The Russian-Slovak intergovernmental commission on economic and scientific-technical cooperation will hold a meeting in Moscow on October 26, 2026. This was announced by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Slovakia. It will be the first meeting of the commission since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. According to a...
Hundreds of residents in Sweden took part in an evacuation exercise in case of war
Hundreds of residents on the Swedish island of Gotland took part in a civilian evacuation exercise in the event of war. It is the first drill of this scale in many decades. According to the Gotland regional administration, an evacuation of this size was last practiced on the island in...
161 naval mines destroyed in the Black Sea since the start of the full-scale war
Since the start of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, 161 naval mines have been neutralized in the exclusive economic zones of six Black Sea countries. Updated figures have been posted on the website of Romania’s Ministry of National Defence. The munitions were either drifting at sea or washed ashore. According...
UN has recorded a sharp rise in civilian casualties from the war in Ukraine
In the first eight months of 2026, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights verified 15,280 civilians killed and injured in Ukraine. That is 55% more than in the same period of 2025, and an average of more than 400 people a week. UN High Commissioner for...
Switzerland joins EU sanctions against Belarus
The Swiss Federal Council has imposed additional restrictive measures against Belarus, joining the European Union sanctions package adopted on 23 April 2026. This was announced by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO). The new measures entered into force on 19 September 2026. Earlier, on 22 May, the Federal Department...
NATO publishes updated baseline requirements for national resilience for the first time
NATO has for the first time publicly released an updated list of baseline requirements for the resilience of Allied states against war and other large-scale threats. The document, 2026 Resilience Baseline Requirements, was published between 15 and 17 September and sets common benchmarks to help countries prepare for crises, withstand...
Fico says he does not want to drag Slovakia into a war “because of some Article 5” of NATO
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico publicly expressed his reluctance to fulfill obligations under Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty on collective defense. He made the remarks on September 17, 2026, during a speech to students and hospital staff in Prešov. “Can you imagine, ladies and gentlemen, that Article 5...
Germany is checking hospital readiness for war
Across Germany, government agencies and hospitals are assessing whether the healthcare system could withstand a major armed conflict, a mass influx of wounded, and drone strikes. Bloomberg reported this on September 16. According to Bundeswehr estimates, in a war on NATO’s eastern flank, 300 to 1,000 wounded service members could...