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We might be sticking a few more seconds on the Doomsday Clock, with increased fears that we're one more incident closer to World War III.
The geopolitical situation has only gotten worse in 2025, with the Russia-Ukraine conflict being joined by an escalating situation between Israel and Iran, as well as the continuing troubles in Gaza.
It didn't take a genius to figure out the Doomsday Clock would be closer to midnight than ever before, and while there are rightful concerns about how AI will be involved in a potential WWIII, the big question is which world power could do the unthinkable with its big red button.
One of Vladimir Putin's top generals worryingly suggested we were already in the grips of WWIII, and with Putin pitched as a major catalyst in future conflicts, any attack against Russia could be a trigger.
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Russia has warned about the devastating consequences of trying to help Ukraine, but now, the latter has apparently launched several attacks on Putin's homeland.
Posting on the Telegram messaging app, regional Governor Veniamin Kondratyev claimed that a drone assault caused a massive fire at a Sochi oil plant.
Sochi is located in the Krasnodar region on the Black Sea, with reports that Russian air defense units took out 93 Ukrainian drones. This included one over the Krasnodar region and 60 over the Black Sea.
❗️🇺🇦⚔️🇷🇺 - Ukrainian Drone Attack on Sochi Oil Depot
— 🔥🗞The Informant (@theinformant_x) August 3, 2025
A Ukrainian drone attack triggered a fire at an oil depot in Adler, Sochi, Russia, disrupting flights at the city's international airport, according to Reuters, citing the local governor.
The attack caused explosions,… pic.twitter.com/RP8KYe61j1
We're only told about the 93 destroyed drones and not how many were launched in general. Among the consequences, Russia’s RIA news agency says a fuel tanker with a capacity of 2,000 cubic meters burst into flames. 127 firefighters rushed to fight the blaze at the oil depot, with Sochi back in the news after it famously hosted the 2014 Winter Olympic Games
Russia’s Rosaviatsia civil aviation authority halted all flights to and from Sochi's airport before giving the all clear at 10 p.m. ET on Saturday.
Elsewhere, former Ukrainian interior ministry adviser Anton Geraschenko shared a dramatic clip of flames soaring into the air following a similar attack on the Archeda railway station that's located in Frolovo, which is in Russia's Volgograd Oblast.
Similarly, there massive disruption to rail travel and a regional airport. Installations in the central Russian cities of Ryazan and Penza were targeted, as well as Voronezh which is close to the Ukrainian border.
It comes as Ukraine's air force claims Russia fired up to 83 drones, or 76 drones and seven missiles. Although 61 were shot down, 16 drones and six missiles were said to have hit targets across eight locations.
If this wasn't enough to have us worried about WWIII, Russia and China have commenced combat drills in the Sea of Japan, just after President Donald Trump relocated US nuclear submarines closer to Russia.
Zhang Xiaogang from Beijing's defense ministry confirmed the drills and defiantly stated: "The US has been blindly flexing its muscles in the Asia-Pacific region and attempting to use military drills as a pretext to gang up, intimidate and pressure other countries, and undermine peace and stability in the region."
Trump argues that he was pushed to move the subs in response to inflammatory comments from former President of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev, but with Russia batting off assaults from all sides, there are plenty of worried glances being exchanged.
