Defencematters.eu Correspondents
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Defencematters.eu Correspondents
Belgium seizes suspected Russian shadow fleet tanker linked by US sanctions to Iranian shipping network
Belgian authorities have seized a tanker identified as part of Russia’s so-called shadow fleet in what appears to be the country’s first operation of this kind at sea. The vessel, Ethera, was intercepted overnight off the Belgian coast and escorted…
Afghanistan-Pakistan Hostilities Mount: Inside the Growing Crisis
Blasts and gunfire rattled through parts of Kabul on Sunday, marking a dramatic escalation in hostilities between Afghanistan and neighbouring Pakistan that has now stretched into its fourth day. Residents across the Afghan capital awoke to the sounds of explosions…
ProtectEU: Inside Brussels’ Strategy to Prevent Terrorism
When the European Commission unveiled its new ProtectEU strategy on 26th February, it marked a notable moment in the bloc’s long and often cautious efforts to confront terrorism and violent extremism. The initiative, presented as a comprehensive agenda to prevent…
Can Europe’s nuclear deterrent remain credible without US certainty?
Europe’s nuclear deterrence debate has sharpened as officials and analysts examine whether Britain and France can continue to provide a credible nuclear backstop in a less certain security environment. The immediate trigger has been a broader reassessment of deterrence in…
Pakistan Escalates Conflict with Strikes on Taliban Strongholds
Pakistan has confirmed that it carried out air strikes on the Afghan cities of Kabul and Kandahar in the early hours of Friday, in what officials described as retaliation for attacks by Taliban forces along the disputed frontier between the…
Mass Russian attack damages Ukraine energy grid, leaving six regions without power
Large-scale overnight missile and drone attack damages power infrastructure, forcing blackouts and supply restrictions across much of the country. Parts of six Ukrainian regions were left without electricity on Thursday, 26 February, after what Kyiv described as a combined large-scale…
Secret Tunnels and Hybrid Pressure: How Belarus and Russia Are Testing Europe’s Eastern Border
Belarus’s use of migration pressure against the European Union is no longer confined to flights, forest crossings and organised pushes at the frontier. According to reporting by The Telegraph, citing Polish officials, border guards discovered four underground tunnels under the…
Forging the Future: A New Era for British Naval Shipbuilding
On a crisp February morning in Fife, amid the rhythmic cadence of hammers and the scent of fresh steel, two milestones in British shipbuilding were reached that deserve wider attention. At Babcock’s Rosyth yard in Scotland, the future HMS Active…
China’s Critical Minerals Behind America’s Missiles
The United States still possesses the world’s most formidable military. It fields the most advanced aircraft, the most sophisticated satellites and a nuclear arsenal of unmatched technological complexity. Yet, according to a warning delivered this week by lawmakers in Washington,…
Four Years Since the Invasion: The War’s Strategic Lessons for Ukraine, Russia and Europe
Four years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, the central expectation that shaped much of the early commentary has not materialised: Moscow has not achieved its declared war aims. On the fourth anniversary, the…