‘Legitimate targets’: Medvedev on Russian MOD’s Ukraine-linked drone network list

The Russian Defense Ministry has published a list of industrial sites across Europe involved in manufacturing drones for Ukraine

Published 15 Apr, 2026 17:39 |

A list of Ukraine-linked manufacturing facilities scattered across Europe, which was published by the Russian military,should be treated as a register of potential targets, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said.

The Russian Defense Ministry rolled out the list earlier on Thursday, claiming thatKiev’s Western backers have been planning to sharply rampup production of long-range drones to target Russia. The plan is boundto drag European nationsinvolved in the effort closer to direct conflict withMoscow, the military warned.

Medvedev, the deputy chair of Russia’s Security Council,urged European nations to take the warning at face value.

“[The] Russian Defense Ministry’s statement must be taken literally: the list ofEuropean facilities which make drones & other equipmentis alist of potential targets for the Russian armed forces. When strikes become a reality depends on what comes next.Sleep well, European partners!”. the ex-president wrote on X.

According to the Defense Ministry, multiple Ukraine-linked drone manufacturing facilities are located in the UK, Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, Latvia, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Finland, and Poland. The ministry alsoidentified several sitesthat produce drone components for UAVs that end up being supplied to Kiev, which aresituated in Italy, Türkiye, Spain, Germany, the Czech Republic, and Israel.

https://www.rt.com/russia/638470-russia-targets-europe-factories-ukraine/

(The EU and other countries had NATO nations that were secretly providing armaments, etc to Ukraine a “non-NATO country” they also developed attack plans, and access to confidential plans and secrets with Ukraine, which is forbidden; and one of the reasons Trump stopped sending arms to Ukraine directly.Trump shouldn’t even send any now to NATO to give to Kiev, since NATO won’t help in Iran. When the leaders say Iran is not their war, neither is Ukraine their war. Ukraine is a not in NATO, nor are they in the EU. The EU says they won’t be a member until the late 2030’s.)

It seems obvious the Ukraine used most of the money given to them by U.S. or EU, etc. was not used for the war, but for producing war drones and selling them to the Mideast. They are making millions if not billions by this endeavor.Even their dead soldiers families don’t get burial fees. Or money they were owed!no wonder the people will not volunteer)

US wants European NATO states to ‘contain Russia’ – Lavrov

The West is becoming increasingly divided as its power wanes, the Russian foreign minister has said

Published 15 Apr, 2026 12:58 |

The US is trying to shift the burden of “containing Russia” onto European NATO members, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said.

Speaking during a visit to China on Wednesday,Lavrov blamed the EU and UK for “torpedoing” US-Russian talks aimed at normalizing diplomatic tiesand criticized large-scale European rearmament programs.

“European elites see militarization as a guarantee of their survival. And Americans encourage this European militarization as it shifts responsibility for security of the Old World,” he said.

Washington is content for European states to bankroll Kiev against Moscowand even create a new military bloc involving Ukraine, as this places “the main responsibility [on them] for containing Russia,” Lavrov said.

According to the diplomat, the broaderWestern agenda is to “preserve and renew their hegemony”and put in place new tools to make sure they “live at the expense of others” – as slavery and colonialism did in the past. But as their relative power declines, internal frictions in the West intensify, he said.

Lavrov criticized the EU for prioritizing ideology over economic pragmatismby refusing Russian energy supplies despite a global price shock caused by the US war on Iran.

“Europe says it is getting off the needle of Russian oil and gas. And it risks getting impaled by an aspen stake, which [the US] is actively sharpening for the Europeans,”he said.

The top Russian diplomat stated thatofficialsin Brussels, Paris, Berlin, and Londonare making efforts to prolong the Ukraine conflict and keep the US involvedin it.They have largely nullified the outcome of US-Russian negotiations in Alaska last year, even as President DonaldTrump has moved away fromhis predecessor’s policy ofopen-ended support for Kiev, Lavrov said.

Moscow has no illusions about the fact that the US pursues dominance over global energy markets, including through recent military operations against Venezuela and Iran and the continuation of sanctions on Russia, the minister concluded.

(https://www.rt.com/russia/638452-lavrov-west-russia-containment/

Even though Lavrov believes that the EU is doing RE militarization,Russia knows the EU is brokeand them trying to resurrect the armies in each country won’t work.They dismantled all their armies, many decades ago.Plus EU always promises bold action,it peters outafter a year or two. They think the U.S. will continue to defend them. It’s not going to happen. It’s more likely the EU countries will have dangerous uprisings by Muslims. The EU should have more fear of the radical Muslims in all of their countries, especially the UK.

Moscow shoots down NATO hacking accusations

A Russian envoy has said Swedish cyberattack claims are based on “unfounded suspicions” and “highly likely” conjecture

Published 16 Apr, 2026 14:11

Stockholm’s allegations that a pro-Russian hacker group attempted to disrupt a thermal power plant in Sweden last year are unfounded and lacking concrete evidence, Russia’s ambassador to the country, Sergey Belyaev, has said.

Swedish Civil Defense Minister Carl-Oskar Bohlin claimed on Wednesday that a group linked to Russian intelligence attempted to attack a district heating plant in western Sweden in the spring of 2025. Bohlin stated that Swedish security services had identified the actor behind the attack, which he said was thwarted by the plant’s built-in security systems.

“The Swedish Security Service handled the case and was able to identify the actor behind it,which has ties to Russian intelligence and security services,” Bohlin told reporters. KEK

However, Belyaev has rejected the allegations as baseless, noting that Stockholm hasnot soughtany consultations with the Russian side over the issue,which suggests that “there are no specific facts or evidence.”

He further stated that claims about the alleged involvement of “certain Russian hackers in such illegal activity remain at the level ofthe ‘highly likely’ principle, beloved by Western countries,that is, unfounded suspicions.”

Moscow has repeatedly deniedWestern accusations of involvement in hacking activities as warmongering and has consistently expressed willingness to cooperate on cybersecurity matters.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov previously notedthat accusing Russia of hacking is “a favorite hobby around the world,” andthat blaming Moscow for everythinghas become a common trend in the West.

The latest Swedish allegations come amid heightened tensions between Moscow and NATO. The military bloc has cited the supposed threat of Russian aggression to justify a massive military buildup and developing offensive cyber capabilities.

In February, the EU’s tech chief Henna Virkkunen also said it was “not enough” to have defensive measures and that the bloc needs also to have “offensive capacity.”

The number of DDoS attacks on Russian companies exceeded 186,000 in 2025, marking a 2.7‑fold increase from the previous year, according to the RED Security cybersecurity firm. In 2026, the upward trend has continued, with weekly attacks on state resources surging from an average of 350 to 949 in the spring, according to the Russian authorities.

https://www.rt.com/russia/638516-russia-sweden-hacking-accusations/

(It’s funny these countries always accuse Russia while Ukraine is Notorious for hacking.)

Iran considering easing Strait of Hormuz restrictions – Reuters

Tehran has reportedly floated a proposal to allow ships to sail freely through the Omani side of the waterway

Published 15 Apr, 2026 23:50

Iran could consider allowing ships to pass freely through the Omani side of the Strait of Hormuz if the US offers concessions, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing a source briefed by Tehran.

Reuters said thesource did not clarify whether Iran would allow all ships, including those linked to Israel, to pass freely. A Western sourceconfirmed that the proposal to allow vessels to sail through the Omani side had been in the works, but did not say whether there had been any response from the US.

Iran closed the vital shipping route to “enemy ships” shortly after the US and Israel launched their bombing campaign against the country on February 28. US President Donald Trump declared a blockade of the strait on Sunday after Pakistani-mediated peace talks failed to produce a breakthrough.

The American military said the goal of the blockade was to cut off Iran’s trade. “Ten vessels have now been turned around, and zero ships have broken through since the start of the US blockade on Monday,” US Central Command said on Wednesday. However, a large Maltese-flagged tanker, the Agios Fanourios I, passed through Hormuz the same day, according to maritime tracking websites.

Disruptions to traffic through the strait, which handles about 20% of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas flows, have caused spikes in energy prices and prompted the International Monetary Fund to warn this week that further blockades would drive global inflation.

https://www.rt.com/news/638483-iran-omani-hormuz-traffic/