A Ukrainian journalist who was captured by Russian troops while reporting from occupied east Ukraine has died in Russian detention, according to Ukrainian officials. Victoria Roshchyna, who would have turned 28 this month, disappeared in August last year after travelling to Russian-held east Ukraine for a report. She remained missing until April 2024, when her father received a letter from Moscow’s defence ministry saying she was being held in Russian detention, according to Ukraine’s main journalist union. The circumstances of her arrest were not made public and it was not clear where she was being held inside Russia. “Unfortunately, information…

Former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert, who led the country during the 2006 Lebanon war, believes that only a “diplomatic agreement” will end the war with Hezbollah. But Mr Olmert, a former lawyer and soldier, also claimed that efforts for a peaceful resolution to the conflict are being blocked by the current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who wants to “present a picture of victory” to restore his reputation following the October 7 attacks. Mr Olmert, who ordered the invasion of Lebanon in 2006, argued that the current Israeli leader “badly wants the war against Iran”, and that a retaliation attack…

By Andrea Januta. This story was originally published by The Kyiv Independent, 09 October 2024. Ukraine has become a hotbed of defense innovation, as Russia’s deadly invasion fuels a rapid development of new battlefield technologies. Kyiv now aims to become a global leader in the defense sector, but with its economy drained by the war, it needs foreign investment to accomplish its goal. Ukraine has the capacity to produce around $20 billion worth of weapons and equipment, according to government estimates, but the state budget can only fund around $6 billion. The government has launched several initiatives to encourage foreign investment,…

The collective effort of nations in constructing the International Space Station (ISS) demonstrates the immense potential for cooperative ventures in space.

Guest Post by Paul J. Redmond This story was originally published by FBI Studies, 10 July 2023. Paul J. Redmond served 34 years in the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)’s Clandestine Service, operating primarily against the Warsaw Pact/Eastern European countries and the Soviet Union. He served as Deputy Chief of the CIA’s Counterintelligence Center from 1991 to 1995, where he led the CIA’s investigation that identified Aldrich Ames. In 1995, Director of Central Intelligence John Deutch appointed Redmond as the Associate Deputy Director of Operations for Counterintelligence. After retiring in 1997, he was appointed Assistant Secretary for Information Analysis at the…

Russia’s intelligence agency has been on a mission to generate “mayhem on British and European streets,” the head of MI5 has said.MI5’s director general Ken McCallum also warned the UK faces the most “complex and interconnected” threat the organisation has ever seen. The director general also said that there have been 20 Iran-backed plots in the UK since 2022. He said the complex mix of terror-related threats and threats from nation states means that MI5 has “one hell of a job on its hands”. He said Russia’s GRU military intelligence agency was engaged in “a sustained mission to generate mayhem…

Israel has expanded its military operation in Lebanon with up to 15,000 members of the Israeli Defence Forces on the ground in the country. The disclosure came just hours after the IDF announced it had claimed to have killed a senior Hezbollah figure in Beirut. The IDF said that it had killed Suhail Hussein Husseini, who ran Hezbollah’s headquarters in Beirut, in airstrikes on Lebanon’s capital and other areas overnight. On Monday alone, the IDF’s air force hit the country 120 times in attempts to destroy Hezbollah’s weapons arsenal. The IDF also announced that it was expanding its ground incursion…

By Michael Sulick, Lucinda Webb, Mark Kelton This story was originally published by The Cipher Brief, 05 February 2023. OPINION — Robert Baer’s book The Fourth Man leads readers to conclude—falsely—that highly accomplished, retired CIA officer Paul Redmond was himself a long-time spy for the KGB. As former leaders of Counterintelligence who were directly involved over decades in the Russian operations and investigations discussed in the book, we found the book to be riddled with errors and what we found to be irresponsible, false assumptions from Mr. Baer’s primary sources. Let’s dig in to why. CIA counterintelligence investigators who were directly involved in the…

This story was originally published by The Telegraph. Phil Shiner made a string of high-profile accusations that the British Army abused Iraqi civilians, but now his world has come crashing down. Once upon a time, Phil Shiner was the superstar Left-wing lawyer feted by civil rights groups Liberty and Justice. After all, he was the man daring to accuse members of the British armed forces of the murder and physical abuse of hundreds of Iraqi civilians during the Second Gulf War. Both Liberty and Justice named him as their lawyer of the year in 2004. But now, in the space of just a…

This story was originally published by Oana Lungescu, RUSI. Former Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte assumes the mantle of NATO Secretary General amid significant global challenges. How can he succeed in his new role? The beginning of October marks the end of an era for NATO. Jens Stoltenberg will complete his decade-long tenure, and former Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte will take over as Secretary General. They will start the day together on 1 October at NATO headquarters in Brussels, laying a wreath at the granite memorial for the fallen and addressing the alliance’s civilian and military staff, before Stoltenberg hands over the…

Ukraine is creating a new military industrial complex to strengthen its defence capability and reduce reliance on Western Allies.

Israel has sustained its first casualties since the launch of its cross-border incursion into southern Lebanon. Eight soldiers have been killed in battles with Hezbollah and, tragically, they are unlikely to be the last casualties of this conflict. Captain Eitan Itzhak Oster, 22, a squad commander in the ‘Egoz’, an elite commando unit specialising in guerrilla warfare, was killed in what was reported to be an ambush by Hezbollah fighters in a village in southern Lebanon. Other Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) personnel killed in clashes with Hezbollah on Wednesday include four members of a commando unit, two soldiers serving with…