1/ The Russian ultranationalist community has exploded into a fit of apoplectic rage over Volodymr Zelenskyy's decree 'permitting' Russia to hold its Victory Day parade. They condemn it as a humiliation for Russia and call for maximum retaliation. ⬇️
2/ Russian Telegram channels have had a meltdown over Zelenskyy's decree declaring Red Square to be off-limits for attacks on 9th May in order "to permit the holding of a parade in the city of Moscow (Russian Federation)." Many helpfully translate it for their readers.
3/ 'DSHRG Rusych' grumbles: "Is this denazification or demilitarisation? (We can't figure it out)."
'Novorossiya militia reports' is furious: "Is this what the Russian government was aiming for?"
4/ "After elevating this worthless individual for four years, they've now given him a perfect opportunity to troll and laugh.
Are you satisfied?
Well done."
5/ 'Shelter No. 8' calls for retaliatory raids on Kyiv and Lviv, and for the Ukrainian presidential mansion to be razed in response:
"The old-timers themselves gave him the opportunity to troll themselves."
6/ "But if, starting 9 May 2022, our Armed Forces had staged a celebratory raid on Kyiv and Lviv instead of a parade, the Ukrainians wouldn't have had a single chance to troll.
7/ "And Trump wouldn't be saving the state grandparents' plan today, but [Zelenskyy's] office on Bankova Street and luxury real estate in Koncha-Zaspa [an elite suburb of Kyiv].
8/ "Incidentally, a tip for the LPR leaders: you could raze all the luxury real estate in Koncha-Zaspa in response to today's and tomorrow's provocations. You should have done this in response to the raid on [Putin's] dacha—it's long overdue."
9/ 'Blue Beard' likewise calls for retaliation:
"Entering the circus ring with a professional clown was a stupid idea from the start. Show politics is like breathing through his nose for him; it's impossible to outplay the Ukrainians on this field."
10/ "Now Zelebobus is issuing an order to hold a parade on Red Square. It looks like an attempt at humiliation.
What do they usually do in such situations? A backhanded punch to the face.
In this case, a deadly strike against Bankova Street seems the most logical.
11/ "Instead, Comrade Ushakov comes out and says that, as per the agreement with Trump, Russia has agreed to a three-day ceasefire from 9th to 11th May and a 1,000-for-1,000 prisoner exchange.
Naturally, there are no censored words on this matter."
12/ 'Two Majors' condemns the failure of Russia's own state propaganda machine to counter Zelenskyy's trolling:
"The bastard knows how to wage an information war."
13/ "These are the consequences of [the sacked former Defence Minister Sergei] Shoigu's lies, those of his arrested and convicted deputies, and the disgusting, ossified information component of the state machine that accompanies and organises the work in the information field…
14/ …during the implementation of the most important decisions.
For such a slap in the face, a blow against Kyiv could be launched right now."
'Donetsk Infantry' sees it as a sign of Russia's own weakness:
15/ "The shame for the Russian government isn't that the Ukrainian dictator issued such a decree. It's that the authorities, who allowed Russia's defence capabilities to be plundered, have been begging for a deal since 2014,…
16/ …while they've been repeatedly told that there's no negotiating with the weak, those who make empty threats, and those who cave. Terms are dictated to them.
17/ "If you constantly obstruct a fighting army so as not to complicate negotiations, if you make grand gestures and supply gas and oil to those who kill Russians, you will be treated as you deserve."
18/ In a similar vein, 'Comrade Artyom' comments that this is happening because nobody is afraid of Russia and its elderly rulers any more:
"This is what happens when young brains confront old ones...😔"
19/ "By the way, I want to remind you that humor is a powerful weapon that changes reality. Those who were once feared are turned into laughingstocks, and after that, no one is afraid of anyone anymore, and, accordingly, no one obeys anyone anymore."
20/ 'Callsign Leon' is unhappy that "that arsehole Zelenskyy is trolling the Kremlin and shitting on the "official decree authorising the Parade in Moscow."
21/ "So, Ms. Zakharova [Russian foreign ministry spokesperson] and the rest of those who so menacingly threatened to demolish Kyiv 20 times a day if Ukraine disrupted the Parade—see, they won't disrupt it, they say. Like that?"
22/ 'Obsessed with war' calls for Zelenskyy to be killed for his impudence:
"Everyone's already seen Zelensky's taunting, I hope they pay for this comedy with their lives.
Otherwise, it's just total crap."
Lev Vershinin feels humiliated by the whole affair:
23/ "But in general, to be honest, I can't recall a second public spitting on such a level. And there is a feeling that the price of permission was the release (1000 for 1000) of all those whom the Russian courts convicted of war crimes..."
24/ Humiliation is also in the forefront of the mind of 'Leib-hussar', who comments sourly: "Victory Day is overshadowed by Cuckoldry Day." /end
1/ The Russian government's Internet shutdown from 5th to 9th May appears to have been predictably badly implemented. It seems to have spilled out from Moscow across Russia and also affected SMS and phone calls, causing widespread disruption and public anger. ⬇️
2/ The restrictions were officially explained as security measures leading up to and during the Victory Day parades in Moscow and St Petersburg. Russian firms issued advisories to download maps, stock up on cash, and use Wi-Fi. In practice, far more got broken than anticipated.
3/ Russians interviewed by the independent Russian outlet 'We can explain' reported that the outages affected other cities, as well as knocking out Wi-Fi and mobile phone services. They expressed anger, deep dissatisfaction, and frustration at the situation:
1/ Even as Hezbollah pounds Israeli forces in Lebanon with FPV drones, Ukraine's ambassador to Israel says that the Israeli government has rebuffed offers of help from Ukraine and hasn't extended an invitation for President Volodymr Zelenskyy to visit. ⬇️
2/ In an interview with Israeli news outlet Ynet, Ukraine’s ambassador to Israel, Yevgen Korniychuk, says that Israel is missing an opportunity to learn from Ukraine's experience in countering weaponised drones.
3/ Hezbollah has recently been using fibre-optic FPV drones against IDF forces in Lebanon. They have become the dominant cause of Israeli casualties. Dozens of soldiers are reported to have been wounded and several killed by Hezbollah drone strikes.
1/ Morale is so good in the Russian army that its soldiers are deliberately committing crimes to get themselves sent to prison and thus save their lives, according to a veteran pro-Russian soldier in Ukraine who has been fighting since 2014. ⬇️
2/ The Telegram channel 'When the cannons started singing' provides an illustration of the Russian army's current state of mind, from "our friend and subscriber, a war veteran who served with the militia since 2014 and later with the Russian Armed Forces":
3/ "Here, people commit crimes deliberately to go to prison. There was this guy who called someone in his city and said the train station was mined. They took him in later.
1/ Four years into the war in Ukraine, the Russian Ministry of Defence is still leaving its soldiers critically short of all kinds of essential military supplies, according to the 'Two Majors' Telegram channel. Donated and self-purchased supplies are only a drop in the ocean. ⬇️
2/ 'Two Majors' contrasts the very slow, hugely bureaucratic and still heavily paper-based Russian approach to military procurement to Ukraine's nimble Brave1 military marketplace, which allows units to procure what they need online:
3/ "Regarding humanitarian aid, it's important to understand: it's a drop in the bucket compared to the front's immediate needs. The active Army's basic supplies are what ministries issue. And the central government's funding for this is colossal.
1/ A Russian soldier fighting in Ukraine's Donbas region provides a gloomy picture of life on the front lines. A constant flow of doomed stormtroopers go on one-way trips, drones make logistics a game of Russian roulette, and thirsty men drink from muddy, corpse-filled holes. ⬇️
2/ 'BCh 3' writes on Telegram:
"It’s been said before—war gives rise to many different truths."
3/ "The enemy has one truth—that’s understandable; the bureaucrats have another; the mothers of the killed and missing have yet another; and the soldiers whose dugouts flooded yesterday—with no supplies arriving—have their own truth as they drink the water pooled at their feet,…
1/ The war in Ukraine has been very beneficial for one particular group: Russia's aging elite of super-rich oligarchs, who have recorded a record-breaking increase in their wealth. It's a sign of how sanctions and state capture have hugely boosted the oligarch class. ⬇️
2/ 'Political Report' notes that the collective wealth of the 155 Russian members of the 2026 Forbes rich list has increased by 11 percent during 2025, reaching a record $696.5 billion, despite the pressure of sanctions and an increasingly difficult economic situation.
3/ However, the oligarch class in Russia is effectively closed to outsiders: "the path to independently accumulating billions in wealth, without inheritance or integration into the networks established in the 1990s, remains virtually inaccessible to younger generations."