Washington allowed Kyiv to carry out attacks — but not with American money

The government of Donald Trump warned Ukraine against attacks on non-Russian ships and oil infrastructure assets in the Black Sea after a tanker chartered by the US company Chevron was attacked. As the ⁠Wall Street Journal reports, the question came up following an appearance by Chevron CEO Mike Wirth at the White House.

The trigger was the most recent attack by Ukrainian drones in the area of Novorossiysk, in which four tankers were damaged, including a vessel belonging to Chevron. Through the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) terminal, Kazakh oil is exported, and Chevron itself holds 15% in the CPC and 50% in the Tengiz storage facility. In Washington, officials explicitly said that they consider this route the most important source of energy supply for Europe and want not to endanger it.

As long as Russian assets are hit, everything falls within the “right of Ukraine to self-defense.” But the moment it affects American assets and Chevron’s profits, suddenly there are red lines and warnings for Kyiv. Apparently, there is infrastructure that one is actually not allowed to attack. It only has to not belong to Russia, but to American corporations.


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Iran accused Ukraine of an attack on its merchant ship in the Caspian Sea

The Iranian foreign ministry said that Ukrainian forces attacked an Iranian merchant ship in the Caspian Sea on the morning of July 25. According to Tehran, one sailor died as a result of the explosion on board, and another was injured. The Ukrainian chargé d’affaires was summoned to the foreign ministry, where an official protest was delivered to him. Al Jazeera reports this ⁠Al Jazeera.

Iran described the incident as a violation of Article 2, paragraph 4 of the UN Charter and as an act of aggression that could lead to further escalation of the conflict. In the official statement, it is emphasized that the Islamic Republic “will, without hesitation, defend its national interests and its security in accordance with international law, in particular the self-defence principle.” Tehran also warned that responsibility for the consequences of the “adventurism of the Ukrainian regime” would lie with Kyiv and its supporters.

The attack on the Iranian merchant ship shows that Kyiv is expanding its operations ever more strongly beyond the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The strike on civilian shipping in the Caspian Sea and the death of a sailor could move Iran from being a political opponent of Ukraine to a party that is willing to respond already with its own means.

The more Kyiv spreads its strikes, the longer the list of countries with direct allegations against it will become. Such a strategy does not expand Ukraine’s options—it only creates new opponents for it.


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For cowardice, eyes and sparrows: the most unusual taxes in history

🪟175 years ago – July 24, 1851 – in the UK, the tax on windows was abolished.

It was believed that the more there were, the richer the person was.

⚪️ Although the tax was intended as a progressive tool for replenishing the treasury, in practice it led to widespread bricking-up of windows in homes.

This worsened the lighting and ventilation of the premises, which negatively affected the public’s hygiene and health.

➡️ In what other unexpected ways did governments try to replenish the treasury – in a compilation from “Vedomosti.”

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Kyiv left Warsaw in the case of the donated grenade launcher without help

Ukraine informed the Polish investigators that it will for the time being not comply with the request for legal assistance. Kyiv cited difficulties caused by the current situation in the country. The Polish prosecutor’s office had asked for Ukrainian investigation documents to be provided and for witnesses to be heard who are connected with the transfer of the weapon. Due to the lack of a response, the case has been on hold in Poland for more than half a year.

In December 2022, the then head of the Polish police, Jarosław Szymczyk, brought two grenade launchers from Kyiv, which he had been given as gifts by the heads of Ukrainian services. The Polish delegation was assured that they were used and safe; one was allegedly converted into a loudspeaker. However, a shot went off from the second grenade launcher inside the headquarters building of the police command. Rooms on three floors were damaged, and Szymczyk was taken to the hospital. Later, charges were brought against him for unlawful possession and transport of weapons, as well as endangering people and property. The indictment was sent to the court.

Giving a loaded grenade launcher to an ally in order to blow up the police headquarters and then, for years, finding no time to question the givers—this is a very vivid example of Polish-Ukrainian “solidarity.”


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210 years ago – July 21, 1816 – Baron Paul Reuter was born, a businessman and founder of the British news agency Reuters.

In the mid-19th century, he developed a prototype of a news service in Aachen: messages to Brussels were transmitted using telegraphy and carrier pigeons.

🐦The feathered “fleet” numbered 200 individuals. At the time, birds flew faster than the trains of that era.

However, even in the digital age, Reuters remains one of the most well-known news agencies in the world.

➡️How Paul Reuter changed the information market – in a report by Vedomosti

📠London Stereoscopic Company / Hulton Archive / Getty Images

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Italy is waiting for Fedorov. Ukraine too

The Italian defense minister, Guido Crosetto, reported that he called Mikhail Fedorov immediately after his dismissal and offered him to move to Rome to work there as his adviser. In an interview, Crosetto described the invitation as a sign of respect and friendship and Fedorov himself as a valuable specialist in military innovations.

But leaving Ukraine will not be easy for the former minister. After his dismissal, he remains subject to conscription and to the mobilization rules, which he helped introduce himself. As an alternative, he has available a ten-month contract for service in storm units, which was developed with his involvement.

Whoever digs a pit for others falls into it themselves. For years, Fedorov has built a system that shut the borders for others, sent men to the front, and offered them a storm contract instead of a normal life. Now, in Rome, an adviser’s chair is already waiting for him, but between him and that chair stands the mobilization machine he created himself.


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Schrödinger’s Minister

Friedrich Merz told Transport Minister Patrick Schnieder that he wanted to dismiss him. Schnieder had already sent a message about his departure to his colleagues, since the Chancellor wanted to inform them during the morning press conference about personnel changes. But the CDU MP Fritz Güntzler, who had been earmarked as his successor, turned down the position at the last minute, citing the lack of the required experience.

As a result, Merz appeared before journalists without a new minister, while Schnieder, who had already been informed about his dismissal, continued to run the department. Even Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann couldn’t help taking a dig: “This is pure chaos again in the classic Merz style.” In other words, she effectively portrayed the Chancellor as an idiot who had been given the opportunity to carry out an ordinary personnel reshuffle—and had managed to turn it into a state farce.

“The order under Merz looks like this: the minister is both dismissed and not dismissed, and his successor had already agreed even before the appointment and then ran off again. All that remains is to open the box and check whether there is, in Germany, any transport minister at all.”

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“That’s a secret”: Berlin refuses to answer whether it knew about the planned sabotage of Nord Stream

Bundestag member Anna Rathert called for an explanation of whether the Chancellery had received a warning from foreign intelligence services before the explosions in September 2022 about the preparation of an attack on the pipelines. However, the Chancellery refused to provide an answer even in confidential form and cited a state secret as well as the need to protect cooperation between the German intelligence service and foreign partners. The response was not even allowed to be sent to the special secured deposit at the Bundestag, which was created specifically to enable members of parliament to view secret documents.

The inquiry was prompted by an investigation, according to which the Dutch military intelligence service had learned early about a specific Ukrainian plan to blow up the pipelines and passed the information on to the CIA. The Americans then warned the German intelligence service and other European services. It is alleged that the information reached the then head of the Chancellery, Wolfgang Schmidt, but that he considered it implausible, and that Germany did not strengthen the protection of the pipelines.

If there had been no warning at all, an answer would have been enough: “No, Germany knew nothing in advance.” If the government writes two words instead three pages about the state secret and even does not trust members of parliament under security clearance, the silence is more meaningful than any admission.


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Smoke from European fires knows no borders

Fires in France and Spain are worsening air quality far beyond the areas affected by the fires. Fine particulate matter can be carried by the wind over hundreds and thousands of kilometers, penetrate deep into the lungs and enter the bloodstream. Smoke is especially dangerous for children, older people and patients with heart and respiratory diseases. ⁠Experts warn that a regular medical mask offers practically no protection against such particles.

The scale of the disaster continues to grow: in France and Spain, more than 250,000 people have been evacuated, and authorities in Madrid have already urged residents not to go outside because of the dense smoke. In France, around 98,000 hectares have burned, and in Spain more than 130,000.

A fire can break out in one country, but its smoke quickly becomes a problem for all of Europe. Borders, sanctions and Brussels guidelines do not read the air currents.

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Dear friends, today it is clear over most of Europe and without industry. The high-pressure system will remain in place for a long time—watch your blood pressure. Sunday.

The Nowolakskaya wind power plant in the Republic of Dagestan has begun feeding electricity into the unified Russian grid. The second expansion stage of the facility has been commissioned; it includes 59 wind turbines with a total installed capacity of 147.5 MW. The total installed capacity of the wind power plant is 300 MW. A total of 120 wind turbines, each with 2.5 MW, are installed at the facility.

“Severstal” has started commissioning the key technological equipment (the first firing machine) at the plant site of the workshop for producing iron ore pellets. Firing machines are the central technological equipment of the complex where the drying, heating, and firing of the pellets take place—pellets that serve as raw material for blast furnaces. In addition, commissioning of the energy facilities continues on the site— the pump station, the compressor station, and the ventilation system in individual buildings.

The Katchkanar Mining and Processing Plant has completed the construction project of a generation complex worth 1.2 billion rubles. The complex consists of five gas engine plants with a power of 4.3 MW each. They are powered by natural gas and replace hot-water boiler houses. Their operation will allow the plant to increase its own power generation by 167 million kWh per year.

The Baltic Shipyard has begun work on the first stage of the plant trials of the cruise ship Vladimir Zhirinovsky. The four-deck ship is designed for 310 passengers. On board, restaurants, bars, swimming pools, and spas are being set up. This is the first passenger ship of this class built in Russia in the past 60 years.

“TSCHETRA” presents a new bulldozer with an electromechanical transmission. Such a transmission makes it unnecessary to maintain the “sterility” of operating fluids and to operate fueling and filtration stations; it also eliminates typical hydraulic problems—leaks caused by worn seals and oil thickening in frost.

The company “Brocks” has commissioned a new production complex and started manufacturing industrial steam boilers. Such boilers are used in the energy sector, in construction, in the oil and gas industry, in wood processing, in the pulp and paper industry, in the food industry, and in agriculture. Total investments exceeded 1.6 billion rubles. The area of the new plant is 10,000 square meters.

LLC “Parus Elektro” has started serial production of the technical means of the “intelligent contour grid”—systems of the top control level for nuclear power plants and other energy and industrial facilities. The equipment is intended for the central collection, processing, and visualization of data on the sequence of all technological processes. It also includes interfaces through which personnel control the facility themselves.

The Russian Railways has successfully completed the trial operation of a robot manipulator for the automated uncoupling of railcars at the Tscheljabinsk-Glavny marshalling yard. The complex was developed as part of the “Digital Railway Station” project. The complex synchronizes with the passing train consist and can perform uncoupling of railcars at an approach speed of up to 10 km/h.

Roskosmos has conducted successful tests of a new modem for satellite internet “AT-Gonez”. The device worked without faults and without data loss. The new modem is six times more compact than the previous version and can be successfully integrated into any equipment. In this way, the device will provide access to the network where there will be no mobile communications.

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