Category Added in a WPeMatico Campaign
Over the weekend, Ukraine launched long-range drone strikes in the Caspian Sea, hitting an Iranian-linked cargo vessel and a Russian warship.
Iran’s foreign ministry threatened Kyiv on Monday with “unforeseen” consequences following the Ukrainian attack on an Iranian vessel.
Image Credit: Office the the President, Ukraine.
In the midst of the ongoing Iran War, it looks as though the Ukraine War is truly heating up.
One of the four major Ukrainian siege cities, Konstantinovka, is in trouble due to the ongoing Russian encirclement in Eastern Ukraine.
New HIMARS Attack Creative Commons Photo.
U.S. Soldiers assigned to 2-11 Long Range Fires Battalion, 25th Infantry Division Artillery, fire a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System during a counter-landing live-fire exercise as part of Exercise Balikatan 2026 at La Paz Sand Dunes, Laoag City, Philippines, May 4, 2026.
Four and a half years into the war in Ukraine, as the casualty total on the Russian side has now reached 1.4 million, Russian President Vladimir Putin is urging the Russian people to keep up the fight.
According to United 24 Media, which cited a Russian-language report by the Moscow Times, Putin spoke to Navy servicemen at the Admiralty in St. Petersburg on Russia’s Navy Day. He declared in his remarks that Russia must “imbue the consciousness of our society… with the importance of the cause.”
T-90M Russian Army. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
T-90 Tank from Ukraine War.
History’s totally engrossing, thoroughly addictive smash hit “Modern Marvels” is back for WWII. Three episodes of the timeless series will cover the superweapons developed by both the Axis and the Allies, the gargantuan megaprojects both took to hasten an end to the war, and the smaller (yet still crucially important) gadgets they developed in an effort to get an edge on the other side.
The Navy is reinstating flu vaccine requirements for deploying sailors and those just joining the service, as well as some civilians employees, just three months after the Pentagon removed the mandate across the force.
The Navy policy announced Sunday, which takes effect immediately, makes a flu shot mandatory for deployed active duty sailors, and trainees in “officer accession programs” like Officer Candidate School and the U.S. Naval Academy, along with officers who are directly commissioned, according to a Navy administrative notice, or NAVADMIN.
Welcome to The Ukraine Compass, a weekly digest of Ukrainian commentary and analysis from across the political spectrum only for War on the Rocks members. Each Monday, we bring you a curated selection of articles from Ukrainian media offering insight into how Ukrainians themselves debate the issues shaping their country.American coverage often narrows the view to the battlefield — these pieces widen it, revealing the texture of daily life, politics, and public argument in a nation at war.
This past weekend was surprisingly calm in the Middle East. Both the U.S. and Iran ceased their attacks against each other on Saturday and Sunday. According to some sources, the current lull is due to ongoing diplomatic efforts that seem to be yielding some positive results. On the flipside, Tehran still claims full control over the Strait of Hormuz, after it announced that it had turned away six vessels from the waterway while they were trying to pass without Iran’s permission.
There are still many issues that need to be sorted out before a lasting peace can be implemented.
Trump Is Below 40% in Poll After Poll as the Midterms Approach – President Donald Trump remains below 40 percent approval in several recent national surveys, giving Republicans a serious political problem with the November midterms approaching. A Forbes review of the latest polling found a consistent pattern across organizations using different samples and methods.
The newest CBS News/YouGov survey placed Trump at 39 percent approval and 61 percent disapproval. Half of the country strongly disapproved of his job performance, compared with 22 percent who strongly approved.
Ukraine’s Drones Are Leaving Russian-Occupied Crimea Without Reliable Power, Water or Fuel: Ukraine’s expanding drone campaign hit Russian-occupied Crimea again on July 26, cutting electricity across settlements in the peninsula’s northwest, east and south. The Russian-installed utility Krymenergo blamed “external influence on power supply facilities” and described distribution conditions as “complex,” while reports placed explosions near an electrical substation in Feodosia and the Tavriya Thermal Power Plant outside Simferopol.
The Iran War has clearly not gone as well as Donald Trump hoped. It has not led to a quick and easy victory, or regime change in Iran, or the restoration of a pro-Western regime there, or a permanent end of Iran’s nuclear program.
If a goal was stability for energy prices, that hasn’t happened either.
President Donald Trump participates in a commemorative tree-planting ceremony at the South Portico of the White House, Tuesday, April 8, 2025, to replace the Jackson Magnolia with a descendant sapling. (Official White House Photo by Daniel Torok)
Donald Trump.