Russia sets world record with 537 air strikes on Ukraine
I started chronicling the Russian air strikes on Ukraine just after Kiev attacked the Crimean (Kerch) Bridge on October 8, 2022. (I began with no publication platform, sending mass emails to friends).
I was sick and tired of reading about how Russia was supposedly running out of missiles during the special military operation on Ukraine. I knew it was just another in a years long series of Western lies about Russia.
Today, over 3 years later, after reporting on Russian air strikes every single day since then, we see the Western press forced to admit that Russia is setting world records in terms of air strikes. Why, yes, the “running out of missiles” story WAS a lie, wasn’t it?
The world now knows that the Russian defense industry has for years been manufacturing 3 weapons (of all kinds) and artillery shells to the Combined West’s 1 and there are no prospects in sight for the West to ever catch up – despite the fact that the incompetent West spends several times on defense what Russia spends – and despite Trump’s silly demand that the self-impoverished Europe must spend significantly more on defense.
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Air strike update for 7-1, 2025
Translation with my notes in bold and in [brackets]
https://uz.sputniknews.ru/20250701/svo-samyy-masshtabnyy-v-istorii-udar-vs-rossii-50279427.html
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The West has acknowledged the catastrophic consequences of attacks on the Ukrainian military-industrial complex
Steigan: a massive Russian strike on Ukraine has hit key enterprises
A massive Russian strike on the Ukrainian defense industry on the night of June 29 hit key defense industry enterprises, the Norwegian publication Steigan reports. Journalists called it a "fierce attack by the Russian army."
The Russian army has launched violent attacks on Ukrainian defense enterprises. According to the military, hypersonic Kinzhal missiles and drones were used during the attack. Ukrainian authorities and media confirmed the attack, and some suggested that it was one of the largest since the escalation of the conflict in 2022, the article says.
The publication listed the enterprises damaged or destroyed as a result of the massive strike. Among them are the oil refinery in Drohobych, Lviv region, the Kremenchug oil refinery, the Lviv aircraft repair plant, the last drone assembly site in the city of Smela, Cherkasy region, a drone assembly facility in Poltava, and an aircraft repair plant in Nikolaev. The Russian Defense Ministry did not comment on this information.
Earlier, war correspondents reported that over 450 Russian Geran-2 drones were involved in the massive night strike on Ukraine. About 40 missiles of various types were also used in the attack, including the Kh-101/Kh-55, Kinzhal, Iskander-M and Kalibr. The most intense strikes were recorded in Lviv, Cherkasy, Zaporizhia and Lviv regions, Kremenchuk, Nikolaev and in Donbass. The Russian Defense Ministry did not comment on this data.
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7-1, 2025 Americas new long war
Douglas Macgregor on X: "America’s New Long War
https://x.com/DougAMacgregor/status/1939567829742756105
America’s New Long War
Wars frequently pick up where the last ones left off. World War II ended where World War 1 ended. Operation Iraqi Freedom (Gulf War II) began where Desert Storm (Gulf War I) concluded.
Today there is every reason to expect the recent 12-day conflict between Iran on one side and Israel and the United States on the other to resume when the Israeli and U.S. Forces have replenished their stocks of missiles. No doubt, the Iranians will work hard to radically improve their integrated air defenses. For simplicity, let’s call the current conflict, the “New Long War.”
As always, the New Long War continues with other means. GEN Erik Kurilla, the CENTCOM CDR is known for his close relationship with PM Bibi Netanyahu and his enthusiasm for the Greater Israel Project including seizure of Sinai and the Suez Canal. Fully aware of the impossibility of rapidly conquering and seizing the Suez Canal without active American military support, General Kurilla may have received authority from President Trump to conduct joint planning.
The presence of a newly established Russia phased array radar in Egypt suggests Moscow is aware of the possibility. The Russian phased array radar can reportedly track stealth aircraft and missile launches at long range.
Further east, some 1,200 miles away in Azerbaijan, Israel’s Azeri-Turkish ally is allegedly preparing to attack Armenia and, potentially, northern Iran. GEN Kurilla also knows that Iran, like Russia, has a long history of cooperation with Orthodox Christian Armenia. Israel provided critical drone technology to Azerbaijan in its last victorious campaign against Armenia, and Azerbaijan likely provided support for Israeli operations against Iran.
GEN Kurilla is also acquainted with the MEK (Mojahedin-e-Khalq) an anti-Iranian Kurdish Force formerly aligned with Saddam Hussein’s government in Iraq. The MEK fights for regime change in Iran and is predictably now aligned with the Trump Administration.
Azerbaijan’s goal is a greater Azerbaijan created by forcibly annexing Iran’s Turkic Azeri population centered on Tabriz in Northern Iran. The unspoken assumption in Washington, Jerusalem, and Baku is that the Azeri Turks in Northern Iran will welcome the opportunity to join with their Azeri neighbors. The national leaders in all three States view this operation as contributing to the breakup and destruction of Iranian national unity, as well as the desired regime changes in Tehran. These operations are in the planning stage but could be launched at any time. These may or may not wait for the U.S. and Israeli missile arsenals to be replenished.
A similar approach was employed in Ukraine against Russia. However, the operation to remove President Putin from power in Moscow, to foment unrest and violence against Moscow inside Russia, Kazakhstan and other neighboring states was botched.
Washington’s gamble failed. Russia remains intact. Russia’s resources remain beyond the reach of Western financial power. The Russian State and its military power are stronger than ever. Ukraine is destroyed.
The history of Washington’s military interventions is not encouraging. Washington’s interventions since 1953 failed to cultivate the emergence of any liberal democratic states. If anything, Washington’s near constant interventionism spread authoritarianism across North Africa and the Middle East. The new long war seeks to subvert and destroy Iran promising a similar outcome.
However, this time, the New Long War will invite broader participation from numerous Muslim states, Russia, and China. In contrast to past interventions, the new long war could also prove impossible to sustain inside American society. As seen during the Black Lives Matter (BLM)/Antifa riots in 2020 and, more recently, the appearance of Mexican flags during anti-ICE demonstrations in Los Angeles, American societal cohesion is low, with ominous connotations for American national power.
Notwithstanding President Trump’s tariff offensive, the trade policies sponsored by both parties for at least 40 years encouraged de-industrialization. The problem is inseparable from immigration policy. Since 1965, America has admitted over 50 million legal immigrants, most from the developing world. Today, there may be as many as 50 million illegal immigrants inside the U.S., including 20 to 30 million illegals that arrived during the Biden administration. Simultaneously, real wages for working-class Americans stagnated despite real increases in productivity and soaring corporate profits.
At the same time, Washington’s financialization of the economy—a form of rent extraction, with profits earned through privileged access to new money created by the Federal Reserve—combined with the destruction of American manufacturing, supports a massive wealth transfer mechanism. Economic data collected between 1979 and 2018 shows that while productivity increased by 59.7%, hourly compensation for non-supervisory workers rose by only 17.5%. The difference went to capital owners and financial intermediaries. Wealth moved from America’s dying middle class to the top 10 percent of income earners.
The implications of these developments for Washington’s global political, military, and economic power are profound. Why? There are multiple reasons, but three are of immediate importance:
First, in the five decades since Washington disestablished the gold standard, the debt-to-GDP ratio has grown from 40 percent to more than 120 percent of GDP and it continues to climb. Consequently, the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet expanded from $80 billion to well over $8 trillion. With spending levels and deficit trajectories that are not sustainable, the notion of a trillion-dollar defense budget is absurd.
Second, there is an undeniable shift in the global balance of economic power. A new intercontinental commercial trading and monetary system is rising. It’s called BRICS, an intergovernmental organization consisting of ten nation-states: Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates. Together, these nation-states constitute more than a third of global GDP. A further 50 or more nation-states that want to join BRICS will push it to nearly 50 percent of global GDP.
More important, China, Russia, India, and Iran are civilizational constructs—power centers that, after centuries of trailing in development behind the West (or enduring its exploitation), are now roaring back to life. In some ways, the world of the 21st century may be on track to resurrect the constellation of powers that dominated the world in the 11th century.
Third, the proliferation of technology across national borders combined with the growth of high human capital inside BRICS is conferring military capabilities on BRICS members that were previously unavailable to any but Western Powers. Put another way, the attempt to repeat a Desert Storm scenario anywhere on the Eurasian landmass would spell disaster for American military power.
Finally, Washington’s political class manifests much less regard for the long-term strategic interests of its own citizens—their security and prosperity. As a result, Washington pays an exorbitant price in reputation and treasure for policies that confront Palestinians with the choice of death or expulsion from their homelands.
There are many moving parts in the regional strategy outlined at the beginning of this post. Assumptions of tacit acceptance or rapid capitulation are implicit and dangerous.
When Hitler was briefed on the expected Soviet reaction to Operation Barbarossa, Major General Ernst Koestring, a Prussian officer fluent in Russian from a family that had lived in Moscow since the reign of Catherine the Great, advised: “Initially, German forces will advance rapidly. The various peoples on the Soviet periphery will likely welcome the German forces. Resistance will be weak. But when the Germans advance into Russian territory, the resistance will be tremendous. The Russian population will fight for every square meter of territory.”
Hitler politely thanked him but remained convinced that poor Soviet military performance in Finland in 1939 suggested a different outcome in 1941. Koestring, of course, was right.
Diplomacy is the art of the possible. Warfare is always a gamble.
A partial success in the diplomatic sphere is preferable to gambling on success in war that may turn into catastrophic failure. Unless the American electorate demands accountability for what the White House and Congress do in their name, Americans will face a grim reckoning with financial, political, and military reality at home and abroad.
*Grateul to Dave Ramaswamy for his edits and suggestions.
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An American woman lashes out at the Israelis: After everything you've done, you still play the victim. You kill people in Palestine and then run back to your real homes in America and Europe. You attacked Iran first, and now that it hit back, you're begging the U.S. to fight on your behalf.
And despite the heinous crimes that the Israeli government is committing daily in Palestine, including shooting children in the head, millions of Evangelicals, believing the doctrine we generally call “Christian” Zionism, are claiming the US president who wholeheartedly supports murder and atrocities was appointed by God to fix America.
They say that the verse in Genesis that says “I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you” applies to all Jews and literally bestows indulgence on Israelis to commit any crimes they want! And they actually believe that God blesses all of Trump’s dumb mistakes (such as the inflationary tariffs) and his tyranny.
They cite as proof that Trump enjoys divine protection the fact that a would-be assassin failed to kill Trump.
But by similar logic, the insane monk Rasputin was also said to be a holy man, and the proof was that he escaped several murder attempts. Consequently, his weird – and sometimes lewd – shenanigans were indulged by the tsar’s family, whom he advised. Though the revolution still happened despite this.
Is there a parallel here?
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The partisan gap is much larger on whether the U.S. is a dictatorship: 24% of Americans, including 35% of Democrats and 7% of Republicans, agree it is.
Recently, Trump warned the new Muslim mayor of NY that he might cut off federal funding to that city unless Zohra Mamdani – whom Trump calls a “pure communist” (though he is not) – “behaves himself.”
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Zohran stands with Palestine.
https://youtube.com/shorts/-ydvRL8cr4E?si=N7zfj8BeiRiV76zT
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'It's a Killing Field': IDF Soldiers Ordered to Shoot Deliberately at Unarmed Gazans Waiting for Humanitarian Aid - Israel News - Haaretz.com
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Translation from Arabic with my notes in bold and in [brackets]
https://alkhanadeq.com/post/8921/معضلة-فوردو-النووية-فضيحة-تلاحق-ترامب-لماذا-وكيف-فشلت-الضربة
Monday, June 30, 2025, 12:25 PM
The Fordow Nuclear Dilemma: A Scandal Haunting Trump: Why and How Did the Strike Fail?
Excavation Work at Iran's Fordow Nuclear Facility
Fordow is no longer just an Iranian nuclear facility that was bombed. It is a dilemma and scandal haunting US President Donald Trump, who repeatedly flounders in his statements, seeking to prove his narrative, which is riddled with contradictions and ostentation, and which Americans have not believed. Hardly any statement or occasion passes without him addressing the Fordow issue to prove that the US airstrike destroyed Iran's nuclear program. However, Americans and public opinion in the United States have not yet been convinced.
The first denial came in a secret report prepared by the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Pentagon's intelligence arm, based on a leaked assessment by US Central Command. It sparked a major uproar in the American media, with Trump accused of lying and deception, forcing him to engage in a bitter debate and battle with major US media networks to convince them that his narrative was genuine and not merely showy, as they described it. These statements by Trump contradict facts and evidence, including the US intelligence report, European and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) assessments, Iranian statements, and the suspicions of the Hebrew media. All of these confirm the falsity of this claim:
1. Starting with the American network CNN, which published the secret US report, which stated that the US airstrikes blocked the entrances to two facilities but did not cause the underground buildings to collapse or destroy the nuclear sites. It also stated that the enriched uranium stockpile was not destroyed, and that the centrifuges were largely intact, according to informed officials. This view was supported by what Reuters reported, stating that despite the destruction of the tunnels at Natanz, the centrifuges were still operating.
2- The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the expert technical body directly concerned with nuclear facilities, was confident when its director, Rafael Grossi, said that "the strikes on the Iranian nuclear program were severe, but they did not completely destroy it," and that "Tehran could resume uranium enrichment within months, as it possesses the industrial and technological capabilities for enrichment." He noted that "no nuclear radiation leaks from the facilities have been detected," meaning that the damage is limited, a fact confirmed by the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran in a statement.
3- European assessments indicated that Iran had distributed highly enriched uranium to various sites, according to the Financial Times, adding that significant damage occurred without complete destruction. For his part, European expert Danny Strinovic confirmed that "Tehran does not need Fordow or Natanz to enrich uranium to 90% purity. Rather, a relatively small facility would suffice, with the centrifuges that were not destroyed."
4- The Israeli media questioned Trump and Netanyahu's narrative. Haaretz published satellite images indicating that trucks carrying uranium had left the Fordow facility before the bombing, heading to secure, secret facilities. According to Haaretz, one truck would be sufficient to transport the entire 408 kilograms of highly enriched uranium at 60% purity. However, Iran used 14 trucks to deceive. Haaretz adds that hundreds of centrifuges are sufficient to resume the enrichment process, and Iran still possesses them (Iran possesses tens of thousands of centrifuges, the most important of which are the modern fifth generation IR5 and sixth generation IR6). Israeli officials questioned Trump's narrative and said that the results of the attack on the Fordow facility were not good at all, according to the American network ABC.
The Hebrew website Hadashot Bezaman supported this view and stated that the attack failed, noting that the Fordow facility is 800 meters underground, not 80 meters, as revealed by International Atomic Energy Agency Director Rafael Grossi before the US attack.
5- Iran, the owner of the land and knowledgeable about its people and their details, emphasized that there is no room for doubt that the US attack on the Fordow site has failed, and that the myth of bunker-buster bombs has been shattered, according to Brigadier General Ibrahim Najari, an advisor to the Commander of the Revolutionary Guards. However, the US bombing of Iran's three nuclear facilities in Natanz, Isfahan, and Fordow was a showdown to save face, rescue Netanyahu, and a step toward ending the war, according to Ali Larijani, an advisor to the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution. He added, "We possess the nuclear knowledge and can rebuild." But what happened before and after the US attack, and how did Iran protect its nuclear facilities? Here's some of the story, according to two Iranian sources:
Some time ago, Tehran informed IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi that it had new nuclear enrichment centers and facilities, to which it would transfer a number of centrifuges and activate them. It would also provide the agency with their addresses and arrange a visit for him. However, before this happened, the Israelis and Americans torpedoed the nuclear negotiations in Rome, and Israel carried out its aggression, targeting the old facilities, not the new ones. The two sources add that the centrifuges were removed from the Natanz plant a long time ago, and the facility was virtually empty. Only the structures, administrative buildings, electrical rooms, and other equipment were damaged. The Iranian authorities had drawn up precautionary plans, implementing security measures to thwart any expected Israeli or American strike by evacuating a number of its known nuclear facilities, particularly Natanz. Therefore, the facility is no longer a uranium production center, but merely a facility almost empty of nuclear materials.
The Isfahan plant, known as the "Shahid Raisi Nuclear Center," is used for processing yellowcake and uranium gas (UF6) and does not produce enriched uranium.
Iranian concrete outperforms American strategic bombs.
The Fordow facility, which produces highly enriched uranium (U-235) with a purity of 60% and contains a large number of centrifuges, was targeted at its entrances, with limited damage. This is thanks to soldiers from the IRGC's 21st Ramadan Division, who carried out a decoy operation that obstructed the facility's entrances and misled American bombers from their true targets, as reported by Newsweek. The Fordow facility is also fortified on a fortified mountain known as the Mountain of Fire, 800 meters underground, and dug in a spiral pattern. The mountain is composed of solid rocks that form a geological fortress impregnable against any conventional attack. The facility was built with modern reinforced concrete and is surrounded by air defense systems and heavy security. Ambushes were set up throughout the area to counter any airborne assault or potential foreign influence.
The two sources confirmed to Al-Khandaq that what some Hebrew and American media outlets reported, citing Israeli officials, that "Mossad agents visited the site after the bombing to confirm its destruction," is false and intended to exaggerate the enemy's strength and achievements. They also stated that the videos circulated by the media are false and fabricated, depicting scenes from locations in Syria filmed in 2024. New satellite images obtained after the bombing by the American company MAXAR reveal that the Iranians have begun excavation and rehabilitation work at the Fordo facility.
It is worth noting that Iran has 9,000 kilograms of enriched uranium at varying purity levels: 5%, 20%, and 60%. The amount that concerns Westerners is the highly enriched uranium (408 kilograms). If this amount is further enriched to 90% purity, it will be suitable for producing ten nuclear bombs.
It goes without saying that the Islamic Republic possesses several nuclear facilities, not just the three targeted in the bombing (Natanz, Isfahan, and Fordow). The Bushehr nuclear power plant is still operating and was not targeted, as is the Nuclear Research Center in Tehran. Several other nuclear facilities known to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) are still operating, as are several other secret facilities, including safe houses to which centrifuges and uranium were moved for protection before the attack. This was part of a pre-planned Iranian contingency plan for war prepared by the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran.
Iranian and foreign experts assert that Iranian concrete and security and deterrent measures are superior to American stealth aircraft and strategic bombs. Iranian officials believe that Trump, through the bombing, sought to save Netanyahu and bring him down from his predicament after his involvement in the war with Iran. He carried out a demonstration strike against Iran's nuclear facilities. This is why Trump decided to swallow the Iranian missile response to the US military base in Qatar, and within hours, he shifted from calling for Iran to "surrender" and "overthrow the regime" to calling for peace, a ceasefire, and "God bless Iran!"
The US Attack on Fordow:
At dawn on Sunday, June 22, 2025, seven US B-2 Spirit stealth fighters took off from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri on a 37-hour mission, supported by refueling aircraft and 125 fighter jets and a US submarine, to attack three Iranian facilities (Natanz, Fordow, and Isfahan). The stealth fighters dropped six GPU-57 bunker-buster bombs, each weighing 30,000 pounds (14 tons), equivalent to 84 tons, on the Fordow facility. The US submarine launched 30 Tomahawk missiles toward the Natanz and Isfahan facilities. The US stealth fighters took a safe passage from the Mediterranean Sea, Syria, Jordan, and Iraq to launch the attack. The operation was codenamed "Midnight Hammer." In a press conference held by the Pentagon following the strike, General Dan Keane, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that during the raids, MOP (Modular Ordnance Penetrator) bombs were dropped on Iran's nuclear facilities.
Author:
Dr. Muhammad Shamass
- Journalist and Political Researcher.
- Professor of Media at the Lebanese University.
- PhD in Philosophy and Theology.
- Director and Editor-in-Chief of the Al-Khandaq website.
mshamass110@yahoo.com
well.... when NATO's chief compares you to a "daddy", what can you say but to 'demand that the self-impoverished Europe must spend significantly more on defense....'? thank you, Rutte, that was a perfect assist!
ugh