Russia Expands Global Outreach for Program Linked to Drone Production
On a Saturday afternoon earlier this month, about 60 people, young women and their parents, gathered in an auditorium at the University of Botswana to listen to several of their countrymen exhort them to pack up and move almost 6,000 miles (9,600 kilometers) away to the Republic of Tatarstan in Russia.
Over fried chicken from a local Gaborone fast-food joint, attendees were pitched what was billed as a work-study program in the Alabuga Special Economic Zone, an industrial complex 12 hours east of Moscow dedicated to mechanical engineering and the production of Shahed-136 kamikaze drones. Fliers and promotional materials for the program featured images of smiling young African women working as technicians and waitresses.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NBC News
43 minutes ago
- NBC News
Even at 1%, new tax will burden African immigrants who send money back home
A new remittance tax set to begin in the new year has one university student reeling from the implications it will have for her family in Nigeria. Edidiong Chrys, a second-generation Nigerian American, said she thinks the 1% tax passed as part of President Donald Trump's 'big, beautiful bill ' would directly affect the financial lifeline she sends overseas. This tax will be applied to anyone in the U.S. who sends money abroad. 'We regularly send money home to support loved ones, including our elders, children in school, newborns and others in need,' she said. Chrys, 38, said some of the funds sent home have gone to new parents in her family, helping ease the cost of food and traveling to doctors' appointments. The funds also help her uncle, who has a job but also must pay for his five daughters, who are all in school. He and his wife work, but it's still not enough 'to accommodate all the things that need to hold the household down,' Chrys said. And then there's Chrys' 80-year-old grandmother, who was weathering back pain when Chrys visited in January. 'We are paying for the live-in nurse to help her during the week,' she said. 'That's an additional expense that we need to have for her so that she's not bending over.' The tax applies to anyone in the U.S. who sends remittances to their home countries. In 2023, remittances from the U.S. totaled $98 billion, according to the World Bank. Chrys contributes to the $56 billion in remittances sub-Saharan Africa received from people around the world last year. In fact, she said she regularly remits cash — more than 50 times a year — to family and friends. The Center for Global Development, a nonpartisan think tank that focuses on reducing global poverty through economic research, published an analysis last month that listed the tax as yet another financial setback for many nations, given the recent reduction in American aid. Liberia is highly dependent on foreign aid as well as remittances. In 2023, the U.S. accounted for a quarter of the country's foreign aid, and remittances surpassed Liberia's bilateral foreign aid by three times, according to the report. The African Union's outgoing ambassador to the United States, Hilda Suka-Mafudze, said hindering such funding 'threatens to reverse gains in financial inclusion and development across the continent of Africa.' Witney Schneidman, a nonresident senior fellow with the Africa Growth Initiative at the Brookings Institution's Global Economy and Development program, said, 'To put this tax on is just a further constraint on the U.S. effort to work with our partners on the continent.' 'It's not transformational. ... It's just another obstacle to partnership, and it's another obstacle to development,' he said. Schneidman, who also served as deputy assistant secretary of state for African affairs in the Clinton administration, condemned the Trump administration for building barriers and not bridges. 'When you add it up with the visa blockages, with the end of the [African Growth and Opportunity Act] AGOA, with the end of USAID, it's just building a wall,' he said. 'The U.S. is building a wall between itself and the world and certainly between itself and Africa.' Suka-Mafudze, whose focus will turn toward the Southern African Development Community region, said that beyond hurting diplomatic ties, blocking remittances is also 'a human issue, because diaspora remittances are lifelines for millions of African families and these remittances often cover essentials, which are food, school fees, medical care and a lot of things. And to impose a tax on that is deeply unjust.' Chrys said the financial burden of sending money home is already heavy, with some stretching limited resources to make ends meet. 'Some people are not making as much to be able to try to support their family back home,' Chrys said. 'When I do get a chance to send money home, sometimes I'm spending it from my refund check.' Democratic Reps. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick of Florida and Jonathan L. Jackson of Illinois introduced new legislation called the African Diaspora Investment and Development Act, or AIDA, aimed at reversing the tax's impact. It would also create more transparency in money transfers, among other things. Suka-Mafudze backs the legislation, warning the new tax 'could push people toward informal or unregulated channels, making transactions riskier and less transparent.' Cherfilus-McCormick, the only Haitian American member of Congress right now, warns that a remittance tax would unfairly burden families already struggling to support their loved ones overseas. 'I strongly oppose any effort to tax remittances and will continue fighting for policies that protect immigrant and diaspora communities,' she said in a statement. 'H.R.4586 — AIDA intends to reverse course and instead focus on incentivizing and leveraging on the nearly 100 billion of dollars that Haitian, African and Caribbean Americans send home each year to build sustainable partnerships and strengthen economic development.' Schneidman said the tax has the potential to impact education, health care and families because the bulk of the remittances are family-to-family. That reality is felt most by those sending the money, who see firsthand how even small amounts can make a big difference. 'In the U.S., it might feel like, 'Oh, that's nothing.'' Chrys said. But in Nigeria, 'It's everything because every little money counts.'
Axios
2 days ago
- Axios
With indictment, Cantrell joins Louisiana's notorious political history
Mayor LaToya Cantrell became the first New Orleans mayor to ever be federally indicted while serving her term in City Hall. Why it matters: Cantrell becomes part of a notorious history of Louisiana politicians who have faced criminal charges from their time in office, which has long lent the state an unenviable reputation. Between the lines: Also the first Black female mayor of New Orleans, Cantrell has long said she has faced more intense scrutiny than others who have held the role. As New York Times columnist Charles M. Blow wrote last year during a failed effort to recall Cantrell, the mayor "has faced constant accusations of impropriety" as she's been "subject to a kind of sexism specific to Black women: misogynoir, as it's called." Worth noting: Cantrell's attorney told Axios around 1:30pm Friday that he had not received a copy of the indictment yet. He did not make any further comments. Catch up quick: Dozens of Louisiana politicians have faced criminal charges. Here are three standouts. Former Rep. William Jefferson Jefferson faced corruption charges after the FBI filmed him taking a $100,000 cash bribe with the goal of paying off an African official, the FBI says. Days later, the FBI infamously found $90,000 stashed in his freezer. He was convicted of bribery, racketeering and money laundering. Former Gov. Edwin Edwards The colorful Cajun was so popular with voters that he was elected governor four times from the 1970s through the early 1990s, though he faced multiple federal indictments during his third term. But he wouldn't be convicted until May 2000, when he was found guilty of taking bribes over riverboat casino licenses in his fourth term. Edwards spent eight years in a federal prison before launching a final unsuccessful campaign for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2014. Former Mayor C. Ray Nagin Nagin, who led New Orleans during and immediately after Hurricane Katrina, was the city's first mayor convicted of corruption, according to WWL. Nagin, who was charged after leaving office, was found guilty of 20 counts of wire fraud, bribery and tax evasion after prosecutors said he took bribes while in office. He was sentenced to serve 10 years and was released early when officials sought to decrease prison populations in 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Russia's Shahed-136 Drones Are Laying Anti-Tank Mines
Russia is now apparently using the Shahed-family drones to lay anti-tank mines, echoing a tactic used by Ukrainian multi-rotor 'bomber' drones, though with very different advantages. Though it's unclear how widely this new use for the Shahed is being employed, it represents yet another challenge to Ukraine from a drone that has terrorized the country for years now. A new video emerged on social media showing at least one of the delta-winged uncrewed aircraft dropping PTM-3 anti-tank mines from canisters attached underneath the Shahed's blended flying-wing-like fuselage. Each canister contains one mine, released by a small explosive charge, which is visible in the video. At least two Ukrainian vehicles appear to have struck the mines. Russian drones dropping anti-tank mines on roads. — Clash Report (@clashreport) August 10, 2025 'Today on our channel is the premiere of the latest drone tactics against ground-moving targets,' wrote the Russian NGP-Razvedka military Telegram channel, which posted the video on Sunday. 'Some time ago, the enemy posted anxious messages claiming that under the wing of the Geranium [the Russian name for Shaheds] were found cassettes with mines, suspended with unknown purposes. The malicious NgP soldiers were testing some technologies, but silently.' 'The Geranium conducts remote mining of enemy supply routes in real time, resulting in one transport unit going down, while another with shredded infantry manages to escape, though not very far in such a state,' NGP-Razvedka claimed in an explanation of what is seen in the video. 'The guidance system will be refined, the tactics of use expanded, and the logistics of the Nazis will be turned into a complete nightmare. The range of the Geranium is over 1,000 km (621 miles), do you get what that means?' The use of Shaheds to drop mines was first revealed last week by the National Police of Ukraine (NPU) after one of the drones was shot down in the Sumy region. 'This method allows the enemy to remotely mine roads, agricultural lands, and more,' NPU explained on its Telegram channel. 'The PTM-3 mine, small in size, in a plastic casing, has a magnetic detonator and reacts to machinery that is nearby or passing by.' The NPU post included four images of the system recovered from the recovered Shahed, which you can see below. The police urged 'citizens to be vigilant and careful! This especially applies to drivers of any machinery working in the fields, as well as those moving along field roads where visibility of the road surface is limited due to grass vegetation.' NPU also warned anyone finding one of these mines to contact authorities immediately. 'This also applies to enemy UAVs detected that did not explode upon falling,' NPU added. 'In addition to a powerful warhead, they may also contain mine traps or sensors that can trigger an explosion if tampered with.' The PTM-3 is a Soviet-era scatterable anti-tank mine that can be deployed either by hand, vehicle, artillery, or helicopter, according to the U.S. Army. The mine's case 'is configured to produce a shaped charge effect on five sides,' the Army noted. 'Once deployed, the mine arms itself after 60 seconds. The mine uses a magnetic influence fuze that detonates the mine when a vehicle passes over it. It is also reported to have an anti-handling device that is sensitive to movement.' Using Shaheds to drop mines is the latest development of the Iranian-designed weapon that first appeared on the battlefield for Russia in September 2022. They have been frequently improved on since and have become by far Russia's main standoff weapons, used to cause widespread damage across Ukraine. In addition to adding new capabilities like jet engines and new tactics for evading Ukrainian air defenses, Russia is drastically increasing the number of the drones it is producing. As we have previously noted, while Russia initially relied on Iran to supply its Shaheds, it now produces its own at the rate of 2,000 per month with plans to nearly triple that in the not-too-distant future. It is by far the primary method by which Russia launches long-range strikes into Ukraine. Another major concern is the infusion of AI into the Shahed-136 airframe, which is already underway. This will have massive repercussions, which we discussed in great detail a year and a half ago in this previous feature. Not only do we not know how frequently Russia is using Shaheds to drop mines, it is also unclear how many of the systems they have and if the concept is still in a highly experimental state. It is possible that these operate near the front lines, with a human in the loop controlling them. Standard Shahed-136s operate autonomously on autopilot and fly to a fixed target area before diving toward it and detonating. By using man-in-the-loop control, it would provide more agile use of the drones for mining roadways near the front and higher sortie rates. The need for two-way communications to control the drone would be the big limiting factor when it comes to its range and, to some extent, its survivability. On the other hand, the Shahed could be following a planned route on autopilot, dropping the mines as programmed. This would be a very concerning development as the drones could mine roadways hundreds of miles deep into Ukraine, where no mines would be expected. Again, we discussed the worry that Shaheds will become a far more dynamic threat deep in Ukraine in our past piece linked here. With this in mind, the video we are seeing could be early combat trials footage from man-in-the-loop nearby mining operations. If not, it would require an autopiloted Shahed to return to friendly territory for the video to be physically recovered from the drone or it would have to uploaded opportunistically via cellular networks while deep over Ukraine. We just don't know the current or planned concept of operations for these mining-optimized Shaheds at this time. Meanwhile, Shaheds aren't the only drones Russia is using to deliver PTM-3s. Moscow is now starting to use the mines as warheads for its Lancet line of loitering munitions, according to the Ukrainian Militarnyi media outlet. However, instead of being dropped by Lancets, they are getting installed as the drone's primary kinetic device. With a total weight of 4.9 kg, the PTM-3s pack a stronger punch than the standard KZ-6 warhead, Militarnyi noted. The site offered no information about how widely the PTM-3s are being used in this manner. Moscow is far behind in using bomber drones to drop mines in this manner, one drone expert claims. 'Using a Geran-2 (Shahed) long-range strike UAV to drop just two PTM-3 anti-tank landmines on frontline roads reflects the pathetic failure of Russia to develop a heavy-lift drone fleet,' an open-source expert using the Grandpa Roy X account stated on the social media platform. 'Ukraine has used its large heavy drone fleet to precision place many thousands of PTM-3s.' Using a Geran-2 (Shahed) long-range strike UAV to drop just two PTM-3 anti-tank landmines on frontline roads reflects the pathetic failure of Russia to develop a heavy lift drone has used its large heavy drone fleet to precision place many thousands of PTM-3s.1/ — Roy (@GrandpaRoy2) August 11, 2025 With the increasing numbers of Shaheds being produced and plentiful PTM-3s, widespread use of these weapons would pose additional danger to a Ukrainian logistics system already under tremendous pressure from Moscow's ubiquitous attack drones. If the drones are able to scatter these mines virtually anywhere in Ukraine, taking advantage of their long-range, than that could prove to be a terrible problem for Ukrainian military personnel and civilians alike. Contact the author: howard@ Solve the daily Crossword
