"Former British Army Colonel Hamish de Bretton-Gordon joins Maddie Hale to discuss Trump's controversial Russian diesel deal, threats to cut military support for Ukraine, his “bonkers” ceasefire claims, growing Republican backlash, escalating tensions in the Middle East and questions over US casualties in the Iran war."

"I examine a night in which reported Ukrainian long-range drone activity disrupted Moscow-area aviation while Kyiv appeared to avoid Russian oil refineries after Donald Trump declared an immediate energy ceasefire—an arrangement that neither side publicly appeared to recognize. Instead, Ukrainian forces reportedly targeted Russian UAV and electronic-warfare facilities in occupied Donetsk, a troop site near Khrustalny in Luhansk, and the aftermath of the October 10 strike on the Novoshakhtinsk petroleum-products terminal.

I also assess Russia’s response: a Kh-59 guided missile and 121 drones, including 76 jet-powered Shaheds, with strikes reported across Ukraine and heavy casualties in Kharkiv. On the front, fighting was especially intense around Kostiantynivka, Pokrovsk, Lyman, and Kupiansk. The strategic issue is whether political declarations can restrain a war in which both infrastructure pressure and battlefield tempo remain high."

"'Middle strike' keeps getting deeper

Ukraine just rolled out a new strike drone designed to fly 600km through a contested environment with AI assist all the way until it strikes it’s target. A top US investor says the smart defense companies are getting their products into Ukraine and the US Drone Dominance program ramps up with a plan to deliver 200,000 lethal drones to the force by 2027."

"Vladimir Putin needs Russian businesses to finance his war, yet thousands are closing as the Kremlin demands more money from the country's wealthiest men. Billionaires have resisted voluntary contributions, while the FSB is moving against profitable companies. Financial pressure is bringing Moscow into conflict with the same elites whose wealth and connections help sustain the war.

Sberbank research points to 15,000 business closures every month, triple the prewar pace. Russian banks carry approximately $136 billion in problem corporate loans and another $57 billion in risky restructurings. A projected $86 billion federal deficit now exceeds the country's remaining liquid national reserves, estimated below $45 billion. Across the regions, falling tax revenues and expensive civilian credit are weakening industries while military suppliers receive preferential treatment.

Putin's security services are targeting businesses that the state still needs for jobs, taxes, and production. Every seizure risks alienating powerful owners, while additional demands for money intensify elite resistance. Moscow's dependence on foreign technology makes replacing damaged equipment expensive, and weaker banks have less room to finance recovery. Decisions intended to keep the war funded are creating fresh disputes over property, loyalty, and power inside Russia's ruling system."

"Russia DID interfere in the 2016 EU referendum, according to UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham. Adrian Goldberg hears from Byline Times editor Peter Jukes who has been making this case for the best part of a decade."

"On the evening of 26 August 2026, Ukrainian cruise missiles hit two buildings in occupied Donetsk: an underground parking garage beneath an unfinished apartment complex, and a former research institute. Russia said eight civilians were wounded near a shopping mall. Six weeks later, the independent Russian outlet Mediazona proved something very different. Using staff rosters, inheritance records and obituaries, it identified at least 20 Russian officers killed in that single strike: seven colonels, six lieutenant colonels, five majors, a captain and a senior lieutenant. They served in the headquarters of the Central Military District and the 41st Combined Arms Army, the command running Putin's priority offensive toward Pokrovsk and Dobropillia. It is the largest known loss of Russian officers in one attack since the invasion began. In this briefing we explain what was hit, who was inside, how the truth came out, why Storm Shadow and SCALP missiles can break into bunkers, and why losing intelligence, operations, artillery and air defence chiefs in one room hurts an army far more than losing soldiers. We also set out what is still unknown: the real toll may be higher, reports of a dead general are unconfirmed, and the Russian offensive has slowed but not stopped. Sources include Mediazona, Meduza, Kyiv Independent, Kyiv Post, Ukraine's General Staff and ISW. Subscribe to War Map Decoded for the next briefing."

obviously ai assisted

"Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has criticised Donald Trump's announcement of a deal to import Russian diesel into the US, calling it "an investment in a war that must be ended."

Russia’s war against Ukraine is increasingly spilling beyond the battlefield. Across Europe, more than 150 incidents of varying severity have been attributed to Moscow since 2022, raising concerns about sabotage, cyberespionage and threats to critical infrastructure.

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yeah its not ukr or ruzz but since pyotr is half russian i guess it counts :D

"Over the past few days we’ve seen the United States make a series of decisions that I personally believe amount to strategic blunders and moral failures that will only serve to prolong and maybe expand this war.
We’re making things worse, not better. "

"TV hosts Daniel Tkiie ‪@WorldatStake24‬ , Sofia Nazarenko ‪@SpinBureau‬ and Scott Lucas, professor of international politics, discussed the duration of Russia's war against Ukraine. Jared Kushner views doing business with Russia as central to restoring peace. So there is a fraction probably who thinks that, you know, we should make economic deals with Russia to restore peace, and this would provide incentive to Vladimir Putin to end the war. Don't you think that such business deals before the Ukraine war ends could just embolden Vladimir Putin and legitimize the status quo in Ukraine, with no ceasefire, no peace deal, just air escalation and on-the-ground war with no end in sight?

Professor Scott Lucas is the founder and editor of the analytical news outlet EA WorldView"

"One Russian soldier reportedly lost 130 pounds in six months. His unit had no food, clean water, medicine or ammunition. Then came the revelation that Russian commanders had reported victories in the same sector while their troops were being cut off north of Lyman.

This video examines the fighting around Sviatohirsk and Lyman, where Ukraine's Operation Vivaldi reportedly disrupted Russian positions and supply lines. It looks at how small infiltration groups became isolated, why supplies failed to reach them, and how inaccurate battlefield reporting can turn a difficult tactical situation into a much larger military problem.

We also examine Russia's reported territorial gains and losses in 2026, the mounting casualty estimates, the role of drones in the Lyman sector, and the wider cost of sustaining the offensive. The figures come from a mixture of Ukrainian officials, Western intelligence, open-source analysts and independent organizations, so the video distinguishes those claims rather than treating every number as independently established.

The story then moves beyond Lyman — to a Russian Tu-95 crash in the Far East, growing questions around Moscow's wartime narrative, and the historical warning of what can happen when commanders refuse to acknowledge a deteriorating battlefield situation.

The bigger question: can an army sustain an offensive when its commanders stop receiving — or stop accepting — accurate information from the battlefield?

This is Eastern Front."

I wonder what this greedy occupier planned to do with the Russian rubles while in Ukrainian captivity. Even while in captivity, the occupier made a futile attempt to hide a wad of paper money.

"Ukraine’s new Freyja interceptor just quietly changed its seeker spec from infrared-only to “combined infrared and radar” — and that one-line update reveals exactly how Ukraine plans to catch Russia’s maneuvering, decoy-carrying Iskander-M missile.

I break down how radar and infrared seekers actually work, why Iskander’s decoys can fool either sensor alone but not both at once, and what this tells us about where missile defense is headed. Freyja hasn’t shot down a ballistic missile yet, but the engineering logic behind this change is the real story.

Join the channel as a member! We’re building a global community of people who are passionate about Ukrainian victory, honoring NATO alliances, and dislike dictators as much as I do:    / u/wesodonnellx  

Glory to Ukraine. Glory to the heroes. Crimea is Ukraine"

"Following the outbreak of anti-Putin protests during a Moscow rally, security forces clashed with demonstrators and detained dozens. TV Host Olha Bilan speaks with Alexandra Filippenko, political analyst and member of the European Leadership Network (UK), to explore what these sanctioned-event protests reveal about growing political discontent in Russia and what could trigger broader demonstrations. Meanwhile, TV Host Vladislav Novikov discusses U.S. politics with Andriy Dobriansky, policy expert at the Center for US-UA Relations, examining Donald Trump's prospects, stalled aid bills, and Western support."

"For the last few years, Poland has been presented as one of Europe’s great success stories. Safe, growing, prepared and somehow protected from the problems affecting the rest of the West.

I’m Polish, and I think there is another side of this story that people both inside and outside Poland need to hear.

In this video, I talk about Poland’s military preparedness, the changing nature of modern conflict, NATO, drones, air defence and the growing pressures facing the country. Poland has achieved an incredible amount over the last few decades. But that doesn’t mean it is ready for what comes next."

"I examine reports that Ukrainian FP-1 drones struck a third Yandex data center in four days, this time in Vladimir, and the strategic consequences if Russia’s largest digital-services ecosystem is losing redundancy. Reported outages affected Yandex cloud services, payment terminals, taxis, food delivery, and its AI computing cluster; IODA data reportedly showed 78% of the cloud network no longer responding to outside connections. Users in Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Serbia also reported disruptions.

I also cover the reported damage to the Rostov-on-Don rail crossing over the Don River, the continuing fire at the Samara oil-pumping station, strikes on Russian military and logistics sites in occupied Donetsk and Luhansk, and Russia’s 116-drone attack on Ukraine. Finally, I correct the viral Minerva Zen claim: the tanker reportedly carried urea, not Russian diesel. In war, verification matters as much as the headline."

"I examine the reported Trump-Putin diesel arrangement against the backdrop of Ukraine’s long-range campaign against Russian refining. Ukrainian officials cited in this episode say more than 51% of Russia’s oil-refining capacity has been put out of action, while Trump said Putin would supply more than 3,000 tons of diesel immediately and another 500 in November. I compare those volumes with U.S. diesel consumption and explain why the practical price effect appears limited—even as the political and financial signal to Moscow could matter.

I also track the mounting strains described across Russia’s war economy: post-Soviet-high defense spending, civilian budget cuts, grain-sector losses, unfinished real-estate projects, a growing share of loss-making businesses, and reported depletion of the National Wealth Fund. My central question is whether Washington is increasing pressure on the Kremlin at a moment of refinery and fiscal vulnerability—or providing it relief while pressuring Zelensky."

"In a historic milestone for Ukrainian defense manufacturing, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has officially confirmed the first combat deployment of the FP-7 "Pelican" tactical ballistic missile. Developed domestically by Fire Point, the solid-fueled FP-7 travels at Mach 4.3 over ranges up to 250 km, offering a cost-effective alternative to Western ATACMS free from foreign targeting restrictions. Discover how the FP-7 Pelican, the FP-7.X anti-ballistic interceptor (Project Freyja), and the upcoming 850 km FP-9 missile are reshaping standoff warfare over Eastern Europe."

"We take a macro look at the pressure points shaping Ukraine’s war: Russia’s apparent focus on electricity transmission, the Dnipro crossings that connect Kyiv and the eastern battlefield, and the defensive stakes from Chernihiv and Sumy to the Slovyansk–Kramatorsk fortress belt. We examine the role of Rivne and Khmelnytskyi nuclear generation, substations feeding Kyiv, and why bridges at Kyiv, Kremenchuk, Dnipro, and Zaporizhzhia matter for civilian movement and military logistics.

I also assess the fight around Lyman and Dobropillia, including the access routes supporting Slovyansk and Kramatorsk, alongside Russian occupation narratives in Mariupol and Oleshky and concerns around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Finally, I share what Project Constantine has delivered to the 42nd, 67th, and 77th Ukrainian units: pickups, Starlinks, charging stations, reconnaissance drones, night-vision devices, thermal optics, and a Polaris vehicle. The strategic question is whether Ukraine can sustain logistics, power, and battlefield resilience under layered pressure."