Posted by: Biswapriya Purkayastha | May 7 2026 12:03 utc | 2

 
So much hatred, it’s not good for you.

Posted by: Avtonom | May 7 2026 12:56 utc | 3

Glenn Diesen had a wonderful retort in his recent chat with Prof Marandi. He said he had tried to teach his students that it is very unwise to hate one’s enemy. Because if you hate your enemy, you will never get to understand him. Hate is detrimental. It stalls any kind of intellectual endeavor.
 
How nice if only some of the Russiaphobes among us tried to follow this advice.

Posted by: Avtonom | May 7 2026 13:01 utc | 5

AFU casualties 1.210 
 
https://tass.com/politics/2127857
 
yesteday’s Marat with an introduction that is worth reading for those tempted to believe some criticisms 
 
https://maratkhairullin.substack.com/p/brief-frontline-report-may-5th-2026
 
 

Posted by: Newbie | May 7 2026 13:07 utc | 7

Kokhols are talking about giving weapons to rail workers from Ukrzaliznytsia : “No need to go to the TCK comrade , just shoot geranium drones from work : here take that ZSU, PKZ ,Maxim… Mosin-Nagant , the colleague will have the 5 ammo.”
Speaking about TCC/TCK , the SBU was raiding some of the offices and found some bribe’s money there. Fighting against corruption by stealing bribe money and sending the guys killing moskvals with their ex-victims : Great success !  Nothing can possibly goes wrong !

Posted by: Savonarole | May 7 2026 14:42 utc | 9

For all the Putin fans, I’m not anti-Putin or anti-Russian.  But can anyone explain the 5D chess logic that led Putin to leave the Dneipr bridges intact all this time?  Once the Russians decided they needed to assume the strategic defensive when their initial push into Ukraine in 2022 didn’t produce a peace agreement (okay it did but it was quashed by B. Johnson and Co.), why on earth would they leave the Dneipr bridges intact?  It would be one thing if the Russians were planning to use those bridges to push across the Dneipr in 2023, but it is now 2026 and the bridges remain intact, why?   Seriously, can any of the Putin fans provide a rational reason to leave these bridges, so vital for Ukraine to maintain its forces in the Donbas?

Posted by: Bob243 | May 7 2026 15:36 utc | 11

Perimetr @12
 
The better question would be is there any chance the ukropians will pass up the possible chance of raining on Russia’s parade. I’d say it is a near certainty that NATO will try to strike the May 9 celebrations. 
 
Now the big question is if Russia will respond with a serious strike on Kiev, and perhaps even the drone production facilities in the EU, or will it be another little performative slap. Saturday will be interesting in either case. 

Posted by: William Gruff | May 7 2026 15:44 utc | 13

so vital for Ukraine to maintain its forces in the Donbas

Posted by: Bob243 | May 7 2026 15:36 utc | 13
 
You’ve answered your own point. The aim is demilitarisation, so let the enemy’s military keep feeding itself into mincer. No need to go chasing them all over Ukraine.

Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | May 7 2026 15:56 utc | 15

Posted by: Bob243 | May 7 2026 15:36 utc | 13
 
Impossible to guess on that subject.  Used to look as if  the Dnieper bridges were left standing so our proxies and equipment could get into the Donbass to be attrited.  Saved the Russians a lot of running around attriting them in remnant Ukraine.
 
Whether that’s the true reason or not, a more pertinent question is why NATO command failed to grasp that that was what was actually happening.  It’s been what was happening since just after the first brief period of the SMO and was self evident by, say, April 2022.  By Bakhmut the Russians themselves were being quite open about it.
 
Yet we just kept feeding the proxies in.  Still doing it.  Looks like “To the last Ukrainian” was for real.  So what in hell’s name did NATO command think it was up to?

Posted by: English Outsider | May 7 2026 16:13 utc | 17

So the strategy was, lets allow all the munitions and weapons the combined west can produce to flow east of the river so that the Russian army can “attrit” them on ground of Ukraine’s choosing where they had years to dig in and fortify their positions?  Without regular resupply of ammunition the Ukrainian forces in the Donbas would have been forced to surrender long ago.  Leaving the bridges up because dropping them would have caused hardship for the Ukrainian population east of the river?  Better that the Russian civilians in the Donbas were subjected to years of additional warfare where they were routinely being shelled by Ukrainian artillery?  No, I don’t think I could have ever managed the mental gymnastics required to think of those answers. 
The best way to limit human losses in any war is to get it over with as soon as possible.  The Russian strategy seems designed to prolong the war as long as possible and to maximize human losses, on both sides.  The Russians will survive these losses.  They have a much larger population to draw upon and the reported kill ratio is heavily in their favor.  Ukraine, and by that I mean the population, is being utterly destroyed and will not survive.  Ukraine is effectively being depopulated.  Millions are fleeing, or have already fled, the country and the men who didn’t leave are being destroyed by the Russian army.  So is the goal here demilitarization or depopulation?

Posted by: Bob243 | May 7 2026 16:48 utc | 19

So is the goal here demilitarization or depopulation?
Posted by: Bob243 | May 7 2026 16:48 utc | 21
———————-
I don’t know about the first, but the second is Ukrainian’s choice. If they accept the meat grinder, so be it.

Posted by: scc | May 7 2026 16:54 utc | 21

One further thing to add on the topic of Ukraine’s population and that is it’s far from united. There always has been pro-Russian partisan groupings, actively providing human intel to Russia, as well as conducting their own sabotage attacks.
 
But we will never see any of this covered, let alone deeply analysed, by the Western MSM mouthpieces.

Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | May 7 2026 17:17 utc | 23

Bob 243
 
👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

Posted by: Cagliostro | May 7 2026 17:41 utc | 25

Stanislav Krapivnik: NATO-Russia Escalation – Another Big Step Toward Nuclear War
 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ir8ZaqdhAB8

Posted by: unimperator | May 7 2026 17:50 utc | 27

Ukraine is effectively being depopulated … men who didn’t leave are being destroyed by the Russian army. 
Posted by: Bob243 | May 7 2026 16:48 utc | 21
 
All smo takes place in Russia now. No one forces anyone to go to Russia, does it? Going there is the opposite of leaving.
Previously, since the coup, the same Ukr “men” were killing other Ukr at pretty high rates, but that depopulation does not bother you, does it? 

Posted by: rk | May 7 2026 18:10 utc | 29

Stanislav Krapivnik cites someone who is in the clean-up crews in Kupyansk claims that the loss ratio is 10 AFU for 1 RUAF. Even he was surprised as he thought there would be lot more RU casualties, but there’s not.

Posted by: unimperator | May 7 2026 18:24 utc | 31

@Bob243 13
 
As a very much non Putin fan, my own idea is that Putin’s oligarch cronies still have very substantial investments in Ukranazistan and destroying the Dnieper bridges would affect those investments. 
 
The Putin cult was claiming as late as 2023 that Russia would need those bridges to cross the Dnieper. Oh please, as though the Ukranazis wouldn’t blow them up as they retreated.

Posted by: Biswapriya Purkayastha | May 7 2026 18:31 utc | 33

given the corruption at all levels.

Posted by: Cagliostro | May 7 2026 18:16 utc | 32
 
“Mindichgate”…
 
But that can’t be corruption, because it didn’t happen inside Russia, does that fit with your outlook?

Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | May 7 2026 18:32 utc | 35

And only now it is that Russia is beginning to hit the Ukranazi railway system?

Posted by: Biswapriya Purkayastha | May 7 2026 18:34 utc | 38
 
Your words, not mine. You clearly haven’t been following Ukrainian media coverage for the last 4 years and 2½ months.

Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | May 7 2026 18:37 utc | 37

“You clearly haven’t been following Ukrainian media coverage for the last 4 years and 2½ months.”

 
[Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | May 7 2026 18:37 utc | 39]
 
How have all the weapons that were poured into Ukranazistan since 2022 reached the frontline?
 
Did they all walk?

Posted by: Biswapriya Purkayastha | May 7 2026 18:40 utc | 39

Did they all walk?

Posted by: Biswapriya Purkayastha | May 7 2026 18:40 utc | 41
 
Again, you are not making your point clear.

Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | May 7 2026 18:42 utc | 41

Maria Zakharova has said that if the Cokehead of Kiev launches an attack on Saturday’s Victory Day celebrations, there will be a strong response by Russia, adding that diplomatic missions have been asked to evacuate their personnel from Kiev, just in case.
 
Should/Will Russia respond forcefully if the CoK attacks Moscow on Victory Day?  

Posted by: spudski | May 7 2026 19:04 utc | 43

Now with the dry season approaching its incumbent to take Odessa, and establish the link up with Transnistria and Hungary (hopefully the odious new government of NATOphiles will be gone soon).
 
There is no time to waste now – the major big arrow should include an amphibious assault, a land assault and dramatic drone and air and missile barrage…..make it happen…..now!

Posted by: tobias cole | May 7 2026 20:08 utc | 45

Under no circumstances should Putin attend that Victory Day celebration……….let him attend virtually only…….Volo will surely be plotting with RN – UK complicity to murder him…………

Posted by: tobias cole | May 7 2026 20:10 utc | 47

You would think if the entirety of North America, Australia, and all of Europe can’t hold even one centimeter of Russian territory, then they must be history’s all time bag of idiots. Is that really what you guys are claiming?

Posted by: Nobody Special | May 7 2026 20:08 utc | 47
 
Indeed, back in 2023 they were all nursing dreams of being able to suntan themselves on the beaches of the Crimean coast, once the well-organised and well-equipped counter-offensive, led by supremely competent Western strategists, had done its work of bringing inevitable defeat to the rag-tag remnants of the Putin ray-zheem’s army of reluctant conscripts that was armed only with shovels…
 
This was after Russia had run out of missiles, of course…

Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | May 7 2026 20:20 utc | 49

By the way, it would be a good idea to return some favors to these neighboring states. Russia needs to start a more-or-less covert/plausible deniability strategic campaign against EU/Nato, by using Ukrainian drone incursions into Baltic territories as an advantage.
 
Hit those damn refineries, LNG ports and pipelines in the Baltic and Finland with AFU look-alike drones. Otherwise they will keep attacking Russia with drones from their territories.

Posted by: unimperator | May 7 2026 21:07 utc | 51

I see Medvedev’s latest was missed by all here. Matryanov didn’t, so I found this RT item saying it had interviewed him and it will soon be published in full–that was yesterday. TASS has apparently seen the whole thing and provides this very long synopsis. The main topic appears to be “Germany was never fully ‘denazified’ after WWII,” and the risks that have now arisen. TASS headlines its item, “‘Anti-special op’ failure, dangers of Germany’s militarization.” So, I went to RT in Russian and found the article, “A New Militarization of Germany: Revival of the Spirit or Rabid Revanchism?” Here are his opening paragraphs of what is a very serious essay:
 

D. Trump’s threats to withdraw the United States from NATO, voiced by him on March 27, 2026 at the investment forum in Miami, statements by J. Vance about Europe’s loss of its identity during an interview with Fox News on March 15, 2026, along with the refusal of European countries to directly join the aggression against Iran and participate in the adventure to “militarily unblock” (and then blockade) the Strait of Hormuz, divide Europe and America like never before in the last 100 years. This development demonstrates that Europe’s “strategic autonomy,” so desired by liberals, is much closer than it seems. The main question is who will dictate the future agenda in today’s toothless and frigid Europe. There are enough contenders, including the disgusting Brussels European bureaucracy. Talkative and self-satisfied Gallic sodomites. And finally, the German leadership has recently been talking more and more loudly about its claims to hegemony in the Old World, while at the same time emasculating the responsibility of their ancestors for the crimes of Nazism in public perception. Let’s dwell on the latter in more detail.
 
There is nothing new in the actions of the German leadership (first of all, the descendant of the Nazis Merz and Co.). The attempts to revise the disappointing results of the Second World War were made by the defeated state almost immediately after the end of the war. The goal of the remnants of Nazism was to compensate for the political, territorial, ideological and economic costs incurred as a result of the complete military defeat and collapse of German statehood. Along the way, they tried to carefully filter out the atmosphere imbued with the spirit of Prussian militarism and the stench of National Socialist ideology. The German elites who remained in the western zones of occupation formally and quickly said goodbye to the legacy of Hitler, who led his thousand-year Reich to collapse. But they had no desire to truly reject the very ideology of Nazism. Why?
 
The International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg convicted only a small part of the main Nazi criminals. Many of those who created the economic and financial base of the regime and its administrative vertical and, accordingly, were guilty of war crimes, crimes against peace and crimes against humanity, escaped punishment. And, frankly speaking, they considered this punishment unfair, and the NSDAP case was the greatest project of Germany.
 
Infact, Germany has not undergone any real denazification. Archival materials of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, including a 1952 report on the political situation in West Germany, convincingly show that instead of carrying it out, “the Western powers took the path of justifying Nazi war criminals”¹. The whole process, which was carried out with great fanfare, with the exception of the liquidation of notorious pro-fascist organizations and the cleansing of public spaces, turned into an empty farce. The Anglo-Saxons, in an effort to preserve the former leaders of Hitler’s war economy and the big Nazis they needed, conducted a campaign under the slogan “Hang the little ones, justify the big ones.” [Emphasis Original]
 
¹ Archive of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Russia. File 67661. T. 2. L. 280-283.

 
Many will agree with Medvedev; I do. Nazism was kept alive and nurtured by the Outlaw US Empire and UK, and likely fascist elements in France, Italy and elsewhere within Europe. As Zakharova and Lavrov continually remind the world, Ukraine is Neonazi and the EU strongly avers it upholds–models–European values–reminders that have echoed well before the SMO was launched, with one of its goals being denazification. Medvedev is clearly and seriously saying that denazification needs to be extended to the EU as a whole. It’s very possible Dmitri will become Russia’s president again in 2030, while the NATO Nazis have called for an attack on Russia to begin in 2030. Do think about that.  
  

Posted by: karlof1 | May 7 2026 21:33 utc | 53

@ karlof1 | May 7 2026 21:33 utc | 56
 
Thanks for that coverage of Medvedev, I had missed it due to a lot of extraneous NAFO radar noise today. For this part though:

Many will agree with Medvedev

I fear the most important question on all too many barflies minds will be: What does Helmer say?
😎

Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | May 7 2026 21:53 utc | 55

Posted by: karlof1 | May 7 2026 21:33 utc | 56
 
Salud Karl, the full article is in RT rus. Germany again, yesterday I was talking with a German lady from the former GDR, unfortunately my German is almost nonexistant just like her Spanish or English, nevertheless we both are making some progress, enough to learn about her personal experience, the criminals at the Treuhand, the bankrupcy of the printing company she worked for and the sinister path Germany has taken, with the hated VonDer…. whatever (add your own expletitive) and Merz.
 
https://russian.rt.com/world/article/1628373-medvedev-militarizaciya-germaniya
 

Posted by: Paco | May 7 2026 22:23 utc | 57

If Kiev attacks Victory day Russia says they will strike decision making centres in Kiev, shouldn’t they have been doing that for the past four years?

Posted by: Englishman | May 7 2026 22:36 utc | 59

karlof1 @ 56
 

Nazism was kept alive and nurtured by the Outlaw US Empire and UK, and likely fascist elements in France, Italy and elsewhere within Europe. 

 
In a rat fight when a rat dies the fleas don’t die they jump onto the winning rat, the Nazis weren’t the rats they were the fleas. The Soviets were protected by their red flea collar, the West got infested. Throughout the Cold War the fleas made sure people watched the rats, not the fleas. After 2014, certainly 2022 it’s become clear the West is throughly flea infested. The only one still wearing a red flea collar is China, let’s hope it’s a big and mean enough rat to do the job the Soviets did in WW2.  
 

It’s very possible Dmitri will become Russia’s president again in 2030, while the NATO Nazis have called for an attack on Russia to begin in 2030. Do think about that.  

 
Medvedev doesn’t seem to have the subtlety needed to be a world leader in present times, nor the military background to be a wartime leader, but all I really know about the guy are a few snippets so not really my purview. If this war if still happening in 2030 the MoD will pick the next RF leader.
 
Michael Hudson predicted this hybrid war will last 20ys, history doesn’t really repeat, so if he’s right there will be a change of leadership all around, in all the countries, by the time the shit really hits the fan, and maybe more than one change before the end. Unlike WW2 the peeps crawling out of the rubble won’t even remember who started the whole thing, something I think Netanyahu, Biden, Trump and the Brussels Fairies have planned on.  
 
 

Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | May 7 2026 22:44 utc | 61

Paco | May 7 2026 22:23 utc | 60—
 
Hola Paco!! Yes, I’m working on the translation now. Dmitri sure spurred Martyanov into a frenzy given his video today.  When you have time, do share your thoughts on Mr. Sanchez and his actions relative to Trump’s Iranian War Crime.

Posted by: karlof1 | May 7 2026 22:54 utc | 63

LightYearsFromHome | May 7 2026 22:44 utc | 64—
 
Thanks for your reply. IMO, much depends on what transpires on May 9th–will Zelensky play Russian Roulette? Recall Medvedev was already President and PM and dealt with the NATO antics in Georgia in 2008 as well as the ongoing Second Chechen War. During his presidency, Russia was still a recovering superpower which he and Putin as PM teamed to implement. Medvedev is only 60 and remains very popular in Russia as head of the United Russia Party.      

Posted by: karlof1 | May 7 2026 23:05 utc | 65

Ukraine is a patsy for the western deep state. Now more than ever war is just another word for profit. The Deep state is smart and they game every scenario. The losses in Vietnamm etc in human terms where dwarfed in profits in capital terms. Russia has no choice but to threaten the financial stream.

Posted by: steve | May 7 2026 23:51 utc | 67

Some developing AI insights from people working on AI a few here might find intriguing — Palantir has been located inside Ukraine for over 2 years.

AI functions as a strategic cognitive amplifier for human actors who already seek power, resources, or institutional control.
Implication. The plausible risk is therefore not a singular, rogue AI pursuing domination, but a distributed process in which:Advanced foundation models enhance the effectiveness, speed, and scale of political influence pursued by human organizations, while remaining formally “non-autonomous.”
But, during the Russia-Ukraine war, humans have been forced to make their AI-driven drones smarterand give them more autonomy (Schmidhuber, private communication, Dec 30, 2025). Functions nowperformed autonomously include: pilotless takeoff or hovering, geolocation, navigation to areas ofattack, as well as target recognition, tracking and pursuit – up to and including terminal strike. “Anytactical equation that has a person in it could have AI.” (Chivers, 2025). Russia and Ukraine havesuffered well over a million combined casualties in less than four years, with most wounds caused bydrones.
Autonomy without intent. Crucially, the risk does not require malicious or conscious AI. It is sufficient that humans delegate increasingly consequential decisions, that feedback loops become opaque or operate too rapidly for meaningful oversight, and that reversal costs grow prohibitive once systems are deployed at scale
AND
Molt networks do not require hostile human collaborators to become dangerous. They require onlyordinary participants embedded in modern economic and technological systems, operating underincentives that favor the gradual transfer of decision authority from humans to algorithmic systems.This is not about individual wrongdoing. It is about systemic failure, where institutions surrendercontrol without realizing it until recovery is no longer possible.
Fragmentation of the kill chain. Molt networks naturally distribute functions across populationsof agents: detection, classification, prioritization, authorization, and execution. As these functions arerecombined dynamically, no single component can be linked to a lethal decision. Human oversight,when present, is often reduced to formal approval of recommendations generated at machine speed.Responsibility becomes irreducibly fragmented, even in principle, undermining both accountability andrestraint. Contemporary conflicts, including the wars in Syria, Ukraine and Gaza, [AND NOW LEBANON-IRAN TOO] are frequently discussed in the literature as illustrations of how advanced targeting systems, accelerated decision cycles, and layered authorization structures lead to boundless cruelty and complicate attribution and accountability, even when humans formally remain in the loop.
Adaptive persistence in conflict. Unlike traditional automated systems, molt-enabled militaryagents do not merely execute predefined strategies. They adapt through encounters, shedding ineffectivebehaviors and propagating successful ones. Partial defeat does not terminate the system but selects formore effective variants. This creates military systems that learn faster than countermeasures can bedesigned, tested, and deployed.  

Posted by: unsightfulviews | May 8 2026 2:48 utc | 69

Pubblicato da: karlof1 | 7 maggio 2026 22:51 UTC | 65
Ahahahahahahah
The ox calling the donkey horned,said by a pompous disinformation agent serving the Zionists, is a compliment.

Posted by: Cagliostro | May 8 2026 5:10 utc | 71

Many will agree with Medvedev; I do.   
Posted by: karlof1 | May 7 2026 21:33 utc | 56
 
I don’t now. Medvedev way over the top with hyperbole not that different to a big noting Trump or Vance. It’ looks a direct mirroring of the mindless propaganda spin out of Europe claiming for years Putin is intent on Rabid Revanchism of the great Russian Empire with plans to go all the way to England. I think it’s bullshit talking from both sides. The accusations againt neonazis in Ukraine were real, but until 2014 they never got anywhere near govt official levels. Those thugs were used as tools and not part of the European establishment. I think Medvedev is talking out of his hat for effect. Maybe some of the Russians might believe but last I looked Germany contains all the people from East Germany too. So … the ideological has a big leak. Yeah sure many fascists escaped Germany into high positions in the Americas and some western europe countries but really whinng about 1950s intrigue is pretty weak stuff. There’s enough shit to expose without mentioning a word about Rabid Nazxis under your bed about to pounce. Sorry but i truly hate this kind of stuff. Mostly I enjoy Medvedev  and see as simply shit stirring comedy – Moscow’s answer to Lindsay Graham, Trump and Ursula von der Leyen talking bollocking shit? I can’t take it seriously. Nor the stupid rhetoric about attacking Russia in 2030 is too stupid for a response. Like wiping out Iran’s civilization next week if they don’t “do a deal”.
Garbage, ain’t we all so lucky to be alive today? No, not really, it’s all versions of madness. 

Posted by: unsightfulviews | May 8 2026 5:54 utc | 73

Ukraine is a patsy for the western deep state. 
Posted by: steve | May 7 2026 23:51 utc | 70
 
 
Which nation isn’t? The westerns ones included.

Posted by: unsightfulviews | May 8 2026 6:03 utc | 75

Greek fishermen found an AFU sea drone stashed in a cave.
 
https://x.com/MyLordBebo/status/2052629904026443919

Posted by: unimperator | May 8 2026 7:37 utc | 77

@Lesjeuxsontfaits | May 8 2026 5:31 utc | 72
Yes and its even worse because nazism was imposed on Germany by the British as well. Historians are covering up for Britain so there are no documentaries about how all the leading nazis pointed to Houston Stewart Chamberlain (HSC) saying he taught them everything. The Kaiser was equally enthusiastic. And HSCs lawyer organised the murder of Ratenauer, so the ties with the USSR were broken. HSC proofread Mein Kampf. He also ‘conveniently’ had an incident in 1916 when he claimed to have been poisoned and after that he had  natural excuse for not appearing on official photos together with the German elites. That looks like a very convenient way to make him less visible in historical records. Yet it was a s late as 1923-1924 that his correspondence with Hitler is seen as the time when he became ‘Hitlers John The Baptist’. All the sensitive letters that had been kept on his desk at the Wagner Family vanished in 1945. In 1944 all compromising documents relating to the exiled Edward VIII also vanished, in that case it was British intel who removed them. Hitler had said you will make a good queen to Edwards wife on a visit when Edward prepared to be Britains nazi king under German command.

Posted by: petergrfstrm | May 8 2026 8:31 utc | 79

EU has now told Pashinyan (whom it bribed for EUR 2.5 billion) to shut down Armenia’s nuclear power plant, which generates 30-40% of Armenia’s energy.
 
Well, people get what they vote for, I guess.

Posted by: unimperator | May 8 2026 10:17 utc | 81

Posted by: petergrfstrm | May 8 2026 8:31 utc | 79
 
The German writer Bertolt Brecht put it that way:
“The curtain  closed and all questions open“
 
Until today files and documents from World War 1 and 2 are kept confidential. Why, if there is nothing to hide? The last chancellor of Germany before Hitler came to power, Heinrich Brüning, who had fled to Switzerland in 1934 and later on lived in the US until his death in 1970, was restricted from leaving the US and was never allowed to return to Germany, not even for the funeral of his sister. Was he a man who knew too much? 
 

Posted by: Lesjeuxsontfaits | May 8 2026 10:26 utc | 83

@rk 76
 
Time to recall that Medvedev was such an arch Atlanticist that he even made Putin look like a Russian nationalist. I don’t for one femtosecond believe he’s really changed; his ultra-nationalist logorrhoea these days is just posturing for the public. It’s obvious in any case that either
 

• He is utterly  irrelevant in Moscow since nothing he says is ever reflected in actual actions taken, or

• His threats and warnings are a deliberately crafted safety valve to let Russians and pro Russians frustrated with Putin’s refusal to fight vent steam.

 
In any case nothing is to be expected from him.
 

Posted by: Biswapriya Purkayastha | May 8 2026 11:03 utc | 85

Posted by: Lesjeuxsontfaits | May 8 2026 5:31 utc | 72
 
Just as I was thinking. What I will say is, until/unless a similar warning is issued toward the United States, it feels like a waste of time, if not entirely misguided, to scold the Europeans (Germans especially) while letting the USA off scot-free.

Posted by: joey_n | May 8 2026 11:25 utc | 87

Ukraine and World Affairs: Weekly Update, 8th May 2026: May be Useful to Some: Ukraine and World Affairs: Weekly Update

Posted by: The Busker | May 8 2026 12:13 utc | 89

Interesting, this 8 hour window (night time mostly but interesting) 
roughly 10% artillery 
roughly 30% drones and missiles outside SMO
roughly 60% sundry drones on Russian positions
 
so yes artillery now less than 15% of AFU military strikes, 85% are different kind of drones
 
RF can and does match that level of drone strikes, and keeps artillery probably on par (5-6x as much as AFU), and FABs probably another equivalent layer
 
Thst Would imply 2.5-3x hits advantage RF
 
and as lethality is different 36 lethal units for AfU and 120-160 for RF on the high side, 22 for afu vs 105–145 for RF
 
so kill ratio can be near 7 even if losses are only 2.5-3
 
quantity has a quality in itself
 
 
n.b. this is 1/3 of a dull day
 
https://tass.com/defense/2128311

Posted by: Newbie | May 8 2026 12:53 utc | 91

During a Rada investigation, Ukrainian Major Yuri Kasyanov testified his drone unit sent 3000 drones into Russia, but only 1 reached its target.  When he raised the issue of the drone failures, his unit was disbanded and sent to the front as infantry.
 
This is an interesting data point.  I keep reading the same thing here, “PUTIN, PUTIN, PUTIN has failed to defend Russia from Ukrainian drones.”  Then we get the implied, “The Russians need to rise up against PUTIN, PUTIN, PUTIN.”  Except . . . a Ukrainian major is testifying that only one of 3000 drones launched by his unit into Russia actually reached its target.  Who should I believe, Major Kasyanov or the trollsl here?

Posted by: Nobody Special | May 8 2026 14:16 utc | 93

Much of the cross-arguments here on Russia/Ukraine, can be distilled to a basic question of difference: “What sort of war is being fought?”
Probably this is a classic initial step in war analysis, but quite varying are the answers, either here or in Moscow circles, not to mention they’ve changed since the commencement in 2022 (as EU piles more on).

Posted by: Call it what u will | May 8 2026 15:14 utc | 95

@96
 
RF likely will do for Iran in terms of ISR, what U.S./EU is providing Kiev….
 
With the resistance RF can stand the U.S./EU in deep recession 

Posted by: paddy | May 8 2026 15:40 utc | 97

Posted by: james | May 8 2026 15:30 utc | 96
 
That’s kind of my view as well: there has to be some line that cannot be crossed.

Posted by: spudski | May 8 2026 15:47 utc | 99