Kenya will press Russia for answers after reports emerged that its citizens are being recruited to fight in Ukraine, the country’s foreign minister said.

Musalia Mudavadi told the BBC in an interview on Tuesday that the recruitment was ‘unacceptable and clandestine.’

He said the government has shut down illegal recruiters and would urge Moscow to sign an agreement barring the conscription of Kenyan citizens. 

Nairobi estimates that about 200 nationals have been recruited to fight for Russia, and Mudavadi explained that families have struggled to recover the bodies of loved ones killed in the conflict.

‘It is difficult because, remember, it depends on where the body has been found,’ the foreign minister told the BBC. ‘There some have been found in Ukraine – we are also working with the government of Ukraine to try and get the remains of those people repatriated.’

In a November post on X, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Kyiv estimates that at least 1,436 foreign nationals from 36 African countries have been recruited to fight for Russia in its war against Ukraine, warning the true number may be higher.

Sybiha said Russia uses a range of tactics to recruit foreigners, including financial incentives, deception and coercion.

‘Signing a contract is equivalent to signing a death sentence,’ he wrote. ‘Foreign citizens in the Russian army have a sad fate. Most of them are immediately sent to the so-called ‘meat assaults,’ where they are quickly killed.’

Mudavadi said in December that the government had received multiple emails and urgent communications from Kenyans in distress at military camps in Russia.

‘Several of them have reported injuries among our nationals and others stranded, following attempted recruitment into the violent conflicts,’ he told the Kenya News Agency, the country’s state-run news service.

Mudavadi said the government has since tightened recruitment regulations, deregistering more than 600 non-compliant agencies and strengthening job verification through the Diaspora Placement Agency to curb exploitation.

A top Iranian security official was spotted in Oman just days after Tehran and the U.S. held indirect nuclear talks in the Mideast sultanate.

Ali Larijani, a former Iranian parliament speaker who now serves as the secretary to the country’s Supreme National Security Council, was likely in the country to discuss what comes next after the initial round of talks, The Associated Press reported. The outlet noted that Larijani’s team shared photos of him with Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi, the chief intermediary in the U.S.-Iran talks.

Iranian media reportedly said Larijani would deliver an important message, but later state television said al-Busaidi ‘handed over a letter’ to the Iranian official without elaborating on the letter’s origins, according to the AP.

While in Oman, Larijani also met with Omani Sultan Haitham bin Tariq for nearly three hours, according to the AP, which cited the Iranian state-run IRNA news agency. Additionally, the outlet said that Larijani was set to travel to Qatar, which houses the U.S. military installation that bombed Iran’s nuclear sites in 2025.

Larijani accused Israel of playing a ‘destructive role’ in the talks just before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s expected visit to Washington, D.C.

‘Netanyahu is now on his way to the United States. Americans must think wisely and not allow him, through posturing, to imply before his flight that ‘I want to go and teach Americans the framework of the nuclear negotiations.’ They must remain alert to the destructive role of the Zionists,’ Larijani wrote on X.

Israel and Iran engaged in a 12-day war in the summer of 2025 which culminated in the U.S. bombing Tehran’s nuclear facilities. Iran, which has been grappling with mass anti-government protests, has blamed Israel and the U.S. for various grievances.

Officials from both the U.S. and Iran have said that the first round of talks went well and suggested that they would continue.

‘The Muscat meeting, which was not a long one, it was a half-day meeting. For us, it was a way to measure the seriousness of the other side, and to find out how we could continue the process. Therefore, we mostly addressed the generalities,’ Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said at a news conference Tuesday in Tehran, according to the AP.

‘Our principles are clear. Our demand is to secure the interests of the Iranian nation based on international norms and the Non-Proliferation Treaty and peaceful use of nuclear energy,’ Baghaei said, according to the AP. ‘So as for the details, we should wait for the next steps and see how this diplomatic process will continue.’

Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said that indirect nuclear talks with the U.S. in Oman were ‘a good start’ and that there was a ‘consensus’ that the negotiations would continue.

‘After a long period without dialogue, our viewpoints were conveyed, and our concerns were expressed. Our interests, the rights of the Iranian people, and all matters that needed to be stated were presented in a very positive atmosphere, and the other side’s views were also heard,’ Araghchi said.

‘It was a good start, but its continuation depends on consultations in our respective capitals and deciding on how to proceed,’ he added.

President Donald Trump also expressed optimism about the indirect talks, telling reporters aboard Air Force One on Friday that ‘Iran looks like it wants to make a deal very badly. We’ll have to see what that deal is.’

When he was pressed on how long the U.S. would be willing to wait to make a deal with Iran, the president indicated some flexibility, saying he believes the two nations can reach an agreement.

‘It can be reached. Well, we have to get in position. We have plenty of time. If you remember Venezuela, we waited around for a while, and we’re in no rush. We have very good [talks] with Iran,’ Trump said.

‘They know the consequences if they don’t make a deal. The consequences are very steep. So, we’ll see what happens. But they had a very good meeting with a very high representative of Iran,’ the president added.

American and Iranian representatives held separate meetings with Omani officials on Friday amid flaring tensions between Washington and Tehran. Oman’s Foreign Ministry said the meetings were ‘focused on preparing the appropriate conditions for resuming diplomatic and technical negotiations.’

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Russia’s military has been badly battered by its failure to conquer Ukraine, but Moscow is now rebuilding its war machine for the long haul, according to a new assessment from Estonia’s foreign intelligence service, even as the force it is fielding relies more on mass and attrition than military quality. 

The report says Russia has suffered catastrophic losses since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, with an estimated 1 million soldiers killed or severely wounded, draining its ranks and forcing the Kremlin to rely on mass mobilization rather than professional military strength.

Despite those losses, Estonian intelligence says the Kremlin is compensating by shifting toward mass and attrition, dramatically expanding weapons production and reorganizing its military around volume rather than quality, even as fighting in Ukraine continues.

Taken together, the assessment portrays a Russian military that has failed to defeat Ukraine, suffered historic manpower losses, and rebuilt around quantity over quality — leaving its true combat effectiveness increasingly in question.

Russia’s military-industrial complex has increased artillery ammunition production more than 17 times that of 2021, a surge the report says points to preparation for future conflicts rather than short-term battle needs, including the rebuilding of strategic stockpiles depleted during the war. Russia produced roughly 7 million artillery rounds in 2025 alone, according to the assessment.

The assessment cautions that Russia remains a diminished force compared with pre-war expectations — reliant on poorly trained recruits, convicts, foreign nationals and aging equipment — but warns that a degraded military rebuilt around attrition still poses a long-term challenge for Ukraine, NATO and European security.

Estonia, a frontline NATO state bordering Russia, has built one of Europe’s most detailed intelligence pictures of Russian military activity through its proximity, regional expertise and intelligence sharing with allies. Its annual assessments are closely read within NATO for its granular focus on Russia’s capabilities, limitations and long-term planning.

Nearly four years into the war, Estonia’s intelligence service says Russia has failed to achieve its core objective of subjugating Ukraine, which it describes as ‘more determinedly independent than ever before.’

President Donald Trump recently mocked Moscow’s performance, calling Russia a ‘paper tiger’ in a Truth Social post and questioning how a superpower could spend ‘four years fighting a war that should have taken a week.’

President Vladimir Putin has dismissed Western assessments of Russian military exhaustion as ‘wishful thinking.’ Speaking in Minsk, Belarus, Putin claimed Russia is actually preparing to ‘reduce defense spending’ starting in 2026, framing the surge in production as a completed objective rather than a sign of desperation. 

‘We keep moving, keep advancing, and feel confident,’ Putin retorted to ‘paper tiger’ claims. ‘If we are a paper tiger, then what is NATO?’

But, the report concludes, ‘Russia remains dangerous despite its incompetence.’

The intelligence service also stresses that Russia is not expected to launch a military attack against Estonia or any other NATO member in the coming year, a judgment it says is likely to remain unchanged if current levels of deterrence are maintained.

According to the report, Russia is ‘merely feigning interest in peace talks,’ using negotiations to buy time, ease pressure on its economy and reset conditions for a longer confrontation rather than to end the war on terms acceptable to Ukraine.

To offset its manpower losses, Russian authorities have built a nationwide recruitment system that increasingly relies on coercion and desperation rather than voluntary service, with regional governments under pressure to meet monthly enlistment quotas at any cost, the report says. 

Recruitment efforts now focus heavily on ‘socially vulnerable groups,’ including the unemployed, chronic debtors, detainees, individuals under judicial supervision, and those suffering from alcohol or drug addiction, according to the assessment. Labor migrants and foreign nationals have also been swept up into the system as traditional recruitment pools dry up.

The report ties Russia’s military strategy to mounting economic and social strain at home, saying the prolonged war has hollowed out civilian sectors of the economy while pushing the state to prioritize defense spending at the expense of living standards. Nearly all nonmilitary sectors are either in recession or stagnation, the assessment says, increasing the risk of social instability in the years ahead.

The intelligence service also documents the use of foreign students — particularly from African countries — who are lured with promises of employment or residency extensions, then redirected into military training and sent to the front. Hundreds of foreign nationals from countries including Zambia, Tanzania, Cameroon and Nigeria have been deployed to Russian combat units, often with little training and limited understanding of the terms they agreed to.

These foreign recruits are frequently assigned to units used to absorb heavy losses, shielding better-trained formations and underscoring what the report describes as Russia’s growing reliance on expendable manpower rather than professional soldiers.

The assessment describes widespread lawlessness inside the armed forces, citing abuse of power, corruption, theft, alcoholism and drug use as persistent problems that have eroded discipline and combat effectiveness. Frontline units, the report says, are increasingly composed of individuals who ‘under normal circumstances should not be entrusted with weapons.’

Russia also has relied heavily on convicts to replenish its ranks. Between 150,000 prisoners and 200,000 prisoners were recruited from Russian detention facilities between 2022 and 2025, many of them convicted of serious violent crimes and granted pardons in exchange for frontline service, according to the report.

Despite the erosion of professionalism across its ranks, Estonian intelligence cautions against interpreting Russia’s military shortcomings as a reduction in threat. Instead, it says Moscow has adapted by embracing a model built around attrition, firepower and expendability, rather than maneuver warfare or elite units.

For NATO planners, the concern is that a Russia rebuilt around mass firepower and expendable manpower lowers the threshold for prolonged, high-casualty conflicts, even if Moscow struggles with complex operations.

The report emphasizes that Russia has exhausted much of the military stockpiles it inherited from the Soviet Union and exposed systemic problems within its armed forces, yet continues to invest heavily in rebuilding ammunition reserves and unmanned systems that could be used beyond Ukraine.

Not all analysts agree that ‘mass’ is Russia’s only path. A recent report from the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) suggests 2026 will instead be the ‘year of hybrid escalation.’ With conventional options ‘foreclosed by economic constraints,’ researchers William Dixon and Maksym Beznosiuk argue the Kremlin is pivoting to a ‘thousand cuts’ strategy of cheaper, deniable sabotage across Europe.

‘We must prepare not for a resurgent Russia but for a desperate one,’ the report warns. 

This shift replaces traditional combat with an agile network of ‘disposable’ saboteurs— recruited via encrypted apps for arson and infrastructure attacks — designed to fracture Western support for Ukraine from within.

An association representing governors from across the country will not be holding a formal meeting with President Donald Trump after the White House reportedly snubbed Democrats, only inviting Republican governors to attend.

‘The bipartisan White House governors meeting is an important tradition, and we are disappointed in the administration’s decision to make it a partisan occasion this year. To disinvite individual governors to the White House sessions undermines an important opportunity for federal-state collaboration,’ Bandon Tatum, CEO of the National Governors Association, said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital. 

‘At this moment in our nation’s history, it is critical that institutions continue to stand for unity, dignity, and constructive engagement,’ he added.

‘NGA will remain focused on serving all governors as they deliver solutions and model leadership for the American people. Traditionally, the White House has played a role in fostering these moments during NGA’s annual meeting. This year, they will not,’ Tatum added.

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, a Republican who is the chairman of the NGA, said in a Monday letter to fellow governors that the association was ‘no longer serving as the facilitator’ for an event scheduled for Feb 20, according to The Associated Press, which obtained Stitt’s letter. Stitt said the NGA was meant to represent all governors — those of the 50 states as well as the governors of American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

In response to the reported snub, Democratic governors from across the country said they would not be attending White House events. The statement was issued by Democratic Governors Association (DGA) Chair Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, DGA Vice Chair Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer, Maine Gov. Janet Mills, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, Pennsylvanie Gov. Josh Shapiro, New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

‘Democratic governors have a long record of working across the aisle to deliver results, and we remain committed to this effort. But it’s disappointing this administration doesn’t seem to share the same goal. At every turn, President Trump is creating chaos and division, and it is the American people who are hurting as a result,’ the statement read. ‘If the reports are true that not all governors are invited to these events, which have historically been productive and bipartisan opportunities for collaboration, we will not be attending the White House dinner this year. Democratic governors remain united and will never stop fighting to protect and make life better for people in our states.’

The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

The NGA was scheduled to meet in Washington from Feb. 19-21, according to the AP.

During last year’s meeting, Trump and Maine’s then-Gov. Janet Mills traded barbs, showing signs of tensions between the White House and Democrats, the AP noted. At the time, Trump singled out Mills over his administration’s push to bar transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports. Mills retorted, ‘We’ll see you in court.’ Trump then predicted that opposing the order would end Mills’ political career. She is now runing for U.S. Senate.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Emboldened congressional Democrats are once again expanding their battleground map for this year’s midterm elections, when Republicans will be defending their razor-thin majority in the House.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) on Tuesday added five more offensive opportunities in Colorado, Minnesota, Montana, South Carolina and Virginia to their list of what they consider are vulnerable Republican-held House districts.

That brings the total number of districts Democrats are hoping to flip to 44. The DCCC notes that all five of the new districts they’re adding to their list of ‘offensive targets’ were carried by President Donald Trump by 13 points or fewer in the 2024 elections.

Republicans currently control the House by a 218-214 majority, with two right-tilting districts and one left-leaning seat currently vacant. Democrats need a net gain of just three seats in the midterms to win back the majority for the first time in four years.

The move by the DCCC comes as Democrats are energized, despite the party’s polling woes. Democrats, thanks to their laser focus on affordability amid persistent inflation, scored decisive victories in the 2025 elections and have won or over performed in a slew of scheduled and special ballot box contests since Trump returned to the White House over a year ago.

Republicans, meanwhile, are facing traditional political headwinds in which the party in power in the nation’s capital normally suffers setbacks in the midterm elections. And the GOP is also dealing with Trump’s continued underwater approval ratings and national polls — including the latest Fox News survey — that indicate many Americans feel things are worse off than they were a year ago and remain pessimistic about the economy.

‘Democrats are on offense, and our map reflects the fact that everyday Americans are tired of Republicans’ broken promises and ready for change in Congress,’ DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene emphasized in a statement. ‘Healthcare, housing, groceries, energy bills — they are all going up, and it’s directly because of Republican policies that favor the wealthiest few while leaving hardworking families behind.’

And DelBene predicted, ‘Going into the midterms, Democrats have the winning message, top-tier candidates, and the public on our side, paving the way for a new Democratic House Majority under the leadership of a Speaker Hakeem Jeffries.’

But the rival National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) scoffed at the move by the DCCC.

‘National Democrats are daydreaming while the ground collapses beneath them. Democrats are getting demolished in the money race, their incumbents are hanging by a thread, and their disastrous primaries are producing unelectable far-left socialists. The battleground favors Republicans,’ NRCC Spokesman Mike Marinella argued in a statement to Fox News Digital.

The NRCC is currently targeting what it considers 29 vulnerable House Democrats in the midterms.

The new districts being targeted by the Democrats are Colorado’s 5th Congressional District, where Republican Rep. Jeff Crank won re-election in 2024 by 14 points. They also include Minnesota’s 1st CD and Montana’s 1st CD, where GOP Reps. Brad Finstad and Ryan Zinke are seeking re-election, and Virginia’s 5th CD, where Republican Rep. John McGuire is running for another term.

The fifth district the DCCC is adding to their target list is the open seat race in South Carolina’s 1st CD, where Republican Rep. Nancy Mace is running for governor rather than seeking re-election.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he plans to discuss Iran and Gaza with U.S. President Donald Trump during their upcoming visit.

The foreign figure, who is traveling to the U.S. to meet with Trump, indicated that the two nations share a close bond, and that he and Trump are close as well.

‘I am now leaving for the United States for my seventh trip to meet with President Trump since he was elected for a second term. This, of course, does not include his unforgettable visit to Israel and his speech in the Knesset,’ Netanyahu noted, according to the Israeli government.

‘I think these reflect the unique closeness of the extraordinary relationship that we have with the United States, that I personally have with the President, that the State of Israel has with the United States — unprecedented in our history,’ he said.

‘On this trip we will discuss a range of issues: Gaza, the region, but of course, first and foremost, the negotiations with Iran. I will present to the President our outlook regarding the principles of these negotiations — the essential principles which, in my opinion, are important not only to Israel, but to everyone around the world who wants peace and security in the Middle East,’ Netanyahu said.

In a statement to Fox News Digital, White House spokesperson Anna Kelly declared, ‘President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu have a great relationship and Israel has had no better friend in its history than President Trump. We continue to work closely with our ally Israel to implement President Trump’s historic Gaza peace agreement and to strengthen regional security in the Middle East.’ 

Trump issued a Truth Social post last month warning that the U.S. will attack Iran if the Islamic Republic does not negotiate a nuclear deal.

‘Iran will quickly ‘Come to the Table’ and negotiate a fair and equitable deal – NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS – one that is good for all parties,’ Trump noted in the post. 

‘As I told Iran once before, MAKE A DEAL! They didn’t, and there was ’Operation Midnight Hammer,’ a major destruction of Iran. The next attack will be far worse! Don’t make that happen again,’ he warned.

A Senate Republican who has routinely broken from the GOP and President Donald Trump announced that she wouldn’t support efforts to pass voter ID legislation. 

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said in a post on X on Tuesday that she would oppose forthcoming legislation that would enact more stringent election integrity laws backed by both Trump and conservatives in the upper chamber. Her opposition underscores a reality many in the Senate already acknowledge: without extraordinary steps such as nuking the filibuster or support from Democrats (a non-starter), the effort is effectively dead on arrival.

Murkowski panned a pair of bills — the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility Act, dubbed the SAVE America Act, and the Make Elections Great Again (MEGA) Act — two voter ID and election integrity proposals making their way through the House. 

She noted that when congressional Democrats ‘attempted to advance sweeping election reform legislation in 2021, Republicans were unanimous in opposition because it would have federalized elections, something we have long opposed.’

‘Now, I’m seeing proposals such as the SAVE Act and MEGA that would effectively do just that. Once again, I do not support these efforts,’ Murkowski said.  

Congressional Democrats under former President Joe Biden tried and failed to enact two election reform bills, the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and the For the People Act. 

Congressional Republicans strongly opposed those efforts, and argued at the time that the bills would effectively nationalize elections and give Democrats control of the election system across the country.

Conservatives’ bid to reshape the election landscape also runs into the Constitution, which delegates election authorities to state and local officials and gives the federal government little input. 

‘Not only does the U.S. Constitution clearly provide states the authority to regulate the ‘times, places, and manner’ of holding federal elections, but one-size-fits-all mandates from Washington, D.C., seldom work in places like Alaska,’ Murkowski said.  

‘Election Day is fast approaching,’ she continued. ‘Imposing new federal requirements now, when states are deep into their preparations, would negatively impact election integrity by forcing election officials to scramble to adhere to new policies, likely without the necessary resources. Ensuring public trust in our elections is at the core of our democracy, but federal overreach is not how we achieve this.’

Her pushback comes as Trump has called on the GOP to nationalize elections. House Republicans are gearing up to vote on the SAVE America Act and a cohort of Senate Republicans are eying ways to get the bill onto the Senate floor.

Several Senate Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., have come out against Trump’s call to nationalize elections. But public opposition to the voter ID efforts among Republicans is few and far between.

But given the political reality of the Senate, where the 60-vote filibuster threshold is an impossible bar to overcome without Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Senate Democrats’ support, the bill will likely die.

As U.S.-Iran diplomacy remains primarily focused on Tehran’s nuclear program, Israeli officials and analysts warn that ballistic missiles remain a central red line for Jerusalem and could shape any decision on unilateral action.

Before departing for his trip to Washington, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he plans to press Israel’s priorities in the talks. ‘I will present to the president our views regarding the principles of the negotiations — the important principles — and, in my view, they are important not only for Israel, but for anyone in the world who wants peace and security in the Middle East.’

Those priorities, Israeli officials say, extend beyond the nuclear file and include Iran’s missile capabilities. Israeli defense officials have recently warned U.S. counterparts that Iran’s ballistic missile program constitutes an existential threat to Israel and that Jerusalem is prepared to act alone if necessary, according to reporting by The Jerusalem Post.

The outlet reported that Israeli security officials conveyed in recent weeks their intent to dismantle Iran’s missile capabilities and production infrastructure through a series of high-level exchanges with Washington. Military planners outlined potential operational concepts aimed at degrading the program, including strikes on key manufacturing and development sites.

A spokesperson for Israel’s defense minister declined to comment on the issue.

Sima Shine, a former senior Israeli intelligence official and current senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies, told Fox News Digital that limiting talks to the nuclear issue risks missing what Israel considers the broader threat.

‘If negotiations deal only with the nuclear file and ignore the missiles, Israel will remain exposed,’ Shine said. ‘Iran treats its ballistic missile program as its main deterrence and will not give it up.’ She stressed that Tehran views them as a defensive and deterrent capability dictated by the supreme leader. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said his country would not negotiate on its ballistic missile program, rejecting a core U.S. demand and further dimming prospects for a breakthrough deal. Shine described that stance as a fundamental red line for Israel. 

She also warned that Tehran may be stalling diplomatically while assessing whether Washington will limit the talks to nuclear constraints alone.

‘They have room to show flexibility on enrichment,’ she said, noting that activity slowed after strikes on facilities, ‘but missiles are different. That they would not discuss.’

Israeli concerns extend beyond the negotiating table. A former intelligence official familiar with strategic planning said Israel retains the capability to strike independently if necessary.

‘Israel can act by itself if there is no choice,’ the former official said, adding that missile expansion and regional threats would be key triggers.

Shine says the optics of Israeli pressure on Washington could complicate matters.

‘If missiles become the central public demand, it may look as if Israel is pushing the U.S. toward military action,’ she said. ‘If that fails, Israel could be blamed.’

She added that Iran’s missile arsenal is not aimed solely at Israel but forms part of a broader deterrence strategy against the United States and regional adversaries.

For Israel, the implication is clear. A nuclear agreement that leaves Iran’s missile infrastructure untouched could be seen in Jerusalem as stabilizing the regime while leaving the most immediate threat in place. That calculation, Israeli analysts say, defines the red line.