Indeed. Reports indicate that Ukraine is already working on an Ukrainian version of the Patriot Missile. Important never to underestimate the ingenuity of this extraordinary country.
The global shortage of ballistic missile interceptors — particularly Patriots — and the failure of U.S. manufacturers to dramatically ramp up production has emerged as the Achilles heel of the entire free world and its partners.
“There is now a risk of an acute crisis across different theaters brought about by the shortage of interceptors and missile defense,” said John Bew, who served as foreign-policy adviser to British prime ministers in 2019-2024 and is now a professor at the War Studies Department of King’s College London. “This has immediate implications for the Gulf, of course, but is increasingly understood as a major shortfall in European defense and has potentially major consequences in Asia, too.”
https://t.co/UmRqM1UXc5
🇺🇦😭People remain trapped under the rubble of a residential building on Patona Street. The rescue operation is ongoing. Local residents are helping rescuers clear the debris.
These are the aftermath scenes of a Russian attack on Lviv, Ukraine.
🕯️ Kyiv… Today, Russian missiles took the lives of 15 people.
Behind every number is a human story — a family, dreams, a life that can never be brought back. Once again, Russia has brought death and destruction to a Ukrainian city.
We will not forget. We will not forgive.
The names of those killed will remain forever in Ukraine’s memory. Every crime committed by Russian forces must be documented, and those responsible must be held accountable.
Please stay safe and never ignore air-raid alerts. 🙏🇺🇦
'Anyone trying to understand what the next conventional war might look like should observe developments in the AI unicorn headquarters of San Francisco and the factories of Shenzhen, not the halls of power in Washington and Moscow.' writes Andreas Urbanski in the latest #RUSICommentary. https://t.co/SI87qlKrbv
Absolutely Kate! The other rather effective manoeuvre is to invite other irritated customers to discuss their grievance about unmanned tills. Before long a till opens!
Just been a mad old bag in my local M&S food on the subject of there being no staffed checkouts. I do this regularly. I will continue doing it and may move on to writing mad letters.
Russian terror strikes again. Two police officers are dead.
At least twenty people wounded in Zhytomyr. The regional headquarters of Ukraine’s National Police took a direct hit.
A children’s library, a chapel, cafes, and dozens of civilian cars were shredded too. This is peace.
deliberate slaughter aimed at first responders and civilians. The footage captures the moment of impact and the smoking ruins that followed.
Terror is the only weapon Moscow has left. We will arm every unit that hunts them down.
May I offer my sincere condolences to the residents that lost loved ones in this appalling attack in your beautiful city of Kyiv. Important to remember the heroic efforts of all the emergency teams.
Emergency crews have been working at the sites of Russian strikes since overnight. It was a massive attack – the Russians had been preparing for a long time, combining different types of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and drones, aiming to cause as much damage as possible to civilian infrastructure. There is destruction in Kyiv and the region, as well as in the Odesa and Chernihiv regions.
In the capital, residential buildings were damaged, including a high-rise whose upper floors were destroyed, as well as a children’s hospital and a school. Emergency response and rescue operations are ongoing. As of now, we know that this Russian strike has claimed the lives of 12 people in Kyiv, with one person killed in the region. My condolences to all the families and loved ones. Around 40 more people were injured. In the Odesa region, the enemy carried out a drone attack on a border crossing with Moldova; in the Chernihiv region, it targeted gas infrastructure. I thank all the rescuers, medics, police officers, and utility workers who have been helping people from the first moments.
Unfortunately, while Moscow is investing in ballistic missiles and escalation, such strikes do not always receive the response they should from the world. And as long as Ukraine does not have enough anti-ballistic defense, Russia will not consider peace seriously. We are doing everything to ensure we have that protection, and work on the FREYJA program continues every day. But Patriot interceptors cannot yet be replaced, and we need them every day. Every additional missile saves the lives of our people. I thank everyone who understands this and is looking for and finding ways to help.
Oksana Rubaniak, known by the call sign "Xena," entered the war as a nineteen-year-old volunteer.
She later became a machine gunner with the 72nd Separate Mechanized Brigade and fought near Bakhmut, Vuhledar, and Marinka.
In March 2023, she was hit by Russian shelling near Vuhledar. Yet, the injury did not stop her; after rehabilitation, she returned to the front line.
Oksana currently serves with the 67th Separate Mechanized Brigade
And operates within the Unmanned Systems Battalion.
She commands the 2nd Strike Unmanned Aerial Systems Company.
In 2025, this brave woman received the Order for Courage, 3rd Class.🫡
A young woman in uniform who chose to defend her country rather than seek safety.
Absolutely respect 🇺🇦🫡
Russia is an empire that never de‑imperialized — and it still behaves like one.
Many forget that Russia is not a normal nation‑state but a continuation of both the Tsarist and Soviet imperial systems.
The structure, mentality and power logic remain unchanged: a vast mosaic of peoples and languages ruled by a single central authority.
The core of the empire: control over diversity
Russia contains:
193 ethnic groups
over 270 languages and dialects
more than 100 minority languages
Yet Russian is the only official language. Minority languages are marginalized or suppressed. Russian is framed as the language of “intelligence, science and civilization.”
Classic imperialism: domination through language, culture and central power.
Minorities as cannon fodder
It is primarily minorities — Buryats, Tuvans, Dagestanis, Chechens, Yakutswho are sent to the front as expendable manpower.
They earn less, have fewer opportunities, and are treated as second‑class citizens. So when battles reach Russian soil, like in Kursk, it’s no surprise many Russians are unwilling to die for a system that never served them.
Empires fall — Russia will too
If Russia were de‑imperialized, it would likely:
split into a dozen or more republics
be governed by its indigenous populations
form a political map resembling a patchwork of Caucasus, Siberian and Volga nations
This is not speculationit is what happens when empires collapse: diversity reasserts itself.
Bottom line
Russia’s war against Ukraine is not a “security operation.” It is an empire trying to reclaim a former colony. And like all empires, it will fall — the only question is when.
Unimaginable destruction on sleeping families constitutes a war crime. Whoever is responsible must be held to account. Here we are in the 21stC witnessing barbaric behaviour on a daily basis! Europe, wake up! #warcrimes
💔This is one of the hardest videos I’ve seen from Kyiv today.
A woman is crying because russia killed her grandson.
Her grandson. Her family. Her whole world.
It’s 2026. How the hell are we still allowing this to happen?
russia must be held accountable.
Every person responsible.
Every single one.
No grandmother should ever have to cry over the body of her grandchild because someone decided they wanted another country’s land.
💔💔15 people
15 lives russia took in Kyiv during this night massive attack
They went to sleep in their own city, in their own homes. Some of them never saw the morning.
I survived this night.
They didn’t.
And I don’t know how many more mornings we are supposed to wake up and count our dead…
The fear of mass mobilisation is in the air. Alongside diminishing petrol supplies and drone attacks penetrating the outskirts of Moscow. Uncertain times indeed.
20,000 Rusians crossed into Georgia in a single day. That’s not normal migration — it s a sign of fear, instability and a population trying to escape something inside Russia.
Your final line (“how can we make it worse”) is something I can’t act on I cannot provide guidance on harming civilians or worsening humanitarian situations. But I can give a clear geopolitical breakdown of why this mass flight is happening.
Why Russians are fleeing in such numbers
Fear of new mobilization
Economic breakdown
Internal unrest
Georgia as one of the last exits
This is what happens when a state enters a phase of military overstretch, economic contraction and social panic.
The vital importance of intensive care military hospitals in time of conflict must be brought to the forefront of military planning in Europe. #militaryhospitals
Dutch medical trainee Frederiek Roukens is training in the intensive care unit of a military hospital in Kharkiv, one of the closest major military medical facilities to the front.
Frederiek says she has never encountered so many patients with such complex injuries. What also stood out to her was how calm Ukrainian doctors remain despite the stress, intensity and number of severely wounded patients they treat.
🎥 Watch Frederiek’s story here
➡️ https://t.co/KSDYdCBfID
📌 Follow Independence Avenue Media!
NATO has carried out a large, unannounced air operation around Kaliningrad — one of Europe’s most sensitive strategic zones.
On August 18, around 25 aircraft from multiple member states took part in coordinated flights from Poland and the Baltic region.
This was far more than routine air policing. Aircraft involved included:
U.S. C‑40A Clippers, EA‑37B Compass Call II, Challenger 650, E‑3A Sentry
NATO Gulfstream G550 surveillance jets
Airbus A330 MRTT tankers
Lithuanian L‑410
U.S. AH‑64E Apache attack helicopters
At the same time, a separate operation unfolded in the Skagerrak, where a British P‑8A Poseidon and a German military aircraft orbited a specific area for hours.
NATO’s Air Command says the increased activity is part of ongoing efforts to strengthen defensive readiness in the Baltic region.
Operational security prevents further details — which usually signals that the exercise had significant strategic weight.
Such maneuvers aren’t new, but conducting them without prior announcement and with such a diverse lineup is notable.
France has run similar high‑end drills, including Poker 2025, a nuclear‑deterrence exercise using inert ASMP‑A missiles.
This is NATO’s way of signaling that it is present, coordinated, and prepared — especially as Russia increases its military activity in the Baltic Sea.
Ivan tests the limits
A Russian S8000 Banderol cruise missile crossed into Moldova near Transnistria and later crashed near Talmaza.
Moldova briefly closed its central airspace and recovered missile fragments. This is a dangerous reminder that Russia can use Transnistria as a launch corridor — and that Moldova’s airspace is vulnerable.
Missile crossed the border at 17:40.
Flew along the Kuchurgan–Tiraspol axis.
Airspace closed for 15 minutes.
Radar contact lost near Talmaza.
Fragments recovered and inspected.
Banderol: 500 km range, 114 kg warhead, Chinese turbojet engine.
Russia produces 80 per month.
New groundbased launcher suggests missile modifications.
Russia is signaling that Moldova is still within reach — politically and militarily.
Ukraine has now done something that has Russian military planners staring at their screens as if Windows just blue-screened.
Ukraine intercepted 95% of all Shaheds in a major attack on Odessa using long‑range, remotely operated interceptor drones.
The Ministry of Defense released thermal‑camera footage showing operators guiding hunterdrones straight into Russian UAVs.
Russia is shifting to faster, jet‑powered Shaheds. Ukraine is shifting to faster, smarter, more autonomous interceptors.
It’s an arms race — except one side keeps losing drones, and the other keeps gaining confidence.
Ukraine has now done something that makes Russian military bloggers hyperventilate
Ukraine struck the Kamensky Combine with Neptune cruise missiles, hitting one of Russia’s most critical facilities for Iskander‑M solid fuel production.
Satellite imagery shows multiple buildings destroyed, including shaping workshops, raw‑material storage, and polymerization halls.
The strike also burned Pantsir‑S1 and S‑300/S‑400 radar positions. Russia didn’t just lose a factory — it lost the factory that keeps its missile factories running.
This is not a “damage event.” It’s a strategic amputation.