While a russian was being chased by a Ukrainian drone, a second drone flys in. Notably, the second drone is controlled using a fibre optic link. There are many such videos showing two drones attacking a single russian soldier with a predictable outcome.

$350 billion is enough money to buy every active F-16 fighter jet and every active M1 Abrams tank with enough money left over to buy every Black Hawk helicopter, several aircraft carriers and some nuclear submarines. However, the USA sent zero F-16 fighter jets and thirty-one M1 tanks to Ukraine.

I have started moving my old threads (with updates) to Substack. Of course, new threads will be published there as well. This is partially in response to X turning itself into something I don't understand. Please give me a follow there. open.substack.com/pub/danielrp...

Listen to the engines on these Ukrainian Liutyi drones and note how slow they are flying. Possibly, speed is being adjusted to maximise the dones' range and payload.

A useful summary of the situation in Iran.

Really interesting comments regarding the Iran war. It's worth watching to get a different perspective on this highly complex conflict.

Panic is growing in Russia – regions request air defense systems from the Kremlin #shorts undefined

In the latest news, everything is fine. Nothing to see here. Move along.

"Iran has just announced" tells us that it is Iran, not the USA, who is controlling events. "Strait of Iran" confirms this. The USA is a bully who kicked a dog only to find out the dog has very sharp teeth. It will be interesting to see what concessions the USA makes.

A Ukrainian FP-2 drone nearly collides with another FP-2 drone while flying over a russian air defence system that was destroyed earlier by a Ukrainian FP-2 drone. Ukraine has been quite successful at destroying russian air defences with these drones.

📚🐬TRUMP “LIBRARY” 2030 - You are invited to the Library/Museum/Hotel/Legacy in Miami

1. Twenty-three years ago I held a Canon A10 digital camera up to the eyepiece of a cheap 60 mm refracting telescope and pressed the button. This is the photo I captured on that cold winter night. It was far better than I could have ever got using film.

1. On December 2, 2025, the russian tanker Midvolga 2 (IMO: 9735139) was hit by a drone in the Black Sea. Was this a false-flag operation?

🇨🇦 Fuelled the car today (March 21, 2026). For USA citizens, this price for regular corresponded to US$4.25 per US gallon. These pump prices have no meaningful effect on my life but higher fuel prices will increase the cost of everything else including food.

1. Many people have reacted strongly to a video showing production of Shahed-136 (Geran-2) drones by a Chinese company. However, focussing on this company misses the more important aspects.

1. A Ukrainian living in Kyiv sent me this: "The fifth year of the war has arrived, and the biggest paradox and the deepest trauma is that you freeze in anticipation of returning to your previous life, but you understand that returning is not possible, it is an illusion."

This is a really good video about defending against a drone.

1. I received a card from April Huggett in Ukraine. This was for making donations to the Alcatraz Battalion. Alcatraz/ Батальйон Алькатрас 93 бригади @93alcatraz.bsky.social

The commentary posted on Substack by Shankar Narayan is worth reading.

No, I still can’t get this out of my head, and I keep trying to grasp the full abyss of this idiocy, unsuccessfully. Russia spent years, decades "fighting all of NATO," turning America into "radioactive ash" every night on state TV.

youtube.com/shorts/Z4mu2... Well I was correct, the ballistics attack did materialize last night and the early hours, in an all but predictable attack on power infrastructure. However, it’s not all going Putin’s way, not in the slightest, in fact it’s getting worse.

1. A russian propagandist holds a wing and incorrectly claims it is from a Ukrainian Chaklun-V. In fact, this is from a Ukrainian Drakosha - Little Dragon. (This thread contains 16 posts.)

Putin may now be forced to consider a peace deal not from strength, but from exhaustion. That is precisely where the danger lies. open.substack.com/pub/shaunpin...

ANALYSIS TIME - Large Man Abroad presents: Why The US Military Is (Rightfully) Terrified of #Canada 🦾 youtu.be/12ErvtNDOZQ

The russian terrorist, Strelkov pointed out that the USA uses NATO to control Europe. "NATO, of course, won't collapse because of some Greenland. The United States will never lose such an instrument and the influence it exerts on Europe"

I had a work colleague who started acting weird like this. Five year later he was dead from frontotemporal dementia. Earlier symptoms included a strange impulsivity where he could not be reasoned with. A later symptom that could not be ignored was his aphasia.

Take some time and watch Shaun Pinner @olddogua.bsky.social explain how the balance of power has shifted to Ukraine. At this point, I think he may be right. www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9tiGudbOp4

1. This russian pretends to investigate Ukraine's drones but this is just a conduit for russian propaganda. Their surprisingly new and clean uniforms hint something is not right. However, they sometimes post interesting photos with handy location and date information.

1. This beautiful photo shows pieces of a russian SU-34 aircraft that was shot down over Ukraine in 2022. It makes a nice wallpaper for your computer.

Lessons from Cats for Surviving Fascism is a small book that has teeth - and claws. By Stewart @brittlestar.com Reynolds Useful advice includes, "Fascism thrives on predictability; confuse it by unexpectedly launching onto the back side of a chair, then repelling down the curtains."

1. Lots of politicians promise to return manufacturing jobs that have been outsourced to China. Gig workers are a large part of China's work force including factory workers. "I Deliver Parcels in Beijing" gives an idea of what these jobs are like.

1. Four Ukrainian Bars cruise missiles were launched at night. The shape is hard to make out but the fuselage is consistent with the unusual shape of Bars.

I managed to snap a couple of photos of the aurora last night (November 12). Brightness on the bottom right of this photo is, unfortunately, from the city lights. Camera was a Canon T6i with an EF-S 24 mm lens. Not too fancy but works well enough. Other folks there had much fancier kit.

1. This wreckage is Ukraine's secretive Bars (Snow Leopard) cruise missile that was first mentioned by Minister of Strategic Industries, Herman Smetanin in April 2024. The pieces in this photo are not arranged correctly but still give an idea what it looks like.

Time magazine has a story about how Ukraine uses a point system for its drone units. Each kill is awarded points, e.g., 6 points for a russian soldier and 40 points for a tank. Points can be redeemed for all sorts of stuff including drones.

1. This soldier was very excited because he scored a jet engine. A big question is, what drone is this a part of? Cutting up a drone before taking photos is common, and makes identification a more interesting challenge.

1. A Ukrainian drone was attacked by a russian drone. This is not uncommon but what is weird is the russians identified this drone as a Liutyi (Fierce). This event was also subsequently reported in russian news stories.

1. It is beautiful but is this reconnaissance drone too good to use in a war? The various reconnaissance drones flown in Ukraine are well made and usually expensive. But are they too expensive?

Usually we only see the russian Geran-2 (Shahed 136) drones after they have been shot down. Here is a photo of an intact one on display.

1. Here is something a little unusual. It is a Zlin Z137T agricultural aircraft (crop duster) equipped with two R-73 air-to-air missiles for shooting down drones. There's no obvious gun so this is likely only for large drones like the Geran-2 (Shahed 136).

1. Ukraine attacked a russian factory in Stavropol with at least four drones. Although russia has laws against posting there are several very good videos of this attack. Here, a still frame shows a rather nice terminal dive.

Don't do this at home. A russian soldier grabs a Ukrainian drone and smacks it against a tree. For some reason, it does not explode.

1. What would have been unthinkable a few years ago is now routine. Several Ukrainian drones successfully attacked a russian drone factory located in Dubna, only 115 km from the kremlin. This is a smart move by Ukraine, and there may be more to this attack than at first seems.

1. A video shows a Ukrainian drone hitting a transmission tower in Engels, russia. Some people have incorrectly claimed this drone is a Ukrainian-made Lyutyy. Fortunately, there are a couple of details that correctly identify this drone.

1. Ukrainian drones flying deep into russia are so common that russian media reports these along with other mundane issues. Have a look at this russian news headline. “Lipetsk evening: intercepted UAVs, a dog dropped from the 4th floor and dishonest citizens”

1. The russian invasion of Ukraine continues to go to plan. We are seeing ever more advanced vehicles fielded by russia like this highly-modified Lada. I really like the dual hood scoops.

Nothing says "second army of the world" like using a 50 year old Lada as an assault vehicle (or whatever). Removing part of the roof to form a rumble seat makes all the difference.

Drawn 6 years go today. It was rejected and called unfair and alarmist.

This is your daily reminder that Russia is who started this war and who can end it anytime by getting the fck out of Ukraine and stopping bombing us.

This is something to keep a look out for. It is a fixed-wing VTOL drone controlled by fibre optic. The advantages of using fibre are radio silence and high-quality video.