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Drone Technology and the Future of Nuclear Weapons

strategic and ethical challenges specific to the nuclear domain……………………….. Rapid, opaque AI-based decision-making might undermine essential human oversight and judgment in nuclear operations……………………….. blurring distinctions between conventional military threats and genuine nuclear escalations.

TODA PEACE INSTIUTE 25 Aug 25, https://toda.org/global-outlook/2025/drone-technology-and-the-future-of-nuclear-weapons.html

Esra Serim argues that rapid advances in artificial intelligence-enabled drone technology significantly enhance nuclear weapon delivery, precision targeting, and deterrence capabilities. However, the proliferation of autonomous drone systems also introduces critical strategic and ethical challenges. To ensure global stability, we must create robust international frameworks

Impact of Ukraine war on emerging technologies

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, competition among major global powers over emerging technologies has intensified significantly. In particular, the conflict has accelerated investment in drone technologies. The United States, China, Russia, and various European countries have all identified such technologies as strategically vital.

Advanced technologies, notably artificial intelligence (AI), are becoming increasingly important to national defence strategies. This heightened reliance has amplified concerns over an accelerated arms race in weaponised drones. AI integration has substantially enhanced drone capabilities, enabling greater autonomy, precise mission execution, and sophisticated operational tasks.

In military contexts, AI-driven drones mark a substantial technological shift. They open new strategic possibilities for improved logistics and advanced reconnaissance, and could even deliver nuclear payloads. Consequently, states are increasingly committed to developing and acquiring advanced drone capabilities, seeking to enhance national security, deter adversaries, and expand geopolitical influence.

The pursuit of advanced military technologies

Four interconnected factors explain states’ pursuit of advanced military technologies: pragmatism, perceptions of security threats, the strategic role of the arms industry, and the transformative influence of AI on global power dynamics.

From a pragmatic perspective, foreign policy is flexible, adaptive, and responsive to changing international and domestic circumstances. Pragmatism aligns closely with realist thinking, prioritising tangible outcomes and practical solutions. Accordingly, states develop their arms industries not only to maintain peace and deterrence but also to ensure they are prepared defensively if conflict arises.

Secondly, states’ perceptions of security threats profoundly influence international relations. Nations build economic and military power primarily for self-defence; however, such actions can appear aggressive to others, fuelling mutual suspicion and competitive arms buildups. Consequently, maintaining a robust arms industry becomes essential for states to protect sovereignty, sustain national security, and deter potential threats.

Thirdly, powerful states consistently seek opportunities to enhance their influence, especially during periods of conflict. Wars present strategic openings in which advanced military technologies can decisively increase a state’s relative power. This can confer tactical advantages or new leverage in geopolitical competition.

Finally, the rapid rise of AI technology has introduced a new strategic frontier. AI makes sophisticated military capabilities more affordable and accessible, significantly increasing states’ military effectiveness and economic influence. As AI becomes integral to military operations, it reshapes national security strategies and accelerates decision-making processes in peace and wartime. This integration compels states to swiftly harness AI-driven advancements, redefining contemporary power competition.

Enhancing nuclear delivery and targeting

AI-powered drones have become essential tools for modern warfare, as recent events in the Ukraine war vividly demonstrate. Equipped to carry out advanced intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions, these drones also hold potential for nuclear payload delivery. Their increasing integration into military operations boosts nuclear weapons’ capability for precise, targeted, and effective delivery.

Drones with advanced AI capabilities significantly enhance nuclear delivery by effectively countering enemy missile and air defence systems. Even without nuclear warheads, such drones can assist nuclear strike missions by deceiving, disrupting, or neutralising adversary defensive networks. Harnessing AI to exploit vulnerabilities in enemy defences, drones enable nuclear forces to penetrate hostile environments reliably and efficiently.

AI-enhanced drones also improve nuclear targeting by providing precise, real-time intelligence and detailed assessments of enemy weaknesses. Instead of relying on indiscriminate attacks, states can use drones to precisely identify strategic military targets. By so doing, they improve operational effectiveness and minimise collateral damage. Enhanced targeting accuracy allows states to deploy fewer warheads and delivery systems, thereby simplifying operations and, potentially, reducing maintenance costs.

Moreover, AI-driven drone technologies significantly strengthen nuclear deterrence by improving the survivability and resilience of nuclear arsenals. Persistent drone surveillance and rapid-response capabilities increase states’ capacity for early detection and swift reaction to incoming threats. This reinforces deterrence by guaranteeing credible second-strike capabilities, stabilising strategic relationships among nuclear-armed states.

Strategic risks in the drone-warfare era

The proliferation of autonomous, AI-driven drones and unmanned aerial vehicles is likely to significantly affect nuclear targeting, and deterrence. The integration of these technologies into nuclear command-and-control infrastructures could enhance states’ nuclear response capabilities through improved surveillance, early warning, and precise counterforce targeting. Consequently, nuclear-armed states will need to carefully reassess their strategic doctrines, command protocols, and crisis management practices to accommodate these technological shifts and maintain nuclear stability.

However, alongside these advances emerge strategic and ethical challenges specific to the nuclear domain. Increased autonomy in drone systems could inadvertently escalate nuclear tensions if AI-driven threat assessments misinterpret signals or inaccurately identify hostile intentions during crises. Rapid, opaque AI-based decision-making might undermine essential human oversight and judgment in nuclear operations, potentially disrupting adversaries’ perceptions of nuclear stability and deterrence credibility. Moreover, integrating autonomous drones into nuclear arsenals risks lowering the threshold for nuclear engagement by blurring distinctions between conventional military threats and genuine nuclear escalations.

Operational uncertainty

The operational reliability of AI-enabled drones in nuclear environments remains uncertain. Autonomous drone systems are susceptible to electronic warfare, cyberattacks against nuclear command-and-control networks, and unintended technical failures, especially under conditions of strategic tension. Dependence on AI-generated intelligence for nuclear decision-making raises the potential for escalation as a result of flawed data, biased algorithms, or erroneous rapid-response judgments.

The proliferation of sophisticated drone technology may also prompt adversaries to pursue advanced countermeasures and increasingly complex nuclear capabilities. Rather than reinforcing stable deterrence, this would instead foster destabilising arms competitions. Rigorous testing, strengthened human oversight measures, and robust international regulations must guide the integration of AI-driven drones to mitigate these operational vulnerabilities, and maintain global nuclear stability.

August 26, 2025 Posted by Christina Macpherson | weapons and war | Leave a comment

Downed Ukrainian Drone Causes Fire At Kursk Nuclear Power Plant

23 Aug 25, https://www.rferl.org/a/kursk-nuclear-power-plant-fire-ukraine-drone/33511527.html

A fire broke out at the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant in Russia after Russian military forces shot down a Ukrainian drone flying near the plant, the press service of the plant said.

The drone — one of several reported on August 23 by Russian authorities — fell on an auxiliary transformer, sparking the fire, which has been extinguished. There were no injuries, according to the press service’s statement.

“A combat unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) belonging to the Armed Forces of Ukraine was shot down by air defense systems near the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant,” the press service said in a statement on Telegram.

“Upon impact, the drone detonated, resulting in damage to an auxiliary transformer,” the statement said.

As a result of the explosion, unit three of the plant was reduced to 50 percent capacity, the press service said.

Radiation levels at the site and in the surrounding area have not exceeded normal limits, it added.

There was no immediate comment from Ukraine. Kyiv has increased its drones strikes inside Russia over the past several months in response to Russia’s continued attacks on Ukraine. It says the attacks are aimed at destroying infrastructure that is crucial to Moscow’s military efforts.

The story was first reported by Russia’s federal television network REN TV. It reported that the transformer is not a part of the nuclear section of the plant, citing the plant’s press service. It was not immediately clear in which part of the plant the fire occurred.

Kursk NPP is 40 kilometers west of Kursk city, the regional capital, on the bank of Seim River. The first unit was launched in 1976. Other units were added in 1979, 1983, and 1985, according to the press service.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has repeatedly warned of the dangers of fighting around nuclear plants since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Earlier on August 23, St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region were attacked by drones, regional authorities said, adding that six drones were shot down over the Leningrad region and two were shot down over St. Petersburg.

St. Petersburg authorities said windows were shattered in a residential building in the Krasnoselsky district when the drone was “neutralized.” There were no reports of injuries or deaths.

The drone attacks led to flight delays and cancellations at St. Petersburg’s Pulkovo Airport. More than 30 flights were diverted to alternate airports during the day, and more than 50 flights were delayed. The airport resumed operations by in the evening.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin reported that a drone flying toward Moscow had been shot down.

August 26, 2025 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Russia, Ukraine, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Chris Hedges: Israel’s Assassination of Memory

This is Kabuki theater — a way, when the genocide is over, for these Western leaders to insist they stood on the right side of history, even as they armed and funded the genocidal killers, while harassing, silencing or criminalizing those who decried the slaughter.

August 23, 2025, By Chris Hedges ScheerPost, https://scheerpost.com/2025/08/23/chris-hedges-israels-assassination-of-memory/

As Israel ticks off its list of Nazi-like atrocities against the Palestinians, including mass starvation, it prepares for yet another – the demolition of Gaza City, one of the oldest cities on Earth. Heavy engineering equipment and gigantic armored bulldozers are tearing down hundreds of heavily damaged buildings. Cement trucks are churning out concrete to fill tunnels. Israeli tanks and fighter jets pummel neighborhoods to drive Palestinians who remain in the ruins of the city to the south.

It will take months to turn Gaza City into a parking lot. I have no doubt Israel will replicate the efficiency of the Nazi SS Gen. Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski, who oversaw the obliteration of Warsaw. He spent his final years in a prison cell. May history, at least in terms of this footnote, repeat itself.

As Israeli tanks advance, Palestinians are fleeing, with neighborhoods such as Sabra and Tuffah, cleansed of its inhabitants. There is little clean water and Israel plans to cut it off in northern Gaza. Food supplies are scarce or wildly overpriced. A bag of flour costs $22.00 a kilo, or your life. A report published Friday by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classifications (IPC) , the world’s leading authority on food insecurity, for the first time has confirmed a famine in Gaza City. It says more than 500,000 people in Gaza are facing “starvation, destitution and death”, with “catastrophic conditions” projected to expand to Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis next month. Nearly 300 people, including 112 children, have died from starvation.

European leaders, along with Joe Biden and Donald Trump, remind us of the real lesson of the Holocaust. It is not Never Again, but, We Do not Care. They are full partners in the genocide. Some wring their hands and say they are “appalled” or “saddened.” Some decry Israel’s orchestrated starvation. A few say they will declare a Palestinian state.

Israel speaks of occupying Gaza City. But this is a subterfuge. Gaza is not to be occupied. It is to be destroyed. Erased. Wiped off the face of the earth. There is to be nothing left but tons of debris that will be laboriously carted away. The moonscape, devoid of Palestinians of course, will provide the foundation for new Jewish colonies.

“Gaza will be entirely destroyed, civilians will be sent to…the south to a humanitarian zone without Hamas or terrorism, and from there they will start to leave in great numbers to third countries,” Israel’s Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich announced at a conference on increased Jewish settlement in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

All that was familiar to me when I lived in Gaza no longer exists. My office in the center of Gaza City. The Marna boarding house on Ahmed Abd el Aziz Street, where after a day’s work I would drink tea with the elderly woman who owned it, a refugee from Safad in northern Galilee. The coffee shops I frequented. The small cafes on the beach. Friends and colleagues, with few exceptions, are in exile, dead or, in most cases, have vanished, no doubt buried under mountains of debris. On my last visit to Marna House, I forgot to return the room key. Number 12. It was attached to a large plastic oval with the words “Marna House Gaza” on it. The key sits on my desk.

The imposing Qasr al-Basha fortress in Gaza’s Old City — built by Mamluk Sultan Baibars in the 13th century and known for its relief sculpture of two lions facing each other — is gone. So too is the Barquq Castle, or Qalʿat Barqūqa, a Mamluk-era fortified mosque constructed in 1387-1388, according to an inscription above the entrance gateway. Its ornate Arabic calligraphy by the main gate once read:

“In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, Most Merciful. The mosques of God shall establish regular prayers, and practice regular charity, and fear none except God.”

The Great Omari Mosque in Gaza City, the ancient Roman cemetery and the Commonwealth War Cemetery — where more than 3,000 British and commonwealth soldiers from World War I and World War II are buried — have been bombed, and destroyed, along with universities, archives, hospitals, mosques, churches, homes and apartment blocks. Anthedon Harbor, which dates to 1100 B.C. and once provided anchorage for Babylonian, Persian, Greek, Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman ships, lies in ruins.

I used to leave my shoes on a rack by the front door of the Great Omari Mosque, the largest and oldest mosque in Gaza, in the Daraj Quarter of the Old City. I washed my hands, face and feet at the common water taps, carrying out the ritual purification before prayer, known as wudhu. Inside the hushed interior with its blue-carpeted floor, the cacophony, noise, dust, fumes and frenetic pace of Gaza melted away.

The razing of Gaza is not only a crime against the Palestinian people. It is a crime against our cultural and historical heritage — an assault on memory. We cannot understand the present, especially when reporting on Palestinians and Israelis, if we do not understand the past.

History is a mortal threat to Israel. It exposes the violent imposition of a European colony in the Arab world. It reveals the ruthless campaign to de-Arabize an Arab country. It underscores the inherent racism towards Arabs, their culture and their traditions. It challenges the myth that, as former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak said, Zionists created, “a villa in the middle of a jungle.” It mocks the lie that Palestine is exclusively a Jewish homeland. It recalls centuries of Palestinian presence. And it highlights the alien culture of Zionism, implanted on stolen land.

When I covered the genocide in Bosnia, the Serbs blew up mosques, carted away the remains and forbade anyone to speak of the structures they had razed. The goal in Gaza is the same, to wipe out the past and replace it with myth, to mask Israeli crimes, including genocide.

The campaign of erasure banishes intellectual inquiry and stymies the dispassionate examination of history. It celebrates magical thinking. It allows Israelis to pretend the inherent violence that lies at the heart of the Zionist project, going back to the dispossession of Palestinian land in the 1920s and the larger campaigns of ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in 1948 and 1967, does not exist.

The Israeli government bans public commemorations of the Nakba, or catastrophe, a day of mourning for Palestinians who seek to remember the massacres and expulsion of 750,000 Palestinians carried out by Jewish terrorist militias in 1948 for this reason. Palestinians are even prevented from carrying their flag.

This denial of historical truth and historical identity permits Israelis to wallow in eternal victimhood. It sustains a morally blind nostalgia for an invented past. If Israelis confront these lies it threatens an existential crisis. It forces them to rethink who they are. Most prefer the comfort of illusion. The desire to believe is more powerful than the desire to see.

Erasure calcifies a society. It shuts down investigations by academics, journalists, historians, artists and intellectuals who seek to explore and examine the past and the present. Calcified societies wage a constant war against truth. Lies and dissimulation must be constantly renewed. Truth is dangerous. Once it is established it is indestructible.

As long as truth is hidden, as long as those who seek truth are silenced, it is impossible for a society to regenerate and reform itself. The Trump administration is in lock step with Israel. It too seeks to prioritize myth over reality. It too silences those who challenge the lies of the past and the lies of the present.

Calcified societies cannot communicate with anyone outside their incestious circles. They deny verifiable fact, the foundation on which rational dialogue takes place. This understanding lay at the heart of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Those who carried out the atrocities of the apartheid regime confessed their crimes in exchange for immunity. By doing so they gave the victims and the victimizers a common language, one rooted in historical truth. Only then was healing possible.

Israel is not only destroying Gaza. It is destroying itself.

August 25, 2025 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Atrocities, culture and arts, Gaza, history, Israel | Leave a comment

Russia blames nuclear site attack on Ukraine as Kyiv marks independence day.

A fire has been put out at a nuclear power plant in Russia’s western
Kursk region and air defences have shot down a Ukrainian drone, Russian
officials have said. The drone detonated when it fell and damaged a
transformer, but radiation levels were normal and there were no casualties,
a post from the plant’s account on messaging app Telegram said.

BBC 24th Aug 2025,
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/czxy2v9dzgxo

August 25, 2025 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Russia, Ukraine, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Trump ‘angry’ about Ukrainian attacks on key Russian pipeline to EU – Budapest

Comment: Trump’s angry, and yet, as we learned from NYT and WaPo reports earlier this year, HIMARS launches rely on American satellites for targeting and delivery to conduct such attacks, it’s possible that this key pipeline delivering oil to one of Trump’s ‘allies’ in eastern Europe… was effectively carried out by the Americans.

Sat, 23 Aug 2025 https://www.sott.net/article/501415-Trump-angry-about-Ukrainian-attacks-on-key-Russian-pipeline-to-EU-Budapest

Kiev has struck the Druzhba conduit supplying oil to Hungary and Slovakia at least three times this month.

US President Donald Trump has expressed outrage over Ukrainian strikes on a key pipeline supplying Hungary and Slovakia with Russian oil, according to a senior official in Budapest.

On Friday, Balazs Orban, political director to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban (no relation), shared a letter from his boss to Trump raising the issue of the Ukrainian attacks on the Druzhba pipeline. “Hungary supports Ukraine with electricity and petrol, in return they bomb pipeline that supply us. Very unfriendly move!” the Hungarian leader wrote.

On the same letter, Trump reportedly replied in his own hand:

“Viktor – I do not like hearing this. I am very angry about it. Tell Slovakia. You are my great friend,” alongside what appeared to be his signature.

“The Druzhba pipeline is a vital source of Hungary’s crude oil supply, without which our energy security cannot be guaranteed. Hungary will not allow its security to be undermined,” Balazs Orban wrote.

Ukraine has carried out at least three strikes this month on the Druzhba (‘Friendship’) pipeline, which stretches for more than 4,000km from Russia through Belarus and Ukraine to Poland, Germany, Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic.

The Druzhba controversy has become yet another source of tension in the already strained relations between Budapest and Kiev, which are marred by Hungary’s reluctance to support EU sanctions on Russia and by sharp disagreements over the rights of ethnic Hungarians living in western Ukraine.

In response to the attacks on the Druzhba pipeline, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said he and Slovak Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar were pressuring Brussels to force Kiev to stop the raids.

“With these attacks Ukraine is not primarily hurting Russia, but Hungary and Slovakia… Brussels must understand: they are the European Commission, not the Ukrainian Commission.”

Moscow has also denounced the attacks as “outrageous,” portraying them as proof that Kiev sees no bounds when engaging in malignant activities.

Meanwhile, Slovak officials have said the section of the Druzhba pipeline damaged in the latest attack is expected to be repaired by Monday.

August 25, 2025 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Ukraine, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Children at gravest risk as full-fledged famine unfolds in Gaza

23 August 2025 AIMN Editorial, Plan International Australia , https://theaimn.net/children-at-gravest-risk-as-full-fledged-famine-unfolds-in-gaza/

As famine grips Gaza, putting over a million children at risk, Plan International is demanding a ceasefire and unrestricted humanitarian access.

Famine has taken hold in Gaza Governorate and will expand to Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis without urgent action, according to a new report from the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) published today, Friday 22 August.

Preventable catastrophe

Responding to the IPC’s latest report, Dr. Unni Krishnan, Global Humanitarian Director at Plan International said:

“The fatal consequences of Israel’s weaponisation of hunger and blocking of humanitarian aid are devastatingly clear for all to see. No conflict should ever reach this point. What we are seeing in Gaza today is an entirely man-made and preventable catastrophe that is leaving more than a million Palestinian children – and 2.2 million people in total – struggling to stay alive.

Famine in Gaza is not a failure of logistics or aid – it is the outcome of brutal war and deliberate starvation.”

Dr. Unni Krishnan, Global Humanitarian Director at Plan International:

“Plan International has recently managed to deliver urgently needed aid into Gaza, but far more is needed. The continued illegal blockade of life-saving supplies means children and families are being condemned to die, painfully and needlessly.

Profound impact on generation of children

“Children in Gaza are not only being starved, they are also being maimed and permanently disabled in staggering numbers due to the Israeli army’s excessive use of force and newly intensified military campaign. Since the escalation of conflict in Gaza, disabilities have risen by 60% and Gaza now has the highest number of child amputees in the world. Hunger, injury and forced displacement into militarised zones are all highly traumatic events and will have a profound impact on an entire generation of children.

“The world cannot look away. Every hour lost costs more lives. Famine in Gaza is not a failure of logistics or aid – it is the outcome of brutal war and deliberate starvation. We demand – without delay – an immediate and sustained ceasefire, a complete halt to arms transfers to Israel, and the full lifting of Israel’s illegal blockade on humanitarian aid. This must include safe and unrestricted humanitarian access, so that we can reach more children and families with food and the basics needed for survival.”

August 24, 2025 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Atrocities, Gaza, Israel | Leave a comment

Kiev to replace soldiers with robots – top general

RT, Thu, 21 Aug 2025 , https://www.sott.net/article/501377-Kiev-to-replace-soldiers-with-robots-top-general

Ukrainian commanders have consistently complained of manpower shortages while recent reports suggest the country has lost nearly 2 million troops.

Ukraine plans to rely on robotic systems to offset persistent manpower shortages on the battlefield,commander-in-chief Aleksandr Syrsky has said.

His comments come amid reports of a deepening crisis in Ukraine’s armed forces and a recently leaked report suggesting Kiev has lost nearly 2 million servicemen since 2022.

In an interview with RBC-Ukraine on Monday, Syrsky admitted that the situation at the front line is “really complicated” as Russia continues its strategic offensive. The general pointed to the Pokrovsk axis in northern Donetsk Region as the most difficult section of the front, noting that Moscow’s forces have conducted nearly 50 assaults there each day.

Syrsky acknowledged that Ukraine has far fewer mobilization resources than Russia and argued that one way of compensating is to rely on weapons that can be operated without personnel or controlled remotely. He claimed Kiev plans to deploy 15,000 ground robotic platforms this year in order to minimize human losses.

Ukrainian commanders have repeatedly reported persistent manpower shortages. Kiev’s general mobilization, which requires all able-bodied men aged 25 to 60 to serve, has failed to make up for battlefield losses. Desertions have also continued to mount, with officials stating that nearly 400,000 servicemen have abandoned their units, many of whom have no intention of returning.

The Telegraph reported last week that at least 650,000 Ukrainian men of fighting age have fled the country since the escalation of the conflict in 2022.

On Wednesday, several media outlets cited a leaked digital card index of Ukraine’s armed forces, allegedly obtained by Russian hackers, which claimed Kiev has lost over 1.7 million troops killed and missing since 2022.

Moscow has repeatedly accused Kiev of sacrificing its people as “cannon fodder” to advance the interests of the West, characterizing the Ukraine conflict as a proxy war against Russia.

Comment: Insanity has taken a new turn. Here is another great idea: Foreign recruitment

Ukraine should recruit for its military “millions” of foreigners willing to fight against Russia, lawmaker Aleksey Goncharenko has proposed. The MP was addressing Kiev’s frontline manpower crisis and the harsh ongoing conscription campaign, which he likened to the Nazi Gestapo.

Speaking at a Ukrainian parliamentary session on Wednesday, Goncharenko, a member of the European Solidarity party led by former Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko, voiced outrage over the brutality of press gangs and proposed that Kiev could sidestep the issue by relying on foreign fighters:

“We need to engage in foreign recruitment – there are millions of people in the world who are ready to fight against Russia, especially given the financial compensation…This is realistic.”

Referring to the secret police of Nazi Germany that was notorious for its numerous atrocities, Goncharenko earlier proposed dismantling Ukraine’s current military-managed recruitment system and replacing it with a civilian-run one.

“Instead of all this, there are the shameful Territorial Recruitment Centers, which are already behaving just like the Gestapo. This cannot continue. It must be immediately corrected, because otherwise, if the people stop believing in the state, we will lose the state.”

And then there are these pesky leaked documents:

A Ukrainian MP, Artem Dmytruk, has admitted the loss of “several generations” in the country’s three-year conflict with Russia.

Russian media outlets on Wednesday cited a digital card index allegedly acquired by hacker groups from Ukraine’s Chief of Staff said to contain names of dead or missing soldiers, details of their deaths, and personal data of their families.

The entries suggested 118,500 troops were killed or went missing in 2022, 405,400 in 2023, 595,000 in 2024 and a record 621,000 so far this year.

Commenting on the reported losses, Dmytruk said:

“The lists of the missing today contain more than a million people, and of course these people are most likely dead, while their families remain in complete ignorance. The situation is tragic, the situation is frightening.”

He warned that villages had been emptied of men, including the elderly and disabled, and that Ukraine was facing “huge losses” and a “demographic crisis.”

“We have lost several generations,” he said, urging peace on the grounds that both Ukrainians and Russians were dying.

The reported figures far exceed official estimates. In February Zelensky told CBS News that 46,000 of his soldiers had been killed since 2022, alongside about 380,000 wounded – numbers questioned in Western media. Moscow has also claimed higher Ukrainian losses, putting the toll at more than 1 million killed or wounded as of early this year.

‘All for one’ – Zelensky

August 24, 2025 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Ukraine, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Zelensky should meet with Putin…to surrender.

Walt Zlotow, West Suburban Peace Coalition, Glen Ellyn IL, 22 Aug 25

Zelensky has never acted for the betterment of his people. He was elected in 2019 garnering a majority of votes from the Russian leaning Ukrainians in Donbas.…..Then he betrayed them by caving to the neo fascists in Kyiv seeking to wipe out their culture, language, religion, livelihood

The only chance Ukraine President Zelensky has to prevent the further destruction of Ukraine is to surrender on Russia’s terms.

The war is lost with no chance of reversing Ukraine’s impending battlefield defeat. Since Ukraine loses more soldiers and territory every day, surrendering now will end that destruction and allow Ukraine to begin rebuilding its shattered country. Since the US and NATO forced this war upon Ukraine, they should have the moral decency to fund the rebuilding.

Russia’s terms are fair and achievable. No NATO for Ukraine which must agree to be neutral between Russia and Western Europe. It precludes any return of the 4 eastern Ukraine oblasts in and around Donbas which are now irrevocably part of Russia. Some western portion of the Zaporizhia and Kherson oblasts may be returned to Ukrainian control as a concession.

Lost territory was set to remain under Ukraine sovereignty under the Istanbul Agreement of April 2022. But the US and UK vetoed that settlement and forced Zelensky to continue the war on the promise US/NATO aid would achieve a Ukraine victory. Colossal mistake.

The third major term is the trickiest; security arrangements for the remaining Western Ukraine rump state and Russia going forward. The European deadenders in UK (Starmer), France (Macron) and Germany (Merz) seek NATO soldiers in Ukraine to keep the peace. Trump will have none of that nonsense. Russia rightly views the European plan as Ukraine NATO membership by a different means, making it a nonstarter.

Trump wants out of a war he knows is lost and represents no national security threat to the US or the European countries. They seek to keep it going in perpetuity for reasons mysterious to any sane observer of Ukraine’s impeding collapse. Since Trump has signaled he’ll be pulling the plug on endless tens of billions for Ukraine to lose more soldiers and territory, the European leaders will eventually face reality and go along with a sensible settlement to end the fighting. Without US largesse, cash poor Europe will fold PDQ.

So will Zelensky. But the clueless US puppet, who sold out his country to US/NATO promises he could defeat the Russian behemoth, shouldn’t wait another day for the surrender orders to arrive from his bosses in Washington and Brussels. Surrendering will definitely end his presidency he extended by decree but hopefully not his life from Ukraine’s real rulers in Kyiv.

Zelensky has never acted for the betterment of his people. He was elected in 2019 garnering a majority of votes from the Russian leaning Ukrainians in Donbas. They believed his promises to treat them inclusively with West leaning Ukrainians in Western Ukraine. Then he betrayed them by caving to the neo fascists in Kyiv seeking to wipe out their culture, language, religion, livelihood.

Three years, six months on he’s still demanding back the land lost from his delusional reliance on his US, NATO masters. Ukraine’s battlefield collapse is months, possibly just weeks away.

Zelensky shouldn’t wait for Trump to finally pull the plug on their failed joint venture. He shouldn’t let Ukraine’s destruction last one more day.

Will Zelensky finally do the right thing by his beleaguered people and capitulate to the victorious Russians? Nothing in his 6 years in office, the last 2 as a self-appointed dictator, suggests that he will short of a complete US withdrawal from America’s failed proxy war against Russia.

August 23, 2025 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Ukraine, weapons and war | Leave a comment

North Korea has ‘undeclared’ ICBM base near China border, according to new report.

ABC News, 23 Aug 25

In short:

A missile base near North Korea’s border with China poses a nuclear threat to Australia, East Asia and the US, a new report and an expert say.

There are likely up to nine nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missiles and launchers at the secret site.

A retired South Korean Army Lieutenant General says it is a “world problem”.

North Korea has built a secret military base near its border with China which may house Pyongyang’s newest long-range ballistic missiles, according to new research.

The Sinpung-dong Missile Operating Base lies about 27 kilometres from the Chinese frontier, the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said in a report published on Wednesday.

The facility in North Pyongan Province likely houses six to nine nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and their launchers, the study said.

It said the weapons “pose a potential nuclear threat to East Asia and the continental United States”.

North Korea has ramped up its nuclear weapons programme since a failed summit with the US in 2019, and leader Kim Jong Un recently called for the “rapid expansion” of the diplomatically isolated nation’s nuclear capability.

The report — which CSIS called the first in-depth, open-source confirmation of Sinpung-dong — says the base is one of about “15-20 ballistic missile bases, maintenance, support, missile storage, and warhead storage facilities which North Korea has never declared”.

The facility is “not known to have been the subject of any denuclearisation negotiations previously conducted between the United States and North Korea”, the study said.

Citing their analysts’ current assessments, CSIS said the launchers and missiles could leave the base in times of crisis or war, link up with special units and conduct harder-to-detect launches from other parts of the country.

The base, along with others, “represent the primary components of what is presumed to be North Korea’s evolving ballistic missile strategy, and its expanding strategic-level nuclear deterrence and strike capabilities”, the report said.

Site built near China to deter attacks

In-Bum Chun, a retired South Korean Army Lieutenant General, told ABC’s Radio National that North Korea believed it could scare the US out of its alliance with South Korea by building these kind of missile bases…………………………………………….https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08-22/north-korea-secret-missile-base/105684760

August 23, 2025 Posted by Christina Macpherson | North Korea, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Europe To Spend $100BN It Doesn’t Have, To Buy Weapons America Doesn’t Have, To Arm Soldiers Ukraine Now Lacks.

by Tyler Durden, Wednesday, Aug 20, 2025 , https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/europe-spend-100bn-it-doesnt-have-buy-weapons-america-it-doesnt-have-arm-soldiers

Part of Zelensky’s motive for wearing a suit Monday to the White House has become clearer with fresh reporting in the Financial Times, which reviewed a document showing Ukraine will promise to buy $100 billion of American weapons financed by Europe in a bid to obtain robust US security guarantees.

Additionally, “Under the proposals, Kyiv and Washington would also strike a $50bn deal to produce drones with Ukrainian companies that have pioneered the technology since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022,” the report continues. Ukraine pitched its plan during the Monday White House summit, which also involved seven EU leaders – and the $100BN arms deal became part of the key talking points pushed by the European allies.

This is an effort by design meant to ensure Ukraine can procure what it wants – and that its war efforts can still be funded uninterrupted – while still ultimately appeasing Trump. “We’re not giving anything. We’re selling weapons,” Trump had said Monday in response to a reporter’s question on the matter.

It remains very obvious that Europe’s demands of keeping up huge pressure on Russia, including through sanctions, are intended to stymie any US-backed deal seen as too favorable to Moscow. The FT report comments on this as follows:

The document details how Ukraine intends to make a counter-pitch to the US after Trump appeared to align himself with Russia’s position for ending the war following his meeting with President Vladimir Putin in Alaska last week.

It reiterates Ukraine’s call for a ceasefire that Trump had espoused but then dropped after his Putin meeting in favor of the pursuit of a comprehensive peace settlement.

Geopolitical analyst and commentator Glenn Diesen has pointed out, however, that Kiev is essentially attempting to create leverage out of nothing.

“Europe will spend $100 billion it does not have, to buy weapons from America that it does not have, to arm soldiers that Ukraine now lacks,” he wrote, explaining further: “This is to confront Russia, which for 30 years warned it would respond to NATO militarizing its borders.”

Diesen followed by doing something that Washington policy-makers refuse to do, and that is look at the big picture of how we got here [emphasis ZH]:

There was no threat to Ukraine before 2014, as only a tiny minority of Ukrainians wanted to join NATO, and Russia laid no claim to any of Ukraine’s territory. Western governments then supported a coup to pull Ukraine into NATO’s orbit – something that CIA Directors, Ambassadors, and Western state leaders had warned would instigate a security competition and likely trigger a war.

Russia predictably reacted fiercely. Ever since then, the only acceptable narrative has been that Russia wants to restore the Soviet Union and that Putin is Hitler. Any dissent is labelled as “disinformation”, “propaganda”, “hybrid warfare”, or even treason.

The war has now been lost, and the Americans are pulling away from it, asking the Europeans to absorb the consequences. How do the Europeans respond? By doubling down on this madness, which will destroy Ukraine, our economies, and our relevance in the world – and possibly trigger a nuclear war. – What is the strategy? More of the same? The best thing for Ukraine is to remove it from the frontlines of the geopolitical struggle over where to draw the new dividing lines in Europe: End the war, rebuild Ukraine, and replace expansionist military blocs with the principle of indivisible security.

This week, as negotiations proceed and Europe keeps up its drive to pile more and more pressure on Putin, the big question will be whether the Western side can indeed understand that it has lost the proxy war.

Many immense hurdles remain, and one could also point out there are too many cooks in the kitchen (judging by the over a half-dozen European leaders present in the Oval yesterday), making things all the more unnecessarily complicated – and that’s probably by design.

Glenn Greenwald agrees with this bleak assessment of Europe’s role in thwarting peace… DC foreign policy elites now know that Ukraine cannot win, but they would rather continue fueling a fruitless and deadly war than admit they were wrong and delusional about Ukraine’s prospects against Russia.

August 22, 2025 Posted by Christina Macpherson | EUROPE, Ukraine, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Israeli Military To Call Up 60,000 Reservists as It Prepares for Gaza City Ethnic Cleansing Campaign.

Under the plan, the IDF will forcibly evacuate over 1 million civilians from the city, then spend over a year destroying it.

by Dave DeCamp | August 19, 2025, https://news.antiwar.com/2025/08/19/israeli-military-to-call-up-60000-reservists-as-it-prepares-for-gaza-city-ethnic-cleansing-campaign/

About 60,000 Israeli reservists will receive call-up orders that the Israeli military will issue tomorrow as it’s preparing for a major offensive on Gaza City, The Times of Israel reported on Tuesday.

The report said that reservists will have two weeks before they need to report for duty and that not all of them will take part in the offensive on Gaza City since some will replace IDF troops deployed in other areas of Gaza.

The Israeli military’s plans to take over Gaza City involve the ethnic cleansing of over 1 million Palestinian civilians from the area. Since civilians are expected to remain in the city after evacuation orders, the IDF is prepared to use artillery strikes as its means of forcibly moving them, according to Haaretz.

While the IDF hasn’t yet launched its ground offensive, it has ramped up strikes on Gaza City in recent weeks with a focus on the eastern Zeitoun neighborhood. Thousands of Palestinians have already fled the area, and an investigation from Al Jazeera found that many of the Israeli attacks were hitting displacement shelters.

Once the city is taken over, the IDF plans to spend more than a year destroying it, similar to how it made the northern cities of Beit Hanoun, Beit Lahia, and Jabalia uninhabitable. The IDF will demolish homes in Gaza City under the guise of “dismantling Hamas infrastructure,” but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has previously told a Knesset committee that the IDF’s destruction of homes would force Palestinians to leave Gaza altogether.

The idea of the Gaza City offensive is to force all the Palestinians to the south, and from there, Israel will pressure them to leave Gaza, but it remains unclear where they could go. Israel has reportedly been in talks with several countries on taking in a large number of Palestinian refugees, but so far, none have publicly committed to the idea.

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Dave DeCamp is the news editor of Antiwar.com, follow him on Twitter @decampdave.

August 22, 2025 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Gaza, Israel, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Israelis Understand That Trump Can End The Nightmare In Gaza. Americans Should Know This Too.

Caitlin Johnstone, Aug 19, 2025, https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/israelis-understand-that-trump-can?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=82124&post_id=171337355&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=1ise1&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

It’s so revealing how Israelis keep begging Trump to end the killing in Gaza, because they understand that the US president has the power to force Israel to stop. It seems like Israelis understand this far better than Americans do.

Six former Israeli hostages and the widow of a slain hostage have released a video pleading with President Trump in English to support a comprehensive deal to make peace in Gaza so that the remaining hostages can be freed.

“You have the power to make history, to be the president of peace, the one who ended the war, ended the suffering, and brought every hostage home, including my little brother,” implores one of the hostages.

“President Trump, please act now before it’s too late for them, too,” pleads the widow.

This is not the first time Israelis have begged Trump to force an end to the slaughter. Earlier this month more than 600 former senior Israeli security officials from Mossad and Shin Bet sent Trump a letter urging him to compel Netanyahu to make peace in Gaza. They did this because they understand something that many Americans do not: that the US president has always had the power to end the Gaza holocaust.

It’s crazy how many times I’ve encountered Americans telling me that this is “Israel’s war” and there’s nothing the president can do to end it. It was mostly Democrats doing this back when Biden was president and I was slamming Genocide Joe for continuing this mass atrocity, and now that Trump is in office it’s his supporters who show up in my comments section white knighting for the president.

“It’s not our war and we should stay out of it,” they sometimes claim, mistakenly thinking that critics of the US-backed genocide are asking for some kind of US intervention.

But the call isn’t for the US to intervene, it’s for the US to stop intervening. To end the US interventionism that has been underway for two years. The Gaza holocaust can be ended by the US simply ceasing to add wood to the fire.

Israeli military insiders have been saying again and again that the onslaught in Gaza would not be possible without US support.

A senior Israeli air force official told Haaretz last year that “without the Americans’ supply of weapons to the Israel Defense Forces, especially the air force, Israel would have had a hard time sustaining its war for more than a few months.”

In November 2023 retired Israeli Major General Yitzhak Brick told Jewish News Syndicate that, “All of our missiles, the ammunition, the precision-guided bombs, all the airplanes and bombs, it’s all from the US. The minute they turn off the tap, you can’t keep fighting. You have no capability. … Everyone understands that we can’t fight this war without the United States. Period.”

Former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert wrote the following last year:

“The entire Israel Air Force relies completely on American aircraft: fighter planes, transport planes, refueler planes and helicopters. All of Israel’s air power is based on the American commitment to defend Israel. We have no other reliable source for essential supplies of equipment, munitions and advanced weapons that Israel cannot manufacture on its own. In recent months, hundreds of American transport planes have landed at IAF bases carrying thousands of tons of advanced, vital military equipment and munitions.”

The Israelis clearly understand that they’ve been entirely dependent on the US for the IDF’s acts of butchery in Gaza this entire time, and they clearly understand that the US president has the ability to turn off the tap whenever he wants.

And now they are begging the president to do so with increasing urgency, because it’s been made clear to them that their own government isn’t going to stop until it is forced to stop. They can’t stop the gunman, so they’re turning to the man who’s feeding him the ammo.

It would be good if Americans understood this as well. Trump is committing genocide in Gaza, just as surely as Netanyahu is, and he could end it at any time. The fact that he still has not chosen to do so makes him one of the most evil people on earth.

August 22, 2025 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Israel, USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Billions in Israel defence contracts put Australia at risk.

by Stephanie Tran | Aug 17, 2025, https://michaelwest.com.au/billions-in-israel-defence-contracts-put-australia-at-risk/

The Australian Government risks breaking international law, splashing billions in public money on Israel weapons deals. A Stephanie Tran analysis.

The Australian government has funnelled $2.5 billion of taxpayer funds to Israeli arms manufacturers over the past two decades via government contracts.

An analysis of Austender data shows that since 2004, the Australian government has signed dozens of deals with Israel’s largest defence companies, making them some of the country’s most significant foreign suppliers of arms.

But this is just the tip of the iceberg. The true sum is certainly much higher, as the government is not required to disclose subcontracting arrangements, such as the $900 million deal between Elbit Systems and South Korean firm Hanwha to supply the Australian Army with armoured vehicles.

The breakdown of the funds is as follows:

$1.92 billion to Elbit Systems and its subsidiaries Elistra Electronic System Ltd, Universal Avionics Systems, Geospectrum Technologies and Ferranti Technologies
$307 million to Israel Aerospace Industries and its subsidiaries, Elta Systems and Elta Electronics industry
$180 million to Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, its subsidiary Pearson Engineering and a joint venture with Australian company Varley Group, “Varley Rafael”
$10 million to Israel Military Industries, also known as IMI Systems. (Note: IMI Systems was acquired by Elbit Systems in 2018)
$870,000 to Plassan
$210,00 to Rada Electronic Industries

Breaking international law

Lara Khider, Senior Lawyer at the Australian Centre for International Justice, said the contracts place Australia at risk of breaching its international legal obligations.

“States have been put on notice that Israel may be committing internationally wrongful acts in relation to its military and other operations in Gaza and through its unlawful occupation of Palestinian territory,” Khider said, citing multiple International Court of Justice (ICJ) rulings in the South Africa v Israel genocide case and its advisory opinion on Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory.

“On this basis, States have an obligation to cease aid and assistance to Israel in relation to the commission of these acts. Otherwise, States may be deemed complicit in internationally wrongful conduct.”

She said the ICJ was unequivocal that all states must avoid trade or economic dealings that entrench Israel’s unlawful presence in occupied Palestinian territory and refrain from aiding or assisting its maintenance. Under the Arms Trade Treaty, to which Australia is a signatory, governments are required to block weapons transfers if there is an overriding risk they would be used to commit serious violations of the Geneva Conventions.

The Australian Centre for International Justice has called for a two-way arms embargo “as a bare minimum” to ensure Australia does not contribute directly or indirectly to violations of international law in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Department of Defence did not respond – does it ever?

The Department of Defence did not respond to a request for comment regarding whether it would cancel its existing contracts and refrain from entering into new contracts for the procurement of arms from Israeli defence companies in light of the ongoing genocide in Gaza.

Greg Barns SC, a spokesman for the Australian Lawyers Alliance, said continuing the contracts undermines Australia’s moral and legal credibility.

“Australia has an obligation to comply with all of the international agreements, treaties and covenants to which it is a signatory. That any Australian government would allow the supply of defence equipment to a country committing war crimes and genocide is morally reprehensible and a clear breach of international law,” Barns said. “This reduces Australia’s standing globally in terms of adherence to the rule of law.”

August 21, 2025 Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

European military-industrial output for Ukraine outpaces the US.

By Linus Höller, Thursday, Aug 14, 2025, https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2025/08/13/european-military-industrial-output-for-ukraine-outpaces-the-us/?utm_source=sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=c4-overmatch

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — European military industrial production in support of Ukraine has overtaken American output for the first time since Russia’s invasion, new numbers released Tuesday show.

According to the tally by the German Kiel Institute for the World Economy, Europe allocated at least €35.1 billion ($41.1 billion) in military industrial output to Ukraine between the start of the war in February 2022 and the end of June 2025. This is €4.4 billion ($5.15 billion) more than the U.S. committed in the same period.

The continent also overtook the U.S. in terms of total military aid in the spring, following a sharp rise in European support for Ukraine in response to America’s withdrawal under the nascent Trump administration. EU countries have allocated over $65 billion in military assistance to Ukraine, according to the Union’s own tally. Additionally, several non-EU European countries are major donors, bringing up the European total.

The numbers do not include the recently announced American weapons deliveries, which are the first large batch approved by President Donald Trump’s administration, because they will be purchased by Kyiv, rather than donated.

The disparity is even greater when accounting for other forms of aid, too. Europe has allocated €167.4 billion ($196.1 billion) in government aid to Kyiv and pledged another €90 billion ($105.4 billion), according to the Kiel Institute’s tracker. The U.S. has allocated and pledged €114.6 billion ($134.3 billion) and €4.35 billion ($5.1 billion), respectively.

Although Europe’s combined clout has consolidated to buttress Ukraine, the U.S. nonetheless remains the single largest donor. Its combined total is nearly twice that of the second-largest donor, the European Union, which has provided €60.5 billion ($70.9 billion) in financial aid and €2.7 billion ($3.2 billion) in humanitarian assistance.

The U.S. has also provided to Ukraine more infantry fighting vehicles and howitzers than any other single country, as well as multiple launch rocket systems and air defense systems. However, European tallies combined surpass the U.S. in all of these categories.

The No. 1 European donor country is Germany, although as a portion of their gross domestic product, Denmark, Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia lead the pack. Denmark’s aid to Ukraine amounts to 2.9% of the country’s GDP, plus a further 0.4% if EU-provided assistance is considered in the tally.

Poland has also been a significant supporter, including coming out as the No. 1 tank provider for Ukraine, having sent Kyiv a total of 354 tanks. The Netherlands has provided 104 and Denmark 94.

Kiel Institute researchers noted that many of the weapons now going to Ukraine come straight from the military-industrial output of the sending countries, rather than from preexisting stockpiles, as had been the case in the earlier days of the war.

Early on, stockpiles of weapons and gear had run low across many Western countries as the systems were rushed to the frontlines in Ukraine in defense against the Russian invasion.

Unlike unpredictable American assistance, European support has remained consistent — and even expanded — as fighting in Ukraine dragged on into its fourth year.

In May and June 2025 alone, European governments allocated €10.5 billion ($12.3 billion) in new military assistance, of which at least €4.6 billion ($5.4 billion) is being routed through procurement contracts, rather than pulled from existing stockpiles, underscoring the growing centrality of industrial output over surplus arsenals.

About Linus Höller

Linus Höller is Defense News’ Europe correspondent and OSINT investigator. He reports on the arms deals, sanctions, and geopolitics shaping Europe and the world. He holds a master’s degrees in WMD nonproliferation, terrorism studies, and international relations, and works in four languages: English, German, Russian, and Spanish.

August 20, 2025 Posted by Christina Macpherson | EUROPE, weapons and war | Leave a comment

French monitor: Ukraine, NATO provoked Russia in Donbas war

As Trump hosts Zelensky, an international monitor on the ground in Ukraine from 2015 to 2022 blows the whistle on Ukraine’s NATO-backed assault on the Donbas.

Aaron Maté, Aug 19, 2025, https://www.aaronmate.net/p/french-monitor-ukraine-nato-provoked?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=100118&post_id=171287926&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=ln98x&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

Benoit Paré is a former French defense ministry analyst who worked as an international monitor in eastern Ukraine from 2015 to 2022.

In his first interview with a US outlet, Paré speaks to The Grayzone‘s Aaron Maté about the hidden reality of the Ukraine war in the Donbas region, where the US-backed Kyiv government fought Russia-backed rebels following the 2014 Maidan coup. Russia now demands that Ukraine accept its capture of the Donbas as a condition for ending the war.

“I will very clear. For me the fault lies on Ukraine… by far.” Paré also warns that Ukrainian ultra-nationalists, who violently resisted the Minsk accords, remain a major obstacle to peace. Paré worked as a monitor for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), a predominately European group. He recounts his experience as an OSCE monitor in Ukraine in his new book, “What I saw in Ukraine: 2015-2022, Diary of an International Observer.”

When it comes to which party is responsible for the failure to implement the Minsk accords, the 2015 peace pact that could have prevented the 2022 Russian invasion, Paré says.