Conflict Events Archive
15,095 documented events · latest Oct 15, 2026 — chronological archive with full summaries and multi-source verification.
Diesel deal with US could shield Russian tankers from attacks — ombudsman
According to Alexander Shokhin, it is also possible that the diesel deal could lead to further developments in other areas of economic cooperation
Containers and debris captured floating around the Strait of Hormuz
Video shows containers and debris scattered around the Strait of Hormuz due to the recent attacks on vessels.
Zelensky’s London visit undermines peace efforts, Russian envoy says
As Kirill Dmitriev noted, "UK warmongers know how to promote war and undermine peace"
Russian nuclear-powered submarine fires missiles during Pacific drills
Russia's Pacific Fleet has test-fired cruise missiles from a nuclear-powered submarine, striking a target 1,200km away.
Musk calls Kiev’s position on Putin-Trump diesel deal 'troubling'
The US entrepreneur was commenting on a social media post from Mike Cernovich, a US blogger and political commentator, who highlighted Ukraine’s ungratefulness
Russia-US diesel deal could set precedent for suspension or removal of sanctions
In European Union countries, the automotive industry is currently surviving only because they're now producing weapons, Russian presidential commissioner for the protection of entrepreneurs' rights Alexander Shokhin noted
Starlink restrictions in Ukraine deal serious blow to Ukrainian forces — newspaper
The Daily Telegraph added that the situation for Ukraine could worsen due to the likely suspension of intelligence exchange with Washington
Russian stocks up as main trading session opens
According to trading data as of 9:00 a.m. Moscow time, Russia’s MOEX and RTS indices added 0.06% to 2,422.92 and 909.2 points, respectively
FSB detains Swedish citizen traveling to Russia to carry out terrorist attacks
According to the Federal Security Service, the Swedish national came to Russia under the pretext of joining the Russian Armed Forces
Musk wants peace — Russian presidential envoy
Kirill Dmitriev commented on Musk’s post saying that it is high time for Vladimir Zelensky to step down
From Morocco to South Africa, Israel election watched closely across Africa
October 27 vote could test whether Israel's ties with African countries withstand the fallout from the war on Gaza.
G20 finance ministers, central bankers gather amid fallout from Iran war
Officials meet in Thailand as conflict drives energy prices higher and casts uncertainty over global economy.
US military plans to use 'mother of all bombs' if Trump resumes war
This is an entry from: Live: Iran speaker says US breaks promises as Trump sees war ending 'soon' US military plans to use 'mother of all bombs' if Trump resumes war 15 October 2026 07:04 BST The US military has developed strike plans that could include using the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb, also known as the "mother of all bombs", against Iranian energy infrastructure and nuclear sites if President Donald Trump orders renewed combat operations, CNN reported on Thursday citing US officials familiar with the matter. The potential deployment of the largest non-nuclear bomb in the US arsenal would mark a significant escalation in the conflict, although officials familiar with military planning discussions told CNN questions remain over its effectiveness in achieving Washington's strategic objectives. Report by Reuters
Russia hits at least ten thermal, hydroelectric power plants in Ukraine since early 2026
The first strike on such an infrastructure facility occurred on August 9, when a combined heat and power plant in Odessa that supported the port's operations was destroyed
Russia and China are using AI to stage relentless cyberattacks against the UK | New Scientist
Russia and China are staging “relentless” cyberattacks against the UK using AI, according to one of the nation’s top spy chiefs. But AI is also being used to help defend against such attacks. Paul Chichester, director of operations at the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) – the government department tasked with securing the nation’s IT infrastructure – says the UK’s four main cyber adversaries – Russia, China, North Korea and Iran – are all using AI to boost their ability to attack the country. “They don’t need sleep, coffee, food or anything like that,” says Chichester. “AI is certainly being used by all our adversaries.” Advertisement NCSC was formed 10 years ago this month by amalgamating a disparate group of departments that all had overlapping aims to protect against cyberattacks. Chichester says that, over that decade, cyberattacks have become a standard part of the intelligence activity of nation states. “It feels more relentless now than it did 10 years ago,” says Chichester. “This is now an absolutely critical part of covert statecraft, and we obviously live in a world that is more uncertain and geopolitically there is more tension. So that will manifest in the cyber domain and that will manifest in our workload. All of a sudden [with AI], the productivity of their operations is certainly increasing.” In recent months, a string of stories about AI models inadvertantly escaping test environments and hacking computers in the real world have emerged from large AI companies. And the use of AI models by security companies paid to break into clients’ machines to test defences has become commonplace. These models can not only design new types of attack, but they can carry them out at astonishing pace and operate without rest. Chichester says that AI is being used in all stages of the “cyber kill chain”, from reconnaissance to developing a vulnerability to actually carrying out attacks on a target. He also warns that when humans staged attacks, there was a de facto limit to how much intelligence or data they could steal, but in a world where AI can carry out attacks that limiting factor is gone. “What you’re seeing is always something new. Because if they don’t get it, they’re gonna try something else,” says Chichester. “No two days are the same; you’re always seeing different kinds of attack. You’re always trying to defend against things.” Their aims vary, from espionage to economic advantage to disruption and, in the case of North Korea, simple financial crime and fraud. Chichester would not be drawn on the extent that the UK takes part in similar attacks, but says that “there are capabilities that are avowed and the UK uses”. The secretive National Cyber Force is a joint operation between the UK Ministry of Defence and GCHQ (the UK’s cybersecurity agency), which has offensive cyber capabilities. However, Chichester says that NCSC is open about using commercial frontier models in its work, and in developing its own AI tools. “Building an LLM [large language model] in a way that you might look at some of the frontier models obviously takes a ridiculous amount of computing and machinery, but building smaller models that do particular specific things is a very different proposition,” says Chichester. “For instance, in the way that we do malware research or malware engineering investigations, there are elements of artificial intelligence in the tooling and the systems we build, and that’s been in there for a long time – but it’s very bespoke, it’s very specific to that task.”
US considers use of ‘mother of all bombs’ in potential future Iran strikes, CNN says
The US military has developed strike plans that could include using the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb, also known as the “mother of all bombs”, against Iranian energy infrastructure and nuclear sites if President Donald Trump orders renewed combat operations, CNN has reported. The potential deployment of the largest non-nuclear bomb in the US arsenal would mark a significant escalation in the conflict, although officials familiar with military planning discussions told CNN questions remain over its effectiveness in achieving Washington’s strategic objectives. A source told CNN that military plans for striking Iranian nuclear sites, including Pickaxe Mountain also explicitly call for using the MOAB. In recent months, Trump has repeatedly threatened to strike Pickaxe, where the US and Israel believe Tehran has stored components of its nuclear programme. However CNN said there are questions around whether the MOAB would be an effective munition to use against Iran’s nuclear facilities and other sites that are located deep underground. Trump was the first US president to deploy the MOAB, during his first term when he ordered the military to use its most powerful non-nuclear bomb on ISIS positions in Afghanistan in 2017. The MOAB is an air blast-type warhead that explodes before hitting the ground to project a massive explosion from all sides and is the most powerful non-nuclear weapon in the US military arsenal. It was first developed during the 2003 Iraq war but not used in that conflict.
'Mother Of All Bombs' Could Be Used Against Iran If Trump Orders Strikes: Report
The US military has drawn up new strike plans that include possible use of its largest non-nuclear weapon, the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb, against Iranian energy infrastructure and nuclear sites. The plans would come into play if US President Donald Trump orders combat operations to resume, either before or after the midterm elections, CNN reported on Thursday, citing multiple US officials familiar with the matter. Using the bomb, known as the MOAB or the "mother of all bombs", would be a notable escalation, as it has not been used in the conflict so far. Also Read | Layoffs Are Rising In Tech, But These Skills Are Helping People Unlock Better Pay The outlet's sources said there were doubts over whether it could help achieve Trump's stated goals or shift the balance of the war. One source cited in the report said that Trump had asked the military to develop additional strike packages that include "a lot of energy infrastructure" and the possible use of a MOAB. A second source reportedly said plans for striking Iranian nuclear sites, including Pickaxe Mountain, also explicitly call for the bomb. The US and Israel believe Tehran has stored components of its nuclear programme there, and Trump has repeatedly threatened to hit it. Officials also questioned whether the weapon would work. While the GPS-guided bomb can devastate an area roughly equal to nine city blocks, it likely cannot penetrate deep enough to destroy facilities buried under layers of granite. ALSO READ | US Troop Death Toll In Iran War Climbs To 21 As Pentagon Revises Tally, Over 860 Wounded A third source called it a weapon for clearing large areas, "definitely not designed as a deep penetration warhead". Its huge blast radius would also raise concerns about civilian casualties if used near populated areas. Sources also suggested the bomb's value may be psychological, as an option short of full-scale combat that could pressure a regime that appears unwilling to bend to Washington's diplomatic demands. MOAB was originally developed with psychological operations in mind. The report comes as the war, now in its seventh month of US bombing, is deeply unpopular and Republicans brace for a backlash at the polls. CNN said there is little sign of a negotiated settlement. Trump has publicly said he will take no new action before the midterms, but some advisers privately told CNN they were unsure whether that would hold. ALSO READ | Hormuz On Edge: Fresh Ship Attacks Deepen Deadlock; Iran Rejects US Response To Seven Conditions Planners have also been looking for an "off-ramp" that offers a symbolic win, starting with a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, according to the network. A White House official reportedly told that Trump keeps all options on the table to ensure Iran never has a nuclear weapon. The Pentagon said it plans for a wide range of scenarios. The US used the MOAB for the first time in combat in 2017, during Trump's first term, against ISIS tunnels in Afghanistan. Essential Business Intelligence, Sharp Market Insights, Practical Personal Finance Advice, Daily Fuel, Gold and Silver Prices and Latest Stories — On NDTV Profit.
Thursday briefing: Thanks to an erratic Trump, peace in Ukraine is still far away
Good morning. In his usual asinine unconventional approach to international relations, Donald Trump announced on Sunday (via Truth Social, how else) an “ENERGY CEASEFIRE in the War between Russia and Ukraine”, apparently without checking with either side. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who said any such deal was “news to me,” nonetheless declared he was “ready and we will accept it”. Vladimir Putin responded by blowing up some Ukrainian power plants. This has been the tenor of much diplomacy during Trump’s tenure: false starts, U-turns, incoherent positions (and some playful flirting with Vlad). Meanwhile fighting continues, and America’s allies attempt to manage the fallout. Andy Burnham hosted Zelenskyy at Downing Street yesterday, stating the UK is doubling down on its support for Ukraine, and pointedly calling on others to “follow suit”. It’s a negotiators nightmare. So how are ambassadors, spooks and diplomats handling the chaos? Is an actual ceasefire or peace deal within their grasp? For today’s First Edition, I spoke to career diplomat and former ambassador Nigel Gould-Davies to find out. Before that, this morning’s headlines. Five big stories - UK | Sally Rooney has said she is being forced to withdraw her books from sale in the UK because of her support for the banned organisation Palestine Action. - Gaza | Israel is refusing to allow a key military outpost project for Donald Trump’s Board of Peace to proceed in Gaza, the Guardian has learned. - EU | Britain will benefit from much closer trading relations with the EU even if that means giving up its ability to negotiate free trade agreements, the Scotland secretary has said. - Ukraine | Ukraine’s military has suddenly had its access to Starlink satellite internet terminals restricted as the Trump administration has increased pressure on Ukraine to immediately halt long-range strikes on Russia’s oil industry. - Vaccine | Guinea-Bissau has not approved the controversial hepatitis B study in newborns that would be funded by the US government and private partners, the African country’s minister of health said. In depth: ‘A peace agreement is only possible when both sides believe that it better serves their interests’ Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, efforts to secure either a temporary ceasefire or a permanent peace deal have resolutely failed. Endless rounds of talks in Belarus, Turkey, Abu Dhabi and Geneva have all proved futile. To Nigel Gould-Davies, it’s obvious why. A former British diplomat, he was head of economics at the Foreign Office in Moscow before his stint as the UK’s ambassador to Belarus. Today, he is senior fellow for Russia and Eurasia at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. Gould-Davies tells me that there are established norms for negotiating during military conflicts. Diplomats look for the interests, needs and red lines that each side articulates, in pursuit of the elusive “win set”. “A peace agreement is only possible when both sides believe that it better serves their interests to end the fighting than to continue,” he says. “You have to find that overlap in the Venn diagram that leads to a defined set of conditions which, despite involving painful compromises, is ultimately judged to better serve each side than continuing to fight. “The problem with this situation is that Russia has no interest in ending the war,” he says. Tricky to find common ground, then. It is through this lens that we should view all Russia-Ukraine talks since Trump’s return to the presidency, Gould-Davies suggests. “They have not really been negotiations,” but “parallel efforts by Russia and Ukraine to persuade the White House it’s the other side’s fault” that a peace agreement (and, perhaps more importantly to Trump, that elusive Nobel peace prize) had failed to materialise. That said, the respective red lines aren’t difficult to identify. Ukraine has time and again said it is willing to accept an unconditional ceasefire. “Russia, by contrast, has repeatedly said publicly that it is not interested in a ceasefire,” says Gould-Davies, only in a full and final end to the war that, in Russian terms, means “decisive superiority and dominance over a severely weakened Ukraine”. That’s an outcome Ukraine can’t, and won’t, sign up for. The ‘non-standard president’ This is already a headache for UK, European and American diplomats, who most recently met in Miami at the end of last week. But there’s also the added Trump-shaped impediment to grapple with; what Gould-Davies diplomatically describes as the challenge of having “a non-standard president” in the White House. When Trump unilaterally declared an energy ceasefire, Gould-Davies says, it had “no basis whatsoever in reality”. Neither Moscow nor Kyiv was aware. “He simply made it up … a product of a fantasy.” The botched digital diplomacy aside, Trump’s interests also don’t appear aligned with Ukraine or traditional US allies. “[Trump’s] natural centre of gravity is to favour Russia,” says Gould-Davies, citing restrictions on US weapons supplies and past pauses in intelligence sharing. Yesterday, Zelenskyy accused Trump of restricting Ukrainian access to “military-grade” Starlink services, hampering Ukrainian drone strike missions and air defences. Granted, Trump has at times sided with the Ukrainian president: sanctioning Russian oil companies and helping Ukraine target Russian energy infrastructure. But for all Trump’s “lurching”, says Gould-Davies, his theory of ending the war involves concessions to Russia and coercion of Ukraine. The price of a deal After a period of relative quiet from Trump on the Russia-Ukraine front, this week Trump’s attention returned. With Americans facing soaring energy costs, he announced a plan to import Russian diesel in the hope of bringing down pump prices, much to the dismay not just of European leaders but a bipartisan group of US senators, too. Leave aside, for a second, suggestions that these imports could be illegal under American law and that quantities being discussed are seemingly too small to actually affect prices, even if the fuel could reach the US ahead of next month’s midterms, as Trump hopes. In some diplomatic circles, there are concerns that the diesel deal “is only the visible tip of the iceberg”, says Gould-Davies, with the White House privately pivoting towards a “much more substantial” pro-Russia tilt. Gould-Davies suspects that Trump could be, via Russia, seeking to get Iran to ease the blockade on the strait of Hormuz, in the hope of actually bringing down fuel prices before American voters head to the polls. Putin’s quid pro quo for brokering these efforts, Gould-Davies says, “could be an easing of America’s sanctions on Russia and an ending to America’s support for Ukraine”. It’s just a theory, he caveats, “but join the dots and it logically makes sense”. Either way, for diplomats it’s just further proof that Trump’s mercurial methods are more a hindrance than help. The quiet work behind the scenes Nonetheless, diplomatic back channels remain operational: secret, closed-door meetings and off-the-record communications between all sides. Not that Gould-Davies thinks they’re worth the effort. “There is a degree of collective delusion here,” he says: “A hope that Russia can somehow be persuaded” to change course, for which “there is literally no evidence for that whatsoever”. He worries that these informal discussions could even be “actively unhelpful, because they perpetuate the illusion that peace may be around the corner”. And, while Europe might traditionally have focused its diplomatic efforts in hostile territory, attention has now turned towards the US itself. There’s still hope that Trump’s whispers might pay further dividends. As Gould-Davies puts it, this “Avengers assemble” approach has seen European leaders and diplomats descend on Washington when Trump’s veered too far off course. For all the tumult, he says, this has proved effective in averting “the nightmare scenario” of Trump binning off America’s old transatlantic partners for good. But as fans of Netflix’s The Diplomat will know, even diplomacy between allies isn’t plain sailing. “Right now even ‘the White House’ is an abstraction,” says Gould-Davies. “It consists of many different players, plenty of whom have different views privately from President Trump.” Take John Ratcliffe, director of the CIA, who visited Moscow this summer. There is “reliable speculation”, says Gould-Davies, that he hoped to “warn Russia against escalation into Europe”. It’s a totally different note to those currently being struck by Trump. “There are people in positions of power and influence still in this administration who understand the problem of Russia in the right way,” says Gould-Davies. With that in mind, western diplomats will continue to try to shift the balance of influences within the White House, but they’re reliant on what he labels a White House Kremlinology – “trying to understand the different views and moods of those around Trump and who will be the last person to whisper in his ear.” What else we’ve been enjoying - How We Win is a new Guardian newsletter series featuring writers like Naomi Klein, Mehdi Hasan and Bernie Sanders on defeating Trumpism. Read Robert Reich’s introduction to the project here, and then sign up here to get each week’s piece directly to your inbox. Charlie Lindlar, newsletters team - Are you a Hannah, a Marnie, a Jess or a Shoshanna? Or did Lena Dunham’s Girls pass you by the first time round? If it did, then this excellent piece by Louis Staples (a Marnie) may well convince you to binge the whole thing in time for the recently announced five-episode revival. Lucinda Everett, newsletters team - In another of our newsletters, The Long Wave, Micha Frazer-Carroll writes about taking up Jamaican Patois classes and what learning the language taught her about shame and her connection to her ancestry. Charlie - I look forward to the Wildlife photographer of the year exhibition every year, and this year’s winning images didn’t disappoint. You can see a selection of them here, including my favourite: James Lewin’s dream-like shot of a young bull elephant giving a zebra an impromptu shower. Lucinda - Rachel Dixon on our travel desk has pulled together this beautiful list of Britain’s best heated lidos to keep you swimming through winter. Move over WFH, and hello WFHL? Charlie Sport Champions League | Paris Saint-Germain romped to a 4-2 victory over Manchester City, while Bradley Barcola hit his first Liverpool goals with a hat-trick in a 6-3 win over Lask. Elsewhere, Aston Villa demolished Fenerbahce 6-0 at Villa Park. Fifa | Gianni Infantino will be questioned by Fifa council members over the aborted World Cup sell-off plan, the Folarin Balogun affair and awarding Donald Trump the Fifa peace prize at what is expected to be a heated meeting on Thursday. Formula One | Formula One has confirmed Rwanda will join its calendar, having concluded a 10-year agreement for the meeting on a purpose-built circuit, with the first race set for the early 2030s. The front pages The Guardian splashes on “Zelenskyy blames Trump for loss of protection from Russian raids”. The Times has “Zelensky: My people will die after Trump betrayal”, the Telegraph runs “More on benefits at age seven than age 50” and top story at the Financial Times is “Jump in US inflation deepens pain for voters ahead of key midterm elections”. Elsewhere, focus is on the Russell Brand trial. Brand denies all the charges and has pleaded not guilty. Reporting the prosecution’s opening statement, the Sun headlines with the quote “‘Ruthless calculated sexual predator’”, The i Paper also headlines with “Brand a ‘ruthless and calculated sexual predator’”, the Mail has “The ‘predator’ in sunglasses” and The Mirror leads with the quote “‘Predator’”. The Latest India’s Cockroach protesters defy Modi’s crackdown A fresh wave of protests by India’s youth-led Cockroach movement has been met with a brutal crackdown by Narendra Modi’s government and the closure of a historic protest site in Delhi. Two of the movement’s leaders have been imprisoned for five days for violating suppression measures. The protests, which began over frustration about education and unemployment, are now focused on voting rights. Modi’s government denies claims that it is seeking to disenfranchise millions of voters. But its treatment of protesters has been criticised by the UN and Amnesty International and raised concerns that the country is sliding further into autocracy. Lucy Hough speaks to the south Asia correspondent Hannah Ellis-Petersen – watch on YouTube Cartoon of the day | Nicola Jennings The Upside A bit of good news to remind you that the world’s not all bad On Copenhagen’s rooftops live 80 to 100 colonies of honeybees, tended by a collective of beekeepers called Bybi. Set up in 2010 with the aim of employing marginalised people, Bybi’s work has evolved into a response to the modern economic system. With the help of volunteers, from refugees to people on incapacity benefits, they produce between four and six tonnes of honey every year, which they sell (often letting people pay what they like) or give away, asking that people share it with loved ones and plant a flower to help the bees. They also run schools programmes, supported by sponsorships from universities and corporations. “Bybi is a constellation of time, work, money, community and connection,” says founder Oliver Maxwell, “asking an open question: what would it take for bees, people and communities to thrive?” Sign up here for a weekly roundup of The Upside, sent to you every Sunday Bored at work? And finally, the Guardian’s puzzles are here to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow.
Trump open to Russia-US economic cooperation after peace in Ukraine — newspaper
US officials opined that Trump reached an agreement on Russian diesel supplies in order, first, to lower fuel prices in the US, and second, to "offer economic and political benefits" to Russia to engage in negotiations
Trump open to Russia-US economic cooperation after peace in Ukraine — newspaper
NEW YORK, October 15. /TASS/. US President Donald Trump is open to developing economic relations with Russia after the conflict in Ukraine is settled, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources. According to the newspaper, the US leader would first like to de-escalate hostilities between Russia and Ukraine and then present Moscow with a proposal for a long-term ceasefire. In conversations with The Wall Street Journal, US officials opined that Trump reached an agreement on Russian diesel supplies in order, first, to lower fuel prices in the US, and second, to "offer economic and political benefits" to Russia to engage in negotiations. The newspaper’s sources added that Trump is open to future economic relations between the US and Russia once the Ukrainian conflict is settled. However, Ukrainian and European officials are dissatisfied with US actions. Threats to suspend intelligence sharing with Kiev were followed by restrictions on the operation of the Starlink satellite communication system in Ukraine, the Wall Street Journal noted. The White House declined to comment on issues regarding access to Starlink. "The president and his team remain committed to continuing to play a constructive role in ending the war between Russia and Ukraine, and he remains optimistic that we’ll ultimately get a peace deal done," a US official told the newspaper. Earlier, Sergey Beskrestnov, an advisor to Vladimir Zelensky and an expert in communications and unmanned systems, said that SpaceX had limited the operating speed of Starlink terminals for the Ukrainian military to 160 kilometers per hour. Later, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk stated that the Starlink system is used solely for defense and civilian purposes, not for offensive military operations.