Montenegro detained Rybar founder Mikhail Zvinchuk and four associates in a dawn raid on the Bay of Kotor.

Police and the national security agency (ANB) picked up the pro-Russian military blogger, his wife/creative director Valeria, and three staff at the Mövenpick Hotel in Risan this morning, seizing drones, digital equipment, and documents. Authorities say they’d been watching the group for days.


The stated concern is that Zvinchuk’s planned documentary on Montenegro’s new visa rules for Russians would frame EU integration as damaging the economy.


Rybar (~1.5M subscribers) says the team was in the country legally and expects release.


Russia’s foreign ministry says its embassy is looking into it.


Zvinchuk — a former Russian MoD press officer — is under both UK and EU sanctions, and the US has a $10M Rewards for Justice bounty tied to alleged election interference by Rybar staff.

France and Germany say diesel promise to Trump won’t require new stock release

The G7 pledge to release a further 100 million barrels of crude oil and fuel stocks to temper rising gas prices is being reframed by Paris and Berlin as part of a previous commitment made under the IEA back in March at the outset of the 3rd Gulf War when all IEA members pledged to release 400 million barrels of crude oil and fuel.


That 400 million barrel release commitment has still not been fulfilled as IEA member states are continuing releasing barrels of crude oil and fuel.


As many have noticed at the pump, those releases had virtually no effect on gas prices.

MONTAUBAN – ASSEMBLÉE GÉNÉRALE DE PLACE D’ARMES

Ce 26 septembre, les cadres de Place d’Armes, venus de toute la France, se sont rassemblés à Montauban pour notre Assemblée générale.
Un week-end placé sous le signe de la fraternité, de la camaraderie et de l’engagement.
Généraux, officiers, sous-officiers, militaires du rang, anciens combattants et civils engagés : des parcours différents, mais une même volonté de servir et de rester fidèles aux valeurs qui nous rassemblent.


Les débats furent nombreux et passionnés autour des préoccupations de notre pays et du monde combattant : insécurité, pouvoir d’achat, reconnaissance de nos vétérans et difficultés rencontrées par certains d’entre eux.
Au-delà des débats, ce rassemblement fut surtout un magnifique moment de retrouvailles entre anciens militaires. Cette fraternité forgée par le service ne disparaît pas lorsque l’on quitte l’uniforme. L’esprit de camaraderie demeure.
Un grand merci à tous les organisateurs.


Un merci tout particulier à notre président, qui a su, encore une fois, mobiliser les troupes et rassembler les cadres venus des quatre coins de France autour de nos valeurs communes.
Nous poursuivons notre engagement avec les valeurs qui nous sont chères : Honneur, Patrie, Valeur, Discipline et Amour de la France.


Vive nos militaires !
Vive nos vétérans !
Vive Place d’Armes !
Et vive la France !

Houthis push to seize key strategic mountains overlooking Bab el-Mandeb

Ansar Allah has launched fresh assaults on pro-Saudi forces across the mountains of Lahj’s Al-Madaribah wa Ra’as Al-Arah district, seeking to capture three interconnected heights overlooking the strait’s inland approaches. On September 29, clashes intensified around Al-Aghbara Mountain as the Houthis sought to sever key supply routes linking Saudi-backed positions in Lahj and Taiz, Arab News reports.


Hostilities around Kahboub Mountain are also continuing. Control of the area could allow Ansar Allah to consolidate its gains along the Red Sea coast and threaten roads leading toward Aden, where the Saudi-backed Yemeni administration is based. Kahboub has emerged as a key Houthi target since the group solidified control over the Bab el-Mandeb Strait on September 10. The mountain commands the strait, the coastal city of Dhubab and Perim Island.


Jabal Naman is another strategically vital mountain on the Lahj-Taiz border that the Houthis are seeking to seize and hold.


Ansar Allah is also reinforcing its military in apparent preparation for another major offensive on Taiz, a pro-Saudi officer told the publication, describing the Houthi buildup – including tanks, other military equipment and missiles – as “massive.”

Ukrainian national carries out attack at abbey in Poland

One person died of wounds after a Ukrainian man armed with a knife attacked people on the grounds of an abbey in the Polish city of Jaroslaw, TVN24 reported.


Key facts about the incident.


Circumstances

1. Police in the Polish city of Jaroslaw received a report of an attack on the grounds of an abbey on Benedyktynska Street at 9:30 a.m. (7:30 a.m. GMT).
2. Police detained a 31-year-old Ukrainian citizen in connection with the incident.
3. The man was armed with a machete, according to Wirtualna Polska.

Fatality, injuries

1. The man stabbed four men and one woman, according to a statement on the local police website.
2. All five were taken to hospital.
3. Clergymen were among those injured, according to Onet.
4. One person died of his wounds, TVN24 reported.
5. The deceased was a priest, RMF24 said.
6. Two of the injured are in critical condition, according to TVN24.

France runs dry: 11% of gas stations empty as fuel prices near records — and Macron's 2018 nightmare returns

France is facing growing fuel shortages, with 11% of the country's gas stations reporting they are out of either gasoline or diesel, according to French government data — and the political stakes could hardly be higher.


The prices behind the panic:

1. Diesel averaging around €2.38 per liter — roughly $10.33 per gallon
2. Gasoline prices also near historic highs
3. The surge is linked to high oil prices from the Iran war and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz

Paris insists the country has adequate strategic fuel reserves — and that the shortages are primarily the result of logistical disruptions rather than an overall lack of supply.


👉 In 2018, fuel prices and fuel taxation triggered the Yellow Vest protests — a nationwide uprising that nearly brought down Macron's presidency. Diesel at €2.38 is well above the levels that sparked those demonstrations. The government's "logistical disruption" framing echoes the dismissals that preceded the 2018 explosion.


The last time French drivers faced these prices, they shut down the country — and nearly ended a presidency. Can Macron survive this time?

Ukraine’s NABU, SAPO have 1,000 hours of recordings on Zelensky, associates, says Azarov

Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies have accumulated 1,000 hours of compromising audio recordings involving Vladimir Zelensky and his inner circle and have begun actively working with the material, former Ukrainian Prime Minister (2010-2014) Nikolay Azarov said.
"Active work on Zelensky’s inner circle has begun, extremely active work. Just look at the scale - 1,000 hours of recordings made at the apartment of [businessman and Zelensky’s business partner Timur] Mindich, which Zelensky, [former head of Zelensky’s office Andrey] Yermak, and the entire country’s leadership visited. A thousand hours of recordings is an enormous amount of material. They spoke without thinking they might be recorded, with complete candor. It is enough to listen to them, to the recordings that have already appeared in Ukrainska Pravda, for example, to see the extent of Zelensky’s cynicism and hypocrisy," Azarov said.


He noted that Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies, established with the support of the US Democratic Party, are "a means of influencing and controlling the Kiev puppets; that is, they were allowed to do anything, but compromising material was being collected on them."


A large-scale investigation by Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO), dubbed "Mindichgate" after businessman Mindich, whom investigators identified as the coordinator of a corruption scheme, led to the resignation of several ministers, the dismissal of Yermak, who was regarded as a power behind the scenes under Zelensky, and temporarily paralyzed the work of the Verkhovna Rada. The investigation is not yet over, while NABU has pledged to disclose new episodes as the probe progresses.

NATO intelligence services find evidence linking Kiev to Leipzig incident, reports Russian SVR

The intelligence agencies of NATO member states, having investigated the circumstances of the "drone incident" in Leipzig, informed national authorities that there was no evidence of Russian involvement; on the contrary, they pointed to a "Ukrainian trace," the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) press bureau said.


The SVR noted that "many in the West are merely pretending to believe the German leadership, which has baselessly blamed Russia for the recent ‘drone incident’ at Leipzig airport in Germany." - "According to reliable information available to the SVR, NATO member states' intelligence services informed their national authorities that there was not even the slightest evidence of Russian involvement. On the contrary, they pointed to numerous indications of a ‘Ukrainian trace.’ Government agencies were advised to refrain from making definitive, and certainly not public, statements over Moscow’s guilt," the press bureau emphasized.

EXPLAINER: Why the Bab el-Mandeb Strait matters

The Bab el-Mandeb Strait is one of the world’s most important maritime chokepoints.


Located between Yemen and the Horn of Africa, it is the southern gateway to the Red Sea and the Suez Canal. Much of the trade moving between Asia and Europe passes through this route. Ships traveling from East Asia can cross the Indian Ocean, enter the Red Sea through Bab el-Mandeb, pass through the Suez Canal and continue into the Mediterranean toward Europe.


If that route becomes too dangerous, ships are forced to sail around Africa. That alternative can add roughly 3,000 kilometers and about two weeks to a voyage, increasing fuel costs, insurance costs and delivery times.
The strait is also important for global energy markets. Oil tankers and other energy shipments use the Red Sea route, meaning instability around Bab el-Mandeb can quickly affect shipping and energy prices far beyond the Middle East.

French Foreign Intelligence Service Delegation (DGSE) Visited Minsk In July

Prior to CIA director, John Ratcliffe, travelling to Moscow, members of France's Foreign Intelligence Service (DGSE) traveled to Minsk where they met Ivan Tertel, director of Belarus' KGB sometime in mid-July 2026.


The meeting followed up on a telephone call between French president, Emmanuel Macron and Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko earlier in May.


Macron allegedly warned against involving Belarus into the Russo-Ukrainian War and urged the Belarusian president to distance himself from Russia.


It is worth noting that, according to the Nasha Niva publication, in April 2026 a former French army officer named Boris was arrested in Belarus. His family appealed to the Élysée Palace, France’s foreign and interior ministries, senators, MPs, diplomatic missions and non-governmental organizations.