#Iran

Russia’s Defense Ministry–run TV channel has aired a report from a drone factory in Tatarstan where teenagers—including ninth-grade students—are shown helping mass-produce Shahed-type attack drones used against Ukraine, sparking fresh outrage over the militarization of minors and alleged forced labor at a facility under international sanctions.

The Pentagon is shifting into overdrive in its quest to close America’s missile defense gap, with the US Army’s FY2026 budget calling for a massive scale-up in PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) interceptor purchases.

The European Union’s plan to ban refined products made from Russian oil comes at the same time the war between Israel and Iran threatens to send global crude prices soaring—and nowhere do these two storylines intersect more dangerously than in Moscow’s budget.