Wedge

In today’s Vatnik Soup, our 400th (!), we introduce the Vatnik Archetype: the recurring character who claims to oppose war while defending invasions, claims to fight imperialism while serving Moscow, and claims to seek truth while repeating the vilest propaganda.

EU must ban all of Elons products. That’s a betrayal of epic proportions.

On a positive note, judging by how furious these fucks are and how they've brought out the real big guns to force Ukraine to stop, the strikes against Russia's oil industry are clearly having a very serious impact.

After 4 months of the Lyman counter-attack, Ukraine 🇺🇦 3rd Army Corps managed to cut russian 🇷🇺 salient north of Lyman and liberate more than 200 km2 This is one of the most important victory for Ukraine in 2026 which will delay the offensive on northern Donbas 🧵

Over the last 6 months, Ukraine launched a silent counter-offensive across a 50km front south of Pokrovske. ​By late 2025, russian forces threatened Zaporizhzhia after taking Huliaipole. Today, that push is halted, and UKR forces are reclaiming key ground. 🧵 1/5

Beautiful shots of an M113 from 13th NGU Brigade Khartiia - cage armor, nets, metal branches, mine plow. Nothing about this was in the manual. Crews rebuilt their own vehicles to survive FPVs. Legendary.

A short tale

🔥🛢️Ukrainian Shaheed-looking drones on their way to finish-off the Moscow Oil Refinery

When he's right he's right

“The Russia we have built cannot win this war. That means we need to build a different kind of Russia.” — Zakhar Prilepin, Russian nationalist writer and politician long associated with pro-government and pro-war circles

Hemingway observed in his 1926 novel The Sun Also Rises that one goes bankrupt “gradually and then suddenly.” The same can be said of armies. My latest at The Bulwark. www.thebulwark.com/p/what-a-rus...

v1.123 is live! You can now attach up to 10 photos in posts. We listened to your feedback and redesigned the photo carousel. It only appears for posts with at least 5 photos. Swipe through to learn more.

🔥Satellite images have confirmed extensive damage to the arsenal of the Russian Federation’s 1060th Logistics Support Center in the village of Bolshaya Izhora, Leningrad region, following a strike by the Ukrainian Defense Forces. militarnyi.com/en/news/befo...

1/ Ukraine appears to have attacked Russian aircraft under cover in concrete shelters, likely with drones flown into the entrances. Details are as yet scant. ⬇️

This morning's keynote at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, "Drone Sanctions and their effect on the Russian oil industry", has started. Bonus: the keynote is streaming online, for free. I hope all of the attendees are taking detailed notes.

For weeks, Irish politicians have dodged questions about the refinery in Ireland supplying russia’s war machine. So @caolanrob.bsky.social tracked down government minister Niall Collins He refuses to back sanctions & his stance was worse than I expected. Avoidance! #Alumina21

The Russian occupation in Ukraine faces a "catastrophic" situation, according to alarmed Russian warbloggers. "Total drone terror" is now taking place across the entire occupied area, with no place being safe any more. ⬇️ bsky.app/profile/spec...

A Russian military analyst says occupiers now face 20 to 70 Ukrainian drones each, making advances nearly impossible. He wraps up by wishing them luck.

The 1st Assault Regiment has published a 7+ min video on the use of a Vector UAV — which are largely funded by the German government — during their reconnaissance missions. I finally had enough time to work on English subtitles for you. Video on my YouTube channel. www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSz-...

Top: Trump with leader of democratic Ukraine. Bottom: Trump with leader of authoritarian China.

Was ein krasses Bild aus Aleppo. Auf jedem Dach steht eine Solaranlage. Syriens Stromnetz wurde durch den Krieg massiv geschwächt. Jetzt versorgen sich die Menschen mit PV einfach selbst. Ein tolles Beispiel, wie man sich selbst in schwierigster Lage, ein kleines Stück Unabhängigkeit bewahren kann🙏

BURGUM: When the sun goes down, solar produces zero electricity HUFFMAN: I want to enter into the record this amazing new technology that apparently the secretary is unaware of -- it's a battery

Ukraine is now destroying more than 30 Russian air defense systems a month. They are on pace to destroy over 300 Russian air defense systems this year.

1/5 — Reposts welcome — I’ve got one patch left over from my last raffle, so here’s another chance for you to win a unique TRML-4D Ukraine patch made by HENSOLDT. All you need to do is make a donation to a fundraising campaign that supports Ukraine.

This is what Times Square will look like when Congress or a cheeseburger finally does its job

There is now a massive street party with huge crowds dancing in Budapest. Hugs, tears and bottles opening. Orban is gone, Peter Magyar took power

Current status of the Strait of Hormuz dispute

It’s a special kind of pleasure to see a Russian investment and a MAGA endorsement backfire massively ☺️

People in the Budapest Metro, Hungary, shouting: “Russians, go home!”

🔴 BREAKING: Hungary's Viktor Orban called to congratulate Peter Magyar as the Tisza party holds a dominant 68 percent lead with over half the votes counted.

After reports of China preparing to send Iran air defence missiles, Trump warned China would have "big problems" if they did. Reminder: when Russia sent Iran drone components and target intel on US forces, Trump lifted oil sanctions on Russia. I wonder what's different 🤔

You're a foreign official campaigning in a foreign election for one preferred side, JD. Think about it. Take all the time you need.

Trump leaving the umbrella for someone else to close, because he can’t do it himself, is a perfect illustration of what he did with Iran.

Axis of Evil now very officially including Orbán's Hungary. 2 more days... 🙏

⚡️ Hungary shared intelligence and offered direct assistance to Iran following the deadly Hezbollah pager explosions. 🧵 1/4 ⬇️

With this settlement the US is worse off in every way than it was before the war; Iran is strengthened by the huge new tolls in the Straits of Hormuz, paid by the whole world. (1/14)

Reading through Szijjarto’s leaked conversations with Lavrov is vomit-inducing on its own, but when Lavrov reveals how the American side wants to get ‘Ukraine out of the way’ to resume business with Russia… I can’t. I feel despair. They are killing us, and you say this?

🤯 Hungary has been quietly lobbying to ease EU sanctions on Russia. Leaked calls obtained by The Insider show FM Péter Szijjártó discussing requests from Sergey Lavrov to remove oligarchs and entities from sanctions lists, while sharing details of EU talks.

Belgian prime minister calls for EU to normalise ties with Russia ft.trib.al/MRQlCBH

Many people don't really understand the size of the equipment Ukraine operates and why excavators are critical and why I am asking for your help with donating and sharing this message. Donation link: www.paypal.com/donate?campa...

Trump: "Finally, we honor one more American soldier, a fallen warria of world. Of wars. And really, terra.”