1/ The Russian army's response to the threat of Ukraine's drones is to give its soldiers prayer cards appealing for divine help against "demonic drones". Incredulous Russian warbloggers are demanding something a bit more tangible. ⬇️
2/ The text of the "Prayer against demonic drones" says: "O, Saint Barbara, the great martyr and patroness, look upon us who grieve and suffer from the demonic drones, that sow death and destruction."
3/ "Strengthen us in faith and hope, give us strength and courage not to despair in the struggle for truth and freedom. Our intercessor, pray for us, that He will spare us and that He deliver us from the evil slander of our enemies. Amen."
4/ The accompanying picture is an illustration in the style of an icon, showing St. Barbara holding a quadcopter-type drone tastefully decorated with a Warhammer 40K-style skull.
5/ 'Archangel of Special Forces' writes disbelievingly:
"Stop, stop, stop...
Excuse me?
Is the person who did this sane?"
6/ Alexander Karchenko demands a more substantive response to the drone threat on his 'Witnesses of Bayraktar' channel:
"We urgently need a breakthrough in the battle for the "small sky."
7/ "The enemy has discovered our weak ability to intercept small UAVs, and now we're seeing trucks burning near Mariupol.
8/ "Logistics is suffering greatly. These aren't my assessments, but those of guys who, not long ago, were easily cruising 50+ kilometers from the front lines. Now this zone is under fire from Hornets and other drones.
9/ "We can continue to rely on all-powerful electronic warfare, but the enemy is already using FPV drones with Starlink. This means we need to develop physical interception of enemy drones.
10/ "We have the know-how, and we're putting it to use. Now we need to scale it up. Currently, roads are covered by anti-aircraft guns, but automatic rifles and machine guns offer very little protection. Hornets are prowling along the highways.
11/ "Yes, intercepting them with the Yolka [drone] is difficult, but he who makes no mistakes, wins. The concept of small interceptors is one of the most promising areas.
12/ "We need fair competition and generous funding in this area. This year, we can effectively destroy aircraft-type drones, and next year, we might even be able to intercept FPV drones.
13/ "Who knows? I know of a sector where assault rifles and machine guns are shooting down a lot of FPV drones. If our troops get a technological solution, logistics will only improve. And then we'll even begin to amass troops." /end
1/ Russia's anti-drone defences are said to be severely hampered by bureaucracy, such as bans on interceptor drones with explosive warheads, and legal liability, which makes mobile fire teams liable for damage caused by shot-down enemy drones. ⬇️
2/ Russian drone developer Alexey Chadayev looks for answers to the eternal question of "where air defence?". He highlights legal and bureaucratic obstacles that he says are major obstacles to the effective protection of facilities that are being targeted by Ukrainian drones:
3/ "A few thoughts on counter-drone defence of rear-area facilities.
1. The very fact that we have legally limited the ability to use explosives to combat drones in the rear leads to an increase, not a decrease, in collateral losses.
1/ The Poseidon intercontinental nuclear torpedo is a very stupid idea, says Russian writer and blogger Maxim Kalashnikov. He lambasts it as a huge waste of Russia's resources which is likely to be highly vulnerable to interception and wholly ineffective in practice. ⬇️
2/ Recent reports that the much-hyped Poseidon will soon be undergoing sea trials on a purpose-built carrier submarine have attracted a scathing response from Kalashnikov. He bluntly dismisses it as a very expensive and militarily pointless propaganda exercise:
3/ "I look upon the cult of the “Poseidon” torpedo with disdain. Is it aimed at complete idiots whose minds have been shaped by Hollywood and who’ve forgotten their high school physics? Or at impressionable retirees?
1/ Russia's shrunken Victory Day parade in Moscow on 9th May has been a TV ratings flop, reflecting a lack of public interest and its exceptionally short duration. Russian broadcasters report 25% fewer people tuning in this year. ⬇️
2/ The Russian news outlet 'We can explain' reports that the combined rating for the Victory Day Parade broadcast across the three main broadcasters (Channel One, Rossiya 1, and NTV) this year was only 16%. This is a near-25% drop from the 20.5% rating recorded in 2025.
3/ The parade was overtaken in the ratings by the wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. 'We can explain' suggests that this "may be due to the show's shortening and watering down."
1/ Russian warbloggers are mystified and angry at a recruitment advert for the Russian army posted on the Facebook-like social network VK. Unlike the usual ads, which show Russian soldiers as muscular supermen, it's attracting attention for being a lot more realistic. ⬇️
2/ Sergei Moskalkov, who spotted the advert, declares angrily:
"This isn't a fake, not a disinformation-like collage, but a genuine advertisement for contract service in the Russian Armed Forces.
This is a VK ad.
#fifthcolumn
#lawlessness"
3/ Lev Vershinin suggests a return to the classics:
"Since Sergei Moskalkov never lies and isn't particularly prone to jokes, I'll take it on faith."
1/ Russian propagandists see their anti-Ukrainian conspiracy theories about secret bioweapons being vindicated by the news that the Trump Administration is to probe previous US Administrations' funding of biological research laboratories worldwide. ⬇️
2/ Since 2022, the Russians have promoted claims that the US was operating dozens of secret laboratories in Ukraine to research bioweapons, including novel diseases and so-called "combat mosquitos". Propagandists claimed that Ukraine was under US "military biological occupation".
3/ These claims build on older Russian/Soviet-era disinformation patterns, extending back decades, about US bioweapons programmes. As long ago as the 1950s, the Soviets falsely claimed US germ warfare in Korea, and more recently claimed that the US created AIDS.
1/ Ukraine is reportedly using large 'drone carrier' unmanned surface vessels (USVs), each carrying between six to eight FPV drones as well as themobaric rockets, to attack multiple targets on the strategic Kinburn Peninsula in Crimea. ⬇️
2/ The Russian Telegram channel 'Archangel of Special Forces' posts footage apparently taken by a Russian UAV of what it says is a Ukrainian USV off Kinburn. According to the channel, the Ukrainians have been launching an increasing number of attacks against Russian positions:
3/ "The footage shows one of two unmanned Ukrainian Armed Forces boats launched today from the Southern Bug River basin. The port of Mykolaiv was likely the launch site, given the size of the USV. The waters of the Southern Bug have not been used for a long time.