1/ The last thing Putin expected from his bunker in Moscow in early 2022 was that his army would be ground down fighting for mere inches of territory 3.5 years into the invasion.

For the past two years, Kyiv has also increasingly brought the war home to Moscow’s elites.

🧵 2/ In the days leading up to May’s Victory Day parade, Ukrainian drones were already buzzing near Moscow.

Kyiv said China asked Ukraine not to strike Moscow while Xi Jinping was in attendance, likely because it doubted Moscow’s ability to protect him. newsukraine.rbc.ua/news/zelenskyy…

1/ Ukraine’s naval drones have sunk warships, hit oil terminals, and even shot down Russian fighter jets.

Ukrainian drones have ushered in the era of the timid navy (at least in the Black Sea).

🧵 2/ Since 2022, Ukraine has neutralized a third of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, forcing it to retreat from occupied Crimea.

Today, Kyiv’s unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) are enforcing a de facto blockade on Russian ports and warships.

https://x.com/Mylovanov/status/1965030625024577898

1/ As Russia’s invasion nears its fourth year, Moscow is struggling to replenish its ranks and is increasingly turning to foreign fighters to sustain the Kremlin's colonial war in Ukraine.

🧵 2/ In early October, Ukrainian troops captured a 22-year-old Indian fighting for Russia.

He claimed he’d been arrested while studying in Russia and was forced to sign a military contract to be freed — trained for just two weeks before being sent to the front.

1/ Russia is shutting down its own internet to stop Ukrainian drones.

As Kyiv’s long-range strikes reach deep into Russia, the Kremlin’s answer has been to flip the switch—cutting mobile data across dozens of regions and plunging parts of the country offline.

🧵 2/ The blackouts are meant to block Ukrainian drones that rely on Russian LTE networks for navigation and to stop Russains from posting about the strikes.

But they’re also cutting off millions of Russians from payments, transport, and digital life.

meduza.io/en/feature/202…

1/ Russia is running out of soldiers (higher cash amounts to pay them) — and it’s now importing them.

Also, import soldiers = less social problems w/ less 🇷🇺 deaths

With more than 1M+ casualties, Moscow is sourcing fighters from Cuba to North Korea to keep its war going.

🧵 2/ Ukrainian officials warn that as many as 25,000 Cubans could soon be fighting for Russia — which would make them the largest foreign contingent on the battlefield. tvpworld.com/89211810/at-le…

1/ Ukraine just changed naval warfare again.

New drone carriers are launching unjammable fiber-optic FPVs — drones that fly without radio signals and can’t be jammed by Russian EW.

This is the world’s first known sea-launched fiber-optic drone system that has been deployed. 2/ Russian footage from strikes on Tuapse & Novorossiysk shows Ukrainian kamikaze boats carrying multiple FPVs in hinged bays.

These drones, tethered by fiber cable, fly free of interference — immune to jamming.

The updated mobile drone carrier.

https://x.com/Bricktop_NAFO/status/1971977881997004899

1/ Artificial intelligence is starting to revolutionize Ukraine’s frontline — but it’s still not there yet.

A report from the front with a drone unit on how Ukraine’s AI drones are hunting Russian forces across the battlefield.

🧵 2/ As a Russian soldier slips out from a tree line, a Ukrainian drone detects movement.

Seconds later, an AI-assisted strike drone locks on and dives — the feed blurs, and a red marker bounces on the target.

Hit confirmed.

1/ Drone superpower Ukraine is teaching NATO how to defend against Russia.

At this week’s European Political Community Summit in Copenhagen, NATO leaders made clear that Ukraine is the world’s top expert in anti-drone warfare.

Kyiv is growing stronger technologically.

🧵 2/ Danish PM Mette Frederiksen: “The only expert right now in the world when it comes to anti-drone capacities is Ukraine, because they are fighting the Russian drones almost every day.”

NATO’s Mark Rutte agreed: Ukraine is a “powerhouse” of military innovation.

1/ When Trump says Ukraine can win back all territory taken by Russia, he’s not wrong.

Relentless Ukrainian strikes are raising the costs of war beyond what the Kremlin can sustain.

🧵 2/ Russia is bleeding.

Ukrainian drones are destroying weapons, logistics, and oil refineries—while also draining Moscow’s finances.

Ordinary Russians face fuel shortages, rationing, and long lines reminiscent of the Soviet collapse.

1/ Nearly 40% of Russia’s oil refinery capacity is offline after a wave of Ukrainian drone strikes.

It’s the most severe fuel crisis Moscow has faced in decades.

🧵 2/ Since early August, Ukrainian drones have struck 20+ major refineries across Russia.

By Sept 28, 338,000 tons/day of oil refining was idle—38% of national capacity.

1/ Russia's war against Ukraine was never about NATO or Russian security concerns.

It’s about empire. It’s about Putin's survival.

And it’s about the lie at the heart of his rule.

He believes Ukraine must be destroyed for him to stay safe in power.

🧵 2/ For decades, NATO showed little interest in Ukraine’s membership.

Even many Ukrainians preferred neutrality until Russia invaded in 2014.

So Putin’s talk of “security guarantees” was always a cover story.
pew.org/en/research-an…

1/ Over the last 2 weeks, Putin tested NATO—and the alliance failed.

Russian drones swarmed Poland & entered Romania. Then 3 MiG-31s penetrated Estonian airspace for 12 minutes.

These weren’t accidents. They were probes.

Putin is getting more comfortable w/ escalating.

🧵 2/ These were deliberate moves, not isolated accidents.

@TheStudyofWar noted that “Russia is likely attempting to gauge both Poland’s and NATO’s capabilities and reactions in the hopes of applying lessons learned to future conflict scenarios with the NATO alliance.”

1/ Ukraine is taking the war deep into Russia’s heartland.

Drone strikes are hitting Moscow, St. Petersburg, and oil refineries across the country—undermining Putin’s war economy.

This drone campaign is already driving downstream economic shocks across Russia.

🧵 2/ On Sept 9, a Ukrainian drone struck Sochi just hours after Putin held meetings there.

Three days later, another drone hit the Primorsk oil terminal near St. Petersburg—forcing Russia’s largest crude port to suspend operations. bbc.com/news/articles/…

1/ The Serebrianskyi Forest near Lyman has burned for 3 years straight—pummeled by strikes, swept by fires, and shaken by constant explosions.

Endless assaults, house-to-house fighting, and watchful eyes & ears prevail under drone-filled skies.

A report from the front.

🧵 2/ Deputy commander “Babay” checks for FPV drones before driving us to the frontline HQ of the 63rd Mechanized Brigade’s unmanned systems battalion.

The roads are covered w/ wooden posts & netting “fish nets” against Russian drones.

They only have 20% of what they need.

1/ Only Ukraine can teach NATO how to combat Putin’s growing drone fleet

Nineteen Russian drones recently crossed into Polish airspace—the largest NATO violation yet.

Polish PM Donald Tusk called it “the closest we’ve been to open conflict since WWII.”

🧵 2/ Former US Army Europe commander Ben Hodges: the Kremlin wanted to measure NATO’s response times & capabilities.

“Using F-35s and F-22s against drones shows we are not yet prepared,” he warned. kyivindependent.com/romania-was-cl…

1/ Militarnyi: Ukraine’s summer strikes on Russia’s Shahed drone production & storage sites have paid off.

In August, Russian Shahed launches dropped by one-third - from 6,303 in July to 4,132.

🧵 2/ Targets hit:

- Izhevsk “Kupol” plant (drone assembly & microchips)

- Warhead production sites near Moscow

- Krasnozavodsk chemical plant (thermobaric munitions)

- A Russian ship hauling Shahed parts from Iran -- sunk in the Caspian Sea

1/ Pokrovsk, once known as the birthplace of “Carol of the Bells,” is a frontline fortress.

Russia is preparing what it calls a “decisive breakthrough” to capture the city.

Ukraine’s defenders are under immense pressure, but they are holding.

🧵 2/ I was near Pokrovsk last summer, watching villages fall days after civilians were evacuated.

A year later, the city still stands.

That survival alone is a victory, but the battle has only intensified.

1/ A new era of asymmetric warfare.

Ukraine has leveraged unmanned systems to fight back and inflict heavy damage on Russia.

Russia is learning from its mistakes with time - so is The Axis of Evil.

NATO used vey costly systems to shoot cheap Russian drones over Poland.

🧵 2/ When 19 Russian drones crossed into Poland’s airspace, PM Donald Tusk warned his country was at its “closest to open conflict since WWII.”

For Putin, it was a message of defiance to NATO, but also he, saw how the West would react in the future.

1/ For centuries, russia’s vast size has been its greatest strength - making it nearly unconquerable.

Now Ukraine is flipping that advantage into a weakness with long-range bombing raids against russian oil refineries.

Now Ukraine is turning russia’s geography against it:

🧵 2/ Since early in the war, Ukraine has targeted russian oil refineries.

But in recent months, the campaign has intensified.

By late August, strikes disrupted 17–20% of russia’s refining capacity - creating fuel shortages & record gas prices.

1/ Ukrainian soldiers are racing to transform the war with robotics.

Now in its fourth year, the grinding conflict with russia is driving a surge of battlefield innovation - with ground robots beginning to play a bigger role.

"It's a tech war," as one soldier told me.

🧵 2/ UGVs start simple: metal frames, wheels, basic controls. But before reaching the front, they’re stripped down and rebuilt.

Soldiers swap out outdated analog systems for digital links, Starlink, or LTE - making them more resistant to russian jamming.

1/ AI-powered drone swarms are now having their moment.

Ukraine is now pioneering software that lets drones communicate, adapt & strike together.

A reflection of the tech war.

The innovation cycle in Ukraine keeps speeding up.

🧵 2/ On a recent night, 3 Ukrainian drones flew to a russian position and decided among themselves when to strike.

This is the first known routine combat use of swarming tech.