According to British defence intelligence, Russia launched 55,000 attack drones at Ukraine last year. This was significantly greater than in 2024. Drones killed 600 Ukrainian civilians in 2025.
While the world’s attention is on the Middle East, Russia launched a massive missile and drone attack on residential targets in Ukraine last night. 480 drones and 29 missiles. Russia does not care that this is yet another war crime.
Since the war began, Russia has been providing Iran with intelligence so that it can hit US bases with missiles and drones, including the temporary one in Kuwait in which six Americans were killed.
Russia is providing Iran with technical advice and drone modifications so that it can target civilian infrastructure in the Gulf States. It is using its war crime experience in Ukraine to help its ally, Iran.
Putin describes Trump as a “cynical murderer” in his official condolences to Iran. So that relationship is over. The Kremlin threaten to take revenge by attacking Europe. Guess even Putin understands that to attack the US might result in the same fate as the late Ayatollah.
Ukrainian civilians and troops moving along roads in Donetsk are protected by net tunnels hung 20 metres above the roads. Mile after mile of them. The nets snag the propellers in Russian MPV drones. These recycled nets have been donated by UK and EU fisherman and transported by their governments.
Because of Russian corruption and diverting resources, people living in the Russian occupied territories of Ukraine only receive water for a few hours a day, the centralised heating system rarely works, and grain yields are at there lowest due to a lack of irrigation. The Kremlin doesn’t care.
The Telegraph report that corrupt Russian commanders are charging soldiers up to £30,000 to avoid being sent to the front line. They are also stealing equipment or charging soldiers to donate to them in order to use weapons. Corruption has always been endemic in Russia.
Throughout Latvia today there are public events to remind people of the Russian aggression, and also to honour the memory of the fighters for the freedom of Ukraine, to show solidarity with the Ukrainian people, and to remind us that they still need support. Slava Ukraini!
Exactly four years ago today, Russia launched its full invasion of Ukraine. Today, Russia cannot recruit enough soldiers to replace those killed. Despite its smaller size, Ukraine is superior in battle due to advanced technology and UK/EU support. Slava Ukraini!
Russian Embassy in South Korea has hung a massive banner on its building that says “Victory will be ours”. In Russian, in a country where few speak Russian. Guess these Soviet-era banners are standard issue for Russian Embassies. Maybe one will hang in London and in Washington soon. Ridiculous!
Not only was Olympic gold skeleton winner Matt Weston’s coach from Latvia, his sled’s blades were made in Liepaja in Latvia. Lovely GB - Latvia connection
The director of Putin’s spy agency blames the UK for the shooting of Lt Gen Vladimir Alekseyev in Moscow recently. Alekseyev was in charge of the novichok attack in Salisbury in 2018. Russian officials are no longer allowed to blame the US so blame the UK instead. As well as Ukraine. Pathetic.
Gearing up for the fourth year after the full-scale invasion, Russia launched 297 drones and 50 missiles on Sunday at energy and water infrastructure, railways and residential buildings in Ukraine. Definitely yet another war crime.
Denmark rescues a sick US submarine crew member off Greenland. Trump says he is sending a hospital boat to Greenland because “people are so sick there with no healthcare”. Just say “thank you” Trump, not some ungrateful rubbish.
ICE stormtroopers are paid a bonus for every person they detain - legally or not. I hope that FCO, confronted with this evidence from the experiences of many UK and European nationals, amend their travel advice to warn against travelling to USA for tourism.
Old picture of Jelgava Palace with bridge in front with horse-drawn carriages
Heard of Jelgava in Latvia? A city of knights and a castle, of a palace built by the Winter Palace architect, of a city that was 90% destroyed during WWII and then rebuilt as a Soviet manufacturing powerhouse, and is now a rather lovely university city. Do listen to my podcast, 'On Jelgava'.
The Kenyan parliament said more than 1,000 Kenyans have been lured to fight for Russia in Ukraine. Many are now in POW camps in Ukraine. The Russian Embassy in Nairobi called the Kenyan parliament’s claims “propaganda”. Of course, what one expects Russian diplomats to say.
The US State Department have launched a website (effectively a VPN) freedom.gov to allow children in the UK to watch porn and censored or harmful content. This site should be blocked by OFCOM and ISPs. I hope that Apple and Google ban it from their app stores, but I doubt it as Trump supporters.
As normal, on the eve of so-called peace talks, Russia launched 396 drones and 29 missiles at Ukrainian energy plants overnight. Russia hopes to freeze Ukrainians to death in the coldest winter for decades.
A Ukrainian counteroffensive is pushing the Russians back, thanks to Elon Musk switching off Starlink used illegally by the Russian military.
Russia is suffering 35,000 casualties a month. The number of Russian volunteers, plus foreign recruits and North Korean troops, isn’t enough to replace the dead. Apparently, intelligence sources say that Putin is considering compulsory mobilisation in Russia to acquire Ukraine.
Team GB’s two Olympic gold medals are partially due to a Latvian. Team GB skeleton coach is the Latvian Martins Dukurs, former world champion and twice silver Olympian. Thank you Martins!
The Russian Embassy in London mocks European countries for saying that Navalny was “killed by a frog”. Not sure if the Russian Ambassador is stupid or just wants to appear stupid.
UK scientists at the secret Porton Down base received a sample of Alexei Navalny’s body and tests found that he had been poisoned, on Putin’s orders of course, with Dart Frog Toxin. A neurotoxin classified as a chemical weapon, 200 times stronger than morphine. The mafia state that is Russia.
I know this is a conspiracy theory, but it is funny. Donald Trump was supposedly given the Russian agent name in the 1987 of “Krasnov”. The Russian can be translated as “Beautiful Red One”. No Specsavers in Russia (a joke for Brits!)?
The International Olympic Committee does not, apparently, allow athletes to express anything. That is the rule used to stop the Ukrainian skeleton athlete from competing. Regardless of the fact that the Olympic Games are one big nationalistic competition, attended by politicians.
The Kremlin says that Russians have to cut their spending on non-essential goods for “victory”, while the price of cucumbers (a Russians staple) increased by 25% in January. Half of the Moscow local authority budget is now allocated to the military, not spent on healthcare or education.
Putin continues to try to eliminate Ukraine by constantly targeting its energy infrastructure with missiles and drones, so that Ukrainian people have no heating, electricity or water. A form of genocide. Countries that want, or continue, to do business with Russia are supporting genocide.
“The Kremlin is only willing to sign a peace agreement as long as it's on their terms, with the aim to 'paralyse' Ukraine”, writes Russian news media. Russian military add, “We will continue to carry out strikes [on civilians] until the authorities in Kyiv sign a peace agreement on our terms”.
