U2 has featured footage from the front lines (?) and back lines of Ukraine in their new music video. Upcoming documentary footage.

Update on the war's impact on Russia and Ukraine in 10 charts.

"Although the war remains unresolved and significant uncertainties persist, its fourth anniversary provides a moment to reflect on its profound impacts on regional security, transatlantic cohesion, military technology, and the global balance of power."

CHARTS

This will complicate Ukraine destroying this factory because I don't think the USA or Europe would be ok with Ukraine striking Belarus.

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Russian officials announced plans last March to build a large-scale drone factory in neighboring Belarus, presenting the project as a step toward strengthening the "national security and the economy" of Moscow's closest ally.
Kremlin Deputy Chief of Staff Maxim Oreshkin said the plant could produce up to 100,000 drones per year once fully operational, though no timeline was provided. Officials stopped short of explicitly describing the drones as military systems.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko publicly welcomed the proposal during meetings in Minsk, with discussions to follow on site selection and implementation details.

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Russian Drone factory

ABATTBQ11 said:

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Must be be weird for the Russians on the ISS with everyone watching their country trying to bomb civilians in real time

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During the Georgian invasion they scheduled a lot of hurricane earth observation experiments whenever ISS flew over that region.

KentK93 said:

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This will complicate Ukraine destroying this factory because I don't think the USA or Europe would be ok with Ukraine striking Belarus.

Quote:

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Russian officials announced plans last March to build a large-scale drone factory in neighboring Belarus, presenting the project as a step toward strengthening the "national security and the economy" of Moscow's closest ally.
Kremlin Deputy Chief of Staff Maxim Oreshkin said the plant could produce up to 100,000 drones per year once fully operational, though no timeline was provided. Officials stopped short of explicitly describing the drones as military systems.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko publicly welcomed the proposal during meetings in Minsk, with discussions to follow on site selection and implementation details.

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Russian Drone factory

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Russia launched attacks directly from Belarus with motorized infantry brigades. Ukraine won't have any issue targeting a drone factory in Belarus if they can hit it.

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Russia launched attacks directly from Belarus with motorized infantry brigades. Ukraine won't have any issue targeting a drone factory in Belarus if they can hit it.

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Yes, Russia did but Belarus didn't send troops as far as I know of but could be wrong. Now if Ukraine starts hitting them they might start attacking Ukraine on their shared border which would cause more manpower issues because the size of the Ukraine borders with Belarus. So I don't think Ukraine will take it out because the juice isn't worth the squeeze.

Belarus isn't going to launch a full scale incursion if Ukraine launches a few cruise missiles or drones on a single factory. Especially if that factory is directly contributing to the deaths of Ukrainian civilians and destruction of civilian infrastructure.

Teslag said:

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Belarus isn't going to launch a full scale incursion if Ukraine launches a few cruise missiles or drones on a single factory. Especially if that factory is directly contributing to the deaths of Ukrainian civilians and destruction of civilian infrastructure.

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This is my thought. It's a bold strategy by Putin that sends a clear strategy of desperation. It's one thing to have a puppet state buffer between you and Poland but to have that puppet state carrying out acts of war is another. I don't think the Euros could let Belarus become active in Ukraine, whether it's their own trips or just allowing Russian troops free access. Ukraine has no choice but to hit such a factory so the only real question is whether Putin has the sack to attack from Belarus.

Putin already attacked from Belarus in the initial invasion. That's why this new factory really means nothing.

Yeah, this is a big nothing. They already attacked from Belarus, and the only reason they haven't continued to do so is that the Ukes have constructed enormous minefields and other defenses along the northern border now, and Belarus knows Uke drones could destroy them in short order if they tried it now.

Ukraine takes out a rare variant of the Pantsir air defense system.

HIT

Mirage 2000's now conducting frontline air strikes for Ukraine.

JETS

An excellent article on the current state of the war which includes evolution of battlefield tactics as well as the factors influencing the current state of peace negotiations. And if you are wondering why the Ukrainians don't just concede to Russian and Trump administration demands to end the war, then this quote aptly captures why.

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I don't think that the Ukrainian public or the political establishment is in a place where they are willing to easily concede to Moscow's demands. And they are largely negotiating from a position that is informed by the objective assessment of the prevailing military situation.

Russia consistently is making demands on the basis of aspirational military performance, but not actual military performance.

If you look at the extensive list of demands which go well beyond just taking the rest of the Donbas people sometimes focus on that, but I think they miss the other national-level demands that Moscow has these are the demands of a side that sees itself as a decisive victor in the war, but this position is unsubstantiated. In fact, Russian military performance has been relatively lackluster compared to what they're asking.

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https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/26/opinion/russia-ukraine-drone-war.html

Russian milblogger Rybar finally acknowledged Ukrainian movement south of Verbove, while staying in denial on the situation near Oleksiivka-Stepove-Verbove and west of the Haichur river which in reality is far from what he is trying to present. #Ukraine https://t.co/i4AcUZlaEy pic.twitter.com/YV8WElGjj9

— NOELREPORTS 🇪🇺 🇺🇦 (@NOELreports) February 27, 2026

Big huevos. "Human safari drones" are those the Russians use to hunt ordinary civilians and spread terror.

Locals in Ukraine's Kherson destroy one of Russia's human safari drones.pic.twitter.com/HWxONqc0g1

— Jay in Kyiv (@JayinKyiv) February 28, 2026

Uhmm, wait what? This true?

Putin has agreed to accept US security guarantees for Ukraine, Zelensky’s office chief Budanov said.

Budanov added that the Russian army is not preparing to advance on Kyiv at this time. He also expressed confidence in the prospects of peace talks, noting that the issue of… pic.twitter.com/DBZeMETXOc

— KyivPost (@KyivPost) February 28, 2026

aggiehawg said:

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Uhmm, wait what? This true?

Putin has agreed to accept US security guarantees for Ukraine, Zelensky’s office chief Budanov said.

Budanov added that the Russian army is not preparing to advance on Kyiv at this time. He also expressed confidence in the prospects of peace talks, noting that the issue of… pic.twitter.com/DBZeMETXOc

— KyivPost (@KyivPost) February 28, 2026

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If this is true Holy poop. We keep popping off their allies and military equipment.

The Fall Guy said:

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aggiehawg said:

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Uhmm, wait what? This true?

Putin has agreed to accept US security guarantees for Ukraine, Zelensky’s office chief Budanov said.

Budanov added that the Russian army is not preparing to advance on Kyiv at this time. He also expressed confidence in the prospects of peace talks, noting that the issue of… pic.twitter.com/DBZeMETXOc

— KyivPost (@KyivPost) February 28, 2026

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If this is true Holy poop. We keep popping off their allies and military equipment.

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Watching us take out his closest friends and allies with no losses from either Russian or Chinese air defense systems has to be very sobering for Putin. Losing the markets for his oil, losing starlink for comms, and seeing the Flamingos flying free in his deepest rear areas has to make it feel like the walls are closing in on him.

Marching on Kyiv is beyond laughable. Their gains are usually measured in meters.

Russia still taking hits as well.

BOOM! Novorossiysk port and oil terminal, russia 🔥 🤩 pic.twitter.com/bo0gIYOmjI

— Kate from Kharkiv (@BohuslavskaKate) March 1, 2026

Russian occupiers have obviously hit a major problem on the front. Reports say Ukrainian fighters started using nearly silent FPV drones with rubber blades that are impossible to hear until they strike. pic.twitter.com/MBapPQahAA

— WarTranslated (@wartranslated) March 1, 2026

A rare piece of good news from front. At the junction of Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts, Ukraine liberated nine settlements in single week

Ukraine cut Russian supply lines and destroyed firing positions and ammo depots in process https://t.co/Vc0NUhv985

— Euromaidan Press (@EuromaidanPress) March 2, 2026

If there ever was a definition of a paper tiger, Russia is exhibit A!

I am not sure they could defeat the Texas Air National Guard!

BoDog said:

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If there ever was a definition of a paper tiger, Russia is exhibit A!

I am not sure they could defeat the Texas Air National Guard!

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They suck at regular war but they have somewhat mastered missiles of all types and have nukes.. that's what we are trying to avoid with Iran

fullback44 said:

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BoDog said:

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If there ever was a definition of a paper tiger, Russia is exhibit A!

I am not sure they could defeat the Texas Air National Guard!

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They suck at regular war but they have somewhat mastered missiles of all types and have nukes.. that's what we are trying to avoid with Iran

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Good point....

Lately Ukraine seems to be systematically taking small bites of territory by these mini offensives where they surround an area and then liquidate it. Death by a 1000 cuts for the Russians. They are too brittle, leaderless and logistically challenged to react in any meaningful way.

Here's a rather esoteric look at calculating the direct and indirect costs of Putin's war on Russia itself.

"As Russia's war in Ukraine enters its fifth year, debates over sanctions, negotiations and military aid increasingly hinge on a central question: How costly has the war been for Russia itself? Our analysis, using standard economic tools, finds the cost so far to be about $2.5 trillion."

WAR

BoDog said:

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If there ever was a definition of a paper tiger, Russia is exhibit A!

I am not sure they could defeat the Texas Air National Guard!

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After watching what we have done the past few days to Iran, Putin has to be thanking his lucky stars he has nukes as a deterrent. His conventional military is decades behind.

At this point I'm not sure how certain I am that he has functional nukes. However, what he does have is the threat of functional nukes, which is as good as the real thing unless he ever goes far enough off the reservation so as to be required to prove it.

If Russia didn't have nukes this couldn't be better for China to take it over in a surprise attack. And if Putin is compromised then the nukes may or may not be functional/usable.

/End conspiracy theory

How much is Iran being preoccupied going slow down Russia and sending drones into UKE

BQ_90 said:

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How much is Iran being preoccupied going slow down Russia and sending drones into UKE

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Will be immaterial. Russia has been producing them domestically for quite a while.