RUSSIAN AIRCRAFT HARASS US FORCES IN SYRIA: Russian aircraft have increasingly harassed U.S. forces in Syria in recent weeks, most recently intercepting an MQ-9 drone and flying an AN-30 surveillance aircraft over the Al Tanf garrison today, a senior Defense Department official told our own LARA SELIGMAN. This type of activity is now happening “regularly,” said the official, who was granted anonymity to discuss a sensitive topic. “That’s almost routine now: If they pick up a visual of our aircraft and they are in the area intercepting them, then they will attempt to dog fight.” This is the fourth time in just two weeks that Russian aircraft have harassed U.S. drones over Syria, a sign of increasing tension between the two countries in the Middle East. During the incidents, Russian jets dropped flares in front of U.S. drones, forcing them to take evasive maneuvers, and one Russian jet also lit its afterburner in front of a drone. The latest incident involving MQ-9s was not unsafe, but it was deemed “unprofessional,” the official said, because the Russian aircraft came within three nautical miles of the drone. The AN-30 aircraft, meanwhile, loitered over the Al Tanf garrison for an extended period of time, the official said, and commanders assed it was attempting to conduct a surveillance mission “over the entire garrison.” The U.S. was not immediately able to send aircraft to respond to the surveillance Friday, the official said, due to a “gap in coverage.” Instead, officials protested verbally over the deconfliction line, the official said. A PUBLIC SPY CHIEF: Ukraine’s military intelligence chief, KYRYLO BUDANOV, believes that even the most secretive spy masters need to have a public profile these days. "It's not possible without this, not anymore," he told Reuters’ TOM BALMFORTH in an interview published today. "And all the next wars are going to look like this. In any country in the world. We can say that we're setting a trend here." The reason is that Ukraine realizes one of the battlefields is in the information space, and Kyiv was losing on it following the 2014 invasion by Russia. In the lead up to the full-scale incursion from 2022, and ever since, Kyiv feels it must always be on the front foot in this arena. "We completely lost the information war in 2014. ... And now the Russians are losing the information battle," Budanov said. PUTIN’S OFFER TO WAGNER: Russian President VLADIMIR PUTIN said he offered the Wagner paramilitary troops the option to serve in a single unit under one commander following the group’s failed rebellion led by YEVGENY PRIGOZHIN last month. “All of them could have gathered in one place and continued to serve,” Putin told a Russian newspaper, according to the Associated Press. “Nothing would have changed for them. They would have been led by the same person who had been their real commander all along,” said a commander who goes by the call name Gray Hair. Thirty-five commanders, including Prigozhin, were in attendance. “The boys won’t agree with such a decision,” Prigozhin apparently told Putin. But the Wagner chief was sitting in front of his commanders, many of whom nodded in agreement with the proposal, Putin said. He didn’t elaborate on what decision, if any, the group made. TROOPS TO EUROPE: The additional 3,000 U.S. reserve troops authorized for deployment to Europe will mostly focus on administrative and logistics tasks to "support and sustain a large troop presence for a long time,” National Security Council spokesperson JOHN KIRBY told Fox News today. The U.S. already has 80,000 troops in Europe, Kirby said, and the move reflects a realization that "the security environment in Europe has changed.” It will help ensure the U.S. has "the proper force posture to be able to support an additional eastern flank presence for the long haul,” he added. It’s not clear whether Defense Secretary LLOYD AUSTIN plans to actually deploy these reservists anytime soon, but the move suggests that the U.S. military’s training mission in Europe, along with the deployment of several new brigades after the invasion, has stretched active-duty forces. CLUSTER BOMBS ARRIVE IN UKRAINE: The cluster munitions Washington promised to Kyiv have landed in the country, Lt. Gen. DOUGLAS SIMS, director of operations for the Joint Staff, confirmed during a Thursday briefing. AND THE OSCAR GOES TO: Last month, when it was revealed that Special Envoy for Iran ROB MALLEY was taking leave due to a security clearance investigation, the State Department said Malley’s deputy, ABRAM PALEY, would take over as “acting special envoy.” Two weeks later, NAHAL TOOSI writes in, State is back to calling Paley by his original title, deputy special envoy. The reversion was made clear in updates to the Iran team’s Twitter account that were announced in an email to reporters today. The email also noted that Paley, a career diplomat, “leads the office in his capacity as deputy special envoy.” Why the switch back? The department won’t say. But it comes after a group of Republican lawmakers asked the State Department inspector general’s office to look into the Malley situation Thursday, as our own BETSY WOODRUFF SWAN reported.. Among other things, lawmakers asked if the department had properly notified Congress of Paley’s upgraded status to “acting special envoy.” DRINKS WITH NATSEC DAILY: At the end of every long, hard week, we like to highlight how a prominent member of Washington’s national security scene prefers to unwind with a drink. Today, we’re featuring Mexican Amb. to the U.S. ESTEBAN MOCTEZUMA BARRAGÁN. He likes mezcal with tobalá agave, he told our own DANIEL LIPPMAN, who interviewed him for today's Global Insider. "The brand is not the important thing. The important thing is the agave and this to me is the best," he advised. He often enjoys the mezcal at Maiz64, the Mexican restaurant on 14th Street in Washington. ¡Salud, Señor Embajador! IT’S FRIDAY. WELCOME TO THE WEEKEND: Thanks for tuning in to NatSec Daily. This space is reserved for the top U.S. and foreign officials, the lawmakers, the lobbyists, the experts and the people like you who care about how the natsec sausage gets made. Aim your tips and comments at award@politico.com and mberg@politico.com, and follow us on Twitter at @alexbward and @mattberg33. While you’re at it, follow the rest of POLITICO’s national security team: @nahaltoosi, @PhelimKine, @laraseligman, @connorobrienNH, @paulmcleary, @leehudson, @magmill95, @johnnysaks130, @ErinBanco, @reporterjoe and @JGedeon1.
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