"Where the f*ck is the air defense?! Is the air defense even f*cking working?!" 📹: Locals' enthusiastic reactions to Flamingo missiles on their way to the Titan-Barrikady military plant in Russia's Volgograd.

❗️ Russia is using schools in occupied Kherson region to train future personnel for its security forces. This is how Ukrainian children are being indoctrinated and turned against their own country.

Major milestone: Germany can now produce more ammunition annually than the US. Since 2022, annual production capacity has increased from: 🔹70k to 1.1m artillery shells 🔹800k to over 4m medium-caliber ammunition 🔹600 to 4500 military trucks Important EU defence progress.🇪🇺🛡️

☀️Friendly drones have reached Russia’s Urals for the first time, flying 1,700–1,800 km, targeting Yekaterinburg and Chelyabinsk. Russian channels claim over 100 drones were involved.

Russia attacked Dnipro throughout the night with 10 missiles and 80 drones. At least 27 residential buildings, two kindergartens, and a medical clinic were damaged. Three people were killed. Around 10 people are currently hospitalised.

Expect to hear a lot more about Article 42.7, the EU mutual defence clause, in the near future. As Trump openly questions the US commitment to NATO Article 5, the EU is actively preparing to defend against Russia alone. And if PM Tusk is right, it could be needed this year.🇪🇺🛡️

Macron said this is a unique moment that should not be underestimated, as the leaders of the US, Russia, and China are aligned against Europe. This is the time for Europe to wake up.

🇺🇦 Ukraine brought home 193 defenders from Russian captivity. This exchange is notable as it includes very young soldiers, some born in the 2000s, and also wounded defenders. Most were unlawfully held in Chechnya. Some faced fabricated criminal charges, a clear violation of the Geneva Conventions.

Another Ukrainian innovation: interceptor drones are being mounted on small transport aircraft like An-28s to take down Russian attack drones. This great video shows how it works, from takeoff to interception with P1-SUN drones. I expect allies to be very interested in this.

Ukrainian knowledge and experience is now in-demand globally: 🔹Ukrainian veterans are teaching German soldiers on drone defence 🔹Ukraine trained US soldiers to detect and intercept drones in Saudi Arabia 🔹Ukrainian minesweepers may help unblock the Strait of Hormuz

It is day 1518 of Putin's 3 day special military operation. Russians are building extensive fortifications and minefields along the coast of temporarily-occupied Crimea because they are afraid of Ukrainian troops invading. Everything is clearly going according to Putin's plan.

🚨The Russian Duma is warning of economic collapse triggering a 1917-style revolution THIS YEAR🚨 "We've told [Putin] ten times, the economy is bound to collapse...If you don't take immediate action...in the fall we'll face what happened in 1917." I need LOTS more popcorn.🍿🍿

Russia was forced to cut oil production in April due to Ukrainian drone strikes on ports and refineries, - Reuters. Down 300,000–400,000 barrels per day. Looks like the drone sanctions are working.💥

🚨Swedish Intelligence says Russia is facing "financial disaster" and hiding how bad things are with manipulated data. Inflation is close to 15% (vs official 5.86%), the budget deficit is $30B higher than reported, and a banking crisis is looming. Time for more drone sanctions!

💥Ukraine’s military intelligence GUR “Ghosts” struck two Russian large landing ships in t.o. Crimea – Project 775 Yamal and Project 1171 Nikolay Filchenkov. Both vessels were in Sevastopol Bay at the time of the strike.

🇺🇦Drone Campaign Goal: Cripple Russian defence production. Russia's weapons reserves are almost exhausted now, and missiles and drones are being launched within days of being built. Destroy factories for essential components like electronics, and the results will be quick.

🇺🇦Drone Campaign Goal: Cut off Russian oil exports. As US economic sanctions on Russia weaken, destroying oil tanks, pipelines, and export terminals is critical for cutting off Putin's war machine funding. It doesn't matter what the price of oil is if Russia can't export it.

🇺🇦Drone Campaign Goal: Weaken Russian air defence. By destroying Russian radars and missile systems faster than they are manufactured, more drones can reach and strike their targets in the future. And with more Ukrainian deep-strike drones being built, that means big trouble.

Ukraine's deep strike drone campaign against Russia has 3 strategic goals: 1️⃣Weaken air defence 2️⃣Cut off oil exports 3️⃣Cripple defence production With the war of attrition reaching a critical point, achieving these goals may prove decisive in successfully defeating Putin.

‼️As Orban's rule comes to an end, all of the skeletons in the closet are starting to be discovered. Apparently Orban helped Fico win his 2023 election by creating a migrant crisis, which magically ended after Fico's election. No wonder Orban's shredding all that evidence.

Apparently the US sanctions waiver on Russian oil, the one the US said they wouldn't extend a few days ago, just got extended. It's good that Ukrainian drone sanctions have become effective enough to cut off almost half of Russia's oil export capacity. Those don't have waivers.

‼️ Infrastructure is being expanded near the Belarus–Ukraine border, with roads being built toward Ukrainian territory and artillery positions being set up, – Zelensky. Ukraine believes Russia is once again trying to drag Belarus into its war.

The Russian oil industry is being crippled with massive drone sanctions, which build on 2025 deep strikes. And their defence industry, and air defence in particular, are being wiped out. This means more effective drone sanctions in the coming months. Making Russia small again.

🇺🇦🇳🇱 Ukraine and the Netherlands have officially launched defence industry cooperation, including the production of K4 DeepStrike drones and medium-strike Baton UAVs.

🇩🇪 Germany – $4 billion for strengthening air defense and $600 million for developing deep-strike and mid-strike capabilities. Additionally, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius launched an urgent air defense initiative, already securing €2 billion from partners;

🧵 Partner countries have announced new support packages for Ukraine during the Ramstein-format Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting. Key announcements include:

This is how you wake up in Ukraine - step outside in the morning to go to work, and there’s a huge downed Russian missile lying right in front of your home. This is the reality Ukrainians live with every single day. Survival becomes part of your routine.

‼️Moment a Russian drone strikes a residential building in Kyiv’s Podil district early in the morning, while people were still asleep. Russia continues its crimes. Sanctions must not be lifted. Russia must not be rewarded - not while it continues to kill Ukrainians in their homes.

⚡️ 667 targets destroyed: 31 missiles and 636 UAVs Ukraine’s Air Force radar units detected and tracked a total of 703 aerial targets: – 19 Iskander-M / S-400 ballistic missiles – 20 Kh-101 cruise missiles – 5 Iskander-K cruise missiles – 659 UAVs including Shahed, Gerbera, Italmas, and other types

SHOT: Drone sanctions against Novorossiysk last week forced Rosneft to divert oil to the Tuapse Refinery since it can't be exported. CHASER: Drone sanctions have just been applied to the Tuapse Refinery, where oil is rapidly being converted to heat and light. Yay sanctions!🔥😎

Strategic developments: Ukraine signed partnerships with Germany and Norway which strengthen shared EU defence.🇩🇪🤝🇺🇦🤝🇳🇴 Ukraine will receive hundreds of Patriot interceptors and IRIS-T launchers, establish drone production in both countries, and share knowledge and expertise.

💥Sberbank: "We're facing a severe economic downturn." With 10.6T rubles in nonperforming loans, equal to 1/4 of the ENTIRE federal budget and twice Moscow's annual budget, banks are facing massive risk when defaults happen en masse. The Russian economic collapse is here.📉🫟

🚨Russia's army is reaching a breaking point as losses exceed recruits. As contract recruitment hits a 2 year low, companies and universities are being ordered to send people to war. And if recruitment quotas aren't filled, regional managers responsible are being fired.

Szijjarto has been found: he's in the Hungarian Foreign Ministry building, shredding documents. Seems they are trying to hide evidence of their crimes. Expect him to run away as fast as he can before the paper shredders have even cooled down. Assholes, all of them.

THE END of the Orban era! And one more time, for the record – Orban is an asshole.

After reports of China preparing to send Iran air defence missiles, Trump warned China would have "big problems" if they did. Reminder: when Russia sent Iran drone components and target intel on US forces, Trump lifted oil sanctions on Russia. I wonder what's different 🤔

Good morning, Kyiv! Some full days ahead. My seventh trip to Ukraine since February 24, 2022. With emotion and confidence. To predict Ukraine's full victory is nothing but rational thinking.

We should repeat this every day: russia is intentionally, deliberately, murdering Ukrainian children, day after day, for the sheer pleasure of it. We can never forgive this—and above all, we have no right to forgive it. These crimes will haunt the russians—all russians—for as long as they exist.

What Vance says is a blunt confirmation of what we already knew: this U.S. administration is fully aligned with the russian enemy. Crimes against humanity and genocide mean nothing to him. Murder and deportation of children leave him cold. This is morally despicable and strategically inept.

I just came back from some days in Africa. Here’s what you find on the streets of Dakar. russia’s propaganda channel is running outdoor adverts. One of the slogans reads ‘the future belongs to you.’ Reality check: they’re using Africans as cannon fodder, when their militias aren’t murdering them.

NOUVEAU : Des informations 🇷🇺 et 🇺🇦 semblent confirmer les rapports de terrain selon lesquels les forces ukrainiennes auraient pris l'avantage sur les forces russes en matière de drones sur le champ de bataille. Évaluation de la campagne offensive russe, 9/4/26. @nicolastenzer.bsky.social

It is almost like the Trump administration has no idea what it is doing, beyond enriching itself of course… www.cnn.com/2026/04/21/p...

Stop praising Orbán for not attempting a coup. He only stepped down because Magyar's win was too massive to steal. He rigged the constitution, captured the institutions, and used state media to his advantage. He did everything he could to destroy democracy, and he failed

No Cards, huh?

Just sent out my free weekend update. This week the big story was that Germany bet on Ukraine, not as a supplicant but as a defense partner. The USA, otoh, bluffed and then, as it always does, protected Putin. Shame on you who fell for it. open.substack.com/pub/phillips...

To understand why the USA is where it is today, all you need to do is see that Trump cannot tolerate even the mildest, insightful criticism from the Pope, but Trump will allow Putin to humiliate him deeply and constantly, while still craving Putin’s approval.

This is Putin humiliating Trump. Lukashenko is just Putin’s lapdog. It’s fascinating that Putin can do this on the day that Trump does Russia another favor by extending sanctions relief. And as Russia still helps Iran fight the USA. The US is pathetic.

Latest in @theatlantic.com The Ukrainians are now longer pretending that Donald Trump's USA is their friend. Their honesty is important as they seem to understand how much Trump is helping Putin and how important it is that Europe stick together. Gift Link. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

We need to be honest about what we are seeing here. The Iranian government is still the same theocratic dictatorship and the Iranian people are in desperate straits after the US promised them liberation. The Iranians still control the Strait of Hormuz, still maintain their right to collect tolls...

...still have their nuclear program and have Trump promising to return them $20 billion in frozen assets. The markets also have concluded that this is the end, Trump has thrown in the towel. A massive strategic failure by the USA.