Russia builds secret drone bases in striking distance of Nato www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2...
telegraph.co.uk
Samuel Bendett
@sambendett.bsky.social
Uncrewed, autonomous, robotic systems and Artificial Intelligence. Russian and Ukrainian weapons development. CNA, CNAS and CSIS. Opinions my own.
Russian organizers of the annual Dronnitsa meet up – the largest event that brings together Russia’s people’s VPK community – was canceled due to fear of Ukrainian attack on their location in retaliation for strikes on the Ukrainian event last month. www.themoscowtimes.com/2026/08/12/r...
Russian Combat Drone Forum Postponed Over Fears of Ukrainian Attack - The Moscow Times
Organizers of a major forum for Russian military drone operators have postponed this year’s event, citing intelligence that Ukraine was preparing an attack involving ballistic missiles and what they d...
themoscowtimes.com
All three Russian top STEM universities working on high-tech and AI R&D have been blacklisted by the Pentagon and barred from working with US: Moscow State University, Bauman University and MIPT: www.techtimes.com/articles/321...
Pentagon Blacklists Fudan, Moscow State Among 130 Schools Banned From US Research
Pentagon research blacklist expands to 130 universities in China, Russia, and Iran — including Fudan and Shanghai Jiao Tong — under the FY2025 Section 1286 update. Department of War funding for resear...
techtimes.com
Colombian veterans, a British bomb-disposal expert, a Finnish teenager: who are the 16,000 foreigners fighting for Ukraine? euromaidanpress.com/2026/08/06/u...
Colombian veterans, a British bomb-disposal expert, a Finnish teenager: who are the 16,000 foreigners fighting for Ukraine? - Euromaidan Press
Ukraine says 16,000 foreign volunteers from 72 countries serve in its forces. More than 300 requests concern pay and contracts.
euromaidanpress.com
"The Kremlin’s response has rested on three pillars: mobilizing underutilized domestic labor, expanding prison labor, and increasing labor migration. Each proves to be either insufficient or self-defeating," write @msnegovaya.bsky.social & @sambendett.bsky.social Full piece in @foreignpolicy.com 👇
@msnegovaya.bsky.social · 2w agoOur new piece in @foreignpolicy.com w/@sambendett.bsky.social: Russia faces an acute labor shortage. Each Kremlin solution (from younger workers and prison labor to increased migration) comes with constraints and costs and the issue is likely to get worse over time. foreignpolicy.com/2026/08/03/r...
My CNA colleague Julian Walker on a potential Putin succession www.foreignaffairs.com/russia/after...
After Putin
Russia’s coming succession crisis.
foreignaffairs.com
Putin appointed Col. Gen. Denis Lyamin the head of the newly created drone branch that was created last year, replacing Yuri Vaganov, a civilian with no military background. www.wsj.com/world/russia...
Putin Overhauls War Effort in Ukraine as Russia Seeks Momentum
The Kremlin appoints new commanders after Russia’s military faces growing criticism for its slowest gains in years.
wsj.com
When looking through open source and public info about Russian defense industry and economy, it became clear that Russia has no clear solution for its labor issues. In this Foreign Policy article, we describe this dilemma - with @msnegovaya.bsky.social foreignpolicy.com/2026/08/03/r...
The Cure for Russia’s Labor Shortage Is Worse Than the Disease
What happens when a demographic crisis meets an ever-expanding military-industrial complex?
foreignpolicy.com
Russian state media claims that Russian forces are attacking Ukrainian units with AI-enabled drones that allegedly recognize Ukrainian military uniforms and vehicle license plates.
Russian state media on counter-drone mobile fire teams (MOGs) that are fielded against Ukraine's Hornet UAVs - the MOGs are based on Tigr armored vehicle. iz.ru/2141065/dmit...
Political Turmoil Will Not Derail Killer Robot Program, Ousted Minister Says www.nytimes.com/2026/07/31/w...
Political Turmoil Will Not Derail Killer Robot Program, Ousted Minister Says
The Ukrainian former defense minister Mykhailo Fedorov, an advocate for drone and robot warfare, says the country’s tech-heavy strategy will persist.
nytimes.com
Russia's Rubicon Center latest stats on destroying Ukrainian UGVs - allegedly 2000 destroyed so far. Every month since June 2025 saw greater Rubicon activity against Ukrainian UGVs that are performing more and more logistics and supply missions. t.me/lost_armour/...
Ukraine’s ex-defense minister blames procurement reforms for dismissal www.ft.com/content/09e9...
Ukraine’s ex-defence minister blames procurement reforms for dismissal
Fedorov interview offers his most detailed account of sacking that triggered wave of protest
ft.com
Russia's Rybar graphic of Qatar using Ukraine CUAS and drone interceptor lessons in its defenses. Rybar's post and the language used almost sound jealous. t.me/rybar/82032 t.me/rybar/82033
Russia's Rybar on Iranian missile ranges for "potential" strikes against Ukraine. Rybar notes that such strikes, were they to take place, would not be accurate, and Iranians would rather conduct an asymmetric strike "where Ukrainians don't expect it." t.me/rybar/82057
LIVE TOMORROW: a special episode of #RussianRoulette exploring Russia's defense industry, what it says about Russia’s war effort, and more. ⏰ 11:00am ET on Tuesday 7/28 📍 Link to register below 🎙️ @msnegovaya.bsky.social @maxbergmann.bsky.social @sambendett.bsky.social www.csis.org/events/russi...
Russian Roulette Live Podcast | Rebuilding to Reconquer: Can Russia’s Defense Firms Deliver? | CSIS Events
Russian Roulette Live: Launching our latest report, "Rebuilding to Reconquer: Can Russia's Defense Firms Deliver?" -- Max Bergmann and Maria Snegovaya sit down with Sam Bendett to unpack their compreh...
csis.org
militarnyi.com/en/news/russ...
Russia Develops Plot-40 Floating Platform to Counter Drones
Russia has developed the experimental Plot-40 floating fire support platform to protect naval bases and ports from uncrewed surface vessels (USVs).Alexander Drozdenko, the governor of Russia’s Leningr...
militarnyi.com
www.aspistrategist.org.au/the-war-in-u...
The war in Ukraine has dramatically changed special forces operations | The Strategist
Throughout the Russia–Ukraine war, special operations forces (SOF, or SSO in Ukrainian) have conducted many raids and missions to probe enemy defensive positions. Examples include Ukraine’s use of SOF...
aspistrategist.org.au
A sign of the times - banner ads in Russian online media offering armored vehicles for sale, counter-drone uparmored modules for Russian-made SUVs and vans (like the ubiquitous "Buhanka"), and a counter-drone poncho.
Great graphics depicting tactical combat in Ukraine www.reuters.com/graphics/UKR...
Inside Ukraine’s Kill Zone
Drones now dominate the war in Ukraine. Fly through the front line’s deadly “kill zone” and discover how surveillance, kamikaze drones and new tactics are reshaping modern warfare. An immersive Reuter...
reuters.com
"These are not Right-wing provocateurs; they are educators who questioned an increasingly narrow consensus and paid for it with their careers, their reputations and, in some cases, their mental health." www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/07...
telegraph.co.uk