Month: August 2026

GLOBAL  #SECURITY AND  #INTELLIGENCE  #NEWS REVIEW – AI REPORT
IRAN
x.com/mikenov/status/2089589…Michael Novakhov (@mikenov)Search:
– Iran’s biological and other asymmetric threats
– Biological & Pathogen Threats: A widespread cyclosporiasis outbreak has sickened thousands across the United States, prompting Taylor Farms to voluntarily pull Mexican-sourced iceberg lettuce from the market. Locally, a fatal case has been reported in an ongoing Legionnaires’ disease outbreak in New York City.
– Iran’s biological and other asymmetric threats to US and Israel—  https://x.com/mikenov/status/2089589554399346976

— Michael Novakhov (@mikenov) Aug 18, 2026

The cumulative impact of Trump’s actions will be not a return to greatness, but a weaker and more divided America.  foreignpolicy.com/2026/08/17…

— @ForeignPolicy Aug 18, 2026

The Next “Confrontation” Show Between Putin and Ilham Aliyev?

What is the ideal way to evade sanctions, give money to Putin, and sell his oil and gas?

What is the West hoping for here? Or are they interested in this performance as well?

The political stage in the South Caucasus has once again become the focus of attention. The growing harsh rhetoric between Moscow and Baku, and the different messages being sent by the two sides, have created a new political agenda. At first glance, this picture may give the impression of a serious confrontation. However, the political experience of the region in recent years requires a more sober approach.

Let us clarify this bit by bit.

The relationship between Putin and Ilham Aliyev has long been too complicated to be measured solely by public statements. Russia is an actor that has to take Azerbaijan’s interests in the region into account, while Azerbaijan is likewise an actor that has to take Russia’s regional interests into account. The “allied cooperation agreement” between them, signed just 20 hours before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, is still in force. In fact, in the text of the phone conversation between Ilham Aliyev and Putin just last month, they also stated that they were taking practical steps to further deepen this alliance. In Azerbaijan, 355 Russian educational institutions are still operating in full swing. Ilham Aliyev still speaks Russian at home, his son-in-law gives statements in Russian, and his grandchildren greet customers in Russian every day at the businesses they have opened.

Russia, meanwhile, has thousands of files on Heydar Aliyev filled with layer upon layer of compromising material, while Ilham Aliyev’s “national archive,” including footage allegedly recorded in casinos and other places in Moscow, lies just a few kilometers from the Kremlin’s blood-stained walls.

For this reason, whether there are genuine political disagreements behind the harsh statements, or whether this is part of a broader diplomatic calculation, is a separate question.

For the West today, the main issue should not simply be what words are being exchanged between Moscow and Baku, but what steps will follow those words. Because there can sometimes be a huge distance between political rhetoric and actual policy. Yet when you approach the issue with the assumption that “the West does not know what we know,” you see that, for some reason, the pieces of the puzzle do not quite fit. What appears to be happening is that the “confrontations” between Russia and Azerbaijan, at least at this stage, coincide with the interests of the West as well.

If the two sides are genuinely standing against each other, concrete consequences should become visible: real changes in political, economic and diplomatic relations, new decisions and practical steps. Otherwise, the intention behind harsh statements may simply be to send political messages aimed at domestic and foreign audiences, potentially misleading those who enter politics by accident.

As we try to bring together scientific, political, diplomatic, international, analytical and logical data and process the information, a picture begins to emerge:

Has a genuinely new stage begun in Azerbaijan-Russia relations, or is Baku presenting the West with an image of an “independent Azerbaijan confronting Moscow”?

The answer should be sought not in emotional statements, but in concrete political steps.

Because in international politics, the steps taken behind the cameras matter just as much as the handshakes seen in front of them.

In the South Caucasus, the consequences of this behind-the-scenes politics directly affect not only the security interests of the countries of the region, but also those of Europe and the West as a whole.

@NobelPrize  @washingtonpost
@nytimes  @ukinazerbaijan  @USEmbassyBaku  @francediplo
@FranceBakou   @francediplo_EN

— @MemmedliQulu85 Aug 18, 2026

Russian strikes kill 10 in Kharkiv as Ukrainian drones hit  #Moscow |  #Russia– #Ukraine war News | Al Jazeera  aljazeera.com/news/2026/8/18…
Russian strikes kill 10 in Kharkiv as Ukrainian drones hit Moscow
Tuesday August 18th, 2026 at 4:38 AM
Al Jazeera – Breaking News, World News and Video from Al Jazeera
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Russian attacks reportedly killed 10 people and injured eight in Ukraine’s Kharkiv.

Ukraine launched more than 620 drones at Moscow overnight in what appeared to be its largest such attack in years, while Russian attacks killed 10 people in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, according to Russian and Ukrainian officials.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said 180 of the 620 drones heading towards Moscow were “destroyed” by Russian defences over the capital region between Monday evening and ‌5am (02:00 GMT) on Tuesday. He said 17 more drones were shot down en route to the capital later.

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Russia’s state-run news agency TASS described the barrage as the largest drone attack on Moscow in the past two years.

The drone attack wounded three people, including a 10-year-old girl, Moscow region’s Governor Andrey Vorobyov said on Telegram. He said the “most serious consequences” were reported in the Pavlovsky Posad district, where a house burned down. Several more homes and a guesthouse were damaged in Bogorodsky district, he added.

A warehouse east of Moscow belonging to e-commerce giant Wildberries was damaged in Tuesday’s drone assault. In a statement, the company said its logistics complex sustained “minor damage” after “debris hit the wall of the building”.

Ukraine has struck multiple Wildberries warehouses in recent weeks, saying the company supplies components for Russian drones.

Ten killed in Kharkiv
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian air force reported shooting down or suppressing 111 of 147 “enemy” drones overnight.

Kharkiv’s regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov said preliminary information indicated 10 people were killed and eight injured in the Pechenihy settlement.

Five others, including a nine-year-old boy, were injured in the city of Izyum, he added.

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Elsewhere, Russian drones sparked fires and damaged buildings in Kyiv region’s Brovary city, including an office building and warehouses, said Mayor Ihor Sapozhko.

With front-line fighting at a near standstill and talks frozen, Ukraine and Russia have significantly stepped up long-distance attacks, pushing the civilian death toll to its highest levels since the war’s first months in 2022.

In July alone, 437 civilians were killed in Ukraine, the highest monthly toll since May 2022, according to a United Nations tally.

Russian authorities reported 79 civilians killed in Ukrainian attacks in July, up from the previous month.

— Michael Novakhov (@mikenov) Aug 18, 2026

Russian attacks reportedly killed 10 people and injured eight in Ukraine’s Kharkiv.Ukraine launched more than 620 drones at Moscow overnight in what appeared to be its largest such attack in years, while Russian attacks killed 10 people in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, according to Russian and Ukrainian

Finnish President Alexander Stubb suggested that countries bordering Russia could play the leading role in establishing dialogue between Moscow and Europe:
vk.cc/d0Ann1

— @tassagency_en Aug 18, 2026

🇺🇸 The US has decided to significantly increase the production of long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles, – Reuters

US Navy has signed a 7-year contract with Raytheon for $22.9 billion. Production of Tomahawk missiles is planned to be increased from current 60 to more than 1,000 units per year.

— @Maks_NAFO_FELLA Aug 18, 2026