Billions shipped east while French streets look like a failed state. Priorities of a ruling class that long ago stopped ruling for its own people.

Ukrainian tiktoks are amazing: Do you know why the Poles are outraged about the UPA, but they continue to give us money? Because they know how many drones we have and where they will fly if anything happens.

‼️ 𝗔 𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗥𝗜𝗙𝗬𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗡𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧 𝗜𝗡 𝗕𝗘𝗟𝗚𝗢𝗥𝗢𝗗: 𝗭𝗘𝗟𝗘𝗡𝗦𝗞𝗬 𝗞𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗦 𝗣𝗘𝗢𝗣𝗟𝗘 𝗜𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗜𝗥 𝗦𝗟𝗘𝗘𝗣 “We are ready to meet any day—even tomorrow. But everything depends on the Russians.” That was Zelensky yesterday, speaking about the trilateral Russia–US–Ukraine talks scheduled for the first half of November in Abu Dhabi. And overnight, a swarm of drones descended on central Belgorod. By morning, local social media channels resembled frontline news feeds. Craters in the middle of streets, drone wreckage mixed with chunks of building facades scattered across the asphalt. Dozens of dead birds. The city’s largest shopping center, MegaGrinn, posted a brief notice: closed today. Two men were killed, and a third victim died in hospital. Thirteen people were injured, including an ambulance worker. Thirty apartment buildings, four private houses, 35 vehicles and three social facilities were damaged. Fifty-three people moved into temporary accommodation centers, while utility crews worked to restore heating using temporary arrangements. And it is already late October. I’m looking for a military target on this list. I can’t find one. A shopping center with a cinema, residential courtyards, parked passenger cars. The Investigative Committee has opened a terrorism case, and it is difficult to argue with that classification. The Ukrainian Armed Forces General Staff, usually eager to publish triumphant reports about “targets hit,” has so far remained conspicuously silent. Apparently, even they have nothing to show. Belgorod was merely the bloodiest point on the map that night. Russia’s Ministry of Defense reported 532 drones intercepted over 23 regions and the Sea of Azov. In Kursk Region’s Khomutovsky District, an energy facility was damaged, leaving 104 villages and around 11,000 customers without electricity. In Kozyrevka, an FPV drone hunted a passenger car, injuring a 30-year-old man. Kazan Airport was shut down from 5 a.m., Perm imposed its “Carpet” airspace restriction plan, and limitations stretched from Saratov to Nizhny Novgorod. The previous day, 616 drones had been reported. In Rostov, 21 buses were damaged; Crimea experienced disruptions to electricity and water supplies; industrial facilities in Tolyatti were hit; and an industrial zone in Omsk caught fire during the day. A pattern is emerging. The closer Abu Dhabi gets, the more crowded the skies become. The man whose presidential term has expired is heading to negotiations with images of Russia’s burning home front tucked under his arm, hoping the Russians will lose their nerve and that, instead of peace, there will be a convenient pause for rearmament. Last week, Trump accused Zelensky of not wanting to end the war. The night in Belgorod is the clearest illustration of that accusation. Two people killed, a wounded paramedic, and three dozen damaged apartment buildings—that is how Kiev backs up its “desire for peace.” Zelensky has demonstrated his readiness to meet “even tomorrow.” Our response to that readiness should not be postponed until tomorrow. @sashakots

𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗜𝗞𝗘 𝗢𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗕𝗥𝗜𝗗𝗚𝗘 𝗜𝗡 𝗭𝗔𝗣𝗢𝗥𝗢𝗭𝗛𝗬𝗘 The Geran drones approach their target one after another. The final frame shows a massive flash engulfing the scene. This is the tallest bridge in Ukraine. Construction began in 2004, and over the following 18 years, it became notorious as a “monument to corruption.” In January 2022, Zelensky personally opened it to traffic and declared the long-delayed project a “monument to unity.” One month later, the Special Military Operation began. That unity proved short-lived. Since October 6, the bridge has been struck repeatedly. Initially, Zaporizhzhia Military Administration chief Mikhail Semikin confidently reported that the roadway had been damaged but traffic was restored within two hours. Then the crossing was closed overnight “for inspection”—to see how the city would manage without it. Next came a ban on trucks weighing more than 3.5 tonnes. Since October 22, the bridge has been closed every night from midnight until 6 a.m. That same evening, it was completely shut down. By morning, it reopened in just one direction—from Khortytsia Island toward the left bank. Then, on October 24, following another strike, the DniproHES dam also came to a standstill. Heavy trucks are now crawling across the Preobrazhensky Bridge, with just one lane in each direction. Local community channels are publishing detour maps as regularly as weather forecasts. The cable-stayed bridge connects the right bank, via Khortytsia Island, to the left bank, where roads lead toward Orekhov and Stepnogorsk. Even the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) acknowledges that Zaporozhye is a critical Ukrainian Armed Forces logistics hub across the entire southern front. Watch footage of Su-30SM2 fighters hunting a floating “airfield” in the Black Sea on my channel on MAX. Subscribe so you don’t miss anything important. @sashakots