Ukraine Update June 13

2026 — Gas Shortages, Confusing Military Bases, Drone Breakdown

So Goes the Invasion of Ukraine

The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs is asking Russia’s neighbors for gasoline supplies. That’s how it’s going. Not just Belarus, whom they don’t even have to ask, they just take, but now anyone who can ship gasoline and diesel to Russia is being asked to help out.

<<<FIRND LINK>>>

Shortages to some degree or another have been reported in all the regions below. Purple is restrictions on sales, orange is restrictions plus spot outages. That doesn’t mean that no gasoline is available, but that some stations in those areas are dry. Usually, independent gas stations run out of fuel first, since refineries supply their own stations before they sell on the open market. Traders on the St. Pete index complain that many refineries still list official prices but have nothing for sale, and when they contact the refineries themselves, the price is much higher than the ‘official’ price on the index.

“In connection with the ongoing terrorist attacks by the Kyiv regime on our regions, the Foreign Ministry is appealing to a number of friendly countries with a request to supply fuel for state needs. I hope they will extend a helping hand, which we have always extended first.” — Zakharova.

@delfoo on twitter, aka Stavimir Dobrov, compiled a list of the restrictions. Limits per purchase of 20L for gas, 40L for diesel are in Chuvashia, Vologda, and Ulyanovsk. 92 octane is completely absent in many regions. There is a 50L/100L limit in Chelyabinsk. Filling of fuel cans or other containers is banned in most areas. Specific brands of fueling stations, like EktoOil, Tatneft, etc, are completely out in some areas. These are, in other words, mostly shortages, not complete outages.

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Ukrainian UAVs attack the Temryuk district in Russia’s Krasnodar region, which is just on the Russian side of the Kerch bridge. They attacked the seaport area, and locals report 96 firefighters and 30 fire trucks on the scene. That is not a minor incident. This is the launching point for the cargo ferry service to Crimea, including dry goods and fuel.

The port facilities on the Black Sea side of the Kerch bridge area, in Volna, are suffering fires as well, according to NASA FIRMS. There is a major oil facility in Volna, with two separate fires noted. That’s the Kerch bridge in the upper left.

Russians report strikes all over Kherson and Crimea.

This included further strikes, the third such concentration, on the bridge at Chongar, which is, acccording to Russians, completely closed now, even the pontoon bridge is out of order. Those Ukrainians, with their drone videos, confirm.

Russians are using disguises for their fuel trucks. From a Russian civilian in Crimea. In the video, the back of the truck is even more obviously fake. The videographer was, however, caught by authorities and made a confession video, where he confessed to making the video, sending it to a friend, and calling the military a bunch of clowns.

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The morning commute in occupied Crimea.

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After suffering from acute dronitis on May 31, the pumping station in Lazerovo, 1000km inside Russia, has been reimaged by satellite. Two oil storage tanks and, most importantly, the pump building, were damaged. This will help restrict the flow of Siberian oil to refineries in western Russia.

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An S-400 command vehicle met its fate in the Belgorod region. Parked in an open field, like they wanted it to be destroyed. Video from Ukraine’s 92nd Assault Brigade.

In occupied territory, Ukraine’s SBS and the 413th “Raid” regiment discovered a Russian training camp on the Azov Sea. Despite the visible efforts of Russians armed with MANPADS to repel the drones, eight targets were hit.

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Airports in Astrakhan, Vladikavkaz, Volgograd, Gelendzhik, Grozny, Krasnodar, Makhachkala, Magas, Mineralnye Vody, Nalchik, Sochi, Stavropol, and Elista have suspended operations. These are mostly cities in Krasnodar, southern Russia.

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Yet another attack on a Novo Poshta distribution hub, this one in the Zaporizhzhia region.

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Putin’s narrative is getting more and more delusional.

“Russia is standing alone against the entire collective West, represented by the well-known North Atlantic bloc — NATO. All NATO countries are intensifying their efforts and doing everything possible to organize these hostile actions against Russia and, as they believe, bring the war they unleashed against Russia to a victorious conclusion. It was they who started this war. It wasn’t us who launched the hostilities at the beginning of the ‘special military operation’.”

He’s still going back to the supposed coup of 2014, where the US and Europe tried to stop the Maidan protestors and keep the corrupt Russian oligarch Yanukovych in power in Ukraine. The efforts of the US and Germany failed, and Ukrainians chose to no longer live under the Russian boot.

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Yes, the spelling on the FIRND link was intentional, a test to see if you read the whole article before responding. Because I have to amuse myself somehow.

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Russians downed a Ukrainian Hornet drone and provided a breakdown video.

Notes: He claims the construction is “American quality” and that it is very well built. When capturing such drones, he recommends disconnecting the GPS, as it will continue operating after the drone is brought down, and being very careful when disconnecting the explosive device, which will detonate if power is disconnected. Two-meter wingspan. Two cameras — one forward, one downfacing. They brought the drone down with electronic warfare measures.

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I have no idea what Russia thinks it is doing here. It makes no sense. The Russian army is building up military bases on the border with Finland. Who they are going to staff these bases with, or what equipment they are planning on deploying there, is a mystery. Why are they wasting this money in the middle of a war that Russia is losing?

Suomi means “Finland” in Finnish. Venaja means “shithole” in Finnish.

I can see that Russian paranoia would necessitate the building of such bases. Russia sees the world as a constant struggle between imperial powers, and the idea of just sitting at home and improving infrastructure, installing toilets, and repairing roads is such a foreign concept that they can’t imagine that nobody is interested in taking over their shithole country.

From a diplomatic signaling perspective, it is not at all in Russia’s external interests to be building bases that threaten NATO. This will only reinforce the already broadly accepted idea that Russia wants to invade NATO, which it does, but there is no reason to make it obvious.

From an internal perspective, I guess it’s a great opportunity for oligarchs to siphon more rubles from the state budget by building some sub-standard tin shacks in the Russian far North.

But, hey, it’s right near the lake, so maybe the fishing will be nice.

Politics

Polish citizens raised 145,000 zlotys to purchase used city buses for Vinnytsia after a government program to give the buses to Ukraine failed because the Polish government is waist-deep in Russian propaganda. The Polish people are still doing the right thing. They need 500,000 zloty to complete the purchase of 15 buses.

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A look back.

Ahmed Zeki Velidi Togan, a Bashkir intellectual, historian, and nationalist leader, lived through the collapse of the Russian Empire, the Russian Civil War, and the early Soviet period.

“The Russian imperial myth insists that Russian invasions bring civilization and culture to primitive, barren lands. What Moscow does in reality is erase the authentic stories of societies that were richer, more diverse, and far more democratically advanced than its own.”

Togan told the story of Russian imperialism. Russia promises autonomy and partnership to locals, but it coopts the elites through appointments, bribery, and privileges. It works by creating and exploiting divisions between local groups, creating chaos that it then ‘solves’ with military control. Autonomy is reduced, then eliminated. Resistance is quenched through force, deportations, repression, and demographic engineering.

Togan lived from 1890 to 1970. Russia does not change. It has always been this way.

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Another look back. Hey, I don’t criticize Biden enough anymore, right? Well, that’s because he isn’t president anymore. But there are always new things we can learn about history. Indian FM Subrahmanyam Jaishankar told the press recently that the US asked India to buy Russian oil in 2022, to “stabilize the market.” Because genocide isn’t important, as long as the market is stabilized. Absolutely devoid of principles, even when they try to pretend to be guided by some kind of morality, behind the scenes, they always choose money over life.

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Hell, yeah, Albania. Armed with inflatable flamingoes, tens of thousands of Albanians took to the streets to protest the Trump family's corruption infecting their country. With support from the EU, the destruction of Albania’s nature preserve has been temporarily halted, but the struggle isn’t over.

My family spent three weeks in Albania in 2025, and it’s a wonderful country, one of my favorites.

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Tulsi Gabbard released US intelligence that there were no biolabs in Ukraine that were affiliated with any weapons programs. Like we’ve known for years. All the labs focused on monitoring agricultural and human diseases, with a single biological weapons detection lab in Odesa dealing with Soviet-era leftovers. They try to make out that prevention of Avian flu was somehow a “secret” program (it wasn’t), and somehow “nefarious”. Kind of like how the prevention of screwworms was “waste, fraud, and abuse.”

The only thing weaponized in that report was ignorance. Also, cartography.

WHERE THE FUCK IS KYIV, YOU INCOMPETENT MORONS!??? I made slides for DNI, I wrote for the fucking PDB. If I had submitted a slide like this shit for publication, I would have spent the next six months spellchecking junior analyst weather reports.

Sorry. Bad PowerPoint pushes my buttons.

Gabbard also released information on biolabs in over 30 other countries, and I want to say that I’m a big supporter of these labs. Science is good, science is real, and the US should be leading the way. Disease monitoring is extremely important for humans, other animals, and plants. Training and having qualified people around the world to recognize problems before they become pandemics is a good thing.

We need more biolabs, please.

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A quick interview with a Ukrainian medic on the front lines.

Watch the whole thing here, translated by Gerashchenko.

[embed]Anton Gerashchenko on X (formerly Twitter): ""How do you even keep your mental health together?""I… "How do you even keep your mental health together?""I don't. I lost it a long time ago. Ever since three of my closest…x.com

Meanwhile, in Russia

Russian blogger “Philologist in Ambush” is worried about Russian propaganda. He points out that the propaganda is so widespread, so obviously a denial of reality, and so easily debunked that he’s worried the people spreading it actually believe it. And when those people are Putin, “military expert” Yuri Knutov, and other Russian officials, it creates a worrying situation. He quotes:

“This is part of Zelenskyy’s strategy, aimed at creating panic among the Russian population.” — Knutov

“The Kyiv regime, suffering defeat on the battlefield, is seeking to vent its impotent rage on defenseless civilians.” — FM Spokesperson Zakharova

“…the reasons for such criminal behavior by the Kyiv regime are clear, you know this better than anyone — constant [Ukrainian] failures on the front: the surrender of positions, settlements, and territories.” — Putin

The problem is that none of this appears to be true. The strikes, argues Philologist in Ambush, are obviously targeted at strategic assets, mostly oil production. When the president makes statements like this, statements that are contradicted by all reports from the front lines, he is seen as delusional. There is propaganda, and then there is delusional thinking, and they have crossed the line.

“These messages, in my opinion, are counterproductive even from a propaganda standpoint. But! If such assessments also influence decision-making, the consequences will be grave.”

The narrative that Putin is lying is giving way to an understanding that Putin doesn’t know what is going on. Trump, for his part, is suffering from the same malady. There is a point at which the motivated disbelief becomes a warning. How many times have Trump supporters told me that “That’s just how he speaks, that’s just Trump being Trump.”? Many, many times. I, as a policy, take politicians at their word. If they say something, it’s because they believe it is true. I have never thought that Trump was somehow disguising his genius behind a mask of being an idiot. He’s an idiot. He’s not playing one on TV. That’s who he is. Putin is in danger of falling for the same trap. At some point, people start to associate his decisions with his statements and realize that he isn’t lying, isn’t putting on an act for the hoi polloi, isn’t playing a character. That’s what he believes, that’s how he thinks. That’s who he is.

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New sanctions evasion technique. Germany exports cars to China, and the Chinese put brand logos from China on them, and export them to Russia, who then remove the Chinese branding. A Russian gave us a tour of a recent truckload of cars that arrived from China. All the BMW logos were covered by Chinese car logos, but they were only stickers.

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In the largest confiscation of private wealth so far, Russia has grabbed $7.6 billion from Vadim Moshkovich, most of it from Rusagro, one of the largest agricultural companies, which makes pork, beet sugar, and other products.

Can the US do the same with illegal immigrants who make a trillion dollars on government subsidies? Asking for a friend.

Meanwhile, in Iran

Trump says there is a deal. Iran says there are still major issues to be resolved. This is the 38th time that this situation has occurred, and Iran has been telling the truth the last 37 times, while Trump has been lying. Do with that what you will. CNN put out a compilation of 39 times that Trump claimed that we were on “the cusp of a deal” with Iran. 37, 39, 582, who cares? He’s an idiot.

The US has not released the contents of the alleged “deal,” while Iran has. Given that both sides are not worthy of trust, the deal Iran has released is a complete and total surrender by the US.

The UAE has already released $3,000,000,000 to Iran, and as much as $20 billion is expected. That’s more than Iran got under Obama. Just sayin’. So, already, Iran has gotten more under Trump than it ever got under competent presidents.

Iran will receive over $300 billion, although a small portion of that is Iranian money frozen by sanctions. Other points, according to Iran, which, again, is quite likely lying, but we’ve seen nothing from the US side to counter their info.

According to Iran, Iran will get…

A permanent and immediate cessation of war on all fronts, including Lebanon. A U.S. commitment not to interfere in Iran’s internal affairs and to respect the sovereignty of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Full lifting of the naval blockade within 30 days. A U.S. commitment to withdraw its forces from areas surrounding Iran. Reopening of the Strait of Hormuz within 30 days under arrangements determined by Iran. Suspension of sanctions on the sale of oil, petrochemical products, and related derivatives, along with full Iranian access to the resulting financial revenues. The United States and its allies would be required to present reconstruction plans for Iran worth at least $300 billion. A 60-day negotiation period aimed at reaching a final agreement covering nuclear issues and the complete removal of U.S. primary and secondary sanctions, as well as the repeal of relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council and the IAEA Board of Governors. Reaffirmation by Iran of its commitment under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) not to produce nuclear weapons. During the negotiation period, the United States would commit not to deploy additional forces to the region and not to impose any new sanctions. The release of $24 billion in frozen Iranian assets during the 60-day final negotiation period. Half of this amount must be made available to Iran before negotiations begin. Establishment of a monitoring mechanism to oversee the implementation of the agreement. The final agreement would be approved through a UN Security Council resolution.

Discussion of Iran’s missile program and its support for resistance groups would be definitively excluded from the agenda.

So, that’s not even as good as the admittedly imperfect JCPOA, except much, much worse for the US and the West.

Sometimes the good is better than the perfect.

Now, the cynical side of me sees that the $300 billion in “reconstruction” is not as much for Iran as it is for the Trump crime family. One can surmise that Don Jr and Kushner are directing those contracts to companies that they control, and are set to make billions off of the deal. This would be in line with past Trump “negotiations”, like the deal it tried to force Ukraine into, and the ones that it is offering to Russia. Iran found the way to get through to the Trump regime — find a way for the Trump family to profit, and they will sign anything.

Meanwhile, in the USA

Let’s just remember how the MAGA press was covering the screwworm only a year ago. Oh, that’s right, they were making fun of scientists who were doing things that they didn’t understand. A “dream scenario,” huh? Because you didn’t understand it.

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A judge removed Trump’s ugly name from the Kennedy Center.

A judge halted Trump’s slush fund to pay $1.8 billion to a bunch of pedophile criminals who stormed the capital on January 6.

(The rate of pedophilia in the January 6th insurrectionists is ten times the background rate in society, and that only includes the ones who have been caught since January 6th.)

A judge has ordered that monuments and informational displays, etc, in National Parks that talk about slavery, LGBT issues, and all the other very dark parts of American history be restored. Trump’s team of DEI hires ordered them to be taken down to hide America’s history.

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The A-10 is still relevant. Here is one returning from the Middle East to the UK. Two ships are painted on the side, probably fast attack boats.

The ugliest aircraft (?) in the US arsenal is still worth keeping around.

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The MAGA World Cup. Russification of America? In some ways, America is even worse. Take the World Cup. Russia hosted in 2018, and had policies more supportive of world culture and the love of the game than the US has.

Free entry without a visa for anyone with a FAN ID and a ticket

Free trains to travel between the 11 host cities.

Free local transport (buses, metro, shuttles) on match days in the cities where the match was held.

No dynamic pricing for tickets; FIFA used fixed prices.

No discriminatory residency bans.

No seats reserved for supporters were taken away.

No humiliating searches upon the players’ arrival as if they were criminals.

No referees denied entry.

Don’t get me wrong. Russia is a shithole country, and never should be allowed in international sports until it is reduced to its proper size and renamed its proper name — Moscovia. But I’m fair and balanced here, folks, and the World Cup 2026 has been a humiliating disaster for America. Corruption is running rampant, prices are out of control, players and referees are denied entry to the US, and many other problems.

The point here isn’t that “Magda was a good baker” or “Adolf loved his dogs.” I’m not trying to whitewash the many, many crimes of Russia. What I am pointing out is that the US is doing worse than Russia in some areas, and trying to do worse in others. The US needs to change its ways and stop being such a pedantic, racist, paranoid oligarchy.

The World Cup in America should have been the cheapest, easiest, friendliest, most cooperative, and most supportive World Cup in history. Tickets should have been $20, and, well, I guess one can’t make public transit free if one doesn’t have public transit, but we could have done something. It should have been a celebration of the “melting pot,” a demonstration to the world that we aren’t still stuck in the Confederacy. Instead, we got Trump.

No country that is at war with another, for any reason, should be allowed to participate or host the World Cup, Olympics, or any other international sporting or cultural event, like Eurovision. Their athletes should be banned entirely until the war and occupation end.

Humor?

Meanwhile, in the future, Poland

“By the way, you still owe us 450 million euros in compensation for military aid.”