re: Latest Updates: Russia-Ukraine Conflict.

Germany is not only leading the EU and NATO towards increased support for Ukraine but is greatly supporting Ukraine on an individual basis as well. Minister of Defence Pistorius again spent a number of days this week visiting Ukrainian defense manufacturing sites.

Here's what is happening - Germany has realized that their future economic growth is not going to be in China but in Ukraine. After this war is over and the Russian Federal States have split from Moscow as independent countries, Ukraine will be the critical pathway to dealing with these new governments. As these states will possess most if not all of the former Russian oil, gas and mineral wealth as well as substantial labor supplies, their ties with Europe through Ukraine will be the basis of future economic growth for all sides.

It doesn't look like it now, but in 30 years Kyiv will be the most important city in Europe. And half the population there will speak German as a second language.

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"Silicon Valley of warfare": Pentagon sends military personnel to Ukraine to study drone warfare

Ulyana Krychkovska, STANISLAV POHORILOV — 13 May, 10:48

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has stated during Senate committee hearings that the Pentagon has sent its military personnel to Ukraine to learn how to deploy drones in real combat conditions.

Source: European Pravda

Details: During the hearings, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell described Ukraine as the Silicon Valley of warfare and asked Hegseth whether he supports Pentagon officials travelling there to gain experience.

Hegseth confirmed he does and said he has personally approved the deployment of additional personnel.

Quote: "I've personally approved additional personnel there to learn from that drone battlefield, both on offence and defence to ensure that we're learning every possible lesson from that conflict and incorporating it in real time into how we defend and we go on offence in an era where drone dominance is required."

More details: Hegseth stressed that the US must take the lessons learned in Ukraine and on other battlefields and apply them as quickly as possible in its own military.

Ukrainska Pravda

SPRAVDI - Stratcom Centre?
?@stratcomcentre.bsky.social?
· 1h
Ukraine's Military Intelligence warns that today's ongoing Russian drone attack is likely only the preparatory phase of a forthcoming larger missile attack in the coming hours.

Specifically, this attack is said to likely focus on Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure and government buildings.

As much as I hate to say it, I am glad the U.S. is stepping back from the Ukraine war. Without our weapons they would have had to surrender years ago to Putin but they don’t seem very grateful for any of that support. It’s all “what have you done for me lately?” while Europe has skated by doing the minimum while acting like they have the moral high ground and shitting on anything American because Trump won’t just write them a blank check or open up our remaining stockpiles of weapons for Ukraine to burn through at an unsustainable pace and then cry about being short on ammunition. Biden already did that and we see what good it did. Ukraine needs to give up the Donbas (they hold maybe 10% so it’s gone already) and end this ridiculous war. I’m just over it all. Let it be Europe’s problem and see just how long they pay the bill before they abandon Ukraine. The simple fact as I see it is that neither Russia, nor Ukraine really care to end this war because both sides have ridiculous expectations. Russia thinks it still will get all of Ukraine (they won’t), while Ukraine thinks they will get the land they lost in the east and south back (they won’t). So we are at an impasse where all we are doing is burning money and weapons on an endless war. We need to be ready for China if lord forbid that ever goes to a shooting war because our NATO “allies” will be nowhere to be found in the event of a war with China. We are better served trying to build relationships and ironclad defense partners with the Indo-Pacific countries. I’d much rather a coalition with South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Australia, Singapore, etc than waste another second on NATO. Let them find out just how big of a joke NATO is without the United States arsenal backing them up.

This is the refinery in Perm, not the pumping station. Both have been hit repeatedly and are now shut down, but it's easy to get confused due to the number of attacks every night.

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Reuters said Russia’s Perm refinery fully halted operations after a May 7 Ukrainian drone attack. The plant emergency-stopped 3 primary crude processing units and part of its secondary units, with repairs expected to take several weeks and no clear restart timeline. Permnefteorgsintez, owned by Lukoil, is Russia’s seventh-largest refinery by crude processing volume.

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The Russians are getting too close to the eastern borders.

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800 drones in one night reaching Uzhhorod - 10 km from the Slovak border - is the number that forced that decision. when strikes land that close to EU territory, a neighbor closing crossings isn't political, it's a straightforward force protection call for border personnel

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a drone strike close enough to the border to trigger a Hungarian diplomatic response is a different category of incident - NATO Article 5 geography starts mattering when the miss radius overlaps with member state territory

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Mmmm... I'm gonna mash that Follow button on this guy. This is what the Big Boys talk about when they get together.

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On May 5, I opened a Ukraine - US defence tech forum in D.C. - 100+ investors, policymakers, and defence execs in the room. Hosted by @generalcherry , @defencebuilder , DiiaCity Union, and Ukraine House

Three things defined the conversation:

> 80% of Russian strikes on the front line are neutralized by non-exquisite equipment. Europe and the Middle East are already signing JVs with Ukrainian companies. The US has yet to catch up

> @generalcherry downed a $16M Russian Ka-52 with a $1,200 fiber-optic drone

The lifecycle of a drone is three weeks. What you're buying isn't a product - it's a living ecosystem rebuilt daily on the front line

> Investing in Ukrainian defence is no longer charity Joint ventures are the next step. Once export opens fully, this sector will double Ukraine's $6-7B IT export figures

The gap between allied demand and proven technology supply is real

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Just shook hands with General @YadlinAmos former head of Israeli Military Intelligence

Two notes from the conversation:

> Israel built their edge under decades of existential pressure. We've been doing the same for four years just at a completely different speed

> You don't get this kind of technology sitting in an office. You get it when failure costs lives and iteration happens overnight

From someone who's been through it - that means more than any award

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Paranoid Putin’s war is unravelling



Battlefield data analyzed by The Telegraph suggest the Kremlin’s war machine is under serious strain.

After years of grinding, attritional offensives and a high number of casualties, Russia’s battlefield momentum has slowed sharply in recent months. In some sectors, it is reversing altogether.

In April, Russian forces suffered a net territorial loss in Ukraine, the first such setback since Ukraine’s incursion into Kursk in 2024, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

The Washington-based think tank assessed that Moscow lost control of 46 square miles over the month...

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Here is what the Trump GOP is doing for Ukraine - fighting against supporting them every inch of the way.

That's the GOP legacy. Taking orders from a compromised pedophile.

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Dems have accomplished more with discharge petitions than the GOP House has done as the majority.

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Good to hear there's still some decent americans left.

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Senate will also pass it. Real question is whether Trump will veto. My guess is he will stay loyal to Putin and veto. To hell with Congress and the American people.

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About damn time. I am EMBARRASSED BY MY COUNTRY!!!!

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"It unclear how exactly these systems reached Ukraine." I bet it is.

We'll wait and see if these were smuggled out of China (doubtful) or originated elsewhere. If elsewhere, the suppliers would still need permission from Beijing. Serial numbers, etc. Either way, Moscow will not be happy.

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The suspects -

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Ordered from Alibaba. Perhaps they just ordered some containers of night vision goggles and got these as complimentary gifts.

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They fell off a truck in Brooklyn.

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Black market or TEMU ?

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