How Ukraine's Youngest General Has Decimated Russian Forces, Saving Pokrovsk

42 year old Mykhailo Drapatyi is the youngest general in the Ukrainian army. And it is under his leadership that the defense of Pokrovsk has turned from a seemingly doomed rearguard struggle into a relentless juggernaut in which Ukrainian forces are now decimating Russian troops and going on the offensive. 

Drapatyi did this by paying attention to basics: rotating out exhausted or inexperienced units, replacing them with veteran brigades, identifying Russian tendencies and using combined arms to anticipate and destroy assaults. At the same time, he focused his drone and artillery units on disrupting Russian logistics, further undermining Russian offensive capabilities. He also reinforced Ukraine's fortified positions, making his own troops safer while making Russian attacks more dangerous. The overall lesson in leadership for Ukraine is that younger men who have been fighting the Russians now since 2014 are best positioned to command. JL

Euromaidan Press reports:

Under Drapatyi's leadership, reserves were deployed to defend the routes on which the Russians focused most of their assaults. He rotated out newly formed units, to rearm and better prepare for combat, replacing them with veteran brigades. He also continued enhancing the ring of fortifications around Pokrovsk, which Russians have been unable to break through. (His command simultaneously) launched an intense campaign targeting Russian logistics routes, turning them into roads of death for Russian soldiers trying to advance to Pokrovsk. This slowed down their deployment and inflicted heavy losses, as their combat capabilities deteriorated.

Uncertainty Re Trade, Economy Depressing IPO Market, Startup M&A

Economic turmoil and market volatility are putting a damper on IPOs as VCs, bankers and startup executives try to determine what their best strategy may be. 

Initial expectations for greater market performance due to an Administration perceived to be more business friendly - especially regarding AI restrictions - have been dashed by policies at odds with classic economics, including tariffs which even the Wall Street Journal called "the dumbest trade war in history." For now, investors appear to have decided to wait on IPOs, hoping for a return to normalcy. JL

David Hollerith reports in Yahoo Finance:

The uncertainty surrounding the administration’s trade policies is roiling markets and raising new concerns about the direction of the US economy and inflation, making it tougher to pull the trigger on a public listing. The good news is that, so far this year, the total value of US IPOs is up 62%. The number of deals has nearly doubled, to 63 from 33 during the same period in 2024. But those results are still well short of 2021, the last boom year. The value of 2025's IPO deals so far is on track to underperform the average year of the past decade, while the number of deals so far is higher.  “It's very difficult to price an IPO when we're getting these swings in the market.” Valuable startups considering their next move are content to grow in the private markets while they "wait out the volatility."

Why Putin Can't Afford To End the Ukraine War

Ending the war would release potential economic chaos - inflation, job loss, privation -  and human demons in the form of over a million traumatized, angry and empowered veterans looking for what they believe to be deserved rewards which might not be forthcoming.

Prolonging the war means for Putin prolonging control and preventing threats to his reign. That is his only logical path. JL

Mikhail Zygar comments in the New York Times:

The war has become Putin’s tool for controlling the country, ensuring no one steps out of line. It serves as a gag order. While the war drags on, they will not speak out. The economy, which has been reshaped to serve the war effort, Putin’s longtime colleague from the K.G.B. now heads the state-owned military conglomerate. The dangers of peace are that it would return a million-strong army to civilian life. Not a single war veteran has been placed in leadership (so) veterans are a pool of resentment. While the war continues, they cannot step out of line. Were peace to come, they may follow the footsteps of former Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin. Putin cannot allow that to happen. To prevent a veterans’ revolt, he must not end the war. His political survival depends on it.

Ukraine Is Progressing Toward AI-Enabled Autonomous Warfare

AI-enabled autonomous warfare is no longer a science-faction fantasy, nor even a future vision: it is now, for Ukraine, an explicit, achievable strategic goal.

This focus is driven by necessity: there are fewer Ukrainians than Russians and their lives are more precious to their government than are Russian soldiers to theirs. Ukraine has developed drones to the point where they can be reconfigured in multiple ways as flexible and scalable assets. Their increasing sophistication, lower cost and effectiveness makes them an ever more useful weapon. Training for operators can now be conducted in less than a day. The hold up now, as it is for much AI deployment, has to do with hold-ups in bringing AI utility to the necessary level. The next major goal is expanding the focus from single drones to swarms. JL

Kateryna Bondar reports in the Center for Strategic and International Studies:

The Ukrainian military’s objective is to remove warfighters from direct combat and replace them with autonomous systems. This reflects the need to conserve human force. (But) AI has not (yet) reached the required level of development. Ukraine is developing standalone AI-driven software integrated across platforms to expand battlefield autonomy. Adding an (IED) and sensors to an FPV platform can transform it into a kamikaze drone; a bomber; an intelligence system. This modular approach makes FPV drones a flexible, scalable asset. AI-enabled systems reduces human limitations and allows locking on to targets 2 km away. Autonomous navigation makes drones strikes three to four times more likely to succeed. 

Another Russian Armored Assault Fails In Toretsk As Ukraine Drones Dominate

The Kremlin continues to try to launch assaults across the front line as the specter of ceasefire negotiations could possibly limit, in the immediate future, Russia's ability to make further gains in Ukraine. 

But unlike Kursk, where the strategy was predicated on territory versus troop losses in the context of bargaining chips, the fighting in Donbas is in defense of the Ukrainian homeland. JL

Militarnyi reports:

The 28th Mechanized Brigade repelled an assault by the Russians, who attacked as part of an armored convoy in the Toretsk sector. The enemy convoy was spotted by aerial reconnaissance, and artillery and drones were directed to destroy it. Several armored vehicles with improvised armor were hit. The Russian infantry, which was again left without vehicles, scattered in search of cover  The battle for Toretsk has been going on since the end of August 2024.

A Ceasefire Benefits Russia Vs Ukraine In Donbas, the Black Sea, Drone Defense

Despite Putin's claims that a ceasefire benefits Ukraine more than Russia, the reality on the ground in the water and in the air is that Russia stands to gain more than Ukraine in a number of crucial sectors. 

In Donbas, Russia's two year old offensive has stalled around Pokrovsk, Liman, Toretsk and other areas. In the Black Sea, where the Russian fleet has been sent scurrying for long distance safety, the Kremlin would also gain. And in terms of Ukraine's increasingly aggressive and successful drone and missile attacks on military and economic targets inside Russia, Putin stands to see substantial benefits as well. JL

Oleg Sukhov reports in the Kyiv Independent:

According to experts, a month-long ceasefire would benefit both sides, allowing the warring parties to replenish and regroup their forces. Russia has been on the offensive in Donetsk Oblast since 2023, with its advance bogging down over the past month and Ukrainian troops even making gains near the towns of Toretsk and Pokrovsk. "Russian forces in these areas were becoming overstretched and lacked sufficient mechanized support to continue their assaults. A ceasefire would be more beneficial for Russia in this specific sector." Russia could also need a respite from Ukrainian drone attacks. In the Black Sea, the ceasefire would give Russia some breathing room.

50% of Moscow Area Fuel Supply At Risk After Ukraine Drones Hit Largest Refinery

Ukraine is escalating its drone and missile strikes on Russian oil refining and pipeline capacity. 

Reports now indicate that the strike on the largest Moscow region refinery have put 50% of the Russian capitol's gas and diesel supply at risk. In addition, Ukraine hit the pipeline from which Hungary - a persistent critic of Ukraine -  gets 40% of its gas. The attacks are clearly meant both to degrade daily life, but are also intended to serve as a reminder that Ukraine now has the ability to hurt Russia and Hungary as much as it hurts them. JL 

Euromaidan Press reports:

Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian oil refineries and energy infrastructure are escalating. 337 Ukrainian drones struck Moscow, Kursk, Belgorod, Oryol, Lipetsk, Bryansk, and Ryazan in the largest drone strike to date. Strikes hit oil refineries in the Moscow area, including the city’s largest refinery, which supplies up to 50% of its diesel and gasoline consumption. The Druzhba pipeline—one of the world’s largest, with a capacity of 2 million barrels per day—is a critical conduit for Russian oil exports to Central European refineries. Hungary imports most of its crude oil and gas via the Druzhba pipeline, with over 40% of Hungarian gas being Russian.