Day 1605 War in Ukraine

 Ukraine hasn't had an election since the Russian full-scale invasion, but that doesn't mean the people don't have democratic control. Zelenskyy tries to fire Mykhailo Federove and the Ukrainian people push back hard! The protest is in Day Four now. Zelenskyy addresses the problem by assuring people that he's working to find a solution.

A Russian warehouse, cited by right-wing pundits on Xitter as equivalent to our own Amazon, was hit by Ukrainian drones. Blogger shows that the warehouse served military purposes and was thus a legitimate bombing target.

Knowing that Ukrainians are short of Patriot missiles with which they can hit Russian ballistic missiles, Russia launches up to 36 missiles.

The ceiling of a Metro station in Kyiv cracks a bit and showers debris below.

Blogger says Russians will never formally evacuate Crimea as that would tell the world that Russia is losing. Also, if Russia has to import diesel and car gasoline, that's their only real source of income.

Georgians march in drenching rain for Day 598 of protest.

“France, Germany, and the UK will explore deep precision strike cooperation” up to 2,500km deep into Russia. Trump may not like that, but Europe's going to do that anyway.

US systems are WAY behind Ukrainian systems! “We often invite Ukrainians to be our 'red team' or our enemy in training because they're really talented and we learn a lot from them.”

Damage to Russian vessels: “Total since July 6: 172 vessels hit in 13 days, with 118 in the Sea of Azov and 54 in the Black Sea.”

Various civilian buildings an an amusement park in Ukraine are hit.

Burning in Moscow region is so bad, the smoke is blocking out the sun!

https://balloon-juice.com/2026/07/18/war-for-ukraine-day-1605-a-brief-saturday-night-update/

Dat 1595 War in Ukraine

 An apparently half-awake Trump sluggishly plods by the animated Italian Prime Minister Meloni. The blogger reproduces a very lengthy excerpt from a Wall St. Journal piece about Europe's relationship with Trump. For 10 paragraphs it describes how Europeans and Canada are dealing with him. The 11^th paragraph has a Trump spokesperson describing the president. Wow! Clearly, the description given is of a completely fictional character who in no way resembles the real person. Later on, the blogger reproduces pieces where Trump confuses Zelenskyy with Putin, shows that he's terrified to place himself in any physical danger (Biden traveled to Ukraine during the war) and refers to the "Islamic Republic of Japan." Again, he and his portrayal by his spokesperson have nothing in common.

Ukraine shoots down 139 out of 169 drones. Unfortunately, all of the missiles made it through.

Georgians distribute a newspaper based on the letters of prisoners.

Georgia has been requested by the Hague to make free and fair elections available to Georgian citizens.

Interesting how many European politicians were formerly associate with banks.

Blogger feels the US will be “weaker and poorer and less secure” after Trump leaves office.

Makes sense: “Ukrainian defense industry has grown 54-fold since start of full-scale war.”

Ukraine is really clearing the Black and Azov Seas of Russian vessels.

Russians hit more civilian buildings, including a Philip Morris warehouse. “A cigarette warehouse - what a powerful strategic target for the Russians.“

Southern Ukraine is a hunting ground for Russian logistics vehicles.

Russia bans exporting diesel fuel, this means that Ukraine has deprived Russia of many millions of tons of diesel fuel.

https://balloon-juice.com/2026/07/08/war-for-ukraine-day-1595-nato-summit/

Day 1589 War in Ukraine

Shahed drone right after being hit with anti-aircraft fire. It crashed a few seconds later.

Last night, Ukraine was hit with 570 aerial weapons. 524 knocked down, but the ones that landed did a lot of damage. Ukraine is short of Patriot interceptor missiles and has put out the call to nearly 40 nations to please supply whatever they can.

The UN Human Rights Council receives the High Commissioner’s report on Georgia.

The most serious consequence of Trump's war of choice against Iran is that Europe only has so much time to get its heating oil stocks up the levels needed to keep all of its citizens warm this winter. One of the problems is that Ukraine has considered heating oil supplies to be a matter of national security whereas Europe has seen it as a matter best handled by the free market. Blogger adds: “Trump’s ignorance and incompetence is likely to have weakened Europe, which, of course, only benefits Putin.”

Extensive list of civilian targets struck by Russia last night.

“An associate professor at a leading military academy turned out to be an agent of Russian military intelligence.”

Ukraine bombs numerous military targets.

Russians review possible Ukrainian amphibious invasion of Crimea.

Russians battle each other over scarce gasoline supplies. Lines to put a few liters of gasoline into one's car stretch for 4.3km and can take well over 24 hours to wait in.

https://balloon-juice.com/2026/07/02/war-for-ukraine-day-1589-the-aftermath/

 

Day 1586 War in Ukraine

Young Russian resident of Moscow is baffled as to why the gas stations all seem to be out of fuel. Blogger: “This is what happens when the entire information environment in a state and society is essentially Fox News and fellow travelers.”

In Georgia, Elene Khoshtaria is moved out of prison and to a civilian medical clinic as her life was in serious jeopardy.

“Following his talks with Putin, Lukashenko arrived in China to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.”

Ukrainian businessman Vadim Yermolayev was the likely target of a bombing in Monaco.

Peruvians hired by “Russia to work as cooks, security guards, or construction workers, only to find themselves on the front lines in Ukraine.” This is also happening to young Russians. They believe they're going to work well in back of the front lines, only to find themselves rushing directly at Ukrainian front lines. Hmm, Xitter is featuring lots of pieces saying “Russia is winning!” A bit difficult to square that with using deception to drag people into the fighting.

Putin's “Superyacht” spotted traveling through Denmark to get to the North Sea.

General Syrskyi (equivalent to our Chairman of the Joint Chiefs) sketches out the goals of the armed forces of Ukraine. 1. Eliminate 1k or more a day of Russian troops 2. Weaken Russia's economy, especially by striking oil extraction and refinement capabilities 3. Deep, “middle range” strikes more than 250km to disrupt supplies to troops.

Remote-controlled air defense machine gun, presumably so a single operator can keep track of several such stations.

Good priorities – 100k for a captured occupier, 15k for a dead one.

Russians hitting supply lines to Sumy.

Putin has been protecting the Russian population from any real effects of the war, especially in Moscow and St. Petersburg, so those same people are now suddenly being exposed to the war.

“A russian drone struck a civilian minibus in Zaporizhzhia, killing three people and injuring six others, including a child.”

Ukraine hits targets on Russia's “land bridge” to Crimea.

Russian passenger flights are suffering a lack of spare parts and fuel.

Lot of Russian stuff blowing up.

https://balloon-juice.com/2026/06/29/war-for-ukraine-day-1586-the-cost/

Day 1582 War in Ukraine

Minute-long film clip shows a grocery store that's not completely bare, but that has lots of empty shelves. Clearly, it's not going to be restocked until Crimea is back in Ukrainian hands.

Will Ukraine strike heating oil supplies? The blogger considers that unlikely as the military doesn't really benefit from that. It's not a “dual-use” thing.

Droa party leader Elene Khoshtaria and her health while imprisoned.

Poland and Ukraine pursuing joint projects.

Ukraine gets first €3,2B tranche of the €90B Ukraine Support Loan.

“Q: 'Russia accusing US of failing to deliver on agreements reached in Alaska.'" Very interesting charge. Is SecState Rubio's word conclusive proof or did Trump make deals without telling anyone?

“Kharkiv, Sumy, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk, and Poltava regions were all under russian attack overnight and into the morning. Russia targeted civilian infrastructure, homes, and gas stations.”

In Crimea, transportation comes to a near-complete halt and a weakened air defense means targets are being hit at will. Long line of cars trying to leave Crimea.

Lots of wrecked vehicles pushed off of the road in the “land corridor” to Crimea.

Kilburn Spit is abandoned, but Ukrainians haven't occupied it yet.

Ukraine applies “drone sanctions” to oil refineries up to 1,500 km away.

https://balloon-juice.com/2026/06/25/war-for-ukraine-day-1582-the-next-rond-of-ballistic-missile-attacks/

Day 1581 War in Ukraine

Russian civilians lined up at Kerch railway station, trying to get out of Crimea before they have to compete with the army for food.

Ukrainian vs Russian drone launches.

Bridge at Kerch that connects Crimea to the mainland will likely not survive the war. Not just because Ukrainians didn't build it, but also because it was built without regard for the ground underneath it.

Russia pressuring Belarus to open up new front.

“Belarus relay stations Russia used to support attacks on Ukraine’s western regions have ceased operating....“  Zelenskyy told Lukashenko to stop running those relay stations. “The power dynamic between Ukraine, Belarus and Russia has changed, as Lukashenko's fold on the issue“

“Poland's Foreign Minister Sikorski warned that Russia may stage a false-flag attack”

Trump seems to warm up to the idea of switching sides away from his good buddy Putin.

When Russia launches strikes at cities, there are warning sirens. There are none in the countryside. “Russian drone bombed a house in Ukraine. Just a house. At 4 am , when the family slept.”

Highway in Crimea abandoned as there's no gas for driving.

Russian stuff blowing up.

Lots of Russian triumphalist postings on Xitter, but Russia oil production decreased 25% from last year at this time.

Russian gas processing facility hit from 1,500km away.

https://balloon-juice.com/2026/06/24/war-for-ukraine-day-1581-crimean-earthquake/ 

Day 1580 War in Ukraine

 Ukrainian farmer must keep drone detection device on his tractor and needs to monitor it while working.

Putin is convinced he's winning. Who's going to tell him otherwise?

“The European Court of Human Rights has ruled today that Russia tortured and killed Georgian soldiers during the 2008 war “

Georgian Droa Party leader is in deteriorating health in prison.

Hungary is backsliding into again becoming the one “No” vote for NATO.

British Army can react to a Russian attack upon N ATO within 30 minutes.

Senator Durbin asks why the US had a representative at the Russian Economic Dvelopment Conference while Ukraine bombed oil refineries within hearing distance.

The Atlantic reports on the Ukrainian underground resistance in Russian-occupied cities like Mariupol. Getting new phones is a major logistical effort as all commercial phones are sold with bugging devices built in.

Russian attacks on civilians.

Cutting Crimea off from the mainland. Amazingly, some Russians still try to get INTO Crimea!

Ukraine has carried out 21 strikes on road and railway bridges leading into Crimea.

Russian students who sign contracts to be drone operators then transferred to infantry to help with mass assaults.

Putin says he is ready for peace negotiations with Ukraine. Problem is that he wants to continue from the 2022 negotiations as though no time had passed.

Ukraine slams Russian industrial assets.

https://balloon-juice.com/2026/06/23/war-for-ukraine-day-1580-high-on-his-own-supply/