Middle East on edge after Israel kills Hamas leader in Tehran; Russia dusts off nukes to conduct non-strategic drills; and Indonesia's president-elect comes to Moscow to talk to Putin, build defense ties. These stories topped Thursday's newspaper headlines across Russia.

Kommersant: Middle East shaken by assassination of Hamas political chief

The assassination of Hamas Political Bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran by Israeli special services threatens to throw the Middle East into complete disarray. The killing of the leader of the Palestinian movement and public figure, who had ties around the world, including with Moscow, was a jolting move by Israel, which is currently waging several wars at once. By killing a Hamas leader and issuing a symbolic warning to the Iranian leadership immediately after the inauguration of a new president of the Islamic Republic, Israel also sent a message to the Lebanon-based Shiite movement of Hezbollah with which the Jewish state is in an acute stage of conflict.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei called Haniyeh "a brave leader and distinguished Palestinian fighter" as he vowed "severe punishment" for his death. Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian

issued a similar statement as he blasted those behind the killing of Haniyeh as "terrorist occupiers," without directly mentioning Israel.

Israeli expert on Iran Vladimir Mesamed assured Kommersant that the Islamic Republic cannot but retaliate for the attack. The only question, he says, is whether Iran itself will respond or whether it will use the forces it controls in Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen to strike back. "One way or another, they will have to retaliate, because this [attack] is a major slap in the face to Iranian special services, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps," the expert emphasized.

Washington’s reaction to the assassination was muted as US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin rejected the idea that a larger war was inevitable. "I think there's always room and opportunities for diplomacy," he said.

Peter Stano, the European Commission’s Lead Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, told IRNA: "The EU has a principled position of rejecting extrajudicial killings and of supporting the rule of law, including in international criminal justice."

Moscow, too, strongly condemned the killing of Haniyeh as it called on all parties involved to show restraint. "There is no doubt that the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh will have an extremely negative impact on indirect contacts between Hamas and Israel on mutually acceptable terms for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip," the Russian Foreign Ministry’s deputy spokesman, Andrey Nastasyin, told a press briefing on Wednesday.

News came on Wednesday night that Russia, which held the rotating UN Security Council presidency in July, approved Iran’s request to hold an emergency UNSC meeting. It was convened last night. The Iranian authorities told the UNSC chair in a letter that Tehran would push the world to adopt sanctions on Israel and take other measures to prevent further aggression as well.

Izvestia: Third stage of non-strategic nuclear drills kick off in Russia

On Wednesday, the third stage of non-strategic nuclear drills began in Russia. Troops will familiarize themselves with how to use these types of nukes in real combat. At this stage, missile crews from the Southern and Central military districts and Russian Aerospace Forces pilots will hold exercises. Simultaneously, three Russian fleets and the Caspian Flotilla will continue their drills, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

According to the Russian top brass, the goal of the exercise is to maintain the combat readiness of personnel and equipment from Russia’s non-strategic nuclear weapons combat units.

While such drills are held regularly, they were made public this year for the first time ever, largely due to a changing global landscape, including plans announced by the United States to place new longer-range fire capabilities in Europe, experts say.

"Russia possesses the largest arsenal of non-strategic nukes. This exercise shows that these warheads are not just lying around collecting dust but that we can deliver them to carriers, install and use them, when necessary," Dmitry Kornev, editor of the MilitaryRussia website, told Izvestia. "The maneuvers are meant to show that the Armed Forces have this practical skill," he said.

Also, the drills serve as a stark reminder that Russia does indeed have something to respond to the deployment of medium-and shorter-range missiles in Europe with, the expert added. Russia does not need to wait until some new weapons are deployed in Europe, as its Iskander missiles can cover long distances in a short amount of time, making it possible to control quite a large part of the continent, in particular Germany, from Belarus and the Kaliningrad exclave on the Baltic Sea, Kornev concluded.

The exercise comes as the Russian Navy launched large-scale maneuvers on July 30, involving the Pacific, Northern and Baltic fleets as well as the Caspian Flotilla. Around 300 warships and motor boats, submarines and supply vessels, roughly 50 aircraft, over 200 pieces of equipment and more than 20,000 troops are taking part. In a period of a few days, naval crews and coastal troops from the three fleets and the flotilla will have to perform over 300 combat exercises and practice the use of weapons.

Vedomosti: Indonesia’s president-elect visits Russia

Standing Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto, who was elected president of the Asian country in February, paid a working visit to Moscow on July 30-31. He met with Russia’s defense chief, Andrey Belousov, and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Subianto, 72, who will be inaugurated on October 20, arrived with the goal of "boosting relations between Indonesia and Russia and expanding cooperation, especially in defense."

Before a restricted meeting, Putin called his guest "a great friend of Russia," and the Indonesian leader said in response that his country hadn't forgotten how Russia helped out "in many ways <…> when we struggled." This was Subianto’s fourth visit to Russia after he attended the parade marking the 75th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War in Moscow in June 2020 as a guest of honor.

Subianto subsequently invited the Russian delegation to Indonesia to attend a defense expo in November and a naval parade in early 2025. In turn, Indonesian naval officers will participate in the Russian naval parade on Navy Day in St. Petersburg next year. Belousov said that holding joint drills, including naval exercises, was a priority for the two countries’ militaries.

Moscow was the last stop on Subianto’s European itinerary. Earlier, he met with French President Emmanuel Macron, Serbian leader Aleksandar Vucic and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Those trips, too, aimed to boost defense ties. Subianto’s first visits after being elected were made to China and Japan.

While the discussions between Russia and Indonesia could indeed have centered on efforts to develop bilateral military and technical cooperation, the two countries once actually halted that amid the threat of secondary US sanctions, said Yekaterina Koldunova, director of the ASEAN Center at Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO University). According to her, the visit is an important step forward toward building cooperation in the political, defense, economic and humanitarian fields. "Before the pandemic, Russia and Indonesia planned to propel their relations to the level of strategic partnership, and they still aim to," she explained.

Nezavisimaya Gazeta: US Vice President Kamala Harris on track to become Democratic nominee

The virtual roll call to nominate US Vice President Kamala Harris will start later on Thursday. She has actually been campaigning since July 22 when US President Joe Biden withdrew his bid for re-election, recommending that his fellow Democrats support her. Harris essentially has the Democratic nomination locked down, but some intrigue remains, namely how many votes she will eventually secure inside her party and who she will choose as her running mate.

In an unprecedented move in the history of US democracy, the Democratic National Convention (DNC) okayed the holding of an online vote to select their new nominee, after which a presidential nominating convention will be held later this month. The early online voting will take place on August 1-5. The DNC cut the voting period by two days so that Harris could name her VP sooner. Her election headquarters said that she would make the announcement at a rally in Philadelphia on August 6, hitting the campaign trail immediately after, westward from Pennsylvania.

The US presidential race is in its final stages now: in the run-up to the November 5 election, Trump and Biden were originally scheduled to hold their second presidential debate on September 10. Harris will now replace Biden on the debate stage regardless of whether or not the DNC convention supports her on the Democratic ticket. And she officially confirmed that on Tuesday.

Pavel Sharikov, an expert at the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC), questioned prevailing sentiments in the US media that Harris was a lackluster debater. "Since WWII, only two vice presidents, Al Gore and Richard Nixon, lost presidential elections. <…> So, Harris stands a good chance of winning," the expert believes.

Kommersant: VTB enters Indian stock market

VTB became the fourth Russian bank to obtain the status of a portfolio investor in India, gaining access to the South Asian economy’s stock market. Experts highly assess the prospects of the move both in terms of volume and growth rate. However, they point to infrastructure problems, investment limits and the increased risk of secondary sanctions.

Kommersant has learned that VTB obtained a Foreign Portfolio Investor (FPI) license in India, which will run through July 15, 2027. While the state-owned bank which already has an office in India refused to comment on the move, it acknowledged plans to obtain this status in October 2023. Back then, the Russian lender announced plans to run settlements in rupees on the Indian stock market and expand its product line for customers later.

A source at a major wealth management company told Kommersant that VTB can now add Indian securities to its balance sheet. According to him, the Indian market looks lucrative because of its diversification, a growing economy and hence a favorable outlook for the Indian security market. Sergey Bdoyan, portfolio manager at Alfa Capital, said a favorable macroenvironment and lack of geopolitical tensions make India a major recipient of foreign investment. "Fresh statistics show that the net inflow of direct investments in India has accelerated since the latest parliamentary election," the expert said.

This will strengthen the weight of the country’s stock market. Bdoyan expects India to replace China as the top market among emerging markets even before 2026.

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