Ukraine expanded its sea campaign against Russian shipping to the Black Sea, hitting 20 ships.
🔥🚢 Magyar: Black Sea. The first round score is 20:0.The total score of the naval battle during the operation from July 6 to 15 was 136 units of the Russian shadow fleet:•116 shadow ships in the Sea of Azov •20 ships in the Black Sea: 17 oil tankers, 2 gas tankers, 1 tugboat1/2
— MAKS 26 👀🇺🇦 (@maks23.bsky.social) 2026-07-15T08:29:54.389Z
⚡️ Ukraine expands drone campaign to Black Sea, hits 20 Russian vessels, including oil tankers, Madyar says.”The first round of the maritime battle is over. Now it’s the Black Sea,” Robert “Madyar” Brovdi, commander of Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces, said on July 15.
— The Kyiv Independent (@kyivindependent.com) 2026-07-15T08:51:05.400Z
A Ukrainian drone took down a Russian Mi-28 attack helicopter near Belgorod.
⚡️ Russian Mi-28 helicopter downed by Ukrainian drone, Madyar claims.The aircraft was hit in Russia’s Belgorod Oblast by soldiers from Ukraine’s 427th separate unmanned systems regiment, Robert “Madyar” Brovdi, commander of Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces, added in a post on social media.
— The Kyiv Independent (@kyivindependent.com) 2026-07-15T11:13:23.960Z
There is now video of yesterday’s Ukrainian strike on a Crimean power plant.
Russia is desperate enough for more air defense that it is moving systems away from protecting bases in the Arctic, apparently assuming that Ukraine cannot reach them.
Satellite images show that S-300 and S-400 complexes have been removed from several strategic facilities. For example, images from July 6 show that the Rogachevo air base on Novaya Zemlya has been left without cover.
Hungary continues to exorcise the ghost of Orban.
How are things going in Crimea today?
Let’s check in on the fuel situation in Russia.
1/ Officials in the southwestern Russian city of Stavropol have been told to ditch their cars amidst the ongoing fuel shortage, and use bicycles instead. The move is the latest Russian attempt to save increasingly scarce fuel after Ukraine’s destruction of Russian refineries. ⬇️
— ChrisO_wiki (@chriso-wiki.bsky.social) 2026-07-15T06:59:54.309Z
Russians have started shooting each other in gas station queues.
In Chelyabinsk, a man tried to cut the line at a gas station. When other drivers confronted him, he pulled out a traumatic pistol and opened fire.
One person was hospitalized. pic.twitter.com/FzD2Dw9WZG
— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) July 15, 2026
Russia is unable to refine all of its own oil and is forced to try to export it, but it is piling up.
This would be a mistake.
Zelensky is expected to remove Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov after just six months, FT reports. Officials and MPs say Fedorov, 35, blocked attempts to steer lucrative procurement contracts to favored firms, putting him at odds with Ukraine’s defense establishment. www.ft.com/content/c2b9…
— Kevin Rothrock (@kevinrothrock.me) 2026-07-15T13:25:48.410Z
Hopefully this will be a good move.
Another 1,470 Russians who should have stayed home. Plus 10 tanks.
His luck finally ran out.
Senior Lieutenant and a communications engineer Подкопаев Виталий Николаевич (Podkopaev Vitaly Nikolaevich), probably of the 77th Guards Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade, Korenovsk, had been on the front lines since the first day of the invasion and was finally eliminated. pic.twitter.com/fNF4CsURoN
— KIU ✪ Russian Officers killed in Ukraine 🇨🇿🇺🇦 (@KilledInUkraine) July 15, 2026
They each lasted about a month after signing contracts to fight for Russia. A total of 106 Cameroon citizens have been killed in this war.
One guy says he can’t fight because he has diabetes. The other says his knee is wounded.
They sound like prime cuts of beef for the ole meat grinder.
In the Russian army, those who refuse to fight are called “the 500s.” Putin’s TV warriors are brave only from the couch. Once dragged into the bloody reality of his war, the propaganda fades, the courage disappears, and they admit the truth: they’re terrified.😉 pic.twitter.com/Y44POtQRih
— Nikanor Volkonsky (@NikanorTerentov) July 14, 2026
Some Russians are getting a little brave.
Some Russians are openly saying they hope Putin dies.
“Putin is a criminal and a murderer. I hope some illness takes him as soon as possible.” pic.twitter.com/SARf6meFLU
— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) July 14, 2026
The corrupt IOC is getting some serious blowback from its decision to allow Russia and Belarus back into competition.
It is nesting season for flamingos along the Black Sea coast of Ukraine.
We’ll get straight to the point: The financial hardships that Daily Kos is facing this year are tough.
We continue to be paywall-free. We continue to be supported by our readers, not billionaires or corporations. But we need to bring in more revenue. We are leaning on our community more than ever to help make ends meet.
Power matters.
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