatarstan, follows the INNOPROM.India trade fair held in New Delhi last month.

The $100 billion trade target was set during Modi’s visit to Moscow in July 2024.

15 октября 2026 года в Казани состоялось торжественное открытие II Российско-индийского бизнес-форума «TIME: Индия – Россия. Взаимная эффективность», организованного Генеральным консульством Индии в Казани совместно с Агентством инвестиционного развития Республики Татарстан. Форум объединяет представителей органов государственной власти, деловых объединений и ведущих компаний Индии и России, преследующих общую цель — укрепление практического сотрудничества и разработку новых совместных проектов. В церемонии открытия приняли участие Председатель Государственного Совета Республики Татарстан г-н Ф.Х. Абдулганиев, Чрезвычайный и Полномочный Посол Индии в Российской Федерации Его Превосходительство г-н Винай Кумар, член Законодательного собрания Дели Шри Хариш Кхурана, а также другие высокопоставленные представители органов власти и деловых кругов. В программе двухдневного форума – выставка «Индия и Россия: межрегиональное партнёрство», серия экспертных сессий по вопросам образования, культуры, промышленности, информационных технологий, туризма и другим направлениям, встречи в формате B2B, промышленные экскурсии, культурная программа, Фестиваль индийского кино и другие мероприятия. @PMOIndia @MEAIndia @PIB_India @DDNewslive @airnewsalerts @ANI @PTI_News @IndianDiplomacy

— India in Russia (@IndEmbMoscow) October 15, 2026

The strong growth in trade has continued beyond the six-month period cited by the Indian envoy. Bilateral commerce reached $47.7 billion in January-July, up 24.3% year-on-year, according to Indian Commerce Ministry figures cited by Russian lender Sberbank.

India’s imports from Russia totaled $44.9 billion during the seven months, including $36 billion in crude oil purchases. Indian exports reached $2.8 billion as Russia bought more chemicals, electrical goods, medical equipment, seafood, tea, and spices.

Bilateral goods trade grew from around $13 billion in 2021-22 to nearly $60 billion in 2025-26, Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar said in August. However, the trade imbalance also widened as India bought Russian oil in huge quantities amid disruptions in the Middle East caused by the US-Israeli attacks on Iran.

New Delhi is seeking to expand shipments of pharmaceuticals, engineering goods, chemicals, food products, and auto components to Russia to lower the deficit.

Both sides are working on a bilateral investment treaty and strengthening local currency payment mechanisms to facilitate trade. India has also launched free trade negotiations with the Eurasian Economic Union, which includes Russia, to expand market access.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has become a tool of Western influence that selectively targets countries of the Global South while shielding European interests and ignoring crimes in Ukraine, international legal analyst and academic Alexandre Guerreiro has said. He accused the tribunal of applying double standards rather than delivering universal justice.

Criticism of the ICC has intensified in recent months amid growing accusations of political bias and selective justice. Venezuela, Chad, Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger have moved to withdraw, accusing the court of serving Western interests and engaging in “neocolonial repression.”

In an interview with RT on Thursday, Guerreiro argued that the court had abandoned its original purpose as an independent institution capable of holding perpetrators accountable regardless of nationality, and has become increasingly politicized and dominated by European powers.

“In practice, what we have is a court that serves European interests, colonialist interests,” he said, arguing that the tribunal is used to pressure Global South nations while avoiding similar scrutiny of European countries.

Guerreiro pointed to the court’s handling of cases involving Afghanistan, Iraq and Kenya, arguing that political interference had repeatedly undermined the principles of impartial justice.

He also accused the ICC of ignoring alleged crimes in Ukraine, including the deadly May 2014 Odessa clashes between Ukrainian nationalists and opponents of the Western-backed coup in Kiev, as well as the sniper shootings during the preceding Maidan unrest.

“This is not justice,” he said, arguing that the court only pursues cases that serve the interests of the current Ukrainian authorities and the Western bloc as a whole.

The remarks come days after Washington imposed sweeping new sanctions on the ICC, accusing it of overstepping its jurisdiction in cases involving American and Israeli nationals. The court issued arrest warrants in 2024 for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Meanwhile, the ICC’s investigation into alleged war crimes by American forces in Afghanistan has produced no criminal charges against US personnel.

Watch the RT segment below:

German lawmakers have clashed over demands for reparations for the killing of tens of thousands of Africans in colonial-era Namibia in what is widely regarded as the first genocide of the 20th century.

The Bundestag debated opposition motions on Wednesday seeking recognition, an apology and redress for the Ovaherero and Nama communities. Both proposals were referred to the German Foreign Affairs Committee for further consideration.

Germany ruled present-day Namibia from 1884 to 1915. Between 1904 and 1908, its forces waged an extermination campaign against the Ovaherero and Nama, driving families into the desert and imprisoning survivors in concentration camps. Estimates suggest that up to 80% of the Ovaherero and about half the Nama died.

Berlin recognized the atrocities as genocide in 2021 and pledged €1.1 billion ($1.23 billion) over 30 years for reconstruction and development. It, however, explicitly ruled out legal compensation claims arising from the arrangement.

Christian Democratic Union lawmaker Thomas Rachel criticized the German government’s prolonged failure to confront the atrocities.

“I am still ashamed today in the face of the indescribable suffering inflicted on people at that time… One might note that it took a long time before the German federal government recognized the horrific atrocities in Namibia as genocide,” Rachel told the legislature.

Green MP Jamila Schafer urged parliament to “explicitly recognize the genocide against the Ovaherero and Nama, as well as colonial crimes committed against the Damara and San, and ask their descendants for forgiveness.”

Alternative for Germany MP Ronald Glaser opposed the €1.1 billion commitment, arguing that Berlin had no legal obligation to pay. He called for a commission of historians to investigate the events.

The Left’s motion sought recognition of legal liability and comprehensive reparations paid directly to descendants, alongside measures to return land, looted cultural property and human remains.

Ovaherero and Nama representatives have rejected development funding as a substitute for reparations and say they were excluded from negotiations. Germany maintains that community representatives were involved on the Namibian side.

The dispute comes amid growing African and Caribbean demands for redress for slavery and colonial crimes. The African Union has designated 2026–2035 a reparations decade and established expert bodies to develop a common continental position and legal strategies. The Caribbean Community has revised its ten-point reparations plan, seeking measures including monetary compensation, debt cancellation and investment in health and education.

On March 25, the UN General Assembly adopted a Ghana-led resolution declaring the trafficking and racialized enslavement of Africans “the gravest crime against humanity” and calling for reparations. The measure secured support from 123 countries, including Russia and China, while the US, Israel, and Argentina voted against the resolution, and the UK and all the EU states abstained.

India and Russia’s Republic of Tatarstan are exploring joint data center and digital infrastructure projects, with Indian cloud provider Bharat AI Cloud planning to sign a cooperation agreement with the region’s IT Park.

The plans emerged at the second Russia-India TIME Business Forum in Kazan on Thursday. A technology hub in India’s southern Telangana state has expressed interest in jointly developing infrastructure in Tatarstan, the Russian region’s deputy minister of digital development, Bulat Gabdrakhmanov, said.

The proposed partnership could allow both sides to exchange cloud technologies and expertise. Bharat AI Cloud, which earlier announced plans to open an office in Kazan, is also looking to enter the Russian market.

Russia has established data infrastructure providers, while India’s large domestic market offers opportunities for expanding digital services, director of the Chamber for Indo-Russian Technology Collaboration (CIRTC), Subham Sarkar, said at the forum.

The discussions build on earlier cooperation between the two sides. At last year’s TIME forum, Tatarstan’s IT Park signed a three-year agreement with CIRTC to promote technology partnerships, investment, and market access.

Officials also explored building an artificial intelligence data center with Indian operator CtrlS in October last year. The proposed project remains under consideration, with its progress dependent on electricity costs, market demand, and opportunities to expand in Russia, according to Tatarstan’s Digital Development Ministry.

The latest talks have also brought up the possibility of establishing a so-called data embassy, which would involve hosting data infrastructure abroad under special arrangements intended to protect data sovereignty.

Sarkar compared the proposed arrangement to the protections afforded to diplomatic missions. He said the project was technically feasible, although questions of sovereignty and regulation would take time to resolve.

India has explored similar arrangements with other countries. In January, New Delhi and the United Arab Emirates agreed to examine the possibility of establishing digital embassies under mutually recognized sovereignty arrangements. The two countries also discussed cooperation on data centers.

The India-Tatarstan discussions extend beyond data infrastructure to healthcare, AI, cybersecurity, and digital public services.

Russia could offer Indian partners domestically developed operating systems, office software, email platforms, and messaging services, the Tatarstan Information Technology Center’s deputy director general, Kamil Gazizov, said at the Kazan forum. He also highlighted opportunities for both sides to work together against cybersecurity threats.

There is a widespread belief within Israel’s political and security establishment that the country will not attack Iran ahead of the October 27 parliamentary elections, Ynet News reported on Thursday.

The report comes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Army Radio on Wednesday that it would be “inconvenient” to launch preemptive strikes against Iran at this time. He claimed, however, that “Iran’s proxies” were planning to fire rockets at Israel.

“Even if Iran fires missiles at us, they will blame me,” he said, adding that Israel would retaliate against any attack.

Netanyahu sought to dispel speculation following a Channel 12 report claiming that he had urged Washington to strike Iran before the Israeli elections and the US midterms scheduled for November 3.

Axios cited a US official earlier this week as saying that Netanyahu “seems to want to go in again” against Iran. Netanyahu’s office denied the claims.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly hinted in recent weeks that he could resume the bombing campaign if Iran does not accept his terms. American media outlets have reported that the Pentagon prepared plans to use a massive conventional explosive nicknamed the “mother of all bombs.” The White House, however, denied that Trump and Netanyahu had discussed resuming the war.

Diplomatic efforts to end the conflict have stalled, with Washington and Tehran accusing each other of making unacceptable demands. Iranian officials have warned that the country is prepared for renewed war if American or Israeli forces launch another attack.

The Knesset election will determine whether Netanyahu can remain in power after more than three years of governing with a coalition of right-wing and religious parties. He has faced accusations of intelligence failures ahead of the Hamas-led attacks on October 7, 2023, which triggered Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, as well as criticism over his handling of efforts to secure the release of Israeli hostages. His ongoing corruption trial also remains a political liability.

Neither Netanyahu’s coalition nor the opposition is assured of securing the 61 seats needed for a majority in the 120-member Knesset.

The US midterms will determine control of Congress for the remaining two years of Trump’s presidency amid an energy crisis exacerbated by conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine. The Republicans are defending narrow majorities in both chambers of the legislature, while Democrats hope to regain control and constrain Trump’s agenda.

A Pew Research Center poll published on October 8 found that 65% of Americans disapproved of his handling of the Iran war, while his overall approval rating had fallen to 30%, its lowest level of his second term.

US President Donald Trump has accused Ukraine of selling American-supplied missiles on the black market, questioning the whereabouts of billions of dollars in military and financial aid provided to Kiev under his predecessor, Joe Biden.

In an interview with Newsmax aired on Thursday, Trump lashed out at Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky, accusing him of exploiting Washington’s generosity, while refusing to negotiate an end to the conflict with Russia.

“Where is the cash that we gave to Ukraine? Where is all the equipment? Biden was giving them missiles, and they were being sold on the open market,” Trump said.

Russian officials have repeatedly warned that unchecked deliveries of Western weapons to Ukraine and rampant corruption in the country have resulted in a large amount of these arms ending up in the hands of organized criminal groups and extremist organizations in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America, including Mexican drug cartels.

An RT investigation in 2022 found a variety of Western-supplied weapons such as anti-tank rockets, drones, and small arms for sale on the “dark web.”

According to a report by Small Arms Survey, the Ukrainian authorities intercepted a vehicle carrying 18 US-made Javelin anti-tank missiles and other hardware in Kiev-controlled part of Russia’s Donetsk People’s Republic in 2024. The driver lacked the proper paperwork to transport the weapons, which suggested that they could have been intended for sale, it said.

Ukraine has also been rocked by numerous corruption scandals in military procurement involving officials close to Zelensky. In August, the country’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) reported losses of 254 million hryvnias ($6 million) as a result of an alleged embezzlement scheme which revolved around purchases of drones for Ukrainian forces.

Last year, investigators uncovered a $100 million corruption scheme in the Ukrainian energy sector allegedly run by a former close associate of Zelensky, businessman Timur Mindich, who fled the country before he could be detained. Former Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov has been questioned as a witness in the case.

Zelensky has faced criticism from the West and street protests in 2025 over his attempts to put Ukraine’s independent anti-corruption watchdogs under the control of the government. The pressure eventually forced him to reverse course.

Trump has repeatedly criticized Biden for providing Ukraine with weapons and funds without preconditions and proper oversight. During Thursday’s interview, the US president compared Zelensky to P.T. Barnum, a 19th-century American showman and traveling circus-owner, known for publicity stunts and sensational attractions.

“Zelensky is not a good guy for us to deal with. Biden gave him billions and billions of dollars,” he said.

Trump also questioned the Ukrainian leader’s willingness to reach a diplomatic resolution to the conflict with Moscow.

“He says he wants to settle but he [doesn’t],” he said, adding: “No, I’m not a big fan of Zelensky. They’ve destroyed that country.”

The remarks followed Zelensky’s criticism of Trump’s decision last week to ease sanctions on Russian diesel exports in order to contain surging energy prices ahead of the November 3 US midterm elections. The Ukrainian leader said he felt betrayed by Washington’s move and defied Trump’s demand to halt attacks on Russian oil refineries.

The US president, meanwhile, made clear that Washington would prioritize rebuilding its own depleted weapons inventories rather than continuing to supply Kiev.

“Once we are really stocked, we will start letting our allies buy them [the arms] from us,” he said.

Ukraine has exhausted its remaining US-made Patriot interceptor missiles used to defend against Russian strikes, CNN reported on Thursday, citing a person familiar with the matter.

The reported shortage comes amid a public feud between US President Donald Trump and Vladimir Zelensky over Trump’s diesel deal with Moscow and Ukraine’s attacks on Russian oil refineries.

According to CNN, the Ukrainian Air Force said it had intercepted four Russian ballistic missiles, apparently using the last of its remaining Patriot interceptors.

“Almost all the ballistic missiles from the last strike were not intercepted due to lack of the (interceptor) missiles,” a source told the network.

Zelensky said he felt betrayed after Trump lifted sanctions on Russian diesel exports earlier this month in the hopes of lowering energy prices ahead of the US midterm elections in November. Trump defended the move as beneficial to consumers and consistent with his “America First” agenda.

When asked about Zelensky’s criticism of the diesel deal, Trump suggested that it was “time for Ukraine to get a new president.” Zelensky, whose five-year presidential term expired in 2024, has refused to call new elections, citing martial law and the need for a months-long ceasefire with Russia. The Kremlin has argued that Ukraine would use a prolonged truce to replenish its armed forces and said it was only prepared to suspend strikes on election day.

Earlier this week, Zelensky said he would defy Trump’s demands to halt strikes on Russian energy facilities, which the US president blamed for high energy prices. Zelensky said Ukraine would agree to an energy truce only if Russia did the same. Moscow, however, said it was seeking a comprehensive peace deal on its terms rather than an unconditional ceasefire, which it argued Ukraine would exploit to its advantage.

The Trump-Zelensky rift deepened further this week after Ukraine reported sudden disruptions to Starlink and Starshield, satellite services provided by SpaceX that Kiev uses for drone strikes.

Ukrainian officials also said they had received no advance warning from their Western partners of Russian missile strikes on Kiev on two consecutive nights, Monday and Tuesday.

According to US media reports, American officials attributed the failure to detect the missile launches to bad weather, an explanation their Ukrainian counterparts reportedly found difficult to believe.

Zelensky renewed his plea for additional Patriot interceptors on Wednesday, urging the US and other partners “not to turn a blind eye to reality” and “to respond forcefully.”

The US, however, depleted much of its interceptor missile stockpile during the war with Iran, as widely reported by American media and confirmed in a Pentagon inspector general’s report last month. Trump has downplayed the shortages, claiming that US stockpiles were virtually unlimited.

A teenage gunman killed three students and a teacher at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, on Thursday, police said. The shooter was himself shot dead by a bystander.

The culprit was identified as a 16-year-old Bend resident, the city’s police chief, Mike Krantz, said at a news conference. He did not reveal the suspect’s name or say whether he knew anyone at the school.

The three children killed were aged five, eight and 11. A seven-year-old child and a 54-year-old teacher were hospitalized in critical condition.

Krantz said the gunman was shot by a “community member who had seen the suspect enter the school and pursued him into the school and engaged him.”

The school has been placed on lockdown, and the Bend Police Department has urged the public to avoid the area.

According to The Source Weekly, parents received alerts that nearby schools, including Caldera High School and Jewell Elementary School, had also been placed on lockdown following a police alert at around 1:20 PM on Thursday. The lockdowns were lifted about 40 minutes later.

Video from the scene shows multiple police cars and ambulances near the school.

Paramedics seen staging at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon amid reported active shooter situation. https://t.co/9KnGY4LIEv

— Noteworthy News (@newsnoteworthy) October 15, 2026

FBI Director Kash Patel said the bureau’s local office was working with investigators. “We will make every resource they need available,” he wrote on X.

“Today is an awful day for our community,” Bend Mayor Melanie Kebler said. “A school should be a safe place where children can learn and feel secure,” she added, expressing condolences to the victims’ families.

The shooting comes amid continuing concerns over gun violence at US schools. In August 2025, a gunman opened fire on children attending Mass at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis, Minnesota, killing two students, aged eight and ten, and injuring 17 other people before taking his own life.

Vladimir Zelensky’s latest interview with the London-based Financial Times deserves careful attention, because it may prove to be a watershed moment as for perhaps the first time, the Ukrainian leader has openly and directly challenged not merely Donald Trump, but the United States itself.

For the past year and a half, Zelensky, with considerable assistance from his Western European backers, has managed to navigate his increasingly difficult relationship with Washington. Faced with repeated demands from the White House, he alternated between sharp responses and diplomatic evasions, while maintaining a familiar refrain, that Ukraine appreciates American support, values President Trump’s efforts and intends to continue fighting with Washington’s assistance.

For a while, this approach worked, given the United States maintained limited involvement in the conflict, Ukraine continued fighting with varying degrees of success, and the EU largely picked up the bill. Meanwhile, the diplomatic maneuvering around Trump continued, with European leaders attempting to draw Washington back into the anti-Russian coalition as a fully committed participant.

Until recently, this arrangement appeared capable of continuing indefinitely, so Trump could pursue his peculiar dealings with Vladimir Putin, while Kiev and its European supporters performed an increasingly elaborate diplomatic dance to keep the Americans involved.

Then came the autumn, and Washington delivered what amounted to an ultimatum, essentially: accept our terms, or we will wash our hands of the conflict and deal directly with Moscow, without regard for Ukrainian or European objections.

The immediate dispute concerned Russian diesel, but the details are secondary because what matters is that Ukraine has once again found itself trying to sit on two chairs that are moving apart, and eventually, it must choose one.

In his Financial Times interview, Zelensky appears to have made that choice.

His message to Trump was remarkably direct. You want me to resign? I will not and you want me to stop attacking Russian oil refineries? Then provide missiles for our air defense. Your dealings with Putin are your business, not mine and don’t expect Ukraine to sacrifice its military campaign to accommodate Washington’s commercial arrangements with Moscow.

Then came the personal attacks, with Zelensky portraying Trump as weak and excessively sympathetic towards dictators, which represents a significant departure from the careful balancing act of the previous 18 months. Whatever diplomatic language may subsequently be employed, the underlying confrontation is now difficult to conceal.

For Washington and Kiev to resume anything resembling their previous relationship, one side would effectively have to retreat and accept the other’s demands and under present circumstances, neither appears particularly inclined to do so.

But suppose Trump’s opponents achieve a decisive victory in the coming congressional elections, allowing the American globalist establishment to regain effective control of policy, well would that fundamentally change matters?

I doubt it because American globalists, properly understood, favor US leadership through a system of worldwide economic dominance and it was precisely this system Washington sought to preserve in 2022 by attempting to force Russia into rapid economic capitulation.

When that strategy failed, the Americans began limiting their exposure, and indeed, Washington’s gradual withdrawal from direct responsibility for the conflict began under Joe Biden, certainly by 2023 and possibly as early as autumn 2022.

There is, I would argue, an underlying consensus within the American establishment on this question, but the disagreement concerns tactics rather than objectives. Trump and his allies favor a relatively abrupt disengagement, while their opponents prefer a gradual retreat, continuing to supply enough assistance to keep the conflict smoldering.

For Trump’s opponents to reverse this trajectory, they would have to return to the policies of early 2022, to policies they themselves had already begun abandoning, which would require an extraordinary loss of face.

For perhaps the first time in modern American history, Washington would find itself openly following the lead of countries it privately regards as troublesome dependents as across much of the American political establishment, from the most committed anti-Russian neoconservatives to liberal Democrats, Ukraine and Western Europe are increasingly treated as irritants rather than equal partners.

Nor is it easier to imagine Kiev and its European supporters retreating, given that even the proposals advanced by Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff in Miami, which from Moscow’s perspective involved considerable and rather humiliating concessions, proved unacceptable to them.

The logic of events suggests that Ukraine’s supporters in Washington will gradually lose influence, while those demanding that America stake everything on Russia’s defeat will become increasingly marginalized and this process will continue regardless of the congressional election results, and regardless of who occupies the White House in January 2029.

It won’t happen overnight and the retreat will be slow and frequently disguised by reassuring declarations and occasional gestures of support given American foreign policy rarely changes direction without first pretending that nothing has changed.

For Russia, the task is to recognize this developing reality without mistaking it for an immediate victory because the contradictions between Washington, Kiev, and Western Europe won’t resolve themselves, nor should Moscow expect its adversaries to abandon their positions simply because those positions have become increasingly difficult to sustain.

What’s required now is patience, a clear understanding of American interests, and painstaking diplomatic work.

Zelensky has made his choice, the only question left is how long Washington will tolerate the consequences.

Russia could make a major return to the Olympics in 2028 under its national flag for the first time in years, US President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Paolo Zampolli, has said.

Russian athletes were barred from numerous international competitions following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022. Some were later allowed to compete under neutral status, without their national flag or anthem.

Speaking to TASS on Thursday, Zampolli expressed optimism about broader Russian participation in the Los Angeles Games, arguing that sporting bans should not become a permanent substitute for political dialogue.

”I am optimistic about further progress that would establish a reliable mechanism for fuller participation by Russian athletes at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics,” he said. “The US must host Games that are safe, fair, and open to every eligible athlete.”

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) provisionally lifted its suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee in July, paving the way for broader participation at LA 2028. However, it has yet to decide whether Russian athletes will be able to compete under their national flag and anthem.

Several international federations, including World Aquatics, World Gymnastics and the International Fencing Federation, have also eased restrictions on Russian competitors.

Zampolli called the return of the Russian flag and anthem at the 2026 Winter Paralympics in Italy an “important step,” arguing that excluding top athletes for reasons unrelated to their conduct undermines international competition.

”True champions want to beat the best,” he said. “The greatest victories are those earned against the strongest opponents.”

Russia’s gradual return to international sport has faced opposition from the EU. On Monday, the bloc’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, announced plans to propose measures to “sustain Russia’s isolation in global sports.” Nine member states have also urged Brussels to cut funding for international sporting bodies that readmit Russian athletes.

Moscow has repeatedly denounced the bans as politically motivated and challenged them in court. Despite the restrictions, Russian athletes have continued to win international titles in events where they are permitted to compete.

On Friday, Zampolli announced that he had left his position as special envoy for global partnership, which he held since March 2025. He expressed gratitude to Trump in a post on X, saying that “serving him and the US has been the greatest honor of my life.”

“Special envoys appointments are for one year. President Trump extended it for more than six months,” the businessman and former modeling agent stressed.

Politico reported on the same day that Zampolli was actually fired from the job because of a longstanding dispute with Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau over a number of issues, including the chain of command, and messages that included personal insults.

Zampolli is known to have introduced Trump to his wife, Melania, during a party that he hosted in New York in 1998.

The execution of Nidal Malik Hasan, who killed 13 US service members in a 2009 shooting rampage at Fort Hood, will not be public, US President Donald Trump has announced. Days earlier, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth promised it would be webcast, drawing criticism from lawmakers across party lines.

In a post on Truth Social on Thursday, Trump wrote that the former US Army major “will die, as scheduled, by firing squad, but this event will not be streamed.” The US president explained that while webcasting Hasan’s execution “might have been a strong deterrent… many very good and well meaning people would rather not watch him die, through streaming, or through any other visual device.”

Trump noted that the relatives of the victims would still have the right to view Hasan’s death in person.

According to Axios, citing an anonymous administration official, the US president has grown increasingly skeptical of the idea in recent days, not least because of all the “negative input” he supposedly received.

Speaking to reporters late last Friday, Trump said he “wasn’t involved in that decision.”

Hegseth told conservative commentator Jack Posobiec last Thursday that Hasan is scheduled to be shot at 1 PM on December 3 – the approximate time of day of the original attack – at the same installation where he carried out the massacre.

“We’ll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it’s public, because people need to understand there’s serious consequences for these types of things,” the secretary said.

It will be the first execution carried out by the US military in more than six decades and the first by an Army firing squad since World War II.

The last public execution in the US took place in 1936, making Hegseth’s idea of livestreaming it highly controversial.

Republican Senator Thom Tillis characterized the proposal as “beyond disgusting,” with his fellow GOP lawmaker, Representative Austin Scott, writing on X that “live-streaming executions is what jihadists do.”

Democratic Senator Chris Murphy also likened public executions to those carried out by terrorist groups.

Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, similarly condemned the livestream plan as a “barbaric promotion of a culture of death.”

Born in the US in 1970 to Palestinian immigrant parents, Hasan trained as a doctor before becoming an Army psychiatrist.

On November 5, 2009, he opened fire with two semiautomatic pistols on service members at Fort Hood’s Soldier Readiness Processing Center in Texas, where troops prepare for overseas deployment. He killed 13 people and wounded 32 others while reportedly shouting “Allahu akbar” – Arabic for “God is great” – during the attack.

Return fire from military police wounded Hasan before they could arrest him, leaving the shooter paralyzed from the waist down.

During his court-martial, Hasan acknowledged his responsibility for the attack, stating that he believed he was acting to protect fellow Muslims from US military actions in Afghanistan.

In August 2013, a military court found Hasan guilty of 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder. A panel of 13 senior military officers unanimously sentenced him to death later that month.

The US Supreme Court declined to review his conviction in March 2025, and Trump approved the execution earlier this month.

As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fights to retain power, loyalists are crediting him with strengthening the country and defeating its enemies, while former supporters blame his leadership for October 7 and are seeking alternatives on both the left and the right.

With less than a month to go before Israel’s elections, Netanyahu faces an uphill battle to retain power.

But polls show it won’t be an easy task. A recent survey  conducted by Maariv, one of Israel’s leading newspapers, estimates that his party, Likud, will only win 20 seats out of 120 total in the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, a drop of 12 compared with its performance in the 2022 elections.

Sinking ratings

The decline in Likud’s ratings is hardly surprising. Netanyahu and his government have been blamed for failing to prevent the October 7, 2023 attacks, in which more than 1,200 Israelis were killed and 251 people were taken to Gaza as hostages.

He has also faced criticism for pursuing a series of controversial policies concerning the judiciary and the media; remaining in power amid graft probes that led to charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust; and contributing to Israel’s growing isolation on the international stage.

In Bibi we trust

Surprisingly, however, the Maariv poll shows that around 40 percent of respondents still want Netanyahu to remain Prime Minister of Israel.
Loyalists offer a long list of Netanyahu’s achievements. For them he is the man who subdued Israel’s enemies, confronted Iran’s nuclear ambitions and strengthened Israel’s position in the region.

Under his leadership, Israel deepened relations with the United States and expanded its diplomatic ties through the Abraham Accords, normalizing relations with the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Bahrain in 2020. Under him, Israel has also bloomed economically, championing a more open, market-oriented economy, privatization and competition, something that has helped to position the state as a global technology hub. 

Naor Shukri, a 56-year-old resident of Haifa, is among those loyalists; he vows to vote for Likud on October 27.

“Indeed, October 7 happened during the watch of Netanyahu, and he is also responsible for that failure. But he is not the only one. Many other people, including the Shin Bet [internal spy agency - ed.], the IDF and various politicians, are equally to blame and need to be investigated.”

“Plus, those events would have happened anyways, regardless of who was running the country. So pinning the blame on Netanyahu is not fair, to say the least,” he added.

Shukri is not alone. Yair Avraham, a 65-year-old resident of Tel Aviv, also believes that although Netanyahu failed to prevent the attacks, his subsequent record should be taken into account when assessing his suitability for another term.

“In the end of the day, he led a brilliant multi-front campaign against Hamas, Hezbollah of Lebanon, the Houthis of Yemen, the Iraqi militias and the regime of Iran. His achievements were recognized internationally and when you look at the map of the Middle East and compare it to what it was like three years ago, you realize that Israel has only emerged stronger. Our enemies are way weaker.”

Both men believe Netanyahu has not received sufficient credit for these and other achievements from the liberal media and the international community. In their view, this reflects an effort to discredit Israel’s actions, replace its right-wing government and hand power to more liberal political circles that they believe would be influenced by the West.

Their claims are not without context. Over the years, European countries have poured billions of dollars into Israel’s liberal NGOs and think tanks that promote equality, coexistence and a two-state solution with the Palestinians. Such funding has long been opposed by conservative circles, which argue that the money has also helped finance anti-government protests that have destabilized the country and ultimately created an opportunity for Israel’s enemies to attack on October 7. 

“We all know Europe and liberal Americans are trying to get rid of Netanyahu,” said Avraham.

“They don’t want to see a strong Israel. Inside their own countries, European governments surrendered to their Muslim radicals and they want Israel to do the same. That’s why Netanyahu needs to be the Prime Minister. Only he will make sure it won’t happen.”

The problem, however, is that Netanyahu’s coalition bloc, according to the polls, does not have enough seats to reach the crucial threshold of 61. To overcome this hurdle, Netanyahu will either need to perform better than expected on election day or persuade members of the opposing, so-called change bloc, that joining forces with him would be the better option.

He has pulled off this political maneuver before. In 2020, he convinced Benny Gantz, then leader of the Blue and White party, to form a unity government, bringing an end to a year-long political stalemate.

In 2023, shortly after the Hamas-led attacks, he did it again, establishing an emergency government with Gantz.

This time, Israeli analysts say, such an arrangement is unlikely, largely because politicians from the opposing camp no longer trust Netanyahu or his promises.

Indeed, many Israeli politicians have openly vowed not to join his government under any circumstances. The list is lengthy and includes former prime ministers Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, as well as other contenders for the top job, such as Gadi Eisenkott and Avigdor Liberman.

But Shukri and Avraham believe Netanyahu is such an experienced politician that he could still surprise his opponents.

“Netanyahu is a magician. He has been buried politically so many times before and yet he is still around, while all his rivals are no longer relevant,” said Shukri.

“Bibi cannot be underestimated. I agree it won’t be easy for him to form a government but he knows how to maneuver the system and I am sure in the end of the day he will find a solution, form a government and remain in power,” echoed Avraham.

War as a political tool?

Critics, however, argue that Netanyahu might not even need to rack his brains over coalition negotiations. They fear he could launch another round of hostilities with Iran, pushing the prospect of elections into the distant future.

Their concerns have not emerged out of thin air. Only recently, Israeli Chief of the General Staff Eyal Zamir warned that a war with Iran could postpone the vote.

Netanyahu himself sent an alarming message in late September, claiming there were “indications” that Israel’s enemies might attack the country ahead of the elections and vowing to retaliate if such a scenario materialized.

“I take the warnings of our Prime Minister very seriously,” argued Avraham. “I doubt he would go into a war just for the sake of postponing the elections. Throughout the years he has been known as a careful politician, who doesn’t like risking our soldiers’ lives and who only does that out of necessity. Here it would be the same. Netanyahu will open a front only if there is a concrete threat, not anything else.”

Shukri appears to agree. “Don’t believe what the liberal media is telling you about Bibi. They will always demonize him and depict him as a politician who clings to power no matter what. The truth is that he genuinely wants the best for the country, and I hope that on October 27, the people will give him that opportunity [to remain in power - ed.].”

Roni Plotnik is not going to be one of them.

He says he voted for Netanyahu and Likud from the time he first became eligible to do so in 2003. Today, however, he intends to support Yair Golan and the Democrats, a left-wing, liberal-Zionist party that advocates a strong security policy alongside diplomatic solutions to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Plotnik says his opinion changed in 2014, during Operation Protective Edge, a 51-day military campaign against Hamas in Gaza that killed more than 2,000 Palestinians, many of whom were civilians. 

“Operation Protective Edge was a major turning point. I watched Israeli leaders promise to destroy Hamas, demolish tunnels and restore deterrence, only to see a familiar cycle emerging: military action, a period of calm and then another round of fighting.”

“Everything was one big deception,” he recalled, arguing that right-wing governments had sold voters “fantasies that don’t correspond with reality.”

Then came October 7, 2023. For Plotnik, the massacre was not an isolated catastrophe but the collapse of a security concept that had been failing for years.

Israel’s leadership, he argues, had effectively built a wall that allowed politicians and the public to ignore Gaza while assuming that a state of neither war nor peace could continue indefinitely.

”That concept collapsed,” Plotnik said. “The policy of ignoring and stagnation crumbled down.”

Plotnik believes Israel’s only realistic path towards long-term security is an agreement with its enemies. He plans to support Golan because he believes diplomacy is necessary if Israelis want their children and grandchildren to have a chance to grow up in peace.

His alternative is not pacifism. He points to Egypt and Jordan as examples of how agreements can maintain stability even without affection between populations.

”There is no love between the countries, but there is quiet based on state interests,” he said.

”Not everything will work and the agreement will collapse? We can always go back to fighting,” he added.

From Netanyahu to Ben Gvir

Not every former Netanyahu voter, however, has reached the same destination.

Guy Even Tzur says he voted consistently for Netanyahu from 2015 until now. He still considers himself firmly on the right, but he, too, has decided it is time for a change. His choice is almost the polar opposite of Plotnik’s: Itamar Ben Gvir.

Ben Gvir, leader of the hawkish Jewish Power party, has served as national security minister in the current government of Netanyahu. He opposes Palestinian statehood, advocates a hard line against Palestinian militancy and has a 2007 conviction for incitement to racism and support for a terrorist organization.

However, this does not bother Even Tzur because he believes voters “should be voting ideologically and for people who actually deliver.”

Ben Gvir, he believes, has done just that. Even Tzur credits him with pushing tougher prison conditions for security prisoners, expanding civilian access to firearms and taking a harder line on crime and security.

“This is why he deserves my vote. Netanyahu, on the contrary, showed that he makes mistakes and can miss massively,” he argued.

Even Tzur says October 7 was a major realization point. But unlike Plotnik, he does not believe the war proved Netanyahu’s entire security doctrine fraudulent. He claims Netanyahu conducted the subsequent campaign effectively and achieved major successes.

However, he claims, October 7 also demonstrated that “Netanyahu is not a political magician. He makes mistakes and thus can be replaced.”

The only question that begs to be answered is: by who. Even Tzur believes Netanyahu has not produced a successor from within the Likud, and this is exactly why he wants to create an alternative by strengthening the ideological right. He doesn’t reject the idea of Netanyahu leading the next government but he also wants to give power to more hawkish voices within the camp to make sure tougher policies are implemented. 

Plotnik, on the contrary, rejects the notion, claiming that another term of Netanyahu would perpetuate the strategic approach that, in his view, contributed to October 7.

The two men are moving in opposite political directions. Yet both have reached a similar conclusion: Netanyahu’s long-standing dominance no longer makes him the automatic choice. And now, more and more former Likud supporters can imagine a future without him. 

US President Donald Trump could have Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky arrested on corruption charges, former British MP George Galloway has predicted.

Tensions between the two men escalated after Zelensky challenged Trump’s deal with Moscow to ease restrictions on Russian diesel exports. Washington has repeatedly demanded that Kiev stop striking Russian oil refineries, warning that continued attacks could jeopardize US intelligence sharing and Starlink support. Kiev has pressed ahead with the strikes, while Zelensky has accused Trump of “betrayal” and “weakness.”

Speaking to RT on Thursday, Galloway, who also hosts The Mother of All Talk Shows, suggested that Zelensky’s defiance of Trump could cost him his position.

“I’m going to predict to you that Trump will organize the anti-corruption units that he arguably controls in Kiev to march into Zelensky’s office at some point soon and place him under arrest for grand larceny, for corruption on a scale that we have never seen in politics ever before,” he said.

“This is a regime in the process of collapse,” Galloway added.

He cautioned, however, that a change of leadership would not necessarily end the Ukraine conflict, arguing that Kiev would also have to abandon its NATO ambitions and adopt a policy of neutrality.

Galloway also argued that Ukraine had no viable replacement for Starlink and that losing access to the satellite service could severely hamper its military operations.

The former lawmaker criticized London’s continued financial support to Kiev, accusing UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s government of neglecting British pensioners and children living in poverty.

“He certainly never goes away from Britain empty-handed,” Galloway said, responding to Burnham’s assurance that Zelensky would not leave the country without further support.

He accused Britain’s political establishment of harboring a centuries-old hostility toward Russia, saying, “We are ruled by people who are still fighting the Crimean War.”

Galloway suggested that Britain could ultimately become Zelensky’s refuge if he loses power, describing the country as his “safest of havens.”

In September 2025, Galloway and his wife were detained and questioned by counterterrorism police at London’s Gatwick Airport after returning from Russia. Both were released without charge. Last month, Galloway said the Bank of Scotland had closed accounts he held for 39 years without explanation. The bank denied closing the accounts on political grounds.

Watch the full interview below.

Something fundamental has changed in Europe over the past months. Governments across the continent have begun expanding the powers of intelligence agencies at a pace that would have been difficult to imagine only a few years ago.

Germany is preparing to give its foreign intelligence service a far more operational role. The Netherlands is expanding the ability of its intelligence agencies to act proactively against hostile actors. Austria is broadening its definition of espionage. Sweden is rebuilding its foreign intelligence architecture.

Taken together, these amount to a European securitization drive: more activities are being redefined as security problems, more institutions are being brought inside the security apparatus, and intelligence services are being transformed from organizations that primarily collect information into agencies which are increasingly expected to act.

Western Europe’s security establishment has been shaken by two developments: the continuing perception of a more assertive and dangerous international environment, and growing political uncertainty surrounding America’s role in European security under President Donald Trump.

Trump changed the conversation

The psychological shock came in March 2025, when the Trump administration temporarily halted US military and battlefield intelligence sharing with Vladimir Zelensky’s Ukraine.

For decades, European security planning had rested on an assumption that American intelligence capabilities would be available when the strategic stakes became serious. Suddenly, they could not be certain to rely on that anymore.

Later in 2025, the Netherlands reportedly stopped sharing certain information with US counterparts amid concerns over political interference and “human rights” considerations. Again, the immediate dispute was just one glimpse of the realization dawning on Washington’s European partners: intelligence cooperation is ultimately political, and political relationships can change.

The Europeans now had to confront a question they had largely been avoiding. What happens when an ally possessing the world’s most powerful intelligence apparatus can no longer be assumed to have the same political priorities?

The obvious answer is to build more European capacity. This does not mean that Europe is preparing to replace the US, or that trans-Atlantic intelligence cooperation is disappearing. But the European governments want to make sure their spies can still operate, even when Washington’s political priorities are different from theirs.

Germany: From spying to sabotage

Friedrich Merz’s Germany is perhaps the best example of how far the transformation could go. Berlin is pursuing the largest overhaul of the country’s intelligence system since World War II.

Under reforms expected to take effect in January, the Federal Intelligence Service, or BND, would receive substantially greater latitude to conduct offensive activities. In a state of tension or military defense, the service could conduct acts of sabotage abroad.

That’s a major conceptual departure for an organization traditionally associated primarily with foreign intelligence collection.

The reforms would also expand the technological reach of German intelligence. The BND and the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) would gain a greater ability to process large datasets with artificial intelligence and cross-reference biometric information with internet data. Telecommunications content collected for strategic intelligence purposes could be retained for up to six months, while communications data such as IP addresses could be retained for up to twelve months.

An intelligence agency that can collect more information is more powerful. An agency that can manipulate data, delete data, conduct offensive cyber operations or sabotage targets abroad becomes an instrument capable of exercising power, rather than simply informing those who exercise it.

In continental Europe, where historical experience has made the concentration of coercive authority particularly sensitive, that is a very big difference.

Austria is expanding what counts as espionage

The Austrian government is approaching the matter from a different angle. It has announced plans to strengthen its legal framework against espionage. Under the existing system, foreign intelligence activity could escape criminal liability when it was directed against entities other than Austria itself.

Under the proposed changes, espionage directed against international organizations headquartered in Austria could become a criminal offense. The list includes institutions such as the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations Office at Vienna, the OSCE and various EU bodies.

The definition of harm is also being revised to include activities that have the potential to damage Austria’s security and international standing or economic interests, rather than only when actual damage can be demonstrated. The law would also target the recruitment of individuals by foreign intelligence services, including so-called low-level agents.

This is another important feature of Europe’s new security politics: the security perimeter is expanding.

The Netherlands wants intelligence to act first

In August 2026, the Dutch government proposed changes to national security legislation that would broaden the powers of the General Intelligence and Security Service (AIVD), and the Defense Intelligence and Security Service (MIVD).

The proposed rules would allow the services to undertake certain proactive operations without obtaining prior permission and would facilitate greater intelligence sharing with the armed forces, other government bodies and private companies.

The government has explicitly identified China, Iran and Russia among the actors it regards as “obvious adversaries.”

It also increases private sector integration with the national security system. Technology companies, telecommunications firms and operators of critical infrastructure increasingly possess information that governments need, so the distinction between the intelligence community and the private economy is getting erased.

Sweden is rebuilding for the post-neutrality era

Sweden is undergoing its own institutional transformation.

On January 1, 2027, a new Swedish Foreign Intelligence Service, UND, is scheduled to begin operations, separating civilian foreign intelligence from military intelligence. The Swedish government argues that the division will clarify responsibilities and improve the country’s ability to assess a broader range of security threats.

Sweden’s accession to NATO fundamentally altered the country’s strategic environment, and the transformation of its intelligence architecture is a logical consequence.

Membership in NATO requires more than just military interoperability – a state needs to understand threats, produce intelligence, protect sensitive information and contribute intelligence to allies. Sweden is doing something which has become increasingly common across Europe: rebuilding national security institutions for a world in which strategic uncertainty is the baseline rather than the exception.

Brussels cannot build a European CIA – but it is building something

The irony is that the EU as a bloc remains remarkably weak when it comes to intelligence. National security is still firmly controlled by member states. Brussels can coordinate and analyze, but it does not command a conventional European intelligence service.

For decades, this was reinforced by national distrust. The EU’s most capable intelligence services preferred small circles of trusted partners. The Club de Berne, the continent’s best-known intelligence cooperation forum, has no permanent headquarters or secretariat and traditionally meets only periodically.

The situation is beginning to change. Former Finnish President Sauli Niinistö proposed in 2024 that the EU should consider a fully fledged intelligence cooperation capability, effectively a European counterpart to the CIA, capable of serving both strategic and operational needs.

Politically, that remains unrealistic. Few member states are prepared to surrender control over their most sensitive intelligence capabilities to Brussels. But that does not mean European intelligence cooperation is standing still.

Intelligence liaison officers are increasingly present in EU member states’ permanent representations in Brussels. The European External Action Service is strengthening its intelligence-analysis capacity. The EU Intelligence and Situation Centre, INTCEN, is being developed as an increasingly important channel for classified information.

INTCEN does not conduct espionage itself. It relies on intelligence supplied voluntarily by national services and turns it into strategic assessments for European decision-makers.

That model may ultimately prove more realistic than a European CIA. Rather than one giant EU intelligence service, Europe is likely to develop smaller circles of national agencies sharing sensitive information, surrounded by stronger EU-level coordination and analytical institutions.

The real question is who controls the new power

There is a danger hidden inside this whole big transformation. Western European intelligence systems are historically diverse. They developed under different constitutional traditions, experiences of war, and conceptions of the relationship between intelligence and executive authority.

Intelligence services have traditionally been expected to support executive power, not become executive power themselves.

Giving intelligence agencies the ability to conduct offensive cyber operations, manipulate information, disrupt hostile networks or conduct sabotage may be justified under carefully defined circumstances. But every new capability raises the same questions: Who authorizes it? Who supervises it? Who can challenge it? What happens when a government wants to revise the perception of external threats?

Europe is becoming a security state

Western Europe has legitimate reasons to strengthen its capacity to detect and disrupt threats. The strategic environment is more competitive. Cyber operations have become routine instruments of statecraft. Intelligence warfare increasingly targets companies, infrastructure, political institutions and individuals rather than simply military installations.

But the transformation should be watched closely. Europe’s intelligence revolution is happening through dozens of apparently technical decisions: a longer data-retention period here, a broader definition of espionage there, new cyber authorities somewhere else, closer cooperation with private companies, a new intelligence office in Brussels.

There is no single European ‘Intelligence Act,’ but there does not need to be one. The security state can expand incrementally – which may be exactly what is happening now.

The strategic shock created by the Ukraine war and uncertainty over America’s future role has accelerated a process that was already underway. European governments are concluding that they need more independent intelligence capacity, more operational flexibility and tighter cooperation among themselves.

The likely result will not be a European CIA. It will be something more distinctly European: powerful national intelligence services operating in increasingly dense networks, supported by a stronger Brussels-based analytical and coordinating layer.

The continent is giving its spies teeth. The next question is whether it will also build strong enough institutions to decide when – and against whom – they may bite.