The President's Daily Brief - August 25th, 2025: Nuclear Power Plant Struck Inside Russia & U.S. Jets Intercept Russian Spy Planes Near Alaska

Episode Date: August 25, 2025

In this episode of The President's Daily Brief: The Kremlin accuses Ukraine of crossing a dangerous line with a drone strike on a Russian nuclear power plant, sparking a fire and escalating concerns over the war’s trajectory. The United Nations declares famine in Gaza for the first time, while Israel rejects the report as a “modern blood libel.” U.S. F-16s intercept Russian spy planes near Alaska on back-to-back days, the latest sign of Moscow probing America’s defenses. And in today’s Back of the Brief—Kim Jong Un resurfaces, overseeing tests of two new “unique and special” air-defense missiles. To listen to the show ad-free, become a premium member of The President’s Daily Brief by visiting PDBPremium.com.Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of The President's Daily Brief.YouTube: youtube.com/@presidentsdailybrief Jacked Up Fitness: Get the all-new Shake Weight by Jacked Up Fitness at https://JackedUpShakeWeight.comBirch Gold: Text PDB to 989898 and get your free info kit on goldAmerican Financing: Disclaimer: NMLS 182334, https://nmlsconsumeraccess.org. APR for rates in the 5s start at 6.327% for well qualified borrowers. Call 866-885-1881 or visit http://www.AmericanFinancing.net/PDB, for details about credit costs and terms Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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and learn how to convert an existing IRA or a 401k into a gold IRA. Again, just text PDB to the number 989-89-89. It's Monday, the 25th of August. Welcome to the President's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right. Let's get briefed. First up, the Kremlin accuses Ukraine of crossing a dangerous line, a drone strike on a Russian nuclear power plant,

igniting a fire and, of course, inflaming tensions. So not to point out the absurd, but I think I'm about to. Putin is apparently complaining about how Ukraine is prosecuting a war that Putin started with his invasion three years ago. We'll have those details. Later in the show, the UN declares famine in Gaza for the first time. Israel calls the report a, quote, modern blood libel and flatly rejects the findings.

Plus, American F-16s scrambled two days in a row to intercept Russian spy planes in Alaska. And in today's back of the brief, little rocket man, we know him as Kim Jong-un of North Korea, is back in the spotlight. As North Korea claims, it's tested two new, quote, unique and special air defense missiles. Of course, any time that Kim Jong-un feels neglected, he fires off a missile. It's his signature move. But first, today's PDB spotlight. Russia says Ukraine crossed a dangerous new line this weekend, accusing Kiev of targeting one of its nuclear power plants in a drone strike. According to Russian officials, the attack sparked a fire and damaged a transformer before it was put out. No injuries were reported, and the plant's operators, say, radiation levels remain within normal ranges.

But the accusation itself is notable. Moscow claims the nuclear power plant was just one of several energy facilities struck overnight. Ukraine, for its part, flatly denies that it targeted the site. Officials in Kiev say any fire was likely caused by falling debris after air defenses shot down one of the drones. They blasted Russia for, quote, spreading manipulations and accused Moscow of using its typical propaganda playbook, painting Ukraine as reckless and dangerous. While the nuclear scare grabbed headlines, the bigger picture is one we've been following here on the PDB for weeks. Ukraine's sustained campaign to hit Russia's energy sector where it hurts.

Over the weekend, firefighters will call to the port of Usluga in Russia's Leningrad region. That port is home to a major fuel export terminal, and according to the regional governor, about 10 Ukrainian drones were shot down there. Their debris, however, ignited a fire that burned for hours. It's the latest strike on the facilities that underpin Russia's economy. As we've been reporting, Ukraine has zeroed in on Russia's refineries, pumping stations, and fuel trains. By targeting these nodes in the system, Keev hopes to choke off Moscow's ability to keep its military machine running. Although the military is more dependent on diesel, and thus far diesel capabilities have

reportedly not been significantly impacted. But the scale of the strikes is remarkable. Ukrainian drones have now hit at least 10 major energy sites this month alone. That list includes some of Russia's most important infrastructure. The luke oil refinery in Volgagrad, southern Russia's largest, was hit, so was a massive refinery in Saratov. And in the Rostov region, another facility is still burning days after it was struck. In total, the refineries damaged by Ukraine represent more than 44 million tons of products annually. That's over 10% of Russia's refining capacity. That's according to Ukrainian intelligence. The strategy appears to be having real economic effects. Russian gasoline prices have climbed to record highs even after the Kremlin banned exports

in a bid to keep more fuel inside the country. Prices at the pump are climbing and the shortages are spreading. We're already seeing it in Russia's far east. Motorists there first reported fuel supply problems back in early August. Since then, the shortages have moved from small towns to larger cities along the Pacific coast. Drivers are now waiting in long lines at gas stations, with reports of wait times at the pump stretching up to two hours long. In some areas, fuel is rationed. Residents say they can only fill up with special coupons, while emergency services and government vehicles are the only ones guaranteed access. Eastern Russia is sort of the canary in the coal mine when it comes to Moscow's fuel supply.

Most of the country's refining capacity sits in the west and south, closer to Europe. The Far East relies on long, vulnerable supply chains, rail lines and pipelines that stretch thousands of miles. When those links are disrupted, the Kremlin makes sure that Moscow and the Russian heartland get fuel first. That leaves Siberia and the Pacific Coast on the short end of the stick. So when gas stations have allowed of all stock run dry, it's not just a regional problem. It's a warning sign that Russia's energy network as a whole is under stress.

But if these strikes continue, it's only a matter of time before that pain at the pump spreads westward. Up to now, Putin has worked hard to insulate Moscow in its surrounding regions from the worst effects of the war, knowing that angering his political power base could be dangerous. That's why much of the military conscription effort, for example, has been focused on regions well outside Moscow and St. Petersburg. But protecting the capital comes at a cost, meaning the shortages hitting the Far East today could be a preview of what's to come for the rest of Russia tomorrow.

With the war grinding on, striking at oil and fuel infrastructure may be one of the few ways that Ukraine can hit back, driving up costs, sapping morale, and forcing the Kremlin to make tough choices about where to send its dwindling supplies. All right. Coming up next, the UN declares famine in Gaza for the first time, drawing outrage from Israel, and U.S. jets scramble twice in two days to intercept Russian spy planes near Alaska. I'll be right back. Hey, Mike Baker here. Now, you've heard me talk about the great company Jacked Up Fitness, And they're amazing all-in-one home gym. It's a complete game changer for home fitness.

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face famine. The number, it warned, could swell to 640,000 by late September. The report argues that 280,000 civilians in the strip meet the technical definition of famine with southern areas next in line. According to Israel's coordinator for government activity, in the territories, known as Kogat, an IDF unit tasked with facilitating logistical coordination into Gaza blasted the declaration as technically flawed and politically tainted, charging that IPC officials ignored reams of Israeli-supplied data. In a statement, Kogat said it was, quote, illogical to suggest that conditions will worsen when improvements are already evident on the ground, pointing to a surge in aid shipment since July and a collapse in Gaza food market prices.

documented in infographics, Jerusalem released as counter-evidence. Israeli officials went further, noting that millions of tons of supplies have entered Gaza since October of 2023, while the U.S. and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has served millions of meals under safeguards designed to block Hamas theft and violence at distribution sites. Jerusalem also accused UN agencies of obscuring the reality that nearly 90 percent of aid trucks never reach warehouses, evidence, it says, of looting and diversion by Hamas terrorists. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's office branded the IPC findings as, quote, an outright lie and emphasized that the Jewish state's policy is to prevent starvation, not cause it.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry accused the hunger monitor of lowering its own standards for famine classification, calling the report, quote, tailor-made for Hamas. Further undermining the IPC report's credibility, Israeli officials' trust. charged that some of the assessments relied on UNRWA staff, some of whom they noted are Hamas operatives. Now, the international community and the UN have all previously agreed and acknowledged that UNR had been infiltrated by Hamas operatives and sympathizers. Washington, too, struck a skeptical note toward the IPC. The State Department said it was, quote, looking into credible reports that the IPC altered its famine methodology mid-assessment,

cautioning against, quote, semantics. A State Department spokesman added that Hamas is, quote, systematically promoting a false narrative of deliberate mass starvation to put political pressure on Israel. While stressing, the U.S. focuses on delivering aid with safeguards to stop Hamas from stealing it, just to then later on sell to civilians in an effort to further bankroll its war chest. But the IPC defended its analysis,

saying it relied on the mid-upper-arm circumference, test, which is a quick field assessment of a child's arm instead of the internationally recognized weight for height standard to determine those suffering from potential famine. It's probably important to point out that the mid-upper arm circumference test is cheaper and faster, but is also considered less precise in testing because it can exaggerate malnutrition when used alone. Israel dismissed the switch as a deliberate manipulation to inflate famine numbers, pointing out that the IPC halved the required threshold for acute malnutrition in this case,

from 30% under the weight for height standard to just 15% under the system the mid-upper arm circumference test. Now, Israeli officials said this amounts to moving the goalposts simply to produce a famine declaration. Still, UN officials ramped up the rhetoric anyway. The human rights chief accused Jerusalem of weaponizing starvation, resulting in a war crime, while Secretary General Antonio Gutettas admitted the ceasefire, full aid access, and the release of hostages. The dueling narratives come as Israel prepares to expand its military offensive into Gaza City, even as mediators continue to push for a ceasefire and hostage deal.

For Jerusalem in Washington, the IPC findings are not just about hunger. They're being framed as the latest salvo in a Hamas-orchestrated disinformation drive aimed at delegitimizing Israel. Okay, shifting to the U.S. In a provocative demonstration of Putin's attitude toward the recent summit between President Trump and Putin in Alaska, as well as the U.S. meetings with Ukraine and EU leaders, U.S. F-16s had to be scrambled two days in a row

to intercept Russian surveillance planes, skirting Alaska's air defense zone. Last Wednesday, a KC-135 refueling tanker and 2F16s closed in on a Russian IL-20 surveillance planes aircraft cruising through the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone or the A-DIS. Mm-hmm. The A-D-I-Z is the acronym for that. You probably didn't think they had an acronym.

A stretch of international airspace off Alaska's coastline. And notably, it's not U.S. sovereign territory. Less than 24 hours later, the same drill. Two more F-16s, another KC-135, and this time joined by an E-3, Century Airborne Warning and Control System plane, intercepted the same Russian aircraft before it altered course. Now, I'd like to make clear that the aircraft never entered American or Canadian sovereign space, but its very presence did raise eyebrows. The IL20 is a specialized platform for electronic intelligence gathering rarely seen in the region,

where Russian TU95 nuclear-capable bombers are the more frequent visitors. Military analysts noted the unusual deployment of the spy plane and the timing of its flights. They said it echoed similar sorties into the Alaskan A-DIS earlier this year, two days in February and another in April, as we flagged here on the PDB, suggesting that Moscow is establishing a deliberate pattern of testing American response times. The latest flights also came on the heels of President Trump's sit down with Vladimir Putin in an effort to hammer out a ceasefire in Ukraine. While officials at the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, were quick to downplay any looming military threat, they also acknowledge the symbolism of Russia flexing its military muscle along America's northern flank. NORAD, for its part, went out of its way to underline its readiness, stating, quote,

we employ a layered defense network of satellites, ground-based, and airborne radars, and fighter aircraft to detect and track aircraft and inform appropriate actions. Translation, I suppose, would be we see you, we're watching, and we're prepared to act. And Russia wasn't only busy near Alaska. In Europe, Poland scrambled jets earlier last week as Moscow unleashed long-range missile strikes on Ukraine. To the east, Japan dispatched fighters of its own to intercept two Russian T.U.95 bombers and their escorts barreling over the sea of Japan in a week of global flybys.

As of now, U.S. defense officials say no adjustments have been made to America's overall air defense posture. Coming up next in the back of the brief, Kim Jong-un is touting North Korea's newest weapons. State media claims two, quote, special missile systems were successfully tested. More on that when we come back. Hey, Mike Baker here. Let me take just a moment of your time to talk about protecting your hard-earned assets. Now, you've probably noticed out there in the big, wide world, there's a bit of turmoil in the economy, right? I mean, trade wars, tariffs back and forth, a U.S. Federal Reserve that seems a bit at odds with the White House, uncertainty over employment numbers, a volatile stock market, well, you get the idea.

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resurfaced in front of the cameras to watch two new air defense missile launches in a pointed show of defiance against peace efforts on the Korean Peninsula. According to state media KCNA, the regime's missile specialists launched the so-called, quote, improved systems against multiple aerial targets to determine combat readiness just on Sunday. State media gushed, oh, they gushed, that the platforms were built with, quote, unique and special technology, highly effective, they claimed, against drones and cruise missiles. Kim, flanked by senior officials, praised that the platforms, praised that the platforms. the launches as vital the strengthening Pyongyang's air defenses. As we've long tracked here on the

PDB, Western officials suspect Russia has quietly been lending a hand to Pyongyang's weapons programs, though the regime has offered no acknowledgement. Either way, the tests add fresh anxiety in Seoul and Tokyo, where leaders remain fraddled by Pyongyang's expanding nuclear stockpile, long-range missile trials, and most recently, its flirtation with hypersonic systems. Complicating matters. further. The UN command reported that tensions spiked last week when about 30 North Korean soldiers briefly crossed the heavily fortified military demarcation line. South Korean troops fired warning shots and blared loudspeaker alerts, forcing Kim's troops back. The UNC said the soldiers appear to be engaged in, quote, construction and maintenance activities tied to what Pyongyang later called

a, quote, permanent barrier project. North Korea blasted Seoul's reaction, despite its troops, crossing the border as a, quote, serious provocation. Meanwhile, South Korean and American troops pressed on with their annual ongoing joint military activities, which will wrap up later this week. Drills that Pyongyang, say, are destabilizing. South Korean president Li J. Myeong, fresh from a stop in Tokyo, is in Washington today for talks with President Trump as part of a wider push to lock in trilateral coordination against Kim's regime.

North Korea, however, shows little appetite for any dialogue. A senior commander warned that the South's warning shots from earlier in the week risked escalating the standoff into a, quote, uncontrollable phase. And that, my friends, is the President's Daily Brief from Monday, the 25th of August. Now, if you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at PDB at thefirsttv.com. And I hope that you manage to find some time over your weekend to check out the latest episode of our extended weekend show, the BDB Situation Report. Our guests this week were the always insightful and entertaining military analyst and author Ryan McBeth, as well as John Lott,

the head of the Crime Prevention Research Center. In case you missed it, well, no need to fret. I know you don't want to fret. You can catch it in past episodes on our YouTube channel, that's at President's Daily Brief, as well as on all podcast platforms in podcast land. I'm Mike Baker, and I'll be back later today with the PDB afternoon bulletin. Until then, stay informed. Stay safe. Stay cool. Ryan Reynolds here for Mint Mobile,

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