Ukraine Took Russia's Best Punch. Now It's Hitting Back. Harder

As the weather warms, Ukraine's military and civilians have, this winter and spring, absorbed the worst Russia could throw at them and have not just survived, but emerged stronger. 

The barbaric attacks on energy and electricity infrastructure in the dead of an historically cold winter did not lead to calls for negotiation. And rather than waiting for another set of Russian offensives, the Ukrainians took the initiative and launched counterattacks which have resulted in Russian forces losing territory. The war is not expected to end soon, but the global narrative about Russia's failure has become the norm and the supposed 'inevitability' of a Russian win is now considered a cruel joke - mostly on the hapless Russian troops who are dying as a result of it. JL

David Ignatius reports in the Washington Post:

At the Kyiv Security Forum last week European defense chiefs shared the assessment that, as one put it, “the Ukrainians have outpaced Russia in spite of being outgunned.” Ukraine currently neutralizes 70% of Russia’s drone attacks and hopes to boost that kill rate to more than 90% by the end of this year. Ukraine maintains its edge with monthly updates of its drone and electronic warfare systems. Drones account for 92% of kills, while just 3% come from artillery. Ukrainian troops held firm against Russia’s assault on the front lines last fall, and its cities survived a terrible, frigid winter despite a Russian blitz on infrastructure. Now spring has arrived: It’s warm again, and the power is still on. Ukraine has taken Russia’s heavy punch without buckling.

Moscow May 9 Parade To Have No Armored Vehicles, Few Troops Due To Losses, Fear Of Ukraine Drone Strike

For the first time in twenty years, Moscow's annual Victory Day parade, which celebrates Russia's part in the defeat of Nazi Germany, will not feature any armored vehicles. 

The reason, according to the Russian Defense Ministry, is 'the current operational situational,' which is a bureaucratic euphemism for devastating losses of such equipment in Ukraine as well as fear that the Ukrainians could embarrass Putin by launching drone attacks on the parade that the Russians might not be able to prevent, given Ukraine's decimation of Russian air defenses. JL

NBC News reports:

Russia's traditional parade marking the 81st anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II this year will take place without tanks, missiles and other military equipment, the Russian Defense Ministry said. It will be the first time in two decades — and in the more than four years of Russia’s war in Ukraine — that no military equipment will rumble through Moscow’s Red Square on May 9, the day Russia celebrates its most important holiday. The ministry statement this week cited the “current operational situation” as a reason for excluding a military equipment convoy, as well as cadets, from the parade.

Ukraine Doubles Ground Drones To Increase Use For Assault, Defense, Supply

Ukrainian forces are doubling the number of ground drones they will deploy this year to 25,000.

Their intent is to replace as many as 30% of human infantry with the drones and to have all logistics tasks near the front carried out by the ground drones, which can transport approximately 200 kilos vs 20 kilos for a human. As these drones become more sophisticated, they are also being used for a growing number of combat tasks, including defending positions and attacking Russian strongpoints. JL

Alex Croft reports in The Independent and Katie Livingstone reports in Defense News:

Ukraine will (deploy) 25,000 unmanned ground vehicles in the first half of 2026, more than double the 2025 total, to shift all frontline logistics off soldiers and onto robots. Ukraine’s 3rd Assault Brigade wants to replace 30% of its infantry with UGVs to cut down on troop losses on the (Donbas) front. They deliver supplies, evacuate wounded troops, hold territorial positions, destroy enemy defenses, carry out sabotage missions and lay mines. The unit has carried out more than 100 strike operations using UGVs in the past few months. “During these missions, we’ve destroyed enemy troops, shelters, command posts, and other high-value targets. This is daily, systematic combat work.” 

What Russia's Captured Soldiers Reveal About Its Failing War

As Russia's winter and then spring-summer offensives have faltered this year, Ukrainian forces are finding that there has been something of a change in the composition of the Russian troops they are capturing. Long gone are the professional soldiers who tried to take Kyiv four years ago. And  the convicts offered a second chance have largely disappeared. Even the opportunists who signed financially beneficial contracts are declining.

The latest batches are often men who have been coerced because they could not pay debts or faced trumped-up legal charges, suggesting that these troops are ever more desperate. But one thing has not changed: they all realize that, in their own words. they are being sent to be slaughtered. JL

Josh Olley reports in United 24:

In the first three months of 2026, 89,000 Russian troops were killed or seriously wounded. The Kremlin has increasingly relied on contract soldiers rather than conscription, now recruiting 400,000 contract troops annually, 70-80% of its deployed forces. Only one of five POWs interviewed said he had been formally mobilized. The others were either detained on minor drug charges and given a choice between long prison sentences or the front line, or were burdened by significant debt. A common factor linking every prisoner interviewed was that Russian troops openly speak of being sent “to be slaughtered.”

"Welcome To the Stone Age:" Ukraine Extends Drone Kill Zone Into Russia

Ukraine's drone kill zone was originally intended to cover a few kilometers on either side of the front 'zero' line. Everything in that area was a target. When the front line, as such, became more of a gray zone because in many sectors neither side had firm control in the historical sense, the kill zone extended to 20 kilometers into the rear, though that has now increased with the introduction of more powerful drones to 50km. 

But the latest extension announced by Ukraine now moves in Russia itself. And as recent attacks on logistics, command and control headquarters, as well anything that moves suggests, the Ukrainians are making good on their threats. Ukraine's drone commander is a former grain trader who understands the power of setting quantitative objectives. He started by announcing that the Ukrainians would kill or severely wound 35,000 Russian soldiers a month - which they have now done for four months in a row, with a goal of increasing that number to 50,000, far more than the Kremlin could replace. He has now said that his intent is to bomb Russia back to the stone age (though some informed observers believe much of the country never left it...). And he appears to be beginning to make good on that promise, as well. JL

Yuri Zoria reports in Euromaidan Press:

Ukraine's Drone Forces struck Russian locomotives, communications, ammunition depots, drone landing sites, and logistics hubs in occupied Donetsk, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts between 23 and 25 April as it expands the kill zone, scaling up depth in occupied areas. The SBS established its Deep Strike Center earlier this year to coordinate long-range drone ops against high-priority Russian targets. It has accelerated the tempo of strikes, hitting Iskander missile bases, air defenses, and the elite Russian drone unit Rubikon's facilities. Ukraine's drone forces have hit 240 targets across Russia and occupied territories in the first 48 days of 2026 alone, including 26 Russian air defenses. "Welcome to the stone age," Ukraine's "Madyar" Brovdi told Russian troops in occupied territories as rail logistics will become "dog sleds," and warehouses and fuel depots will retreat "beyond the Urals." 

OpenAI Is Missing Key Revenue, User Targets Affecting Plans For IPO

Companies miss targets sometimes. It is never a good outcome, but it need not be catastrophic. For normal companies in normal times, that is. 

OpenAI is not a normal company and these are not normal times. AI has reset the business world's definition of success. Unheard of amounts of money are pouring into AI company coffers.  Investors' expectations are extraordinary to the point of being delusional. So when one of the two leading AI firms reveals that it has missed key revenue and user numbers at the same time as a growing number of analysts are asking uncomfortable questions about whether growth plans are realistic, the corporate world takes notice. And when that company's Chief Financial Officer is then reported in the Wall Street Journal to be concerned about the impact of those missed targets on its ability to launch one of the most highly anticipated IPOs of this century, pandemonium ensues. And justifiably so. The Silicon Valley hype machine has savagely attacked anyone who questions the 'inevitability' of AI's future. So when negativity emerges from inside the tent, do not expect the business world to just say, 'no biggie.' JL

Berber Jin reports in the Wall Street Journal:

OpenAI recently missed its own targets for new users and revenue, stumbles that have raised concern among some company leaders about whether it will be able to support its massive spending on data centers. OpenAI missed multiple monthly revenue targets earlier this year after losing ground to Anthropic in the coding and enterprise markets. Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar has told other company leaders that she is worried the company might not be able to pay for future computing contracts if revenue doesn’t grow fast enough, according to people familiar with the matter. In recent months, Friar has also expressed reservations about OpenAI’s plans to go public by the end of this year

How Ukraine Is Supplanting America As Leader of the Free World

Politics abhors a vacuum. When it became apparent that Donald Trump favored Putin's Russia versus Ukraine, the axis of power began to shift. No one - especially those in Europe and other democracies - wants to live under the blighted, oppressive economic and militaristic system that the Kremlin offers. 

The catalyst for this shift has been Ukraine's heroic but also intelligence, innovative and successful defense against a much larger adversary. The Ukrainians have not just fought the Russians to a standstill, they have begun, in places, to push them back. The Kremlin is running out of willing recruits and its finances are a shambles. The US could have taken advantage of this situation but chose to cast its lot with a dictator. The result is that Europe has discovered it can survive without the US - and the people of the US are starting to pay the price. JL

David French comments in the New York Times:

A remarkable thing has happened on the battlefield. Ukraine - a nation that was supposed to dissolve within days of a Russian invasion - has fought Russia to a stalemate, revolutionizing land warfare in the process. The largest and most battle-hardened land force in the western world may be the Ukrainian Army. It has become an indispensable security partner in the western alliance, including in the war against Iran. Now, Ukraine’s president, is, by word and deed, showing Europe and the world how the post-American free world can preserve its liberty and independence. Politics abhors a vacuum. When America stepped back, other nations were bound to step forward. It is forfeiting its role as the leader of the free world. The moral and strategic heart of the defense of liberal democracy s in Kyiv, where a courageous leader and people have picked up the torch America dropped.