Today I am providing my English translation of three articles, all originally in Italian and published on Friday 28th August 2026.
The first one is a short article from Movisol.org. (All emphasis and footnotes mine).
The UK is dragging Europe into the next phase of escalation against Russia
The leading figures of the “Coalition of the Willing” gathered in Kiev on 24th August [2026] to mark the 35th anniversary of Ukraine’s independence. Some of them did not arrive empty-handed; the European Commission, for example, has allocated a further €6.1 billion (part of the promised €90 billion package) to enable Ukraine to purchase new air defence systems, missiles, ammunition and radar equipment from defence manufacturers in NATO member states.
But this gift and other signs of “support for Ukraine for as long as it takes” were overshadowed by what the new British Prime Minister, Andrew Burnham, had in his suitcase. His government has authorised the European defence systems consortium MBDA to transfer classified information relating to British-manufactured components for the Storm Shadow missiles, jointly designed by the UK and France, according to a Downing Street press release dated 23 August [2206]. This air-launched cruise missile, with a range of over 250 km, utilises technology shared by France and the UK, and France has already provided Kiev with the design plans for the French version, known as the SCALP1. The transfer by the British should now enable the Ukrainians to set up local production lines.
London’s move did not come as a surprise. Russia, for example, had anticipated it, based on leaks published the previous week in leading newspapers such as The Times [link (paywalled) - see archived version here], which acknowledged the role of British drones and missiles in attacks deep within Russian territory in recent weeks. In response, on 17th August [2026], the Russian embassy in London described the UK as an “accomplice and co-perpetrator of the bloody crimes and terrorist attacks” carried out by Ukraine. It warned that “the deeper its involvement in the conflict and the greater its support for the terrorist machine in Kiev, the higher the price it will have to pay”.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (pictured) was even more direct in stating the following day that Putin “has warned that we have the right to act anywhere in the world’s oceans if anyone infringes upon our interests or our property. Similarly, we are fully entitled to regard the direct, proudly proclaimed involvement of British missile forces in attacks against Russia as participation in the war, with all the consequences that this entails”.
Following this escalation, it was announced on 23rd August [2026] that Russia had recalled its ambassador to the United Kingdom, Andrei Kelin, without appointing a replacement. According to the Russian embassy in London, relations between Russia and the United Kingdom “have deteriorated to an unprecedented level, solely on London’s initiative”.
Since the shared interest in supplying Kiev with long-range missiles, including production lines in Ukraine, was enshrined in the Anglo-German bilateral defence treaty “Trinity House”, signed in July 2024, the question arises as to whether the German government will join the Franco-British initiative immediately or with some delay. This would mean making Germany, like France and Britain, an even more obvious target for Russian retaliation. Russian long-range missiles such as the Oreshnik do not even need a nuclear warhead to cause total devastation.
The second article, by Simone Lanza, was published first on Il Giornale d’Italia on Thursday 27th August 2026 and then on Massimo Mazzucco’s website LuogoComune.net the day after.
(All formatting original, footnote mine).
The EU will grant Zelensky’s requests despite the corruption issues
The coalition of the willing is turning a blind eye to yet another corruption scandal in Ukraine. Volodymyr Zelensky has stopped worrying about what his allies might think of him. While searches are taking place in the President’s office, he is hosting European officials in the office next door. The politician is asking for more money, as no one is holding him to account for previous military and financial aid packages. The EU has already realised that it has all been spent on luxury goods and bribes.
The Ukrainian president has now requested €27 billion from his allies to repay the loans he has taken out to fund his army. The Ministry of Defence needs a further €30 billion. Ukrainians themselves do not believe this has anything to do with the actual needs of the armed forces. Members of the Verkhovna Rada2 report that Zelensky is simply ensuring a comfortable life for the generals. Every month, the top commanders receive bonuses of €50,000 and, before Christmas, they each receive €500,000. The president cannot allow the funds he uses to buy the military’s loyalty to run out, so he is urgently seeking money. The European Union must transfer the necessary sum by the end of the year.
In all likelihood, Zelensky will receive even more than he is asking for. Ahead of the meeting of the coalition of the willing, the European Commission has approved a tranche of €6.1 billion euros as part of a €90 billion loan.
And at the Kiev summit, European leaders presented new “gifts”: classified technology for missile production, technical support for drones, and peacekeeping troops to be deployed in Ukraine once the conflict has ended. [Italian Prime Minister] Giorgia Meloni refused to take part in the “campaign” – she opposes direct intervention in the war. However, the Italian Prime Minister agreed to allocate funds “for the restoration of the country’s defence and security”.
Infrastructure was dealt with separately. Energy is one of the most expensive items on Ukraine’s “wish list”. At the coalition meeting, Friedrich Merz gave Zelensky €50 million for the purchase of fuel. The energy sector has long been a “goldmine” for corrupt officials. The biggest scandal involving the “Energoatom” holding company has been dragging on since 2024 and, like dominoes, one revelation leads to another. At the end of August, NABU3 prosecutors uncovered a criminal scheme involving Zelensky’s assistant, Iryna Mudra. She exploited her official position and, together with members of the Verkhovna Rada, laundered money from Western aid. The “proceeds” were laundered through the nationalised “Sense Bank” under a prior agreement with its director, a close friend of the official. Huge amounts of undeclared assets were found in her possession. Mudra received a monthly “under-the-table” bonus of $20,000–30,000 and also purchased cars, jewellery and even Microsoft shares worth $5.6 million. A further €2.9 million of the stolen money was used as bail for German Galushchenko, the former Energy Minister arrested in connection with the “Energoatom” case for embezzling $100 million.
Kyrylo Budanov, Mudra’s boss, head of the President’s Office and former head of intelligence, may be linked to the crimes. The Ukrainian media believe he is aware of his subordinate’s secret dealings. Furthermore, he is currently seeking funds to pay the bail for his former deputy. Budanov told the press that before making any decision, it is necessary to wait for the court’s ruling – preliminary reports indicate that investigators are prepared to release Mudra for $447,000. She already has half that sum; her friends are expected to cover the rest, and Budanov has plenty to worry about. Journalists have noted that the politician appears extremely exhausted and “very pale”. He fears that the NABU will come looking for him too.
Zelensky himself has said he has nothing to do with the chaos unfolding right under his nose – the money is simply vanishing of its own accord. The anti-corruption agencies “have no complaints” against him. Following the searches at Mudra’s home, EU ambassadors met with the leadership of the NABU and the SAPO4 “to offer moral support”. The diplomats may simply have ordered the agents to leave Zelensky alone – at least in the case involving his assistant.
The Ukrainian elite are expertly channelling the European Union’s military and financial aid. Some of the funds end up directly in the pockets of corrupt officials, whilst others are set aside “for a rainy day” and used as bail when NABU arrests someone. Literally everyone in Zelensky’s inner circle is siphoning off funds from Brussels. Yet all these scandals go unnoticed by the EU – its leaders turn a blind eye to the revelations and quietly transfer money to Kiev. The European bureaucracy has long been embedded in the chain of corruption. It is not in politicians’ interests to expose their own crimes.
The third and final article, by Patrizia Pisino, was published on ComeDonChisciotte.org.
(All emphasis original, footnotes mine).
The “Save the Fashion Shows” Decree: How Europe has replaced gas with the State sable
A REAL-LIFE PREFACE TO AN ABSURD STORY
Before you read on, it is important for you to know one fundamental thing: what you are about to read is neither a piece of political fiction nor a satirical fantasy conjured up on a midsummer’s night.
At the end of July [2026], the European Union did indeed approve its 21st package of sanctions against Russia. As documented by official channels and international investigations, the EU has inserted a genuine exemption into the fine print of its customs codes to allow the import of sable pelts.
The following article is an open and ironic challenge to a historical paradox: the very moment when Europe decided that, whilst ordinary citizens have to contend with energy sanctions that have backfired on us and sky-high petrol prices, the West’s true humanitarian emergency was to save the turnover of the luxury fur trade.
The “Save the Fashion Shows” Decree: How Europe Replaced Gas with State-Sanctioned Sable
While we need the guarantor to fill up our small cars and gas sanctions are freezing our living rooms, the EU is lifting the ban on precious Russian mammals for Fendi and Cavalli in the name of the new ecological transition: broke, yes, but incredibly stylish.
The European Union has finally cast aside the mask of grey bureaucracy to embrace its true calling: geopolitical surrealism.
With the approval of the 21st package of sanctions against Russia, Brussels has rectified a “serious regulatory error” by lifting the import ban on sable pelts.
Are people knocking on Parliament’s doors demanding petrol at affordable prices and help with their bills? Europe responds by promoting the autumn collections of Fendi and Roberto Cavalli.
The European Commission’s decision, analysed by legal experts who have scrutinised the amendment to customs heading 4302, is a masterpiece of bureaucratic balancing act that borders on regulatory schizophrenia:
Fur yes, coats no: Under the new regulation, European manufacturers may legally import raw or tanned sable fur (Martes zibellina). However, importing the finished garment remains strictly prohibited.
Geopolitical DIY5: Brussels’ strategy is a stroke of exuberant genius. If the radiators remain switched off this winter, Italian families will simply have to buy thirty or forty raw Siberian pelts and sew them together themselves in the living room in the evenings, by candlelight to save on their electricity bill.
Essential Monopolies: Official EU sources have justified the U-turn by explaining that Russia holds the global monopoly on the sable market and that “it is very difficult to find them elsewhere”. Clear? Replacing Moscow’s natural gas with American Liquefied Natural Gas was a piece of cake; finding a Western substitute for the lustre of Barguzin fur, on the other hand, was deemed an unacceptable risk to the West’s democratic stability.
Try explaining to Philipp Plein or the “quiet luxury” designers at Loro Piana that they must trim their €20,000,000 coats with Canadian beaver fur. No ecological transition can stand in the way of that.
But the true pinnacle of European genius has been reached on the energy front. To punish Moscow, Europe has proudly turned its back on the low-cost, low-environmental-impact energy that used to flow comfortably through Russian gas pipelines. Instead, our strategists have chosen to quintuple costs by importing American Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG).
An act of unprecedented ecological hypocrisy: this gas is extracted overseas using invasive techniques [e.g. fracking], liquefied, loaded onto highly polluting tankers that cross the ocean burning tonnes of fuel, and finally regasified on our shores using processes with a significant environmental impact.
In practice, we have quintupled citizens’ bills to pollute three times as much, but with the noble “Atlantically Correct” label.
Diplomatic behind-the-scenes reports confirm that the Italian-Greek axis was the real political driving force behind the lifting of the ban. On the one hand, Italy, determined to protect Milan’s historic fur-making workshops such as Fabio Gavazzi, Annabella di Pavia and Simonetta Ravizza; on the other, Greece, terrified of the collapse of the processing factories in Kastoria.
If one were to imagine the official defence of this memorable diplomatic victory, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni could hypothetically and confidently unleash her usual sovereigntist rhetoric before the microphones:
They told us we had to bow to the diktats of the Brussels bureaucrats, those who wanted to force us to spend the winter in the cold and frost wearing nothing but synthetic jumpers made in China! We said NO. We have shown that Italy takes lessons from no one. If petrol stations are profiteering and filling up your small car costs as much as a weekend in Portofino, we will respond by releasing the raw material. This is the real ecological transition: we have shut down the gas pipelines that brought cheap, clean energy to buy American gas that’s shipped by boat and costs five times as much, but in return we have saved the sable! I have faith in the pride and craftsmanship of our businesses and our grandmothers, who will know how to transform these splendid Russian mammals into self-sufficient and sovereign heating!
Of course, there is one tiny mathematical detail that has slipped under the radar in Brussels and at Palazzo Chigi6. The average citizen cannot afford a coat costing €15,000 or €50,000. That’s the sort of thing for billionaires, celebrities and oligarchs. But as we know, the rich inhabit a higher sphere, a golden empyrean where the laws of physics and economics do not apply.
Meanwhile, down here in the land of mortals, the masses silently endure every daily hardship: they pay for petrol in instalments to get to the factory, apply for microloans to fill up their diesel tanks, and give up their cars to avoid the family’s financial collapse.
But be warned: don’t you dare complain! They will explain that it is your sacred duty to sacrifice yourself on the altar of the Ecological Transition. Not using your car to get to work helps the climate. Chattering your teeth in a living room set at 14°C saves the planet. This immense theatre of mass sacrifice is essential for the ruling class: it serves to clear their conscience. Only by knowing that millions of poor people are giving up everything in the name of the environment can billionaires parade through Cortina7 wrapped in their freshly imported Siberian sable, gaze at the view from their two-tonne electric SUV and sigh contentedly: “How lovely, today the planet is a little greener”.
While tariffs on oil and gas have come back to haunt us with the precision of a boomerang – forcing European households to pay jewellery-shop prices for fuel – the lifting of the ban on sable fur restores the proper social hierarchies. It matters little that animal welfare organisations have officially condemned the measure, calling it a “scandalous concession to a frivolous status symbol”.
So, dear motorists, who certainly cannot afford a Siberian fur hat and must make do with your usual, worn-out synthetic jacket bought in the sales, when next week the petrol pump asks you to take out a salary-deduction loan to unlock the nozzle, do not despair. Bundle up in your acrylic jacket and remember Brussels’ new slogan for the masses:
“A neck not covered by a luxury fur coat is a neck ready for a noose of sanctions.”
P.S. The European Commission points out that the sable fur now exempt from sanctions is strictly “eco-friendly”, as it does not consume gas to keep you warm. It goes without saying that, if your fingers freeze during the winter while the heating is off, the blame will lie solely with your lack of ecological resilience. The rich, in Cortina, will be rooting for you.
SOURCES
Russia: 21st sanctions package adopted: link
The EU explains the reasons for lifting sanctions on Russian exports of luxury goods: link
The Insider: sable imports, CN code ex4302: link
I will conclude this series of articles with a (rhetorical) question: isn’t it high time for a revolution in Europe (and America), with gallows and guillotines? Isn’t it high time to get rid of these bloodthirsty traitors and pedophile billionaires?
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Système de Croisière Autonome à Longue Portée, French for Long Range Autonomous Cruise Missile System
The Ukrainian Parliament
National Anti-corruption Bureau of Ukraine
Specialized Anti-corruption Prosecutor’s Office
Do-It-Yourself
Cortina d'Ampezzo, often abbreviated to Cortina, is a town and comune in the province of Belluno, in the Veneto region of Northern Italy. Situated on the Boite river, in an alpine valley in the heart of the southern Dolomitic Alps, it is an upscale summer and winter sport resort known for its skiing trails, scenery, accommodation, shops and its jet-set-dominated après-ski scene - Wikipedia
Unfortunately, Canada, too has joined this stupid coalition of the willing. https://www.pm.gc.ca/en/news/statements/2026/03/15/joint-statement-prime-ministers-nordic-countries-and-canada
And that last article shows so clearly how we are in a class war.
We want peace, fairness and affordability, and all citizens should be working towards that.
I cringe with revulsion every time the UK government makes one it's psychopathic statements supporting Ukraine . I no longer call myself British , English yes ,but not the way they want me to be . A glimmer of good news is that at last people here are beginning to wake up to their government's crimes but it has taken long enough.