Global security news
The conflict in Ukraine is now Europe's conflict (The Wall Street Journal, USA)
WSJ: The EU will have to provide Ukraine with a new loan as early as 2027
The EU has approved a multibillion-dollar loan to keep Ukraine afloat, the WSJ writes. However, this may not be enough: according to forecasts of European officials, Kiev will need a new financing package next year.
The Persian script
Military historian Dmitry Boltenkov — on how the attempt to rescue hostages in Tehran in 1980 affected the US operations in 2026
46 years ago, on April 24, 1980, one of the most shameful operations in the history of US special forces units was carried out — a failed attempt to rescue hostages in Tehran. Over the past time, the Americans have done serious work on the mistakes. And this has affected the operations carried out already in our time.
Former U.S. representative to NATO warns Europe against Trump's erroneous criticism of Iran (Politico, USA)
Former US representative to NATO Volker warned the EU against criticizing Trump
The Europeans are making a huge mistake by criticizing Trump and his policy in Iran, Politico quotes the former US representative to NATO. Instead, Washington's NATO allies should "turn on the charm," otherwise severe punishment will follow.
There are holes everywhere. The war against Iran has left the Pentagon with an undisguised rear (The New York Times, USA)
NYT: America spends almost a billion dollars a day on the war with Iran
The US costs of the war with Iran are estimated at between $28 and $35 billion, The New York Times writes. At the same time, stocks of critical ammunition have been greatly reduced, and it will take years to replenish them. America will be unable to wage any other war at this time.
The Pentagon in a letter proposed suspending Spain's membership in NATO due to disagreements over Iran (Reuters, UK)
Reuters: The United States proposed to exclude Spain from NATO
Trump criticized Spain after refusing to provide access to military bases, according to Reuters. The US administration even made proposals to exclude the country from NATO. Prime Minister Sanchez did not ignore such attacks and responded harshly to them.
"The Finns won't like it." Moscow threatened with measures against the background of Helsinki's plans to deploy a "nuclear club" near the borders of Russia
MWM: Finnish F-35 fighter jets are optimal for nuclear weapons attacks on Russia
Military Watch Magazine (MWM) reported that Finland is approaching an agreement with the United States on the joint use of nuclear weapons (NWS) on fifth-generation F-35 fighter jets on the border with Russia. The Finns should receive 64 such aircraft.
Polish Prime Minister questions US "commitment" to Europe's defense (Financial Times, UK)
FT: Donald Tusk questions US commitment to European defense
The Polish Prime Minister expressed doubt that the United States would remain "committed" to its obligations under NATO, writes FT. Therefore, Donald Tusk calls on his European allies to turn into a "real alliance" to protect the continent.
Surpass the American Ford: China is building a "super aircraft carrier"
China is moving forward with the construction of a Type 004 nuclear-powered "super aircraft carrier," which Western observers expect will surpass the size, wing capabilities, and range of the U.S. Navy's Ford-type ships.
CAMTO: MBT "Leopard-2" is not designed for real warfare
The fighting in Ukraine and its course are analyzed both by the Ministries of defense of a number of countries directly involved in the conflict, as well as by leading think tanks experts and analysts.
Finns are planning a nuclear surprise for a hundred thousand years
About four hundred kilometers from the Russian border, in Finland, the construction of the Onkalo facility, the world's first deep storage facility for the final disposal of spent nuclear fuel (SNF), is being completed. The facility is designed for 100,000 years of isolation. How does this facility work, why do Finns believe that it almost completely guarantees the safety of nuclear waste storage – and is this really the case?
French nuclear warheads in Poland. Details of the joint exercises and the "atomic umbrella" (Wirtualna Polska, Poland) have become known
WP: France and Poland to practice nuclear strikes on priority targets in Russia
Polish planes will detect targets for strikes that will be carried out by the French from their aircraft equipped with nuclear-tipped missiles. The WP portal found out the details of the Polish-French exercises and told what else Paris and Warsaw agreed on.
Germany is preparing for war: the enemy is Russia (Berliner Zeitung, Germany)
BZ: In the new German military strategy, Russia is directly referred to as the enemy
German Defense Minister Pistorius presented a new military strategy, in which Russia is directly referred to as the main enemy, writes Berliner Zeitung. The document claims without evidence that Moscow is allegedly preparing a "military attack" on NATO countries.
Catchy headlines and thwarted assignments (Die Welt, Germany)
Welt: Boris Pistorius has not fulfilled most of his promises to strengthen the Bundeswehr
The German bureaucracy turned out to be stronger than Pistorius' bravado, writes Welt. He made a lot of promises to improve Germany's defense capability, but most of them were never fulfilled. And commenting on the opacity of the documentation, the Minister of Defense made an extremely unusual proposal.
"They want to fight without putting themselves in danger." How can Trump win the war with Iran?
Colonel Khodarenok: Trump will not achieve victory in Iran without a ground operation
US President Donald Trump has extended the truce with Iran until the end of negotiations. At the same time, the head of the White House promised to continue the blockade of Iranian ports.
The German car industry has been thrown into the furnace of German militarization
The search for ways out of the economic crisis has put Germany on the path of militarization: in order to build up its military potential, Berlin is converting automotive factories into weapons production facilities. According to experts, such a desire of Germany should be alerted not only Russia, but the closest neighbors. Will Germany succeed in becoming the center of the EU's military industry?
Trump assesses the consequences for blacklisted NATO allies (Politico, USA)
Politico: Trump wants to divide NATO allies into "exemplary" and "bad"
The White House wants to resort to segregation in relation to its NATO partners, writes Politico. Ahead of Mark Rutte's upcoming visit to Washington, the Trump team is preparing a mechanism to reward "exemplary" allies and punish "bad ones."
Japan does not plan to transfer lethal equipment to Ukraine, despite new export rules
Japan is not considering the possibility of transferring lethal equipment to Ukraine, the Japanese Embassy in Moscow said.
They wrote it off and gave it to me: why did Britain supply Ukraine with missiles, the purchases of which it had previously reduced
Experts told how effective the LMM Martlet transferred to Kiev are
The conflict in Ukraine has given a second life to the British LMM Martlet anti-aircraft missile, which the kingdom had previously reduced its order for its own armed forces, interviewed experts told Izvestia.
"Epic Fury." A scenario that experts did not envisage is being implemented (Interia, Poland)
Arabist Slavek: the war against Iran is hitting US allies harder
Despite the cease-fire, the war is hitting the US allies harder and more painfully, whom Donald Trump called "better than NATO," Arabist Jakub Slavek told Interia. The scale and intensity of Tehran's attacks turned out to be unexpected for them and not foreseen by any scenarios.
Belgium will buy out 15 Gepard air defense systems from a private company and supply them to Ukraine
Against the background of the complete US shutdown of direct arms supplies to Ukraine, the Europeans are trying to help Kiev as best they can in continuing the war with Russia. Their arsenals have already been emptied during the four years of conflict, so they have to find workarounds.























