Russia Invades Ukraine. Again
POSTED BY: captaincrunch
UPDATED: Sunday, September 6, 2026 21:09
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Ukrainian drone pilot training program turned into a video game so anyone can "feel the rush" of modern warfare
By Archie Clarke
February 6, 2026 / 11:57 AM EST / CBS News
London — Gamers around the world can now buy and play at home a pared-down version of a first-person drone training program developed and used by the Ukrainian armed forces. The game's evolution — from battlefield training tool to home entertainment — is a notable first, and it is tied directly to Ukraine's ongoing efforts to repel Russia's four-year, full-scale invasion.
"Ukrainian Fight Drone Simulator" (UFDS) is available to buy online for about $30.
More at https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ukraine-drone-program-now-a-video-game-fo
r-gaming-modern-warfare-rush/
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two
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Interview with Ukrainian Colonel Volodymyr Polevyi
February 7, 2026, 05:16 AM
https://english.nv.ua/nation/ukraine-withdrawing-on-pokrovsk-front-as-
russia-suffers-heavy-losses-military-50581829.html
. . . To rescue one soldier, about 20 Ukrainians may be involved in pulling that wounded person out. The Russians have a completely different concept and a completely different approach. They send people one way and tell them to shoot themselves so there is no need to worry, fear or think about what to do with their wounds. You must move forward regardless; no one will extract you. Your task is to assault.
These are two fundamentally different concepts. Technology certainly helps us in this. And the more technology we have, the less need there is to storm positions with infantry, because entire sectors can genuinely be handed over to aerial drones for strikes and to ground systems for fire control.
Question — I understand you are not a psychiatrist to diagnose the enemy, but based on your impressions and reflections, how have the Russians managed to turn mobilized people into something like a zombie apocalypse — marching one way and ready to simply shoot themselves afterward?
Fear, pressure and, of course, the influence of propaganda that essentially tells people the homeland needs their death. They go to that death. It is a perverted psychology and technology, but nevertheless, it somehow works. In totalitarian societies, it works.
Imagine North Korea. It sent tens of thousands of people here simply by issuing an order: You are going to die in Ukraine tomorrow. They went and died. Now they are heroes in North Korea. What interests were they fighting for? What were North Koreans fighting for?
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two
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Russia tries to reactivate blocked Starlink terminals
February 7, 2026, 10:46 AM
https://english.nv.ua/nation/russia-trying-to-reactivate-blocked-starl
ink-terminals-ukraine-adviser-50581904.html
Ukrainian Defense Ministry adviser Serhiy Beskrestnov, known by the call sign Flash, said Russian forces are trying to find ways to reactivate Starlink terminals that were recently blocked for their use on Feb. 7.
“Of course, the enemy is looking for ways to reactivate Starlink. They share ideas in their groups, and then those posts circulate in our groups. All of their ideas are trivial: send someone to an administrative service center for money, use a fictitious LLC, remove Starlink from a captured drone, and so on,” Beskrestnov wrote on his Telegram channel.
He said Ukrainian authorities were aware of these risks and had developed ways to counter them.
“All of these Starlink terminals will be blocked — we know how. As for those who want to try to make ‘easy money’ for the enemy, they face imprisonment, and not a short one. This is not setting a car on fire and running away. This is going to an administrative service center and effectively documenting your crime for the court. So my advice to traitors is: don’t even try,” the defense minister’s adviser added.
Launch of Starlink terminal verification in Ukraine and its impact on invaders
On Feb. 2, Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov announced the launch of Starlink terminal verification in Ukraine. He said that only verified and registered terminals will operate in the country, while all others will be disconnected to counter the use of Starlink by Russian forces.
SpaceX founder Elon Musk agreed to help Ukraine address the issue.
On Feb. 5, Defense Ministry technology adviser Serhiy “Flash” Beskrestnov said Russian troops halted assaults in many sections of the front line due to the mass shutdown of Starlink satellite communications, calling the situation a “catastrophe” for the enemy.
Later the same day, Fedorov confirmed that Starlink terminals used by Russian forces in the war against Ukraine had already been blocked, while registration of Ukrainian terminals, including through administrative service centers, is ongoing.
Read also:
Starlink shutdown exposed scale of Russian dependence on the system – Flash
https://english.nv.ua/nation/starlink-shutdown-exposed-russian-depende
nce-triggered-panic-ukraine-adviser-50581820.html
Read also:
Starlink block may reduce Russian strikes on railways and Pokrovsk-Pavlohrad route – ISW
https://english.nv.ua/nation/isw-says-blocking-russian-starlink-may-we
aken-strikes-on-ukraine-s-rear-logistics-50581511.html
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Russia was never supposed to have Starlink, so why did SpaceX wait so long to cut it off?
5:51 pm, February 6, 2026
https://meduza.io/en/feature/2026/02/07/russia-was-never-supposed-to-h
ave-starlink-so-why-did-spacex-wait-so-long-to-cut-it-off
So what does the cutoff mean for Russia’s frontline units?
As noted above, both armies primarily use satellite connectivity to transmit live drone footage to commanders. This enables them to direct small assault squads and receive real-time intelligence from the field.
Satellite links also help manage logistics under challenging conditions, where enemy drones monitor supply routes many kilometers behind the front lines. Without satellite channels to transmit heavy data loads, supplying frontline troops would be even more difficult.
However, there are other high-speed Internet options. Before Starlink, Russian command posts (especially those located near Ukrainian territories occupied back in 2014–2015) used civilian fiber-optic networks and extended them to frontline positions. They’ve also created radio repeater networks to extend communication ranges. Both sides use relay drones to extend UAV ranges.
These communications systems are, of course, far less convenient and more labor-intensive than commercial satellite networks.
Are there any Starlink alternatives for Russia?
There are only a few companies in the world that provide high-speed satellite Internet with low signal lag. Roughly a dozen others are at various stages of building their own networks, including Russia’s Starlink alternative, Rassvet (“Dawn”).
However, the Russian project is far behind. Although it was expected to be online by 2027, production of the low-orbit satellites for the constellation hasn’t started yet. Russia’s existing civilian and military satellites are also unsuitable as alternatives to Starlink due to low Internet speeds, high signal latency, and insufficient bandwidth.
From a political perspective, China’s Starlink competitors may appear to be a viable alternative for the Russian military (even if their devices are smuggled into the country). However, even the country’s top project, the Shanghai-based “Thousand Sails” (Qianfan) network, has encountered problems. Launch delays in 2025 mean it’s unlikely to provide global coverage by 2027, as planned.
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Putin’s drones are not up to par: Engines fail after hours, not days
By Kathrine Frich | Feb 8, 2026
https://www.dagens.com/war/putins-drones-are-not-up-to-par-engines-fai
l-after-hours-not-days
Ukrainian specialists are getting an unexpected look inside the technology used against them. What they are finding, they say, reveals sharp differences in quality and durability. The assessments come from engineers who are repairing captured and damaged drone components for reuse.
Repairing for the front
The Ukrainian ZAMPOTECH Foundation is running a project aimed at supporting the armed forces by restoring engines recovered from Russian Shahed and Geran drones.
According to the foundation, refurbishing a single operational engine takes about two weeks and typically requires usable parts taken from three or four damaged units. The repaired engines are then donated for Ukrainian military use.
Quality compared
ZAMPOTECH engineers say most Shahed and Geran drones are powered by MD550 four-cylinder piston engines, allowing the aircraft to reach speeds of around 185 km/h.
Based on their analysis, engines assembled in Iran are the most durable and reliable. Russian- and Chinese-made replacements, however, perform significantly worse.
“The Russian engine operates for a maximum of four to five hours, which is enough for one or two flights. Only the Chinese engine has worse performance, flying for about one and a half to two hours before it completely seizes up,” ZAMPOTECH said in a statement.
Simplified design
According to the Ukrainian engineers, the inferior performance suggests that Russian manufacturers simplified the original Iranian design to cut costs and speed up production.
ZAMPOTECH’s analysis found that several components had been removed from Russian-made versions of the engine, including the starter motor and the heavy flywheel, reducing durability and operational lifespan.
The foundation says these changes make the engines far less reliable under combat conditions.
From Shahed to Geran
Russia initially relied exclusively on Iranian-made Shahed drones, which it began stockpiling as early as 2021, according to a Bloomberg report cited in the article.
Over time, Moscow acquired production technologies and began manufacturing its own versions, known as Geran drones, at facilities in the Russian region of Tatarstan.
Although Iran sold Russia a license to produce the drones, journalist Lukasz Michalik notes that Tehran is not responsible for subsequent design changes introduced by Russian manufacturers.
Sources: ZAMPOTECH Foundation, Bloomberg, WP.
https://tech.wp.pl/wyciagaja-je-z-dronow-rosjan-mowia-otwarcie-ile-sa-
warte,7251042826905984a
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Parts of Ukraine’s defense industrial base (DIB) have achieved self-sufficiency such that Ukraine can start exports to the West. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated on February 8 that Ukraine is opening its military exports and will open 10 export centers in northern European states and the Baltic states in 2026.[17] Zelensky did not specify which weapons Ukraine will export, but stated that Ukraine will start to jointly produce Ukrainian drones in Germany in mid-February 2025 and that Ukraine and the United Kingdom (UK) have opened joint production lines in the UK. Ukraine began in 2023 to pursue its long-term objective of ensuring the self-sufficiency of its DIB such that Ukraine could be less reliant on foreign military provisions in the future.[18] Western security and financial aid to Ukraine in the past years helped the Ukrainian DIB in these endeavors, and ISW assessed in early 2024 that Ukraine would require considerable Western military assistance for several years before Ukraine achieved self-sufficiency. Ukrainian exports, as well as joint European-Ukrainian and US-Ukrainian production, are mutually beneficial, as the West can use Ukraine’s experience fighting a 21st-century war with an accelerated offense-defense technological cycle to bolster its defenses and own DIBs.
https://understandingwar.org/research/russia-ukraine/russian-offensive
-campaign-assessment-february-8-2026/
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Russian military promises $240 to Ukrainians who register Starlink terminals
Ukrainians who participate in Russian schemes to illegally register Starlink terminals face 15 years to life imprisonment, warns Ukraine’s defense technology advisor
by Maria Tril 09/02/2026
"Traitors are rightly hesitant, because we will cross-check the numbers of Starlinks captured from the enemy with data from administrative service centers, and these 'lovers of easy money' will receive 15 years or life imprisonment if their Starlink causes the deaths of people," Beskrestnov said.
https://euromaidanpress.com/2026/02/09/russian-military-promises-240-t
o-ukrainians-who-register-starlink-terminals/
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Bishop links the conflict to moral and religious decline inside Russia
February 8, 2026
As the war in Ukraine grinds on, senior figures in Russia’s Orthodox Church are offering spiritual explanations for why peace remains elusive.
Church officials have framed the war in explicitly theological terms.
Spiritual causes cited
A senior cleric of the Russian Orthodox Church has claimed that interest in occult practices, “evil spirits” and abortions are preventing an end to the war in Ukraine, according to The Moscow Times.
Bishop Pitirim (Tvorogov), head of the Skopin Diocese, said these phenomena have provoked divine anger and contributed to the continuation of the conflict.
“In a country at war, a huge number of people turn to evil spirits for help,” Pitirim was quoted as saying.
Rise of the occult
According to the bishop, Russia has seen a sharp increase in what he described as occult activity.
He claimed that by 2024, “the number of clairvoyants, sorcerers, magicians, tarot readers, numerologists and fortune tellers will have tripled.”
Pitirim said demand for “occult objects” would continue to grow in 2025, suggesting that spiritual practices outside Orthodox Christianity have become increasingly widespread during wartime.
In his view, this shift has undermined the possibility of peace.
Abortion and morality
The bishop also placed responsibility on women who choose to have abortions, arguing that such decisions contribute to what he described as a broader moral collapse.
“It is not God’s will that peace be concluded in this way, because of the large number of sorcerers who have emerged and the large number of abortions, especially in recent times,” Pitirim said.
He added that Russians, in his assessment, had begun living “in a deeply immoral way.”
A familiar narrative
This is not the first time representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church have linked the war in Ukraine to moral failings.
The Moscow Times noted that Archimandrite Andrei Tkachev, a cleric known for his pro-war views, has previously argued that Russians were “unworthy of peace and happiness” because of what he described as moral degradation.
“Because of depravity, wars arise. And we will not have peace until we repent,” Tkachev said on an earlier occasion.
Church and war rhetoric
In January, the Russian Orthodox Church organized a nationwide prayer campaign aimed at discouraging abortions.
One prayer urged believers to ask that “those possessed by thoughts of infanticide may come to their senses and be freed from this senseless darkness.”
That same month, President Vladimir Putin told Orthodox believers that Russian troops were carrying out a “holy mission” in Ukraine, saying the invasion was taking place “at the behest of God.”
https://www.dagens.com/war/russian-priest-claims-evil-spirits-and-abor
tions-hinder-peace-in-ukraine
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Ukraine promised 4 gigawatts of new power. Private firms built most of what exists (INFOGRAPHICS)
Corruption froze the tender meant to let businesses fill the gap.
By Peeter Helme | Feb 9, 2026
https://euromaidanpress.com/2026/02/09/ukraine-power-crisis-corruption/
Ukraine imported $1.7 billion worth of gas-fired power plant equipment over four years of full-scale war—enough, on paper, for 1.6 gigawatts of new generation capacity. By January 2026, only 500–600 megawatts actually works, according to Ekonomichna Pravda’s customs data analysis. And the state built barely any of it.
“Zelenskyy’s gigawatt”—as Ukrainians dubbed the president’s December 2023 pledge to build 1,000 MW of new maneuverable generation by winter—has become a measure of how far political promises travel before they hit the ground. That original target later grew to four gigawatts “in the coming years.”
The state’s own project portal lists 144 planned projects totaling 3.68 GW, with a budget of 143 billion hryvnia ($3.3 billion). Almost none are finished.
Former Ukrenergo chairman Volodymyr Kudrytskyi—who synchronized Ukraine’s grid with Europe in the first weeks of the invasion and was dismissed in September 2024 in what critics called political retaliation—told Texty that government efforts and state companies delivered just 10–15% of the capacity that came online in 2025. Private businesses built the rest—roughly 85–90% of what actually generates electricity today.
The installation bottleneck
The customs data tells a story of massive private-sector investment. Cogeneration equipment imports surged from $22 million in 2021 to an estimated $940 million in 2025—a 43-fold increase. Transformers, diesel generators, and gas-fired mini power plants flooded into the country.
The actual operational figure—500–600 MW per Kudrytskyi, or up to 762 MW per the Energy Ministry—tells you how wide the execution gap runs.
But importing a power plant and connecting it to the grid are different things. Equipment can sit in warehouses for months awaiting installation, certification, and grid connection. At an average cost of roughly $1.1 million per megawatt, the $1.7 billion in imported cogeneration stations should yield about 1.6 GW. The actual operational figure—500–600 MW per Kudrytskyi, or up to 762 MW per the Energy Ministry—tells you how wide the execution gap runs.
The ministry’s figure is the highest among competing government capacity estimates. Vice Prime Minister Oleksii Kuleba puts the number at 570 MW. The State Energy Efficiency Agency says about 500 MW.
The discrepancy matters: the ministry that claims the most is the same one engulfed in the Energoatom corruption scandal—an affair that toppled two ministers, forced the resignation of presidential chief of staff Andriy Yermak in late November 2025, and triggered Zelenskyy’s largest wartime government reshuffle.
The tender that corruption froze
Recognizing it could not build four gigawatts alone, the government launched a competition inviting private companies to construct gas-fired power plants of 5–80 MW each. Ukrenergo would compensate capital costs—up to €855,000 per megawatt—over ten years.
The first round targeted 700 MW. In April 2025, winners were announced for over 300 MW. Then, the commission stopped meeting. Most proposals were rejected. In December, the commission’s chairman, Yurii Sheik, was detained on corruption charges related to a scheme at Energoatom.
The Energoatom affair runs deeper than one arrested chairman.
The tender was blocked for eight months. The government allowed it to resume only at the end of 2025. By then, business confidence in state-run energy tenders had taken a beating—during the very winter when those megawatts were needed most.
The Energoatom affair runs deeper than one arrested chairman. Euromaidan Press reported in November that one energy expert estimated the corruption scheme’s real scale at up to $1 billion—ten times NABU’s official $100 million figure.
The scandal reached Zelenskyy’s inner circle: his
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Russo-Ukrainian war, day 1447: Ukraine secures commitments for 250 Western fighter jets, including 150 Swedish Gripens and 100 French Rafales
https://euromaidanpress.com/2026/02/10/russo-ukrainian-war-day-1447-uk
raine-secures-commitments-for-250-western-fighter-jets-including-150-swedish-gripens-and-100-french-rafales/
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