NATO is rewriting Arctic defense around one lesson from Ukraine. Under drone-saturated skies, lost ground is hard to retake — Times.

Norway says it is moving from a withdrawal model to a not-an-inch policy in Finnmark — defend from the first centimetre, not return later. 1/ Russia’s war showed how hard it is for large forces to move under drone-heavy skies, and Trump cast doubt on automatic US reinforcement.

Cold Response 26 brought 32,000 troops from 14 allies into this new Arctic posture. 2/

Ukraine's Defense Minister Fedorov: Ukrainian forces receive daily video evidence of Russian infantry killing themselves on the battlefield.

They commit suicide after drone strikes or when surrounded by UAV swarms. With each day this number is growing — United24. 1/ The pattern is consistent. Soldiers arrive undertrained, with no evacuation options, under constant drone surveillance.

When wounded or encircled, they see no way out. Russian military policy discourages surrender. Propaganda tells them it is better to die immediately. 2/

Hungarian FM works for Russia.

A recording of audiocall between Lavrov and Szijjártó from The Insider:

Lavrov: Alisher [Russian oligarch] asked me to remind you to remove his sister from sanction list.

Szijjártó: We work on that with Slovaks, already submitting a proposal.
1/ Seven months later, Ismailova was removed from the EU sanctions list. Szijjártó also removed 72 Russian entities from an EU sanctions package targeting Moscow's shadow fleet — out of 128 proposed.

He told Russia's Deputy Energy Minister: "I'm doing my best to have it repealed."

2/

The U.S. keeps falling for the same illusion in war that precision strikes, raids, or bombing can quickly change reality.

Gen. McChrystal for NYT: Wars aren’t decided by technology, but by people, history, and will.

Everything after the first phase gets harder. 1/ “We have a tendency… to view things in very short periods.”

But for Iran, the conflict starts in 1953. Without understanding that history, “we don’t understand the attitudes that are going to drive decisions people make.” 2/

Former Secretary of State, Pompeo: Ukraine’s surge has Russia reeling. Don’t give in to Putin now.

Appeasement is more dangerous than standing your ground.

Zelenskyy said Putin is using mafia tactics to blackmail the US. What does it tell the world if that works? - NYPost. 1/ Pompeo: After four years of wasted blood and treasure, Russia not only isn’t winning its war. It is facing its worst setback.

Last Monday, Ukrainian drone attacks on the Baltic Sea port of Primorsk knocked out an estimated 40% of Russia’s oil export capacity. 2/

Daria “Delta” Lopatina, 19, an electronic warfare engineer in the Azov, russians killed her in action in eastern Ukraine in September 2025. She was a second-year Artificial Intelligence student at KSE.

Daria represents the best of Ukraine. It is so painful that she died. 1/ At 17, she was personally endorsed for admission to KSE because of her talent in STEM. She could have joined an arms company or a ministry. She chose the front line instead, writes Kyiv Independent. 2/

Three myths block Ukraine from NATO: “no expansion promise,” “Russia attacks because of NATO” and “Ukraine provoked the war”

All false: Gorbachev denied any promise, Russia attacked a neutral Ukraine and the US opposed NATO entry before the invasion, Getmanchuk for Telegraph. 1/ The real barrier is not reforms. It is fear of Russia.

NATO countries hold back membership because of Moscow — not because Ukraine isn’t ready. 2/

Ukraine must allow drone exports to Gulf countries now — they are ready to buy. Strike while the iron is hot.

Subject to export controls, of course, and Ukraine national security interests. 1/ Citigroup CEO Chuck Prince told FT in '07: “As long as the music is playing, you’ve got to get up and dance. We’re still dancing.” 2/

Ukraine built a layered system to beat $50k Iranian drones — and is now exporting it.

Shahed: 1,500-mile range, 115 mph, 40 kg warhead, launched from trucks. Cheap, GPS-guided, mass-produced.

Gulf states initially countered them with $1M Patriots, Telegraph. 1/ Gulf states initially used $1M Patriot interceptors against $30k drones. They burned high-end missiles on low-cost drones.

Ukraine couldn’t afford that — it had to redesign air defense under constraint. So it built a cheaper, scalable air defense architecture from scratch. 2/

Elon Musk was on a Trump-Modi call about the Iran war — and neither Washington nor New Delhi said so publicly.

Two U.S. officials confirmed that a private businessman was on the call as the Strait of Hormuz crisis rattled oil markets — NYT. 1/ The call focused on Iran’s control of the Strait of Hormuz.

The halt to most maritime traffic there has pushed energy prices higher, roiled markets, and brought some Asian countries close to fuel rationing. 2/

Ukraine is turning war into export.

Zelenskyy secured air defense deals with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE — selling anti-drone expertise built under Russian attacks.

Shift from aid recipient to security provider, NYT. 1/ The product is experience.

Ukraine spent 4 years shooting down tens of thousands of Iranian Shaheds. Now that know-how is in demand as the same drones hit the Gulf. 2/

Ukraine says NATO is still blocking its membership — because of Putin.

Ambassador Alyona Getmanchuk: “Allies are too receptive to the Kremlin’s imperial fantasies,” keeping Kyiv out of the alliance despite years of war, Telegraph. 1/ Official reasons vary — corruption, lack of consensus.

Getmanchuk: “The real reason is political restraint shaped by Moscow’s demands, not Ukraine’s readiness.” 2/

Ukraine is becoming a top security exporter.

Ukraine's air defense now shoots down 900+ drones and missiles daily.

In one attack, Russia launched 999 targets in a day — Ukraine stopped most of them. Now other countries are asking Kyiv for this system — United24. 1/ In February, Ukrainian interceptor drones shot down 10,000 Russian UAVs. Ukraine built and deployed this system during the war.

A few years ago, interceptor drones did not exist in real combat at this scale. Now they operate daily. 2/

Ukraine killed Putin’s plan to make billions from the Iran war.

After the Iran war lifted prices, Moscow was earning $760M/day from energy. So, Ukraine hit Russia's largest Baltic oil port — Ust-Luga, cutting into that cash flow by targeting export infrastructure, Telegraph. 1/ Drones flew 620 miles through multiple air defense layers before hitting storage tanks and loading systems — visible from Finland. 2/

Musk’s 5-step framework for how to build effective systems:

Step 1 — make your requirements less dumb.

It doesn’t matter who gave them, even smart people. Everyone is wrong sometimes. Always question requirements, or you risk optimizing something flawed from the start. 1/ Musk: Step 2 — delete parts or processes.

If you’re not adding things back occasionally, you’re not deleting enough. Bias toward adding “just in case” is dangerous. Simplicity matters, especially in complex systems like reusable rockets. 2/

Zelenskyy: Putin is not ready to sign any agreement. He wants us to sign an ultimatum. He understands: leaving Donbas for sure means dividing our society.

A divided country is a weak country. He could continue with further occupation. But it does not mean he cannot be stopped 1/ Zelenskyy: Iran shot down our plane. Killed our passengers. Didn't admit it. Then the full-scale war, they handed Shaheds to Russia, killing our civilians

I asked them to stop. They promised no more than one batch and carried on lying. I think of them as accomplices of Russia 2/

For 471 days, Ukrainian sergeant Serhiy Tyshchenko, 46, lived in a mud bunker dug under an asphalt road near Bakhmut.

Russian dead bodies piled up near the entrance. “We climbed over them and threw soil on them to kill the stink” he says. “But it never goes”, The Independent. 1/ Tyshchenko says he arrived at the position when Biden was US president.

By the time he left, a new US leader was in charge and was “trying to persuade Ukraine to give up the land” he had defended for 471 days. 2/

A Russian extremist groomed a British teenager to bomb a synagogue in Newcastle.

A 16-year-old searched the site on Google Maps, bought chemicals for explosives, watched bomb-making videos and planned to film the attack.

Police arrested him before he acted, The Telegraph. 1/ A Russian-speaking user on Telegram, claiming to lead a banned group, urged him to act.

He offered guidance on planning, scouting targets and methods, framing the attack as something that would “benefit” his community. 2/

German Defence Chief, Breuer: In 2029, Russia could wage a major war against a NATO country.

It is building up its military to a strength nearly doubling from before the war against Ukraine.

I've never experienced a situation that dangerous like it is today. 1/ Breuer: Capabilities Europe needs to acquire in the next 3 to 4 years: drones, precision strike, and space capabilities. These are the most urgent needs.

We put them on a prioritized list, and we are working it. We are good on our way to do so. 2/

Rubio and Kallas clashed at the G7 over Russia.

Kallas confronted Rubio, asking when the U.S. would get tougher on Moscow.

Rubio snapped back, saying the U.S. is already doing everything it can and telling her to “go ahead” if Europe thinks it can do better - Axios. 1/ Kallas reminded Rubio he had said a year earlier the U.S. would ramp up pressure if Russia blocked peace efforts.

“A year has passed and Russia hasn’t moved. When will your patience run out?” 2/

Ukraine is close to a cash crunch for the war. Funding to cover spending only until June — 2 months runway.

If money doesn’t arrive, Kyiv may face a choice it tried to avoid: the central bank financing the budget, Bloomberg. 1/ In practice, a “cash crunch” means salaries for troops and public workers, basic state services and the war’s essentials, like air defense and drones, start getting underfunded.

Zelenskyy’s warning is no money — the army feels it. 2/