1/ Russian commentators say that the success of Iranian drones – which are less sophisticated than their own – in hitting US and other targets in the Gulf shows that America and Europe have failed to prepare for the threat of Russian drone attacks. ⬇️
2/ 'Archangel Spetsnaz' writes:
"After observing the Iran-US war for the third day, we came to the following conclusions:
The Americans, who were planting military bases around the enemy, were reckless in failing to provide closer cover for their own troops and allies."
3/ "For many years, it was entirely predictable that the Iranians would actively employ jet-powered UAVs, yet the Americans have already let through quite a few strikes.
4/ "The Shaheds are a very outdated version of our Gerans, and even so, they inflicted considerable damage. The destruction of the FP-132 radar in Qatar, worth over $1.1 billion, alone proves this. There were also strikes on Bahrain and Kuwait.
5/ "If the Americans had mobile fire teams, this could have been partially avoided. The US airborne early warning system is quite well organised thanks to its sophisticated intelligence, but there aren't enough multi-million-dollar SAMs for everyone.
6/ "How many of these exercises have been conducted in Europe in 2025? How many times have US troops, along with NATO partners, trained to fight Russia in a modern warfare scenario? What's the point of all these exercises if the reality shows a weak readiness to counter drones.
7/ "It's also been noted that Iran is attacking oil and gas storage and processing facilities. Energy prices in Europe have already begun to rise.
8/ "Of course, this is still a drop in the bucket; everything depends on how long the conflict lasts, but strategic facilities are strategic for a reason: they need to be protected.
9/ "And now the enemy faces a major problem: SAMs are running low, and the cost of replenishing them will be no less than the damage from hits. This is why rumours have circulated that the British intend to send Ukrainian troops to organise a defence." /end
1/ Ukraine's attacks against bridges, ferries, and logistics in Crimea have virtually cut off the peninsula. Russian warbloggers are reacting with anger and dismay. "Crimea has become an island," one admits. "Are we tolerating it?", demands another. ⬇️
2/ 'Intelligence Diary' sums up the situation following a Ukrainian attack using hundreds of UAVs, with Russia claiming to have shot down 239 but many more getting through:
"Crimea has become an island.
No ferry
No gasoline
No Chongar Bridge
No buses
No trains"
3/ He reports gloomily that "Crimea is in a complete fuel lockdown and there's a gasoline panic.
People are close to hysteria. The peninsula is descending into chaos."
He notes that Ukraine's data-enabled attack planning is fundamentally changing the situation for Russia:
1/ Russian-occupied Donetsk now exists under a state of "drone terror", says a local Russian inhabitant. Local influencer 'Donetsk MartynoVa' describes how normal life is grinding to a halt under relentless Ukrainian mid-range strikes. ⬇️
2/ As the thread below highlights, Ukraine's 'drone siege' of the occupied regions of the country ramped up quickly during May 2026 and has come to threaten Russia's control over the area through the decimation of Russian logistics.
1/ The Russian authorities are threatening to charge people who photograph military cemeteries with treason. It highlights how the Kremlin has become sensitive to cemeteries representing a potent symbol of Russia's huge losses in Ukriane. ⬇️
2/ 'Mobilization News' reports:
"Treason charges have been threatened for photographs of military graves in Yekaterinburg cemeteries."
3/ "Local cemetery administrations, in conjunction with the FSB, are preparing information signs that will be placed "on information boards at cemetery entrances and along visitor routes."
1/ A fuel crisis is growing in Russia, with soaring costs for gasoline, quotas on how much can be bought, and long queues at the pumps. Miroslava Reginskaya, wife of the imprisoned Igor 'Strelkov' Girkin, highlights how shortages have become widespread and severe. ⬇️
2/ Reginskaya writes:
"The fuel crisis is steadily spreading across the country: reports of gasoline shortages at gas stations are already coming in from many regions."
3/ "In some places, this is a genuine fuel shortage, while in others, it's a result of retailers trying to profit from the difficult situation.
1/ The hot debate of the moment among Russian commentators is whether and how Russia will begin "fighting for real". Russia's former president openly calls for war crimes while others advocate striking the West, destroying Kyiv, killing Zelenskyy, and nuking Starlink. ⬇️
2/ Former Russian president and current Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev says on his channel on the Russian 'state messenger app' MAX that the laws of war no longer apply after Ukraine's drone attack on the Moscow Oil Refinery.
3/ "Given the enemy's massive terrorist attacks on our cities, the intensity of which is growing and will obviously continue to grow, it is time to openly declare that there are no longer, and cannot be, any rules regarding neo-Nazi Kyiv," he writes.
1/ Russian warbloggers have identified a new enemy in the aftermath of the Ukrainian drone attacks in Moscow: migrants, who have appeared in many videos of the strikes. They are calling for severe punishments of those who have violated the government's censorship regulations. ⬇️
2/ One of the most iconic videos from the attack, showing a fuel storage tank's lid being thrown high in the air by an explosion, was filmed by a Chinese migrant worker and posted on his TikTok channel.
"Migrants from fraternal China published a video of a surface-to-air missile (or a MANPADS missile) hitting a storage tank at a Moscow oil refinery. Now the footage is spreading across Chinese and global social media."