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An airport ground worker discovered an explosive-laden drone sitting on the secure cargo apron of Leipzig/Halle Airport early Wednesday.

The unmanned aircraft had landed directly beside a Ukrainian Antonov An-124 freighter and had come to rest on the tarmac undetected.

Eurofighter Typhoon Upgrade. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Eurofighter Typhoon on the Runway. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

German and NATO officials are calling the incident an escalation to a “next step” in both drone incursions into NATO airspace and Russian hybrid sabotage against European infrastructure.

Europe continues to show how out of step its response is with the growing threat from Moscow, writes famous chess master, champion, and exiled Putin critic Gary Kasparov in an op-ed for the London Daily Telegraph.

The European Union just recently enacted its 21st package of sanctions against Russia as a response to Putin’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Tu-160 Up Close. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

With wars in the Middle East and Europe ongoing, worries about global energy have shifted from concerns about the price of oil per barrel to the ability of oil facilities around the world to process it. Several factors have converged, including Russia’s constrained refining capacity, China’s reluctance to export the fuel it has abroad, and disruptions to previously regular supplies of Middle Eastern energy caused by the war in Iran.

According to an official with Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence Service (HUR), a missile unit from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) has begun deploying its personnel, missiles, and launchers into western Russia.

Estimates reportedly put the unit’s strength at as many as 120 ballistic missiles and six launchers. They will be employed for missile strikes against Ukraine, said the same HUR official.

Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) meets with North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un in Vladivostok, Russia April 25, 2019.

The news comes at a more than inopportune moment.

Planet Labs / Wikimedia Commons

Reuters reported Wednesday that Andrii Cherniak — a spokesman for Ukraine’s Main Directorate of Intelligence — is claiming that a dedicated North Korean ballistic missile unit has begun positioning in Russia’s Voronezh Oblast, potentially fielding 120 ballistic missiles and six mobile launchers, with approximately 90 North Korean troops already on the ground. Reuters added the standard caveat: it could not independently verify the Ukrainian intelligence official’s claims. Moscow and Pyongyang did not respond.

Few, if any, movie stars achieve the level of celebrity of Paul Newman without good fortune. No one recognized that more than the screen legend himself.
Newman’s luck did not begin with his three-year stint in the U.S. Navy during World War II. He understood during his years in the Pacific (and then in Hollywood) that fate fell in his favor more than once.
Also Read: Why it took 2 decades for ‘Patton’ to make it to the big screen
While serving his country, forces beyond his control likely saved Newman’s life.

“Vladimir Putin has a big problem: He needs more bodies to throw into the Russian war machine in Ukraine,” reads an essay today from the Francis Fukuyama-founded American Purpose magazine.

The problem for the former KGB Lt. Col., who is now Russia’s president, is that it is not clear where those soldiers are coming from—and how fraught with danger another mobilization might be.

Russian T-90 Tank. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

T-90M. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

This week, recently retired US Navy Adm. Mark Montgomery and his co-authors, Bradley Bowman and Elaine Dezenski, spoke to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) about their recent book, Axis of Aggressors.

Their theme is that the growing strategic partnership between the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Russia, Iran, and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) is turning into the most pressing security challenge facing the United States and its allies.

China’s Xi Jinping. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

On 25 June, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy announced the beginning of a 40-day pressure operation headed by Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU).

The objective of the campaign is to hit enough facilities of the oil industry and other strategic targets that Russia would be forced to sit down at the table to negotiate a peace settlement.

Ukraine Cruise Missile Ministry of Defense Photo

Unfortunately for Ukrainians, the 40 days were up on 4 August, but there are no indications that the Russian side is ready to sit down and agree to a settlement to end the hostilities.

Senior Russian military officials have disclosed new details regarding one of the most successful periods of the Russian Aerospace Forces’ air defence operations during the war in Ukraine, revealing that S-400 long-range surface-to-air missile systems destroyed 24 Ukrainian aircraft in the space of a single week in 2023 using a previously undisclosed over-the-horizon engagement tactic.