Ukraine has been fighting a war of self-defense against an aggressor, Russia, since February 2024, while Israel has also been fighting, for much longer, a war of self-defense against many aggressors, headed by Iran, and including Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the Houthis in Yemen. Now the Ukrainians have struck an Iranian ship in the Caspian Sea carrying war materiel from Russia to Iran.With such attacks, Ukraine is not only helping itself by preventing the Russians from selling weaponry, but also, by denying military supplies to the Islamic Republic, is aiding the war efforts of both Israel and the United States. More on this attack can be found here: “Iranian ship struck by Ukraine contained drone, missile components, Kyiv’s Israel envoy reveals,” Jerusalem Post, July 26, 2026:
The ship that Ukraine struck in the Caspian Sea on Saturday [July 25] contained components for drones and missiles on their way to Iran, Ukrainian Ambassador to Israel Yevgen Korniychuk said in an interview with N12 on Sunday.
Iran claimed the ship was carrying civilian goods when it was attacked by Ukraine and accused Ukraine of seeking to expand the Russia-Ukraine war….
What kind of “civilian goods” would Iran be importing from Russia? Matryoshka dolls? The folkloric prints known as lubki? Farsi translations of Eugene Onegin and Uncle Vanya? Come off it, Tehran, you have been getting Russian war materiel long before the latest war with the U.S. began. And in turn you are now the main supplier of loitering munitions (kamikaze drones), ballistic missiles, and artillery ammunition to the Russians.
This comes on the heels of a recent statement from US President Donald Trump on Truth Social on Friday, in which he claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin assured him that Russia was not selling weapons to Iran.
“If they did, it would be very bad for them – certainly not in their best interests,” Trump emphasized in the post.he post.
Someone should let Trump know that Putin, whom he has praised as a “strong leader,” is also a congenital liar. The latest example is that ship full of Russian weapons headed to Iran; that shipment directly contradicts Putin’s assurance to a credulous trump that Russia was not selling weapons to Iran.
Russia is not winning its war with Ukraine. Half a million Russian soldiers have died, and many more have been wounded. Its loss of ships, planes, tanks, missiles, and drones has been huge. The battlefront has not moved in more than a year, despite Russia’s tremendous campaign to take more Ukrainian territory. Europe is now united in its determination to help Ukraine militarily. And Iran is suffering the same degree of loss as its ally Russia. The American blockade of Iranian ports on the Gulf, which prevents the Islamic Republic from exporting oil, has crippled it economically. It has used up, or seen destroyed by American bombs, much of its store of ballistic missiles and drones. The IDF has battered its two main proxies, Hamas and Hezbollah. Now even the deliveries from Russia to Iran, and from Iran to Russia, have no safe route left; ships in the Caspian Sea, that had until now been safe from attack, are safe no longer. As the attack on the Iranian ship on July 25 showed, Ukrainian drones can now reach those ships. The two wars continue, and in both cases, the right side is winning.
Luchtpint says
Putin is ex-KGB.
A trained liar and schemer. That tells you everything you need to know.
Rick Gordon says
Putin is a leftover from Stalinist’ times. He’s evil, not to be trusted, and in cahoots with the barbarians that rule Iran.
A good result would be an Israel -Ukraine partnership exchanging Ukraine drone expertise for Israel drone defense capabilities.
Luchtpint says
You hit the nail right on the head. The more these two nations pull together, the better our world is going to be in the long run.
Taffy says
“ Ukraine Hits Iranian Ship Delivering Russian War Materiel to Iran”
Actually, it was the opposite. Ukraine hit an Iranian ship delivering Iranian war materiel to Russia. The Iranian ship kept turning off its transponder each time it came into port. Ukraine crowdsourced a synthetic aperture radar system that picked up Iran doing this and sent its own drone to take out the Iranian ship. Since Iran is being economically strangled by the blockade of Hormuz, they need money. And selling weapons to Russia is the pipeline.
࿗Infidel࿘ says
You are right. Why would Ukraine hit a Russian ship delivering drones to Iran? That’s good for Ukraine: fewer Russian drones to attack Kyiv. If anything, Russia has pretty much abandoned Iran, this story notwithstanding: aside from the UN, they have no way to support Iran anywhere
Watching Armin’s show 2 days ago, he pointed out how Ukraine did the smart thing by first hitting the Iranian ship, and then telling the world that they did it. Had they just quietly done it, the islamic regime, w/ its hands full, would have just ignored it: who’d want that headache? But by announcing it, Ukraine forced the islamic republicans to react, and the reaction was both priceless and pathetic. They condemned the attack (as might be expected and then accused Ukraine of violating the UN charter. This from a country that has been violating UN demands to allow free shipping through the Strait of Hormuz
It’s absolutely in Ukraine’s interest to merge the 2 wars, but the best part is that neither Russia nor the islamic republic is in any position to help the other
Taffy says
Wow! You and Westman should have your own TV show where you both give meaningful analysis and commentary on current events in a mini debate format.
Taffy says
The long story and a description of the technology used for this feat is available from many sources on the Internet, I still cannot figure out why The Jerusalem Post, Hugh’s source, got the story wrong. The JP is usually accurate in its fact reporting.
I’m sure that the IRGC reads the JP, but I cannot think of a reason why the Israeli government would want to mislead about this event. I am going under the assumption that this is a deliberate “mistake.”
On another note, I’ve stated here, right after Israel took out the Ayatollah, that Ayatollah Jr. was dead and not merely injured. There is still no solid confirmation, but then again, there is still no Ayatollah Jr. and cardboard cutouts don’t count. I’m surprised that the IRGC has not released an AI-generated statement of Ayatollah Jr.
The U.S. is a little short of ordnance right now. But, I have confidence that our defense contractors will replenish things quickly. Now that Iran has targeted a US base in Jordan after the current cease fire, I hope that Trump will finally realize that he cannot rely on any statement from the Muzzie regime. Their mission is to kill and be killed for Allah. Nothing else matters. Exterminating all of them is the only way this war will end favorably to the U.S. and its interests. Hopefully that will be done by an uprising of the Iranian people. I do not want to see Delta Force or any US unit deployed on the ground in Iran, even to recover enriched uranium which is probably no longer where we think it is.
I am, however, in favor of a US occupation of Iran, once Iran is defeated, so that an orderly transition to a new government, favorable to US interests, occurs.
࿗Infidel࿘ says
Taffy
I put this question to CoPilot yesterday. It told me that the facts were disputed: that Kyiv claimed that it was an Iranian ship headed for Russia, while the islamic republic claimed that it was headed in the other direction for Iran
CoPilot did agree w/ me in suggesting that Ukraine was the one likely telling the truth here. If these were indeed headed for Iran, as Araghchi claimed, then Kyiv had no reason to shoot it down: they were Russian military parts leaving Russia, and would therefore not be used against Ukraine. Since Russia is right now a target rich environment, the last thing Kyiv would want to do is waste a long range missile on something that won’t be used against it anyway, when it could be more usefully launched at a Wildberries depot or an oil refinery somewhere
Otoh, if it was carrying IRGC drone parts to Russia, Kyiv had every reason to hunt down and sink that ship, which is what it ended up doing. They then broadcast it in order to embarrass the islamic republic, although today, Ukraine, probably due to goading by the Trump administration, “apologized” to the islamic republic claiming that it was a mistake
On your final support for the US occupying Iran, I diverge from you there. Since Reza Pahlavi seemingly has thought this through and put together a team to deal w/ all of Iran’s problems, be it international, economic, environmental, et al, I’d like to prepare the ground so that his team can take over and start the process of restoring normalcy to Iran. We already proved in both Afghanistan & Iraq that we have no clue of how to do things, and that wouldn’t have improved b/w 2020 and now. So the best thing we can do is enable the toppling of the regime by eliminating every layer of leadership of the islamic republic, and then handing over control to the Iran Prosperity Project team. Let them do something they are dedicated to
Westman says
I wish I could agree with Mr. Fitzgerald on these prognistications for Ukraine and Israel but the last sources I would believe are governments and media.
The Ukraine war has not had sufficient embedded journalists and most of the information in the media has been supplied by governments in direct opposition to each other and intelligence operations with political aspirations. The Americans hear that Ukraine is winning with the material and intelligence of NATO countries while the Russians hear they are winning, the body counts simply reversed.
Either one of Russia, Ukraine, and the US administration is lying and I would guess, all of them. Ukraine has fought mightily, yet Russia has effectively matched everything NATO has provided which means even NATO, by sending its few troops immediately, could not defeat Russia on the battlefield.
NATO, mostly European nations, have sent their high-tech, long-time-to-produce, arms into the battles and are now short of them for their own defense. The US has done the same, expending many in a war with Iran.
Standing back from emotion and applying logic, the country with the most resources and supply lines for battle will generally emerge as the winner if a war is decided on the battlefield. If the Ukraine war continues without some negotiation to end it, Russia will set the terms of defeat for Ukraine. If any EU nation sends troops, Russia will unquestionably engage that nation – they have proven, historically, that no price is too high. If NATO decides direct involvement, then WW3 will commence and only the US has a competent army available of which a part is now being harassed by Iran in the ME.
Israel is in serious jeopardy because the US has spent so much missile defense on Ukraine, Iran and Israel has expended a good portion of its own interceptor systems. The US-made Patriot missiles are mostly gone and there is no defense anyway against ballistic missiles when they are on the downward flight, particularly the new versions which can maneuver until impact.
If the US had taken on Iran in 1979 or even during the 1980s the ME would be very different today. It has waited too long and now faces the prospect of troops on the ground in Iran, a limited nuclear attack on Iran, or leaving the region, the latter being an invitation for violence against Israel.
May God protect Israel and work a miracle to give them a lasting peace.
࿗Infidel࿘ says
Westman
I have revised my views on Ukraine based on events since June of last month – see my detailed post on Ukraine below
Israel retired the Patriot defense systems in 2024: the Arrow, David’s Sling & Iron Domes have replaced it. By contrast, day before yesterday, the Houthis hit several targets in Saudi Arabia (similar to the way Ukraine is hitting Russia). Even if the Saudis had the money, they have the same issue as Russia (that I described below): too big an area and too many targets to defend. Israel has a smaller area to cover and mobile units defending it, making them harder to target
Talking about 1979 or the 80s, I was listening to Armin Navabi’s show yesterday, where a section was marking the death anniversary of the last Shah Mohammed Reza Shah Pahlavi. Pahlavi initiated a lot of reforms that included secularizing Iran, but at that time, the people of Iran were largely devout muslims, and did not appreciate a lot of the reforms being initiated. While it was relatively easy for the Shah and SAVAK to crack down on the communists, like the Tudeh Party and the MEK, there was widespread support for the Ayatollahs, which is why it would never have worked. It would have been just like Afghanistan today, where we tried to bring in modernity, but the Afghans preferred to let the Taliban return to power. Same thing would have happened in Iran had we tried what we are doing today in 1979
Today, after 47 years, and several false starts promising reform – the Green Revolution, Presidents Khatami and Rouhani, the mood of the Iranians are completely changed. More than half the population has renounced and denounced islam, while, much more of them today will tolerate nobody except Reza Pahlavi, the son of Mohammed Reza Shah Pahlavi. Right now, there is serious infighting within the Iranian regime: one group backs Ghalibaf and the negotiations that led to the MOU. The other side has bought the islamic republican line that we are the great Satan, and demands war. Also, whenever we “violate” the MOU, the Ghalibaf side gets mocked by the other. Finally, the execution of 4 January 8-9th prisoners in Isfahan has riled the population even more: last night there was rioting there
Israel is safe, as are their Abraham Accord allies – Bahrein and the Emirates. Saudi Arabia is vulnerable for the same reasons as Russia (against Ukraine), Kuwait has been hit badly and in Iraq, the Iraqi government tried to quash the Popular Mobilization Front (Ḥashd ash-Shaʿbī) but got repelled, so they’ll need our support to do it (and apparently, their prime minister al-Zaidi had a meeting w/ Pete Hegseth last week about this). Main thing that we need to do now is get Israel to renew their operations in Iran aimed at toppling what’s left of the islamic regime – all factions
Westman says
Infidel,
I understand and agree with much of what you’ve written but the US is unable to defeat Iran by bombing, short of nukes, and the US citizens will not support a ground war. The Israeli army is exhausted, unable to support continuous operations that remote, and could only defeat Iran with nukes. Iran is huge with mountain regions so even a defeated Iran could not be occupied without troops being picked off as we discovered in the Afghanistan wars.
It would take Israel and the US together, likely with nukes, to defeat Iran and then become world pariahs. Divine intervention is sorely needed.
࿗Infidel࿘ says
Yeah, we need to figure out a way to arm the Iranians: just bombing ain’t gonna do it. It’s at the stage where Iranian resistance fighters need to be armed, and given air cover while they occupy territory. Maybe start w/ Bandar Abbas, and start moving in
gravenimage says
Westman, we *know* that Russia has not taken Kiev–Putin would be crowing if they had.
卐 Infidel 卍 says
Hugh somewhat understated the magnitude of the Russian losses. It’s not just that they have lost a 100,000 soldiers. A whole host of things have changed since the Iran war began, which are very different from where Ukraine was in 2022 or even 2025
⮞ Since the Iran war started, Western – particularly American – attention has gone off Ukraine, and towards Iran. Also, Ukraine was no longer getting supplied by the US: it was either getting subsidized by the EU, or more recently, it has been building its own missile and drone intercepting systems. All of that has reduced the level of control that either the US or even the EU has on Ukrainian activity, making Kyiv much freer to make more independent decisions
⮞ As a result, for the first time in the war, Kyiv has taken this war to Russia. First, they isolated Crimea by completely cutting off its fuel supplies and destroying the Kerch bridge. Result of it has been that all the Russians who settled in Crimea after 2014 have made a beeline back home to Russia: Crimea is no longer a great place to live. On top of that, Ukrainian drones have absolutely destroyed and softened up Belgorod Oblast – the Russian region just north of Kharkiv. As a result, troops cannot park there, and they have to move from Voronezh instead of Belgorod or Kursk
⮞ Ukraine’s drone attacks have also surprised everyone. During the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in June 2026, often referred to as the “Russian Davos,” Ukrainian drones struck several key facilities in and around St. Petersburg. The attacks occurred on the opening day of the summit, creating a visible plume of black smoke over the city while international guests and Russian President Vladimir Putin were present. In that attack, they hit oil storage facilities and terminals, naval infrastructure and port infrastructure. That had to be acutely embarrassing for Putin – the Ukrainians making a mockery of his defenses in Russia’s second capital
⮞ Since then, Ukrainian drones have been hitting targets all over the place. Last week, they took out several Wildberry (their version of Amazon) warehouses, which now mainly supply uniforms and military gear for new enlistees to the Russian army
Two things about Ukrainian drone warfare that have forever changed the military logistics about war w/ Russia. In the last century, both Napoleon and Hitler came to grief due to the Russian winter mowing down their troops. Also, Russia had seemingly infinite strategic depth, really stretching out enemy supply lines: if Moscow fell, the government could move to Kazan; if Kazan fell, Yekaterinburg. If Yekaterinburg fell, to Novosibirsk. In reality, the Russians never had to go even as far as Kazan. Russia’s area was its biggest asset – along w/ its hostile geography, which nobody could handle like the Russians could
But this drone warfare has totally turned that advantage into a major drawback. Russia’s huge area implies that there are too many targets for Ukrainian drones to choose from, and thereby too many targets to defend. So if a drone finds one target – say a missile depot – heavily defended, it simply switches to a refinery nearby. The Kremlin can’t defend them all, or even most. To make things even uglier for the Russians, they have to use missiles costing millions of dollars to hunt down drones that merely cost thousands, which is just unsustainable for Russia, whose economy has been circling the drain
The other factor about Ukrainian drones warfare is its range of attacks. Last week or this week, one of their drones hit a major oil refinery in Omsk, which is nowhere near Ukraine: it’s near the rim of Siberia. So it’s not just that the Russians have too many potential targets to defend: they can’t even place them out of the range of Ukrainian drones, and longitudinally, they almost span half the globe. This war has made a mockery of the Kremlin, and made Putin the one to look like Napoleon – biting off more than he can chew. Latest I heard was Sergei Lavrov having a hurried meeting w/ Marco Rubio at the ASEAN summit in Manila, and looks like Rubio might have taken a message to Zelenskyy
After this war is over, it should be recognized that Russia is no longer a superpower. In the UN, Russia (as well as Britain and France, while we are at it) should lose their permanent seat and Security Council veto, and just be a normal member like everyone else
Westman says
It should be recognized that Russia was fighting a war of attrition and the numbers of casualties claimed by both sides are false. We won’t learn the true numbers, if ever, until the war is over.
The notion that Russia will emerge as less than a military superpower makes no sense. They have fought against the total arms and battlefield intelligence of NATO and after Ukraine/NATO bombing deep in Russia against economic targets, it will likely remove all the sustaining infrastructure of Ukraine before winter.
You should notice that Russia is refusing talks with Ukraine and is now set on ending the war on the battlefield. There are elections in Russia in September and if Putin is reelected there will be an expansion of at least 500,000 troops, the hardliners likely making it and the destruction of Ukraine’s national economy a requirement for reelection. Notice the ports of Odessa are already closed – no weapons in, no produce out.
Russia has been on a positive war footing since 2023 and manufactures war weapons in real time while NATO expends its stockpiles without replacement. Russia has kept its artillery and missiles supplied while introducing two new missile designs that NATO cannot intercept .
I see no way that Russia doesn’t emerge as a greater military superpower both with the largest and most sophisticated nuclear arsenal, the most battle-hardened troops, the most productive weapons manufacturing, and the most effective ballistic missiles.
It never was an economic superpower. However the stability of the Ruble against the dollar, after the initial crash, has been remarkable.
https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/RUB%3DX/
࿗Infidel࿘ says
I shared your view on Russia until pretty recently – when this Iran war began. At first, it didn’t make sense that Ukraine was fighting w/ one hand tied behind its back i.e. not taking the war to Russia. They did a bit of that by occupying Kursk, but were then repelled.
However the things they have been doing recently should teach everyone a salutary lesson about the unpredictability of war. Everybody assumed that Russia would win this within weeks, if not days. Over time, people admired Ukraine for holding out the way it did, and as long as it did
However, what has started happening since June has been a turning point in the war, and totally rewritten the history of warfare as far as Russia goes. In the 20th century, both Napoleon and Hitler tried invading Russia, and their armies got destroyed there, in a land war. Except that Ukraine is not fighting a land war, so that all of Russia’s military assets, which would be assets if this were purely a land war, are now sitting ducks – particularly the refineries. This is not surprising to me at least: I knew that Ukraine being where it is, if they ever took the war to Russia, they’d easily cover Moscow and even St Petersburg, which aren’t too far from Kharkiv/Dnipro – which is where they are launching all their drones and missiles. What is shockingly surprising is the range of where they can hit: when places that are 1500 miles away are getting hit by Ukrainian drones
Both Saudi Arabia and Russia have been proven to be paper tigers. Saudi Arabia was hit 2 days ago, and reportedly asked Qatar to ask the IRGC to stop hitting it, and pull the Houthis off. While Russia is finding out that there are too many valuable targets that it cannot protect
Westman says
True, SA is not very capable even with US arms, however Russia is another matter and has been purposefully fighting a slower war of attrition. The recent long range missile and drone attacks into Russia are already changing that Russian strategy resulting in the increased intensity of supersonic-missile and drone attacks on Kiev. This will increase now that Russia has decided to run the ground war to its conclusion, ending in perhaps a frozen arrangement, like Korea, or an outright pyrrhic victory that was never worth the cost.
Like the unexpected resolve in the face of Operation Barbarossa, the idea that Russia will be rational about the cost of what to them is already WW3, is a fatal mistake. They see the NATO nations involvement as an existential threat by a West that ultimately wants to break up Russia and exploit its resources. We’ll have time to see if Russia is a “paper tiger”.
࿗Infidel࿘ says
Hugh somewhat understated the magnitude of the Russian losses. It’s not just that they have lost a 100,000 soldiers. A whole host of things have changed since the Iran war began, which are very different from where Ukraine was in 2022 or even 2025
⮞ Since the Iran war started, Western – particularly American – attention has gone off Ukraine, and towards Iran. Also, Ukraine was no longer getting supplied by the US: it was either getting subsidized by the EU, or more recently, it has been building its own missile and drone intercepting systems. All of that has reduced the level of control that either the US or even the EU has on Ukrainian activity, making Kyiv much freer to make more independent decisions
⮞ As a result, for the first time in the war, Kyiv has taken this war to Russia. First, they isolated Crimea by completely cutting off its fuel supplies and destroying the Kerch bridge. Result of it has been that all the Russians who settled in Crimea after 2014 have made a beeline back home to Russia: Crimea is no longer a great place to live. On top of that, Ukrainian drones have absolutely destroyed and softened up Belgorod Oblast – the Russian region just north of Kharkiv. As a result, troops cannot park there, and they have to move from Voronezh instead of Belgorod or Kursk
⮞ Ukraine’s drone attacks have also surprised everyone. During the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in June 2026, often referred to as the “Russian Davos,” Ukrainian drones struck several key facilities in and around St. Petersburg. The attacks occurred on the opening day of the summit, creating a visible plume of black smoke over the city while international guests and Russian President Vladimir Putin were present. In that attack, they hit oil storage facilities and terminals, naval infrastructure and port infrastructure. That had to be acutely embarrassing for Putin – the Ukrainians making a mockery of his defenses in Russia’s second capital
⮞ Since then, Ukrainian drones have been hitting targets all over the place. Last week, they took out several Wildberry (their version of Amazon) warehouses, which now mainly supply uniforms and military gear for new enlistees to the Russian army
Two things about Ukrainian drone warfare that have forever changed the military logistics about war w/ Russia. In the last century, both Napoleon and Hitler came to grief due to the Russian winter mowing down their troops. Also, Russia had seemingly infinite strategic depth, really stretching out enemy supply lines: if Moscow fell, the government could move to Kazan; if Kazan fell, Yekaterinburg. If Yekaterinburg fell, to Novosibirsk. In reality, the Russians never had to go even as far as Kazan. Russia’s area was its biggest asset – along w/ its hostile geography, which nobody could handle like the Russians could
But this drone warfare has totally turned that advantage into a major drawback. Russia’s huge area implies that there are too many targets for Ukrainian drones to choose from, and thereby too many targets to defend. So if a drone finds one target – say a missile depot – heavily defended, it simply switches to a refinery nearby. The Kremlin can’t defend them all, or even most. To make things even uglier for the Russians, they have to use missiles costing millions of dollars to hunt down drones that merely cost thousands, which is just unsustainable for Russia, whose economy has been circling the drain
The other factor about Ukrainian drones warfare is its range of attacks. Last week or this week, one of their drones hit a major oil refinery in Omsk, which is nowhere near Ukraine: it’s near the rim of Siberia. So it’s not just that the Russians have too many potential targets to defend: they can’t even place them out of the range of Ukrainian drones, and longitudinally, they almost span half the globe. This war has made a mockery of the Kremlin, and made Putin the one to look like Napoleon – biting off more than he can chew. Latest I heard was Sergei Lavrov having a hurried meeting w/ Marco Rubio at the ASEAN summit in Manila, and looks like Rubio might have taken a message to Zelenskyy
After this war is over, it should be recognized that Russia is no longer a superpower. In the UN, Russia (as well as Britain and France, while we are at it) should lose their permanent seat and Security Council veto, and just be a normal member like everyone else
Earthling says
It sure seems like we are on sure footing of WWIII.
Putin has been targeting Germany (likely other countries) with breaking into factories across the country and stealing all sorts of tools, equipment, etc Insider info on a local factory who was broken into twice, and the reports back were that the goods were traced going through Turkey to Russia. Putin is not only a liar, he truly shows signs of being a psychopath. He will not go down, he will never surrender. He seems like the type that would take the world down with him.
࿗Infidel࿘ says
As discussed above, Putin has gotten his hands full w/ Ukraine, and there’s no way he can win this war. If he wins the Russian elections in September, it’s expected that he’ll order a fresh mobilization of Russian troops, now conscripting people in Moscow & St Petersburg – something he had done his best to avoid. Hopefully, enough people around him gang up to remove him from power, and then whoever emerges can see the writing on the wall, make peace w/ Zelenskyy and blame Putin for any humiliating clauses in whatever treaty follows
gravenimage says
Ukraine Hits Iranian Ship Delivering Russian War Materiel to Iran
…………………………………………
Kudos to Ukraine–and to Israel!