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Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Ukrainian Perspective: Invasion of Ukraine: September 11, 2026
2026-09-12
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited

20.44 Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi, in a meeting with New Delhi, called on the head of Russia Volodymyr Putin to start negotiations to end the war against Ukraine. dpa informs about this.

Modi stated that “dialogue and diplomacy are the right way to resolve conflicts.” This is how they quoted the words of the head of the order at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of India.

He also stated that India is ready to support the cause of the world.

20.16 Near the Podilsky district of the capital, the Russian UAV will return to the office again. The military administration informed about this.

This year, the head of the city, Vitaliy Klitschko, confirmed that “I will re-enter the 5-top office wherever I was today.”

After a year of measures, it was clarified that as a result of the enemy’s blow to the office work, there was also a fire in the warehouse work order.

19.49 The Kremlin has again termed the massive burying of the Donetsk region of Ukraine, as the head of the Russian Federation Volodymyr Putin wants to take control of the beginning of a large-scale invasion. About the TMT price.

According to Bloomberg reports, Putin plans to destroy the region in the next six months - until the end of the cruelty. Today, the intercessor of the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Pavlo Palis, confirms that the Russian military is asking to postpone the deadline to January 31.

Russia has endured the lines of burying Donbas more than once. At the beginning of the last century, the military command ordered Putin to conquer the region until the middle of the fourth century of the war. The deadline for the spring of 2026 was moved to the fall, and the military announced that Donbass would completely come under the control of the Russian Federation until the end of the year.

According to the support of the American Institute of Warfare (ISW), Putin has already transferred the lines of burial of the Donetsk region 15 times. Russian military forces control 79.89% of the region - 21,170 sq. km.

The Serpna Russian army moved into the Donbass with a surplus of 2.36 square meters. km to dobu. At this rate, ISW said, the region could come under the control of the Kremlin no earlier than the year 2032.

17.37 Russian troops lost two full national guardsmen near Dobropil in the Donetsk region. On the 2nd of Wednesday, two military servicemen of the National Guard of Ukraine were in a firing position at a forestry near Dobropil. The Ukrainian prisoners who were consigned to the battlefields were taken from the full occupiers. Further away, representatives of the armored forces of the Russian Federation killed them, shooting them with automatic armor.

17.22 Russia is significantly weaker economically and will be born in 2022, but there are still enough resources to continue the war against Ukraine until at least 2028. This was stated by the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense Oleg Ivashchenko.

In other words, the main problems of the Russian economy are the shortage of labor resources, the growing budget deficit and the worsening situation in the banking system.

At the moment, as Ivashchenko said, there are still enough resources to wage war in the Russian Federation. “We do not exclude what resource to extract for 2027 and 2028,” said the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate.

16.24 Self-proclaimed President of Belarus Oleksandr Lukashenko stated that the country’s armed forces must be checked for readiness before mobilization takes place. About BelTA.

“The army needs to chicken out, the time has come. The whole army. All of them will be verified. Right up to mobilization,” he said at the Zagalnovysky training ground near the Brest region.

16.13 The Russian escalation by rocket-propelled “Shaheds” is gradually becoming more and more terroristic. For the rest of the day, Russians are targeting gas stations in Kiev, as well as in Kievstar. President Volodymyr Zelensky announced this.

“Throughout the day, Russians have been going straight to gas stations near Kiev. Only today and just because of these attacks, two people died. My heart goes out to the family and friends of the dead,” the head of state wrote in Telegram.

The President added that they also gave a gift to the former company Kyivstar. Zelensky stated that attacks occur at night. Zokrem, there were attacks on the Kiev region, Kirovograd region, Dnipro region, Odessa region, Donetsk region, Kherson region, Kharkiv region, Mykolayiv region.

“You can’t just check while Russia is developing its repertoire of kills. It is necessary to cover the sky as much as possible and search for a solution to protect people, scale up against Russian drones,” the head of state said.

15.14 The most realistic scenario is the end of the war or the beginning of military operations, and there is still a gap along the actual front line at the time of achieving home rule. Nowadays, Ukraine may end its security guarantees. The head of the Office of the President, Kirilo Budanov, stated this.

“Of course, without any legal recognition from the side of Ukraine (from the territory - ed.). This will not happen, and we will not stop anyone,” he added.

15.00 In the Kharkiv region, the military counterintelligence of the SBU and the National Police caught up with the commander of the ZSU squadron, who, according to investigators, was planning to illegally sell up to 500 kg of TNT. Based on data from the SBU, military service officers scouted buyers through thematic Telegram channels and planned to specifically deliver vibration products to service vehicles. Law enforcement officers tracked him near the military unit in the Chuguivsky district until the hour of trying to sell it. We obtained a batch of TNT prepared before the transfer and a smartphone from the contacts of potential buyers.

14.56 Near Yasnogirtsya in the Donetsk region, the Russian drone Lancet hit a Swedish emergency vehicle, killing a medical worker and injuring two more.

14.43 Turkey called for the earliest possible start to the Russian-Ukrainian war and the renewal of negotiations between Kiev and Moscow near Istanbul. As stated by the leader of the active Justice Party and Development Omer Çelik, the war has turned into a permanent situation and will create even greater consequences for the Black Sea region. It was noted that both sides did not reach the gap that could effectively change the course of the war. We also identified concerns through the possible stagnation of the future and the risk of expanding the conflict. Okremo Chelik announced attacks on civilian ships under the Turkish ensign in the Black Sea.

14.41 Nearly 25,000 Korean military servicemen have already undergone rotation at the Russian armored forces depot. This was stated by the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Lieutenant General Oleg Ivashchenko.

In his words, there are approximately 8,000 DPRK military servicemen stationed in the Kursk region of Russia.

“Today, approximately 8,000 DPRK military servicemen are in the Kursk region of Russia. Our intelligence shows that this number could grow to approximately 50,000,” Ivashchenko said.

Southern Korea also supplies Russian ballistic missiles. As of late, the Main Intelligence Directorate has assessed that Pyongyang has supplied at least 150 KN-23 or KN-24 missiles, and another 120 missiles.

14.16 Ukrainian attacks on the territory of Russia will become even worse and worse, as the Russian Federation does not commit military actions against Ukraine. The head of the Office of the President, Kirilo Budanov, stated this.

“If Russia does not pin its combat actions against us, it is clear that it is even stronger in its lusty skin. Our strikes are becoming even worse with greater combat intensity,” he said Vin.

14.04 In the Oleksandriysky district of the Kirovograd region, as a result of an attack by a Russian drone on Friday, the 11th of Wednesday, three people were injured in the shaken farming state. As Andriy Raikovich, the head of the Kirovograd Regional Police Department, appointed the two victims to the hospital. Another person was hospitalized. On the territory of the enterprise, cars and dry grass caught fire. The fire was promptly liquidated.

13.56 Ukrainian Defense Forces hit the Saratov oil refinery near Saratov. The General Staff was informed about this on Friday.

As a result of the attack, fires were recorded on the territory of the facility.

Currently, the stage of filling the fillings is being clarified.

13.44 In the Podilsky district of Kiev, on the 11th of Wednesday, a drone was recorded in the office premises. There was a fire and ruin on the fourth level from the top. The order of the retreaded single-surface floor was in danger of burning, informing the measures of the capital Vitaliy Klitschko. Information about the victims and other remains will be clarified immediately.

13.28 The European Commission has approved a financing package for Ukraine worth €6.1 billion, which provides assistance with anti-aircraft defense, drones and missiles. Zokrema, Ukraine can purchase PAC-3 overshooting missiles for Patriot systems. Andrius Kubilius informed the European Commissioner for Defense and Space about this.

13.26 The European Commission renewed its work on the plan for the recovery of frozen Russian assets for the reparation loan to Ukraine. This happened after the destruction of four countries of the EU and over 120 members of the European Parliament. Two officials familiar with the discussions told the Financial Times about this.

13.05 The ruler of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, in an hour of conflict with Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi, can ruin the topic of the war against Ukraine and its regulation. As stated by the Kremlin's river manager Dmitro Peskov, Putin, during his meetings with foreign leaders, begins to inform them about the Russian situation at the front. Putin having arrived in India, the BRICS summit will be held in New Delhi on 12-13 spring.

12.05 Two people died near Kiev, who recognized the wounded legacy of a wounded attack by Russian troops at a gas station.

“One wounded during the attack on one gas station in the capital died from recovering injuries... Already two died from a wounded attack on a gas station in Kiev. Another victim died in the hospital,” said the mayor, Vitaliy Klichk

For this reason, four wounded people are staying at the hospitals of the capital's medical facilities for this hour.

11.42 In Kiev, as a result of the Russian attack on the 11th spring, several individuals suffered. In the Obolonsky district, UAVs crashed onto a car, and fires were also recorded in non-residential areas. The Kiev City Military Administration reported this. The mayor of Kiev, Vitaly Klitschko, reported that in the Obolonsky district, a drone hit a car. First of all, there are casualties. Afterwards, the fall of the tricks did not disappear. Also in the Obolonsky district, fires were recorded in non-residential areas after the accident of a UAV. Emergency services are in place.

11.24 Through Russian drone attacks and artillery shelling, on the 11th spring there was new destruction in seven regions - Odessa, Zaporizia, Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkov, Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk.

There, where they allow cleanliness, repairs are already necessary. The company says that it is possible to reduce energy consumption in every possible way in order to ensure the best possible health for all subscribers.

As a result, the energy consumption increases. At 09:30, it was 6.3% higher, at the same time as 10 pm, it was gloomy in some of the outlying areas, everyday sleepy stations were working harder, and people were getting electricity from outside. boundaries.

10.57 Russian troops are not planning to attack the Kiev region. Near the Vishgorod district there are damaged private cabins, a woman has died. In the Obukhivsky district, the hangar of the premises was damaged.

10.33 Counterintelligence of the Security Service tracked the origin of missile and drone attacks in the region in Khmelnytskyi region. The criminal directed attacks of the Russian Federation on the administrative authorities, logistics warehouses and the place of special storage and equipment of the Defense Forces.

The orchestration of Russian shelling was carried out by the robotic scumbag Slavuti, who had stolen the respect of the Russian special services from Telegram channels in search of “easy” earnings.

According to the Russians, the informant walked around the area and its adjacent territory in order to identify and transmit to the Russian Federation the geolocation of potential “targets”.

It is documented how a criminal took a photograph with a phone camera of the façade of the administrative building and the checkpoints of the military unit. After this, the cobbler will be revealed and “unleashed” to the Russians with the geolocation of the warehouse locations of the Ukrainian military.

10.12 Kiev recognized the attacks of Russian jet UAVs. Near the Dniprovsky district, a previous incident at a gas station was recorded, following the measures of Kiev, Vitaly Klitschko, who reported two accidents at a gas station in the Obolonsky district.

09.54 Russian troops have been attacking Kharkov and five settlements in the region for the past few days. Zolochiv suffered the most blows, where as a result of the evening attacks, a person died and two more residents were injured. According to the OVA data, the Russian army stood still with four armored aircraft bombs and 26 drones. Most drones are of the uninstalled type, most commonly Lightning and FPV drones.

09.32 France 11th June Romania scrambled two high-powered F-16s to monitor a group of airborne targets as they approached their cordon with Ukraine. According to the Ministry of National Defense of Romania, there was no information about the destruction of the territory's exposed area.

09.16 On the morning of the 11th spring, Russian troops massively attacked Zaporizhzhia with drones. ​The 32-year woman and the 10-year son were recognized early.

​At the site, a nine-top residential building was damaged, de vinikla was burned on an area of ​​80 square meters. m. Involvement in the shopping center due to loans for 500 sq. m. was also recorded. I will live in an office space on an area of ​​50 square meters. m.

09.00 Russian troops attacked the Zhytomyr region with attack drones on the 11th. In the Ovrutsk community, private enterprise was damaged, and on its territory the fire was destroyed. As soon as the head of the Zhytomyr Regional Military Administration Vitaly Bunechko informed, the DSNS officials promptly localized the occupation. There was no information about the dead or injured survivors of the attack.

08.22 At the beginning of the 11th spring, as a result of the Russian attack on Kiev, eight people were injured in the 8th rank. In the Dniprovsky district, nine over-earth housing units were destroyed, and in Obolonsky one-overhead storage tank was destroyed. The DSNS and the National Police were informed about this.

08.01 At the beginning of the 11th spring in several regions of Russia there were reports of drone attacks and vibrations. In Volgograd there are reports of an attack on the oil refinery, in Kaspiysk - about a possible attack on the port, and in Samara the locals are feeling bruised. Russian publics and OSINT channels write about this.

07.40 Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Andriy Sibiga calling the Russian attack on Pavlograd, Dnipropetrovsk region, a deliberate act of terror against the civilian population. As a result of the attack of Russian drones on Pavlograd on the 10th of April, five people died, and another 67 victims are in hospitals. Among them are eight children. We called on international partners to give Ukraine an additional anti-aircraft defense system and enforce sanctions against the Russian military-industrial complex.

04.26 Unmanned aerial vehicles attacked the oil refinery plant near Saratov. Suddenly, stinks attacked the Ozon warehouse. There are two great fires in the area at the same time.

04.30 Russian naphtha companies have been running out of oil production for nine months after a series of Ukrainian attacks on refineries, which collapsed naphtha refining in the region to at least two decades. The impossibility of processing and exporting the extracted naphtha is forcing naphtha producers to freeze the drill bits. I mean, some of the drill bits are turned to such extreme tension that it is no longer possible.

02.56 The first anti-ballistic system FREYJA may be ready before the end. President Volodymyr Zelensky stated this.

Link


-Short Attention Span Theater-
U.S. Cowboys to Compete in ‘Horse Wrestling' at Central Asian World Nomad Games
2026-09-03
[BB] The World Nomad Games, conceived in Kazakhstan and debuting 12 years ago, is primarily a sporting contest meant to feature the traditional cultures of the Turkic peoples of Central Asia. This year, teams representing over 100 countries will compete in 43 sports ranging from tug of war, bird of prey hunting, archery, and a variety of equestrian games.

Most sports have some link to ancient games played in Central Asia for hundreds, if not thousands of years. Among them are “breaking the vertebral bone,” in which competitors seek to most definitively destroy a vertebral cattle bone; Kush Saluu, in which competitors choose to hunt with either a golden eagle, falcon, hawk, or Kyrgyz sighthound; and a variety of ancient traditional board games.

The American team marched in the opening ceremonies on Tuesday, waving the American flag, wearing cowboy hats, and sharing the heartland spirit of the country. America is competing in the sports of horse wrestling (in which competitors try to tear each other off their horses) and Kok-Boru or “goat pulling,” in which teams on horseback compete for possession of a goat carcass.

“‘Kok-Boru’ also known as ‘Goat Polo,’ is the ultimate test of horse-riding strength, connecting American Western Heritage with Ancient Nomadic Traditions,” the American team’s website explains. “It’s the Western Frontier meets the Nomadic Steppe, reminiscent of the American ‘Wild West,’ and exemplifying the shared values of horsemanship, rugged individualism, and resilience. These competitors exhibit a return to the Pioneer Spirit!”

This year, Kyrgyzstan celebrated 35 years of independence from the former Soviet Union and welcomed a high number of world leaders to the World Nomad Games’ opening ceremonies, in part as a result of Bishkek also hosting the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s (SCO) annual summit. The SCO is a security coalition largely made up of Central Asian countries leveraged for influence primarily by China, India, and Russia. Both Russian strongman Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi reportedly attended the opening ceremonies, joining a total of 18 heads of state at the event.
Link


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Ukrainian Perspective: Invasion of Ukraine: September 1, 2026
2026-09-02
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited
[Korrespondent] 22.57 Russia has said that it will continue the war against Ukraine by military means if Kyiv does not agree to Moscow's conditions. Among them, the Kremlin names the recognition of the so-called "realities on the ground." This was stated by the Russian permanent representative to the UN, Vasily Nebenzia, during a meeting of the UN General Assembly.

22.39 On the evening of September 1, Russian troops attacked Kyiv and the Kyiv region with strike drones. A woman was injured in the Brovary district, a private house and warehouses were damaged. 13 people were injured in the capital, and fires broke out in three areas due to falling debris from enemy UAVs.

21.39 Russian troops attacked Dnipro on Tuesday evening, September 1. A crater formed in the stadium of one of the schools. Children who remained in the institution on an extended day were in shelter during the strike and were not injured. In addition to the school territory, the private sector of the city was damaged. Dnipro Mayor Borys Filatov reported on the consequences of the attack.

21.18 President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned airlines, insurers, and other users of Russian airspace about the increasing danger due to drone activity.

"Russian skies are becoming completely dangerous," Zelensky said.

According to him, Ukraine has no intention of attacking civil aviation, but the number of drones in Russian airspace will increase.

20.36 The Air Force does not disclose in its daily reports the exact number of ballistic missiles launched by Russia, as some of them do not reach their designated targets. At the same time, the Ukrainian air defense also shoots down ballistic missiles. This was stated by Yuriy Ignat, head of the communications department of the Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He noted that during the last attack, the Ukrainian air defense shot down some of the ballistic missiles, although the result could have been better if there were more missiles for the Patriot systems.

20.13 Denmark, Estonia, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden and Finland called on Russia to immediately and unconditionally withdraw all troops from the territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders. This was stated by the Deputy Permanent Representative of Finland to the UN, Geli Lehto, during a meeting of the UN General Assembly on the situation in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.

19.32 Germany holds Russia responsible for the incident with a drone with explosives near a Ukrainian cargo plane at Leipzig/Halle airport on August 4. In response, Berlin will close the Russian Consulate General in Bonn and the Russian House in Berlin, and will also advocate for new EU sanctions. This was announced on September 1 by German Interior and Foreign Ministers Alexander Dobrindt and Johann Wadeful.

19.13 During the day - from 6:30 to 18:00 - Russian aggressors attacked Ukraine with 99 strike drones, 72 of them jets. This was reported by the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

18.55 Kazakhstan is introducing an electronic travel authorization (ETA) for citizens of visa-free countries, including Russia. The system is in test mode, and the new rules will come into force in stages. According to the Kazakh government, the authorization must be issued at least 72 hours before travel and is valid for 180 days.

Konstantin Zatulin, First Deputy Chairman of the Russian State Duma Committee on CIS Affairs, criticized the new rules. He stated that they allegedly contradict the principle of free movement of citizens within the Eurasian Economic Union, and called on Kazakhstan to explain its decision and exempt Russians from the fee.

18.18 The Ukrainian Defense Forces eliminated a little more than 42 thousand Russian occupiers in August. This was reported by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Over the three summer months of 2026, 25.8% more enemy manpower was hit than during the same period in spring.

17.42 Russian aggressors damaged part of the equipment of the Odessa CHP plant with missile and drone strikes on Monday evening. Naftogaz reported this.

17.15 Fighters of the Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine struck the Russian Novatek-Ust-Luga complex. The special service reported this on Tuesday.

16.56 An FSB agent who collected coordinates of military air bases in the Lviv region for Russian special services and planned to install a hidden camera to launch strikes has been sentenced to 15 years in prison with confiscation of property. The Security Service of Ukraine reported this. According to the case materials, the convicted person is a local unemployed man who was recruited by the Russian special services after he published anti-Ukrainian comments in Telegram chats.

16.47 Russian ruler Vladimir Putin, who delivered an address to schoolchildren and students on the occasion of the beginning of the school year, showed a mark from injections on his hand. This is reported by The Moscow Times.

16.25 In Zaporizhia district on Tuesday, September 1, two people were killed and three more were injured as a result of Russian attacks on civilian cars. According to the head of the Zaporizhia OVA, Ivan Fedorov, a Russian drone attacked a civilian car in Kushugum. The car was destroyed as a result of the strike. A 73-year-old man and a 47-year-old woman were killed. A 38-year-old resident of Kushugum was injured. In addition, Russian military personnel attacked a car of volunteers who were carrying out evacuation from Novotroitsky. Two people were injured, the car was damaged.

16.11 A bill giving US President Donald Trump the power to impose 100% tariffs on countries that aid Russia, sanctions on its energy projects and leaders was quickly passed by the Senate after the death of its co-sponsor, Senator Richard Graham. But it has stalled in the House of Representatives, Politico reported the day before.

15.31 The Verkhovna Rada apparatus has prepared an alternative format for the parliament's work during prolonged air raids. Deputies will be offered to move to a specially equipped conference hall on the -1 floor, where they will be able to continue the plenary session and vote. This was announced by the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, Ruslan Stefanchuk, during a conversation with journalists.

In the event of an air raid warning, parliamentarians will have about 10 minutes to move to the conference hall on the -1 floor and adjacent rooms. They have already been equipped for holding plenary sessions. In the main hall, workplaces for 368 deputies have been prepared. If necessary, their number can be increased to 392. There is also a rostrum and a round table. According to Stefanchuk, it will be available for committee chairs, rapporteurs during the presentation of draft laws, and deputies who wish to speak. The premises are also equipped for broadcasting meetings.

15.19 Russia used more than 2,800 jet drones against Ukraine in August. This was announced on TV by Yuriy Ignat, head of the communications department of the Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

15.00 Russian aggressors continue drone terror in Kherson. Two men were killed in the attacks. Five more people, including two children, were injured, the local OVA reported.

14.42 Security services detained an enemy corrections officer in the Donetsk region. He turned out to be an employee of a municipal enterprise from Sloviansk, who began working for Russian military intelligence (better known as the GRU).

The agent monitored the reserve command posts of the Defense Forces in the front-line city and their movement routes for the Russian Federation. To cover up the conspiracy, the man got a job as a handyman at a local municipal improvement enterprise.

There, under the guise of working trips, he continued to monitor the locations of concentration of personnel and equipment of Ukrainian troops in the Slavyansk direction.

The defendant stored the collected information on his smartphone in the form of coordinates of potential "targets" against which the Russians were preparing strikes with guided aerial bombs and rocket artillery, in particular the Smerch MLRS.

14.26 The Ukrainian Defense Forces have narrowed the Russian bridgehead on the western bank of the Oskil River and complicated its logistical capabilities for advancing towards Kupyansk. This was stated by Viktor Tregubov, head of the communications department of the Joint Forces Group.

"Overall, the number of groups has decreased and the very opportunity for them to maintain logistical connectivity has become smaller. There, the only route, the only path that was open to the Russians, is directly through the north along the Oskil River through Golubivka. And since the entire road there has now become a little narrower, it is obvious that it has become generally more difficult for them to conduct small assault groups under the blows of Ukrainian drones," he noted.

According to Tregubov, the biggest threat currently is Russian strikes on the center of the Ukrainian bridgehead, where the Russians are actively trying to make their way from Pishchane to Kupyansk-Kuzlovye.

14.19 The government is introducing a strict regime of savings of budget funds that are not allocated for defense needs. Prime Minister Serhiy Koretsky announced this during a speech in the Verkhovna Rada.

13.57 Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur announced the new appearance of Ukrainian drones in the country's airspace.

"A few hours ago, Ukrainian drones entered the airspace - this time. We were ready for this, NATO aircraft were monitoring the situation. Fortunately, neither people nor the territory of Estonia were harmed," he said.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga stressed that such threats are a consequence of Russian aggression. "The most effective way to prevent the spread of such threats is to strengthen Ukraine's air defense, increase pressure on Russia, and deprive the aggressor of the opportunity to continue the war," he said.

13.31 On the night of September 1, seven civilians were injured as a result of a massive Russian attack on Odessa and the region - men aged 32 to 72. The victims received injuries of varying severity. Four of the injured were hospitalized.

Russian forces attacked civilian infrastructure in Odessa and the region with strike drones, Banderoles, KABs, and missiles. As a result of the Russian attack, utility buildings and a sewing workshop building were damaged, and two private households were partially destroyed.

The Russians also attacked the international ferry crossing point Orlivka on the border with Romania.

12.51 In the last two weeks, Russian attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure have coincided with a period when many international partners were on vacation. This was stated by President Volodymyr Zelensky during a trip to a school in the Kyiv region.

12.44 As a result of Russian aggression in the Donetsk region, one person was killed and nine were injured in the past 24 hours. On August 31, police recorded 1,238 Russian strikes on the front line and residential areas of the Donetsk region. 13 settlements were under fire.

In Kramatorsk, 17 Russian attacks killed one person and injured two others. In Sloviansk, five people were injured after being hit by KAB and drones. Another person was injured in Druzhkivka and near Dolyna as a result of drone attacks.

A total of 87 civilian objects were damaged, including 50 residential buildings, educational institutions, administrative buildings, a fire station, a hotel, a gas station, and transport.

12.25 Law enforcement officers are determining the causes of the explosion at one of the regional police departments in Rivne. According to preliminary information, ammunition could have detonated in the premises due to violation of storage rules, the State Bureau of Investigation reported.

12.17 In Kushugum, Zaporizhia, a Russian drone hit a State Emergency Service vehicle that was on its way to put out a fire. The vehicle was damaged, and four rescuers were injured. The injured are under medical supervision.

11.34 Units of the Defense Forces of Ukraine struck a number of military targets in the Russian Federation and in the temporarily occupied territories (TOT) of Ukraine on August 31-September 1. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported this on Tuesday.

11.12 A fire broke out in a 16-story residential building at the 14-15th floor level in the Podilskyi district of Kyiv. Emergency services are on their way to the scene.

Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko reported that a Russian drone crashed in an open area near a 5-story residential building in the Sviatoshynskyi district of Kyiv. However, the KMVA later noted that the information about the fall of debris was not confirmed.

10.52 On the night of September 1, drones attacked the port of Ust-Luga in the Leningrad region of Russia. The governor of the region, Alexander Drozdenko, said that damage was recorded in the port area of ​​Ust-Luga as a result of the drone attack, and there was a fire.

10.47 On Tuesday morning, power outages were recorded in five regions of Ukraine due to Russian shelling and bad weather. This was reported by Ukrenergo. The situation is more difficult in Sumy region.

10.24 Russian strikes on Ukraine on Tuesday night killed 12 people, including a foreigner. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported this on Telegram.

9.38 Some users have encountered failures in the Reserve+ application. The problems are related to the application update. In the morning, some users received a message about the need to update Reserve+. The update is already available on iOS and Android.

"Due to the increased load, there may be temporary difficulties with authorization or using certain functions. If this happens, wait a while and try again. The situation should stabilize in the near future," the Ministry of Defense said.

9.29 On the night of September 1, Russia attacked Ukraine with Iskander-M/KN-23/S-400 ballistic missiles, Zircon anti-ship missiles, Kalibr cruise missiles, Kh-31P anti-radar missiles, Banderoles, and 218 drones of various types. The main areas of attack were the Odessa and Kyiv regions.

According to preliminary data, 199 targets were shot down/suppressed by air defense:

five Iskander-M/KN-23/S-400 ballistic missiles;
two S8000 Parcel;
five Kalibr cruise missiles;
187 enemy Shahed, Gerber UAVs and other types of drones.

Missile and strike drone hits were recorded at 28 locations, as well as the fall of downed missiles (fragments) at 10 locations. In addition, some enemy missiles did not reach their targets, information about their location is being clarified.

9.07 Three people were killed and 12 others were injured as a result of a Russian attack on Boryspil, Kyiv region. Damage was recorded to residential buildings, civilian infrastructure, and vehicles. Fires broke out in some places.

At the same time, the head of the regional military administration, Timur Tkachenko, reported that the number of people killed in the enemy attack on Boryspil had increased to four. According to him, another 13 people were injured.

8.32 In Kyiv, the death toll from a Russian ballistic missile attack on the night of September 1 has risen to eight, with five more people injured, including three children. Civilian infrastructure was damaged in the Holosiivskyi, Darnytskyi, Dniprovskyi, Svyatoshynskyi and Solomyanskyi districts.

In the Darnytsia district, a fire broke out at two locations as a result of the impact - this is where the most people died, seven, and another person is in serious condition in the hospital. The fire has already been extinguished. At another address in the same district, a blast wave injured two people, including a child.

In the Holosiivskyi district, debris hit a non-residential building - a fire with an area of ​​40 square meters was extinguished, one person died.

In the Solomyanskyi district, a drone hit a residential building, causing partial destruction. Rescuers rescued a man and freed a woman from the rubble - both were handed over to ambulance doctors.

8.09 At night, Russia attacked the international ferry crossing point Orlivka on the border with Romania with Shahed attack drones.

As a result of the attack, hits were recorded on the building and territory of the checkpoint, fires broke out, which have already been localized by rescuers.

Currently, the registration of citizens and vehicles through this checkpoint is temporarily suspended. The Romanian side has been notified of this. Transport is being redirected to other checkpoints.

7.54 At night, Russian troops launched ballistic missiles at Kyiv. Railway facilities, including a depot, were targeted. Seven people were killed in the attack, six of them Ukrzaliznytsia employees.

Dozens of UZ employees managed to escape to shelters. There is extensive destruction in the area: a workshop next to the depot was completely destroyed, and rescuers are still extinguishing a number of fires.

Traffic was temporarily closed in two races due to an impact, then resumed.
7.27 From February 24, 2022 to September 1, 2026, the total combat losses of Russian troops on the territory of Ukraine amounted to approximately 1,489,640 people (+1,440 per day).

4.54 Three people were killed and five others were injured in a Russian ballistic missile strike on Kyiv, the Kyiv City State Administration (KMSA) reported on Telegram.

4.29 Kyiv region was subjected to a massive attack by Russian missiles and strike drones on the night of September 1. One person was killed in Boryspil, eight people were injured, including a child. This was reported by the head of the Kyiv Regional Military Administration, Timur Tkachenko.

3.58 Russian war criminals carried out at least six drone strikes on one of the enterprises of Novgorod-Siverskyi in Chernihiv Oblast on the evening of August 31. This was reported by the head of the Novgorod-Siverskyi City Council, Alexander Seliverstov, on Facebook on September 1.

3.46 A series of explosions were heard in Kyiv on the night of September 1. A fire broke out in the Dnipro district of the city. The Kyiv City Military Administration (KMMA) reported this on Telegram.

2.48 The Russians attacked Kyiv with ballistic missiles on the night of Tuesday, September 1. A series of powerful explosions thundered in the city. This was reported by the Ukrainian Air Force and Vlaskor Korespondent.net.

1.28 SpaceX CEO and American billionaire Elon Musk opposes Ukraine using Starlink to strike targets deep inside Russia, The Kyiv Independent reported on August 31, citing three sources.

August 31
23.58 Russia is launching a massive strike on the energy sector of Odessa with Banderol loitering munitions and missiles on the night before September 1. This is evidenced by messages from the Ukrainian Air Force and the head of the Central Defense Directorate, Andriy Kovalenko, on Telegram.

22.59 In Kyiv and Kyiv region, the number of people injured as a result of Russian air strikes on August 31 has increased to nine. According to the Kyiv OVA, a woman received a shrapnel wound to her leg in Buchansky district. She was hospitalized to a local hospital. Two private houses were also damaged in Buchansky district.

Previously, the OVA reported that the number of injured people in the village of Pogreby, Brovary district, had increased to eight people.

22.36 Kyiv and Kyiv region may receive the status of frontline territories as early as September. The government has been working on the relevant resolution for about two weeks. As reported by People's Deputy Ruslan Gorbenko, work on the document began after the first Russian attacks on food warehouses of Ukrainian companies. According to the People's Deputy, this concerns, in particular, expanding the possibilities of booking employees and other mechanisms that should help enterprises to resume work faster after the attacks.

"I think in September we will actually see such a status and the government's decision," Gorbenko said.

22.19 US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant is meeting with Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov on the sidelines of the G20 summit. Fox Business correspondent Edward Lawrence reported this live. According to him, during the meeting, Bessant is promoting US President Donald Trump's 28-point peace plan for Ukraine.

21.59 The European Commission is calling on Spain and Greece to transfer interceptor missiles for Patriot air defense systems to Ukraine. Both countries have significant stocks of such ammunition. As Western media reports, this issue is planned to be discussed on September 1-2 during a meeting of defense and foreign ministers of the EU countries in Dublin.

According to media reports, Spain and Greece have some of the largest stockpiles of Patriot missiles among Ukraine's European allies. These include PAC-2 interceptors. Some of the missiles in these countries may soon expire.

In parallel, the EU is negotiating such munitions with Japan and South Korea.

20.49 Explosions were heard in Kyiv and Kyiv region on the evening of Monday, August 31, during an attack by Russian drones. The Air Defense Forces are working on enemy targets, the capital's authorities informed. In Solomyanskyi district, a non-residential building caught fire due to falling debris, and in Holosiivskyi district, a grassy area caught fire in an open area. Services are following the scene of the incident, the KMVA reported.

20.06 The Russian oil refinery Slavneft-Yaroslavnefteorgsintez (YANOS) has shut down two of its three primary oil refining units after a drone attack on August 28. According to The Moscow Times, the attack damaged the AVT-3 unit with a capacity of 17,140 tons of oil per day, which is about 40% of the plant's capacity, and the AVT-4 unit with a capacity of 14,300 tons per day (33%). The AT-4 unit with a nominal capacity of 11,430 tons per day, or about 27% of the refinery's total capacity, remained in operation.

19.46 Turkey has prepared a plan for the safe passage of grain through the Black Sea and is maintaining contacts with Ukraine and Russia regarding the possible renewal of relevant agreements. This was stated by Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.

"We have prepared a plan and are in contact with both sides regarding this plan. If the necessary conditions arise, we are, in particular, working to reach another agreement similar to the grain agreement," Fidan said at a press conference in Istanbul.

19.19 The Supervisory Board of the Defense Procurement Agency appointed Artem Romanyukov, Director of Development of the Defense Procurement Agency, as the temporary acting head of the agency for the period of competitive selection.

In parallel, preparations are underway for a competition for the position of permanent head of the agency. For this, the Agency plans to purchase the services of a recruiting company, and the competitive selection is to be completed by the end of 2026.

19.05 President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy had a telephone conversation with representatives of US President Donald Trump, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. The head of state reported important details of the conversation.

18.48 Russia is allegedly "making" efforts to end the "Ukrainian conflict". Russian ruler Vladimir Putin said this at a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the SCO summit in Bishkek.

18.44 In Moscow, metal structures have begun to be installed around the Abramovo electrical substation, which will probably be used to protect the facility from drone attacks. According to The Moscow Times, the work is being carried out on the territory of the United Energy Company (UEC) approximately 350 meters from the Izmailovsky Kremlin. The substation, in particular, provides electricity to part of the metro stations and the Moscow Central Ring, the Moscow City Court and the Lokomotiv stadium.

18.14 In the village of Myla, Buchansky district, Kyiv region, the elimination of the consequences of the Russian attack continues. So far, 366 objects have been damaged, most of them are private households. As reported by the head of the Kyiv OVA, Timur Tkachenko, rescuers are going through every street in the settlement to identify and neutralize possible explosive objects. In parallel, information about damaged buildings is being clarified. Where it is already possible, priority restoration work is being started.

17.45 Russian ruler Vladimir Putin has chosen to further escalate the war in Ukraine and is preparing to send several hundred thousand more Russians to the front. The Economist magazine reported this the day before, citing sources close to the Kremlin.

17.08 Russian ruler Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping held talks during the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in the capital of Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said this in a comment to propagandist Pavel Zarubin.

16.59 Six people were injured in the Russian attack on Zaporizhia. This was reported by the head of the OVA Ivan Fedorov on Monday, August 31. "Six people were injured in the enemy attacks on Zaporizhia," he noted.

According to Fedorov, the Russians are attacking the city with drones and providing medical assistance to the wounded.

16.33 President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a meeting with Prime Minister Serhiy Koretskyi, following which he named the key priorities of the government's activities in the coming weeks. The head of state wrote about this on Telegram.

16.06 The Russian invaders have significantly increased the use of jet drones - in July they launched five times more such "shaheeds" than in June. This was announced on TV by Yuriy Ignat, head of the communications department of the Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

15.42 In Lithuania and the Czech Republic, mourning wreaths and photos of executives with black ribbons appeared near the offices of defense companies that support Ukraine. Law enforcement officers are checking the possible connection between the incidents and do not rule out provocations by Russian special services. In Vilnius, a mourning "installation" was discovered near the office of RSI Europe, which supplies Ukraine with drones and remote detonation systems. Lithuanian police have detained one suspect and launched a pre-trial investigation.

In the Czech Republic, mourning wreaths were brought to the office of the defense company CSG, which produces ammunition and military equipment. A photo of one of the company's managers, David Chur, was placed nearby.

15.19 The Helsinki Court of Appeal has reduced the life sentence of former commander of the Russian group Rusich, Jan Petrovsky, known under the pseudonym Voyslav Torden, to 12 years and six months in prison in a case of war crimes committed in Ukraine in 2014. According to Yle, the appeals court concluded that the available evidence does not allow it to be stated with sufficient certainty that Petrovsky personally shot the wounded Ukrainian servicemen or was primarily responsible for their murder. At the same time, the court found him at least partially responsible as a participant in these events.

In addition, the court overturned one of the episodes of the indictment, which concerned the carving of the Rusych group symbol on the cheek of a Ukrainian soldier. The appellate court decided that the evidence indicated the superficial nature of the injury, which did not meet the criteria of severe physical or moral suffering necessary to qualify this act as a war crime.

14.54 Military personnel will be given the right to report corruption and will be protected from prosecution for such reports. The government has supported the Ministry of Defense's draft law, which is to change the rules of the Disciplinary Statute of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Previously, the Disciplinary Statute gave a serviceman the right to file an appeal mainly regarding violations that concerned him personally - for example, an illegal decision by a commander or a violation of his rights.

The Ministry of Defense proposes to enshrine the right of a serviceman to report corruption he has discovered in the military, even if it does not directly concern him.

At the same time, a serviceman who has become a whistleblower will not be able to be dismissed from service, forced to resign, held disciplinary accountable, or subjected to other negative measures of influence because of such a report.

14.35 Six people were injured as a result of the Russian attack on Kyiv and the region. Rescuers are currently working at several sites in the Brovary and Boryspil districts.

14.03 Units of the Ukrainian Defense Forces have regained control near the village of Zapadne (Kupyanskyi district, Kharkiv region). This was reported the day before by the OSINT project DeepState.

13.32 President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appointed Deputy Head of the State Border Service Vadym Chenchyk as the acting head of the agency. The corresponding decree No. 837/2026 of August 31 was published on the head of state's website on Monday.

12.59 Units of the Defense Forces of Ukraine on August 30-31 struck a number of military targets in the Russian Federation and in the temporarily occupied territories (TOT) of Ukraine. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported details.

12.55 In absentia, suspicion was reported to the Russian military who commanded the missile strikes on the Okhmatdyt children's hospital in Kyiv and to Reuters journalists in Kramatorsk.

12.21 Russian ships, which the British fleet monitored for three days while passing through the English Channel and the North Sea, may be heading to the Mediterranean. This was reported by the spokesman for the Ukrainian Navy, Dmitry Pletenchuk, expressing the assumption that the Russian ships may enter Libya, probably Syria, to the port of Tartus.

11.59 Russian invaders killed two residents of Kherson. This was reported by the head of the local OVA, Oleksandr Prokudin, in Telegram. Currently, the relevant services are establishing the identities of the deceased man and elderly woman.

11.37 Four people were injured in the Kyiv region after the morning attack by the Russian Federation. In the Brovary district, warehouses and a retail establishment were damaged. In the Boryspil district, three warehouses and an apartment building were damaged.

11.29 A large fire broke out near the Dzhankoy airfield in temporarily occupied Crimea on August 30. The fire spread to a fleet of vehicles, a fuel warehouse, and a nearby electrical substation.

11.15 Billionaire Elon Musk is ready to allow Ukraine to use Starlink systems for long-range strikes on Russian territory. This is reported by the Financial Times, citing its own sources.

11.00 Russian troops killed five residents of the Donetsk region last day, and six more people were injured.

The Russians killed two people in Bylbasivka and one person each in Kramatorsk, Starovarvarivka, and Stepanivka. One person each in Bylbasivka, Kramatorsk, Starovarvarivka, and three people in Sloviansk were wounded.

10.51 A Russian informant who was monitoring the locations of Ukrainian military deployments was detained in Kharkiv. The SBU reported this. The attacker's priority "targets" were reserve command posts and shelters of Ukrainian troops in Kharkiv.

10.35 A warehouse fire broke out in the Desnyanskyi district of Kyiv. Services are on the scene. Before that, the KMVA reported an air alert in the capital due to the threat of drones.

Meanwhile, photos and videos of the fire are being posted on social media. Previously, ATB warehouses were on fire.

10.22 On Monday morning, power outages were recorded in seven regions of Ukraine due to Russian shelling and bad weather. Ukrenergo reported this. Energy workers are doing everything possible to restore power to all consumers as soon as possible.

09.13 On the morning of August 31, Russian military attacked FAB-500 in Sloviansk, Donetsk region, hitting a high-rise building.

The entrance from the first to the fifth floors of an apartment building and a private house were destroyed. At least 32 high-rise buildings, a hotel, a kindergarten, and cars were also damaged.

Four people are known to have been injured. All are receiving medical care.

08.35 On the night of August 31, Russia attacked Ukraine with one Kh-59 guided aircraft missile, as well as 121 Shahed attack UAVs (most of them jet-powered), Gerber, and Parody-type simulator drones.

Air defenses shot down/suppressed 96 Shahed, Gerbera UAVs and drones of other types in the north, south, east, and center of the country; the Kh-59 guided missile did not reach its target.

Enemy airstrikes were recorded at 11 locations, as well as the fall of downed aircraft (fragments) at eight locations.

08.16 Over the past 24 hours, 225 combat clashes were recorded at the front. The largest number of Russian attacks occurred in the Konstantinivka and Pokrovka directions.

07.18 From February 24, 2022 to August 31, 2026, the total combat losses of Russian troops on the territory of Ukraine amounted to approximately 1,488,200 people (+1,600 per day).

03.44 Explosions were heard in Belgorod, Russia, on the afternoon of August 30. After the attack, fires broke out at several facilities, including a thermal power plant and warehouses of the Ozon marketplace. This was reported by the Governor of the Belgorod region, Alexander Shuvaev, and Russian media.

01.13 Russian troops attacked a high-rise building in Zaporizhia. Two people were injured in the attack. This was reported by the head of the OVA Ivan Fedorov.

"A Russian FPV drone hit a high-rise building. Two people were injured, including a teenager," he noted.

00.11 Russian troops attacked Izyum, in the Kharkiv region. One person was injured in the attack, the press service of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry reported.

Hits were recorded in several places in the western part of the city. In particular, one of the hits fell on the road surface. As a result of the attack, more than ten private houses and several cars were damaged.

Meanwhile, a fire broke out in an outbuilding at the site of another impact. Electrical networks were also damaged.

Link


International-UN-NGOs
Leaders of China, Russia, India among heads of state meeting to counter US influence
2026-09-01
[IsraelTimes] The leaders of China, Russia and India gather with other heads of state in Kyrgyzstan for the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a group billed as a counterweight to US global influence.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are attending the events in Bishkek, the capital of the Central Asian nation.

Putin met separately with Xi and Modi in two of the many bilateral sessions on the sidelines of the summit, Russian state media reports. Putin affirmed to Xi Moscow’s readiness to make the visa-free regime with China permanent, and he said Russia’s relationship with India is strengthening, according to the reports.

Talks between Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian are expected tomorrow, when the official SCO sessions begin.

Russia, now 4½ years into its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and Iran, six months into a war with the United States that began with Israeli participation, see the summit as an important platform to strengthen their relations with non-Western partners.

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said last week that the SCO has successfully “explored a new path for regional cooperation.” Beijing has consistently promoted the idea of an alternative world order with Russia’s support.

For many SCO members, the summit will be an opportunity to show that they maintain strong ties on the global stage despite souring relations with the West.
Related:
Shanghai Cooperation Organization: 2026-07-05 Names and Titles of Attendees at the Ayatollah's Funeral - Can't tell the players without a scorecard
Shanghai Cooperation Organization: 2026-02-06 The New START Treaty has expired: what does this mean and what could it lead to?
Shanghai Cooperation Organization: 2025-12-13 Pakistani PM Crashes Putin-Erdogan Meeting on Ukraine War
Link


International-UN-NGOs
Implications for Israel, India: Is the Mecca pact a dangerous piece of theatre?
2026-08-23
Long. You’ll want a cup of coffee and a bit of something to eat to accompany this one, dear Reader.
[Jpost] Israel and India's strongest response to a new security bloc may not be another bloc. It is the ability to stand independently and to have capable partners standing with you.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a call with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 6. The very following day, Saudi Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start...
, Pakistain, and The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...a NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis....
member, but not the most reliable...

signed a mutual defense pact in Mecca. Does the sequence of events suggest a connection, or is it simply a coincidence?

There is no evidence the two events were connected. But the sequence is striking enough to deserve attention.

The Mecca Joint Defense Agreement states that an armed attack against one of the three countries will be regarded as an attack against all three, inviting comparisons with NATO's Article 5.

But is this really an Islamic NATO-type alliance?

Or is it, instead, an instrument of deterrence, political signaling, and strategic positioning?

For both Israel and India, that distinction matters. But first let us revisit some key events from last year.

FROM SAUDI-PAKISTAN TO A THREE-WAY PACT
The story began publicly in September 2025, when Saudi Arabia and Pakistain signed their Strategic Mutual Defense Agreement.

Saudi Arabia gained a deeper military relationship with Pakistain, the only openly nuclear-armed Moslem-majority country. Pakistain gained an even stronger strategic relationship with a wealthy and influential Gulf power.

Then Turkey entered the picture.

Pakistain's principal military adversary is India, while its relationship with Israel has long been openly hostile. For instance, Pak Defense Minister Khawaja Asif recently called for "Moslem countries to unite against Israel."

Turkey brings another dimension.

President His Enormity, Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First
...Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey. In Anatolia did Recep Bey a stately Presidential Palace decree, that has 1100 rooms. That's 968 more than in the White House, 400 more than in Versailles, and 325 more than Buckingham Palace, so you know who's really more important...
has positioned Turkey as one of Israel's strongest political opponents over Gazoo and the Paleostinian issue. At the same time, Turkey is a NATO member and has developed an increasingly independent security role in the Moslem world.

Its growing defense relationship with Pakistain and repeated support for Pakistain's position on Kashmir
...a disputed territory lying between India and Pakistain. After partition, the Paks grabbed half of it and call it Azad (Free) Kashmir. The remainder they refer to as "Indian Occupied Kashmir". They have fought four wars with India over it, the score currently 4-0 in New Delhi's favor. After 72 years of this nonsense, India cut the Gordian knot in 2019, removing the area's special status, breaking off Ladakh as a separate state, and allowing people from other areas to settle (or in the case of the Pandits, to resettle) there....
add another layer.

India and Israel, meanwhile, are both strengthening defense relationships with Greece and Cyprus, countries with longstanding disputes with Turkey.

WHAT DOES ’AN ATTACK ON ONE IS AN ATTACK ON ALL’ ACTUALLY MEAN?
This terminology sounds like NATO.

But NATO's Article 5 does not automatically mean that every member goes to war when another is attacked. Members ultimately determine the nature of the response.

The Mecca agreement appears similarly flexible. Ottoman Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has described its collective defense provision as technically comparable to Article 5, while stressing that the nature of assistance would depend on circumstances.

That leaves the crucial question:

What happens when the pact is actually tested?

Saudi Arabia has been attacked multiple times by Iran and Iranian proxies such as the Iran's Houthi sock puppets
...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The legitimate Yemeni government has accused the them of having ties to the Iranian government. Honest they did. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews They like shooting off... ummm... missiles that they would have us believe they make at home in their basements. On the plus side, they did murder Ali Abdullah Saleh, which was the only way the country was ever going to be rid of him...
s in Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of...
. If these attacks continue or escalate significantly, to what extent would Turkey and Pakistain be willing to support Saudi Arabia with weapons, intelligence, air defense systems, or troops? More importantly, under what circumstances, if any, would either country be willing to deploy forces and actually fight on Saudi territory?

That ambiguity may be deliberate. The pact may be intended primarily to deter an attack, but that deterrence depends on Iran believing Turkey and Pakistain would actually respond if Saudi Arabia were attacked.

The pact also offers these countries a chance to expand their influence in the Gulf and establish themselves as powers with a greater say in regional security. An attack on Saudi Arabia could therefore become far more complicated for Iran, potentially drawing Turkey and Pakistain into a confrontation alongside the US and Israel.

But economics may ultimately impose limits: Pakistain cannot afford a regional war, while Saudi Arabia itself depends heavily on stable trade, energy exports, and maritime routes. And if Turkey became embroiled in a conflict with Greece or Israel, this would raise an even more fundamental question: Would Pakistain really risk its own economic interests to follow Turkey into a wider war? These aspects will determine whether the agreement is a genuine security commitment or largely political theatre.

Saudi Arabia may be the most interesting member of the pact. Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman

...Crown Prince and modernizer of Saudi Arabia as of 2016. The Turks hate him, so he must be all right, despite the occasional brutal murder of Qatar-owned journalists...
, has spent years trying to transform the kingdom through Saudi Vision 2030, economic diversification, technology, and investment. Normalization with Israel once appeared compatible with that strategy.

However,
if you can't say something nice about a person some juicy gossip will go well...
Riyadh has tied any normalization with Israel to Paleostinian statehood, making the Paleostinian issue both a diplomatic condition and a source of political leverage. For Turkey and Pakistain, championing the Paleostinian cause also offers a way to strengthen their standing across the Moslem world while positioning themselves as independent regional powers.

The Moslem world, however, is far too fragmented for this to become a simple "Moslem countries unite against Israel" scenario.

The UAE, Bahrain, and Morocco, for example, are part of the Abraham Accords and have pursued normalized relations with Israel. At the same time, the UAE has also emerged as an increasingly important strategic partner of India.

A DIFFERENT MAP: FOLLOW THE MARITIME ROUTES
In matters concerning the Middle East, geography plays a significant role.

On a conventional map, the Mecca pact creates a striking triangle: Turkey to the north-west, Saudi Arabia to the south and Pakistain to the east. Strategically, those three countries occupy important positions across the region.

But geography looks different if we follow the maritime routes.

The critical question is not simply who controls territory, but who can help keep the sea lanes open.

The EU-India security and defense partnership specifically includes maritime security, while India and La Belle France have committed to deeper operational cooperation and freedom of navigation across the Indian Ocean and wider Indo-Pacific.

At the other end of this strategic arc, Israel's recognition of Somaliland
...Republic of Somaliland is an unrecognised sovereign state in the Horn of Africa, recognised internationally as a de jure part of Somalia. It is located in the southern coast of the Gulf of Aden with approximately 5.7 million residents as of 2021. The capital and largest city is Hargeisa. The government regards itself as the successor state to British Somaliland, which united from 1960 to 1991 with the Trust Territory of Somaliland (the former Italian Somaliland) to form the Somali Republic. Under the Siad Barre regime, Somaliadestroyed ninety percent of Hargeisa Per international law, once you're in, you gotta stay in, no matter how bad it smells....
in December 2025 has given Jerusalem a new relationship in the Horn of Africa, directly adjacent to the Gulf of Aden and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

This does not create a formal counter-alliance. But it produces a different strategic picture.

The Mecca pact may look powerful when drawn across the landmass. Still, the picture changes when the map is drawn along the maritime arteries connecting the Indian Ocean, the Red Sea, and the Mediterranean.

That is where India's relationships with Europe, Israel, the wider Gulf, and the Horn of Africa become increasingly significant.

IMPLICATIONS FOR INDIA AND ISRAEL
India and Israel are not members of a mutual-defense treaty. Yet their strategic partnership is far more substantial than that distinction suggests.

The relationship includes decades of defense cooperation, from the Barak-8/MRSAM air defense system to unmanned systems, radar, surveillance, precision weapons, electronic warfare, cyber, and intelligence cooperation.

More importantly, the relationship is moving from procurement toward industrial integration, with joint development, production, and technology cooperation becoming increasingly important.

That is the real strength of the partnership: reliability built over time rather than promises written on paper. This is what a strategic partnership looks like when it is built over time.

From Kargil
... three months of unprovoked Pak aggression, over 4000 dead Paks, another victory for India ...
to Uri and the security challenges following Pahalgam, India's experience has reinforced Israel's practical value as a dependable defense partner.

The relationship may not be a formal mutual-defense alliance, but it has demonstrated something that can matter more than treaty language: reliability when security is at stake.

The Mecca agreement should neither be dismissed nor exaggerated.

It may remain primarily a deterrence mechanism. It may be intended to strengthen the strategic positions of Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistain. Or it may eventually become a genuine military commitment.

The greatest danger is not immediate war, but miscalculation.

Any future India-Pakistain crisis could become more dangerous if Ottoman Turkish commitments to Pakistain intersected with Israel's strategic relationship with India.

That makes Netanyahu's call with Modi on August 6, one day before the pact was announced, noteworthy. There is no evidence the events were connected. The coincidence is simply interesting.

But India and Israel do not need to respond with another bloc. They need greater strategic independence: deeper cooperation in missile defense, drones, cyber, AI, space, and other critical technologies, alongside stronger partnerships with pragmatic states such as the UAE, Europe, and countries across the wider Indian Ocean and Horn of Africa.

The Moslem world is not a unified bloc, and India and Israel should not treat it as one. Strengthen the economy at home, cooperate where interests align, protect vital maritime routes, and maintain enough strategic depth to avoid dependence on any single power.

The strongest response to a new security bloc is not necessarily another bloc. It is the ability to stand independently and to have capable partners standing with you.
Related:
Mecca: 2026-08-17 Erdogan Pushes for Egypt to Join New Defence Alliance as Saudi Concerns Grow
Mecca: 2026-08-15 Turning Turkey’s double bind against it: How Israel is outsmarting Erdogan - opinion
Mecca: 2026-08-15 Saudi Arabia blocks Egypt from joining new defence alliance
Link


Cyber
Microsoft opens its largest India data center hub as AI race heats up, Google’s data center project fights water and wildlife concerns
2026-08-07
[Reuters] Microsoft (MSFT.O) launched its largest India data center in Hyderabad on Thursday and has signed up Adani Group and ​HDFC Bank among early users as it races ‌rivals for the country's fast-growing AI market.

The India South Central facility brings Microsoft's cloud regions in India to four, adding to ​existing centers in Pune, Chennai and Mumbai, and ​cementing its position as the country's largest cloud-computing ⁠provider,

The Windows maker has committed about $20.5 billion to expand ​its India opreations, betting on a market of more than 1 ​billion internet users and one of the world's deepest pools of tech talent.

Google's $15 billion India data centre project battles water, wildlife concerns

[Reuters] Work to build Google's planned Indian data centre hub is in full swing, with a ​hillside above the site stripped to red earth and terraced into steps, but mounting opposition from environmentalists is creating hurdles for the U.S. tech ‌giant's $15 billion project.

The southern state of Andhra Pradesh, governed by an ally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who has hailed the project as historic and transformational, has denied allegations that the project was fast-tracked without weighing risks to water supplies and wildlife.

But the growing opposition could become an early test for Google's (GOOGL.O) biggest-ever India investment, which is facing several legal challenges over its impact on water ​supplies and proximity to a wildlife sanctuary that is home to leopards and pangolins.

In recent weeks, activists and children have marched in Visakhapatnam city, holding ​banners saying "We cannot drink DATA" and painting handcuffs on the Google logo, social media posts show.

On Sunday, Reuters attended a public ⁠gathering where activists chalked out plans for holding door-to-door awareness campaigns and beach protests in coming days.

"Development should not be at the cost of livelihood of the ​people," Raja Rama Mohan Roy, founder of non-profit Green Visakha said at the event where he presented statistics on Visakhapatnam's stressed water supply and demand.

The government says the city ​receives 410 million litres of water a day from its reservoirs and rivers, against a requirement of 480 million. Rationing of water supplies is common in the city with a population of 2.5 million people.

Rapid data centre buildouts are facing pushback around the world for using huge quantities of water to cool servers and of electricity. The potential impact is even more pronounced in a ​developing nation like India. In the U.S., opponents held 142 protests across 42 states in July raising similar concerns.

STATE DEFENDS, OPEN TO REDRESSAL
The state's top court on Monday ​asked the government to defend against allegations levelled by activist group Jal Biradari (Water Community), which says the project will strain water availability by putting stress on a nearby reservoir.

The Andhra Pradesh High ‌Court will ⁠next hear the public interest litigation on August 24.

The state in its statement to Reuters called activists' concerns about the project incorrect and misleading, but added it is open to feedback.

"Such protests are their democratic right. In case any of these claims are legitimate, government is committed to engage and provide factual clarifications and suitable redressal," it said.

Google in a statement to Reuters said its project will be developed in line with applicable laws and it will implement "advanced air cooling to protect vital local water resources".

Work ​was well underway when Reuters visited on ​Monday, earthmovers still working the exposed ⁠ground.

The tech giant has partnered with Indian billionaire Gautam Adani’s group which will build the marquee project which is seen creating up to 188,000 jobs. Adani did not respond to queries.
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India-Pakistan
India's youth-led 'cockroach movement' clashes with police in New Delhi
2026-07-21
[Reuters] The months-old movement ‌and the protest are seen as the biggest public challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, drawing millions of supporters on social media before broadening its appeal to opposition parties.
Lots of photos with captions about the Cockroach Janta Party, demanding the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over exam paper leaks.
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India-Pakistan
Indians grieve and call for action after US strike kills sailors
2026-06-13
[IsraelTimes] Sushila Devi sat sobbing on the floor of her house in Deoria, northern India after authorities told her that her husband was one of three sailors killed in a US attack on a ship off Oman.

“If he had told us about the dangers, I would have called him back,” she cries out as women from the family gathered round to console her. “The government should not allow people to go there.”

India on Friday took the rare step of lodging a second protest with the US over the strike that took place more than three months into the Iran war. Sushila Devi’s words echoed calls also building up among Indians for their own government to do more to protect its sailors stuck in the Gulf.

Her husband Shivanand Chaurasia, the sole earner in the family with two young children, was among 24 Indian mariners aboard the Palau-flagged tanker Settebello when it was hit on Wednesday.

The US military’s Central Command said an aircraft fired precision munitions into the vessel’s engine room after the crew “repeatedly failed to comply with directions from American forces.”

It said the strike was part of an ongoing blockade targeting oil shipments from Iran launched after Tehran sharply curtailed shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, which carried a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas before the conflict.

India’s foreign ministry said it had summoned the US chargé d’affaires to convey “its deep concern over the use of lethal and deadly force against civilian shipping.”

“Such actions are unacceptable and undermine the safety, security and stability of international maritime commerce in a sensitive region at a difficult time.”

The deaths have prompted calls on India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi to go beyond registering protests.

India – the world’s second-largest supplier of seafarers behind the Philippines according to government figures – has had to pay a huge cost for the conflict it played no part in starting, say opposition and other critics.

On Thursday, another ship with 20 Indian crew was attacked, with no deaths or injuries reported.

“India has responded … with a routine diplomatic protest and apparent efforts to downplay the significance of the attacks,” said Brahma Chellaney, a strategic affairs analyst in New Delhi.
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India-Pakistan
'Cockroach' youth group founder leads first street protest after arrival in India
2026-06-07
[Reuters] SUMMARY
  • Movement fuelled by youth unemployment, exam paper leaks

  • Protesters demand resignation of federal education minister

  • Group has amassed 22 mln Instagram followers since mid-May

  • Government has blocked CJP's X account; move challenged in court

The founder of India's viral Cockroach ‌Janta Party led a street protest in New Delhi on Saturday demanding the resignation of the federal education minister, taking the online youth movement from social media to the streets for the first time in a show of dissent against Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government.

Abhijeet Dipke, ​30, who has lived in the United States for the past two years and had not previously travelled ​to India since forming the movement, carried a copy of India's constitution as he left New ⁠Delhi's international airport for the protest site, greeted by hundreds of supporters chanting his name.

Senior cabinet minister Kiren Rijiju has accused the group of seeking followers from arch-enemy Pakistan and the "anti-India gang", a slur used by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party against those ​it sees as unpatriotic.

Dipke has ​publicly shared data showing ⁠about 95% of followers of the movement's Instagram account are based in India, followed by countries such as the United States, home to large groups of overseas Indians.

Political analysts say the ​group's popularity has begun to dent Modi's image despite his party's recent victories in ​key state elections. ⁠Frustration among many Indians has deepened as rising fuel prices and gas shortages brought by the Iran war squeeze household budgets.

India has nearly 400 million people aged 15 to 29, and generating non-farm jobs for them remains one of its biggest challenges, ⁠despite rapid ​growth. The urban youth jobless rate was nearly 14% in April. Many ​educated young people are also stuck in low-paid or insecure jobs that do not match their skills, economists say.

Related: Dawn has photos of the event.
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
In the war’s fourth week, the hunt for Iran’s enriched uranium takes center stage
2026-03-23
[IsraelTimes] With the Revolutionary Guards now calling the shots in Tehran, the US and Israel know ending the conflict without removing Iran’s near-weapons-grade stockpile invites disaster

Three weeks into the war, Israel and the US have indeed carried out something akin to regime change in Iran: The supreme leader has been replaced by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Consequently, Iran’s decisions are far less theological and far more military, existential, and strategic.

The lack of clarity regarding the condition of the new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei — who is thought to have been maimed on the first day of the war — only strengthens the assessment that decisions are now mainly being made on a hardline axis, between parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and IRGC commander Ahmad Vahidi.

That hawkish line can be seen in Iran’s continuing attacks on the Gulf states and in the helplessness of relatively less extreme government figures, some of whom are trying to find a diplomatic path to end the war.

On Saturday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian spoke with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and proposed that BRICS (the economic bloc that includes Brazil, China, India, Russia, the United Arab Emirates, and South Africa) begin negotiations with the US and Israel to halt the fighting.

In all likelihood, the request was not coordinated and does not align with the IRGC, which at this stage feels that despite the heavy toll, it can still stand up to the two powers attacking it.

The appeal to India is a desperate move by the Iranian president, who already got a cold shower from the IRGC after declaring two weeks ago that Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate Jews Zionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
would stop attacking neighboring countries — only to be undercut, minutes later, by a missile attack on the United Arab Emirates.

On Saturday, for the first time since the start of the current campaign, American aircraft struck Iran’s main enrichment facility in Natanz. The assessment is that this was a strike involving bunker-buster bombs, since sections of that site are dug very deep underground and had not been damaged until now.

Although none of the sides involved — Iran, the US, or Israel — commented on the damage itself, Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization issued a statement saying that after an inspection at the site, no radioactive leak had been detected.

One theory is that one of the underground halls at Natanz contains part of Iran’s 450-kilogram stockpile of uranium enriched to 60%, near weapons-grade. It is highly possible that this was a preemptive strike intended to destroy the access routes to the site — much like the US bombing in June 2025, when the entrances to the underground facility in Isfahan were sealed. Most of the stockpile is believed to be held somewhere in the Natanz complex.

A senior Israeli military official hinted this week that when it comes to locating the stockpile, neither Israel nor the US is groping in the dark. That said, it should be emphasized that the official was very cautious, and it was impossible to get a definitive impression of just how accurate the intelligence picture on this matter really is.

It is not for nothing that the issue of the 60% enriched uranium is taking an increasingly central role in the war as it enters its fourth week.

Hours after ruling out an imminent ceasefire, US President Donald Trump
...Perhaps no man has ever had as much fun being president of the US...
said Friday he was considering "winding down our great military efforts... with respect to the terrorist regime of Iran." Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, similarly, sent mixed signals in his Thursday presser, insisting both that the campaign would last as long as necessary and that it would end "a lot faster than people think." For his part, IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir said on Saturday that the military is preparing for another two weeks of fighting.

But all sides agree that ending the war without removing the enriched material from Iran would be akin to leaving smoldering embers, and that if the current regime — regardless of who is at its helm — remains in place, efforts to break out to a nuclear bomb will be significantly accelerated.

That goal will become a central Iranian objective — possibly prioritized over rebuilding the ballistic missile program, which proved just how advanced it has become with Saturday’s launch toward the strategic US-UK military base at Diego Garcia, 2,500 miles away.

After last June’s war, and the previous rounds of direct fighting with Israel in 2024, Iran has internalized that a nuclear immunity zone is the real security barrier to any future attack.
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Afghanistan
'Now we have a war': Pakistan has begun bombing Afghanistan
2026-02-28
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited
by Kirill Semenov

[REGNUM] On February 27, 2026, Pakistan launched airstrikes on the Afghan capital, Kabul, as well as Kandahar and Paktia province, while Afghan Taliban forces used drone strikes on Pakistani territory for the first time in the conflict.

Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif officially declared "open war" on the Taliban government, declaring that Islamabad's patience has finally run out. "We will now wage open war against you," the defense minister wrote in a social media post, confirming that diplomatic means have been exhausted.

Since the Taliban came to power in Afghanistan in 2021, relations between the two countries have fluctuated between cautious diplomacy and outright hostility. Clashes occurred in both October 2025 and January 2026, but the current escalation is the most serious.

This is the first time since the Taliban's return that Pakistan has struck directly at Afghan government targets, rather than just at Afghan-based positions of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which Islamabad considers its main enemy.

This fact indicates a new stage of escalation: previously, Islamabad tried to avoid attacking official structures in Kabul, limiting itself to “preemptive strikes” against TTP militants.

FIGHTS AND ATTACKS ON CAPITALS
Full-scale fighting along the Durand Line (a disputed 2,600-kilometer border) began on the evening of February 26. Afghan government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid announced the start of "large-scale offensive operations" against Pakistani forces.

According to him, the Afghan army is conducting large-scale offensive operations along the Durand Line in retaliation for the airstrikes carried out by Islamabad on February 21-22 on the eastern provinces of Nangarhar and Paktika.

According to the Taliban, they managed to capture 15 Pakistani border posts in the first hours of the offensive. Fighting engulfed the provinces of Khost, Kunar, and Nangarhar on the Afghan side, and the Khyber Pass and Bajaur regions on the Pakistani side.

Islamabad's response was immediate. Late that night, Pakistani air forces launched strikes. Residents of the Afghan capital reported a series of powerful explosions and the sound of aircraft overhead, followed by anti-aircraft fire. The shelling hit not only border provinces but also major cities deep in the country.

WAR OF NUMBERS
Both sides claim heavy enemy losses, but the figures differ dramatically. The situation is complicated by the fact that neither report has yet been independently confirmed, and the battlefields remain closed to international observers.

Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarar gave a detailed report on the military operations. He stated that Pakistani forces killed 228 Afghan Taliban fighters during clashes and airstrikes. According to Pakistani military officials, two key headquarters complexes, over 80 pieces of equipment, and 27 enemy firing positions were destroyed. Tarar estimated his side's losses as minimal: only two service members were killed.

Afghans cite completely different statistics. The official spokesman for the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, Zabihullah Mujahid, reported the deaths of 55 Pakistani soldiers. However, he estimates the Taliban's losses at only eight. Furthermore, Kabul claims to have captured 23 bodies of enemy soldiers and several prisoners, as well as a significant amount of weapons. Islamabad categorically denies any reports of prisoners.

In addition, Afghanistan claims to have carried out successful drone strikes against military targets on Pakistani territory.

Islamabad denies this claim. Tarar stated that Taliban militants did attempt to use drones against Pakistani targets, but all the drones were shot down by countermeasures and "there were no casualties." In addition to the military, civilians are also suffering. The Afghan Red Crescent has already reported the deaths of 18 civilians as a result of the bombings. Dozens have been injured. Panic is spreading in border areas on both sides: local residents are fleeing their homes, fearing being caught in the crossfire.

The past few weeks have also been bloody: both sides admit that dozens of people have died in border clashes in recent weeks, but exact figures are difficult to provide.

TERRORISM AND THE INDIAN FACTOR
The formal pretext for the current round of violence was the devastating terrorist attack on a Shiite mosque in Islamabad on February 6, which claimed the lives of 31 people.

ISIS* claimed responsibility, but Pakistani authorities traditionally placed the blame on groups hiding behind the Afghan border, in particular the Pakistani Taliban, that is, the TTP.

On February 21, Islamabad launched airstrikes on seven militant camps in Afghanistan. Kabul then announced the deaths of 18 civilians and promised retaliation, which followed on February 26.

However, Afghans insist that Islamabad is using the TTP issue as a pretext to destabilize their country. They emphasize that they will respond to "every evil act by Pakistan."

Meanwhile, the terrorist threat is just the tip of the iceberg. The main strategic irritant for Pakistan at the current stage is the sharp rapprochement between Kabul and New Delhi, after Pakistan and India entered a state of war last year. Against this backdrop, Islamabad openly declares that Afghanistan is becoming an "Indian colony," which is using Afghan territory for a proxy war against it.

In 2025, India upgraded its diplomatic mission in Kabul to an embassy, ​​and in February 2026, it allocated a new tranche of aid to Afghanistan in the amount of $18 million. This is very little, but for Islamabad, which for decades has viewed Afghanistan as its zone of influence and “strategic depth,” this state of affairs is unacceptable.

Mujahid himself commented on this issue in his statement, making it clear that the Afghan authorities do indeed have good relations with India, but these relations are not directed against Pakistan. Judging by the rhetoric of officials, Islamabad categorically disagrees with this thesis and views Indian-Afghan cooperation as a direct threat to its national security.

It should be noted that India and Afghanistan began to draw closer after Islamabad began increasing pressure on Kabul and launching strikes on Afghan territory, demanding decisive action against the TTP.

Clearly, any stable alliance between New Delhi and Kabul is unlikely. The Hindu ideology of Narendra Modi's government is becoming increasingly anti-Islamic, while the Taliban adhere to the most conservative Islamic views.

While pragmatism may compel them to engage in temporary dialogue, the cultural and ideological gulf between them is unbridgeable. The attempt to exploit the visit of Acting Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi to the Deoband religious seminary in India as a tool of "religious diplomacy" only underscores how unnatural and contrived this alliance is, devoid of organic public support. Deoband itself is under increasing pressure from Hindu radicals within the ruling party.

Thus, the current rapprochement between India and the Taliban is based almost entirely on a single factor: their conflict with Pakistan. Relations between Islamabad and Kabul have indeed reached a historic low, escalating into border clashes. And New Delhi has decided to seize the moment to antagonize its age-old enemy and increase its strategic costs.

Building long-term policy on other people's quarrels is extremely dangerous. Despite the current hostility, Pakistan and the Taliban are linked by religious and blood ties, ethnic affinity (the Pashtuns are not only the cause of the conflict but also a factor of unity), and an interdependence that will never exist with India.

Afghanistan remains a poor, landlocked country, economically dependent on transit through Pakistani territory. Once Islamabad and Kabul resolve their differences (and negotiations mediated by Turkey and Qatar are already underway),
…I find it hard to believe they will ever reconcile. Pakistan wants a subservient Afghanistan ready at any moment to house and support a Pakistan retreat in the face of an overwhelming Indian attack, from whence Pakistan will come roaring out to conquer the rest of the Indian subcontinent. The Taliban emirate considers itself an independent polity, absolutely not in fealty to those whisky-drinking Pakistani heretics.
the main incentive for Indo-Taliban friendship will disappear. In the long term, geographic, ethnic, and religious proximity will inevitably outweigh the tactical benefits of cooperation with distant India, no matter how generous its investments.

THE CURSE OF THE DURAND LINE
The real bone of contention between Kabul and Islamabad isn't India, but the Durand Line itself—an arbitrary border drawn by Britain back in 1893. It divided the lands of the Pashtun tribes, and Afghanistan still refuses to officially recognize it. For decades, militants have been based along this line, launching attacks into Pakistan. And the Pakistani territory adjacent to it, known as the "tribal areas," has never been fully controlled by Islamabad.

In fact, TTP militants were based in this "tribal zone," fighting since 2007 to establish their own strict Islamic state there, with subsequent expansion throughout Pakistan. However, under pressure from the army, they began establishing bases on Afghan territory and attacking Pakistan from there, which naturally prompted a retaliatory response from Islamabad and demands that the Afghan Taliban stop such actions.

The Afghan Taliban and the TTP are fundamentally different movements with distinct ideologies. The latter are more oriented toward the radical ideology of jihadist Salafism, while the Afghan Taliban are Hanafi-Maturidis, who adhere to Islamic views that are, albeit quite strict, traditional to the region. However, beyond their similar names, these groups are also linked by their shared Pashtun identity.

Both the Taliban and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, despite their Islamist rhetoric, are primarily Pashtun national movements. Many members of the same tribes, clans, and families live on both sides of the border, and some ended up with the Afghan Taliban, while others joined the TTP. Therefore, Kabul avoided open combat with a group that posed no threat. A conflict would have erupted within the ranks of the Pashtuns themselves. And that could have been costly for the regime in Kabul.

This position is unacceptable for Pakistan. Islamabad now considers Kabul complicit in the TTP's subversive activities against Pakistan.

Moreover, the Pakistanis, who had supported the Taliban for years during difficult times, felt entitled to demand that Afghanistan "pay its dues" and support the eradication of the TTP. But the Taliban's Pashtun nationalism prevailed over its partnership with Pakistan, turning Kabul and Islamabad into enemies.

The current escalation has negated the October ceasefire agreements brokered by Qatar and Turkey, which had halted the clashes. Negotiations since then have failed to produce a lasting agreement.

It's too early to talk about the conflict being irreversible or escalating into a major war. Only India is interested in such a war, but Pakistan and Afghanistan are too interdependent to afford a protracted standoff. However, nothing can be ruled out now.


Text:

Pakistan Army’s Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry:

“So far, 274 Taliban and Khwarij fighters have been killed and over 400 wounded. We’ve destroyed 73 enemy posts along the Pak-Afghan border, captured 18, and knocked out at least 115 tanks, armored vehicles, and artillery. Key Taliban and terrorist positions were targeted across 22 sites in Kabul, Kandahar, Paktia, Nangarhar, Khost, and Paktika.”


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Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Diplomacy in Israel roundup
2026-02-26
Israel accepts appointment of first Somaliland ambassador, pledges to appoint its own

In Ethiopia, Herzog says attempts to undermine Israel’s ties with Africa will fail

Netanyahu to Modi: We will build ‘iron alliance’ against threat of ‘extremist Islam’

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