Russia - Ukraine war part ll. News and Discussions

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The war is NOT going well for Russia. Ukraine is now the strongest military in Europe. Russia losing 30,000+ dead and wounded every month. Total stalemate at the front line. Ukraine hitting a ton of Russian AD at operational depths and smashing targets in Russia almost daily.

Putin needs to call it a day, it’s getting embarrassing for them.
 
Footage of a Russian FPV drone striking a Ukrainian naval drone of an unknown model. The video was filmed near the Kinburn Spit in the Black Sea, near Crimea. The Ukrainian naval drone is based on a boat and is armed with, presumably, six RPO-A Shmel flamethrowers. It also has the capability to launch FPV drones.

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Ukraine is now striking targets in the Moscow region

And Moscow has the means to level Kiev if it wanted to.
 
The war is NOT going well for Russia. Ukraine is now the strongest military in Europe. Russia losing 30,000+ dead and wounded every month. Total stalemate at the front line. Ukraine hitting a ton of Russian AD at operational depths and smashing targets in Russia almost daily.

Putin needs to call it a day, it’s getting embarrassing for them.
You're spamming again. Stop it.
 
Scenes from Russian air defense operations during the repelling of a Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow and the Moscow region on May 17-18. Pantsir-S1/SM and Tor-M2 air defense systems were used to repel the attack. The air defenses performed well, but it was impossible to shoot down all the drones. Over the course of 24 hours, the Pantsir-S and Tor-M2 air defense systems shot down over 120 Ukrainian drones. It's worth noting that defending targets across Russia is impossible, as the country doesn't have that many air defense systems. This is currently considered the largest Ukrainian drone attack. The Ukrainian army used the Bars kamikaze jet drone, the FP-1 kamikaze UAV, the An-196 Lyuty, and other models in the attack.

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Ukraine Confirms Spread of Hantavirus Among Its Soldiers​

21 hours ago
US Biolab - Sputnik International, 1920, 18.05.2026

© Sputnik / Denis Aslanov

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MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Ukraine has confirmed that hantavirus is widespread among the military personnel of the Ukrainian armed forces in the Sumy direction, Russian law enforcement agencies told Sputnik.
"Kiev doctor Irina Semenova stated that hantavirus is widespread among the military personnel of the armed forces of Ukraine in the Sumy area. According to the medic, there are 'rodents, unsanitary conditions and weakened immunity' in the Ukrainian positions on this sector of the front, which contributes to the spread of the disease," the source said.
Law enforcement agencies have previously told Sputnik that Ukrainian border guards in the Chernigov Region were suffering regular losses from hantavirus.
Hantaviruses are a group of viruses transmitted to humans through contact with rodents. They can cause hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome and hantavirus pulmonary syndrome.

 
The Russian army continues to attack Ukrainian energy facilities. Video shows a Russian Geran-2 kamikaze drone, controlled by human operators, striking a Ukrainian 110 kV electrical substation in Kryvyi Rih.

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On May 19, according to Bloomberg, the Russian ruble has shown strong performance against the US dollar this quarter, ranking first among the world's best-performing currencies. Since early April, the ruble has appreciated by about 12%, reaching an exchange rate of 72.6 rubles to 1 US dollar.

The report noted, "Although there were previous expectations of depreciation, the ruble has shown stronger-than-expected performance for the second consecutive year. This is a result of the particularities of the Russian economy in the current global environment."

Maxim Reshetnikov, Minister of Economic Development of Russia, stated in April this year that in the coming years, the ruble's exchange rate will be "stronger than many people expect."

I remember that Russia was kicked out of the SWIFT settlement system, and Western countries imposed more than 30,000 sanctions on Russia. How is it that Russia's economy is better than before the war?

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‘Aid workers are targeted’: Russian drones strike UN convoy in Ukraine

Europe
Russian drones twice targeted a UN humanitarian mission tasked with delivering aid to civilians in the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson on May 14. In the hours following the strike, Russian military bloggers published footage of the attack, only to delete it shortly after.
Issued on: 19/05/2026 - 11:15
The FRANCE 24 Observers
/
Guillaume MAURICE

This screenshot from a video published by a Russian military blogger on Telegram on May 15, 2026, shows the moment just before a Russian kamikaze drone strikes a UN vehicle in Ukraine’s Kherson region. Location: 46°37'16.18N 32°34'35.76E
This screenshot from a video published by a Russian military blogger on Telegram on May 15, 2026, shows the moment just before a Russian kamikaze drone strikes a UN vehicle in Ukraine’s Kherson region. Location: 46°37'16.18"N 32°34'35.76"E © Telegram / osvedomitell_alex

It was 9am on May 14 when an FPV drone slammed into a convoy of white, UN-marked vehicles in southern Ukraine. The targeted humanitarian mission was being carried out by teams from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

The convoy was moving between the cities of Kherson and Ostriv when the Russian kamikaze drone suddenly struck one of the vehicles.

Read moreHow Russian drones are terrorising civilians in Ukraine

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‘We didn't see the drone coming’

The attack occurred as the humanitarian convoy was crossing the bridge connecting Kherson's port district to the Ostriv neighbourhood. The area sits nearly six kilometres from the nearest Russian positions across the Dnieper River, which separates the two armies.

This image shows the areas under Russian control (in red) and those under Ukrainian control (in green). The red circle indicates the location of the UN convoy at the time of the attack.
This image shows the areas under Russian control (in red) and those under Ukrainian control (in green). The red circle indicates the location of the UN convoy at the time of the attack. © Deep State Map

Andrea De Domenico, OCHA’s head of office in Ukraine, was in the vehicle directly behind the car targeted by the drone. He told our team:

"The first strike hit near a bridge between Kherson and Ostriv around 9am. We knew it was a dangerous crossing – completely open and highly exposed – so we were moving fast. I was filming on my phone to get footage for an update on our mission.

Just as we cleared the bridge, the drone struck the back of the convoy’s lead vehicle. We didn’t see it coming, especially since we didn't have drone detectors. Fortunately, no one was injured, and we were able to keep driving."
On May 15, the Telegram channel of Russian military blogger osvedomitell_alex, who shares updates on Russian units in the Kherson region, published the drone footage of the attack. Although the video was later deleted, the post was archived on the TGstat platform, and the footage has since been reposted by another Russian blogger.

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The drone footage is unequivocal: it shows the drone hovering over the canals of Kherson’s port before diving toward a vehicle in the convoy crossing the bridge. The UN logo is clearly visible on the door of the white vehicle. The footage has been geolocated by volunteer teams from the GeoConfirmed group.

The drone footage has been geolocated by volunteer teams with the Geoconfirmed organisation. Location: 46.623280, 32.5950
The drone footage has been geolocated by volunteer teams with the Geoconfirmed organisation. Location: 46.623280, 32.5950 © X / 99Dominik_ / Zeldamices

In the video he posted on May 15, blogger osvedomitell_alex reused the footage captured by Andrea De Domenico, which OCHA had shared on its social media the previous day.

‘The drones were hunting for us’

A second drone strike hit the Ostriv area, located in close proximity to Russian positions. This time, UN vehicles were parked outside a building. As with the first attack, footage captured by Russian drones was shared by osvedomitell_alex and then geolocated by the GeoConfirmed team.

The building where the UN vehicles were parked is a former school that had been repurposed into a humanitarian aid centre.

A Google Earth image (above) and a screenshot from the Russian drone footage (below) show the same two buildings located in Ostriv.
A Google Earth image (above) and a screenshot from the Russian drone footage (below) show the same two buildings located in Ostriv. © X / 99Dominik_ / Zeldamices

For De Domenico, this second attack is proof that the UN convoy was deliberately targeted:

"The second strike occurred twenty minutes after the first. They targeted us a second time while we were parked in front of a building where we had just delivered humanitarian aid. We were bringing food to this centre, which locals use to recharge their phones since there is no longer any electricity in Ostriv.

While I was speaking with residents inside the building, there was a loud explosion. My team came to tell me the car had been hit again. At that moment, I realised we had to leave the area, because it was clear that the drones were hunting for us. We finally managed to get away half an hour later."

‘We gave notice of our mission six days before it began’

In its Telegram post, osvedomitell_alex attempted to justify the strike on the OCHA mission. He claimed that "no official authorisation, notification, or security corridor was received for this 'humanitarian mission’. In an active combat zone, such vehicles automatically become targets".

The blogger further argued that the UN vehicles should not have been operating in the area: "Objective control footage clearly shows the vehicle driving through the red zone. Our teams immediately identified it as a priority target and a potentially dangerous object."

De Domenico said notifying both parties to the conflict is a prerequisite for every mission his teams undertake:

"As always, we notified both parties to the conflict ahead of our intervention. This time, we gave notice of our mission six days before it began. Therefore, everyone had plenty of time to adapt to our presence. Following the attack, we asked the parties what had happened. OCHA is not in a position to attribute the attack to either side, as that is not our role.

But humanitarians are not the only ones being targeted. In Kherson, drone attacks against civilians have become systematic. It is crucial for us to continue supporting the people in this region. In Ostriv, more than two hundred people are living in isolation. Often elderly and destitute, they risk their lives every day because of the drones. They are living without water or electricity. It is therefore vital to speak with these residents to understand why they refuse to leave Ostriv, which is an extremely dangerous locality.

In Kherson, as elsewhere, it is clear that the floodgates of lawlessness have been opened: aid workers are targeted in flagrant violation of international law. Drones are reshaping not only the conduct of war, but also the way crimes against civilians are committed."
This article has been translated from the original in French.
 

Ukraine Hits Moscow in Massive Strike | Petropavlivka Captured as Frontline Shifts [17 May 2026]​


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Russian Forces Push Further Into Kostyantynivka | Confusion Grows Around Borovka [18 May 2026]​


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A NATO F-16 fighter jet shot down what is believed to have been a stray Ukrainian drone over southern Estonia for the first time.

Ukraine apologised for the “unintended incident”, while Estonia says the drone was likely aimed at Russian targets. Russia has threatened retaliation.

 

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