1/ Tuapse is on fire again, and once again Russians are asking why their air defences are so inadequate. Prominent Russian drone developer Alexey Chadayev blames the lack of any clearly defined responsibility for air defence.

https://x.com/maria_avdv/status/2049221307548500292

2/ Chadayev is the head of the Ushkuynik Research and Production Centre, a leading Russian drone development group. In a commentary on his Telegram channel, he highlights how disorganisation and unclear responsibilities are undermining Russian air defences.

1/ The Russian officer who oversaw the occupation of Bucha in 2022, during which an estimated 458 Ukrainians were murdered, has been targeted by a bomb attack in the Russian Far East. Major General Azatbek Omurbekov's condition is currently unknown; another officer was killed. ⬇️ 2/ According to VChK-OGPU, the attack took place on 28 April at a military garrison located in the village of Knyaze-Volkonskoye-1 in the Khabarovsk Krai. A bomb exploded in a mailbox, killing Lieutenant Colonel Kuzmenko, the commander of the training communications battalion.

1/ Downloads of VPNs have soared by 1,300% in Russia as citizens try en masse to circumvent government blocks on popular apps like Telegram. As a Russian commentator warns, this is likely to lead to the government criminalising VPN use in the near future. ⬇️ 2/ Yuri Baranchik writes about how Russians are adapting to a "digital concentration camp":

"According to media reports, VPN app downloads in Russia have increased 14-fold in one year (!). From March 2025 to March 2026, 35.7 million downloads were recorded on Google Play alone."

1/ The acting US Ambassador to Ukraine is to resign over differences with the Trump Administration, becoming the second ambassador to do so in just over a year, and the third to resign under Donald Trump. She is said to be frustrated at Trump's lack of support for Ukraine. ⬇️ 2/ The Financial Times reports that Julie Davis will leave her post in the next few weeks and retire from the diplomatic service. She has been serving simultaneously as ambassador to Cyprus and Ukraine, but is based in Kyiv.

1/ Russian warbloggers are increasingly speculating about what will happen after the war ends and/or the fall of Putin. They predict chaos, disorderly struggles, repression, and not least their own violent elimination. ⬇️ 2/ In a since-deleted post, Maxim Kalashnikov sees gloomy prospects ahead for Russia:

1/ North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un, has praised his country's soldiers who killed themselves in Russia rather than surrendering to Ukrainian forces. Speaking at a memorial event, he has commended their "self-blasting". Only two North Koreans were taken alive by Ukraine. ⬇️ 2/ In a speech given on 27 April 2026 at the Memorial Museum of Combat Feats at the Overseas Military Operations, which commemorates the North Korean troops who died fighting against Ukraine's 2024-25 incursion into Russia, Kim spoke of their willingness to commit suicide.

1/ After spending years demanding a full mobilisation, Igor 'Strelkov' Girkin has come to the realisation that it would now be pointless: Ukraine's swarms of drones are capable of destroying "any number of infantry", and Russia doesn't even have enough weapons to arm them. ⬇️ 2/ A reader of his Telegram channel asks:

"Question: there's increasing talk of possible mobilisation—do you think the government will take such a step? And is mobilisation necessary under the current circumstances?"

To which Girkin replies:

1/ Russian drone developers are complaining that because of bureaucratic restrictions, they are having to use firecrackers as the warheads on interceptor drones, or rely solely on kinetic methods instead of explosive warheads. ⬇️ 2/ The Russian warblogger 'UAV Developer' shows a photo of two firecrackers and asks:

"Do you know what this is?

It's the warhead of an interceptor drone."

1/ Ukrainian citizens are reportedly selling 'whitelisted' Starlink terminals to Russia, to enable the Russian army to get around the blocking of unauthorised Starlink terminals. The trade highlights how corruption in Ukraine is directly aiding Russia's war effort. ⬇️
2/ Russian forces in Ukraine used Starlink on a large scale for both battlefield communications and, increasingly, drone guidance. Since early February 2026, however, only whitelisted terminals – which can only be acquired with Ukrainian government permission – can be used.

1/ Starving Russian soldiers in Ukraine have been eating their comrades and Ukrainians, according to intercepted Russian communications. Audio and photographic evidence indicates that several incidents of cannibalism likely occured in 2025. ⬇️

https://x.com/wartranslated/status/1936019069590716435

2/ The UK's Sunday Times newspaper has published evidence of what Ukrainian intelligence sources say were at least five instances where Russian soldiers were said by their fellow soldiers and commanders to have engaged in cannibalism.

1/ Russia's attempts at import substitution have "completely failed" and the corrupt state procurement system is effectively killing off domestic factories, warns a Russian factory head. He says the system makes some rich, but will lead to a domestic economic collapse. ⬇️ 2/ Kubanzheldormash JSC is a large engineering company in Southern Russia. It is one of the few domestic manufacturers of mechanised track tools for railway construction and maintenance, as well as agricultural machinery and hydraulic equipment.

1/ The Russian Ministry of Defence has announced that it will not allow drone operators to be sent to assault units without their consent, in a bid to prevent them being sent to their deaths as a punishment. However, a Russian warblogger warns this will be hard to enforce. ⬇️ 2/ 'Rybar' reports:

"On the front lines, some commanders sometimes mismanaged the personnel entrusted to them, sending drone operators, engineers, and medics to assault units for the slightest infraction."

1/ The arrival of Ukrainian drones over the Urals for the first time has left Russian scrambling to explain why Russia's air defences seem to be unable to cope. Russian conspiracy theorists claim the drones are actually being flown from Kazakhstan. ⬇️

https://x.com/nexta_tv/status/2047935706387869941

2/ Writing on his 'Ramsay' Telegram channel, Russian journalist Vladislav Shurygin says:

"I'll answer all the questions about how Ukrainian drones reached Chelyabinsk, 1,800 km from the Ukrainian border, very briefly, and probably for the hundredth time."

1/ Lithuania is to open a €100m military training ground in the strategic Suwałki Gap between Belarus and Russia's Kaliningrad enclave. In response, the prominent Russian 'Two Majors' Telegram channel calls for all three Baltic states to be eradicated. ⬇️

https://x.com/Lithuanian_MoD/status/2047241802642530779

2/ The Lithuanian MOD has announced that a new training ground will be built near the village of Kapčiamiestis in southern Lithuania's Lazdijai district. With an area of ​​approximately 146 km², it will be located only about 11 km from the border with Belarus.

1/ Today's British newspaper headlines show a unified wall of outrage against Donald Trump, across the political spectrum. It's a sign of how a reported plan to punish the UK by 'reassessing the status of the Falkland Islands' has crossed a line that's redder than red. ⬇️


2/ Reuters reported yesterday that an internal Pentagon memo, said to have been written by Under Secretary of War [sic] for Policy Elbridge Colby, suggests reviewing US support for Britain's claim to the Falkland Islands.

https://x.com/phildstewart/status/2047541403379454247

1/ With the quality of life in Russia steadily deteriorating, Russian warblogger Alex Kartavykh is keen to raise morale. He has asked his followers on Telegram: "What's good in our country?" The answers have an element of clutching at straws. ⬇️ 2/ – They allow you to put square number plates on the front of your car. Since about three years ago.

– There’s loads of snow in winter; it crunches poetically underfoot.

1/ The news that Ukrainian drones are now reaching the Urals – as far away from Ukraine as England – has been met with dismay by Russian warbloggers. They say that Russia's air defence system is chronically disunited and coordinated action is difficult. ⬇️

https://x.com/Gerashchenko_en/status/2047944437121036320

2/ 'Fighterbomber' appears to have realised that the strike shows, in spite of claims to the contrary from many Russian propagandists, that the Ukrainians don't need to use the Baltic States' airspace to attack Russia's Baltic ports:

1/ A new Russian anti-drug law is leading to drug warnings being added to classic works of Russian literature by Gogol, Pushkin, Bulgakov and other classic authors, due to mentions of drug use. It's a sign of how censorship is reaching increasingly deeply into Russian life. ⬇️ 2/ Verstka reports that Russian online bookshops are adding warnings to both the text and audiobook versions of classic works such as Gogol's stories "The Nose" and "Viy," children's stories by Tolstoy, and works by Bulgakov such as "The Master and Margarita".

1/ Growing discontent about Russian government policies is reflected in an increasing willingness by Russian commentators to directly attack Vladimir Putin – still a very risky move. Warblogger Egor Guzenko calls Putin a liar over Internet shutdowns. ⬇️

https://x.com/Mike_Eckel/status/2047310880170197432

2/ Writing on his channel 'Thirteenth', Guzenko – a veteran Russian nationalist who has been fighting in Ukraine from 2014 onwards – ignores the ever-present threat of the FSB and gives Putin both barrels:

1/ The developers of the Russian heavy bomber drone 'Kukushka' have been sent to their deaths en masse, according to the father of one of the men. He says they were deliberately killed as they were regarded as 'inconveniences' by their commanders. ⬇️

https://x.com/sambendett/status/1891958218492178774

2/ Alexander Igorevich Anorin has recorded a video accusing commanders in the 102nd Motorised Rifle Regiment (military unit 91706) of sending a group of UAV developers to their deaths in assaults against Ukrainian positions.

1/ Recent satellite images showing dozens of Iranian fast boats in formation in the Strait of Hormuz illustrate Iran's ability to lay naval mines in the strait. An Iranian export catalogue highlights its many indigenously produced mine types. ⬇️ 2/ Iran is said to possess a huge stockpile of naval mines, potentially as many as 5,000-6,000. It has systematically made preparations over decades to mine the Strait of Hormuz, which it can do using small boats, aircraft, or even rockets.