1/ Russia should take advantage of the Iran war by launching a massive war-winning offensive to capture Kyiv and Odesa, says a prominent Russian warblogger. The conditions he identifies for Russia doing so, however, are so onerous that they are practically impossible to meet. ⬇️
2/ Alexey Zhivov asks:
"How is victory possible in the Special Military Operation?
After the capture of Pokrovsk, Myrnohrad, and the battle for Kupiansk, any significant news about the advancement of the Russian Armed Forces has ceased to come from the front."
3/ "All military action was reduced to an exchange of missile and drone strikes and [Kremlin spokesman Dmitry] Peskov's inappropriate statements about our great "concern" for the legitimacy of the Ukrainian government."
4/ "How could the SMO end on terms acceptable to us?
1. As a result of Kyiv completely expending money and personnel on defence (not in sight) and the allies refusing to support Kiev (not in sight);
2. As a result of a political compromise with Western countries (not in sight);
5/ "3. As a result of Kyiv's military defeat. This defeat can only be measured in one way: the liberation of Kyiv and Odesa.
The only viable option for us is the third.
6/ "But I started by saying that there is no significant news from the front, just as there is no news about the expansion of the buffer zone or the creation of a threat to Kharkiv. Moreover, the liberation of Odesa currently seems an unattainable goal.
7/ "To successfully capture Kyiv, Russia must form, equip, and train an army group of 150,000 to 300,000 men, deep in the rear, in complete safety. And these must not be fighters hastily armed with outdated weapons.
8/ "They must be a fusion of veterans of the SMO, unmanned forces, long-range artillery, and properly trained assault infantry.
9/ "A fresh, well-equipped army, linked to digital control and competent command, will have to attack with lightning speed from the north, crushing any defensive lines. This means armored vehicles, columns, and large numbers of personnel on the march. A difficult task.
10/ "The principles of effective combat operations by individual army and reconnaissance units have been formulated, tested, and have yielded results that have not yet been scaled up. Perhaps the time has come.
11/ "Breaking through the enemy's defences in the face of the total transparency of the line of contact will not be easy. Several feints and the strictest secrecy are necessary, which we also have problems with.
12/ "Looking at [Tuesday's] raid on Ukraine, one might assume that several thousand Geran drones and various types of missiles could be stockpiled for such an offensive, so that as troops advance, they can demolish all enemy defences,…
13/ …[and] preclude the possibility of a rapid troop transfer from other fronts to Kyiv, etc.
14/ "Such a large-scale operation requires political will and the determination to at least once abandon a conservative conflict strategy in favor of justified risk. So far, no one is ready for this.
15/ "Partly because various negotiators constantly convince decision-makers that they can reach an agreement anyway. And so it goes, year after year.
16/ "The longer we delay a final resolution to the Ukrainian issue, the further the Ukrainian Armed Forces' drones and missiles fly, the more public fatigue grows with the permanent war,…
17/ …which has begun to acquire an extremely unpleasant internal dimension in the form of a series of bans, social tension, and a general deterioration of living conditions.
18/ "To finish people off, all that remains is to invent a new pandemic, force people to wear masks, and confine their exits to some liquid in a syringe.
19/ "Russia is currently in a particularly advantageous position due to the conflict over Iran. Not seizing this opportunity would be a grave mistake.
20/ "Iran, on the contrary, has made it clear what it must do to be taken into account, and this at disproportionately high risks and losses for Tehran.
21/ "When a civilian airliner is picking up speed on the runway, the second pilot at a certain point tells the first: "Decision point", at which point the aircraft commander immediately gives the command "Take off!" or "Brake!"
1/ Russian warbloggers warn of an alarming development: Ukraine's long-range drone strikes into Russia are reportedly being guided by Starlink connections, which potentially provides drones with precise and unjammable navigation across the entire country. ⬇️
2/ While Starlink is normally a civilian network, Ukraine makes extensive use of it for military purposes, including on the front lines and in sea drones. Until recently, Starlink was blocked in Russia but not in Ukraine, which enabled the Russian military to use it as well.
3/ This changed in February 2026 when Starlink began whitelisting terminals in Ukraine, so that only the Ukrainians could use it. Ukraine also has access to a limited number (reportedly 3,000) of terminals which can access the separate military-oriented Starshield network.
1/ Russia has reportedly provided Iran with targeting data on Israel's critical energy infrastructure, according to Ukrainian intelligence sources quoted by the Jerusalem Post. ⬇️
1/ Russia's blocking of Telegram is having a devastating effect on the volunteer communities that support the Russian army in Ukraine. A Russian warblogger posts a despairing account of how the 'humanitarian aid' system has all but collapsed as a result. ⬇️
2/ The Russian army is hugely dependent on volunteer-provided 'humanitarian aid' – which in practice means anything from drones to generators to bulletproof vests – because so little is provided by the Russian Ministry of Defence. Alexander Zaborovsky writes:
3/ "I’m talking about Telegram blocks and specifically what has been drastically affected by them.
I’m referring to volunteer organisations and groups. 99% of them rely on Telegram for communication, including with combat units.
1/ Goldman Sachs analysts report that the biggest oil crisis in history is about to hit globally, with profound and highly destructive consequences. A new report asks ""Are We Running Out of Oil?", and concludes that the answer is yes. ⬇️
2/ Goldman reports that average daily flows of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz have fallen by 94% from their pre-war levels.
3/ This has led to a 63% collapse in the flow of oil and its refined products from the Middle East. Exports are down from 7.4 million to 2.8 million barrels per day of oil, 39% of which is flowing via a pipeline to Saudi Arabia's Red Sea ports.
1/ A shortage of drones reportedly means that Russian drone pilots often don't attack Ukrainian vehicles again after disabling them. This, says a serving Russian soldier, means that the Ukrainians are frequently able to retrieve disabled vehicles. ⬇️
2/ Russian forces in Ukraine have been complaining for a long time that they lack drones, with those provided by the Russian MOD being few and often of poor quality.
3/ Instead, they often have to rely on voluntary donations and unofficial drone production by the so-called 'people's military-industrial complex' – an ecosystem of enthusiasts and ex-military personnel who make or import drones for military use.
1/ News of the destruction of yet another US aircraft on the ground is being met with incredulity by Russian Air Force pilots. They ask if the United States has learned nothing from Russia's own very costly experiences. ⬇️
2/ 'The Voivode Broadcasts', a Telegram channel run by a group of Russian military helicopter pilots, expresses astonishment at pictures published overnight of a US CH-47 Chinook helicopter that was destroyed on the ground in Kuwait.
3/ "I look at this photo and realize that the Americans, with all their budgets and all, haven't studied or systematized our experience in any way.