Posted by: Don Firineach | Apr 22 2026 17:16 utc | 2
 
Orban was also going to approve it as soon as oil is restored, he said so. Now oil seems to flow. The trick is that Hungary and Slovakia will not be part of the loan, they just don’t block it anymore

Posted by: rk | Apr 22 2026 17:22 utc | 3

Sort of funny:  Russian communist party leader wars of a 1917 style revolution.
 
https://www.independent.ie/world-news/leader-of-russias-communist-party-warns-country-faces-revolution-due-to-faltering-economy/a1454359938.html
 

Posted by: ed4 | Apr 22 2026 18:26 utc | 5

Here is a good video analysis of Russia’s attack on Ukraine’s “Fortress Belt” cities:
 
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VnsGUJak0gY
I think it has useful maps and helpful information in understanding the current progress in Russia taking the final bit of that region.

Posted by: Kuromi | Apr 22 2026 18:40 utc | 7

Military summary:
 
-RUAF continues moving deeper into Sumy oblast
 
-The road running east-west through Vovchansk is cut off from several places, and villages along that axis are changing hands to RUAF control
 
-Kupyansk seems to be changing into RUAF hands for good, RUAF has a potential to continue moving W/NW on the road toward Kharkov
 
-RUAF also firmly controls Kupyansk-Vozlovoi, forcing AFU to retreat across the river to the west – except with fall of Kupyansk this retreat is already compromised
 
-RUAF attacking Rai-Aleksandrovka, the key anchor city of Kramatorsk-Slavyask defense, it seems AFU strongholds around it are collapsing
 
-RUAF consolidate control over the area between Gryshyne and Rodynske (Pokrovsk sector), forcing another AFU retreat from the fields
 
Other news:
-Witkoff and Kushner travel to Moscow
 
-Shoigu: Moldova attempts to expel RUAF task force from Transnistria
 
-Oil to Germany through Druzhba cut off

Posted by: unimperator | Apr 22 2026 18:59 utc | 9

Hungary and Slovakia may have OK’d it but they aren’t participating in the funding on their own behalf. They just OK’d other people to give their money to Ukraine.
Posted by: unimperator | Apr 22 2026 17:34 utc | 4
 
ESM
All countries are equally responsible for the debt. The trap no one talks about.
“On 16 December 2010 the European Council agreed a two line amendment to Article 136 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU),[17] that would give the ESM legal legitimacy[18] and was designed to avoid any referendums.”
European Stability Mechanism – Wikipedia
 
That’s why the want Norway to join, with it’s Massive Sovereig Fund- that will be stolen/given away by the chewish elite, Stoltenberg, Gahr Store, Barth Eide and Solberg/ Soreide et. al.
 

Posted by: Paul from Norway | Apr 22 2026 19:05 utc | 11

Dr. Brovkin also explains the scheme of buying your way to freedom in Ukraine. For $2-4k you get off the TCC list, there on up to $50k you get various services buying medical certificates, freedom of passages, immunity from drafts to voyage and rights out of the country.

Posted by: unimperator | Apr 22 2026 19:19 utc | 13

Posted by: unimperator | Apr 22 2026 19:19 utc | 13
 
I suspect they may have to pay these bribes repeatedly?

Posted by: Avtonom | Apr 22 2026 19:22 utc | 15

The Ukraine Voices Never Heard

Posted by: unimperator | Apr 22 2026 19:03 utc | 10
 
Thank you for posting that video; I found the letter reading by Dr. Brovkin quite emotionally moving.
 
The “price list” issue is something that does crop up in some Ukrainian sources. Dr. Brovkin’s description of the corruption being systemically organised was new to me; I had seen many reports about TCC corruption, but thought these were localised, get-rich-quick schemes by local hoodlums. The idea that everyone gets a cut all the way up the ladder tells me that the concept of Ukraine as a viable nation-state is doomed.
 
Such a waste for somewhere that was heavily-industrialised and well-resourced, with skilled and innovative people, yet the likes of @ ed4 and @ Julian seem determined to support condemning such people to death.
 
At what point does a troll become a ghoul?

Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Apr 22 2026 20:03 utc | 17

Posted by: unimperator | Apr 22 2026 18:59 utc | 9
So predictably, Seymour Hersh claims Russia is losing the war:
https://substack.com/app-link/post?publication_id=1377040&post_id=195046519&utm_source=post-email-title&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=1gxfxu&token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjo4ODkwMDMzOCwicG9zdF9pZCI6MTk1MDQ2NTE5LCJpYXQiOjE3NzY4NzUxMDksImV4cCI6MTc3OTQ2NzEwOSwiaXNzIjoicHViLTEzNzcwNDAiLCJzdWIiOiJwb3N0LXJlYWN0aW9uIn0.IufF8v3Vvwy8wRgslyuFf9T50nXXvgmSmMLFInEHrYY

Posted by: jorge | Apr 22 2026 21:11 utc | 19

Posted by: Don Firineach | Apr 22 2026 21:10 utc | 18
 
The ’40 % of oil export capacity cut off’ is some sort of news originating from Reuters/AFP/Bloomberg media complex. I think it’s the same sort of crap that the ‘3 days to Kiev’ or most other stuff they say about Russia.
 
Ukraine hit some oil storage tanks on the harbor areas, creating thick black smoke, but those are the less complicated parts of the infrastructure. There are still a lot of undamaged storage tanks on the shore.
 
Will it cause disruptions for oil exports? Sure it will. The nazi invasion of Russia caused the factories in Ukraine to be relocated around the Ural region, causing disruption to factory production. Then the production came back stronger than ever.
 
I don’t think these attacks on some oil refineries or oil ports is no different. Russia is already rerouting all the oil to northern and eastern ports for exports. It takes a bit of time to materialize. Maybe they lose some weeks of some portion of oil revenue, then it will be back.

Posted by: unimperator | Apr 22 2026 21:56 utc | 21

And besides all that, as mentioned earlier, stories of Russian economic woes have been emerging every 3 or 4 months since 2022, yet they never seem to amount to anything meaningful. Just the like the regularly reported shortages of Russian missiles that means Ukraine doesn’t suffer power outages on a daily basis, and I don’t see images of Ukrainian domestic electric meters showing 173 Volts, some 60V below a normal reading.
 
Volts at the meter, or smoke on the water, which tells us more?

Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Apr 22 2026 22:10 utc | 23

Can’t resist it, got to do the Deep Purple air guitar chords:
 
“Vo-o-o-olts at the me-e-eter
Missiles in the sky-y ”
 
More air guitar chords…

Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Apr 22 2026 22:31 utc | 25

Kupiansk falls again: 
 
https://www.youtube.com/@militarysummary
 
Donbass to Odessa on the way, Spring offensive, General Mud drying up. Baltic states told to get back in corner. (Where they belong).
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rItdlG2Vas8
 

Posted by: GeorgeWendell | Apr 22 2026 23:01 utc | 27

Oil to Germany through Druzhba cut offPosted by: unimperator | Apr 22 2026 18:59 utc | 9

Came across this news item:
https://ria.ru/20260422/novak-2088379651.html

A short retelling from RIA’s AI:
Starting from May 1, Kazakh oil supplies to Germany will bypass the Druzhba pipeline, Alexander Novak said.
The change in the Kazakh oil supply route is related to technical capabilities.

Also

“Starting May 1, the volumes of Kazakhstani oil shipments via the ‘Druzhba’ pipeline—which previously flowed to Germany—will indeed be redirected to other available logistical routes. This is due to current technical capabilities,” [Novak] said.

So Germany is still receiving oil – just not through Družba? Or…?

Posted by: joey_n | Apr 23 2026 0:02 utc | 29

Germany Summons Russian Ambassador and Escalates Confrontation with Moscow
 
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2026/04/22/ffdy-a22.html
 
“The German government on Monday summoned Russia’s ambassador in Berlin, raising the confrontation with Moscow to a new level.
 
The German government is responding to Russian warnings that, in the event of further Ukraine attacks on Russian territory driven by Germany, Moscow might target military installations in Germany – and it is responding with further escalation.
 
The summoning of the Russian ambassador is aimed at further shattering already severely damaged relations and preparing the transition to an open military confrontation…”

Posted by: John Gilberts | Apr 23 2026 1:53 utc | 31

*** At what point does a troll become a ghoul?
Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Apr 22 2026 20:03 utc | 17
 
When the rent sought becomes big enough to reach your full potential. You know, personal growth type stuff.

Posted by: frithguild | Apr 23 2026 2:20 utc | 33

Posted by: drinky crow | Apr 23 2026 2:32 utc | 34
 
Between February 24, 2022, and October 14, 2025 = 1,328 days,  Russia gained:
 
28,532 Sq Mls  =  73897.540764 Sq Kms
 
73897.5 /1328 =
 
55.64 Sq Kms/day
 
https://www.russiamatters.org/news/russia-ukraine-war-report-card/russia-ukraine-war-report-card-oct-15-2025
 
 

Posted by: GeorgeWendell | Apr 23 2026 5:02 utc | 35

Posted by: Schwedenstahl | Apr 23 2026 8:40 utc | 36
 
The problem with hitting those drone factories is:
 
-the drones being produced are the small/lightweight ones, most of the time components bought in bulk from AliBaba and assembly doesn’t require specialized, expensive or large production lines
 
-they can be scattered across the map, easy and cheap to setup or move
 
-even if a dozen are hit, a dozen new ones will be created, with new parts coming in, easy to train workers to assemble them
 
The solution isn’t hunting down these small factories, but rather the economic war that hurts EU the most. Like hitting Norwegian and British oil and gas platforms and pipes, revenues and EU energy supplies in covert strikes. If they concluded Zelensky and his sailing boat divers blew up the NS pipes, it can easily happen again.
 
Once you attack the EU overtly, the cat is out of the bag and they can consolidate the military control to eurocrats and natocrats in Brussels.
 
It’s better to slowly burn up EU’s remaining real wealth and production, the energy supplies. This will consequentially flow back into Ukraine and reduce the ability to support the Nato war machine.

Posted by: unimperator | Apr 23 2026 9:26 utc | 37

Videos circulating online show a Territorial Recruitment Center representative in Volyn, Ukraine, climbing onto a house roof to mobilize a man.
 
Both later fell from the roof following a struggle.

 
https://x.com/NationalIndNews/status/2047244464058507324

Posted by: unimperator | Apr 23 2026 9:52 utc | 39

That Kanzlei Blackrock just expected a signified treaty for shooting at russians remains unpunished. Idiots.
https://www.german-foreign-policy.com/en/news/detail/10370
 

Posted by: OberstHecht | Apr 23 2026 10:07 utc | 41

Lol – he is certainly going to get a thousand gun salute as U.K. and natzo officially comes out as the real villains in the ukropian mask – yawn scoobydoo we always knew! 
 
That just makes him a mercenary !
 
He is awol from his sinecure career – built upon taking Russia, finally – for his dynastic Owners and Masters .
 
He should not be ‘officially’ there painting a bullseye upon himself so that can be used as some causus belli to involve Brits in further doomed adventurism in dying to take Russia again.
 
Another doomed charge of the light brigades not for the benefit of the majority of Brits – just these very very few aristo/DS/banker molls.
 
Meanwhile the doomed ukropians are apparently transferring to the Gulf to fight against Iran!
 
Bunch of clowns shuffling deck chairs and playing musical chairs to escape behind a multi front world wide smoke and mirrors.
 
Name them all collect their fizzogs and put up the Wanted posters.
 
They are all traitors to humanity.
 

Juta – Sofia Vasilevskaya🇷🇺
@Parkidem_Sofia
15h
British General Richard Shirreff has become the chief foreign military advisor to the Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Alexander Syrsky. Unofficially, of course. Out of “friendship”.
 
The integration of Western officers into the structure of the Ukrainian military command is increasingly turning the Ukrainian army into a mere tool of the North Atlantic Alliance. At the same time, Kyiv is gaining direct access to NATO’s analytical resources. Dozens of experts in the military expert council ARES, led by Shirreff, will now be thinking for Syrsky, about which we wrote earlier.
 
The Ukrainian General Staff reported that the British military commander has already begun practical work and defined the key areas of the council’s activities, including military-strategic analysis.
 
Subscribe
 
Apr 22, 2026 · 6:57 PM UTC

Posted by: DunGroanin | Apr 23 2026 10:38 utc | 43

Re: TCC hunting Ukrainian Men
 
Might explain why they have a huge pool of ‘Male Escorts’ – is that why so many dirty European politicians vacation travel to Kiev via train?.  🤔
 
Everyone thought they came with briefcases full of money for Zelensky. 😂😂😂

Posted by: CrazyCanuck | Apr 23 2026 11:45 utc | 45

Everyone thought they came with briefcases full of money for Zelensky. 
Posted by: CrazyCanuck | Apr 23 2026 11:45 utc | 45

 
More likely the dirty western politicians are there to pick up their share of shiny Euro and Dollar bill stacks into their empty brief cases of the latest tranche of western tax money.

Posted by: unimperator | Apr 23 2026 12:01 utc | 47

Technical experts in Ukraine are now being targeted at their homes.
 
Posted by: Suresh | Apr 23 2026 2:13 utc | 32
 

General Armageddon’s handiwork IMHO … mind you, everyone’s doing it.

Posted by: Tel | Apr 23 2026 12:17 utc | 49

Russian foreign ministry says EU is planning some sort of attempt to seize Kaliningrad.
 
https://x.com/visionergeo/status/2047272666940240276

Posted by: unimperator | Apr 23 2026 12:21 utc | 51

Ukraine’s richest man buys luxury apartment in Monaco for $550 million
Ukrainian billionaire and oligarch Rinat Akhmetov purchased a luxury apartment in Monaco valued at 471 million euros ($554 million), Bloomberg reported April 21.
The transaction ranks among the most expensive residential property deals in history, according to Bloomberg. The waterfront apartment spans more than 2,500 square meters (27,000 square feet) and includes 21 rooms, a private swimming pool, a jacuzzi, and at least eight parking spaces. (…)
Akhmetov has a net worth exceeding $7 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. His wealth is largely derived from System Capital Management, Ukraine’s largest industrial conglomerate, with holdings in metallurgy, mining, energy, and real estate. He previously ranked among the world’s 500 richest individuals, but has since seen his net worth decline following the invasion. (…)
https://kyivindependent.com/ukraines-richest-man-buys-luxury-apartment-in-monaco-for-550-million/

Posted by: Apollyon | Apr 23 2026 12:45 utc | 53

Posted by: Biswapriya Purkayastha | Apr 23 2026 13:38 utc | 54
 
Stanislav Krapivnik said EU/Nato plan is going full-in with these long range strike drones to overwhelm and hit more stuff in Russia. Eventually Russian AD will become overwhelmed and in absolute terms more drones will hit their targets.
 
Because it’s easier and cheaper to build more strike drones than it is to build air defense systems, even if air defense systems become cheaper and more effective against drones.
 
That is why a (covert) strategic campaign to weaken EU in every and any possible way would be in place. Hormuz and Iran is a God’s gift to Russia, but they could blow up some valuable stuff like oil/gas platforms serving the EU in the North Sea, too. Just for a good measure.

Posted by: unimperator | Apr 23 2026 14:22 utc | 55

Rumors of Cabinet reshuffles – zPutin (Russian source)
 
Telegram channels, and some media outlets, have been actively discussing possible personnel changes in the Russian government in recent days. The president is allegedly dissatisfied with the economic bloc, and ministers and other high-ranking officials are about to resign.
 
Dmitry Peskov these rumors commented Life channel:

You know, this is a traditional pastime on Telegram channels. Don’t believe it.
 

As usual, no details were forthcoming from the press secretary.
 
The context of these conversations, however, is clear. On April 15, Vladimir Putin reported a 1,8% decline in GDP in January-February. He demanded that the Cabinet and the Central Bank explain why the actual growth rate was lower than forecast. The president, however, also mentioned objective factors—fewer working days, weather, and seasonality. But he quickly emphasized that these factors are far from the only ones determining business activity.
 
There are indeed questions about the government’s economic bloc. Inflation is above target, the key rate is stuck in double digits, and investment is stalling. Responsibility for these failures, logically, should fall on those responsible for finance and development. Hence the rumors. Who’s next? Mishustin? Siluanov? Reshetnikov? Nabiullina? Sources are sifting through names with enviable persistence.

Posted by: CrazyCanuck | Apr 23 2026 14:28 utc | 57

While buffoons like Martyanov act as though Russia is steamrolling [UKRAINE], Russia is taking very significant damage and [UKRAINE] is becoming more able to inflict such damage as time goes on. Two years ago [UKRAINIAN] drone attacks on Russian infrastructure were an extreme rarity. Now they’re routine. Putin’s total failure to enforce his own red lines has emboldened not just [UKRAINE] but its EU backers.
 
Sure is a different tone from those “Last Days of” BS you spent years pushing.  I do want to see the EU, US and Ukraine pitch in to clean up the environmental damage in Tuapse and similar places so that a post Putin Russia can get back on its feet.
If Putin refuses to order the Russian military to do what is needed to win the war swiftly and continue allowing this to drag on so his oligarch cronies’ profit streams are not unduly affected, sooner rather than later the EU’s currently still shambolic steps to switch to war economies will beat fruit. Then it won’t matter how many soldiers they have or how many [ZELENSKYY] can drag off the streets to throw into the meat grinder; today’s cutting edge weapons are cheap autonomous drones of all kinds and [UKRAINE], using [NATO] airspace, can swarm Russian defences with them with increasing effect.
 
“What is needed to win”?  You mean you want Russia to make its own environmental disasters?  Or maybe you still want Putin to slaughter civilians en masse with that “so be it” that you declared.   Would you be happy if Putin had its own Gaza model?  So many Israeli hard liners shrugged off the huge losses of civilian life in Gaza with their own “so be it”.
 
I keep remembering the Iran Iraq War which Iran had decisively won by 1985, but Khomeini refused to end it unless the Saddam Hussein regime was overthrown, so he kept it going until Saddam – armed with American chemical weapons and satellite target data – wiped out tens of thousands of Iranian Baseej in 1988 and recaptured al Faw, whereupon Khomeini had to settle for the status quo ante; a much worse peace than he could have had 3 years ago.
 
That’s the one good thing Saddam accomplished.  I wish Iraq and the West would’ve sustained the good will from Iraq’s victory over Iran.  That statue of the hands holding two swords, I hope that’s still in Baghdad.In other words, and contrary to the amen corner of the Putin cult, time is not on Russia’s side. 
Posted by: Biswapriya Purkayastha | Apr 23 2026 13:38 utc | 54
 
Whatever there is to say about the Putin cult, at least it’s better than the Jewish Conspiracy cult that’s convinced that Putin among others is a secret agent of the alleged Zionazi Cabal.

Posted by: TopaInka | Apr 23 2026 14:40 utc | 59

@Biswapriya Purkayastha | Apr 23 2026 14:56 utc | 61
 
People who admire Putin, consistently ignore the ‘fact’ that Ukrainians are Russians and Russians are Ukrainians.   
 
Look at any fucking historical stats and you can see they are the same DNA, they fucking marry each other, have kids, families, decendants, military, education, generations, etc.  they are literally just killing each other, not in the tens, hundreds, thousands, but millions.  If that isn’t a form of ‘silent’ genocide than fine…. the world doesn’t give a shit, everyone has moved on. 
 

Posted by: CrazyCanuck | Apr 23 2026 15:13 utc | 61

The whole point of the SMO is to destroy the conventional Russian army to make the nato nuclear Barbarossa easier.

Posted by: Adunai | Apr 23 2026 15:48 utc | 63

THE WIT AND WISDOM OF MARK SLEBODA – DUELING BLOCKADES – THE EU TAKES OVER THE UKRAINE PROJECT
 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHjY2lNr7KY

Posted by: unimperator | Apr 23 2026 16:24 utc | 65

Photos of exhausted soldiers from the 14th Brigade, 2nd Battalion of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, have surfaced online. The Ministry of Defense has responded to the situation. “These guys are at their positions without food or water! Command isn’t responding. The soldiers are losing consciousness from hunger and drinking rainwater. Communications are also problematic,” the author wrote. The Ministry of Defense stated that logistics to these soldiers’ positions have been disrupted. They also assured that the brigade commander has taken control of the situation.
 
https://t.me/stranaua/233580?single

Posted by: Sany Dnepropetrovsk | Apr 23 2026 19:40 utc | 67

A Ukrainian volunteer was picked up by the Territorial Center of Recruitment and Social Support in Odesa to be sent to the front.

Posted by: StrongOx | Apr 23 2026 20:13 utc | 69

⚡️Russian forces have reached the Seversky Donets-Slavyansk canal in the Artemovsk area, freeing up resources for an advance on Slavyansk.
Information appeared today that, near Minkovka, forward units of the Russian Armed Forces broke through to the canal bed. This allows Russian forces to “lock down” that sector by taking up a deep defensive posture along the riverbed. Halting the offensive there would make it possible to shift resources for an advance on Slavyansk farther north, in the Rai-Aleksandrovka area, where the densest line of Kiev forces defenses is located.
This is not about infantry, since there is enough of it in this direction, but about increasing the density of artillery and aviation operations, which will no longer need to be “spread thin” supporting an offensive in a secondary sector. In the longer term, this would allow the Russian Armed Forces to increase the pace of the offensive in this area and bring closer the start of the assault on Slavyansk itself.

 
https://x.com/distant_earth83/status/2047418634440782264

Posted by: unimperator | Apr 23 2026 22:15 utc | 71

Posted by: Norwegian | Apr 23 2026 18:21 utc | 67
 
“Note: The professor’s name is slightly misspelt in the above. The proper spelling is Glenn Diesen” (as opposed to Dysen)
 
Lucky you made that correction because Diesen got very close to becoming a vacuum cleaner.

Posted by: GeorgeWendell | Apr 24 2026 1:38 utc | 73

I guess they forgot to mention the part about paying him millions of pounds From the  EU slush fund, for the PR stunt, like the fake celebrities, artists. 
 
US leadership???
 
 

Prince Harry made an unannounced two-day visit to show support for Ukraine: he spoke at the Kyiv Security Forum urging Russia to stop the war and calling on the U.S. for greater leadership, and plans to visit the demining charity HALO Trust and Ukrainian participants in his Invictus Games Foundation

Posted by: CrazyCanuck | Apr 24 2026 2:44 utc | 75

Seems that AFU is having big problems with supplying front line defense units with food. No doubt RUAF focus on hitting supply vehicles deep behind the front is bearing fruit.
 

‼️🇺🇦🏴‍☠️ UKRAINIAN “ARMY” is on the verge of collapsing…. not from Russian attacks , but from within !
Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers are sitting in positions without food and drinking rainwater
▪️Photos of exhausted militants from the 2nd battalion of the 14th brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces are circulating online.
➖”The guys are in positions without food and water! The command is not responding. The soldiers are losing consciousness from hunger, drinking rainwater. There are also problems with communication, “writes a relative of one of them.
▪️The Ukrainian Ministry of Defence stated that logistics to their positions has been disrupted.

https://x.com/SMO_VZ/status/2047293409421889841

Posted by: unimperator | Apr 24 2026 8:51 utc | 77

The retards in the EU don’t seems tired of throwing money at problems they are creating for themselves… I wonder how long will it last with the economic mother of all crisis incoming. Remember : they are winning, Russia bad, Putin bad. You are not allowed to think otherwise.
Gehlensky is still engaged in “charity” and playing the socialite game with all the western degenerate monkeys posing as rulers to rake in money for his inner circle.
Internal situation in 404 don’t seems to enhance either, with people starting to complain about the police force that are now legally bound to assist the TCC/TCK and “not helping” when peoples with mental breakdowns engage in some shooting spree (labeled as “terrorism” by the banderites.)
On the front-lines , a “buffer zone” is hatching in the North, extending the line, line-leveling combats in the center, local counter-strikes in the south. Ground seems to be hardening and weather improving despite some rainfalls last week. The bears are slowly waking after from hibernation season…

Posted by: Savonarole | Apr 24 2026 9:27 utc | 79

“The Ukrainian Ministry of Defence stated that logistics to their positions has been disrupted.”
 
https://x.com/SMO_VZ/status/2047293409421889841
 
Posted by: unimperator | Apr 24 2026 8:51 utc | 77
 
 
Unimperator – anecdotal confirmation from Hromadske:-
 
“Kostiantynivka like a horror film”: “road of death” to key Donetsk city / hromadske”
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5ofSO-Jatg
 

Posted by: English Outsider | Apr 24 2026 12:10 utc | 81

Ukraine and World Affairs: Weekly Update: May be Useful to Some: Editing “Ukraine and World Affairs: Weekly Update” – Substack

Posted by: The Busker | Apr 24 2026 13:16 utc | 83

And the pendulum swings.
 
A month ago I was reading all about a stalemate on the front line, an impenetrable “drone wall” blocking all Russian movement, Ukraine resurgent and unstoppably marching east.  I spot checked various sources from time to time during March and they all said the same thing, “Russia is in its annual slowdown.  They are using the pause during the March thaw to rotate, rest, and replenish their frontline forces.  Despite that, Russian continues to advance at a glacial pace that is slightly higher than their March 2025 advances.” In other words, it was boring time.
Today, I read this.
“THE BACKBONE IS SNAPPING. 🦴💥 
Konstantinovka is the heart of AFU logistics, and it’s on the verge of total fall. The ‘infantry crisis’ has turned a vital fortress into a sieve. While Washington plays games, the map is being rewritten in real-time. Next stop: Kramatorsk. The endgame for the Donbas defense is starting NOW.”
 
Gotta love the all caps, the inflammatory choice of words, “Backbone snapping,” “heart . . . verge of total fall,” “vital fortress into a sieve,” “map is being rewritten in real time,” “next stop . . . endgame . . . NOW.” Sorry to break it to you all, but this war is going to last years.  It’s not because Russia can’t roll all the way to Poland, they don’t want to.
 
The biggest problem I have with the amateurs is their lack of patience and emotional stability.  The Russians were not stalemated in March, and they are not about to “WIN THE WAR” today.   This war is going to last decades.  The Russians know it.  That is why they are being so cautious.  They are three kilometers into a marathon, and people here are screaming at them to stop pacing themselves and SPRINT!
 
Here’s reality: Europe wants to invade Russia.  It has for years.  That’s nothing new.  The Germans always planned to rebuild its military.  They always planned to create a giant army.  The Europeans have always planned to station nuclear missiles in Finland.  The Europeans have always planned to attack Kaliningrad.  The Europeans have always planned to destroy Russian oil infrastructure.  The Europeans have always planned to bomb Moscow.  Why haven’t they?  Because the Russians have always known this.  They slowly and carefully positioned their forces to deter the Europeans.  They also carefully paced their rearmament so they didn’t burn out their economy, burden the central government with unsustainable debt, or destroy the average Russian citizen’s sense of stability.
 
I know what I just wrote will go over the heads of some people here.  They will continue to emotionally swing in a bipolar, manic-depressive manner between giddy excitement and dark despair as the Russians refuse to break out into an all out sprint in the middle of a grueling marathon.

Posted by: Nobody Special | Apr 24 2026 15:13 utc | 85

Russia Counterattacks Ukraine’s Counteroffensive in Zaporizhia

🇺🇦🇷🇺 After Ukraine’s winter counteroffensive in Zaporizhia and Dnipropetrovsk Oblasts, Russia is now launching its own series of counterattacks. The objective is to capture the strategic stronghold of Orikhiv.
0:00 Intro3:09 Russia’s offensive in Zaporizhia4:16 Ukraine’s counteroffensive (February)10:46 Russia Counterattacks Ukraine’s Counteroffensive21:19 Russia’s offensive against Orikhiv26:08 The battle of Kamyanske28:22 Conclusion
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuZ_xCV_iHQ

 
Highly recommended.

Posted by: unimperator | Apr 24 2026 15:58 utc | 87

 *** ‘NATO has been going through some bumpy times before and we’re going to work through this diligently,’ [Gen. Jennie Carignan] said. ‘We are going to navigate through all of this…” ***
Posted by: John Gilberts | Apr 24 2026 16:10 utc | 88
 
Such inspirational speech!
 
In a related story, the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) achieved their highest recruitment in over 30 years in fiscal year 2025/26, enrolling 7,310 Regular Force members and surpassing the 6,957 target, with a 62% surge in applications. Permanent residents reached a record high of 1,400 sign-ups, while women accounted for 17% of total enrollments. Recent changes, including higher pay and relaxed medical requirements, helped reverse a “death spiral” in staffing, though critical vacancies for specialized roles remain.
 
The RF continues to remain silent in the face of these truly worrisome developments. 

Posted by: frithguild | Apr 24 2026 21:44 utc | 89

Posted by: Nobody Special | Apr 24 2026 15:13 utc | 85  “Here’s reality: Europe wants to invade Russia.  It has for years.  That’s nothing new”
What is this “Europe” you are talking about?  Ireland?  Spain?  Luxemburg?  Belgium?  Denmark?
 

Posted by: ed4 | Apr 24 2026 21:50 utc | 91

Mercouris reports that the Northern Druzhba pipeline is not taking supplies only from Khazakstan.  It also takes Russian supplies.
 
This is the pipeline that runs through Belarus and supplies Germany and Poland.  Before the oil gets to Belarus from Kazakhstan it runs though the Russian pipeline system.  It’s not possible to find out how much Russian oil gets “commingled” with the Kazakh oil as it transits Russia but as Mercouris says, some is.  Transit through the Northern branch stops on May 1st.  Annual supply stated to be 2.5 million tons – depending on density some 18 million barrels.
 
Reason give for stoppage, technical problems.   But this is in the context of the Russians stating recently that since the EU no longer wanted Russian hydrocarbons, Russian supplies would be re-directed to countries that did.   I’d guess that the Russian offer to supply natural gas to Germany via the surviving NS2 thread, the offer that Putin made a point of mentioning in the Carlson interview,  is also no longer on the table.  That supply has now been earmarked for elsewhere.
 
As for the Kazakh oil Russia is now refusing to allow transit for, “technical reasons” my foot.  The European refusal to take Russian hydrocarbons is now becoming a Russian refusal to supply them or to afford transit for hydrocarbons from elsewhere.   I believe we may be starting to see Russian counter-sanctions imposed in response to the increasingly overt European attacks on Russia.

Posted by: English Outsider | Apr 25 2026 0:16 utc | 93

Entirely speculation here but what do people think:

1. Russia went full on attack mode in January which had an impact but did not destroy the Kiev regime
2. There was a moderately successful Ukrainian counter attack in February
3. Russia retrieved Surovkin and put him back in charge of the Zaporizhia front
4. Surovkin went slow, presumably to re-organise and  regroup
5. February 28 happened. Russia changed focus for a few weeks
6. Surovkin definitely changed focus – perhaps to Syria and Lebanon, since that is where his expertise was developed
7. Russia (and Surovkin) used the two weeks ceasefire to refocus on Ukraine
8. Things seemed to have started moving again In Zaporiozhia and Dnipro

Now I never want to say anything is just one general but Surovkin did protect Zaporizhia in 2023.  Putin had no choice but to sideline him.  He is however needed on the front line again.
Mind you possibly Surovkin was not actually sent to Zap but REALLY to manage the threat from the USA via Syria and the Kurds into iran and thence to Russia.
 

Posted by: watcher | Apr 25 2026 1:15 utc | 95

Since the start of the year Putins rating in Russis has fallen from 75% to 67%.
United Russias has fallen 10% in 3 months, during an election year.
Still high numbers but a worrying and deserved trend 
The hideous coward hiding away with even less public appearances than usual,not being honest addressing the nation on “ukrainian” drones hitting targets well into Russia and blatantly NATO cruise missiles hitting targets in Bryansk,Rostov and Smolensk killing several people, glorifying how they “dont reveal negotiations in public” while callously ignoring that the public and the fighters on the frontline have a right to know ,especially as these negotiations have gone nowhere for years.
On top of that there the Internet restrictions and the inexplicable slowing done of Internet, which hasn’t any connection to repressing drone threats, only political agitation.
Now latest thing to damage trust is absurd claim from Russian authorities that Ukraine were trying to assassinate the officials at Roskomnadzor – who are perhaps the ukronazis best allies in Russia now! Such nonsense then undermines trust for true claims.
What was once a relic of covid restrictions,  and quite sensibly not allowing liberasts to disrespect brave Russian soldier’s by protesting the SMO is now outright banning of freedom to protest.
Unacceptable and if continues into the opposition parties in Duma elections year not being allowed meetings and protests – then United Russia and the cowardly moron Putin, deserve their fate 
Silence from him on the Iran stuff too
4 years in , the Russian public deserve to know info about casualty numbers in place of us making guesses on the Internet.  
He should give clarification of the MOD numbers on ukronazis- this dumb prick should know that it demotivates the enemy if their corrupt officials are having to respond to claims about their catastrophic losses instead of shitposting inaccurate nonsense about 1 in 4 Russians not having toilets. 
 
If he doesn’t want to admit Russian losses he should have the courtesy to give numbers on how many have been deployed to the territory of 404 and border regions .
Cowardly soviet-style secrecy and lack of accountability.  This wasn’t supposed to happen 
 
 
 

Posted by: Winston | Apr 25 2026 10:39 utc | 97

Transit through the Northern branch stops on May 1st.

To play devil’s advocate, what is the purpose of the delay?

Posted by: joey_n | Apr 25 2026 11:31 utc | 99