Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited
[Korrespondent] 22.55 Since the beginning of the day, 232 combat clashes have taken place on the front, more than a third of them in the Pokrovsky, Kostyantynivka and Hulyaipil directions. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported this on the evening of May 26. It is noted that the enemy launched one missile strike using one missile, carried out 53 air strikes, dropped 186 guided bombs. In addition, it involved 4,583 kamikaze drones for destruction and carried out 1,864 shelling of settlements and positions of our troops.
22.40 Russian business needs large-caliber weapons and the ability to call in reservists to protect enterprises from drone attacks. This was stated by Alexander Shokhin, the main lobbyist of big business and the head of the Russian Federation of Industrialists and Producers, the country's largest business association with Forbes billionaires on the board, at a meeting with Kremlin President Vladimir Putin on May 26. The Kremlin press service reported this.
"Large enterprises, undoubtedly, care about the protection of their facilities and the protection of the territories where the companies are present. But some issues need to be resolved," Shokhin addressed Putin. "They are related to the mechanisms for providing weapons - not only light weapons of 7.62 caliber, but also larger ones. These include various electronic warfare systems, laser installations, and other calibers."
In addition, as follows from Shokhin's statements, the business would like to assign reservists to its enterprises, whose use for the protection of facilities is permitted by the law adopted at the end of last year.
21.10 The Commander of the Unmanned Systems Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Robert "Magyar" Brovdi, announced that there is a plan to launch a series of strikes on the territory of Belarus if it dares to enter the war against Ukraine on the side of the Russian Federation.
"A dog that barks doesn't bite. A bird of prey is not like that. The first 500 targets are already in pencil. Free and very practical advice: don't look Ukraine in the eye," he noted, commenting on Alexander Lukashenko's latest statements regarding Ukraine.
20.54 Soldiers of the Forpost brigade of the State Border Service of Ukraine captured four servicemen of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation using a drone. The State Border Service of Ukraine reported this and published a corresponding video.
"On the approaches to the positions of the Defense Forces of Ukraine, as a result of fire suppression and coordinated actions of the border guards of the Forpost brigade, using a Matrice 4T UAV, 4 servicemen of the Russian Armed Forces were taken prisoner," the report says.
The occupants left their shelter, laid down their weapons, and, following the commands of the Ukrainian drone operators, moved towards Ukrainian positions to surrender.
20.25 The village of Zapsilya, Sumy region, is under the control of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, despite information on Russian resources about its alleged capture. This was reported by the Kursk group of troops on May 26.
"The level of development of the imagination of the authors of Russian telegram-scumbags never ceases to amaze. We have already debunked fakes about the alleged "liberation" of the settlement of Myropylya in Sumy region by Russian occupiers. And then a new lie about the village of Zapsilya emerged. The same style, the same zeal, and the same nonsense. The Communications Center of the Kursk Group of Forces officially and responsibly declares: both of the indicated settlements were and continue to be under the control of the Defense Forces of Ukraine," the message says.
20.01 The Czech initiative for the procurement and logistics of artillery ammunition for Ukraine currently unites nine countries, although last year there were 18. This was reported by the Financial Times, citing Czech President Petr Pavel.
"The number of countries participating in the Czech-led initiative to purchase ammunition for Ukraine has halved since Prime Minister Andrej Babis returned to power in December, promising not to oblige Czech citizens to pay for Ukrainian weapons," the publication says.
According to former NATO commander and current Czech President Petr Pavel, only nine countries are currently funding the initiative, down from 18 last year.
"The initiative is still in place, but the new difficulty is that only about nine member states are making a financial contribution," the Czech president said.
19.26 In Snovsk, Chernihiv region, Russian troops used drones to strike a cemetery, injuring a woman and damaging the Alley of Heroes. This was reported by the head of the Koryukiv district military administration, Pavlo Miroshnychenko, on May 26.
"For an hour, from 12:40 to 1:40 p.m., the Russians shelled the city of Snovsk using drones. Three arrivals were recorded. The strikes hit transport infrastructure and the local cemetery," he noted.
According to Miroshnychenko, there is damage to graves and monuments in the cemetery. A local 40-year-old woman who was there was injured. She was hospitalized with shrapnel wounds and will be sent to a regional medical facility for treatment.
18.41 Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Rustem Umerov arrived on a visit to Berlin and has already discussed defense cooperation with the German Chancellor's advisor on Ukraine, Gunther Sautter. This was stated by Umerov's spokeswoman Diana Davityan, Interfax-Ukraine reports.
17.49 In the Donetsk region, a law enforcement officer was exposed who, while performing combat missions, was selling weapons via messenger. He was informed of the suspicion. The State Bureau of Investigation reported this on May 26. According to the investigation, the defendant put up for sale two illegally obtained anti-tank grenade launchers, 10 cumulative anti-tank grenades with fuses for them. He was looking for customers by placing ads in one of the messengers, and stored the "goods" in the garage. When the buyer was found, the law enforcement officer arranged a meeting with him in Kramatorsk and sold the weapons and ammunition for 30 thousand hryvnias. The State Bureau of Investigation employees seized grenade launchers and grenades with powder charges. During a search of the defendant's place of residence, two more grenades were also found.
17.07 In the morning, Russian troops targeted a UN humanitarian compound in Dnipro with an Iskander ballistic missile. The organization's press service reported this.
The warehouse was storing food supplies intended for humanitarian operations in areas near the front line. The aid would be enough to support about 130,000 people. Its estimated value was $1.4 million.
The press service noted that all staff were in shelters. Currently, representatives of the organization are on the ground assessing the extent of the destruction, including damage to buildings, transport and humanitarian supplies.
16.58 From the beginning of the day and as of 16:00, Russian aggressors attacked Ukrainian army positions 47 times in eight directions. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported this in an operational summary.
16.47 A Russian unmanned boat attacked the Druzhba training sailing frigate in the Odessa Commercial Sea Port on Monday, according to Advisor to the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Serhiy Flesh Beskrestnov.
"I understand why Oreshnik ended up in the garage, it was still a "decision-making center". But why did a Russian naval drone heroically attack a sailing frigate yesterday??? The entire strategic supply of rum was taken from there a long time ago," he noted.
15.59 Russian troops launched two of their latest Oreshnik ballistic missiles at Kyiv during a massive attack on May 24, but one of them may have malfunctioned and fallen in the occupied Donetsk region. This was reported by the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW). The alleged failure of the Oreshnik was recorded by a camera in Donetsk, directed to the north. The video shows the fall of six submunitions characteristic of this missile in the area of occupied Avdiivka or Yasynuvata - approximately 40 kilometers from the front line, where Russian troops could be positioned.
15.34 The European Union has summoned the Russian chargé d'affaires after Moscow's statements about possible massive strikes on Kyiv, which could pose risks to Western diplomats in the Ukrainian capital. This was stated by European Commission spokeswoman Anitta Hipper, Ukrinform reports.
"We see that Russia is trying to sow panic with these threats. They want fear and isolation in Ukraine and elsewhere. But we have a clear signal: this will not work. The EU maintains its presence in Kyiv," the spokeswoman said. She added that Russia's actions once again prove that it "has absolutely no interest in peace and is completely ignoring all peace efforts."
On April 15, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with Belarusian opposition leader Svitlana Tikhanovskaya in Kyiv. The head of state announced this on Facebook.
14.32 The Belarusian authorities have announced alleged numerous violations of their airspace by drones from Ukraine.
"Every day, our air defense systems record regular crossings of the border of Belarus and Ukraine by combat UAVs and their landing on our territories. In some cases, these are not random attacks, but attempts to hit elements of border infrastructure, disguised as supposedly random flights. In the last week alone, there were 116 of them. On-duty forces were used against them 59 times," said State Secretary of the Security Council of Belarus Alexander Volfovich.
The State Border Guard Service of Ukraine noted that this is another attempt by Belarus to accuse Ukraine of something and shift responsibility, writes Ukrainska Pravda.
"A lot of absurd words about the situation in Ukraine and that every day they record regular border crossings with our state by combat UAVs using air defense means. In the last week alone, they "counted" 116. My question is how much they had to restrain themselves to remain silent about such "provocations" by Ukrainians. And besides, their air defense can probably only record Ukrainian means, because for some reason they do not record what flies into Ukraine from Belarus," said the spokesman for the State Border Service of Ukraine, Andriy Demchenko.
14.19 China called for restraint from escalating hostilities in Ukraine. This was stated by the spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry Mao Ning at a briefing. At the same time, she did not comment on the question of whether China will evacuate diplomats from its embassy in Kyiv.
14.02 The Security Service and the National Police blocked five new schemes for evading mobilization and detained ten organizers of the deals in various regions of Ukraine. For amounts ranging from $6,000 to $25,000, the dealers offered conscripts to avoid conscription through forged documents or helped them escape abroad beyond checkpoints.
13.59 Russian defense concern Rostec has introduced a new anti-aircraft artillery system ZAK-30 Citadel, which is positioned as a means of protecting stationary objects from drones. This is reported by analysts of Defense Express.
According to the declared characteristics, the complex is equipped with a 30-mm cannon in a stationary turret and can use guided explosive and shrapnel ammunition. The system is designed to engage helicopter and aircraft-type UAVs.
However, experts doubt the claimed effectiveness of the Russian development due to unknown guidance parameters and production of munitions with programmable detonation.
13.10 Russians attacked Zaporizhzhia with drones. Three people were injured as a result of the enemy attack. Among the injured are two women aged 27 and 40, as well as a 36-year-old man. All are being provided with the necessary assistance.
A non-residential building was damaged by the blast wave and debris. Cars parked nearby were also damaged, some of them caught fire.
12.57 Ukrainian military denied information about the alleged capture of the village of Ryasne in Sumy region by Russians. This was reported by the 14th Army Corps.
12.16 Russian troops carried out artillery shelling of the Korabelny district of Kherson. A 75-year-old woman and a 55-year-old man were taken to the hospital in moderate condition. They received contusions, explosive and closed head injuries, and the Kherson resident also received shrapnel wounds to the chest and arm.
The ambulance crew also provided medical assistance to a 63-year-old woman at the scene. She suffered shrapnel wounds to her leg, contusion, explosive and closed head injuries.
11.39 Ukrainian military on May 25 and on the night of May 26 struck important targets of the Russian invaders. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported the details.
11.27 In Bashkortostan, fuel tanks at the IntekHim oil depot caught fire overnight. One person was injured in the fire.
A fire broke out at a petroleum storage facility in the village of Kandry, Tuymazyn district, late on the evening of May 25. A fire engine was involved in extinguishing the fire. A man born in 1974 was injured in the fire, but he refused to be hospitalized.
"Upon arrival, eight above-ground horizontal tanks were burning openly, followed by a spill. The fire has now been extinguished... The cause of the fire is being determined," the rescuers said.
It is noted that there were no reports of drone and missile threats in Bashkortostan on May 25.
The IntekChem oil depot supplies over 100 types of products throughout the Russian Federation and the CIS countries and ships at least 500 tons of various products daily.
11.15 In the Transcarpathian region, RTCC and SP officials were exposed for entering fictitious data into the Oberig system to artificially improve mobilization indicators. This concerns 270 people, the National Police reported.
10.52 EU countries have diverged in their views on the idea of appointing a single negotiator with Russia: some consider it a trap, others a necessary step while the US retreats from the role of mediator in resolving the Russian Federation's war against Ukraine.
The countries that most actively support Ukraine oppose the idea of a negotiator. They believe that Russian leader Vladimir Putin is not serious about a ceasefire and that appointing an envoy could undermine sanctions pressure on Russia.
The publication named the names of possible candidates for the role of EU negotiator with Russia:
President of the European Council António Costa;
President of Finland Alexander Stubb;
former European Central Bank President Mario Draghi;
former President of Finland Sauli Niinisto;
former President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker.
10.47 In the Donetsk region, a Russian FSB agent was exposed and detained, who was coordinating the shelling of Kramatorsk and Malotaranivka. The SBU reported this. The woman was covertly asking store visitors for information about the locations of the Defense Forces in front-line settlements. She also tried to clarify the information received from her son, a soldier in the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
10.33 On Tuesday morning, six regions of Ukraine experienced new power outages due to attacks by Russian aggressors. Ukrenergo reported this. Emergency restoration work has already begun wherever security conditions currently allow.
10.27 Russia continues its policy of ethnocide in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, which is manifested in low birth rates, high mortality rates, and changes in the ethno-national composition of the population.
Currently, Moscow continues to actively increase the share of the non-Ukrainian population, populating the enslaved territories with immigrants from the Russian Federation and citizens of other states - primarily from Central Asia, Africa, and the Caucasus.
The genocidal war and the targeted criminal policy of the aggressor state of Russia are leading to the gradual displacement of the local population and changes in the demographic and ethno-national composition of the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.
9.22 On the night of May 26, Russia attacked Ukraine with two Iskander-M ballistic missiles and 122 Shahed, Gerber, Italmas attack UAVs and Parodia-type simulator drones. Air defense forces neutralized 111 drones.
Nine strike UAVs and missiles were recorded hitting 11 locations, as well as the fall of downed UAVs (fragments of UAVs) at three locations.
9.04 US Secretary of State Marco Rubio delivered to President Donald Trump a message from Kremlin President Vladimir Putin, which he heard during talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
"Rubio just told reporters that Lavrov delivered a message from Putin to Trump, which he said Rubio delivered," RFE/RL journalist Alex Raufoglou reported.
According to him, the US Secretary of State also downplayed suggestions that Russia specifically called on Washington to withdraw embassy personnel from Kyiv because Moscow had announced strikes.
"The danger of all these wars, as they continue and then continue, is that they always have the threat of escalation," Rubio said.
8.33 Fragments of a human body were found under the rubble of a destroyed entrance to a house in the Shevchenko district, bringing the number of people killed in Russian strikes on Kyiv on May 24 to three.
The woman is considered missing. A DNA test will be scheduled for final identification.
8.24 Over the past 24 hours, 267 combat clashes have been recorded on the front. The Russian army has intensified assault operations in the Pokrovsky direction.
Aviation, missile troops, and artillery of the Defense Forces struck two drone control points, three personnel concentration areas, an artillery system, a material and technical equipment storage warehouse, and one other important facility of the Russian troops.
7.54 Any attacks on Polish diplomatic missions will be considered as deliberate and intentional actions, the Polish Foreign Ministry said in response to Russia's threats to strike Kyiv.
"Since Russia, as it claims, is not waging a war, but a so-called 'special military operation', which by definition should be limited to military facilities, any attacks on other infrastructure, including diplomatic missions, should be considered unfriendly actions. Therefore, any attack on Polish diplomatic missions will be considered as deliberate and intentional," the message says.
The Polish Foreign Ministry stated that Russia's actions entail serious legal and international consequences and once again undermine its role as a permanent member of the UN Security Council: "We call on Russia to immediately cease its unjustified and illegal aggression and respect its international obligations and treaties."
7.26 From February 24, 2022 to May 26, 2026, the total combat losses of Russian troops on the territory of Ukraine amounted to approximately 1,357,950 people (+1,010 per day).
5.08 Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has allowed participants in the war against Ukraine and their families not to repay overdue loans, The Moscow Times reports on its Telegram channel.
1.59 In early 2026, Russian citizens began to receive "mobilization orders" more often when they visited military registration and enlistment offices, where they were summoned to "clarify information" or by electronic summonses. This is evidenced by search query statistics on Google and Yandex and information from lawyers, The Moscow Times writes.
00.59 Russian drones fell without detonation in the Nemyshlyansky and Novobavarsky districts of Kharkiv. This was reported by Kharkiv Mayor Igor Terekhov on Telegram.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited
[Korrespondent] On Pokrovsky the enemy launched 34 attacks directly. There were 27 attacks by occupiers directly on Gulyaypilsky.
At the front, 232 combat battles were completed from the beginning, about a third of them - on Pokrovsky, Kostyantynivsky and Gulyaipilsky direct lines. The ZSU General Staff was informed about this on the evening of May 26th.
It means that the enemy fired one missile strike, fired one missile, carried out 53 air strikes, and dropped 186 hardened air bombs. In addition, having received 4583 kamikaze drones to attack and carried out 1864 shelling of populated areas and positions of our troops.
According to information from the General Staff, this feared tragedy broke out in Pivnichno-Slobozhansky and Kursk directly today. The enemy launched one airstrike, dropped several KAB, carried out 71 shellings of populated areas and positions of our troops, two of which were due to the stagnation of multiple launch rocket systems.
On the Pivdenno-Slobozhansky direct line, the enemy stormed the positions of our fighters nine times near the settlements of Staritsa, Vilcha, Graniv, Ternova, Liman and Kolodyazne. Two fears are troubling.
On Kup'yansky, today's gates were directly attacked by the positions of the Defense Forces in the settlements of Kurylivka, Borova, Novoplatonivka. Two fears are trivial.
On the Limansky straight, the Ukrainian soldiers made ten attempts at fire pits to reach the banks of Liman, Drobishevoy, Dibrovy and in the Yampol area.
On Slovyanskoe the enemy did not carry out any offensive actions directly.
On Kramatorsk, our soldiers directly planned a magical attack in the Tikhonivka area.
The defense forces repelled 20 hostile assaults on Kostyantynivsky directly near Kostyantynivka, Ivanopill, Pleshchivka, Rusyn Yar and near the settlements of Mykolaipill, Vilna and Kucheriv Yar.
On Pokrovsky the enemy launched 34 attacks directly. The occupiers began to penetrate the areas of the settlements of Nikanorivka, Kotlin, Gorikhov, Novooleksandrivka, Rodinsk, Pokrovsk, Grishin, Udachna and the bіk settlements of Shevchenko, Bilitsk, Sergiivka, Novopavlivka. Until now, I am worried that I am afraid of the danger.
Behind the front lines, today 25 occupiers were liquidated and 8 were injured; Three units of vehicles and two units of special enemy equipment were reduced, one of the REBs was destroyed, 12 units of vehicles and one unit of special equipment were destroyed, three damages and six shelters were destroyed in the enemy’s special warehouse. 162 unmanned aircraft of various types were reduced or suppressed.
On Oleksandrivskoe, our soldiers directly planned a magical attack in the area of the settlement of Novokhatsk.
On the Gulyaypilskoe direct there were 27 attacks by occupiers near the settlements of Dobropillya, Zlagoda, Gulyaypillya, Solodka, Zaliznychne, Staroukrainka and near the bay of New Zaporizhzhya, Tsvitkovo and Charivne. Narasi is worried about one beat.
On Orikhivsky, the two girls are trying to get through to Shcherbakov and Bilogirya.
On the Dnieper direct, our defencists successfully stopped two attacks at the other side. Bilogrudy.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited
NewsFront] 21:45 FPV drone calculations at the Rubicon Centeramazed: temporary deployment points for Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel, fortifications, dugouts and firing positions, automobile and armored vehicles, artillery guns, ground-based robotic systems, elements of the communication system, enemy drones. 21:34 In the period from 8:00 Moscow time to 20:00 Moscow time, air defense systems on duty intercepted and destroyed six Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles of the aircraft type flew over the territories of the Belgorod region, the Republic of Crimea and over the waters of the Sea of Azov.
20:16 Mobile fire teams of the BARS detachment in the Samara region protect civilian objects and infrastructure of the region from enemy drones.
19:12 Operators of attack UAVs of the Vostok group destroyed strongholds of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Zaporizhzhia region.
Drone crews from the Center group maintain air superiority in the Dobropillya and Dnipropetrovsk sectors. Drone operators rammed enemy drones, eliminated an enemy reconnaissance group, and disrupted a rotation.
17:02 Military personnel of the "North" group continue expand the security zone in the Sumy region.
15:32 Strikes against long-range UAVs. The drones were heading for targets located deep within Russian territory. VIDEO
15:13 Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Vasily Osmakov spent meeting with the Secretary General and Deputy Minister of Defence of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, Air Vice Marshal (retired) Sampath Thuyakontha.
12:52 Summary of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation on the progress of the special military operation as of May 26, 2026
The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue to conduct a special military operation.
Units of the "North" military group have actively established control over the settlements of Zapselye and Ryasnoye in the Sumy region.
The manpower and equipment of two territorial defense brigades were damaged in the areas of the settlements of Pisarevka, Ivolzhanskoye and Obody in the Sumy region.
In the Khar'kov region, formations of the mechanized, motorized infantry and airborne assault brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces were defeated in the areas of the settlements of Bugayevka, Ternovaya, Bely Kolodez, Granov and Izbitskoye in the Khar'kov region.
The enemy lost up to 195 servicemen, two armored combat vehicles, 20 cars and an artillery piece.
Units of the "West" force group occupied more advantageous positions and lines. They defeated the personnel and equipment of two mechanized brigades, an assault brigade, an assault regiment of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, a naval infantry brigade, and a territorial defense brigade near the settlements of Yegorovka, Novonikolayevka, Druzhelyubovka, Velyka Shapkovka, and Podliman in the Khar'kov region, and Krasny Liman, Svyatogorsk, and Prishyb in the Donetsk People's Republic.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces lost over 190 service members, an M113 armored personnel carrier, and two US-made HMMWV armored fighting vehicles. Eighteen vehicles, a field artillery gun, and an electronic warfare station were destroyed.
Units of the Southern Group of Forces improved their position along the forward edge. They defeated formations of two mechanized brigades, a mountain assault brigade, a motorized infantry brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and a naval infantry brigade near the settlements of Kurtovka, Rai-Aleksandrovka, Druzhkovka, Tikhonovka, Artema, Nikolaevka, Kramatorsk, and Konstantinovka in the Donetsk People's Republic.
The enemy lost more than 85 servicemen, two US-made Stryker armored personnel carriers, three armored combat vehicles, 16 vehicles, two artillery pieces, and a Grad multiple launch rocket system combat vehicle.
Units of the Center Group of Forces occupied more advantageous positions and lines. They defeated the personnel and equipment of two mechanized brigades, an airmobile brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, a naval infantry brigade, and two National Guard brigades near the settlements of Kutuzovka, Dobropillya, Novonikolayevka, Zolotoy Kolodez, Kucherov Yar, Belitske, and Vasilevka in the Donetsk People's Republic, and Ivanovka, Vodolazhske, and Novopavlivka in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.
The Ukrainian armed forces lost over 310 servicemen, a tank, three armored combat vehicles, 12 cars, and a field artillery gun.
Units of the "East" force group continued to advance deep into the enemy's defenses. They defeated the personnel and equipment of two mechanized brigades, two airborne assault brigades, an assault regiment of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, a naval infantry brigade, and a territorial defense brigade near the settlements of Timoshivka, Lesnoye, and Nezhenka in Zaporizhia Oblast, and Chaplino, Mechetne, Gavrilovka, Podgavrilovka, Vasylkivka, and Shyroke in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces lost more than 240 servicemen, two armored combat vehicles, five cars and an artillery piece.
Units of the Dnepr group of forces defeated formations of the Ukrainian Armed Forces' mechanized brigade and the territorial defense brigade in the areas of the settlements of Orekhov, Balabino, Malokaterinovka and Maryevka in the Zaporizhzhia region.
Up to 55 Ukrainian Armed Forces servicemen, an armored combat vehicle, 10 vehicles, and an electronic warfare station were destroyed.
11:23 Attack aircraft with the call sign "Dorokh" told on the liberation of the village of Dobropasovo.
09:58 Servicemen of the Eastern Military District travelled to Laos by train special units of the Lao People's Army as part of the Typhoon 2026 course and participate in the Laros 2026 joint exercise.
09:09 The operator of the FPV drone "Provod" flew into the anti-drone tunnel of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Pokrovsky direction and destroyed a British pickup truck along with the crew and guards, -video.
07:08 During the past night, in the period from 20:00 Moscow time on May 25 to 7:00 Moscow time on May 26, air defense systems on duty intercepted and destroyed 59 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles of the aircraft type over the territories of the Belgorod, Bryansk, Kursk, Novgorod, Smolensk regions and the Republic of Crimea.
05:05 122mm D-30 crews of the 11th Army Corps of the North group destroyed strongholds of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Khar'kov region.
Artillerymen of the Center group fire from the 152mm 2S19 Msta-S using high-precision Krasnopol projectiles.amazedenemy stronghold in the Dobropolsky direction.
122mm D-30 howitzer crews from the Vostok group struck enemy UAV control points in the Zaporizhzhia region.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited by Vadim Kushakov
[REGNUM] The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement in connection with the attacks by armed forces of the Kiev regime on the civilian population of Russia.
"The bloody attack on the academic building and dormitory of the Luhansk State Pedagogical University (LSU) in Starobilsk has become yet another blatant demonstration of the Nazi and terrorist nature of the Kyiv regime," states the document, which the Foreign Ministry published on May 26.
Ukrainian troops, who carried out three drone strikes on buildings of no military significance, killed more than 20 young men and women and wounded 65 students.
The Zelensky regime orders deliberate attacks on civilians and does not hesitate to murder children in cold blood, the Foreign Ministry emphasized.
The regime that seized power in Kyiv and its Western sponsors, who supply the Ukrainian Armed Forces with weapons for war crimes, are flagrantly violating the fundamental principles of international law—the 1949 Geneva Conventions governing the protection of civilians and the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child.
"This has finally reached the limit," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Russian President Vladimir Putin called the attack on the college by the Ukrainian Armed Forces a terrorist attack and ordered the military to respond.
The Russian army has launched massive strikes against Kyiv, including with Oreshnik ballistic missiles. The missile and drone attack on May 24, which targeted Ukrainian military-industrial complex facilities (including those where combat drones were being manufactured and developed with the support of NATO "specialists"), was only the beginning. "Strikes will target both decision-making centers and command posts," the Russian Foreign Ministry reported.
Since future targets for our attacks are located throughout Kyiv, the Russian Foreign Ministry has warned personnel of diplomatic missions and international organizations based in the city: they must leave as soon as possible.
Kyiv residents were urged "not to approach military and administrative infrastructure facilities of the Zelensky regime."
The Foreign Ministry's extremely serious statement demonstrates that the country's leadership has set the goal of systematically targeting political decision-making centers, the enemy's command posts, and its military (and related energy and logistics) infrastructure. The response to terror against our civilians will be asymmetrical and effective retaliation.
The attacks by the Russian Armed Forces on the night of May 24—not only in Kyiv, but throughout Ukraine—demonstrated that burning port warehouses and factories, paralyzed control centers for drones and ground forces, will now be commonplace—including in Kyiv.
Ukraine's Russophobic policies, dictated by the West, have led to the point where our country has been forced to take its strategic military operations to a new level—one that will be characterized by preventive, harsh, and large-scale military actions.
Protecting Russian citizens means that any manifestations of humanism toward the enemy and any actions solely in response to enemy attacks are now out of the question. If, as a result of the Russian Armed Forces' actions, Ukraine, as a state and military entity, disappears from the world's political map, then Volodymyr Zelenskyy will have only himself to blame.
The actions of the Russian Armed Forces demonstrate that the Supreme Commander-in-Chief and the country's leadership have decided to finish off the terrorist regime. And Russian society supports this determination.
Ukrainian and other media outlets are trying to downplay the scale and effectiveness of the May 24 attack on Kyiv, as if the Ukrainian Armed Forces' central headquarters on Dehtiarivska Street hadn't been destroyed, and thick black smoke hadn't risen from other destroyed enemy facilities. But since the success will be consolidated, the enemy and its handlers will be unable to ignore the seriousness of our military's actions.
But it was not Russia, but the European Union and its proxies in Kyiv, that were betting on escalating the armed conflict by all available means. On May 25, the FSB reported a foiled terrorist attack in the seaport of Ust-Luga (Leningrad Oblast). Experts demonstrated NATO-made magnetic mines attached to the hull of the Arrhenius gas carrier, which arrived in Luga Bay on May 20.
The gas tanker arrived from the Belgian port of Antwerp, and the mines could have been planted there, in the country where NATO headquarters are based. Clearly, the West was preparing a major escalation, and therefore Russia had to act preemptively. Intensifying attacks on the Kyiv regime's military installations was the logical and only solution.
[Breitbart] Allegedly leaked documents from a claimed Russian psychological warfare outfit are said to reveal how meticulously “cognitive strikes” are planned against Western countries to sow demoralisation, including a mass distribution of pig parts to Parisian mosques in 2025.
Russian intelligence-directed agent provocateurs take advantage of the destabilising effect of mass migration to Western countries as a weak point to further drive distrust, a series of reports on recent protests and acts of vandalism claim. France24 reports on a tranche of leaked documents it says came from the Social Design Agency (SDA), a supposed Russian digital marketing company which is claimed to actually serve as a disinformation unit sowing division on behalf of Moscow. According to the report, their operations are said to include anti-Muslim, anti-Jewish, anti-migration, and anti-fossil fuel psyops.
Assuming the documents themselves are not an act of disinformation — as the alleged work of the SDA is — they are said to underline the fine detail in which such operations are planned and reported on to the Kremlin. One of these documents includes a never-before-seen image of a table full of pigs’ heads, all daubed with the name of the French President in blue paint, “MACRON”, before one of the SDA’s activities. Nine of the ten heads were left on the steps of Paris-area mosques in 2025, an event which was widely reported at the time.
The document is reported to make clear that the purpose of leaving the pig heads around is to exacerbate tensions, and in the post-action assessment, it was noted that it had “benefited from extensive international media coverage”.
Other so-called cognitive strikes against nations, including France, Germany, and Armenia, were an unexecuted plan to dump dozens of inflatable sex dolls into the River Seine in Paris, each daubed with the words “fuck migrants” and clearly intended to discredit anti-mass-migration activists with a bad taste stunt. Another operation, this time apparently intending to undermine public support for Ukraine, was to daub anti-Russia graffiti on a statue of Free French leader, President, and creator of the French constitution Charles De Gaulle.
Other operations that were undertaken and are already known and suspected to be the work of the same group included disabling SUVs in Germany and daubing them with Green Party slogans, and spray painting Synagogues and a Holocaust memorial.
France24 states three Serbians have previously been convicted in relation to the SDA group and were found to have worked for the “intelligence services of the Russian Federation”. A further three have been arrested in France and are suspected of “serving a foreign power”.
European governments have for years been preoccupied with what they have come to call Russian hybrid warfare; acts of sabotage and espionage that are meant to disable or destabilise but which fall well short of actual acts of open war. Yet Russia is not the great power it once was, and these operations are no longer carried out by expensive traditional intelligence services and agents, but rather by freelancers paid on a per-job basis, and in at least some cases, unaware of whom they work.
The flip-side to this catch-all bogeyman of Russian intelligence cut-outs is the ease with which Moscow can be blamed for all ills, and allegations of Russian influence or dark money have become a common claim in Western political discourse, whether evidence exists or not.
As previously reported on this now long-running phenomenon:
There were several such incidents across the continent in April, including the arrest of a Polish national in his home country, accused of conducting hostile reconnaissance against the airport used by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky when he flies abroad.
Because Ukraine is covered by a no-fly zone, when politicians enter and leave the country they travel first by VIP train across the Polish border and then to Rzeszów-Jasionka Airport, where flights can then take them worldwide. The Polish Prosecutor said of the allegations against the man: “The findings of the investigation show that the suspect’s tasks included collecting information that would be helpful in planning a possible assassination attempt on the life of the President of Ukraine by the Russian services… the detainee was charged with reporting readiness to act for foreign intelligence against the Republic of Poland… The act is punishable by up to 8 years in prison.”
In the same month two German-Russian dual citizens were arrested in Germany over alleged hostile reconnaissance of a U.S. Army base in Bavaria used to train Ukrainian soldiers. The pair were said to be planning to “commit explosives and arson attacks, especially on military infrastructure and industrial sites in Germany”. One of the suspects in the case, Dieter S., was accused of: “conspiring to cause an explosive explosion and arson, acting as an agent for sabotage purposes… membership in a foreign terrorist organization and preparing a serious act of violence that endangers the state.”
Again in April five people in the United Kingdom were facing charges over an arson attack that burnt out a Ukrainian-owned business in London. At least one of the group was charged with hostile activity intended to “assist a foreign intelligence service carrying out activities in the UK”. In February of this year Estonia arrested ten alleged saboteurs, who were accused of working to spread fear as part of a “hybrid operation”, the neologism now in currency for war by other means.
A remarkable case in December 2023 saw 14 ‘spies’, who among their number were Ukrainian refugees, sentenced by a court for a plot to gather information and launch a variety of actions and attacks. The court heard how the group were in communication with Russian intelligence and had been promised payments in cryptocurrency payments in return for their work.
The bounties on offer from Moscow were said to have included $5 for putting up a poster disseminating pro-Russian or anti-Ukrainian propaganda, or $400 for installing a wireless surveillance camera watching a port, airport, or railyard where military equipment transited from Europe to Ukraine. $10,000 in crypto was apparently offered in return for derailing a military train carrying equipment to Ukraine.
While derailing a train may seem fanciful, such tactics are already in widespread use in the Ukraine war itself and beyond, with pro-Kyiv saboteurs working overtime behind Russian lines to prevent ammunition and resupply trains reaching the front line, frequently blowing lines, burning equipment, and derailing trains. In some cases the Ukrainian partisans have gone further, planting car bombs on the personal vehicles of targets within Russia.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited
[Regnum] The United Aircraft Corporation (UAC, part of the Rostec state corporation) delivered another batch of new Su-35S multirole fighter jets to the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS). This was reported by the Rostec press service on May 26.
They clarified that the 4++ generation aircraft had completed a full cycle of factory tests. The aircraft were tested in various operating modes. The tests were conducted by Russian Ministry of Defense pilots. They flew to their home airfield.
Rostec noted that the Su-35S fighter jets are designed to achieve air superiority and destroy ground infrastructure located at a significant distance from their base airfield.
The Russian Aerospace Forces received the previous batch of maneuverable Su-35S fighters in April. In the special operation zone, Su-35S crews also conduct reconnaissance and expose Ukrainian army positions at significant depths from the line of contact.
Rostec previously announced that the Su-35S is capable of using the full range of modern aircraft weapons. The fighter is equipped with highly intelligent electronics, including an advanced electronic countermeasures and defense system.
In early February, the Russian Aerospace Forces received a batch of fifth-generation Su-57 multirole fighters with an updated weapons suite. The aircraft are capable of engaging air, ground, and maritime targets and can be used around the clock, including in adverse weather conditions and challenging jamming environments.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
