Main news
Ukrainian Christmas
Russia is squeezing independent gas stations out of its fuel market
Russia cannot make more fuel. So it’s handing the market to the state-linked majors, and the independent ones are being cut out.
Latest news
12 August 2026
- Daily reviewRusso-Ukrainian war, day 1630: Chinese modem keeping Russia’s jam-resistant drones flying
- Ukraine’s first domestically built CBRN scout vehicle just replaced Soviet jeep with no armor at all
- “Faster than originally planned”: Russia wants 292 Starlink-rival satellites by 2027
- Russia’s Odesa strikes halve Ukraine’s grain export forecast
- Russia’s jam-resistant drones run on a Chinese modem no one has sanctioned
- Russia’s tank shield shot down seven drones—Ukraine destroyed the tank anyway
- Sweden detains Russians who “camped” near home of CEO of Gripen jets Ukraine is buying
- North Korean ballistic missile kills 7 steelworkers on their way to shelter, shuts down Zaporizhstal plant
- Ukraine’s newest interceptor doesn’t ram its target. It nets it for $27, then flies home to catch another
- From 27,711 to 40,438 in two months: Ukraine’s drone kill rate is climbing fast
- Ukraine’s security service breaks up two schemes registering Starlink terminals for Russia
- Russia’s education minister calls it “objective.” A new textbook teaches Ukrainian children that their occupied region is historically Russian
- A $300 FPV downs a $20,000 bomber drone. Ukraine tests an EW shield for it
- Russia’s Syrian foothold shrinks to a training center as Damascus takes back the airport and a berth
- Seoul says no again to Ukraine’s weapons request as Pyongyang gets ready to send Russia more troops
- US forecasters see Ukraine’s corn exports falling 39% as Russia bombs ports
- Ukraine and Moldova discuss rail corridor for grain amid Russian Black Sea attacks
- US House takes up Graham sanctions bill targeting Russia’s oil money and shadow fleet
- From builder to the eyes of Ukraine’s front: the soldier with the callsign Dancer who went from Soviet launchers to drones
- Two Russian refineries burn – Orsk hit by drones 1,500 km out, Komsomolsk ablaze 6,500 km east
- Ukrainian drones set a newly opened Wildberries mega-hub ablaze near Voronezh
- With Ukraine short of Patriot interceptors, Russia sees no reason to enter real negotiations, ISW says
- Russian ballistic missiles struck the grounds of a Kyiv children’s hospital and set a warehouse ablaze — overnight strikes across Ukraine killed at least 9
Daily Review
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Russo-Ukrainian war, day 1630: Chinese modem keeping Russia’s jam-resistant drones flying
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Russo-Ukrainian war, day 1629: Russia races to swamp Ukraine’s air defenses as July becomes deadliest month for civilians since 2022
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Russo-Ukrainian war, day 1625: Ukraine’s 81st Brigade holds gate to Sloviansk almost alone
Ukraine’s Gen Z protested for their anti-corruption agencies last year. Now they’re protesting for one man
A leaderless crowd is reading the war more clearly than the command class that dismisses them—and letting one blogger tell them what it means.
Russia’s weirdest armored vehicle was built to fight infantry. The infantry stopped coming
The Russians are building and restoring thousands of replacement tanks and fighting vehicles. But the unique BMP-T is fading away.
In Kherson, the children still train under the drones
Russia has destroyed 221 of the city's sports venues. Its boxers, rowers, and chess players train in the basements beneath them—and still come home with medals.
Individuals now drive nearly half of Ukraine’s bankruptcy cases
A “second chance” system Kyiv built for EU accession is reaching ordinary people—while Russia rewrites its own bankruptcy law to let the Kremlin choose who survives.
An EU candidate’s port received 145 ships from occupied Ukraine in six months
As Tbilisi tilts toward Moscow, a would-be EU member is becoming a gateway for looted grain and goods the EU has sanctioned.
Russia’s last “Ukraine peace deal” led to Europe’s biggest war since WWII. Here’s why this one could be worse.
Moscow isn’t just negotiating—it’s setting the stage. Behind closed doors, familiar tactics are at play, and the consequences could reshape Europe’s future once again.
Europe deepens trade with India while Western parts keep reaching Russia’s weapons
Brussels is drafting its largest-ever corporate blacklist over the war—and expanding trade with the country those parts pass through.
Russia can rebuild Wildberries warehouses more easily than it can replace warehouse workers
The warehouses are replaceable—but at a record 2.1% unemployment, the spooked workers who staff them are not.
Precision missiles hit the coordinates. Investigators ask who was still standing there
A new framework names the pattern in four Russian strikes—and aims at Russia’s standard legal defense.
Europe wants Ukraine’s railway split. The war wants it whole
Ukraine has two years to split its railway on the EU model—and no intention of giving up the wartime control that model is built to remove.
Greece blocked a gas ban, France and Italy softened an entry ban—now Brussels tries 1,600 companies helping Russia’s war
Bloomberg sources says the proposed list covers firms feeding Russia's military industry, and the work stayed out of public view.
Why is Ukraine losing ground? Mobilization crisis and command failures exposed
Ukraine's military problems can no longer be ignored as mobilization failures and systemic issues lead to mounting territorial losses
Evergreens
Yes, Ukraine can win the war – ex-minister decodes victory plan
Zelenskyy's plan and Ukraine's victory are completely realistic, says Andriy Zagorodnyuk. But there is a crucial caveat -- the current paradigm must be changed.
EU sanctions Georgia’s only oil refinery over processing Russian crude. Company says it will switch suppliers
Brussels has imposed sanctions on Georgia's only oil refinery for processing Russian crude, expanding efforts to curb Moscow's energy revenues while giving the company six months before the restrictions take effect.
A realistic victory strategy for Ukraine
In a war where offensive operations are equally difficult on both sides, not losing is already winning in the next year and a half
Analysis
Ukraine’s defense minister explained how the country buys weapons—after he was sacked
A sacked minister spent 90 minutes explaining how Ukraine buys shells. He told more than the ministry had published in six months.
