re: Latest Updates: Russia-Ukraine Conflict.

Russian TV from 2016

The innovations in Battle Management Systems are almost as important as the Drone evolution.

AI driven battle management systems ingesting a variety of data feeds (Drones, EW systems, Satellite, Radar, etc...) can paint a very clear real time view of the battlefield.

This allows the AI to identify and prioritize targets and assign available resources while minimizing the cost of the ordinance. If a target only needs a 155mm freedom seed, there isn't a need to send a HIMARS.

Too much reality for Nepo baby.

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Small oil producers in Russia's regions start to go bankrupt as prices collapse

Viktor Volokita — 18 February, 13:20

Tighter US sanctions, which have pushed Russian oil prices down to US$40 a barrel and below, have led to a wave of bankruptcies among small companies in Russia's main oil producing regions.

Source: The Moscow Times, an independent Amsterdam-based news outlet, citing Russian media outlet Kommersant

Details: The state-owned VTB Bank plans to petition for the insolvency of First Oil, an oil group formerly owned by Yakov Goldovsky, a shareholder in Sibur, Russia's largest petrochemical company.

Goldovsky's company, which operates in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug – a key Russian oil-producing region – has accumulated around RUB 6 billion (about US$78.2 million) in debt it cannot repay. The company owns several small oilfields with combined reserves of 14 million tonnes and has an annual output of 500,000 tonnes.

First Oil's situation worsened during the Covid-19 pandemic. The latest US sanctions, which have forced Russian producers to sell crude at discounts by as much as US$30 a barrel, dealt the final blow to Goldovsky's business. Debt to creditors rose, making it difficult to service loans.

The Yangpur oil company, which represents Belarusneft in Russia and has been developing two fields in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, entered insolvency proceedings at the end of 2025.

Earlier, the Astrakhan oil company and the Gorny oil company, which held three licences in the southern Nenets Autonomous Okrug, also went bankrupt due to claims brought by the tax authorities. In January, Moscow Credit Bank demanded around RUB 7 billion (about US$91.2 million) from the owners of the bankrupt firms.

Freedom Finance Global analyst Vladimir Chernov noted that the condition of Russian oil companies is deteriorating, with export revenues falling, especially for high-cost projects.

According to the Russian Federal State Statistics Service, half of Russia's oil and gas producers are now operating at a loss. Between January and November 2025, the sector collectively lost RUB 575 billion (about US$7.49 billion). Companies that are still making a profit saw their earnings drop by more than half, to RUB 3 trillion (about US$39.1 billion), over the same period.

Background: Russian oil producers may have to cut output sharply in the coming months, as increased pressure from US President Donald Trump and European countries is restricting exports, while storage facilities are struggling to cope, which will put further strain on the Kremlin's military budget.

Ukrainska Pravda

This isn’t that shocking. The Russians are running hundreds of sorties a day with aircraft that they have no way of replacing or getting spare for. They’ve airframes themselves have got to be exhausted.

quote:

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stranded natural gas

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That happens to me every time I eat red beans & rice...

Quoted the whole post since many won't click through to it.

Russia is anticipating it taking 2 more years to capture the entire Donbas region AFTER they have a forced mobilization. How long would it take without the forced mobilization?

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BIG NEWS | The reason why Putin restricted Russians' access to Telegram has become known (and it will be completely shut down from April 1)
—- Russian military bloggers and Telegram channels are spreading information that due to critical needs on the Ukrainian fronts, Putin is preparing to announce a large military mobilization - a forced conscription. Therefore, he wants to avoid public dissatisfaction and possible protests as much as possible, which could be coordinated precisely through the TELEGRAM platform.

Against this background, an interesting article was published today in the NEW York Times — Kremlin officials told the publication that Putin is ready to fight for up to 2 more years because the Russian dictator is confident in his success and is prepared to continue the war for another 2 years to gain full control over the Donetsk region.

?? Given that the Russians are already spending more annual manpower on the Ukrainian fronts due to catastrophic losses than the monthly or yearly number of voluntary contracts, it is logical and probably the Kremlin's only solution to continue the war for another 2 years and, in their view, to occupy Donbas, is precisely to increase the flow of soldiers through mobilization and to fully staff the thinned-out units or brigades with live forces.

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I don’t disagree. Russians will do without long before Russia ignores the war. That’s in their DNA.

But percentages don’t tell you anything. They all equal 100%. The relevant numbers is the amount of the revenues Russia is bringing in compared to four years ago.

Those are the key numbers.