Even something as simple and common as copper wire is made in China.
*exclusively*

Ukrainian prankster infiltrates Russian Industry and Trade Ministry drone meeting, hears official say 90% of electrical components are foreign — Meduza A Ukrainian prankster infiltrated a private Russian Industry and Trade Ministry meeting held by video conference. Yevhen Volnov published the video on April 17; the Telegram channel Astra drew attenti...

meduza.io/en/news/2026...

Russia Needs a Sustained $100 Barrel to Bridge Its War Budget Gap, Sweden Reveals Russia's wartime economy shows signs of strain. Despite oil price boosts, defense spending strains finances.

However, at the same time, Ukraine is destroying Russia's ability to refine, store, and distribute oil for revenue.
So there is also that.

united24media.com/latest-news/...

From the UkraineWarVideoReport community on Reddit: Tuapse, the latest update Explore this post and more from the UkraineWarVideoReport community

Wow, the oil fires at Tuapse aren't anywhere close to being extinguished.
Still going strong.
Many Russians still filming and distributing videos.
Spreading the good news of Russian failure.

www.reddit.com/r/UkraineWar...

"Ukraine dug in. They continued to innovate, and gained superiority in drone warfare at the short, medium, and long ranges. As a result, the front lines have remained essentially stabile, while Russia is scraping the bottom of the barrel for manpower and losing more people than it is recruiting."

"THE END OF 2024 LOOKED GRIM FOR UKRAINE: President Trump was promising no further aid, and Hungary under Viktor Orbán was vowing to block any further European Union financial support."

Ukraine’s Second Miracle Year The war isn’t won, but for the first time in years, outright victory seems possible.

No more stupid, irrational talk of Russia's 'inevitable victory'.
From here on out, we will only be talking about Ukraine's 'inevitable victory'.
As God intended.

www.thebulwark.com/p/ukraines-s...

Rapid Ranger boosts Ukraine's air defense against Shahed drones Read more

newsukraine.rbc.ua/news/rapid-r...

'Oh, you are developing a new communications system? Cool. Let's see how it works from the inside.' --- Ukrainian Hacker, probably.

Russia will never take Ukraine.
If Russia doesn't find a way to leave Ukraine, Russia will eventually bleed to death.
The Russian ethnic culture is now in a death spiral.
Russia's only hope for a future is to leave Ukraine and work hard on raising its birthrate.
Otherwise, they slowly disappear.

How long would it take Russia to seize Ukraine? UN rep gives a blunt answer Read more

"for every square kilometer of Ukrainian territory captured, Russia loses an average of 254 troops.
For comparison, during the Winter War of 1939-1940, the cost was roughly a hundred times lower."

newsukraine.rbc.ua/news/how-lon...

Good.
Ukraine has the cards.
Ukraine's world reputation is now exceeding that of the U.S.
Make U.S. officials travel to Kyiv.

"Striking such key stations directly reduces the Russian Federation’s ability to form export shipments of oil and fulfill contractual obligations. The balance of raw materials is disrupted, logistics and storage costs are rising, and there is a risk of supply disruptions."

Less oil revenue.

“At this station, high- and low-sulfur crude oil from various fields is blended to produce the Urals export grade. The facility is a key component of Russia’s oil transportation infrastructure,” the source said."

SSU drones strike Samara oil terminal, which processes Urals crude for export Last night, drones of the Special Operations Center "А" of the Security Service of Ukraine caused a massive fire at the Samara line-production dispatch station in the town of Prosvet, Samara region, R...

www.ukrinform.net/rubric-ato/4...

Dua Lipa helps purchase vehicle for First Separate Medical Battalion The British singer of Albanian origin, Dua Lipa, along with her media platform Service95, helped raise funds for a vehicle for the First Separate Medical Battalion. — Ukrinform.

I know very little about Dua Lipa, but she's using her fame to support Ukraine, and especially medically, so that's very cool.

www.ukrinform.net/rubric-socie...

War update: 174 combat clashes over past day, fiercest fighting in Pokrovsk, Huliaipole sectors A total of 174 combat engagements between Ukraine’s Defense Forces and Russian invaders were recorded on the front line over the past day, April 20. — Ukrinform.

3,232 Russian artillery shells expended yesterday.
Back up to the average of 3,292 shells that I arbitrarily selected a couple of weeks ago as a baseline.
So no real evidence of a dramatic sustained decrease in Russian artillery shells expended yet.

www.ukrinform.net/rubric-ato/4...

5th day of very high Russian artillery losses.

It looks like the Super Tucano won, but the software and the battle they set up wasn't accurate enough.
The Mustang has a speed advantage which wasn't made full use of, things like that.
But still kinda interesting.
Shows that the Super Tucano can be considered a Warbird.

A-29B Super Tucano: Can It Out-Dogfight Warbirds? | DCS WORLD YouTube video by Grim Reapers

Simulated gaming air-to-air Super Tucano vs P-51 Mustang.

Somebody should make a game where you can choose any type of aircraft and go after Shahed drones in it.
Good training for the kids. 😁

www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOIT...

It's amazing how quickly new things can get developed in a war climate.

Ukraine pushing to produce home-grown ballistic defense system 'within a year,' Zelensky says Kyiv's intention to pursue such a system is not new, but the announcement marks the first time officials have attached such an ambitious timeline to the effort.

"Ukraine, with support from its European partners, aims to develop an anti-ballistic missile air defense system "within a year," seeking to reduce its reliance on the U.S.-made Patriot system, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on April 19 on national television."

kyivindependent.com/ukraine-push...

I used the Zero Japanese fighter just for fun, because it looks cool.
In reality, I would just have the U.S. or anybody buy Embraer Super Tucano aircraft.
Brand new.
Low cost.
Low maintenance.
High speed.
Proven record.

"Some missiles missed their targets, while operators symbolically played “Our Father Is Bandera” through the static."

When I was a jammer in the Army for a short while, I would slap in a tape of AC/DC to use for jamming.
10,000 watts.
Highway to Hell.
Rock N Roll Damnation.

"to disrupt Kinzhal hypersonic missiles by jamming their satellite navigation, forcing them to rely on less accurate guidance"

This implies that the Kinzhal's internal navigation is utter shite.

“This allows the system to neutralize drones and missiles that have already broken through the outer interception ring. In this way, a multi-level, layered defense is created. significantly increases the percentage of enemy strike weapons that do not reach the target during attacks,”

"Since the system was first put into operation, the total number of Kinzhal missiles it has neutralized has reached 58. Reports from the first quarter of 2026 also indicate that Lima has repelled 33 cruise missiles and more than 10,000 drones."

Awesome.

Ukraine’s Lima EW System Diverts 26 Kinzhal Missiles in 2026, 58 in Total Ukraine's Lima system, a strategic electronic warfare tool, has neutralized 26 Kinzhal missiles and 33 cruise missiles in Q1 2026.

united24media.com/latest-news/...

Cheap to produce.
Sips fuel.
Highly maneuverable.
Low maintenance.
Long range and endurance.
Cool rotary engine.
Grass fields, short take-off and landing runs,
any road will do.
Who needs armor against drones?
Self-sealing fuel tanks? Why?
Man against Machine.