What's troubling about the Ratcliffe visit to Moscow is the growing body of evidence that Russia is actively probing Romania's air defenses with multiple deep penetrations in the last 10 days. You can see it in the estimated flight paths. Privately, Polish officials believe the Kh-101 overflight was intentional. We have good sources on that info that we trust.
MEROPS is performing poorly and Romania is struggling to track Russian drones. Ministry of Defense didn't mention MEROPS specifically, but noted that Russian drone tech has leapfrogged NATO's detection and tracking tech. Romania has had issues deploying MEROPS so operator error shouldn't be ruled out.
If only someone knew how to solve this problem!
The other thing that is concerning is Russia's brazen attacks on the Romanian and Moldovan border checkpoints. It's a mass casualty event waiting to happen.
You also have the drone incident at Leipzig, which was much more serious than first reports. It appears it was a complex operation that only failed because the detonator on one of the drones disconnected on impact. Germany announced they would be revealing the "who." Leipzig isn't just a spot where an An-124 was parked. It is a major NATO logistics hub and DHL's largest terminal in the world. There were 4 An-124s there, and they are part of NATO's heavy transport capabilities.
Then you have the very unusual intense NATO activity over the Baltics, including EW and SIGNINT. They were highly visible transponder on exercises. NATO wanted everyone to know, and Russia was unusually quiet.
Finally, all the active tunneling from Belarus into Eastern Europe, including Poland's fortified border. This isn't getting a lot of coverage. We have the confirmed incidents on our map. Sure, they're migrants getting Russian and Belarusian assistance, but if they can tunnel undetected, Russia troops can do more.
I don't think this has anything to do with Iran, outside of stop assisting Iran, we know you are, our troops have been killed-wounded, here's the proof. That would be a face-to-face meeting.
Other Iran talks feels more like the domain of Witkoff-Kushner.
Talks for a high level prisoner exchange between East and West seems unlikely, also. That would likely be more covert, and typically, there is some chatter around impending prisoner exchanges.
It also seems unlikely there was a significant incident between warships or aircraft that has gone unreported. The Pentagon leaks like a sieve and there are negative elements in the halls of the Pentagon eager to "prove" NATO is going to start WW3.
One other possibility is the crisis at Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. This isn't getting enough coverage. I wrote in depth about possible scenarios and how difficult it would be to fake an accident. However, economic sabotage with minor radiation leaks is a possible scenario.
If Russia collapses Ukraine's power grid, you have 5 nuclear power sites in crisis. Zaporizhzhia and Chornobyl can't operate in island mode. Zaporizhzhia's diesel fuel consumption rate will skyrocket in the winter, due to the need to run portable boilers for hot water and steam.
I don't believe the US is going to throw Ukraine under the bus more than they already have. Support for Ukraine is still very popular (bots don't vote) as shown in the Senate. That wouldn't require a plane trip and Ratcliffe wouldn't be the axe man.
One thing is certain.
The US wanted the world to know Ratcliffe was visiting.
Lost my ray of sunshine ☀️
Last year Cooper was diagnosed with cutaneous lymphoma, a rare and aggressive form of cancer.
In typical Coop fashion, not even cancer could get him down. He was happy and full of life, beating every estimate and conquering odds up until the very end.
There's a hole in my heart that will never be filled. Have really loved reading all the comments on YT/IG today, amazing how many lives he touched and how much joy he brought not only our family but the world.
Thank y'all for loving him as much as we did ❤️