🇺🇸🇷🇺🇺🇦 More details on CIA director, John Ratcliffe's message towards FSB director, Alexander Bortnikov:

Ratcliffe allegedly repeated a debunked claim, which said that the average life expectancy of a Russian soldier "is estimated to be between 20-30 minutes".

The claim originated from a Russian anti-Putin opposition Telegram channel which was picked up by the magazine, Foreign Policy, which popularised it for Western, English-speaking medias which ended up being repeated by Ratcliffe himself in July.

These kill to death ratios favoring Ukraine immediately fall apart upon paying closer attention to territorial changes in Ukraine with the Russian Army making significant gains in the Donbass in the last two months, while a high KDR should have, at the very least, stopped the Russian Army's advance.

Ratcliffe also told Bortnikov that Russia was losing at least 200 soldiers for every sq km captured, a claim which originates with the Ukrainian ministry of defense. He informed Bortnikov that Ukraine "mastered" drone warfare and that the Russian Army captured 1% of Ukraine's territory in the last 18 months which wasn't worth the cost.

The CIA director made no threats about consequences if Putin refuses to negotiate.

Before the trip, Ratcliffe assured Ukrainian counterparts he would explore Russian positions, not make concessions on their behalf.

The visit contradicts Trump's own characterization of the trip as "standard business" with "no message."

The NYT reports it was a deliberate effort to bypass normal diplomatic channels, with officials hoping Putin, a former intelligence officer himself, would find a CIA director's assessment more credible than messages from envoys Witkoff and Kushner, whom Ukrainians view as too close to Moscow.

📝 Why would Vladimir Putin believe U.S. intelligence reports over his own intelligence reports?

@CIG_telegram

🌐🇺🇦⚔️🇷🇺 What Happened to the Coveted Western Tanks Sent to Ukraine?

Ukraine pleaded for the expensive weapons, and ultimately got them, but drones have rendered them almost unusable.

Once Ukraine’s most sought-after Western weapons, tanks now mostly sit idle, hidden in forests and collecting cobwebs. The $10 million machines, procured with great fanfare, proved no match for cheap drones that now dominate the battlefield. Yet Ukraine still maintains them and trains soldiers to use them, while trying to imagine new ways to deploy them.

“We’re making virtually no use of armored vehicles,” Alexander Syrsky, who until last month was Ukraine’s top general, said recently. “This raises the question: How can we neutralize this advantage enjoyed by drones and give our armor a new lease on life?”

Ukraine started asking for Western-made tanks almost immediately after Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, when they seemed essential. Kyiv’s allies resisted sending them until January 2023, when Britain, Germany and the United States changed course following fraught negotiations and public pressure.

The 33rd Brigade was formed in part to receive those Western tanks. But by the time they entered the fight late that spring, cheap drones were already inflicting a deadly toll and were able to strike tanks at their most vulnerable points.

Russian forces started covering their tanks with anti-drone meshes and cages. “People laughed at them back then, saying they were making BBQ grills,” recalled a tank maintenance chief with the 33rd whose call sign is Energetyk. “But they were heading in the right direction.”

Ukraine followed suit, adding protective cages and reactive armor — external panels that detonate when struck, to deflect attacking munitions — in hopes of maintaining tanks’ relevance.

But soon both sides stopped using heavy armor for assaults.

Today Energetyk, 57, works in a forest in the Kharkiv region, well behind the front line. There, birds chirp, the air smells like wood and only upon a close look can camouflage netting be spotted among the trees.

German-made Leopard tanks sit beneath the nets, their turrets turned backward in the “travel position.” Some await repairs or maintenance like oil changes. Others, like one covered in spider webs, are parked in reserve for combat, though those orders have stopped coming.

Energetyk oversaw a crew swapping out the engine of a tank that had hit a mine and caught fire. Another tank had taken a drone strike to the turret, he said, pointing to its parking spot as he set off down a mud track through the woods with ammunition slung over his shoulder.

The damage occurred not during combat but “evacuations,” when tanks towed damaged equipment, effectively acting as extraordinarily expensive tractors.

🔗 https://unwall.app/www.nytimes.com/2026/08/25/world/europe/ukraine-russia-tanks.html

🇺🇸🚫🚀 Exclusive: US Patriot missile stocks in Europe are ‘beyond critical’ due to Iran war, officials say

The U.S. military is experiencing a “beyond critical” shortage of advanced missile interceptors in Europe largely driven by President Donald Trump’s war with Iran, a U.S. defense official in Europe and a NATO official told The Associated Press, raising concerns about vulnerabilities in NATO countries to a potential Russian attack.

The U.S. defense official said the most concerning shortfall involves Patriot missile interceptors, which can shoot down Russia’s high-speed ballistic missiles. The NATO official confirmed the low inventories of Patriots among American and NATO forces in Europe. Both spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military matters.

In the event of a Russian ballistic missile assault on, for example, a military headquarters or power plant, NATO could be in a similar position to Patriot-starved Ukraine and be forced “to take punch after punch in the mouth,” the U.S. defense official said.

In Europe, the American military “definitely” does not have enough Patriots to stop any possible sustained ballistic missile attack and would have “very limited” capability to defend against a single ballistic missile strike or a stray Russian missile that goes off course, the U.S. official said.

European and NATO officials say Russia could be in a position to attack countries in the alliance by 2030. Patriot stockpiles are projected to rebound by then. In the meantime, Russia’s war in Ukraine could hinder its ability to carry out any missile attack on Europe as it would be a challenge for Moscow to fight an air war on two fronts.

The U.S. military in Europe also is grappling with critical shortages of the Army Tactical Missile System, or ATACMS, a medium-range ballistic missile designed to strike behind enemy lines, the two officials said. But the overall munitions picture in Europe is less dire than on air defenses alone because some European militaries have their own offensive missiles, such as the Taurus and Storm Shadow, which are both long-range air-launched bunker-busting missiles.

The dearth of Patriot interceptors in Europe would leave few alternatives for shooting down Russia’s more advanced ballistic missiles, which can be combined with swarms of inexpensive drones to overwhelm defenses, experts say.

Ukraine and some allies already use systems that can destroy slower-moving drones without expensive missiles. But ballistic missiles are a challenge because they dive steeply toward targets at more than five times the speed of sound, leaving little time to stop them.

One alternative could be France and Italy’s SAMP/T NG air defense system. France has promised to speed up the delivery of the system — the upgraded version of the current SAMP/T — to Ukraine, which the manufacturer says is better able to counter ballistics.

The new iteration, however, has not yet been battle tested and the current version of the SAMP/T has a smaller range than the Patriot.

While U.S. and European militaries have warships that can serve as mobile air defense, they may be too far from a target to protect it and could risk getting sunk.

🔗 https://apnews.com/article/patriot-missiles-iran-war-russia-ukraine-trump-09c7d8030a2e11fbd8ee3f7176b3f2d4

🇹🇼 Taiwanese Military Development: Taiwan’s military conducted its first live-fire FPV drone exercises on August 17, likely in an effort to integrate lessons learned from the war in Ukraine.

Taiwanese drone procurement efforts are facing legislative gridlock, which will make it more difficult for Taiwan to procure the necessary systems to conduct drone-enabled defense operations.

🔗 ISW

🇮🇱 Protecting offshore gas fields is driving a historic shift in Israel’s naval doctrine.

With Leviathan, Tamar, and Karish supplying ~70% of domestic electricity, Tel Aviv is expanding its Navy to counter growing multi-front threats.

The Israeli Navy recently conducted large-scale drills in the Mediterranean and Red Sea. Simulations focused explicitly on multi-frontal combat, fire operations, and defending critical offshore gas rigs against targeted missile and drone strikes.

To secure offshore assets, Israel is expanding investments in autonomous platforms like the 12-metre Seagull sea drone—capable of conducting 4-day anti-submarine, counter-mine, and deep-sea reconnaissance patrols without returning to shore.

Short of options for rapid shipbuilding, Israel is refitting older vessels like the 35-year-old INS Lahav specifically to guard gas platforms. Simultaneously, it took delivery of its most advanced sub, the $634M INS Drakon from Germany.

Israel’s gas security isn't just domestic. Egypt and Jordan rely heavily on imports from Israeli fields. Recent disruptions and hybrid attacks on Eastern Mediterranean energy assets demonstrate how vulnerable regional grid stability remains.

Turning Israel from a energy-dependent state into a regional gas powerhouse has been a core pillar of Likud strategy for two decades. Securing these fields against regional proxies is now a top political and economic priority for Tel Aviv.

🔗 Francesco Sassi

🇮🇷⚔️🇺🇸 Iran's Araghchi says US pressure won't work after Qatar talks in Tehran

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said diplomacy could be revived only if the United States accepted that pressure did not work, after talks with Qatar's prime minister in Tehran, in a post on X on August 27.

The comment casts Iran's terms for any return to negotiations in stark form as the war with the United States and Israel nears its sixth month, with Qatar among the mediators pressing both sides back towards talks that collapsed after a June memorandum of understanding. The message also comes as Iranian officials have cautiously welcomed a move to away from war with the US as Washington continues to add further constraints on Iran's economy.

Araghchi said he had held what he called creative discussions with Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, and that putting diplomacy back on track was not impossible.

He said it hinged on Washington building trust, speaking respectfully, acknowledging Iran's rights and upholding its commitments.

🔗 https://www.intellinews.com/iran-s-araghchi-says-us-pressure-won-t-work-after-qatar-talks-in-tehran-464221/

🇮🇷⚔️🇺🇸🇮🇱 Iran has increased its demands for reopening the Strait of Hormuz: it now demands a total IDF withdrawal from Gaza in order for the Strait of Hormuz to be reopened.

Mohsen Rezaei, the new Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, prepared a list of conditions to convey to Washington and was for now permitting limited, temporary passage of ships through the middle section of the strait, with future traffic dependent on progress towards an understanding with Washington.

"He must prove his seriousness in implementing the commitments," Rezaei said of the US position, adding that a "deep valley of mistrust" separated the two sides.

He said the strait could not be separated from the overall regional confrontation and that Washington had to demonstrate good faith before any new trust could form.

Among the conditions Iran raises in any understanding with the United States, Rezaei listed a halt to fighting across West Asia, especially in Lebanon, and an Israeli withdrawal from areas of Lebanese territory it had taken.

The demand to remove the IDF from Lebanese territory was agreed to by the U.S. back in June when the two countries signed the MoU, the U.S. refused to keep its side of the bargain and didn't pressure Israel to withdraw from Lebanon, being one of the causes which led to the collapse of the MoU.

Now, in addition to the IDF withdrawing from Lebanon, Iran demands that the IDF withdraw from Gaza, which had not been included in the MoU. Mohsen Rezaei also demanded that Israel stops its attacks on Syria and return all territories it occupied.

Rezaei also reissued his threat to resume missile attacks on Israel if the IAF bombs Beirut or its suburbs.

🔗 https://www.intellinews.com/iran-ties-full-reopening-of-strait-of-hormuz-to-us-halting-regional-wars-rezaei-says-464203/