A leading Russian economist has been dismissed after publicly expressing concerns about Moscow’s faltering position in an economic “war of attrition” against the West. He forewarned of a potential social crisis, just as the European Union plans to intensify sanctions against Russia’s military and industrial sectors.

This situation transcends a simple reshuffling within the Kremlin. For the U.S. and its European partners, the critical question is whether sustained economic sanctions are beginning to limit Moscow’s capacity to maintain its military engagements or if Russia can endure the financial pressures while restoring its military resources.

Andrei Klepach, who served as the chief economist at the state development bank VEB.RF, was terminated following his statements highlighting Russia’s technological and economic decline and the increasing costs of its military actions in Ukraine. This information was disclosed by two sources familiar with the situation to Reuters on August 17.

The state-owned bank VEB confirmed Klepach’s departure but did not specify the reason. Klepach himself, who had been the chief economist since 2014 and previously spent ten years at Russia’s Economy Ministry, also acknowledged his firing.

“We are falling behind. We are losing both the technological and economic competition in the world,” Klepach said in a May speech to the Nikitsky Club, a forum of economists, academics and government officials. The remarks were delivered in May but did not draw attention in Russian media until last week.

“And we are losing it not only to China and the United States, in some ways we are losing it to Ukraine too,” he said, attributing Ukraine’s resilience in part to continued financial backing from the West.

“We will not win the competition in this war of attrition,” Klepach said. “We have the illusion that everything there [in Ukraine] will collapse. It has not collapsed and will not collapse. Our costs are mounting.”

Klepach acknowledged that Russia had proved resilient to Western sanctions but warned that Ukrainian attacks on energy and logistics infrastructure were creating additional economic pressure. Reuters noted that Russia’s central bank said in July that economic growth could fall as low as zero this year, while repeated Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries and other facilities have caused supply disruptions and added to inflation risks.

“Economically we will not collapse, but our lag will continue to grow, with all the resulting consequences,” Klepach said, predicting that Russia could face a social crisis “precisely when nobody is particularly expecting it.”

A European intelligence source told News Media that Russia’s deeper economic problems should not be confused with immediate financial pressure on President Vladimir Putin. The source said higher oil prices had helped Moscow cover more of its budget deficit and could give the Kremlin additional time before economic constraints begin forcing difficult choices over the war. “It doesn’t solve the fundamental economic problems in Russia, but from a budgetary point of view, Putin is OK actually,” the source said. “He’s not under pressure.”

The source argued that this could delay expectations that deteriorating economic and budget conditions would eventually pressure Putin to end the war, potentially allowing Moscow to continue fighting “another spring” or “another season.” The assessment adds a counterpoint to Klepach’s warning: Russia may be losing ground economically over the longer term while still retaining enough near-term revenue to sustain its war effort.

The warning comes as the European Union prepares to intensify its economic pressure on Moscow.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told Germany’s Die Welt that she plans to propose what she called the “most far-reaching sanctions listings since the start of the war.” Kallas said existing EU sanctions had deprived Russia’s war machine of more than $1.16 trillion, a figure presented by Kallas and reported by Reuters on Aug. 17.

EU diplomatic sources told Reuters that the bloc’s diplomatic service is expected to propose sanctions against approximately 1,600 additional Russian individuals and entities, with a particular focus on the country’s military-industrial complex.

The measures are expected to include asset freezes along with travel and transaction bans. Officials plan to present the list to EU governments in early September and aim for adoption in October.

Inside Russia, authorities also moved Monday against one of the country’s remaining prominent liberal opposition figures.

Lev Shlosberg, deputy chairman of the Yabloko party, was sentenced to 11 years and one month in a penal colony, independent Russian outlet Mediazona reported. Shlosberg was accused of “discrediting Russia’s armed forces and spreading false information” about them.

Shlosberg, who described the war during his trial as a catastrophe for Russia, maintained his innocence and said the case against him was political. He also repeated his call for a ceasefire. The sentencing came a week after Russia’s Supreme Court barred Yabloko from participating in next month’s parliamentary election.

Meanwhile, attacks continued through the weekend and into Monday.

Russian strikes targeted port infrastructure in Ukraine’s Izmail district in the Odesa region overnight, according to Ukrainian authorities. A separate strike damaged a civilian Togo-flagged vessel and injured four people. Across the border, a Ukrainian drone attack killed a woman and struck an industrial facility in Russia’s southern Astrakhan region, the regional governor said.

Separately, ArcelorMittal said a Russian missile strike on its Kryvyi Rih steel plant over the weekend killed two employees and injured three employees and contractors, damaging major energy and blast-furnace facilities and partially halting production.

Nearly a year before her untimely passing at the age of 36, Hayden Panettiere spoke fondly about her deep connection with Michelle Trachtenberg, her co-star in the movie “Ice Princess.”

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly last September, the “Heroes” star shared that she had known Trachtenberg long before they appeared together in the 2005 Disney film. Sadly, Trachtenberg passed away in February 2025 at the age of 39.

“Actually, her grandmother lived across the street from my grandparents in Brooklyn. So I knew Michelle way before that,” Panettiere recalled.

“Yeah, like ‘Harriet the Spy’ days,” she added, referencing Trachtenberg’s 1996 breakout role.

Panettiere went on to describe how they not only shared careers in the same industry but also had the unique experience of growing up familiar with each other’s families due to their neighborhood connection.

“We would have block parties. So I have memories of her and I from long ago,” Panettiere shared.

In “Ice Princess,” Trachtenberg plays brainy high school student Casey Carlyle who uses physics to become a competitive figure skater, which puts her at odds with skater Gen Harwood, the daughter of Casey’s coach, Tina (Kim Cattrall).

However, Casey and Gen eventually form a close friendship.

“It was great to work with her,” Panettiere said of Trachtenberg. “It was great to work with Kim Cattrall who was in that, who is amazing, is phenomenal.”

She continued, “It was such a unique experience. I mean, we had to learn how to figure-skate in six weeks, which is no easy feat. But it was so much fun. We had a lot of fun and I’m very grateful that I have the memories that I have with her.”

Panettiere and Trachtenberg both rose to fame as child stars, having appeared on the soap operas “One Life to Live” and “All My Children,” respectively.

Trachtenberg, who was also famous for her roles in “Gossip Girl” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” died of complications from diabetes mellitus on Feb. 26, 2025.

Prior to her death, she had undergone a liver transplant and struggled with addiction.

Panettiere, meanwhile, died over the weekend after being found “unresponsive” and “in cardiac arrest” at an Airbnb rental inside the Judson Mill Lofts apartment complex in Greenville, South Carolina on Sunday afternoon.

The 911 dispatch call exclusively obtained by Page Six revealed that authorities reported an “overdose” and that “CPR [was] in progress.”

Medics attempted to resuscitate Panettiere with advanced cardiac life support and chest compressions, but she was pronounced dead at 2:32 p.m.

Panettiere, who battled addiction and postpartum depression, was allegedly suffering from “really severe” back pain before her death.

After Panettiere’s passing, “Ice Princess” director Tim Fywell released an emotional statement honoring both stars of the film.

“In what was often a tough and technically complicated shoot, and my first Hollywood movie, they were delightful to work with and great to have around,” Fywell told Variety on Monday.

The filmmaker added, “I remember them both with huge affection, how they were 20 odd years ago, at that relatively uncomplicated time of their lives, two shining talents, gone far too soon.”

Earl Spencer has crafted a compelling memoir that delves into the life of his late sister, Princess Diana, and the challenging period following her untimely passing, as exclusively revealed by the Daily Mail.

Titled ‘Swan Song: Diana, My Sister,’ this poignant work is slated for release next month and offers an intimate glimpse into his relationship with Diana, a story he has never fully shared until now.

The memoir is hailed as both ‘historic’ and ‘profoundly moving,’ and it promises to explore Diana’s early years, her troubled 15-year marriage to the former Prince of Wales, and the chaotic period following her tragic accident in Paris in August 1997.

Earl Spencer, now 62, announced this revealing project, noting that the upcoming 30th anniversary of Diana’s death has spurred renewed media interest, prompting numerous interview requests about her life.

He explained his motivation for writing: ‘I felt it was important to chronicle my own memories and perspectives, setting the record straight instead of contending with repeated misconceptions and inaccuracies that have gained traction over the years.’

Swan Song, which will be published around the world and translated into 12 languages, is expected to provide an unprecedented inside account of a seismic week during which the House of Windsor was rocked by a global wave of public grief and anger.

Earl Spencer famously delivered a raw and defiant eulogy during Diana’s funeral at Westminster Abbey, which was broadcast to an astonishing worldwide audience of 2.5billion.

During the powerful oration, he highlighted how his sister ‘needed no royal title to continue to generate her particular brand of magic’.

He also pledged that Diana’s ‘blood family’ would protect Princes William and Harry ‘so that their souls are not simply immersed by duty and tradition, but can sing openly as you planned’.

His words so moved the huge crowds gathered outside that their spontaneous applause was eventually followed by clapping from the congregation inside the Abbey.

Earl Spencer today added: ‘The aim of this book is to tell the truth about Diana from her brother’s perspective, just as I attempted to do when speaking at her funeral.

‘As with my eulogy, I want to speak on Diana’s behalf and do so in an openly positive way.

‘I hope this book will be of interest to the many who still cherish the memory of Diana when she was alive, and I would be delighted if those too young to remember her in her heyday feel – after reading this – that they “get” who she really was: a one-off, dynamic character, full of love, charisma and self-doubt, who gave life a hell of a go, and left the world a far better place, despite exiting the stage while still so young.’

In the days leading up to the funeral, a heated row broke out behind the scenes over the decision for William and Harry to walk in Diana’s funeral procession.

Writing in his controversial 2023 memoir Spare, Harry disclosed that his uncle objected vocally at the time, describing as a ‘barbarity’ the idea of having the boys, then aged 15 and 12, following the funeral cortege.

He also revealed that when an alternative plan was suggested of having William walk alone behind the coffin, Harry objected, saying he did not want his brother to undergo the ordeal on his own.

Earlier this year, Earl Spencer described how ‘fundamentally unhappy’ he becomes every year on the anniversary of his sister’s death and how he finds it hard when strangers tell him where they were when she died.

Reflecting on Diana’s ‘extraordinary’ legacy, he added: ‘It’s different things to different people, particularly to women of a similar age. They really invested their lives in hers.

‘Maybe they had an unhappy marriage, maybe they battled an eating disorder. There’s plenty of Diana to look into and take your bit out of – almost like a horoscope, you can make it make sense for you.’

Swan Song is due to be published in the UK by Penguin Michael Joseph, a division of Penguin Random House, on September 22.

The book’s striking cover features an elegant black-and-white photograph of Diana.

Publisher Daniel Bunyard today said: ‘This is a book of historic importance, telling as it does the story of one of the 20th century’s most iconic and culturally significant figures, but it is also utterly unique in being written by Earl Spencer, from a vantage point of such intimacy.

‘Charles Spencer is both a loving brother and an acclaimed memoirist as well as a celebrated historian, and all these facets are brought together in Swan Song.

‘It is extraordinarily moving, beautifully written and remarkably candid, in no small part due to Charles’s rare ability to access great emotional depth without sentimentality, honest observation without rancour, and warmth without gloss.

‘While these pages contain many revelations that will draw considerable attention, readers will find, for the first time, but also for all time, a fitting tribute to the beloved woman who was Princess Diana.’

Charles Spencer and Diana grew up at the idyllic Park House on Queen Elizabeth’s Sandringham estate in Norfolk, until the family moved to Althorp in 1975 when Charles was 12.

Diana affectionately called her younger brother ‘Carlos’, while he would call her ‘Duch’ – short for duchess.

Their father, Viscount (‘Johnnie’) Spencer, had been equerry to both Queen Elizabeth and her father, George VI, while Diana’s mother, Frances, was the younger daughter of the 4th Baron Fermoy.

Diana was the Spencers’ third daughter and not the longed-for son who would secure continuance of the title. When Charles was born three years after Diana, a fireworks display was held in celebration.

Frances left Johnnie, later the 8th Earl Spencer, for the wallpaper heir Peter Shand Kydd in 1967. In an acrimonious custody battle the following year, Frances was dubbed ‘a bolter’ and lost the care of Diana, Charles and their older sisters Jane and Sarah.

From the age of eight, Charles was sent to Maidwell Hall boarding school in Northamptonshire, where he suffered appalling physical and sexual abuse.

In an extract from his poignant 2024 memoir A Very Private School, serialised exclusively in The Mail on Sunday, he described how a predatory assistant matron – whom he called a ‘voracious paedophile’ – preyed on him and other boys, grooming and then abusing them in their dormitory beds.

Earl Spencer had a ringside seat during his sister’s marriage to the future King, their eventual bitter separation and, in 1996, their divorce.

In 2020 he revealed how rogue BBC reporter Martin Bashir spun a shocking web of deceit to obtain his 1995 Panorama interview with Diana, during which the princess famously declared ‘there are three of us in this marriage’ – referring to Camilla Parker Bowles.

Bashir showed the Earl forged bank statements to gain access to Diana and then tricked her by peddling a string of lies, including that Prince William’s watch had been bugged to record her conversations.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex and their children Archie and Lilibet reportedly visited the Althorp estate last month, where they are thought to have laid flowers on Diana’s grave.

The princess’s final resting place is on a tree-covered island in the middle of an ornamental lake called the Oval Lake.

Swan Song by Charles Spencer (Penguin Michael Joseph, £28). To order a copy for £23.80 go to www.mailshop.co.uk/books or call 020 3176 2937. Free UK delivery on orders over £25. Promotional price valid until 30/09/2026. 

OAKLAND, Calif. — The stage is set for opening arguments on Tuesday as a landmark legal battle begins for Meta Platforms in a federal court in California.

Prosecutors representing California, Colorado, Kentucky, and New Jersey aim to secure substantial financial penalties and implement operational changes at Facebook and Instagram. This lawsuit is part of a broader legal offensive, as 29 states took action against the tech giant in 2023, targeting issues of child safety and privacy. While these four states enter the courtroom now, the remaining 25 will follow. Meta is also grappling with several state-level lawsuits.

The case accuses Meta of fueling a youth mental health crisis through deliberate product features that encourage addictive behavior among young users. Further, it contends that Meta routinely gathers data on children below 13 years old without obtaining parental consent, violating federal privacy laws.

“We are embarking on what stands as the largest consumer protection lawsuit in U.S. history this week. We will demonstrate to the jury that Meta hid the known impacts of its platforms on young people for the sake of profit,” stated Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman, emphasizing the stakes of the trial.

Meta, however, expresses confidence in its legal defense, stating it believes in the strength of its case.

“We are proud of our record in protecting teens on our platforms and the amount of effort that we’ve put into developing protections over the years, even before these cases were ever filed, and continuing to the present day. We look forward to showing the judge and the jury those facts in court,” the company said in a statement.

U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland will oversee the proceedings, which are expected to last six to eight weeks, with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other executives and former employees testifying. Gonzalez Rogers, appointed to the bench by President Barack Obama in 2011, has overseen a bevy of complex, high-profile cases involving Big Tech. These include Elon Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI and its founders as well as Epic Games’ lawsuit against Apple over its app store.

The trial is the latest in an avalanche of lawsuits against Meta Platforms and other social media companies including Google’s YouTube, TikTok and Snap, over arguments that their platforms harm young people, illegally collect their data and are deliberately designed to addict them.

In a separate series of operations this past July, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers in San Diego intercepted illegal drugs valued at over $67 million, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

These seizures were carried out by officers from the CBP’s San Diego Field Office, which spans seven border ports between California and Mexico. This initiative was part of the enforced border security measures by the Trump administration aimed at strengthening safety along the southern boundary.

“Day in and day out, our officers demonstrate unwavering dedication to safeguarding our communities and securing our borders,” remarked Sidney Aki, director of field operations for CBP San Diego. “The substantial number of narcotics seizures highlights their diligence, skill, and determination to prevent dangerous substances from entering the United States.”

Throughout the month of July, between the 1st and 31st, officers from the San Diego office managed to confiscate an impressive 8,359 pounds of narcotics during 144 different smuggling incidents.

MEXICAN NATIONAL FACES FEDERAL CHARGES AFTER CBP FINDS $238K IN FENTANYL INSIDE ELECTRIC MOPED

The hauls included 553 pounds of fentanyl, 36 pounds of heroin, 2,572 pounds of cocaine and 5,077 pounds of methamphetamine. In total, the drugs had an estimated street value of $67 million, DHS said.

In addition, earlier this month, a 22-year-old Mexican citizen was found with 16 pounds of fentanyl — with an estimated street value of nearly $240,000 — hidden inside an electric moped attempting to enter the United States through the San Ysidro Port of Entry, which separates San Diego from Tijuana, Mexico.

CBP recently announced that officers stopped a vehicle carrying a rocket-propelled grenade launcher tube and other weapons as it attempted to cross from Arizona into Mexico.

In addition to the weapon, authorities said they found four rifles, an Avtomat Kalashnikova AK-style pistol, 16 AK rifles, 24 rifle magazines, 16 rifle stocks and 20 pistol grips.

Sylvia Jefferies, who played Hayden Panettiere’s on-screen mother in “Nashville,” recently reflected on the struggles the late actress faced, stating her “demons” became overwhelmingly burdensome before her untimely passing.

Jefferies expressed her sorrow on Instagram, writing, “This news has hit me deeply. I’ve needed time today to process the reality that Hayden is no longer with us.”

In her heartfelt message, Jefferies candidly spoke of the challenges Panettiere presented, recalling, “Sometimes, being around Hayden was difficult; I once likened her to a whirlwind. Yet, she was our whirlwind,” reflecting on her vibrant and unpredictable nature.

She poetically described the actress, saying, “She was like the initial sunburst, the gentle mist, the escalating storm, encompassing everything around her, until the rain subsided, bringing back calm, the sunshine in her eyes, and the delightful giggle in her voice.”

The 57-year-old actress acknowledged that while Panettiere had a “remarkably promising future,” the internal battles she faced were sometimes insurmountable.

“I pause as I reflect on her, looking at photos, remembering scenes, listening to voicemails, and remembering the first time she called me ‘Mama’ while she shared stories of her youth. We seemed far apart, but we were very close in our hearts,” the “Walker Payne” actress penned.

Jefferies said she and the “Heroes” alum “reconnected” after the former read the latter’s new memoir, “This Is Me: A Reckoning,” earlier this year and had made plans to see each other.

This story is being updated…