Ralph Wessels

(Reuters) - At least 40% of Russia's oil export capacity is at a halt following Ukrainian drone attacks, a disputed attack on a major pipeline and the seizure of tankers, according to Reuters calculations based on market data. The shutdown is the most severe oil supply disruption in the modern history of Russia, the world's second largest oil exporter, and has hit Moscow just as oil prices exceeded $100 a barrel due to the Iran war. Russia's oil output is one of the main sources of revenue for the national budget and is central to the $2.6 trillion economy. UKRAINE HAS INCREASED ATTACKS Ukraine intensified drone attacks on Russia's oil and fuel export infrastructure this month, hitting all three of Russia's major western oil export ports, including Novorossiysk on the Black Sea and Primorsk and Ust-Luga on the Baltic Sea. According to Reuters calculations, about 40% of Russia's crude oil export capabilities - or around 2 million barrels per day, were shut as of Wednesday after the most recent attack. That includes Primorsk and Ust-Luga as well as the Druzhba pipeline, which runs through Ukraine to Hungary and Slovakia. Kyiv has also targeted pipeline oil pumping stations and refineries. Kyiv says it aims to diminish Moscow's oil and gas revenue, which accounts for around a quarter of Russia's state budget proceeds, and weaken its military might. Russia says the Ukrainian strikes are terrorist attacks and has tightened security across its 11 time zones.

🇭🇺🇪🇺 EU ramps up “disinformation” controls before Hungary vote Brussels and major platforms like Meta have activated DSA tools just weeks before Hungary’s elections. The system coordinates with fact-checkers and NGOs to limit what it labels “controversial” content. This goes beyond disinformation, allowing Brussels to sideline dissent and shape political narratives. Why it matters: unelected EU bodies could end up influencing the outcome of a national election. Source: European Commission, Ansa It, MCC Brussels, Democracy Interference Observatory

The Trump Administration is reported to have told the Turkish government that the war with Iran would only be a four-day special military operation. Quite a remarkable bit of reporting: "The United States government had told Turkey through official channels that the war on Iran would only take four days, Asli Aydintasbas, a Washington-based Turkey expert, said during an interview on Sunday. “Turkey and some of its allies were told, through official channels, that this operation would take days and be completed in four days,” Aydintasbas, a fellow at the Brookings Institution, said in an interview with the Serbestiyet news site. “You cannot tell a Nato ally that you have made a four-day plan and then extend the operation to 14 days. In a sense, this was also a betrayal of the regional countries.”