Last night saw some heavy war activity. Trump is talking escalation again. There are various rumors making the rounds about the potential use of US military contractors—after a ceasefire. So don’t hold your breath on that one. On the other hand, the Trump regime is touting the provision of new cruise missiles to Ukraine. According to the WSJ, those cruise missiles will arrive in Ukraine in about 6 weeks. MoA has an extended analysis of these developments and is skeptical of their effect.
So Trump escalates the war by proving Ukraine with more weapons and intel to strike Russia deep into its territory.
5:11 AM · Aug 30, 2025
Nevertheless, Ukraine is making a major effort to target Russian refineries with drones. Russia has been responding with very heavy missiles attacks that illustrate Russia’s abundance of advanced weaponry, like Kinzhals. The pattern of attacks last night suggest—in addition to strategic strikes into Western Ukraine—that Russia is preparing to isolate Ukrainian forces in the east by hitting major transport hubs between the front lines and the Dnepr river, such as Dnepr, Zaporozhy, and Pavlograd. You can see those sites on the map on the right side.
DD Geopolitics @DD_Geopolitics
3h
 Another LARGE-Scale Russian Strike Package
 20 Kh-101 cruise missiles were launched:
— Up to 6 of them targeted Ozernoe Airbase in the Zhitomir region
— 8 targeted Pavlograd in the Dnepropetrovsk region
— Up to 6 of them hit a target in the Ternopol region
— One was intercepted in the Cherkassy region.
 10 Kalibr cruise missiles were launched:
— 4 of the missiles hit Dnepr
— 6 of them struck Zaporozhye City
 9 Iskander-M ballistic missiles were launched:
— 5 of them hit Dnepr
— 1 missile hit Zaporozhye City
— 3 missiles struck Pavlograd, Dnepropetrovsk region
 4 Kh-59 cruise missiles were launched:
— 1 cruise missile targeted Dnepr
— 1 of them hit Zaporozhye City
— The last two missiles were intercepted over Dnepr
 537 Russian Geran-2 drones were launched from over six launch sites.
All of this activity suggests that the Russian escalation since the Alaska meeting is building toward something important. This impression is heightened by Putin’s current trip to Beijing, where Putin and India’s Modi (traveling to Beijing for the first time in seven years) will be meeting with Xi Jinping. In an interview with Xinhua, Putin invokes the memory of joint PLA and Russian military action against “militarist Japan” and stresses the congruence of Russian and Chinese strategic interests in the multi-polar world. The mention at the end to “The use of the financial sector for neocolonial purposes” is a clear reference to the Anglo-Zionist war on the world.
On the eve of his longest-ever visit to China, President Vladimir Putin gave an exclusive interview to Xinhua, signaling deepening strategic ties:
We expect that following the upcoming SCO summit, the Organization will gain additional strong momentum, increase its capacity to respond to modern challenges and threats, and strengthen solidarity in our common Eurasian space.
All this will contribute to the formation of a more just and multipolar world order.
In Beijing, we will pay tribute to the common feat of our fathers, grandfathers, and great-grandfathers, who together defeated militarist Japan
We honor the memory of those who cemented the combat brotherhood of our peoples with blood, defended the freedom, independence of our states, and their right to sovereign development.
The head of the PRC sets an example for the whole world of what a respectful, equal dialogue with foreign partners can and should be today.
And in Russia, the sincere desire of the head of the Chinese state to comprehensively develop relations of all-encompassing partnership and strategic interaction with our country is highly valued.
Economic relations between Moscow and Beijing have reached an unprecedentedly high level; China is an unconditional leader for Russia in terms of bilateral trade volume.
Cooperation between Russia and China in multilateral formats is a huge part of our relations and, undoubtedly, a significant factor in global politics.
The exchange of views on key international issues repeatedly confirms that Moscow and Beijing share broad common interests and similar views on fundamental questions. We look in the same direction regarding the promotion of a just, multipolar world order based on the countries of the global majority.
The use of the financial sector for neocolonial purposes must be stopped."
On the Epstein papers front, there’s been interesting development:
DD Geopolitics @DD_Geopolitics
 A massive leak of former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak's emails (100,000 emails) revealed that he and Jeffrey Epstein were talking about meeting Peter Thiel, who owns Palantir.
Former Israeli PM Ehud Barak tells Jeffrey Epstein that he is “trying to arrange it so the security guys will NOT come with us to the island.”
5:16 PM · Aug 29, 2025
Barak is not just a former PM. He’s also a former minister of defense and foreign affairs as well as a former Chief of the General Staff. Follow this link for views of the relevant emails. This activity between Epstein and Barak strongly tends to confirm that Epstein was indeed involved in intelligence activities.
In Gaza overnight the IOF encountered several “difficult situations” in multiple ambushes. There were multiple casualties, dead and wounded, and four Israeli soldiers are reported still missing following extraction efforts. Al-Qassam Brigades' published an image showing an IDF soldier being dragged, with captions in both Arabic and Hebrew:
There are also reports on Israeli media that the IOF invoked the Hannibal Directive, according to which the IOF attempts to kill Israeli soldiers who are in danger of being taken captive. Thomas Keith has extended coverage of this event. A few excerpts:
Hadshot Loo is reporting 3 separate security incidents inside the Gaza Strip, with further details to come.
Hebrew sources describe the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood as the epicenter of the most difficult engagements, with clashes raging for more than ninety minutes without pause.
Confirmed Events:
 Al-Zaytoun Neighborhood (Gaza City) – First engagement reported; intense clashes between resistance fighters and advancing occupation forces.
 Al-Sabra Neighborhood (Gaza City) – Second security incident confirmed.
 East of Hamad City (Khan Younis) – Third ambush targeting Israeli units advancing in the southern sector.
Hamas fighters reportedly detected Israeli forces with night vision scopes, triggering an escalation in violent clashes. According to Israeli media, the army is deploying additional troops to the area as the situation intensifies.
A firefight erupted during an attempt to rescue wounded personnel in one of the ongoing security incidents inside Gaza, with at least nine injured soldiers and officers evacuated from the field.
Hebrew sources describe the events, particularly in the areas of contact, as among the most difficult ongoing engagements, with sustained exchanges of fire and complex casualty evacuations under heavy resistance.
The intensity of the fighting, combined with the need for reinforcements and emergency medical extractions, indicates that the resistance has entrenched itself in strong defensive positions and is actively contesting every advance.
Hebrew sources report that the Israeli army has activated the Hannibal Protocol in the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood, attempting to prevent the capture of its personnel amid ongoing attacks.
Israeli media report that units from the 162nd Division and the 401st Brigade were drawn into a layered ambush in the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood, east of Gaza.
The engagement appears to have been triggered inside a pre-surveyed corridor, likely mined and bracketed with overlapping anti-armor and small-arms fire.
Resistance fighters forced the column to halt under fire, creating choke points that limited maneuver and exposed rescue elements to secondary kill zones, effectively converting the extraction phase into a continuation of the ambush itself.
Reports indicate that during the Al-Zaytoun ambush, Al-Qassam fighters attempted to capture Israeli soldiers, prompting the army to deploy additional forces and initiate a search for missing personnel.
Hebrew sources and a Hadshot to Kulam technician note that the military is assessing the results of the incident while violent clashes are still underway.
The attempted capture appears to have been integrated into the engagement plan itself, with resistance forces using the initial strike to create chaos, isolate small groups, and open corridors for extraction of captives.
This tactical sequencing, strike, isolate, overwhelm, forces the enemy into split priorities between defending positions, evacuating wounded, and preventing a capture, which can prolong the engagement and increase casualties.
Preliminary battlefield reports from Gaza point to a severe setback for the occupation forces: 2 soldiers confirmed dead, 13 in critical condition, and 4 still unaccounted for in the ongoing security incidents.
Enemy media reports that the clashes in Gaza have concluded, with occupation forces withdrawing from the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood back to their positions.
A strict military censorship order is in place, prohibiting the publication of any details regarding the case of the four missing soldiers until the Israeli army issues a new statement.
The blackout itself is telling, Tel Aviv’s loudest media channels, usually quick to frame battlefield narratives, have fallen silent. The absence of details suggests that the incident’s outcome is both politically sensitive and militarily humiliating, involving captures or losses that the occupation is not ready to admit.
Larry Johnson places this incident within the context of the Anglo-Zionist campaign to regain PR traction:
I hesitate in using the phrase, PR problem, with respect to Bibi Netanyahu’s recent pathetic charm offensive on social media because it implies something trivial and unimportant. It is anything but. Netanyahu’s propaganda tour on social media is a sign of fear and weakness. When the Israeli Occupation Force (IOF) murdered the five journalists last week, that war crime ignited a heavy dose of international outrage and protest. …
This is a clear signal that support for the Zionist genocide in the so-called civilized world is slipping; otherwise, Netanyahu would have contented himself with pontificating from his government pulpit in Tel Aviv. I don’t think spinning on social media will salvage Israel’s well-earned reputation as a terrorist state that gleefully murders women and children.
Putin characteristically exhibits two attributes which have become entirely alien to Western political leaders: he is smart and he is honest in what he says. Perhaps this is part of what terrifies those leaders about him. Dishonesty and stupidity provide no defense against the truth and reality.
In moving toward China, both Russia and India are simply doing the smart thing given the reality of Western antagonism toward them.
"The 162nd Division and the 401st Brigade were drawn into a layered ambush in the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood, east of Gaza." It's pretty stunning that Hamas can still mount such sophisticated operations after everything the Israelis have thrown at them. It also reveals the weakpoint of all "Western" military forces: extreme sensitivity to casualties. The US, Brits and Israelis can kill thousands of poor "sand niggers" (excuse the phrase, but that is how we see them) without a qualm but lose half a dozen of our own and the folks back home get jittery. So we face yet another irony in this war which has turned the Israelis into the very people they fled from in 1948: they are now facing their own mini-Stalingrad.
Putin characteristically exhibits two attributes which have become entirely alien to Western political leaders: he is smart and he is honest in what he says. Perhaps this is part of what terrifies those leaders about him. Dishonesty and stupidity provide no defense against the truth and reality.
In moving toward China, both Russia and India are simply doing the smart thing given the reality of Western antagonism toward them.
"The 162nd Division and the 401st Brigade were drawn into a layered ambush in the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood, east of Gaza." It's pretty stunning that Hamas can still mount such sophisticated operations after everything the Israelis have thrown at them. It also reveals the weakpoint of all "Western" military forces: extreme sensitivity to casualties. The US, Brits and Israelis can kill thousands of poor "sand niggers" (excuse the phrase, but that is how we see them) without a qualm but lose half a dozen of our own and the folks back home get jittery. So we face yet another irony in this war which has turned the Israelis into the very people they fled from in 1948: they are now facing their own mini-Stalingrad.