Fuel for the long-range weapons will reportedly be made on Danish soil
The fuel for Ukraine’s new Flamingo long-range cruise missile will be produced in Denmark, broadcaster DR reported on Thursday, citing a government memo.
The facility will reportedly be located near Skrydstrup Air Base in the south of the country and owned by FPRT, a subsidiary of the Ukrainian company Fire Point.
According to Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky, the weapon, unveiled last month, can travel up to 3,000 kilometers – far enough to reach Siberia. Mass production is not expected for several months, he said.
Denmark is expected to pass a law next week granting the Ukrainian company exemptions from certain regulations and immunity from civil complaints, DR said. Production is scheduled to begin on December 1.
Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen had previously stated that Ukrainian weapons manufacturers are “on the way” to starting production in Denmark.
British media have questioned whether the Flamingo was actually developed in Ukraine, pointing to similarities with the UK-made FP-5 cruise missile unveiled earlier this year.
Fire Point is also reportedly facing a probe by Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau over suspicions of misleading the government on pricing and deliveries.
Russia has repeatedly said that no amount of foreign aid to Kiev would stop its troops, and has listed the halt of arms deliveries to Ukraine among its conditions for a ceasefire.
A Lviv-based tech hub has signed a partnership with the island’s top UAV maker
A Ukrainian tech hub has signed a deal with a Taiwanese defense company to design and build combat drones, according to an announcement on Wednesday. Poland will also provide expertise.
The move was announced at the International Defense Industry Exhibition (MSPO) in Kielce, Poland, and comes amid heightened tensions between Washington and Beijing in the South China Sea.
According to Focus Taiwan, Ukraine will contribute research and development, Poland will provide expertise, and Taichung-based firm Thunder Tiger will supply technology and components. Earlier this year, Thunder Tiger unveiled an FPV drone capable of carrying an 81mm mortar as well as a new naval kamikaze drone.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed by Taiwan Defense Industry Development Association President Tony Hsu, Polish-Taiwanese Chamber of Commerce founder Bartlomiej Dobosz, and Dmitry Dymyd, a representative of the Lviv Tech Cluster in Ukraine.
The agreement “strengthens technological exchange, develops industrial potential, and enhances our security as partners united by democratic values,” Taiwan’s diplomatic office in Poland said on X.
Beijing considers all diplomatic ties with the self-governing island a violation of its sovereignty and has opposed any military aid to Taipei.
While Beijing has avoided criticizing Moscow over the Ukraine conflict, Taipei has openly expressed support for Kiev. Last month, a group of Ukrainian legislators visited the island and met with Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te.
A Lviv-based tech hub has signed a partnership with the island’s top UAV maker
A Ukrainian tech hub has signed a deal with a Taiwanese defense company to design and build combat drones, according to an announcement on Wednesday. Poland will also provide expertise.
The move was announced at the International Defense Industry Exhibition (MSPO) in Kielce, Poland, and comes amid heightened tensions between Washington and Beijing in the South China Sea.
According to Focus Taiwan, Ukraine will contribute research and development, Poland will provide expertise, and Taichung-based firm Thunder Tiger will supply technology and components. Earlier this year, Thunder Tiger unveiled an FPV drone capable of carrying an 81mm mortar as well as a new naval kamikaze drone.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed by Taiwan Defense Industry Development Association President Tony Hsu, Polish-Taiwanese Chamber of Commerce founder Bartlomiej Dobosz, and Dmitry Dymyd, a representative of the Lviv Tech Cluster in Ukraine.
The agreement “strengthens technological exchange, develops industrial potential, and enhances our security as partners united by democratic values,” Taiwan’s diplomatic office in Poland said on X.
Beijing considers all diplomatic ties with the self-governing island a violation of its sovereignty and has opposed any military aid to Taipei.
While Beijing has avoided criticizing Moscow over the Ukraine conflict, Taipei has openly expressed support for Kiev. Last month, a group of Ukrainian legislators visited the island and met with Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te.
The “statistically conspicuous” deaths are “hard to explain,” AfD’s deputy head has said
Alternative for Germany (AfD) has reported what one of its senior members is calling a “statistically conspicuous” series of deaths among its candidates just weeks before local elections in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
A total of seven party members, including five main candidates and two “reserve” ones, have died over the past few weeks.
The deaths were reported by the right-wing opposition party between August 19 and September 3 – all before the local elections scheduled for September 14. The list included local AfD politicians aged between 42 and 80 in several municipalities across the region, according to the media.
The party’s deputy regional chairman, Kay Gottschalk, told Die Welt TV that there was “no indication” of “murder or anything similar.” The police also said they had found no indication of any foul play, according to broadcaster ARD. The news has still prompted speculation on the internet.
The regional election committee has stated that it cannot find anything out of the ordinary. The committee is aware of a total of 16 deaths of candidates for the local elections, including members of a dozen political parties and associations, it said, adding that the numbers had “not significantly increased” in comparison to other election cycles.
AfD candidates still account for some 43% of all deaths reported by the committee, with all other affected political groups each confirming just one candidate death. An AfD deputy head and a Bundestag MP, Stephan Brandner, called the numbers “statistically conspicuous,” adding that they are “hard to explain.”
Some 20,000 seats will be up for grabs in the upcoming elections, according to Die Welt.
The party has steadily been gaining popularity in Germany. A poll conducted in mid-August suggested that it had overtaken Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s conservative bloc to become the country’s most popular.
The German domestic security service designated it a “confirmed far-right extremist” group in May, prompting the AfD to challenge the label in court. The country’s justice minister considered banning the party altogether later the same month.
The “statistically conspicuous” deaths are “hard to explain,” AfD’s deputy head has said
Alternative for Germany (AfD) has reported what one of its senior members is calling a “statistically conspicuous” series of deaths among its candidates just weeks before local elections in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
A total of seven party members, including five main candidates and two “reserve” ones, have died over the past few weeks.
The deaths were reported by the right-wing opposition party between August 19 and September 3 – all before the local elections scheduled for September 14. The list included local AfD politicians aged between 42 and 80 in several municipalities across the region, according to the media.
The party’s deputy regional chairman, Kay Gottschalk, told Die Welt TV that there was “no indication” of “murder or anything similar.” The police also said they had found no indication of any foul play, according to broadcaster ARD. The news has still prompted speculation on the internet.
The regional election committee has stated that it cannot find anything out of the ordinary. The committee is aware of a total of 16 deaths of candidates for the local elections, including members of a dozen political parties and associations, it said, adding that the numbers had “not significantly increased” in comparison to other election cycles.
AfD candidates still account for some 43% of all deaths reported by the committee, with all other affected political groups each confirming just one candidate death. An AfD deputy head and a Bundestag MP, Stephan Brandner, called the numbers “statistically conspicuous,” adding that they are “hard to explain.”
Some 20,000 seats will be up for grabs in the upcoming elections, according to Die Welt.
The party has steadily been gaining popularity in Germany. A poll conducted in mid-August suggested that it had overtaken Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s conservative bloc to become the country’s most popular.
The German domestic security service designated it a “confirmed far-right extremist” group in May, prompting the AfD to challenge the label in court. The country’s justice minister considered banning the party altogether later the same month.
The top diplomat has branded the meeting of leaders in Beijing a “direct challenge”
EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas’s statements regarding the leaders of China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea gathering in Beijing are “ideologically biased” and blatantly confrontational, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun has said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared in Beijing on Wednesday alongside Chinese President Xi Jinping, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian at a military parade commemorating the 80th anniversary of imperial Japan’s defeat in World War II.
Speaking to journalists in Brussels later in the day, Kallas branded their appearance together a “direct challenge to the international system built on rules,” and called on the EU to “confront” this new reality.
When asked to comment on her statements on Thursday, Guo said they were both disrespectful to WWII history and harmful to EU interests.
”The statements by the relevant EU official are full of ideological bias without basic historical common sense and blatantly stoke rivalry and confrontation,” he said in a ministry briefing, calling Kallas’ words “very wrongful and irresponsible.”
“In the current volatile and turbulent international landscape, the world needs, more than ever, solidarity and cooperation,” Guo added. “However, some EU leaders have been sticking to a Cold-War mentality and severe ideological bias and deliberately created division and confrontation.”
During the summit in Tianjin which preceded the parade, Xi proposed the creation of a new, more equitable global governance system based on mutual respect and opposition to Western hegemony.
”There should be no double standards, and the house rules of a few countries must not be imposed upon others,” the Chinese president said.
Putin has lauded the proposal as one especially relevant when “some countries still do not abandon their desire for dictatorship in international affairs.”
The top diplomat has branded the meeting of leaders in Beijing a “direct challenge”
EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas’s statements regarding the leaders of China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea gathering in Beijing are “ideologically biased” and blatantly confrontational, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun has said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared in Beijing on Wednesday alongside Chinese President Xi Jinping, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian at a military parade commemorating the 80th anniversary of imperial Japan’s defeat in World War II.
Speaking to journalists in Brussels later in the day, Kallas branded their appearance together a “direct challenge to the international system built on rules,” and called on the EU to “confront” this new reality.
When asked to comment on her statements on Thursday, Guo said they were both disrespectful to WWII history and harmful to EU interests.
”The statements by the relevant EU official are full of ideological bias without basic historical common sense and blatantly stoke rivalry and confrontation,” he said in a ministry briefing, calling Kallas’ words “very wrongful and irresponsible.”
“In the current volatile and turbulent international landscape, the world needs, more than ever, solidarity and cooperation,” Guo added. “However, some EU leaders have been sticking to a Cold-War mentality and severe ideological bias and deliberately created division and confrontation.”
During the summit in Tianjin which preceded the parade, Xi proposed the creation of a new, more equitable global governance system based on mutual respect and opposition to Western hegemony.
”There should be no double standards, and the house rules of a few countries must not be imposed upon others,” the Chinese president said.
Putin has lauded the proposal as one especially relevant when “some countries still do not abandon their desire for dictatorship in international affairs.”
Declassified documents show Tokyo planned covert killings of locals and foreigners in Manchuria in the event of war with the USSR
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has released declassified documents revealing a secret Japanese plan for mass executions in occupied Manchuria during World War II.
Despite having a neutrality pact with Moscow, Japan – a wartime ally of Nazi Germany – drafted its own strategy to invade the USSR. In 1941, the General Staff of the Imperial Japanese Army approved the ‘Kantokuen,’ or ‘Special Maneuvers of the Kwantung Army’ plan, which envisioned defeating Soviet forces in the Far East and Siberia.
The operation was tied to the Wehrmacht’s initial success, but when the Nazi blitzkrieg stalled, the Japanese high command ordered the Kwantung Army to maintain readiness for an attack. Its defeat by the Red Army in August 1945 marked the end of WWII and brought a trove of Japanese secret files into Soviet hands.
The newly released records show that Japanese counterintelligence had prepared a secret system for identifying, arresting and eliminating individuals living in occupied Manchuria – both Chinese locals and foreign residents (Russians, Koreans, Japanese, and Mongolians) – deemed a threat to Tokyo’s interests. The plans categorized “dangerous elements,” including suspected spies, political dissidents, and foreigners, and detailed how they were to be executed if hostilities with the USSR broke out.
According to the files, five classifications were drawn up. The highest-risk group included foreigners who could not be leveraged by Japanese authorities or coerced into cooperation, such as religious leaders, business figures, and political dissidents, who were to be executed without trial.
The orders regulated the timing and methods of the killings. One directive from 1943 instructed that executions take place under cover of night or at dawn, preferably during moonlight. Firing squads were to be avoided, with bayonet stabbings or beheadings by sword listed as the methods of choice.
Other instructions emphasized secrecy, with officials told to leave no trace of the victims by destroying belongings that might serve as evidence. Aid was to be provided to families of executed locals to keep the killings quiet and prevent unrest.
The “crushing defeat” of the Kwantung Army by Soviet forces prevented the “bloody” Japanese plan from being carried out, the FSB concluded.
Declassified documents show Tokyo planned covert killings of locals and foreigners in Manchuria in the event of war with the USSR
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has released declassified documents revealing a secret Japanese plan for mass executions in occupied Manchuria during World War II.
Despite having a neutrality pact with Moscow, Japan – a wartime ally of Nazi Germany – drafted its own strategy to invade the USSR. In 1941, the General Staff of the Imperial Japanese Army approved the ‘Kantokuen,’ or ‘Special Maneuvers of the Kwantung Army’ plan, which envisioned defeating Soviet forces in the Far East and Siberia.
The operation was tied to the Wehrmacht’s initial success, but when the Nazi blitzkrieg stalled, the Japanese high command ordered the Kwantung Army to maintain readiness for an attack. Its defeat by the Red Army in August 1945 marked the end of WWII and brought a trove of Japanese secret files into Soviet hands.
The newly released records show that Japanese counterintelligence had prepared a secret system for identifying, arresting and eliminating individuals living in occupied Manchuria – both Chinese locals and foreign residents (Russians, Koreans, Japanese, and Mongolians) – deemed a threat to Tokyo’s interests. The plans categorized “dangerous elements,” including suspected spies, political dissidents, and foreigners, and detailed how they were to be executed if hostilities with the USSR broke out.
According to the files, five classifications were drawn up. The highest-risk group included foreigners who could not be leveraged by Japanese authorities or coerced into cooperation, such as religious leaders, business figures, and political dissidents, who were to be executed without trial.
The orders regulated the timing and methods of the killings. One directive from 1943 instructed that executions take place under cover of night or at dawn, preferably during moonlight. Firing squads were to be avoided, with bayonet stabbings or beheadings by sword listed as the methods of choice.
Other instructions emphasized secrecy, with officials told to leave no trace of the victims by destroying belongings that might serve as evidence. Aid was to be provided to families of executed locals to keep the killings quiet and prevent unrest.
The “crushing defeat” of the Kwantung Army by Soviet forces prevented the “bloody” Japanese plan from being carried out, the FSB concluded.
Latvia could follow Denmark’s lead with a plan to start drafting females by 2028
Latvia is preparing to extend compulsory military service to women, aligning with other NATO members expanding their forces in response to what they describe as a Russian threat – a claim Moscow denies.
Defense Minister Andris Spruds told Delfi TV on Wednesday that his party, the Progressives, will submit a proposal next year requiring both men and women to serve in the military from 2028. He noted that female-specific equipment is already being introduced in the National Armed Forces to prepare for the change.
Currently, only men are conscripted under mandatory service Riga reintroduced in 2023, after previously scrapping the draft in 2006.
Latvia reportedly plans to more than double the size of its military to 31,000 troops by 2028, up from around 15,000 in 2021.
If adopted, Latvia would follow Denmark, which announced in March that it will begin drafting women from 2026. At the time, Copenhagen said the move would ensure “gender equality” in its armed forces and help meet NATO commitments.
Since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022, Western officials have claimed that Russia could target EU states next. Earlier this year, Brussels launched a frenzied military expansion campaign, while European NATO members agreed to boost armed forces spending to 5% of GDP, citing the presumed “Russian threat.”
The Kremlin has consistently dismissed allegations of hostile intent toward Western nations as “nonsense” and fearmongering and condemned what it calls the West’s “reckless militarization.”
Moscow has also criticized Western arms deliveries to Ukraine, arguing they only serve to prolong the fighting and cause unnecessary casualties without changing the outcome of the conflict.
Last month, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Western European leaders were “trying to prepare Europe for war – not some hybrid war, but a real war against Russia.” He accused the EU of sliding into what he described as a “Fourth Reich,” marked by a surge in Russophobia and aggressive militarization.
