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The Duffel Brief · the free edition, Monday, Wednesday and Friday

Vol. 15 · No. 114 · Wednesday, 23 September 2026

Army

Mitch McConnell returns from extended drill weekend

Staff says senator’s three-month absence was “routine National Guard obligation”

Trump considers replacing Hegseth with rock or something

Army adopts ‘Your body, my choice’ as new recruiting slogan

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Vol. 15 · No. 114

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Duffel Blog

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Vol. 15 · No. 114 · Deployed worldwide

Wednesday

23 September 2026

1457 Zulu

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← Front page
· Page 2

April Fools! Russia admits it may have gone too far in ‘friendly prank’ on Ukraine

Ha. Ha. Ha.

Filed · 1029

MOSCOW – Amid mass arrests on Friday, Russian senior leadership admitted their April Fools prank on Ukraine may have gone too far, but insisted the invasion was “all in good fun.”

“Sadly, we see this a lot,” said Interpol President Ahmed Naser Al-Raisi, referring to Interpol’s annual statistics on April Fools pranks. “A group of friends gets excited about pulling a prank together, inevitably take it too far, and end up committing war crimes.”

Russian Minister of Defense Sergey Shoigu, who was arrested on charges related to the practical joke, insists that Russia did nothing illegal.

“Everyone has those nights where you intend to just have a couple drinks, but then things get wild and you decide to invade Ukraine. There’s nothing wrong with a little friendly ribbing between neighbors.”

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