Ukraine Hits Iranian Supply Line to Russia

Ukrainian drones have hit military-supply lines connecting Russia and Iran through the Caspian Sea, exploiting a new front in two increasingly intertwined wars. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed responsibility for the strikes, saying in a tweet 7/25/2026, “We also achieved very strong results with long‑range strikes in the Caspian Sea—including vessels used in military cargo shipments involving Iran, as well as a warship.”

The Security Service of Ukraine, an intelligence agency, said that it had launched drone strikes in the Caspian against a Russian oil field, a Russian missile boat, and ships used to transport Iranian drones to Russia. The strikes, part of a long-range drone campaign that has also reached deep into Russia, have brought Iran and Ukraine one step closer to a direct confrontation.

For years, Iran has supplied lethal drones that Russia has used against Ukraine, while the Kremlin has helped Tehran this year with intelligence to assist in its response to the U.S. and Israeli bombing campaigns. Iran’s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, blamed Zelensky on Sunday for a strike that he said killed a sailor on an Iranian commercial vessel.

Araghchi said in a social-media post that he phoned Russian and European Union leaders to say that Kyiv’s actions couldn’t go unanswered. Iran summoned the Ukrainian chargé d’affaires in Tehran. The strikes come at a critical time in both the Iran and Ukraine wars.

Trump (R) paused strikes on Iran over the weekend while also deliberating over a possible escalation in attacks intended to break Iran’s grip on the Strait of Hormuz. The Caspian trade offers Iran one way to circumvent a U.S. military blockade of its ports along the Persian Gulf and the northern Arabian Sea. Iran’s southern, oil-exporting ports are more important for Iran’s economy, but the Caspian Sea is Iran’s most direct route to Russia, which has become an increasingly important military partner as both countries remain entrenched in war.

The sea allows Iran a route to Russia and onward to Central Asia “that is somewhat unfettered by any kind of interdiction by the United States or other partners,” said Nicole Grajewski, Assistant Professor at the Center for International Research at Sciences Po university in Paris and the author of a book on the Russia-Iran partnership. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s drone strikes inside Russia have given it a new advantage in the more than four-year-old war. Ukraine has used long-range drone strikes in recent months to attack oil refineries as far away as Siberia, contributing to an energy crisis inside a country that is one of the world’s largest petroleum producers.

Targeting the Caspian, more than 430 miles from Ukraine’s nearest border, gives Kyiv an opportunity to disrupt Moscow’s links with Tehran. The attacks could also help Ukraine generate support within the Trump administration, security analysts said. “For Ukraine, it is linking the theaters more closely in the European and perhaps American reading, and I think this is part of the intention here,” said Hanna Notte, the director of the Eurasia Nonproliferation Program at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies in Monterey, Calif. “The more that Zelensky can signal to Trump that he’s on Trump’s side against Iran, the better.”

Russia has used the Caspian route to import Iran’s one-way attack drones, called Shaheds. Starting in the fall of 2022, less than a year into its full-scale invasion, Russia has fired waves of the drones into Ukraine, straining Kyiv’s air defenses and targeting power and water infrastructure to try to wear down the Ukrainian public’s will to fight. Russia later began manufacturing its own version of the drones, called the Geran, at a factory in southern Russia, enabling it to produce thousands of the aircraft for its assault on Ukraine. Ukrainian forces targeted the facility as recently as last year.

Since the U.S. and Israeli war on Iran began in February, Tehran has used Shahed drones to attack commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz, civilian airports and seaports, Gulf oil infrastructure and American military bases throughout the region. Because they are cheap and often difficult to shoot down, the aircraft have challenged American and allied air defenses. Russia in recent years has used a network of shipping companies to move military equipment and other goods from Iran to the Russian mainland. Some ships linked to the Russian government also sail from the Caspian via rivers and canals to the Black Sea where they can transit onward to other ports elsewhere in the world.

Israel also targeted a naval outpost on Iran’s Caspian coastline in March in an effort to limit Russia and Iran’s ability to trade in weapons. Continued Ukrainian airstrikes in the Caspian could threaten an economic lifeline for a pair of economies targeted by sanctions.

“Iran sees this in the context of this bigger picture of being under blockades from both the south and the north,” said Hamidreza Azizi, a visiting fellow specializing in Iran at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs. Iran has vowed to respond to the attacks but didn’t say what form its response would take. Iran launched attacks on roughly a dozen countries across the region during the height of the U.S. and Israeli bombing campaign. Security analysts say that Ukraine is within range of some of Iran’s missiles.

“Ukraine, too, may soon come to understand that Iran doesn’t let actions go unanswered,” Ebrahim Azizi, Head of the National-Security Commission of the Iranian Parliament, said on Social Media.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker

Trump Demands Hospitals Share Emergency Room Personal Records

A Federal Agency tasked with Protecting the Public from Injuries caused by Lawn Mowers and Coffee Makers is now Demanding that some of the Nation’s Biggest Health Systems turn over Detailed, Personally Identifiable Medical Records of All Patients who seek Help at their Emergency Rooms.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), responsible for Tracking and Issuing Recalls of Dangerous Products sold in the U.S., began Discreetly Pressuring Hospital Executives in 2026, to Share Personally Identifiable Health Data with a Private Contractor. But Hospital Lawyers and Industry Experts, have Questioned the Agency’s Authority to Collect, its Ability to Safeguard such a Swath of Sensitive Information, and whether it has Followed the Legal Process to Overhaul its Surveillance System.

After "KFF Health News" asked the CPSC about the New System, the Agency announced the Program on 7/21/2026, Left Unmentioned, however, is the Alarm it has Raised among Hospital Executives, as well as the Nature and Extent of the Agency’s Data Demands. In a Stark Departure from its Product-Focused Mission, the Agency’s Goal is to Obtain Millions of Americans’ Medical Records from Emergency Room Visits for Most Injuries, from a Broken Bone to a Childhood Vaccine Reaction or even a Suicide Attempt, according to Documents and Emails Obtained by KFF Health News, as well as Interviews with Five People Involved or Familiar with the Discussions.

A CPSC Official also Insisted in the Emails that the Institutions provide All ER Patients’ Identifiable Information, such as Names, Addresses, Diagnoses, and other Personal Details, to the Contractor, Konza Health, for Analysis. In Correspondence with Hospital Executives, Konza Representatives described Participation as “Mandatory” or “Required.” As a Condition of Viewing the Correspondence, KFF Health News Agreed Not to Republish some of the Emails it Obtained. The CPSC wants at least 100 Hospitals to Start Sending Detailed Medical Records by the end of 2026, according to an Internal Memo.

“The whole thing is troubling,” said Sharona Hoffman, a professor of health law at Case Western Reserve University, who noted that giving a private entity access to a sweeping collection of data will introduce risks to patient privacy. “If this company really is collecting identifiable information, that is worrisome for patients.” The new project was launched amid upheaval at the traditionally independent agency, which is without a governing board since President Donald Trump fired the CPSC’s three Democratic board members. Nearly 1 in 5 career staffers left the CPSC in the first 16 months of the new administration, according to a KFF Health News analysis of federal workforce data.

The initiative also comes as the Trump administration has sought unprecedented access to millions of Americans’ medical records, with the Office of Personnel Management requesting federal workers’ sensitive health information and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. using a private organization to collect more medical records for his studies on vaccines and autism.

Steve Roney, CPSC spokesperson, said in an emailed statement on July 10 that CPSC is “modernizing” its surveillance system. Asked whether the CPSC will file complaints against hospitals that do not participate, he said only that while the previous system “operated as a voluntary program, the ability of hospitals to opt out limited the sample size and usefulness of the data.” Roney also acknowledged that the agency had not yet notified the public, as “required by law.”

Federal law requires the agency to provide notice and a public comment period before requesting information from 10 or more entities, a step it has not taken despite plans for 100 hospitals to join the surveillance system. KFF Health News independently confirmed with over a dozen hospitals that they had been approached. Federal public health authorities cannot legally mandate that private health data be reported. But CPSC officials have suggested publicly and privately that if hospitals decline to share data with the new surveillance system, they could be subject to strict penalties from a data-sharing regulation known as “information blocking.”

Yet some hospital executives say they are reluctant to share patients’ sensitive data because they’re concerned about a different violation — that of federal privacy law. he CPSC’s new data collection appears to contradict its own 214-page operating manual, which instructs hospitals not to include identifiable information “such as names, birthdates, or addresses” when reporting cases.

The agency is supposed to receive patients’ identifying information only when needed for follow-up investigations, which happens in fewer than 1% of reported cases, according to the manual. The CPSC has also historically limited the records it collects to minimize privacy violations in case of a data breach.

The risk is not hypothetical: From 2017 to 2019, the agency improperly released personal health information of around 30,000 people, a disclosure that a top Republican at the time called “concerning.” Konza, however, will receive even more sensitive information on many more people. McCrary said in a statement that Konza will remove patients’ names, addresses, and medical information “not needed by CPSC” before sharing records with the agency.

Leaving a private organization to collect sensitive information introduces risks, including that it could be stolen or used for business purposes, said Hoffman, the Case Western professor. “Very often, they will use information for marketing because now they’re going to know what conditions people have,” she said. Roney said that its contract with Konza, which has not been made public, prohibits the organization from selling or marketing the data it collects.

The CPSC’s manual also identifies types of ER visits that should not be reported to the CPSC, which has jurisdiction over only certain consumer products. Excluded injuries are those caused by food, illegal drugs, medical devices, alcohol, or plants, as well as injuries that did not involve consumer products — such as a cut from a rock or broken bones from a fall on the ground — and suicide attempts by adults.

But in a contract offered to one hospital and reviewed by KFF Health News, Konza set no such limits on the information it would gather from ER records and said it would hold onto patient health information for at least 30 days. In an email sent to hospital technology officials, McCrary wrote that Konza would provide CPSC with records when a patient is treated in the ER for any of more than 10,000 conditions. The expansive list of diagnostic codes Konza provided in the email includes injuries that do not involve consumer products.

Child injuries resulting from “poisoning by” vaccines or contact with stingrays, neither of which is regulated by the CPSC, are included in the list. A limited number of hospitals once shared deidentified data on all injuries — regardless of product involvement — through the NEISS using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s injury-tracking program. But the CDC halted that data collection, after funding and staffing were cut last year, and has not restarted it.

CPSC Chief Data Officer Elizabeth Puchek, who joined the agency late last year after engineering U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ data system, has told hospitals in emails that they must seek an exemption from the program if they decline to share patients’ emergency room records with Konza. The CPSC’s targeted outreach has included some of the nation’s largest urban and rural health systems, as well as small, publicly owned hospitals.

Staff members at Mary Greeley Medical Center in Ames, Iowa, said that Konza and federal officials told them their participation in the new program was mandatory. The hospital, which has long participated in NEISS, signed a new contract in April to share its ER records with Konza. Yet the hospital is reevaluating its participation after being notified that the funds it received to participate in NEISS were “no longer available,” spokesperson Steve Sullivan said.

Several hospital executives, lawyers, and others have raised doubts about CPSC’s claimed authority. Harborview Medical Center spokesperson Susan Gregg said the Seattle hospital’s emergency room has “voluntarily submitted de-identified data for many years, but we are not obligated to report this information.”

In Boston, Mass General Brigham has declined to participate in the new program, with spokesperson Kelly Mitchell saying that “to protect patient privacy, we are unable to provide these medical records.” Henry Ford Health in Detroit; St. Luke’s in Boise, Idaho; and Sanford Health based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota — which together handle over a million ER visits a year — are among the health systems that have been approached but not yet entered into an agreement with Konza, according to representatives. Several of the nation’s busiest hospital systems targeted for the program — including the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, Yale New Haven Hospital in Connecticut, Nationwide Children’s Hospital and the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, and Baylor Scott & White Health in Texas — declined to answer questions about whether they’re participating.

Hoehn-Saric, the Agency’s former Chairman, said He was Surprised that the CPSC would insist that Hospitals provide Identifiable Records from all emergency room visits. “This idea that they can simply demand patient information from a hospital and that the hospital would provide it — I really don’t understand the basis for that,” He said.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker

More NK Troops and Missile Launchers Headed to Russia

North Korea is preparing to send another 30,000 Troops to Russia, in Support of its War against Ukraine, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

That figure is more than Twice, the Number of North Koreans believed to now be Serving alongside Russian Forces, based on Media Reports.

Zelenskyy in an X Post, Summarizing His Nightly Video Address on 7/25/2026.

He wrote that Russia wants more North Korean Troops and has been preparing the Voronezh Region, 289 miles South of Moscow, to receive Additional Manpower since 6/2026.

Pyongyang is also Planning to Transfer more Ballistic Missile Launchers to its Ally.

He said. “This is a threat not only to Ukraine,” Zelenskyy Warned. “Russia is helping North Korea learn how to wage war, improve its weapons, and gain real combat experience in using them.”










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker

Britain's New Leader to Host Zelenskyy

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will Meet 7/27/2026 at a Naval Base in England with Prime Minister Andy Burnham, a Visit the British Leader said is intended to Signal the Country's “unwavering” Support for Kyiv.

Zelenskyy's Trip is the first by a Foreign Leader since Burnham tookOoffice a week ago. His Predecessor, Keir Starmer, was in Kyiv less than Two weeks ago, in His last overseas trip before leaving office.

Burnham will be the Fifth British Prime Minister to Deal with Zelenskyy, since Russia’s Full-Scale Invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

“Russia should be in no doubt of our resolve, and we will not back down until we achieve long lasting and just peace for Ukraine,” said Burnham, who has spent the past Nine years as Mayor of Greater Manchester, and has Little Foreign Policy Experience.

The U.K. Trip comes a day before Zelenskyy is expected to meet with Trump (R) in Washington.

During the Visit to Portsmouth on England's South Coast, Zelenskyy and Burnham will meet more than 200 Ukrainian Military Personnel who have spent the past Three Weeks in Britain. They have been taking part in an Exercise aimed at Strengthening their Fighting Capabilities and Measures to Counter Mines in the Black Sea, the U.K. Government said.

The U.K. will give Ukraine the Intellectual Property behind its New “Stone Cloak” Electronic Warfare System, which is Capable of Jamming Russian Air Defenses to Stop Drones from being Detected, Burnham’s Office said.

Ukraine has Expanded its Campaign of Frequent Drone Attacks Deep inside Russia, that have Targeted Ooil Facilities, Military Factories, and most Recently, Logistical Centers, bringing the War Home to Mmillions of Russians and Raising Pressure on President Vladimir Putin.

The Raids have Shattered Putin’s Narrative of the Conflict as Something that doesn’t Affect the Lives of Ordinary People in His Country. But He has Remained Undeterred, and Russia has Ramped-Up its Aerial Campaign, regularly Bombarding Ukraine with Missiles and Drones.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker

Ukraine Strikes Crimea

Ukrainian Forces Struck the Chornomornaftogaz Facility near Vnukove in Crimea.

The General Staff said that since Occupying Crimea, RussianAadministration has used Facilities belonging to the State Company Chornomornaftogaz to Extract, Store, and Transport Natural Gas and Petroleum Products, and to Help Meet the Fuel and Energy needs of Russian Forces on the Peninsula.

Ukrainian Forces also Struck a Ground Based Relay Station used to Control Geran/Gerbera, type Strike Drones near Chornomorske in Crimea. According to the General Staff, such Relay Stations Eextend the Range, Stability and Control Quality of the Strike Drones Russia uses to Attack Ukrainian Territory.

Ukraine's Defense Forces also Struck a Road Bridge near Vyselky in Donetsk Oblast, which Russian Forces use for Military Logistics. Ukrainian Troops Attacked a Drone Storage Facility near Chervonopopivka, and a Russian Troop Cluster in Purdivka in Luhansk Oblast.

The General Staff also Confirmed that the Tyumen Oil Refinery was Struck on 7/25/2026.

The Facility is One of the Key Oil Refining Enterprises in Western Siberia, with a Capacity of about 7 Million Tons of Oil per Year. The Refinery Produces Gasoline, Diesel, Aviation Fuel, Fuel Oil and Other Petroleum Products used in Part to Supply Russia's Military-Industrial Complex and Armed Forces, according to the General Staff.

Earlier that Day, Telegram Channels Reported Hearing Drones and Powerful Explosions in Occupied Crimea. The Channel Crimean Wind, Citing Followers, Reported that Drones were Spotted over Feodosia, likely Targeting a Russian Forces' Radar Station Position on Mount Tepe-Oba. Reports later Emerged of a Substation being Struck, and Power went Out in the City.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker

US Appeals Court Blocks Trump's Federal Voter List

A Federal Appeals Court has Upheld a Ruling, that in nearly Half of U.S. States Halted Trump's (R) Executive Order (EO) to Create a Federal List of Eligible Voters and Limit Delivery of Mail Ballots only to People on that List.

The Ruling on 7/25/2026 by Judges of the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Rejected the Trump Administration's effort to Move Forward with the Mail-in-Voting Restrictions in 23 U.S. States that Sued Ahead of 11/2026 Midterm Elections The Court Covers: Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Puerto Rico, and Rhode Island.

Trump Issued an EO in 3/2026 for the Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). and the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration (SSA) to Create a “state citizenship list” of Eligible Voters. It also Ordered the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to Deliver Mail Ballots Only to People on there List.

While Trump touted the Proposed Changes as Safeguards, to keep Non-U.S. Citizens from Voting, State Election Officials Aargued they were Ripe for Abuse and could Cause Chaos.

Democratic Officials in 23 States and the District of Columbia, Cchallenged Trump's Order in a Lawsuit Ffiled in U.S. District Court in Boston. They Argued that Trump's Order was Unconstitutional, because the States and Congress, Not the Trump, have the Authority to Set Election Rules.

U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani, who was Nominated by President Barack Obama (D), Agreed and Halted Trump's Order from being Implemented for the 11/2026 Eelections, but Only in the States that have Sued.

The Justice Department (DOJ) said in an Emailed Statement on 7/26/2026 that it is “reviewing all options” regarding its Next Legal Steps.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker

Russia's Tourist Season Collapses

The Russia’s Tourism Industry is Suffering, Not only from Falling Demand.

“Tour operators are also facing significant pressure from domestic problems, including rising operating costs, difficulties with air travel, airport disruptions, and the fuel crisis. According to booking services, demand for package tours in Russia has fallen by 22% to 31% over the past year. Many companies were unable to withstand such a decline and were forced to cease operations,” the Agency said.

Domestic Tourism has also Failed to Offset the Industry’s Losses. Hotel Bookings in Russia fell by 12% to 15% compared with 2025.

“Expectations for an active tourist season in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine in Crimea have also failed to materialize. For most local resorts, the tourist season effectively ended before it even began,” the Foreign Intelligence Service said.

The Agency said Tourism and Travel are No Longer among Russians’ Spending Priorities. An Average Russian Family spends nearly Half of its Household Budget on Food, followed by Medicine, Clothing, Utilities, and other Essential Needs.

It was previously Reported that the Russian Government Allocated more than 4.3 billion rubles ($55.2 million) to Support the Tourism Industry in occupied Crimea and Sevastopol.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker