Russia might still fund some less ambitious infrastructure projects in its Far East-Arctic region to keep the economy hot after the war ends, help veterans find work, and encourage settlement there.
It was a cold and windy day in January this year when the Besart and the Aya Zanoubya approached the port of Porto Romano near Durres on Albania’s Adriatic coast, the latter being towed due to an electrical failure that had supposedly prevented it from continuing to its stated destination.
Their declared cargo was cement, but, acting on a tip-off, investigators discovered something else – 600,000 litres of undeclared diesel fuel.
Like our earlier reports on the combat situation in Ukraine, this article takes stock of the recent developments on the battlefield based on open-source information. Meduza has condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine from the very start, and our detailed military analyses are part of our commitment to objective reporting on a war we firmly oppose.
Our map is based exclusively on open-source photos and videos, most of them posted by eyewitnesses on social media. We collect available evidence and determine its geolocation markers, adding only the photos and videos that clear this process. Meduza doesn’t try to track the conflict in real time; the data reflected on the map are typically at least 48 hours old.
Estonian authorities have detained two suspects linked to Russia’s GRU parcel bomb plot that shook Europe last year, when explosive devices hidden in packages sent from Estonia detonated in multiple countries. The arrests came just as our months-long media investigation into the operation was about to be published.
Teaser: A modest territorial concession, backed by NATO guarantees and Russian investment, could end the stalemate, secure Ukrainian sovereignty, and lay the groundwork for lasting European stability.
Summary: This essay argues that the war in Ukraine will not end through total victory but through pragmatic compromise—a “5% solution.” Ukraine would cede a small portion of its territory in exchange for NATO guarantees, Russian investment in reconstruction, and a shared responsibility for debt. At the same time, the land would become an Economic Cooperation Zone, fostering cooperation instead of permanent division. Drawing on the Finnish precedent and current economic and military realities, the piece presents a realpolitik argument that this deal could preserve Ukrainian sovereignty, stabilize Europe, and transform Moscow from an adversary into a partner.
It’s worth paying much more attention to what Chairman of the Duma’s Defense Committee Andrey Kartapolov actually said than what the Daily Mail sensationally claimed for clickbait. Although the West is exploiting the latter’s fake news for information warfare purposes, astute observers who read between the lines of this official’s words will learn a lot about what’s really going on behind the scenes in Russia nowadays.
The black swan events of NATO jamming causing Russian decoy drones to veer into Poland and an F-16 missing one of its attempted interceptions were therefore exploited by them to spark a crisis that might have led to World War III.
It’s highly suspicious that Zelensky just claimed without any evidence that they were launched by Russian tankers and subsequently demanded that Europe close the straits to its shipping in response.
Unknown drones recently flew in close proximity to Danish and Norwegian airports, prompting speculation among some that they were Russia’s delayed hybrid retaliation against NATO for backing Ukraine’s drone flights in proximity to Russia’s own airports over the past few years. No evidence has emerged in support of that hypothesis, but Zelensky still dishonestly passed off such claims as fact during his speech at the latest Warsaw Security Forum.
Russia is providing equipment, technology, and training to China for an airborne invasion, the Washington Post reported on September 26. The report, based on a study issued by the U.K.-based Royal United Services Institute, notes that China is planning an airborne assault on Taiwan.
The day before the Washington Post article, Reuters revealed that Chinese experts had traveled to Russia to help that country develop drones. According to the wire service, Sichuan AEE, a Chinese company, sold attack and surveillance drones to Russian company IEMZ Kupol through an intermediary sanctioned by the U.S. and the EU.
Details of the most dangerous Russian intelligence operation, responsible for explosions in Poland and Europe. Its traces lead to a Soviet nuclear submarine
We have identified several people who were involved in transporting the bombs on behalf of the GRU. The saboteurs were coordinated by a man convicted of smuggling radioactive materials
We have reconstructed the route taken by the explosive packages – before they exploded, they crossed the borders of several EU countries many times without arousing suspicion
The case of the traveling packages is linked to the arson attacks on large stores in Poland and Lithuania