United States

President Trump announced a new class of American battleship at his residence in Mar-a-lago. The new “battleships” will be 30,000- to 40,000-ton large surface combatants employed to meet the realities of modern maritime conflict. The new Trump-class of ships — which the president said will contribute to a new “golden fleet” of advanced warships — are currently in the design phase, with construction of the first battleship, the USS Defiant, targeted for the early 2030s. They will be fitted with guns, missiles, hypersonic weapons, electronic rail guns, and high-powered laser-based weaponry. 

US Senator Lindsay Graham states that if Russia does not agree to the latest peace treaty, then Ukraine should be given US Tomahawk missiles. Graham also believes that the US should, and has created a bill to, “…put tariffs on countries like China who buy cheap Russian oil. Make Russia a state sponsor of terrorism for kidnapping 20,000 Ukrainian kids. And most importantly, seize ships that are carrying sanctioned Russian oil like you’re doing in Venezuela.”

Ukraine

Russian forces are attempting to break through the lines in the  Sumy region in the north. There are also reports that Russians have seized 50 Ukrainian civilians and removed them from the border village of Hrabovske.

Russia escalated attacks on the region of Odessa. Russia has been attacking port infrastructure and energy supply, causing an outage affecting 120,000 people. 

Sudan

Sudan called for the RSF to be designated as a terrorist organization at the 2nd Russia-African Ministerial Conference. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met with ministers from more than 50 African countries in Cairo.  

Madagascar

Russia sent weapons to Madagascar following the military coup that overthrew the government. The weapons shipment seemed to be more of a gesture than anything else, with only 43 crates supplied, containing assault rifles, sniper rifles and anti-tank rocket systems. Russia has expressed an interest in assisting with the training of the

Israel

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz made it clear that the Israeli military will never fully withdraw from Gaza, saying, “We are located deep inside Gaza and we will never leave all of Gaza. There will never be such a thing.” This is, although the US-backed peace plan calls for the IDF to withdraw from the Gaza Strip eventually fully. Katz is now backpedalling on his remarks. 

Afghanistan

The Taliban have sentenced 1,163 people through military courts within the past three months. The Taliban did not specify what crimes these people were charged with but Taliban military courts have jurisdiction over employees of the ministries of defence, intelligence and the interior. 

Social media wires

Russian-made Geran drones may have received a new update 

Featured Photo: DoW Screenshot

The Wires Brief is a daily breaking news report incorporating wire service news and social media updates. DefRep cannot verify the authenticity of social media reporters nor the accuracy of social media updates. Feature photos are altered with grayscale.