That the USA has crossed over to the dark side with Darth Donald at the helm is almost indisputable.
While the USA wants to pave over Iran and salt the earth, JD Vance has asked Ukraine not to attack oil terminals in Novorossiysk in the Black Sea. According to MXT on johanno1.se, it’s because Chevron is a co-owner. Which is worse, that Chevron exports Russian oil or that JD Vance does not treat them equally?
The Caspian Sea also died down so Russia can continue to transport war materiel to Iran undisturbed – I haven’t read anything but those ships were easy targets for Ukraine so why stop?
This was the case until sometime in 2024 with constant stoppages and red cards as soon as Ukraine tried something that worked, and now we in the West demand that Ukraine not attack Russian oil infrastructure so that we can still continue buying from them in 2026.
But Europe stands on Ukraine’s side, someone screams bright red in the face over all baseless accusations.
Yes, I actually believed that, at the turn of the year Russian gas will be finished.
So Europe has made good use of this time, LNG imports directly from Russia are skyrocketing in 2026 and so far this year we have paid them 6.6 billion USD directly into the war chest just for the gas and in six months.
Then Russia takes those 6.6 billion USD we paid them and buys all the technology they need from Europe for their arms industry.
Above was Austria, before that it was Germany.
https://english.nv.ua/nation/german-probe-uncovers-russian-military-tech-scheme-50608977.html
It has previously been proven that when direct exports to Russia approached zero, exports to countries like Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and India increased by 2000%-5000% instead – the same products still reached Russia, just a new route and a bit more expensive for them.
You don’t need a PhD from Harvard to understand that if Russia receives hard currency from Europe and then can buy all the technology they need from Europe, the war will last longer.
But the worst is what we don’t hear about, the silence and absence of things that should be happening.
For example, Ukraine had a major campaign against LNG and oil export terminals up in the Baltic Sea and started attacking cargo ships up there – they have stopped doing that.
“They’re preparing for a huge blast,” screams the same person as above, even more upset now.
We’ve been piecing this together since 2022 and when it looks like a black scorpion and crawls like a black scorpion, then it is a black scorpion – so infinitely many of our early suspicions turned out to be true, so I can safely place a black scorpion on the fact that I’m not wrong. Costs 50 SEK at the terrarium so I can afford that.
Europe has asked for a postponement to fill up LNG stocks before winter.
Otherwise, I used to bet 500 SEK from Erik14 earlier when I was on another blog, he will probably have to start writing here soon, otherwise I’ll be disappointed and won’t pay back the five hundred.
He can at least come in here and say hi, I owe him that.
Bible studies are underway, I know the wait is hard, holy water for most but exorcism for Dengamle by the way – I have correspondence with the Vatican’s chief exorcist so the doses will be right.
Since spring, I have warned that LNG is a form of blackmail that will work and that’s how it looks.
For quite a while it was India, they bought Russian dirty oil, refined it, and sold us refined products Made in India. The statistics for sales of Russian LNG and oil are about as credible as any parliamentary party’s election promises now one month before the election.
If you read through below, Europe is currently buying all the Russian oil and LNG they can get their hands on, we have sharply increased our purchases in 2026. There are no tears left but with friends like these, Ukraine hardly needs any enemies.
I will not take this tangent as I have made a binding holy vow in incense not to discuss “certain” things, but shutting down our own LNG, oil production, nuclear power, and mining in Europe was a disaster. There were zero shortages of warnings about what we now see and the consequence is that at night when it is windless, Putin can tell us to jump, and then we jump.
The Russian decline is solely due to Ukraine attacking their oil infrastructure, nothing else. If there were more to get, Europe would buy more.
The USA has already chosen a side and you can’t blame them for doing what’s best for them as long as they are open about it. Few people reading here probably feel that Trump and the USA are our best friends anymore, I guess?
Iran, China, and India also do as they please and what is best for them, the first two are also our enemies and you can hardly accuse an enemy of not doing what is good for us, right?
We in Europe face an acute threat – Russia is in full hybrid war with us and plans to jump on the Baltics. Between us and a war stands Ukraine.
In that situation, transferring hard currency in the order of the annual Swedish defense budget 4.5 years into the war (that’s just LNG and the first six months of this year) and then also selling all the technology they need to build the weapons they use against Ukraine is hard to justify on all possible levels.
So wrong, so infinitely wrong.
But this is not the worst.
You know just as well as I do what Europe would need to do and right now Europe has held back weapons Ukraine desperately needs.
Zelensky recently said he suspects it is to put pressure on them and I interpreted that as the USA, posted that earlier.
We refuse to point out Russia for the terrorist attacks in recent months, or the forest fires and the state-organized trafficking.
RU has parked destroyers in the English Channel, their shadow fleet operates almost unchallenged with few exceptions, they have sent two large destroyers from the Northern Fleet into the Baltic Sea and so on.
This one
And this one
We do not shoot down Russian drones, we do not want to send troops into the Baltics, we will not defend Ukraine with our air defense, and we have refused to release the frozen Russian oligarch money.
The pressure is called LNG – we buy 60% from the USA but that has dropped to 40% now in July 2026.
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-lng-exports-europe-decline-asia-prices-surge-2026-07-01
We are 25% below the level we should be in stocks and it is right on the edge that we will have power outages this winter. Since we are all environmentally conscious, we know that this year will be the El Niño of the millennium, which will give large parts of Europe a freezing cold January – February. 80% of my electricity consumption is December – February, so if it gets cold the need skyrockets.
In continental Europe, they have gas for heating.
This has made us dependent on Russia for this winter and is probably why we are now completely silent except when it comes to secretly asking Ukraine to stop everything that is going well.
Our 21st sanctions package was almost more watered down than the Lindsay Graham package in the USA where Trump has arbitrary veto power over everything.
Play for the galleries, window dressing, Potemkin facade – call it what you will.
We know what Putin intends to do – he will put his highest gear in and try to conquer Luhansk and Donetsk Oblasts starting this autumn.
When he succeeds with that, he will be secure because that was his promise to the country after about ten revisions; if he just pretends nothing happened, he will get by.
After that, Russia will demand peace in our time.
I don’t think Europe can hold out; once again, we will let ourselves be talked down.
The troika that was Starmer-Merz-Macron already has a ready plan for eternal peace; we shall send peacekeeping forces into Ukraine and rebuild the country.
When instead we should have a clever plan for war, how to snatch Kaliningrad and let Belarus gain its freedom from the Russian yoke.
Now this is going to be nuanced endlessly and then when it happens everyone will just shrug and move on, but then it will be the beginning of our era’s global conflict instead.
That was our Chamberlain moment.
“Ukraine will ignore it,” many are now screaming, righteously outraged over all the swearing in church.
Oh really, they have already stopped attacking the LNG terminals after demands from Europe and the USA.
Since the USA has now stopped supporting Ukraine, Europe holds all the leverage – EU membership and weapons support.
Ukraine cannot afford to ignore that, and trading two oblasts in eastern Ukraine for EU membership is something the country will accept, unfortunately.
It doesn’t end there because Russia is an empire smelling morning air with a loose-running half-crazy little man in platform shoes who comfort-eats caviar and does not trust his personal security.
Russia currently has an air bridge to North Korea for weapons and personnel. They will reinforce the North Korean 11th AC with an additional 30,000 – 50,000 troops so it becomes almost a full army corps. It is their special forces corps and they have fought well according to Ukraine.
“That’s not much,” someone now says, but we in Europe consider under 10,000 troops in the Baltics fully sufficient, so 50,000 North Koreans should be a threat, or are we using different yardsticks?
North Korean ballistic missiles operated by North Koreans themselves are now in place in Voronezh and Zelensky recently said they have started firing missiles at Ukraine.
It seems the North Koreans will be along the northern front and 30,000 – 50,000 troops then free up 3 Russian army corps or over an entire Combined Arms Army from that area who can do other things.
The Russian units up there have had relative calm and have been able to be re-equipped and trained for a couple of years.
Parts of the Rosgvardia have been reorganized into maneuver brigades with tanks, artillery, air defense, drone groups and fragmentation protection – and are a completely external resource.
There have been many air transports between Belarus and China this year; I saw here that Belarusian SOF are in China to learn drone warfare.
There is also a veritable air bridge from Russia and Belarus to countries in Africa, here is one.
They often stop over in Syria and then down to Africa.
The level of Russian and Chinese preparations is high if anyone has missed it – if you ask “preparations for what” you will have to read the posts.
The two Russian destroyers from the Northern Fleet into the Baltic Sea are added capability and the surface ships they have parked in the English Channel are not liked at all by the British.
During 2025-2026, Russian ships suitable for seabed operations have been lying over all the sea cables around Europe. I can’t post all the links but it was after Russia cut 11 sea cables in the Baltic Sea earlier so no one really needs to wonder about the underlying plan.
Recon drones over our high-value targets have been legion for two years already; in 2025 Germany had 1,500 reported incidents, that was only Germany and what they chose to disclose.
At one point there were IT attacks on our hydropower plants in Sweden where they opened the dam gates wide for a day or so. Below is Norway.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/aug/14/russian-hackers-control-norwegian-dam-norway
The water reservoirs earlier, here Finland.
And now this summer the highest level of forest fires ever, where France has now arrested 420 people for arson.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvgxjn92x9jo
That Spain keeps silent along with everyone else except Portugal, which openly reports arrests, is infantile. Portugal has arrested 150 but that number is probably outdated now.
Not to mention state-organized trafficking where Ceuta and Melilla are the only open routes now that all other countries have closed. Apparently, there will be an attempt on August 15 to storm the enclave.
It’s all connected – it is Russia that has started a hybrid war against us and the level now in 2026 is almost the highest possible.
Anyone with rudimentary brain capacity understands that it won’t end here unless Ukraine wins the war and Russia collapses.
And in this whirlwind, Europe buys all the Russian gas and oil they can get, then directly sells all the technology Russia needs to continue the war, and asks Ukraine not to attack targets that would shorten the war.
I say it – we are handling this almost worse than the lead-up to WW2, now it’s said and no nuance will make me change my stance for at least two hours.
Russia only recognizes strength and they have almost a spinal reflex to jump on weak, submissive countries with low-affect responses – if we don’t project strength, we get war.
It’s not more complicated than that and we have known it for 300 years.
How much time we have I don’t know, only that Budanov confirmed before Christmas 2025 that Russia was ready to attack the Baltics in 2027. When during 2027 was unfortunately not specified and Russia has had 8 months to try to accelerate the timeline.
Before that it was 2029-2030 so they had already accelerated the timeline – German Breuer should be ashamed of his terrible analyses.
When I started writing about Operation Baltics in early autumn 2025, my main scenario was operations that would fall under NATO Article 5 – that is actually where we are now in August 2026 and rapidly increasing.
As I began to dive into the secret information I get from spies who could be paid with the paid subscriptions on Substack, I understood that Russia is preparing for a full-scale invasion of the area in the Baltics north of the Daugava River.
It’s quite simple – Germany and Poland will defend Lithuania so Russia refrains from entering there except for operations below the level of war.
In April this year, all the Russians’ work on infrastructure was completed – all roads, road bridges, railway tracks and train stations running east-west towards the Baltic eastern border are reinforced for heavy transport.
Belarus, which is to project a threat without going to war, has also done its part now.
Russian mobilization is coming this fall. It has actually already started quietly.
Trump withdrew all American combat units from Poland, Germany, and the Baltics during 2026.
30,000 – 50,000 North Koreans are now in place or on their way who can take over guard duty at the northern front in Kursk and Belgorod Oblast, freeing up equivalent numbers in Russian units.
Two destroyers from the Northern Fleet are inside the Baltic Sea.
Only Putin knows Putin’s timeline, and his analysts have a very large amount of information to piece together, but to me it is indisputable that Russia is making preparations that are probably nearing completion to invade the Baltics.
At the same time, the LNG weapon has been fully utilized, so Europe will be afraid to make Trump or Putin angry; we cannot afford an import stop right now.
How Europe acts in the coming period will shape our lives for a very long time ahead – do we want to be cowards with a little natural gas or keep our grandiose coal-black self-image flanked by angry buzzing drones in a cold meeting room in the middle of a freezing winter when the power went out?
Now my spies in Russia are signaling that they have not been paid, so a paid subscription to Substack for those of you who read daily is now about securing the realm’s safety – take the step into the light.
As a bonus for subscribers, the unedited film of Dengamle’s exorcism will be released in about a week; without spoiling, it ended with us realizing that we need stronger stuff than this.
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Russian losses in Ukraine 2026-08-13
SLAVA UKRAINI
Ukrainian General Staff Morning Report:
Operational information at 08:00 on August 13, 2026, about the Russian invasion
Glory to Ukraine!
The 1,632nd day of the Russian Federation’s large-scale armed aggression against Ukraine has begun.
In the past 24 hours, a total of 204 combat engagements were recorded.
Yesterday, the enemy carried out
78 airstrikes, dropping
260 guided aerial bombs. Additionally, the attackers used
10,066 kamikaze drones and conducted
3,089 shellings of populated areas and our troops’ positions.
The enemy’s artillery shelling affected the settlements of Korenjok, Shpil, Bezsalivka, Seredyna-Buda, Yastrubshchyna, Ulanove, Neskutne, Rohizne, Bachivsk, Sopyt, Tovstodubove, and Shalyhyne in the Sumy region, as well as Kryvusha, Kamin, Mykhalchyna-Sloboda in the Chernihiv region.
In the past 24 hours, the defense forces’ air force, missile units, and artillery struck eight areas with concentrations of enemy troops, three artillery systems, and one ammunition depot.
In the Northern Slobozhansky and Kursk sectors, our defenders repelled four enemy assault attempts during the past day. At the same time, the attacker conducted an airstrike with three guided aerial bombs and 52 shellings of our troops’ positions and populated areas, including three with rocket artillery.
In the Southern Slobozhansky sector, Ukrainian units repelled nine enemy attacks. The attackers tried to advance in the area around Starytsya and in the direction of the settlements Vilchuvatka and Kolodiazne.
In the Kupiansk sector, the enemy conducted an offensive action towards Novoplatonivka.
Attempts to penetrate our defense were repelled in the Lyman sector, where the occupiers attacked four times towards Novoselivka and in the area around Zaritne.
In the Sloviansk sector, the enemy conducted 21 assault attempts in the areas around Riznykivka, Zakitne, and Kryva Luka, as well as in the direction of Rai-Oleksandrivka.
In the Kramatorsk sector, the occupiers attacked twice in the area around Fedorivka Druha and in the direction of Yurkivka.
In the Kostiantynivka sector, 19 attacks were recorded. The attackers conducted assault attempts in the areas around Kostiantynivka, Ivanopillia, Illinivka, and Rusyn Yar, as well as in the direction of Dovha Balka and Toretske.
The enemy conducted 26 attacks in the Pokrovsk sector. The occupiers tried to advance in the areas around Nove Shakhove, Dorozhnye, Udatne, and Molodetske, as well as in the direction of Kutcheriv Yar, Bilytske, Ivanivka, Novyi Donbas, Svitli, Serhiyivka, and Novopavlivka.
In the Oleksandrivka sector, the attackers conducted three attacks towards Nove Zaporizhzhia.
In the Huliaipole sector, the occupiers attacked 14 times. The enemy tried to advance towards Vozdvizhivka, Hirke, Rivne, Verkhnia Tersa, and Novoselivka.
In the Orikhiv sector, our defenders stopped three enemy attempts to advance towards Novoyakovlivka and Prymorske.
In the Dnipro area, our defenders successfully stopped three assault attempts towards the Antonivskyi Bridge.
In the Volyn and Polissya sectors, no signs have been detected that the enemy is forming offensive force groups.
In total, the Russian attackers’ losses in the past 24 hours amounted to 1,310 personnel. Additionally, the following were neutralized:
Join the defense forces! Together we will win! Glory to Ukraine!
Do you prefer the full report as above or do you prefer the short summary that I usually post?
I prefer the long version.
💥🔥✊👊👍
** ❗️In the morning, Ukrainian drones attacked Gazprom neftekhim Salavat in Bashkortostan. This is one of the largest oil refining complexes in the Russian Federation, with a capacity of 10 million tons of feedstock per year. ** https://bsky.app/profile/militarynewsua.bsky.social/post/3mswvjbz5u22c
** Breaking: Salavat, Russia’s oil refinery is on fire this morning, suffering from a drown strike this morning (local time). The Gazprom complex is one of Russia’s largest oil and petrochemical refineries. Multiple Ukrainian drones reportedly struck the facility. ** Movie:
https://bsky.app/profile/slavaukraini033.bsky.social/post/3mswuehl7422z
** 🔥🛢️ The Salavat oil refinery in Russia’s Bashkortostan is burning following an early morning strike. The refinery has a design capacity of around 10 million tonnes of crude oil per year and is located roughly 1,300 km from the Ukrainian border. **
https://bsky.app/profile/specialkhersoncat.bsky.social/post/3mswt5w7ch22l
** ❗️Zelenskyy: We will survive the winter if the US provides 5% of the Patriot missiles they currently have.
▪️If they can sell us 10%, we will destroy all Russian ballistic missiles. I have 1%;
▪️Ukraine critically lacks interceptor missiles for Patriot air-defense systems;
▪️I have a few months (until the start of Russia’s autumn-winter campaign to destroy Ukrainian energy infrastructure – ed.), and a million phone calls… I’m trying to exchange something for missiles… I’m doing some things that I can’t even share. That doesn’t mean it’s outside the law. But I can’t talk about it. ** Movie:
https://bsky.app/profile/militarynewsua.bsky.social/post/3mswvb4r4ek2c
** ❗️Overnight, Ukrainian military forces shot down 111/133 Russian UAVs. **
https://bsky.app/profile/militarynewsua.bsky.social/post/3mswuyax7bk2c
** Ukrainian successful deep strikes beyond 200 km into russia are up roughly sevenfold since 2024. Very positive dynamics. **
https://bsky.app/profile/dim0kq.bsky.social/post/3mswukxznno2c
** Ukraine-Armenia ties becoming ‘more constructive,’ Zelensky says after call with Armenian PM.
President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Aug. 12, discussing priority areas for cooperation between the two countries. **
https://kyivindependent.com/ukraine-armenia-ties-becoming-more-constructive-zelensky-says-after-call-with-armenian-pm/
Once again a great post Johan! 👍👍👍
Europe plans to sell the cargo from boarded “shadow ships” – and Putin responds by threatening to seize Western vessels. It would be a risky move for Russia, says military analyst Jörgen Elfving to DN.
If Russia makes the threat a reality and “responds in kind,” as Putin said during the day, it would risk drawing other countries into the war and opening up an entirely new front, according to Elfving.
– It remains to be seen what they actually do. It also depends on how the West continues to act against the shadow fleet, he says.
https://omni.se/expert-riskfyllt-men-inte-omojligt-for-ryssland-att-gora-verklighet-av-hotet/a/y5Vm0g
This one is fun, but I can’t seem to find any background or in-depth information.
Off-Topic USA
I wonder if Leavitt has had enough, or if her explanation is true.
Even if you adore Trump, it must be exhausting to always have to stand up and defend him, especially the times he has really messed up.
Having to also throw out baseless accusations against everything and everyone about fake news, etc., where it often later turns out that information that was correct cannot be that fun either (unless she is exactly as many perceive her, of course). Regardless, it is probably a very tough job to be the face of it all and be forced to take all the questions.
It will be interesting to see who replaces her. Is it possible to find another blonde willing to step up? That seems to be one of Trump’s basic requirements. Although maybe it doesn’t have to be a natural blonde, perhaps just bleaching your hair is enough.
“The White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt is leaving her job at the end of August, the president writes on Truth Social.
According to Trump, it is Leavitt herself who made the decision in order to spend more time with her family.
‘A decision that I completely understand and respect!’
He writes that Leavitt has done a ‘phenomenal’ job and that she will be an external advisor and an ‘influential voice’ within the Republicans.”
https://omni.se/trump-leavitt-har-sagt-upp-sig/a/Pdana0
“The Russian couple who were arrested in connection with a cabin where Saab CEO Micael Johansson was present are no longer suspected of any crime, their lawyer told Expressen.
The couple has been asked to leave Sweden by August 16 at the latest. According to the lawyer, they are just waiting to get their phones back.
The deportation order and re-entry ban have been lifted.”
https://omni.se/ryska-paret-lamnar-sverige-inte-langre-misstankta/a/wrVnpd
Did you have fun walkie talkies?
💥🔥✊👊👍
** ❗️Just now, 🇺🇦Ukrainian drones attacked a large warehouse and distribution complex belonging to Wildberries in the 🇷🇺Chishminsky District of Bashkortostan.
The facility is used for the storage, sorting, and further distribution of dual-use goods of Wildberries. After the attack, a large-scale fire broke out on the territory of the hub.**
https://bsky.app/profile/militarynewsua.bsky.social/post/3mswwddsilk2c
** ❗️The moment of the 🇺🇦Ukrainian drones’ attack on the Wildberries logistics hub in the settlement of 🇷🇺Chishmy in Bashkortostan. **
https://bsky.app/profile/militarynewsua.bsky.social/post/3mswxxo6g7c2c
** Ukraine for First Time Combines 15 Weapons in Novorossiysk Strike, Expanding Black Sea ‘No-Go Zone’
In brief: Ukraine combined 15 domestically produced weapons in a coordinated strike on Novorossiysk, hitting Russian warships and prompting authorities to declare a state of emergency in the Black Sea port city. **
https://www.kyivpost.com/post/82246
** Train crew killed as Russian attacks kill at least 8, injure 50 across Ukraine over past day. **
https://kyivindependent.com/train-crew-killed-as-russian-attacks-kill-at-least-8-injure-50-across-ukraine-over-past-day/
Then the Russians should have two destroyers, two submarines, 3-4 heavily armed corvettes in the Baltic Sea. Plus minesweepers, patrol vessels, and various support ships. Thanks for the posts today and yesterday Johan no 1.
Feels like a bit too many ships……. Time for Ukraine to be a bit innovative, or what do you think?
Good post from Johan again, it’s so strange that “we” haven’t strengthened the Baltic region, haven’t taken care of the border with Belarus for Ukraine, etc. The concern that things will go badly for Europe in the near future is starting to grow. I hope that a lot of positive things are happening behind the scenes, but closing the land border with Russia in various ways is hard to do without it being noticed.