Ukraine has launched another massive long-range strike wave, reportedly hitting 23 targets across Russia overnight — including oil infrastructure, aircraft, helicopters, ships, and military facilities stretching as far as the Caspian Sea near Iran. Fires engulfed one of Russia’s largest oil refineries as Moscow once again struggled to contain the scale of the attacks.
At the same time, Russia’s seaborne oil exports continue collapsing, regional budgets are spiraling into crisis, and even Russian military bloggers now openly warn that Ukrainian drone strikes are inflicting devastating economic damage. Some regions are reportedly slashing healthcare spending by up to 40% just to sustain the war.
Meanwhile, ordinary Russians are increasingly asking why their country remains impoverished while spending an estimated $700 million per day invading Ukraine. A new poll reportedly shows growing fear among the Russian population of Ukrainian drone and missile strikes deep inside Russia itself.
The Kremlin’s response has been panic and censorship. Moscow has now criminalized publishing information about Ukrainian strikes, threatening citizens with terrorism charges simply for sharing footage online. At the same time, Russian propaganda continues claiming the capture of the same Donetsk villages repeatedly, while inventing conspiracies accusing Ukraine of destroying its own buildings in Kyiv.
Following Russia’s largest missile barrage of the war, Kyiv residents were discovering unexploded Russian missiles embedded inside homes and apartment buildings.
Elsewhere, Russia’s foreign intelligence service bizarrely claimed Ukraine is secretly buying up major Russian Telegram channels, while U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called Ukraine “the best military in Europe” and noted Russia is suffering losses far heavier than Ukraine’s.
And amid all of this, there was one moment of hope: 205 Ukrainian defenders returned home in the latest prisoner exchange.
In this video we break down the strikes, the growing economic fallout inside Russia, the collapse of Kremlin narratives, and why even Russian voices are beginning to admit the war is pushing the country toward disaster.
