US News
- The FBI aided a Ukrainian intelligence effort to ban Twitter users and collect their data, new leaks show. Twitter declined to censor journalists targeted by Ukraine, including The Grayzone’s Aaron Maté. Grayzone
Russia
- Russia on Wednesday questioned what the US might have known about Ukrainian plans to attack the Nova Kakhovka Dam in southern Ukraine using a US-provided HIMARS system. AWC
- Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Wednesday reaffirmed Kyiv’s position that it’s against the idea of pausing the fighting in Ukraine to foster peace talks between the warring sides. AWC
- Germany is preparing to lead NATO’s largest-ever air deployment exercises in a show of force meant as a warning to Russia. AWC
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Tuesday that Ukraine has received a “powerful offer” from countries that are willing to provide their American-made F-16 fighter jets. AWC
- The former civilian head of the NATO alliance is warning that some Eastern European states are prepared to send their soldiers to Ukraine if the bloc does not make significant pledges to Kiev during an upcoming summit. The Institute
China
- Several media outlets have reported that Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to travel to China this month amid soaring tensions between Washington and Beijing. AWC
Syria
- US Central Command said in a press release on Tuesday that it conducted 38 operations against ISIS in Iraq and Syria in May, killing eight alleged ISIS “operatives” and detaining 31 more. AWC
