Russian President Vladimir Putin is coming under rare public criticism at home, a significant signal of how the pressures from the more than four-year war in Ukraine are hurting the country. Fuel shortages and rising inflation, high-profile attacks against Russian energy infrastructure and cities, and mounting military casualties are prompting prominent figures to start pinning the blame on Putin. “It is a crisis,” said Vladimir Milov, a Russian economist in exile who served as deputy minister of energy in 2002. “What we are seeing right now is an extreme acceleration of public admissions that we are in trouble.” Russian air defenses are stretched thin, and there’s not enough manpower to operate them, analysts say, leaving open targets for Ukraine to hit. Russian forces are stalled, and it’s unclear if Putin is denying, unwilling to confront or misinformed about the true nature of the battlefield. A reportedly leaked Russian Ministry of Defense map from April showed Russian forces occupying Ukrainian towns it had failed to capture. The ISW said it had reason to believe the map was authentic and matched claims of military advances and victories from top Russian generals. Stepanenko said it’s possible Putin is operating on misinformation. https://www.aol.com/articles/crisis-putin-under-increasing-pressure-100000000.html U.S. airstrikes reportedly struck bridges, railroads, and an airport in southern Iran on Thursday, the sixth night of renewed hostilities between the United States and Iran. Iranian state media said the U.S. targets included six bridges in Hormozgan province, a railway junction station in Bandar Abbas, an airport in Iranshahr, and a maritime control tower in the port city of Chabahar. U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) did not provide a full list of targets on Friday, but did confirm some individual strikes, such as the Chabahar control tower – which CENTCOM described as “part of a maritime surveillance network along Iran’s Gulf of Oman coastline used for decades by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to track and target commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz.” ...Another [Iranian] lawmaker, Mohammadreza Rezaei-Kouchi, said that Iran would “target the infrastructure of countries cooperating with the United States” in response. “If the enemy targets one bridge, we will target two of their infrastructure bridges,” he said. Two US service members were killed in action in Jordan this week. One service member is still missing. ...from CENTCOM: On July 17, two U.S. service members in Jordan were killed in action as U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) and partner forces defended against Iranian ballistic missile and drone attacks. Additionally, one service member is currently missing in action. Four American service members were medically evacuated to Jordanian hospitals. They have since been discharged. Other personnel who were evaluated for minor injuries have returned to duty. https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/07/breaking-two-us-service-members-killed-killed-action/ Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said any activity that facilitates U.S. attacks on Iran would amount to complicity in what he described as “aggression and war crimes”, according to Iranian state media quoted by Reuters. The warning follows word from the Bulgarian government that it would seek parliamentary approval to station up to eight U.S. tanker aircraft at an air base in Bulgaria, a member of NATO and the European Union. Baghaei urged Bulgaria not to become “an accomplice of aggressors and lawbreakers”, they said. The tanker aircraft are mainly used for airborne refuelling of other aircraft, including during strikes. https://www.jns.org/news/world/iran-warns-bulgaria-against-hosting-us-warplanes Most people were surprised by this development, but in retrospect, maybe it was inevitable that the wars in Ukraine and in Ikran were to merge into a full-blown WW3 for all to see. The Ukrainian attack on an Iranian commercial ship in the Caspian Sea drew condemnation from Iran’s Foreign Ministry, which stated that the explosion killed one sailor and injured another. Reuters reported: “Tehran described the attack on its vessel as an act of aggression and said it would defend its national interests and security, while accusing Kyiv of seeking to expand the war in Ukraine." https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/07/merging-wars-zelensky-strikes-iranian-ship-kills-one/ 
‘It is a crisis’: Putin under increasing pressure from Ukraine war:
Report: U.S. Airstrikes Expand to Bridges, Railroads, and Airports in Southern Iran:
BREAKING: Two US Service Members Killed in Action in Jordan, One Missing in Action After Iranian Drone Attack:
Iran warns Bulgaria against hosting US warplanes:
MERGING WARS? Zelensky Strikes Iranian Ship, Kills One Sailor – Furious Mullahs’ Regime Vows Retaliation – ALL Ukraine in Range of Their Ballistic Missiles: