Silicon Curtain

Silicon Bites Ep384 | 2026-08-17 | Trump hands Kim Jong Un the one concession he has demanded for thirty years — while Kim's shells, Kim's missiles and Kim's soldiers are killing Ukrainians. Sunday evening, Washington. Hours before eighteen thousand South Korean troops were due to begin the largest allied exercise on the Korean peninsula, the President of the United States went on social media and pulled the rug out from under them. He ordered the Pentagon to substantially reduce Ulchi Freedom Shield. He gave two reasons. The first was Seoul's refusal to join his war against Iran. The second was his personal relationship with Kim Jong Un.The first is geopolitical blackmail, that has no strategic logic to it. The second is treachery driven by his malignant narcissism – which is rapidly destroying American global influence and power and causing the order that bound the civilised world together since 1945 to unravel. ----------SUPPORT THE CHANNEL:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtainhttps://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtainhttps://www.gofundme.com/f/scaling-up-campaign-to-fight-authoritarian-disinformation----------TRUSTED CHARITIES ON THE GROUND:Save Ukrainehttps://www.saveukraineua.org/Superhumans - Hospital for war traumashttps://superhumans.com/en/UNBROKEN - Treatment. Prosthesis. Rehabilitation for Ukrainians in Ukrainehttps://unbroken.org.ua/Come Back Alivehttps://savelife.in.ua/en/Chefs For Ukraine - World Central Kitchenhttps://wck.org/relief/activation-chefs-for-ukraineUNITED24 - An initiative of President Zelenskyyhttps://u24.gov.ua/Serhiy Prytula Charity Foundationhttps://prytulafoundation.org----------SOURCES:Stars and Stripes — "Trump calls North Korea 'unthreatening,' orders reduction in South Korea military drills," 16 Aug 2026 — https://www.stripes.com/theaters/asia_pacific/2026-08-16/trump-kim-jong-un-korea-military-exercises-22573400.htmlNPR — "Trump orders Pentagon to scale back joint exercises with South Korea," 17 Aug 2026 — https://www.npr.org/2026/08/17/g-s1-138969/trump-exercises-south-koreaNBC News — "Trump orders military to 'substantially reduce' joint exercises with South Korea," 17 Aug 2026 — https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/trump-orders-military-substantially-reduce-joint-exercises-south-korea-rcna592832CBS News — "Trump orders scale-back of military exercises with South Korea," 17 Aug 2026 — https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-scale-back-south-korea-military-exercises/Military.com — "Trump Orders Hegseth to 'Substantially Reduce' South Korea Military Drills," 17 Aug 2026 — https://www.military.com/trump-orders-hegseth-substantially-reduce-south-korea-military-drillsAFP via Yahoo News — "Bipartisan backlash as Trump scales back US-South Korea drills" (Tillis, Reed), 17 Aug 2026 — https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/bipartisan-backlash-trump-scales-back-155016102.htmlMS NOW via AOL — "After Trump gave North Korea what it wants, a key senator accuses him of 'appeasement,'" 17 Aug 2026 — https://www.aol.com/articles/trump-gave-north-korea-wants-184352000.htmlThe Hill — "Reed criticizes Trump's North Korea praise as 'delusional,'" 17 Aug 2026 — https://thehill.com/policy/defense/6033746-reed-criticizes-trump-north-korea/Al Jazeera — "Democrats rebuke Trump over scaling back military drills with South Korea," 17 Aug 2026 — https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/8/17/democrats-rebuke-trump-over-scaling-back-military-drills-with-south-koreaTIME — "Trump's South Korea Shift Tests a Key U.S. Alliance" (Col. Ryan Donald), 17 Aug 2026 — https://time.com/article/2026/08/17/trump-south-korea-joint-drills-kim-north-nuclear-iran-analysis/----------

Silicon Bites Ep383 | 2026-08-17 | Koledino is gone, Russia's consumer economy is being dismantled warehouse by warehouse. This is not a stalemate, but a systematic elimination of the modern economy that has lulled Muscovites into thinking the war is far away and does not affect them. That illusion has been demolished. At half past eight on Saturday evening, the drones started coming. They were still coming at half past six on Sunday morning. Ten hours. Six hundred of them, by Sobyanin's own count, headed for the Moscow region. Two hundred and one shot down over the oblast – is the claim. Eight hundred and twenty-two claimed downed nationwide by the Russian Defence Ministry — a number Moscow publishes to sound strong, but which reveal the incredible mass of offensive drones that were in the air. This is a modern-day Blitz but conducted with pinpoint accuracy and aligned with clear strategic objectives. ----------SUPPORT THE CHANNEL:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtainhttps://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtainhttps://www.gofundme.com/f/scaling-up-campaign-to-fight-authoritarian-disinformation----------TRUSTED CHARITIES ON THE GROUND:Save Ukrainehttps://www.saveukraineua.org/Superhumans - Hospital for war traumashttps://superhumans.com/en/UNBROKEN - Treatment. Prosthesis. Rehabilitation for Ukrainians in Ukrainehttps://unbroken.org.ua/Come Back Alivehttps://savelife.in.ua/en/Chefs For Ukraine - World Central Kitchenhttps://wck.org/relief/activation-chefs-for-ukraineUNITED24 - An initiative of President Zelenskyyhttps://u24.gov.ua/Serhiy Prytula Charity Foundationhttps://prytulafoundation.org----------SOURCES:The Moscow Times / Reuters — "Ukrainian Drones Strike Moscow Region, Killing One," 16 Aug 2026 — https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2026/08/16/ukrainian-drones-strike-moscow-region-killing-one-a93506RFE/RL — "Massive Overnight Ukrainian Drone Strikes Target Moscow Region," 16 Aug 2026 — https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-moscow-wildberries-facilities-drones/33831405.htmlKyiv Independent — "Ukrainian forces target Moscow Oblast, damaging Wildberries warehouse in major attack," 16 Aug 2026 — https://kyivindependent.com/ukrainian-forces-target-moscow-oblast-damaging-wildberries-warehouse-in-major-attack/Liga.net — "Hundreds of drones headed for Moscow; largest Wildberries warehouse and Domodedovo on fire," 16 Aug 2026 — https://news.liga.net/en/war/news/hundreds-of-drones-headed-for-moscow-largest-wildberries-warehouse-and-domodedovo-on-fire-photos-videoFrance 24 (live/AFP/AP/Reuters) — "Moscow targeted by 600 drones overnight, explosions heard in Kyiv," 16 Aug 2026 — https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20260816-live-moscow-targeted-by-600-drones-overnight-explosions-heard-in-kyivEA WorldView — "Ukraine War, Day 1,635: Kyiv Strikes More Wildberries Warehouses in Russia," 16 Aug 2026 — https://eaworldview.com/2026/08/ukraine-war-wildberries-kyiv-strikes-warehouses/UNITED24 Media — "Russian E-Commerce Giants Beg Kremlin for Bailout After Devastating Drone Strikes," 14 Aug 2026 — https://united24media.com/world/russian-e-commerce-giants-beg-kremlin-for-bailout-after-devastating-drone-strikes-21695Meduza — "Wildberries and sellers' combined losses… estimated at hundreds of billions of rubles," 13 Aug 2026 — https://meduza.io/en/news/2026/08/13/wildberries-and-sellers-combined-losses-from-ukrainian-drone-attacks-estimated-at-hundreds-of-billions-of-rublesThe Moscow Times — "Ad Spending on Wildberries Nosedives After Ukrainian Drone Attacks, Kommersant Reports," 12 Aug 2026 — https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2026/08/12/ad-spending-on-wildberries-nosedives-after-ukrainian-drone-attacks-kommersant-reports-a93472Byline Times — "How Ukraine Is Now Targeting the Russian Economy," 12 Aug 2026 — https://bylinetimes.com/2026/08/12/how-ukraine-is-now-targeting-the-russian-economy/----------

Ben Hodges is a retired United States Army officer, who became commander of United States Army Europe in November 2014, and held that position for three years until retiring from the United States Army in January 2018. Until recently he was the Pershing Chair in Strategic Studies, at the Centre for European Policy Analysis, specialising in NATO, Transatlantic relationship and international security. ----------SUPPORT THE CHANNEL:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtainhttps://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtainhttps://www.gofundme.com/f/scaling-up-campaign-to-fight-authoritarian-disinformation----------TRUSTED CHARITIES ON THE GROUND:Car4Ukrainehttps://car4ukraine.com/en-US/campaignsDzyga's Pawhttps://dzygaspaw.com/projectsSuperhumans - Hospital for war traumashttps://superhumans.com/en/UNBROKEN - Treatment. Prosthesis. Rehabilitation for Ukrainians in Ukrainehttps://unbroken.org.ua/Come Back Alivehttps://savelife.in.ua/en/Chefs For Ukraine - World Central Kitchenhttps://wck.org/relief/activation-chefs-for-ukraineUNITED24 - An initiative of President Zelenskyyhttps://u24.gov.ua/Serhiy Prytula Charity Foundationhttps://prytulafoundation.orgNGO “Herojam Slava”https://heroiamslava.org/----------PLATFORMS:Substack: https://substack.com/@siliconcurtainTwitter: https://twitter.com/CurtainSiliconLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/finkjonathan/Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/4thRZj6NO7y93zG11JMtqm----------DESCRIPTION:Ben Hodges: Russia Is Already at War With Europe | Leipzig Drone Attack, NATO Readiness & Interceptor CrisisJonathan interviews retired US Lieutenant General Ben Hodges about Russia’s escalating sabotage campaign in Europe, arguing the West is already under attack and citing the failed explosive drone incident in Leipzig near an Antonov reportedly loaded with ammunition for Ukraine alongside Lavrov’s statements about destroying support for Ukraine. They discuss confusion and reluctance among European leaders to attribute attacks to Russia and the need for consequences, better airspace protection, and using technology and intelligence to trace drone launch networks. The conversation also covers Trump’s remarks about Kim Jong Un and implications for South Korea, growing doubts about US reliability for Europe and Taiwan, overstretched US naval forces, China’s opportunism, and the shortage of interceptors and munitions. They conclude that political will and industrial prioritization are central as Ukraine faces a difficult winter.----------CHAPTERS: 00:00 Russia At War With Us00:25 Meet Ben Hodges01:52 Trump And South Korea04:03 North Korea In Europe05:37 Europe Must Defend Itself08:22 Leipzig Drone Wakeup11:36 Hybrid War Reality16:05 Lavrov Threats And NATO17:47 Hunting Drone Launchers19:29 Ukraine Interceptors Crisis23:12 Taiwan And China Signals27:08 Drone Age Training Lessons34:09 Missiles Versus Interceptors----------

Andriy Kusyy is a Ukrainian machine-learning specialist and the CEO/co-founder of LetsData, a company built around detecting coordinated information operations. Before founding LetsData with Ksenia Iliuk in 2022, he led a machine-learning platform team at Grammarly. His perspective is therefore somewhat different from that of a traditional disinformation researcher: he approaches propaganda as an adversarial system that can be detected through data, networks, timing and anomalous behaviour, rather than primarily through fact-checking individual claims.----------LetsData gives organizations an earlier detection point for emerging threats. Its narrative intelligence platform, Vantage, identifies the behavioral signals behind narrative threats — impersonation, synthetic amplification, manufactured narratives — before they produce the infrastructure, IOCs, and downstream damage that conventional tools are built to find.----------LINKS:https://www.linkedin.com/in/andriy-kusyy/https://www.linkedin.com/in/ksenia-iliuk/https://letsdata.net/https://datainnovation.org/2025/10/5-qs-with-ksenia-iluik-co-founder-of-letsdata/----------SUPPORT THE CHANNEL:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtainhttps://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtainhttps://www.gofundme.com/f/scaling-up-campaign-to-fight-authoritarian-disinformation----------TRUSTED CHARITIES ON THE GROUND:Car4Ukrainehttps://car4ukraine.com/en-US/campaignsDzyga's Pawhttps://dzygaspaw.com/projectsSuperhumans - Hospital for war traumashttps://superhumans.com/en/UNBROKEN - Treatment. Prosthesis. Rehabilitation for Ukrainians in Ukrainehttps://unbroken.org.ua/Come Back Alivehttps://savelife.in.ua/en/Chefs For Ukraine - World Central Kitchenhttps://wck.org/relief/activation-chefs-for-ukraineUNITED24 - An initiative of President Zelenskyyhttps://u24.gov.ua/Serhiy Prytula Charity Foundationhttps://prytulafoundation.orgNGO “Herojam Slava”https://heroiamslava.org/----------PLATFORMS:Substack: https://substack.com/@siliconcurtainTwitter: https://twitter.com/CurtainSiliconLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/finkjonathan/Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/4thRZj6NO7y93zG11JMtqm----------

Silicon Bites Ep382 | 2026-08-15 | Putin has multiple fears now. Known knowns – Ukrainian drones. Known unknowns – Foreign intelligence services. Unknown unknowns – internal rivals and opponents within the system. The drones are the fear he can name. But the others also feed his rampant paranoia. On 22 December 2025, a car bomb in a Moscow car park killed Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov, head of the General Staff's Operational Training Directorate. Three days later Putin convened the heads of the security services. According to a European intelligence dossier obtained by CNN, the Financial Times and iStories in May, that meeting degenerated into a brawl. Chief of the General Staff Gerasimov attacked FSB director Bortnikov for failing to protect senior officers. Bortnikov pleaded shortage of resources and manpower. Putin ended it by demanding concrete solutions within a week.----------SUPPORT THE CHANNEL:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtainhttps://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtainhttps://www.gofundme.com/f/scaling-up-campaign-to-fight-authoritarian-disinformation----------TRUSTED CHARITIES ON THE GROUND:Save Ukrainehttps://www.saveukraineua.org/Superhumans - Hospital for war traumashttps://superhumans.com/en/UNBROKEN - Treatment. Prosthesis. Rehabilitation for Ukrainians in Ukrainehttps://unbroken.org.ua/Come Back Alivehttps://savelife.in.ua/en/Chefs For Ukraine - World Central Kitchenhttps://wck.org/relief/activation-chefs-for-ukraineUNITED24 - An initiative of President Zelenskyyhttps://u24.gov.ua/Serhiy Prytula Charity Foundationhttps://prytulafoundation.org----------SOURCES:Novaya Gazeta Europe — Novosibirsk residents told to stay indoors and away from windows, 11 August 2026Novaya Gazeta Europe — Eyewitness accounts of the Novosibirsk visit, road resurfacing and traffic closures, 11 August 20267x7 Horizontal Russia — Security services barred students and residents from windows, dormitory checks, 11 August 2026Agentstvo — Putin has stopped travelling around Russia; record isolation, 21 May 2026The Moscow Times (Russian service) — Putin halts public regional travel due to Ukrainian strikes, 21 May 2026Novaya Gazeta Europe / Agentstvo — Putin avoiding European-Russia regions regularly hit by drones, 8 August 2026The Moscow Times / AFP — Putin makes first visit to disputed Kuril Islands amid Japanese protests, 13 August 2026NPR / AP — Putin's first Kuril visit draws Tokyo protest; Pacific Fleet drills, 13 August 2026Al Jazeera — Japan protests as Putin visits disputed Kuril Islands, 13 August 2026Ukrainska Pravda / Radio Svoboda — Seven new Pantsir towers at Valdai, total 27, 12 April 2026Meduza — 27 air-defence positions around Putin's Valdai residence; 26 Pantsir plus S-400, 13 April 2026Militarnyi — Russia builds seven new Pantsir towers around Putin's residence, 12 April 2026----------