best damn central Mexican food in the chicago region
he used to be chief chef at the top Brazilian Steak House in Chicago and quit to found this. He has his food tattooed on his arms so women can just grab his arm and point to the dish they want...
The Tulsa Juneteenth shooting story is set for Monday.
badanov- 06/22/2025 10:44
Fred: my apologies, but this article got zapped with stray gamma rays, killing the content. It’s one of the headlines in the Bloid, so I pasted that much in and reconstituted it as best I could with the articles I’d stacked under your tweet before it all evaporated, but I couldn’t do anything to find the tweet itself.
trailing wife- 06/20/2025 04:42
2 b2s in the air somewhere. Also the most fuel planes since gulf war 1. Lots of c17s. Flying from USA
3dc- 06/17/2025 23:55
Also. Fred, badanov: For those sending physical checks, where should they be mailed?
For this cycle, it all goes to Fred.
badanov- 06/15/2025 22:30
Finally, my apologies to all that I have been minimally useful these past two days. I have a cold that hit me hard, but tonight I am starting to come out of it. My heartfelt thanks that you all had it covered beautifully.
trailing wife- 06/15/2025 22:05
Also. Fred, badanov: For those sending physical checks, where should they be mailed?
trailing wife- 06/15/2025 22:03
Noted. You anticipate no difficulty raising the funds needed, then?
trailing wife- 06/15/2025 22:00
The fundraiser begins July 30th, and ends August 4th.
badanov- 06/15/2025 18:46
I see Elon has stepped forward with Starlink for the Persians. Shocking, no ?
Besoeker- 06/15/2025 17:04
Meaningful? Whatever it was, you don’t test that system unless something’s coming.
It seems to me if it is that important, they would insist on testing it before it was expected to be needed, like they do the national weather service every Wednesday. But given concerns about Iranian sleeper cells, a more urgent need makes sense, too.
trailing wife- 06/14/2025 23:46
The nuclear power plant in the Iranian city of Karaj is currently under attack, according to emerging reports and videos.
3dc- 06/14/2025 22:27
Commanders of units in the SVO zone are allowed to arrest soldiers for misconduct without trial. Russia implements non-judicial military punishment.
Previously, only military courts had this right. Now, unit commanders will be able to send soldiers to the guardhouse for misconduct. The changes are provided for by a decree signed the day before by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The heads of military police agencies and garrison commanders are now granted a similar right. The presidential decree also changed the procedure for lifting sanctions imposed on military personnel. The above-mentioned officials will be able not only to impose punishments, but also to cancel them.
An arrest can be lifted from a serviceman provided that he has not committed a new disciplinary offense. Moreover, from soldiers and sailors - not earlier than three months, from sergeants and petty officers - not earlier than six months, from warrant officers and midshipmen - not earlier than a year.
Analysts have recorded the occupation of several settlements in the Donetsk region.
The enemy occupied Andreevka and Constantinople, and also advanced near Alekseevka, Dneproenergiya and Shevchenko.
Russian troops captured Andreevka and Konstantinopol in the Velikonovoselkovsky community of the Volnovakha district of the Donetsk region. In addition, the Russians advanced in the area of the settlements of Dneproenergia and Shevchenko, which are located just a few kilometers from the administrative border with Dnepropetrovsk region. This was reported by DeepState analysts on Wednesday, June 25.
"The enemy has occupied Andreevka and Constantinople, and has also advanced near Alekseevka, Dneproenergia and Shevchenko," says a DeepState report.
The information was confirmed by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine: on the maps published on Wednesday, both villages are shown as controlled by Russian troops. While the advance in the area of Dneproenergiya and Shevchenko is shown even further than on the DeepState maps.
An updated report from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) on June 24 also lists Andreevka and Constantinople as occupied, with the surrounding area as a gray zone. However, DeepState clarified that no new information about advances in these areas had been received in the past few days.
Let us recall that 151 combat clashes were recorded on the front over the past 24 hours. The hottest ones were in the Pokrovsky, Limansky, Toretsky and Novopavlovsky directions.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces are engaged in heavy fighting in the east and south of Ukraine.
The Pokrovskoe direction remains the hottest. There, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have already repelled 26 attacks near 11 populated areas.
Since the beginning of the current day, 72 combat clashes have occurred on the front. This was reported by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in an operational report on Wednesday, June 25.
Thus, four out of five Russian attacks have been repelled in the Severo-Slobodskoye (Sumy region) and Kursk directions. The battle is currently ongoing.
In the South Slobodskoy direction, the enemy attacked three times near Vovchansk and Liptsy and received a worthy rebuff.
In the Kupyansk direction, the enemy advanced three times in the areas of Golubovka, Stepova Novoselovka and Novaya Kruglyakovka. One battle continues.
In the Liman direction, the invading army attacked 11 times near the settlements of Grekovka, Kopanki, Nadezhda, Ridkodub, Kolodtsy, Zelenaya Dolina and Torskoye. The defense forces successfully stopped eight assaults, the remaining battles continue.
In the Seversky direction, the enemy tried to advance in the Verkhnekamyansky area.
In the Kramatorsk direction, the Russians attacked five times in the direction of Stupochki and Belaya Gora.
In the Toretsk direction, the enemy attacked four times in the area of Toretsk, Nelipovka and in the direction of Aleksandro-Kalinovo. There is currently one combat clash.
In the Pokrovsk direction, the occupiers carried out 31 attacks near the settlements of Poltavka, Mirnoye, Koptevo, Mirolyubovka, Lisovka, Zvirovo, Udachnoye, Novosergeevka, Novomikolaevka, Gorekhovoe and Alekseyevka. The defense forces repelled twenty-six attacks, five clashes are still ongoing.
In the Novopavlovsk direction, the enemy stormed six times near the settlements of Zaporozhye, Volnoye Pole and Shevchenko. One battle is still ongoing.
In the Gulyai-Polye direction, the enemy once attempted to advance on the positions of our troops in the Malinovka area.
In the Orekhov direction, the aggressor made one attempt to advance towards Novoandreyevka.
Earlier on Wednesday, the General Staff confirmed the loss of two villages in Donetsk region. The enemy occupied Andreevka and Constantinople, and also advanced near Alekseevka, Dneproenergia and Shevchenko.
21:10 Assault groups supported by T-72B3M tanks broke through the Ukrainian Armed Forces fortified area in the Krasnoarmeysk direction.
The combined actions of the armored and infantry units of the Center group of forces made it possible to overcome the deeply echeloned defense of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
After the breakthrough, Russian servicemen quickly consolidated their positions at new lines, setting up positions to repel possible counterattacks. Engineering units began installing defensive structures —video.
20:26 Russian Ministry of Defense:
In the period from 17:00 Moscow time to 20:00 Moscow time, air defense systems on duty intercepted and destroyed 18 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles of the aircraft type:
Seven UAVs over the territory of the Bryansk region,
Four UAVs over the territory of the Ulyanovsk region,
Three UAVs over the territory of the Voronezh region,
Two UAVs each over the territories of the Kursk and Saratov regions.
19:50 Recorded terrorist attack by an enemy UAV on a private house in the Kuibyshev municipal district.
As a result, the glazing and roof of the house were damaged. Fortunately, there were no casualties. Another unprincipled attack. Emergency services are working on the scene.
18:50 Scouts of the 44th Army Corps of the North group discovered ZU-23-2 VSU camouflaged in a forest belt – video.
The FPV drone operator masterfully flew through the entire sparse forest and destroyed the enemy's anti-aircraft gun with a precise hit.
18:10 It's coming massive artillery shelling by the Ukrainian Armed Forces of the Tokmak municipal district.
The enemy fired a UAV at an apartment building, damaging the building's windows. There were no casualties.
The village of Gogolevka was attacked in the Kuibyshevsky municipal district. The Ukrainian UAV was shot down over the territory of an uninhabited house. There is no information about victims or injured.
17:30 122mm BM-21 Grad MLRS crews of the Vostok group of forces destroyed enemy manpower and equipment in the South Donetsk direction.
16:50 RF Armed Forces destroyed camouflaged 152mm howitzer of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
16:10 Drone drivers continue to destroy identified targets
– Servicemen of the 4th Motorized Rifle Brigade of the “Southern” group of forces destroyed a 105mm M-119 gun and an ammunition depot of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the area of the settlement of Aleksandro-Shultino in the DPR.
– Crews of attack UAVs of a separate special forces battalion of the 51st Guards Army destroy heavy drones of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
15:30 In the village of Prilipka, three kilometers west of Volchansk, Russian intelligence officers opened movement of the enemy combat group. The enemy tried to take cover in one of the buildings.
Our UAV operators from the 44th Army Corps of the Leningrad Military District worked on the Ukrainian occupiers, first piercing the roof of the building with drone drops.
14:45 Servicemen of the 36th Guards Motorized Rifle Brigade of the "East" group of forces in less than three days installed full control over the settlement of Yalta in the DPR, driving out the Ukrainian nationalists.
Having secured a foothold in the settlement, the stormtroopers cleared all the buildings and unfurled Russian flags, while engineering and sapper groups cleared areas of mines and the territory adjacent to the settlement.
14:05 In the period from 11:00 Moscow time to 13:00 Moscow time, air defense systems on duty destroyed 25 Ukrainian aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicles:
– 22 UAVs – over the territory of the Voronezh region,
– Two UAVs – over the territory of the Republic of Tatarstan,
– One UAV – over the territory of the Tambov region.
13:30 Governor of Kursk region reported, that today the FPV drone of the Armed Forces of Ukraine attacked a civilian KAMAZ in the Belovsky district of the Kursk region. The driver was a 52-year-old man, he has a blind shrapnel wound to the left forearm, a closed craniocerebral injury, and a concussion.
My comrades from the front received from me the moment of interception of a picture from an enemy copter, which attacked a civilian truck.
After this, they are surprised by the reaction of society and shout something about the Geneva Convention.
13:15 Summary of the Russian Ministry of Defense on the progress of the Special Operation as of 05/25/2025
Units of the North group of forces improved their position along the front line. They defeated the manpower and equipment of two heavy mechanized, mechanized, two airborne assault brigades, two assault regiments of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and a territorial defense brigade in the areas of the settlements of Radyanskoye, Andreyevka, Novaya Sich, Alekseyevka, Kondratovka, Khrapovshchina, Yunakovka and Sadki in the Sumy region.
In the Khar'kov direction, units of the mechanized, motorized infantry brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the territorial defense brigade were defeated in the areas of the settlements of Peschanoye, Shabelnoye, Granov, Udy, Volchanskiye Khutor and Volchansk in the Khar'kov region.
The enemy's losses amounted to 160 servicemen, four combat armored vehicles, eight cars and seven field artillery guns. An ammunition depot and a supply depot were destroyed.
Units of the "West" group of forces improved their position along the front line. They defeated formations of two mechanized brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, a territorial defense brigade and two border detachments of the Ukrainian border service in the areas of the settlements of Grigorovka, Gorokhovatka, Kupyansk in the Khar'kov region, Srednee, Shandrigolovo and Karpovka in the Donetsk People's Republic.
Ukrainian armed forces lost up to 200 servicemen, seven vehicles, a British-made 105mm L-119 howitzer, three electronic warfare stations and four ammunition depots.
The units of the "Southern" group of troops took up more advantageous lines and positions. They defeated the manpower and equipment of three mechanized, mountain assault, airmobile brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the National Guard Brigade "Azov" in the areas of the settlements of Serebryanka, Lipovka, Petrovka, Seversk, Privolye, Reznikovka, Chasov Yar and Ivanopolye of the Donetsk People's Republic.
The enemy lost up to 165 servicemen, four vehicles and an artillery piece.
Units of the Center group of forces continued to advance deep into the enemy's defenses. They defeated formations of five mechanized, airborne, mountain assault brigades, two assault regiments, a brigade of unmanned systems of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, two brigades of naval infantry and two brigades of the National Guard in the areas of the settlements of Grishino, Udachnoye, Lenina, Krasnoarmeysk, Novovodanoye, Yablonovka, Petrovskoye and Novopavlovka of the Donetsk People's Republic.
The losses of the Ukrainian armed forces amounted to 510 servicemen, two combat armored vehicles "Kazak", six cars, six field artillery guns, including a 155mm self-propelled artillery unit "Bogdana", an ammunition depot and a US-made AN/TPQ-50 counter-battery radar station.
They inflicted losses on the manpower and equipment of two mechanized brigades, an assault regiment, an unmanned systems regiment of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and a naval infantry brigade in the areas of the populated areas of Kamyshevakha, Voskresenka, Shevchenko in the Donetsk People's Republic, Uspenovka and Sladkoe in the Zaporizhia region.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces lost more than 190 servicemen, a tank, an armored combat vehicle, seven vehicles and three artillery pieces.
Units of the Dnepr group of forces defeated formations of the mechanized brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and two territorial defense brigades in the areas of the settlements of Primorskoye, Stepnogorsk and Novopavlovka in the Zaporizhia region.
More than 80 Ukrainian Armed Forces servicemen, an armored combat vehicle, 12 vehicles, four field artillery guns, five electronic warfare stations, an ammunition depot and a fuel depot were destroyed.
12:40 Units of the "East" group of forces, as a result of active and decisive actions released the settlement of Yalta in the Donetsk People's Republic.
12:18 A Strela-10M air defense missile system crew from Novorossiysk paratroopers destroyed an enemy reconnaissance UAV in the Orekhov direction in the Zaporizhia region —video.
11:50 Criminal Kyiv regime continues shelling civilian infrastructure of populated areas of the left bank of the Kherson region
Yesterday, during the day, the Ukrainian Armed Forces released:
– Three rounds in the village of Novaya Mayachka;
– Five rounds to the village of Aleshki;
– According to n.p. Novaya Kakhovka three rounds;
– Four rounds to the settlement of Kairy;
– According to n.p. Kakhovka four rounds.
In Novaya Mayachka, two trucks were damaged as a result of shelling by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, as a result of which two citizens were injured. In the Lyubimovsky territorial department, three civilians were injured in an attack by a Ukrainian drone.During the night, the Kiev regime continued to shell civilian infrastructure in the villages of Kakhovka, Mala Lepetikha, Aleshky, and Solontsy, firing a total of 19 rounds from barrel artillery. Civilian casualties and infrastructure destruction are being clarified.
11:32 Around 9.40 Moscow time, air defense systems on duty destroyed one Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle of the airplane type over the territory of the Voronezh region.
10:58 Calculations of unmanned aerial vehicles of the Geranium type struck the assembly shop for Ukrainian Armed Forces UAVs at the Kramatorsk airfield.
10:06 Servicemen of the "East" military group releasedthe settlement of Komar in the DPR. The commander of the assault platoon with the call sign "Milkman" tells how the onslaught of our guys forced the enemy to flee in disgrace.
09:19 In the period from 7.00 Moscow time to 8.30 Moscow time, air defense systems on duty destroyed three Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles of the airplane type over the territory of the Voronezh region.
08:39 Su-34 crew inflicted a strike on a temporary deployment point of a Ukrainian Armed Forces unit with aerial bombs with a universal planning and correction module.
07:32 Changes tomapover the past 24 hours:
Novosergeevka has been liberated
Village of Dyleevka has been liberated
Clarification of the control zone in the Udachny area in favor of ours
07:30 During the past night from 22:45 Moscow time on June 24 to 05:40 Moscow time on June 25, air defense systems on duty intercepted and destroyed 18 Ukrainian aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicles:
Seven UAVs over the territory of the Rostov region,
Four UAVs over the territory of the Republic of Crimea,
Two UAVs over the territory of the Krasnodar region,
Two UAVs over the territory of the Kursk region,
Two UAVs over the waters of the Black Sea,
One UAV over the territory of the Bryansk region.
O5:15 Servicemen of the motorized rifle regiment of the "East" group of forces evacuated civilians from the village of Bogatyr in the DPR.
Moscow, June 25, 2025, 16:11 — IA Regnum. The Federal Security Service (FSB) has published a video recording of the prevention of a terrorist attack against a Russian serviceman, which was being prepared by accomplices of the Ukrainian special services in the Moscow region.
Security forces found two Russians who were taking a homemade explosive device from a cache near a gardening non-profit partnership in the Moscow region. Two Ukrainian agents offered armed resistance during their arrest and were neutralized.
FSB officers found Makarov pistols and ammunition at the cache site. In addition, communication devices with correspondence were found, during which the planned terrorist act was discussed.
The investigation opened a criminal case under paragraph “a” of Part 3 of Article 222.1 of the Criminal Code of Russia (“Illegal acquisition, transfer, sale, storage, transportation, shipment or carrying of explosive substances or explosive devices”).
Rostov-on-Don, June 25, 2025, 17:34 — IA Regnum. The Southern District Military Court sentenced two members of Shamil Basayev's gang, Vakhit Khamzatkhanov and Takhir Begeldiev (both are included in the Russian Federation's list of terrorists and extremists), to 21 and 24 years in a strict regime penal colony for participating in an attack on Russian servicemen in Chechnya in 1999. The court hearing was held on June 25.
The investigation established that the convicted men joined the gang of Basayev and Amir Khattab in 1999. In October, as part of a detachment of about 400 militants, they ambushed Russian fighters in the village of Chervlennaya in the Shelkovsky district. In the shootout, 15 Russian soldiers were killed and another 28 were wounded.
Begeldiev and Khamzatkhanov were found guilty under Article 317 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation "Encroachment on the life of a law enforcement officer or military serviceman." Cases were also brought against them under Article 209 ("Banditry") and Article 279 ("Armed rebellion"), but they were dropped due to the expiration of the statute of limitations.
As reported by the Regnum news agency, in May the FSB published a video of the arrest of four members of the Basayev and Khattab gang, involved in attacks on Russian servicemen in 1999-2000. The operations took place in Stavropol Krai, Ingushetia, Dagestan and Astrakhan Oblast. The detainees were also in an ambush in the village of Chervlennaya. In addition, they participated in a battle with Pskov paratroopers near the village of Ulus-Kert in February 2000.
In October 2024, security forces detained three members of the Basayev and Khattab gang in Dagestan, Karachay-Cherkessia and the Volgograd region. They participated in the militants' attack on the Pskov paratroopers.
by Kirill Novikov
75 years ago, on June 25, 1950, the administration of US President Harry Truman brought the "Korean question" to the UN Security Council for discussion. At the same time, more than 8,000 kilometers from Washington, units of the Korean People's Army crossed the demarcation line that the US and USSR had drawn along the 38th parallel.
The Korean War began, which lasted three years and is formally still ongoing.
The conflict, which cost the lives of 9 million Koreans (80% of them civilians), is often called a civil war. In form, it was, at least until the direct intervention of the "UN troops", that is, the US and its allies, and until the arrival of the million-strong corps of "Chinese People's Volunteers".
Moreover, the war developed according to the plot of the American Civil War: North versus South.
But in fact, less than five years after the end of World War II, the planet was closer than ever to the start of World War III.
The recent allies, the Soviet Union and the United States, were on the brink of direct conflict.
Thanks to the help of the USSR and the intervention of China, the war was "slowed down" and stopped. But the conflict could not have matured without the participation of another great power - the United States.
This is worth remembering now, when the will of the Americans determines whether a war in another corner of Asia will flare up to a global level or stop.
Buried discharge
In January 1951, when the war on the peninsula was at its height, Pablo Picasso unveiled his painting Massacre in Korea in Paris. This expressionist painting is not as well known as Guernica, but it is executed in the same manner and serves as a “continuation” of the famous 1937 painting.
The scene of the Americans shooting peaceful Korean women and children is depicted in the same way as the aftermath of the bombing of the Spanish city of Guernica by the Luftwaffe Condor Legion. The artist equated the soldiers of the "UN peacekeeping corps" with the Nazis - and Picasso was not the only one who thought so.
But how did it happen that the recent liberators of Western Europe turned out to be punishers?
In the final stages of World War II, Franklin Delano Roosevelt (who died in April 1945) was determined to achieve a lasting peace with the USSR. The American leader believed that involving “Red Russia” in the establishment of a new post-war order would reduce the likelihood of confrontation with Western countries. Addressing Congress in March 1945, the already seriously ill president noted that after victory, the world order could not be based on the dominance of “one man, one party, or one nation”; all countries needed to move away from the policy of confrontation and unite for joint creation.
In essence, Roosevelt formulated the principles of “international détente” – this rhetoric would be used by both Republicans and Democrats – from John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon to Barack Obama and Donald Trump. But in 1944-45, it was not just about rhetoric. At this stage, Washington organized the Lend-Lease program for its Soviet ally. At the Yalta Conference, Roosevelt “removed” the Polish question by agreeing to recognize the Curzon Line as the border between the Soviet Union and Poland. In return, the USSR took part in the UN and even signed the Bretton Woods Agreement in 1944, which abolished the gold standard and recognized the dollar as the international currency of account.
Roosevelt's line still looks optimal: while conceding on points that were insignificant for American national interests, he sought to reach an agreement with Joseph Stalin on the USSR's participation in international settlement institutions. In our time, this policy of building bridges is consistently pursued by Moscow (demonstrating a readiness for dialogue with Washington) and is very inconsistently pursued by the Trump administration. But back then, in the late 1940s, "détente" was buried by Roosevelt's death.
Truman had already called on Congress in March 1947 to allocate funds to fight communist Russia. The formal pretext was the creation of a buffer zone in Eastern Europe by the Soviet Union.
Claws of the "hawks"
There was a strong isolationist sentiment among the ruling Republicans then, as now, but, as now, the tone is set by the "hawks" with a fixation on a power foreign policy.
Senator Arthur Vandenberg pushed through both houses of Congress, convincing them to approve the Truman Doctrine and vote on spending to counter the Red threat. And soon an opportunity arose to load the American military-industrial complex with military orders - although it "flared up" not in Central Europe (the first Berlin crisis of 1948-49 was the lightning bolt of which), but in the Far East.
In the autumn of 1945, the victorious powers, the USSR and the USA, divided Korea, liberated from Japanese colonial rule, into two occupation zones. This regime was supposed to last for 5 years, after which it was supposed to recreate a single state (as happened with Austria). But the plans were thwarted by the onset of the Cold War.
On September 7, 1945, General Douglas MacArthur issued Proclamation No. 1, which declared the introduction of a military dictatorship. Disobedience to the administration was punishable by death, and English was declared the official language of the occupation zone.
According to contemporaries, the pace and progress of reconstruction in the Soviet zone (and the way these successes were presented by propaganda) inspired greater optimism at the time, which provoked the growth of leftist sentiments in the South, including in the middle class. Understanding that reliance on big business and landlords alone was not enough to build a pro-Western democracy, Truman relied on a “strong hand.” Dr. Syngman Rhee, brought from exile on MacArthur’s personal plane and elected president of the Republic of Korea in 1948, became the first in a series of Seoul-based pro-American dictators.
The following year, 1949, when Mao Zedong emerged victorious from the Chinese Civil War, the Truman administration faced a barrage of criticism from the right, with hawks accusing the White House of weakness. In order not to lose the Korean Peninsula after mainland China, the United States stepped up support for its partners in Seoul.
Inevitable collision
In June 1949 alone, the Americans transferred to their ally 50,000 carbines with ammunition, 2,000 rocket launchers, 40,000 vehicles, light guns and mortars, 70,000 shells for a total of $5.6 million. That's almost $76 million in today's dollars.
And this helped to increase the total number of personnel in the security forces of the South to 104 thousand people.
In January 1950, the United States signed an agreement with Seoul, according to which its army received 140 thousand rifles (40 thousand Japanese), 2 thousand anti-tank bazookas, a large number of artillery pieces, tanks and aircraft, and 4,900 vehicles.
The "Korean Military Advisory Group," made up of American officers, conducted training courses for South Korean soldiers and provided them with technical and material support.
In total, the US spent $190 million, or $2.5 billion in today's money, adjusted for inflation, on arming the South Koreans in 1949. And in March 1950, Congress appropriated another $100 million (or $1.33 billion in today's dollars) to "provide military and other assistance to the Republic of Korea."
After the start of the war and until 1953, the Americans invested 1.17 billion dollars at the time, or 15 billion today, in rearmament and other assistance to their South Korean wards.
To compare the scale, according to the Pentagon, from 2014 to 2022 the US allocated 2.7 billion in military aid to Ukraine. After the start of the Second World War, the pumping increased several times, by another 66.5 billion dollars, according to official data from the State Department.
The logic of the Cold War dictated the need for a mirror response from the USSR and North Korea. Since 1949, the leader of the DPRK, Kim Il Sung, had been asking Stalin to support the Korean People's Army's (KPA) march to the South, insisting that once the war began, the South Koreans themselves would overthrow the puppet pro-American regime. Politically, Moscow held back its allies, but at the same time, Soviet military aid to the North Koreans was in full swing. A clash became inevitable.
Intervention of "peacekeepers"
Early in the morning of June 25, a 175,000-strong KPA force, supported by 172 combat aircraft and 150 T-34 tanks, crossed the border. South Korean historiography generally believes that the North attacked first. Pyongyang, however, points out that the start of the war was preceded by numerous (up to several thousand in recent months) armed provocations from the South.
Be that as it may, on June 26 the United States entered the war.
Truman, without seeking congressional approval, appealed to the UN, which gave the go-ahead for the so-called police action in Korea. The USSR boycotted the Security Council sessions, demanding that communist China be included instead of Taiwan. Thus, in September 1950, the only armed intervention of its kind by the "UN peacekeepers" began - the USA and its allies, including those in the newly formed NATO (Britain and Turkey played a real role), launched a frontal attack on Kim Il Sung's troops.
At that time, Democrat Truman, like Democrat Joe Biden now, was harshly criticized by some Republicans for interfering in a war on the other side of the world. In particular, by former President Herbert Hoover and influential Ohio Senator Robert Taft, son of President William Taft. The same Taft Jr., by the way, harshly criticized US participation in NATO, like today's isolationist Trumpists.
But the decisive “yes” to the war was said by the American military-industrial complex.
If, on the occasion of the end of World War II, Truman cut the defense budget to $13.5 billion, then in December 1950 the same president gave the Pentagon $50 billion. Translated into today's money, this is $667 billion - more than the military department had in the mid-2010s, but less than now (at the moment, the Pentagon has $886 billion).
During the Korean War, "civilian" business in America was going through hard times - the White House raised corporate and income taxes, and credit conditions were tightened. But defense contracts brought huge profits to companies such as Lockheed, Northrop, and Boeing, and they were able to increase the defense budget to 15% of GDP in 1952.
Dangerous Legacy
During 1950, the US became increasingly involved in the war, to a degree not comparable to its current involvement in the Ukrainian or Middle Eastern conflicts. It seemed that the “UN troops” were winning – Pyongyang had been taken, the North’s army was pressed to the Chinese border.
After the arrival of the "Chinese volunteers" and the turning point in the war, Commander MacArthur advocated maximum escalation - bombing China, an invasion of the Kuomintang from Taiwan and, if necessary, atomic bombings. At that time, the PRC did not yet have a nuclear arsenal (as Iran does now), and by 1951 our country already had 15 RDS-1 bombs at its disposal.
Truman had the good sense to back down after the conflict had been brought to the brink of World War III. MacArthur's proposals were shelved, and in April 1951 he was removed from command altogether.
The US intervention in a conflict in another part of the world began under a Democratic president, and the US was withdrawn from the war and the conflict itself was ended by a Republican president.
Dwight Eisenhower did what Donald Trump would probably like to achieve: in 1953, the Korean War ended in a military draw on terms acceptable to the United States. The US-dependent South Korean regime was preserved, the front line slowed down at the same 38th parallel, turning into one of the most closed and guarded borders in the world.
The Cold War did not develop into a nuclear Armageddon, which can also be considered a happy ending.
But it was after the Korean conflict that US policy began to mutate in a dangerous direction.
America finally consolidated its role as the only superpower of the “free world” and “guarantor of democracy.” Since the mid-1950s, the role of the military-industrial complex (and this term itself appeared at that time) as one of the locomotives of the American economy has sharply increased, and the connections between the Pentagon, the defense industry, and lobbyists of Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and General Electric in Congress that still exist today were formed. Since that moment, military spending has rarely fallen below 10-12% of GDP.
The Korean War was the first in a series of local wars that the United States fought in the Eastern Hemisphere. Vietnam, the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq were only logical continuations.
Now, when America is struggling to get rid of “aid” to Kiev and is balancing on the brink of yet another “export of democracy,” this time to Iran, it is more obvious than ever that the United States will be able to return to the Monroe Doctrine, limit itself to the affairs of the Western Hemisphere, or focus on domestic affairs, if it succeeds, only with great difficulty.
Paris, June 25, 2025, 14:52 — IA Regnum. Over the past weekend, 12 people have already been detained in France in connection with the attack with syringes on women and girls during a music festival. However, the search for the criminals is still ongoing, the British newspaper The Guardian reported. Moreover, at least two suspects have already been released.
Local law enforcement agencies do not rule out that illegal migrants and minors were among the attackers, but they have not made any official statements on this matter.
The Fete de la musique music festival is held annually in France. Last weekend, millions of people took to the streets across the country, with local authorities in Paris reporting “unprecedented crowds.”
Shortly before the festival, feminist influencer Abrej Soer posted a warning on her social media page about an impending attack on women, calling for attention and seeking help if necessary.
As a result, during the festival, 145 people sought help after syringe attacks. Most of them were young women and teenage girls. Many complained of feeling unwell, dizziness, and some even required hospitalization. Some were sent to the hospital for toxicological tests.
It is currently unknown what the attackers' purpose was. It may have been to confuse the victim, make her vulnerable, and rape her. Most of the injections were made in the arm, back, or buttocks, so that the victim would not have the opportunity to see the attacker.
During the festival, more than 370 people were arrested for various offenses. Among them, only 12 were arrested in connection with the case of pricking women with syringes. In particular, two suspects were detained in Metz thanks to CCTV cameras, one of them was a 20-year-old man previously convicted of rape. However, the police were forced to release both: one was in very poor health, and they could not gather enough evidence against the other.
This year's attacks are not the first cases of women being stabbed with syringes in France. In 2022, before a music festival, messages were distributed calling for men and women to be attacked with syringes in clubs, bars, music events and even theatres. As reported by Regnum, in 2022, women filed several hundred complaints about such attacks all over France.
Madrid, June 25, 2025, 11:05 — IA Regnum. The bodies of five people with their hands and feet tied were found by the Spanish Civil Guard on the beaches of a popular resort on the Balearic Sea. This was reported by the British newspaper Daily Mail.
"Off the coast of Ibiza, members of the Spanish Civil Guard have pulled the remains of at least five people from the water. Police have launched an investigation," the publication on June 23 said.
Local authorities believe the victims were migrants from Algeria who were trying to reach Europe by boat. According to the author of the article, the newcomers are aware of their illegal status, which is why they do not report the abuse.
The publication's source said that over the past six months, about 30 bodies have washed up on the coast of the Balearic Islands, which is why local journalists have nicknamed these beaches "cemetery beaches."
Washington, June 25, 2025, 23:07 — IA Regnum. The US administration intends to restrict access to classified information to the US Congress in the wake of a data leak that showed that the US military's attack on Iran's nuclear facilities was not as successful as White House chief Donald Trump claimed. This was reported on June 25 by the Axios portal.
"The leak of the Defense Intelligence Agency's preliminary 'Battle Damage Assessment' has angered the president and top U.S. officials, who said it was incomplete and intended to undermine Trump's claims that Iran's nuclear facilities had been 'destroyed,' " the article explains.
The "estimate" in question was posted to CAPNET, a system used to send classified information to Congress, on the evening of June 23. The following day, CNN and The New York Times published the data from the material. Trump was outraged by the publication.
The FBI is investigating the circumstances of the leak of classified information. At the same time, they are working on how to tighten control over information in order to prevent such leaks in the future.
It is noted that Trump has been suspicious of the intelligence community since his first presidency, and the situation played into the hands of his suspicion.
Earlier, Regnum News Agency reported that US President Trump's triumph at the NATO summit in The Hague was disrupted by the leak of a US intelligence report that the damage done to Iran's nuclear program was insignificant.
On June 24, American media, citing a report by the Pentagon Intelligence Agency, stated that the US Air Force bomber strikes on three sites Washington links to Iran's nuclear program had not destroyed them. It was noted that the main components of the alleged Iranian nuclear program had been preserved and the US attacks had only delayed its development by several months.
The White House denied these statements, and the US President's special envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, called the leak of this kind of information treason, calling for an investigation into the fact.
Trump himself said on June 25 that CNN and the New York Times were trying to discredit the US military strikes on Iran with such statements. According to him, Iran's alleged nuclear facilities were completely destroyed.
More from regnum.ru
US National Intelligence Chief Assesses Scale of Destruction of Iran's Nuclear Facilities
Washington, June 25, 2025, 23:35 — IA Regnum. The restoration of Iran's nuclear facilities after US airstrikes will take many years; they will have to be built from scratch. This statement was made by US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard on the social network X.
"If Iran decides to rebuild the lost sites, they will have to build all three from scratch, which will take years," Gabbard wrote.
She added that the nuclear facilities in Natanz, Fordow and Isfahan, according to updated US intelligence estimates, have been completely destroyed.
As Gabbard explained, media reports about the partial nature of the destruction are based on “leaks of classified information with a low level of reliability.” According to her, the press thus attempted to discredit the decisions of US President Donald Trump and the actions of the US military.
Earlier, Regnum News Agency reported that US President Trump demanded that the American television channel CNN fire journalist Natasha Bertrand “like a dog” when she stated in her coverage of national security issues that the US Air Force did not destroy nuclear program facilities during its strikes on Iran.
by Malek Dudakov
The entire past week was spent in an atmosphere of foreign policy somersaults by the Donald Trump administration. Washington tried to implement its classic strategy of “escalate to de-escalate.”
First, the White House sharply raised the stakes to the limit, practically bringing the situation to the brink of a nuclear conflict in the Middle East. And then, just as sharply, it lowered them, trying to enter into new negotiations. However, the results of this were perceived extremely contradictorily - both inside the US and outside of America.
Trump ran for office with the promise to stop all wars and go down in modern history as almost the main peacemaker.
In the first five months of his term, he failed to resolve the conflict in Ukraine or stop the fighting in the Gaza Strip.
At the same time, the US allowed itself to launch direct strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities for the first time. The risks were extremely high - but Trump was very lucky, and the world got off with a light scare. The Strait of Hormuz was not closed, and instead of a powerful strike on American bases, Iran responded symbolically.
Within the United States, the Iranian drama has caused a very powerful rift.
All the polls showed that the American public was against direct involvement in the conflict with Iran. For the first time, the broad MAGA coalition of Trump supporters, which had brought him to power, also experienced severe discord. Isolationists in both parties were furious, demanding that the president’s war powers be limited.
Trump's overall ratings have also begun to fall - they now average around 40%. This is much lower than what Joe Biden had at the beginning of summer 2021, for example.
The Middle East crisis has begun to directly influence electoral processes in America.
It was against this backdrop that the dramatic Democratic primaries for the New York City mayoral elections took place. They were sensationally won by a 33-year-old representative of the left faction of the Democratic Party named Zohran Mamdani. He is from a family of Indian Muslims. Mamdani ran on an anti-war and Israel-critical platform. He has a very good chance of becoming the next mayor of New York.
The 2026 midterm elections will see the left gain ground and elect many of its candidates to Congress. The isolationist faction within the Democratic camp will grow.
We are witnessing a process of elite change within the Democratic Party. Young left-wing politicians are replacing the old guard of centrist Democrats in the spirit of Biden, Nancy Pelosi, or Senate Caucus Leader Chuck Schumer, supporters of interventionism and foreign policy adventures.
De facto, this is the Republican equivalent of the MAGA revolution, only now it is affecting the Democrats. The division of America will clearly continue to intensify.
And in 2028, we may see two diametrically opposed views of the future of the United States.
One, very right-wing, could be articulated by Vice President J.D. Vance, a Trumpist. The other, far left, would be personified by the Democratic Party candidates. But they could agree on a common desire for isolationism.
Trump clearly feels the demand of American society, so it is extremely important for him to appear as a "peacemaker". Immediately after its attack on Iranian facilities, the White House declared victory and the complete destruction of Tehran's nuclear program. Washington began to call on the Iranians to sit down at the negotiating table as soon as possible, if only to avoid further escalation.
However, things did not go according to Trump's team's plan right away.
They had to enter into another clinch with the US intelligence community, which was extremely skeptical about the consequences of the strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities. They can be restored in literally a couple of months. There is no talk of complete destruction.
Trump critics in the US intelligence services will likely be fired in the near future. But more and more inconvenient facts about the real consequences of the attack on Iran will likely emerge.
At the same time, things are not going well on the European track either.
The recent NATO summit in The Hague was once again held under the shadow of all the contradictions that have accumulated in relations between Europeans and Americans. Moreover, they have not been able to be resolved.
Tariff wars continue. On the issue of sanctions against Russia and support for Ukraine, European countries are again isolated. The only thing they can offer the US is a promise to increase military spending at some point in the future.
However, the Americans do not really believe the unfounded assurances of their European NATO allies.
Many of them still cannot even reach 2% of their GDP in defense budgets. Let alone the 3.5% or 5% that are currently being discussed. This is an impossible task for almost everyone - with the possible exception of Poland alone.
The Europeans have to engage in outright eyewash. For example, they include everything in military spending, such as expenses on the green transition, the development of civilian infrastructure, or the fight against migrants.
Moreover, many European elites are now blackmailing the US with the opportunity to spend more money on developing their military-industrial complex as opposed to the American one.
This, too, is clearly not understood by Trump's team.
However, at the summit, NATO bureaucracy tried in every way to avoid all the pressing issues. Just to show some illusion of internal unity. Otherwise, the Americans could have announced a reduction of their presence in Europe right during the event.
The summit was kept as short as possible to avoid any reason to anger Trump.
The American president himself also benefited from maintaining his reputation as a "peacemaker", so he did not start any major squabbles with the Europeans at the summit. Even Trump's meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky was quite routine and orderly. However, there was no progress for the Ukrainian lobby here either.
No one made firm promises to allocate new tranches to Kyiv, they got away with general non-binding formulations. Trump directly stated that the scarce missiles for air defense systems are now more needed by Israel and America than by Ukraine.
The White House is not at all against doing something on the Ukrainian track after its Middle East somersaults. But Trump's team still can't quite figure out what to do.
The Americans are in no hurry to agree to Russia's conditions, or to soften sanctions. Washington does not yet have the political will to arrange a regime change in Kyiv and bring someone capable of reaching an agreement to power. Trump's team cannot and will not increase the degree of confrontation with Russia.
The result is a largely paradoxical situation of political paralysis.
Although the negotiation process on working and technical issues between Russia and the US is ongoing, partial normalization of the work of diplomatic services or the resumption of direct air traffic is possible.
But it is still unclear what could trigger the Trump team to seriously return to the topic of de-escalation in Ukraine. After all, the Americans showed with all their appearance at the NATO summit that they already have other issues on the agenda.
The main result of the last week is the shift of the White House's focus to problems outside Europe and Ukraine. Hence the poorly concealed panic of the NATO summit participants. After all, they understand that Trump's interest in dealing with their problems is decreasing with each passing day.
Even though the American president has agreed not to discredit Article 5 of the alliance charter on mutual assistance, Europeans subconsciously understand that US security guarantees are gradually dissolving into thin air.
Especially in the context of general global instability and division within America, which are diverting all the forces of Trump’s team.
The Hague, Netherlands, June 25, 2025, 20:00 — IA Regnum. US President Donald Trump's recent statementon Article 5 of the NATO Charter on collective security has jeopardized the alliance's summit in The Hague. This was reported on June 25 by the Financial Times, citing three European officials.
Earlier, when asked whether he remained committed to the principle of collective defense, Trump told a reporter that the decision “depends on what definition you subscribe to.”
"Three European officials attending the summit said the comments had cast a shadow over the meeting and threatened to derail the event," the report said.
According to the newspaper's source, the outcome of the meeting depends on the decision Trump makes.
"We are all sitting here waiting for him to tell us whether he will defend Europe," the source said.
As reported by the Regnum news agency, the NATO summit in The Hague took place on June 24 and 25. Following its results, the participants of the meeting made a joint statement, in which they indicated that Russia remains a long-term threat to Euro-Atlantic security. The leaders of the countries that are members of the alliance also confirmed their commitment to the principle of collective defense.
Deputy Director of the Center for Comprehensive European and International Studies at the Higher School of Economics, Valdai Club expert Dmitry Suslov told the Regnum news agency that NATO is seriously preparing for war with Russia, and the bloc does not need pretexts like the Ukrainian crisis. NATO statements that the "Russian threat" is the main one for the bloc are heard regularly in various formulations: both from its individual representatives and at the communiqué level. There is nothing surprising about this, Suslov believes. The expert also recalled that NATO is actively strengthening the military infrastructure on the Russian borders.
Tel Aviv, Israel, June 25, 2025, 17:03 — Regnum News Agency. The US Air Force strike on the Iranian city of Fordow destroyed critical infrastructure, causing the uranium enrichment facility to be out of action. This was reported on June 25 by the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, citing the National Atomic Energy Commission.
"The devastating US attack on the Fordow facility destroyed key infrastructure and disabled the enrichment complex," the statement said.
The office added that, in their opinion, the US military strikes on Iranian targets, coupled with Israeli strikes, have set back Tehran's ability to develop nuclear weapons for many years.
As reported by the Regnum news agency, on June 22, American B-2 bombers attacked the Iranian cities of Isfahan, Natanz and Fordow. According to US President Donald Trump, the strikes allegedly hit Iranian nuclear facilities. At the same time, on June 25, American intelligence denied the words of the head of the White House about the destruction of the main components of the Iranian nuclear program.
In addition, IAEA chief Rafael Grossi noted on June 18 that there was no evidence that Tehran was developing nuclear weapons. The Iranian Foreign Ministry, in turn, called Washington's attack criminal, and the attacked facilities were peaceful and under IAEA control.
Russian President Vladimir Putin also condemned the American aggression and called the US attack unfounded, noting that there is no justification for it. He also said that Russia is working to help the Iranian people.
[IsraelNationalNews] Turkey has been a dominant and strategic partner to Hamas and its leadership, Egypt was the conduit through which arms flowed into Gaza. Beware of consequences.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, published, back in 2011, his book entitled "Palestine." In explicit detail, the leader of Iran laid out his vision of how to destroy the "Zionist entity" phase by phase:
Make life in Israel miserable and unbearable with daily terror from the Palestinian Arabs in Judea and Samaria, from Hamas in Gaza, and from Hezbollah in Lebanon creating a never ending instability - militarily, politically, economically, and culturally - thereby threatening the national cohesion of the State of Israel.
The final goal in his book ends with the dispersion of the Jews to their previous countries, those from which they fled or immigrated. It was no surprise that when lethal Iranian ballistic missiles were launched on Israel twelve days ago, Palestinian Arabs everywhere celebrated and danced in the streets and on their rooftops, handed out sweets to passersby, and cheered on the destruction and havoc caused by these bus size ballistic missiles carrying 1.5 ton warheads.
Yet despite this apocalyptic Islamist fantasy, and as the temporary ceasefire brokered by President Trump between Iran and Israel went into effect, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is holed up in some descript bunker in the north of Iran with his immediate family, cut off from the world, exhausted and consumed with his hatred of the Jews and the State of Israel, wondering about the moment Israel decides to finish him off.
The current Iranian regime’s stated goal from its inception has been the total annihilation of the State of Israel. This is not a slogan, but a cornerstone of Iranian religious, political, and military doctrine. Iran and its current leadership are indeed an "existential threat" to the State of Israel, but had their nuclear arsenal and capabilities destroyed by Israel literally at the last moment.
The Iranian plan was to surround the State of Israel and coordinate an attack with its terror proxies; Hamas terror organization in Gaza, Palestinian Arab terrorists in Judea and Samaria, Hezbollah terror organization in Lebanon, the Houthis terror organization from Yemen, the Syrian Army, beginning with the barbaric and savage attack on Israel on October 7th, with thousands sadistically murdered, wounded, and taken hostage.
Yet, from that dark day, from the depths of unfathomable suffering when Israel was caught unprepared for the murderous onslaught, we have arisen and can proudly raise our heads. We succeeded in destroying Iran’s nuclear capabilities that endangered the continuing existence of the State of Israel, destroying the Hamas terror organization, destroying the Hezbollah terror organization, destroying the Syrian Army.
To my uneducated eye, the Assad Syrian army appeared to have pretty much evaporated over the past decade-plus, while Hayat Tahrir al Sham hard boys appear no better than their ISIS competition — fine for conquering terrified civilians and corrupt Arab “professional” armies, but no match for modern Western combined arms. What say you, dear Reader?
The political and military leadership of all these enemies has been eliminated one by one and at times in clusters.
In the aftermath of the ten day war between Israel and Iran, Israel’s decision makers must calibrate their thinking about how to deter future adversaries who despite being perceived as deterred, were able to coordinate an offensive initiative, rooted in the element of surprise, and inflict death and destruction on a local level, severely weakening Israel’s strategic capabilities and dominance in the Middle East. Israel launched Operation Rising Lion to roll back the Iranian threat to Israel's very survival, but no less to send a very specific lesson to future adversaries such as the nations of Egypt and Turkey. Both of these nations have quietly abetted and provided political and strategic support to the very same terror proxies trained and funded by the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Egypt and Israel signed an historic peace agreement in March 1979 to end hostilities and normalize relations. It marked the first treaty of its kind between an Arab country and Israel. The peace agreement between Egypt and Israel was viewed at the time as having reshaped the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict for the better.
Egypt’s claim to de-escalate and bring an end to the conflict between Israel and her neighbors would be much more credible had they neutralized and prevented the construction of hundreds of underground tunnels between the Gaza Strip and the adjacent Sinai Peninsula, the eastern border of Egypt for the past two decades, These tunnels, some large enough to allow motor vehicles to pass through, enabled Hamas to import arsenals of weapons and unlimited materials that came through the tunnels that went from Egypt to enable the construction of an underground military capacity that threatened the State of Israel.
And reportedly President al Sisi’s nephew took a cut for every every shipment, or close enough. Had President Hosni Mubarak (1981-2011), or perhaps his sons, done the same?
Although Egypt is a poor country, with a low GNP per capita rating, with tens of millions of Egyptians forced to live in cemeteries or boxes as a substitute for a home, Egypt has built up the strongest army among the Arab nations of the Middle East with over: 5,000 tanks, hundreds of advanced fighter warplanes and helicopters, over 100 naval vessels and submarines, and an estimated one million soldiers in uniform.
That’s a lot of cannon fodder, if only they could be trusted to stand their ground. They didn’t in 1973…
A study by the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies reported that Egypt's air force has undergone the most significant modernization of any military in the Arab world. "From the point of view of weapon systems," the author concluded, "the military-technological gap between the Egyptian and Israeli Air Forces is gradually narrowing." In addition, the "Egyptian Air Force’s increasing confidence is reflected in its acquisition of aircraft for deep-penetration strikes into enemy territory."
Egypt now has some of the most sophisticated U.S.-made weapons, including Abrams tanks, F-16 fighter planes, and Apache attack helicopters. Western intelligence agencies are aware of and have leaked that Israel - the country Egypt signed a peace treaty with - is the "enemy" in all of Egypt's war games. The thing about Arabs is that they think they're smartest - fooling all their enemies (i.e., the rest of humanity). Actually, it's easier for Israel to deal with an enemy armed with American weapons - which all came with backdoors in their extensive electronics.
Tricky, complex American technology meets inshallah maintenance — how well do they do when held together by duct tape?
Turkey is one of the few countries in the world that most Americans do not visit, probably in response to the 1978 movie "Midnight Express", portraying Turkey for what it is, a backward, sadistic, and corrupt nation.
Despite its 85 million citizens, Turkey has failed to position itself as an influential regional power. The current Islamist government’s new policy, which is premised on Neo-Ottomanization (a return to the Ottoman Empire’s glory days,) registered a series of stinging diplomatic failures in recent years. Yet Prime Minister Erodgan and his party have reinforced their political status within Turkey through the daily scapegoating of Israel in the "best" of Islamic tradition.
Only recently Turkey expelled the Israeli ambassador,
…again…
suspended defense contracts with Jerusalem,
…again…
announced legal action against senior Israeli figures in European courts, threatened to bring the dispute before the international court and "take measures for freedom of maritime movement in the Mediterranean" including positioning her Navy so as to interfere with the free movement of Israeli shipping and mining expeditions in the Mediterranean Sea.
Turkey has also been a dominant and strategic partner to Hamas and its leadership, enabling terror leaders to operate, coordinate, fund, and train terrorists in Turkey.
…again.
The epilogue to the current period ends with the total humiliation of Iran; militarily, technologically, and politically, while exposing Iran as nothing more than a "paper tiger", and nothing close to the regional superpowerhood the Iranians have falsely claimed. The lesson should not be lost on the nations of Egypt and Turkey. Both nations have large populations of poor and uneducated citizens, allowing them to become just another Islamic nation that can be overthrown at any time.
Text taken from the Telegram channel of Belarus_VPO
Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin is in italics.
Interesting concept from the Chinese to launch UAVs using artillery shells.
New horizons for UAVs
China is actively developing the Tianyan project, the purpose of which is to deliver a UAV to a specified area using artillery.
The Tianyan product is a 155mm projectile of an unusual design, inside which a UAV and a set of auxiliary devices are placed. The system is compatible with existing artillery guns. After firing, the projectile opens in the air, releasing the UAV, which is then capable of performing various tasks, including reconnaissance or strikes.
This delivery method offers several significant advantages. Modern artillery systems are capable of firing tens of kilometers, which significantly increases the combat radius and reduces the time it takes for the UAV to reach the required area. In addition, thanks to the projectile, the UAV saves its own energy, which allows it to increase the range and duration of the flight after deployment.
However, this technology has its limitations. The dimensions of the projectile container limit the size of the UAV, which imposes limits on its functionality and payload. Also, the UAV must be designed in such a way as to withstand extremely high overloads when fired. Another technical challenge is to accurately and safely separate the projectile and its payload at a predetermined point in the trajectory.
The Tianyan project vividly illustrates the trend towards integrating unmanned technologies with traditional weapons, opening up new horizons for their application. The future of UAV development will increasingly focus on creating multifunctional, low-observable and quickly deployable systems, as well as improving the methods of their delivery and launch.
by Artemy Sharapov
“Israel has suffered very badly, especially in the last couple of days… from [Iranian] ballistic missiles,” US President Donald Trump admitted on June 25 during a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on the sidelines of the alliance summit.
At the same time, as TASS reports, Trump praised Israel, which “performed magnificently” during the armed conflict, which the US president has already dubbed the “twelve-day war.”
Earlier, on June 24, Trump said that the governments of Iran and Israel had approved the US-proposed plan for a peaceful resolution of the conflict, agreeing to a ceasefire. If the "twelve-day war" really did end, it ended without a clear winner. Both sides managed to declare their military victory, achieved thanks to the courage of their armed forces and the use of the most modern military developments.
And although the conflict has not yet revealed a clear winner, it is already possible to draw some conclusions about who was better prepared for war and who inflicted greater damage on the enemy. Moreover, neither Iran nor Israel have fully exhausted their capabilities for escalating the conflict.
Outlining the goals of the operation against Iran, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the targets of the attacks would be facilities related to its nuclear and missile programs. A number of Arabic-language media outlets believe that the Israeli army command planned to knock out the command staff of the Iranian Armed Forces with one blow, thus depriving the enemy of the opportunity to respond.
If this is indeed the case, then the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) headquarters made a strategic miscalculation. About 20 hours after the war began, Iran launched its first powerful strike on central Israel, including Tel Aviv.
The parties to the conflict differ in their estimates of the number of missiles fired at Israel, but approximately 400-500 launches are being discussed (21 waves of attack with 15-20 missiles in each). The number of missiles "missed" by the Israeli missile defense system is estimated at approximately 15-20% of the total. The first wave of the attack used Shahab-3 ballistic missiles (translated from Farsi as "Meteor-3"), which have a range of up to 1,200-1,300 km. The missile itself was sent into serial production back in the mid-2000s and is not a new product.
In essence, at the first stage of the conflict, Iran sought to exhaust the stockpiles of Israeli missile defense missiles in order to then use more powerful missiles. And they partially succeeded. Later, a new modification of the Shahab-3 with a cluster warhead was used. Its warhead opens at an altitude of several kilometers above the target, throwing five to ten small submunitions that strike within a radius of 500-800 meters.
The use of such missiles has become a major challenge for Israel, since the David's Sling missile defense system is designed to destroy unitary warheads, while the Iron Dome system is not designed to destroy this type of munitions and specializes in destroying rockets.
It is difficult to destroy the Terracotta with the Arrow
Before the conflict, Israeli media were extremely skeptical about the Iranian missile program. It was assumed that most Iranian missiles were outdated, had extremely low accuracy, and would be easily destroyed by layered missile defense forces. However, Iran was able to demonstrate a number of new developments, the emergence of which significantly changes the balance of power in the Middle East. First of all, we are talking about the Sajil-2 (Terracotta-2) class ballistic missiles.
Unlike traditional liquid-fuel rockets, which require preliminary refueling, Sajil-2 runs on solid fuel, which allows it to be kept in a state of constant combat readiness. The first single launch took place on the fifth day of the conflict. Residents of a number of countries witnessed a strange phenomenon - a luminous "path" in the night sky. According to experts, this trace appeared as a result of atmospheric vapor compression, which occurred when the second stage engines were activated in the near-stratospheric space. The spiral trace that appeared in the sky indicated the successful separation of the stages.
Unlike the Shahabs, the Sajil-2 has a greater range of up to 2,500 km and carries a 500 kg warhead. Outside the Earth's atmosphere, the missile becomes inaccessible to most air defense/missile defense systems. At the same time, at the final stage, it develops hypersonic speed, which leaves the Israeli Hetz (Arrow) systems, which specialize in hitting ballistic targets, only 60-90 seconds to respond.
One of the missiles of this class hit the headquarters of the C4I unit (IDF General Staff Communications and Computer Systems Directorate) in the city of Be'er Sheva. Local residents filmed the moment of "arrival", in which the sound wave that appeared after the explosion is clearly visible.
Aces up the sleeve
A number of experts believe that in the final stage of the conflict, Iran began to use up to three or four missiles of different types in one salvo. The first was to "overload" the Israeli missile defense system, while the second carried out a pinpoint strike. Such tactics were tested when striking Israeli army bases on the Golan Heights.
The first wave of the attack involved the launch of short- and medium-range Zulfiqar and Dezful high-speed missiles, which attracted missile defense fire. The most advanced Heibar Sheqan missiles, which Iran first introduced in 2022, were then used against military targets.
The missile with a 550 kg warhead was specially designed to counter the layered missile defense system. The triconical shape of the Heybar Shekan body is designed to provide minimal resistance when leaving the Earth's atmosphere and when re-entering. When approaching the target, the missile develops a speed of 2-3 Mach (approximately 2500-3600 km/h), which makes it an extremely difficult target to intercept. Moreover, the warhead can maneuver, evading interceptor missiles.
In essence, Iran demonstrated in practice its tactics of multi-level ballistic attacks, which previously existed only in theory. Using missiles flying at different altitudes, with different speeds and trajectories in one attack, the Iranians were able to partially "suppress" Israel's missile defense counteraction and deliver quite sensitive strikes. However, not all of Iran's missile arsenal was used during the conflict.
Experts believe that, having achieved superiority over the enemy's missile defense, the Islamic Republic could use the Khorramshahr missiles. Unlike all previously used models, this weapon has a more powerful warhead of 1,800 kg and a range of up to 2,000 km. In the future, Iran could use them to destroy underground fortified facilities or Israeli Air Force airfields.
In other words, Iran is far from exhausting its ability to increase the intensity of its attacks.
Penetrator bomb
It is noteworthy that Israel, even after declaring that it had “seized dominance” in the skies over Iran, was unable to prevent the missile strikes. In preparation for a possible conflict, the Islamic Republic had placed warehouses with finished products and launchers in advance in underground shelters and bunkers in the mountainous regions of the country.
During the raids, Israel used F-16 and F-35 aircraft armed with American-made air-to-air munitions. First of all, we are talking about GBU-38 high-explosive air bombs, which are equipped with the JDAM guidance and control system. These munitions are highly accurate and effective in hitting individual buildings, military installations or infrastructure. But the mass of the warhead is 207 kg (446 lb), which is clearly not enough to hit objects located under tens of meters of rock.
Israel has also made active use of Elbit Hermes 900 tactical drones, equipped with small-sized guided aerial bombs "Miholit". These bombs are also well suited for pinpoint destruction of individual unarmored targets, and even for attacking missile launchers, but clearly not for strikes on bunkers.
The only weapons that could cause critical damage to Iranian military facilities are the American GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), used during Operation Midnight Hammer to strike Iranian nuclear facilities.
The mass of one bomb is more than 13,600 kg with a warhead of 2,500 kg. The Penetrator's body is designed to withstand the resistance of concrete and granite at supersonic speed. The bomb is equipped with a penetrating warhead that penetrates the bunker ceiling by tens of meters, after which the "smart detonator" makes a decision to detonate.
However, the US Army only has a few dozen of these high-tech munitions at its disposal. Moreover, only the B-2 Spirit strategic bomber can drop them – one aircraft can lift about two bombs at a time.
So for now, the Iranian missile program and missile silos remain an elusive target for the Israeli army. And in that sense, ending the conflict before it escalated into a global war of attrition was a win-win for both sides.
Israel did not tempt fate by taking hits from increasingly powerful missiles that each time penetrated the Iron Dome air defense system, and Iran was able to keep its strategic military installations safe. At least for now.
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