BALTIMORE -- Investigators on Tuesday were trying to determine what caused an explosion aboard a cargo ship laden with coal as it departed Baltimore's harbor for East Africa. Officials said no one was injured in the blast Monday evening, which prompted a mayday call when it was reported near the…

Working with Greenpeace UK, sculptor Sir Anish Kapoor CBE has completed an unauthorized and potentially illegal modern art installation at a platform in the North Sea. It may be the first piece of "fine art" - designed and conceived by a figure from the modern art world - ever to debut aboard an…

There’s historical precedent for Moscow to worry. 14 August, 2025 RussiaEuropeIntelligence The Oil tanker Eagle S is seen anchored near the Kilpilahti port in Porvoo, on the Gulf of Finland on January 7, 2025. The Swedish navy said on January 7, it had recovered from the Baltic Sea the anchor of an…

The United Kingdom is taking action to preserve its rich maritime history by stopping a collection of nautical charts, including some that were drawn by famed British navigator and explorer Captain James Cook, from leaving the country. The UK government placed an export bar, temporarily stopping the…

Defence Intelligence of Ukraine has reported that Russia is failing to fulfil its state defence order for Kh-59 air-launched cruise missiles. Source: Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence in an interactive diagram released on the War & Sanctions portal Details: The data shows that of the 116 companies…

First Lady Melania Trump sent a personal letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin addressing the deportations of Ukrainian children during the ongoing war, according to Reuters citing White House officials. Trump hand-delivered the letter during their 15 August summit in Anchorage, Alaska. The…

US President Donald Trump and European allies have discussed security guarantees for Ukraine "in the style of Article 5" of the North Atlantic Treaty, but with no NATO involvement. Source: CNN with reference to its sources, also confirmed by an Ukrainska Pravda source Details: An unnamed European…

For years, the Baltic Sea could be treated as geopolitically peripheral. That assumption is now dead. Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine shifted threat perceptions and revealed just how exposed the Baltic region has become: physically, legally, and digitally. Russian aircraft regularly harass NATO…

Part of the interior repairs have been completed in the medical and diagnostic building of the Okhmatdyt children’s hospital, which was damaged by a Russian attack on 8 July 2024. The facade is also being repaired. Details: Interior repair works are ongoing on five floors of the building.…

Russian businesses are receiving fewer orders, facing rising costs, and growing more pessimistic about the future. Source: The Moscow Times, an independent Amsterdam-based news outlet Details: In July, Russia's service sector activity index (PMI Services) dropped to 48.6 points from 49.2 in June,…

A hungry ration for Orbán: How a Ukrainian drone strike disrupted Russian oil transit to Hungary August 17, 2025, 04:35 AM 46 Exclusive Share: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is once again unhappy with Ukraine’s actions. (Photo: REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo) Author: A Ukrainian drone and…

Rising Lion and Iran With the conclusion of Operation Rising Lion, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu iterated that Israel has accomplished its strategic operational goals, in particular, rolling back the Iranian threat in terms of both its nuclear weapons program and ballistic missiles. The…

If I wanted, in two days I could have Russian troops not only in Kiev, but also in Riga, Vilnius, Tallinn, Warsaw, and Bucharest. -Russian President Vladimir Putin, September 2014 Introduction Lawrence Freedman quotes this statement from Putin, taken from an article in the Daily Telegraph, in his…

In July 2025, in the waters of the Caribbean Sea, the Colombian Navy intercepted a vessel that, although empty, carried immense symbolic weight for global security: the first unmanned and remotely guided narco-submarine.[1] This event was not just another seizure in the long and arduous conflict…

The Hudson Institute has identified eight critical targets across Russia and occupied territories that Ukraine could strike to destabilize Moscow’s war effort. The report, authored by Luke Coffey and Can Kasapoğlu and titled “Breaking the Stalemate: Russian Targets Ukraine Should Strike,” argues…

Today, the biggest news comes from Azerbaijan, where a sudden escalation shattered regional stability as Russian airstrikes targeted and destroyed key Azerbaijani state oil infrastructure in Ukraine. In response, Türkiye signaled its readiness to deploy forces to Azerbaijan, setting the stage for a…

A group publishing pro-Russia propaganda online is impersonating legitimate news outlets in an attempt to disseminate disinformation, Politico reported, citing misinformation tracking organization NewsGuard. The effort, known as Storm-1679, creates websites that mimic real news outlets and uses…

Your Trusted Source for National Security News & Analysis August 18th, 2025 | 08:26 PM Sign Up Open Source Reports News & Analysis AfricaAsiaEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle EastNorth AmericaTech/Cyber Opinion Newsletters Podcasts State SecretsCover Stories Books Book ReviewsAuthor InterviewsThe…

News Politics “Maximum audacity,” raged top presidential adviser Andriy Yermak. Andriy Yermak said that the Russians are using the symbols of the United States "in their own terrorist, aggressive war.” | Sergey Dolzhenko/EPA August 18, 2025 3:42 pm CET By Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s…

This is a decisive moment for Ukraine. Tens of thousands of Ukrainian children have been torn from their families and forcibly taken to Russia or Russian-occupied territories, where they are given away for adoption to pro-Putin families. While the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has…

∄ / K4119 Images view more + Kyiv’s hottest club does not exist: ∄, often referred to as Kyrylivska 41 (or K41) for its street address, is paradoxically both famous and nameless. Hosted in a massive former brewery in the industrial Podil district, ∄ – the only dedicated queer club in the capital –…

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One of Russia’s leading HIV support organizations says it has been stripped of government funding this year, leaving vital services in jeopardy at a time when the country continues to struggle with one of the world’s fastest-growing HIV epidemics. The AIDS.Center foundation said it failed twice this…

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How is Russia circumventing sanctions? By sea. Ukrainian intelligence has revealed details of operations involving 42 ships engaged in transporting sanctioned Russian and Iranian oil, stolen Ukrainian grain and coal, as well as bunkering activities of the so-called “shadow fleet.” For Ukraine, this…

The shadow tanker fleet transports growing volumes of sanctioned oil around the world, generates billions of dollars in revenue for russia and Iran, threatens environmental safety in the oceans, serves as a spy platform, and is used for sabotage activities in the interests of the aggressor. The…

The math is brutal: Russia has three times Ukraine’s population and pays soldiers twice as much. Moscow can afford to send wave after wave of troops to die on Ukrainian soil. Ukraine cannot match those numbers. So Ukraine is building something else entirely—an army where robots handle the dying.…

Deep trouble. Fiber-optic cables and pipelines on the seafloor are becoming more and more vulnerable to sabotage. Image Credit: Serg Myshkovsky/Getty Images As the U.S. Navy struggles to catch up with the People’s Republic of China’s rapid expansion as a growing maritime power, yet another frontier…

The Houthi administration in Yemen has updated its Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) page, which purports to give detailed advice on how to avoid the group's attacks in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. The Houthi advice is contained on a website maintained by the Humanitarian Operations Coordination…

Photo: Chytomo Ulyana Guz A unique cultural and educational project, "Booksin," has been launched in Ukraine. It is a mobile library on a bus that is being sent to travel through various regions, providing access to modern literature and cultural events, particularly for internally displaced…

Explore More D.C. Federal Deployment Ramps Up as Protesters Converge on Police Checkpoint Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs, Darren Sands and Ashley Ahn The New York Times Company 18 hrs ago WASHINGTON — Protesters gathered around an array of law enforcement officers, including homeland security agents, who…

Fresh satellite images have confirmed extensive damage to Russia’s Unecha oil pumping station in Bryansk Oblast and the Skala-M radar complex in occupied Crimea. The confirmation follows earlier reports of Ukrainian strikes on both facilities. The attacks were part of Ukraine long-range drone…

Russian troops have likely lost a Su-30SM fighter jet that was carrying out a mission southeast of Zmiinyi (Snake) Island. Source: Ukrainian Navy Quote: "Ukrainian Navy intelligence intercepted radio communications about the loss of contact with a Russian Su-30SM fighter jet that was carrying out a…

Oleksandr Boichuk, a senior midshipman and former commander of Ukraine’s only minesweeper Henichesk – destroyed by Russian forces – has returned from Russian captivity as part of a new prisoner exchange. Details: Kutiepov reported that Boichuk is a defender of Mariupol who went missing at the start…

Estonia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the chargé d’affaires of the Russian Embassy on 13 August to hand over a diplomatic note declaring the embassy’s first secretary persona non grata. Source: a statement from the Estonian Foreign Ministry, as reported by European Pravda Details: While…

Fewer than 1,000 private-sector jobs were added, the slowest growth in the labor market outside a recession and the pandemic since 2003. Listen to this article · 8:09 min Learn more Slow Job Gains in New York City in First Half of 2025 Note: Data includes only private-sector jobs. Source: N.Y.C.…

Ukrainian forces have introduced new modifications to Mi-8 helicopters, significantly enhancing their ability to intercept Iranian-made Shahed drones. According to Defense Express on August 14, recent footage shows Mi-8 helicopters equipped with updated targeting systems and additional armaments.…