Inside Russia's suicide drone factories as Putin ramps up weapon production to pound Ukraine
A Russian state TV report, which aired on Sunday, July 20, offered a rare look inside a major factory in Tatarstan that produces Russian versions of Iran 's Shahed-136 drones.
The propaganda broadcast showed matte black Geran-2 drones, highlighting their role in the conflict.
Hours after the report, Russia launched at least 57 drone and missile strikes on Ukraine, killing at least one person — despite Kremlin claims that Putin remains open to peace talks.
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Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Trump says he wants to maintain nuclear limits with Russia
WASHINGTON, July 25 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that he would like to maintain the limits on U.S. and Russian strategic nuclear weapons deployments set in the 2010 New START agreement, which expires in February. "That's not an agreement you want expiring. We're starting to work on that," Trump told reporters as he exited the White House on a trip to Scotland. It was the first time since taking office that Trump has said he wants to maintain the treaty's limits on strategic nuclear weapons deployments when it expires on February 5. "When you take off nuclear restrictions, that's a big problem," Trump said. The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or New START, is the last remaining nuclear arms reduction accord between the world's largest nuclear powers. It restricts Russia and the U.S. to deploying no more than 1,550 strategic warheads on 700 intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarines and bombers. Former U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin extended the treaty for five years in 2021 but, as written, the pact cannot be extended further. Trump opposed an extension in his first term, calling instead for a new treaty that included China, which spurned the proposal. Trump has been an advocate for reining in nuclear weapons. He said in February that he would like to have conversations with Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping about limiting their nuclear arsenals. U.S.-Russia relations are at their lowest point in more than 60 years, in part fueled by Putin's threats to use nuclear weapons in his war against Ukraine and his development of exotic new weapons systems. With New START's expiration, the U.S. and Russia could begin deploying more strategic warheads and each could find it harder to gauge the other's intentions, arms control advocates warn.
Times
2 hours ago
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‘Good work, guys. Surgical' — British guns rattle Russia
When the big gun booms, the earth shakes. The shockwave from the AS90 self-propelled howitzer is so strong it pulverises falling raindrops, sending a fine spray into the faces of the Ukrainian artillery crew as they launch a high explosive round towards the Russian trench line. 'Waiting…' a voice crackled over a radio, then: 'Fire, Fire!' Again the behemoth vehicle rocked back on its haunches. 'Load!' came the radio command. A Ukrainian loader sweated in the dugout as he fed the 45kg shells into 45 tonnes of British engineering. Another was setting the fuses, while inside the mobile howitzer, a gunner manoeuvred the cannon to the instructions from his commander. 'Aim point Azimuth [number]! Waiting … Fire, Fire!' The crew fired six rounds in quick succession, targeting five Russian soldiers in a trench, and after each shot making minor adjustments to their aim. Then, as quickly as they had taken their positions, the soldiers filed back into their bunker. An enemy 'FPV' [First Person View] suicide drone was hovering above, hunting for the crew's firing position. Its Russian operator was too late to save his comrades, but was no doubt looking to exact revenge. The crew of Ukraine's 2nd Self-Propelled Artillery Battery, Third Assault Brigade, hunkered down in their bunker under a tree line: eight men crowded into a cramped, muddy space big enough for only two bunkbeds and two desks. One soldier played back video from their own drone above the Russian lines, to show their work. • How Kyiv is grappling with Kremlin assassins on the home front 'That was our shot. We fired, and here is the impact,' said 'Bear', the radio operator, as he watched the blast strike a treeline in puffs of smoke. 'Look, it hit the target. There's the bunker in the tree line. Here's another one — hitting the same place where they're hiding. That's good work, guys. Surgical.'In May the British Army retired its 89 AS90s, handing them all over to Ukraine. The Third Assault Brigade received at least 12, replacing their Soviet-era 2S19 Msta-S. They are pleased with their new weapon. 'If the gun is in good condition — if we've checked it and everything's fine — it works really well. It feels like it was built with the operator in mind,' said 'Skrypa', the crew commander. The tracked vehicle's interior is spacious compared with their old Soviet artillery, and it is better armoured and better absorbs the powerful, brain-shaking vibrations of the 155mm gun. They have also withstood an intensity of use they were never designed for, according to the crew, who allow for some wear and tear. 'These are good guns. They can fire up to eight times more than the declared barrel lifespan,' Lev, a sergeant, said. 'But after 8,000 shots, maybe you'll hit on the fifth shot instead of the third.' The Third Assault Brigade is an elite unit comprised only of volunteers, motivated by strong nationalist sentiment. They are holding the Russians back around the strategic town of Izyum, which was occupied, then liberated, in the first year of the war. Its recapture would allow the Russians to bear down on Ukraine's army further south in the Donbas, cutting key supply lines, so General Syrsky has deployed one of his best brigades there and ordered them to hold. In other areas of the front the Ukrainians are being gradually driven back, hampered by a dire lack of infantry. The key towns of Pokrovsk and Kostyantynivka are being encircled and slowly reduced to rubble. By contrast, the Third Assault Brigade have a full complement and have held the Russians to a crawl for more than a year, despite intense assaults. 'When the enemy begins pushing toward our infantry, we engage to stop them from even getting close,' Skrypa said. 'I had a situation where about 30 [Russians] started gathering in a tree line, preparing to attack our guys — storm troopers. But they didn't make it. We fired several shells, and that was it, none of them wanted to come back.' • Putin gives Russian passport to US citizen who spied on Ukraine The Ukrainians' use of British AS90s has pleased their UK allies. 'The UK's AS90 artillery platforms, which with its high rate of fire, survivability and good mobility has made it a highly effective tool in halting Russian attacks,' Luke Pollard, the minister for the armed forces, said. 'The UK's support for Ukraine remains ironclad. That is why we are stepping up on a 50-day drive to arm Ukraine and force Putin to the negotiating table.' Initially the UK planned to send only 30 howitzers, which were transferred in January 2023. Yet the Ukrainian crews have proved so capable they were gifted all of them. The artillery systems, designed in the 1990s, were retired by the British Army because of their age and their lumbering lack of mobility for the modern battlefield. But they are still proving their worth in Ukraine and have become a high priority target for Russian drones designed in 2025. 'There was one incident when we got hit by a winged drone. It hit near our firing position. But since we always use camouflage nets and branches, the cumulative charge only scratched the armour a little,' Skrypa recalled. 'Another time the net caught fire — it started spreading toward the gun, but we managed to put it out in time. First two FPVs hit our firing point, then we extinguished the flames and went back to our position. The third drone hit our transport vehicle — the regular one we drove in on. It burnt down completely.' The men cracked jokes in the bunker to relieve the tension while waiting to find out if the Russian drone had found either the gun emplacement or their bunker. Bear tracked its signal on a screen that shows any aircraft emitting a radio signal. The last line of defence against drones is a simple shotgun, but the Ukrainians have now developed cartridges that can be loaded into the magazine of an assault rifle. They can be fired in bursts, creating a spread of shrapnel that increases the chance of hitting an incoming explosive drone. After an anxious few minutes, the Russian drone started moving away. 'The air is clear,' says Bear, looking up from the screen. There are newer drones, controlled by long strands of fibre optic cable, that give off no radio signal and that his system cannot detect, he warned. Then the crew returned to resume their firing.
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Trump lands in Scotland to inaugurate his new golf course
President Donald Trump touched down in Scotland Friday to begin a five-day golf getaway at his courses after a stunning period where his big win in Congress and bombing of Iran was quickly overtaken by the Jeffrey Epstein saga. Trump, 79, has made golf an important part of his life and his business empire – visiting courses more than 60 times in his second term. He is doing so again six months into his second term, with planned visits to both of his Scottish courses. The president spoke reverentially about his Turnberry course as he left the White House – but still got hit with questions about whether he would pardon Ghislaine Maxwell , who met with top DOJ officials this week amid new scrutiny of the convicted [sexual] offender who died in his jail cell. And he issued a new iteration of his denial of a sensational report in the Wall Street Journal that he drew a picture of a woman for Epstein as part of a special birthday volume. 'Somebody could have written a letter and used my name,' Trump posited. He said he has the 'power' to pardon Maxwell , who is serving jail time after being convicted of assisting Epstein in his [sexual] trafficking network. Here in Scotland, Trump is set to inaugurate a new course in Aberdeenshire, on a trip where squeezing his hosts to bring the British Open to his Turnberry Course is also on tap. The new MacLeod course in Menie is named for his late mother, Mary Anne MacLeod, who was born in Scotland and emigrated to the U.S. Trump is already predicting victory on that front. 'I think they will do that,' he said of bringing the Open to his Turnberry course. 'Turnberry is rated the number one course in the world. I think they'll do that.' But he pushed back when asked if he was going to convince anyone of his stance on the trip. 'No, it's not about that,' Trump said. 'It's the best resort in the world, I think, Turnberry, and it's one of the greatest courses in the world.' A potential championship isn't the only dealmaking on the horizon. Trump and British PM Keir Starmer, who inked a trade deal at the G7 in Canada shortly before Starmer dropped it on camera, still must negotiate substantial details. That puts prices for cars, auto parts, chicken, beef, and digital clicks in play, after a U.S.-UK trade deal in May set only broad parameters but left many details to be worked out. Trump set off confusion before he even left the White House when he told reporters that 'We're meeting with the prime minister tonight' and that 'We're going to be talking about the trade deal that we made and maybe even improve it.' There was no expectation that Trump would even see Starmer until later in his visit. There was, however, a new addition to his schedule. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she would meet with Trump Sunday to 'discuss transatlantic trade relations, and how we can keep them strong' – setting up another high stakes negotiation. Trump has been flouting his ability to bring other nations to heel by publicly releasing trade letters announcing what tariffs they will face. The White House said the number had reached 25 before he left Washington. Trump blasted out yet another threat Friday when he said there was a 'fifty-fifty' chance of a deal with the European Union , while saying the powerful trade block must 'buy down' the threatened 30 percent tariff. But the lure of his upcoming State Visit and meeting with King Charles is preventing Trump from playing full hardball , one insider tells the Daily Mail. Trump's language as he left town was very much in keeping with that stance. Trump called it 'more fine-tuning.' 'And also we do a little celebrating together, because, you know, we got along very well. UK has been trying to make a deal with us for like 12 years, and haven't been able to do it. We got it done.' He called Starmer a 'good prime minister' and a 'good guy' who was 'doing a very good job. 'So we're going to see. We're going to meet at Turnberry and we're going to meet at Aberdeen. So two beautiful places.' But he said there was 'not a lot' of wiggle room on steel and aluminum tariffs he has imposed using Section 232 authority. The absence of detailed information on the weekend schedule released by the White House makes clear that there is plenty of golf in Trump's future. He has no public events Saturday or Sunday, when he will be at Turnberry. His Starmer meeting comes Monday, after which the pair are expected to tour Trump's new course. Trump is also expected to meeting First Minister John Swinney, who is scoring the face time despite publicly backing Trump's rival Kamala Harris in the election.
