Warsaw is looking to take control over western parts of Ukraine, the Russian president claims | Polish leaders are planning to form a NATO-backed coalition to intervene in the Ukraine conflict and take over parts of western Ukraine as well as, possibly, Belarus, Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed on Friday. ● Speaking at a meeting with permanent members of Russia’s Security Council, Putin said the government in Kiev is willing to go to any lengths to stay in power, including selling out its own people and handing over Ukrainian territories to “foreign owners.” The first in line, according to the Russian president, are the Poles, who he claimed 💬 “probably expect to form some kind of coalition under the ‘NATO umbrella’ and directly intervene in the conflict in Ukraine, in order to then 'tear off' a bigger piece for themselves, to regain, as they believe, their historical territories – today’s western Ukraine.” + “The prospect is obvious – if the Polish units enter, for example, Lvov or other territories of Ukraine, then they will remain there. And they will remain there forever.”

👉 Joint Polish-Lithuanian-Ukrainian military unit may be used to occupy Ukraine, Putin warns (TASS)
👉 Putin: Poland Plans to Form Coalition Within NATO to Directly Intervene, Seize Land in Ukraine (Sputnik News)

The Ministry claims a U.S. F-16 activated its firing control radar, which "locked-on" to a Russian Fighter Jet. | For countries like the US and Russia, fire-control radar is the "beep of death." In general, once the fire control radar is locked on to a target, the systems inside the target start screeching warning beeps to indicate the target has been locked on. In most cases, there is almost NOTHING that can break such a radar lock. Even with the top-of-the-line, fifth-generation fighter jets, there is almost no maneuver the aircraft can perform, to break the radar lock. As such, in general, a target that has been locked, on will be dead within seconds. That is why countries regard the use of fire control radar - and especially a lock-on -- as an act of war and actual engagement in a fight. That the United States allegedly did this today, to a Russian fighter jet, is a very big deal. Things continue to escalate between the US and Russia, and, as usual, the US is the aggressor.

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— NG16322 (@ng16322) July 18, 2023

Pyongyang has accused Washington and Seoul of plotting an attack against it | North Korea has threatened a nuclear response if the US deploys aircraft carriers, bombers, and missile submarines in South Korea, according to a statement shared on Thursday by state media channel KCNA. Pyongyang claims that despite repeated warnings, Washington and Seoul held a meeting of the “nuclear consultative group” on July 18 to allegedly discuss using nuclear weapons against North Korea.

■ Seoul warns use of nuclear weapons by Pyongyang would be the end of DPRK (TASS)
■ Test-fire of New-type ICBM Conducted (KCNA)

The warning comes after Moscow de-facto re-imposed a naval blockade of Ukraine | The Ukrainian military has said it will treat all vessels sailing toward Russia’s Black Sea Ports as if they are carrying military supplies, warning they could share the same fate as a Russian warship sunk earlier in the conflict. The thinly veiled threat was issued in a statement by Kiev’s Defense Ministry on Thursday, accusing Moscow of turning the Black Sea into a “danger zone” while vowing to retaliate with force against any ship in the area, including civilian vessels.

■ Ukraine Begins Firing US Cluster Bombs: The Biden administration previously called the use of cluster munitions in Ukraine a 'potential war crime'. Last year, the White House called the use of cluster bombs in Ukraine a “potential war crime,” but President Biden signed off on the delivery of the civilian-killing munitions earlier this month. ● Cluster bombs are so hazardous to civilians because they spread small submunitions, or bomblets, over large areas. Submunitions that don’t explode immediately on impact can kill or maim civilians for decades to come, as they have in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, where the US dropped hundreds of millions of bomblets during the Vietnam War. (Antiwar.com)

One of the British-devised plans allegedly involved replicating the 2020 Beirut explosion | Ukraine's drone attack on the Kerch Bridge was most likely planned by former British military intelligence agents who signed a contract with Kiev in 2022, the independent outlet Grayzone has reported citing leaked documents. A "cabal of British military-intelligence freelancers" led by Chris Donnelly has worked with the Odessa office of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) since April last year, Grayzone said in a report published Wednesday evening. The outlet had published leaked documents proving their partnership in October 2022, after the first attack on the Crimean Bridge. "A review of leaked files previously revealed by The Grayzone provides a solid basis for again blaming Donnelly's cabal," the outlet noted in reference to Monday's drone attack that killed two civilians and orphaned a 14-year-old girl.