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Summary and Key Points: Russia’s own polls show Putin is as popular as ever — with approval near 80 percent and no sign of public revolt. But there’s a gap between the numbers and the Kremlin’s actions. As Ukraine’s drones bring the war home, Putin has reportedly pulled back from public view, fearful of drones and assassination, and the state is arming private guards to shoot them down. Russians may not be at a breaking point — but the people in charge are acting as if something has changed.

The Ukraine War Is Coming Home to Russia 

Putin New Year’s Message.

Summary and Key Points: The last 48 hours in the Middle East have been a blur. Netanyahu threatened to bring the war to Beirut; Trump got on the phone and, by his own account, talked him out of it — and even says he persuaded Hezbollah to halt its attacks. But the ground was messier: Israeli drones kept striking southern Lebanon, and U.S. forces hit an Iranian military site after downing Iranian drones. Whether any of it holds is the real question.

Why Israel Is Striking Lebanon

F-15I Fighter from Israel. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

New footage released on Chinese social media has provided the a rare close look at China’s next generation air superiority fighter in flight, as the program approaches 18 months since its first confirmed test flight. Developed by the Shenyang Aircraft Corporation for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force, the new fighter was first seen in flight testing in December 26, 2024, and appears to be being developed as a direct successor to the J-20 fifth generation air superiority fighter that is currently in large scale serial production.

A new report argues that an independent Cyber Force should be staffed by only commissioned officers and warrant officers to better develop the highly technical skillsets that digital conflict demands.
Published Wednesday by the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, two Washington, D.C. think tanks, the report proposes a blueprint for standing up a Cyber Force, should Congress decide to do so.
Policymakers in the Pentagon and on Capitol Hill have debated for years whether the U.S. military needs an independent Cyber Force.

Following confirmation from Russian state sources on June 3 the Russian Navy Yasen class nuclear powered attack submarine Arkhangelsk had launched a P-800 anti-ship cruise missile near NATO territory in the Barents Sea, significant questions have been raised regarding the ship’s capabilities and its ability to challenge Western Bloc naval power in the region.

The Russian Navy Yasen class nuclear powered attack submarine Arkhangelsk has launched a P-800 anti-ship cruise missile as part of exercises in the Barents Sea in the Arctic, with the Navy’s Northern Fleet reporting that the missile hit a target imitating a surface ship some 200 kilometres away. The missile test has served to highlight how new Yasen class ships with world leading quieting technologies and very high levels of survivability can pose serious threats to hostile warships at long ranges.

Following confirmation from the U.S. Armed Forces Central Command that an MQ-1 Predator unmanned aircraft was destroyed by Iranian air defences during engagements on May 30-31, the possibility has emerged of these older drones being relied on to provide an affordable mass for the U.S.-led war effort against Iran and its strategic partners.

The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy is scheduled to expand its fleet of destroyers from its latest generation of vessels to 59, after passing a landmark 45 ships of the modern Type 052D class and Type 055 class in service in late May with the commissioning of the 35th Type 052D class destroyer Tongchuan. Beyond the first 35 Type 052D class ships, a further eight are currently under construction, which will bring the fleet up to 43 ships.

A source in the Russian security forces has reported that a group of defence contractors from Germany and the United Kingdom fighting for the Ukrainian Army has been eliminated in a forest belt on the frontlines in the Zaporozhye Region. The source added that documents found on these personnel after their deaths confirmed their identities, with Russian state media publishing the names and dates of births of some of the deceased.

In 2023, the NATO Baltic Defense College in Tartu, Estonia devoted its entire annual conference to the Interwar Period (1919 to 1939), a theme repeated at subsequent conferences sponsored by national militaries and academic societies throughout the United States and Europe.