Russia calls invasion of Ukraine a ‘war’ for the first time Shift from ‘special military operation’ blamed by Kremlin on west’s support for Kyiv. The #Kremlin has admitted for the first time that Russia is in a “state of #war” amid a push to increase domestic support for President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine after previously calling it a “special military operation”. Russia has used the Kremlin-mandated euphemism since the full-scale invasion more than two years ago, in an apparent attempt to convey the impression to the Russian public that the fighting was minor and distant, with little effect on daily life. “Yes, it started as a special military operation,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with Russian newspaper Argumenty i Fakty, published on Friday. “But as soon as this gang developed and the collective west started participating in the conflict on the side of Ukraine, for us it became a war,” Peskov said. Speaking to reporters after the interview was published, Peskov clarified that Moscow’s legal definition of the conflict had not changed, “but de facto, in reality, for us it has transformed into a war”, Peskov said.

IDF Operation "Swords of Iron" (Israel-Hamas War in Gaza Strip) will soon be renamed in “Genesis War” or “Sim'hat Torah War," according to PM Netanyahu

#China says Taiwan government risking "dangerous war" China’s defence ministry on Thursday accused Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party of pushing the island toward a “dangerous situation of war” at an “accelerated” pace, after reports that Taipei planned to buy military drones. Chinese Ministry of Defence spokesman Wu Qian said Thursday the DPP was “pushing Taiwan into a dangerous situation of war and violence at an accelerated pace”, in response to reports this month that Taipei was budgeting to buy thousands of military drones in the next four years.