Silicon Curtain

Silicon Bites Ep402 | 2026-09-17 | Flares at a Danish Helicopter, Drones over Lithuania and Moldova, Fire on Poland's Doorstep — Putin Has Stopped Deterring Europe and Started Shaping the Future Battlefield. Two flares. No warning. No radio call. One passed within metres of a Danish military helicopter over the Baltic Sea on Monday. A few metres more, and Denmark would be burying aircrew killed by a Russian warship in international waters.Moscow did not apologise. Moscow handed out a medal. On Wednesday, Russia's Defence Ministry announced that Andrei Belousov had awarded the ship's captain the medal "For Courage". The courage in question was firing pyrotechnics at a helicopter on a perfectly legal monitoring mission. It is a pattern, not an isolated incident. It also forces the question Europe keeps dodging. Is Putin still trying to deter us, or has he already moved into the next phase?----------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:Bloomberg, "Denmark Says Russian Warship Fired Flares at Helicopter," 15 Sep 2026 — https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-09-15/denmark-says-russian-warship-fired-flares-at-helicopterDefense News / Reuters, "Russian frigate fires flares towards Danish military helicopter," 15 Sep 2026 (Frederiksen quote) — https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2026/09/15/russian-frigate-fires-flares-towards-danish-military-helicopter/The Moscow Times, "Belousov Awards Warship Captain for 'Skillfully and Decisively' Firing Flares at Danish Helicopter," 16 Sep 2026 (Bruus quote via Reuters; corvette Soobrazitelny) — https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2026/09/16/belousov-awards-warship-captain-for-skillfully-and-decisively-firing-flares-at-danish-helicopter-a93724The Moscow Times, "Denmark Summons Russian Ambassador After Frigate Fires Flares Toward Military Helicopter," 15 Sep 2026 — https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2026/09/15/denmark-summons-russian-ambassador-after-frigate-fires-flares-toward-military-helicopter-a93709Al Jazeera / AFP / Reuters, "Russia warns Denmark after near miss in Baltic Sea," 15 Sep 2026 — https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/9/15/russia-warns-denmark-after-near-miss-in-baltic-seaThe Irish Times, "Nato jets shoot down drone violating Lithuania's airspace," 15 Sep 2026 (von der Leyen quote) — https://www.irishtimes.com/world/europe/2026/09/15/nato-jets-shoot-down-drone-violating-lithuanias-airspace/LRT / BNS, "Nausėda: drone shot down over Lithuania was Russian Gerbera headed for Ukraine," 16 Sep 2026 — https://www.lrt.lt/en/news-in-english/19/3054232/nauseda-drone-shot-down-over-lithuania-was-russian-gerbera-headed-for-ukraineMeduza, "Ukrainian electronic warfare apparently knocked a Russian attack drone off course and into Lithuanian airspace," 16 Sep 2026 — https://meduza.io/en/news/2026/09/16/ukrainian-electronic-warfare-apparently-knocked-a-russian-attack-drone-off-course-and-into-lithuanian-airspace-the-country-s-president-saysMezha, "Moldova Reports Two Drone Airspace Violations During Russian Attack on Ukraine," 14 Sep 2026 — https://mezha.net/eng/news/c1fec6fb_moldova_reports_two/----------

Andrew Ryvkin was born in the Soviet Union, grew up in Boston, then spent close to two decades in Moscow. He studied History and International Relations at St Petersburg State University and subsequently worked across media, advertising, PR and political television. He published glossy magazines in which Kremlin talking points appeared alongside luxury advertising, produced political talk shows that simulated pluralism while maintaining the state line, and worked within the milieu surrounding Vladislav Surkov and other Kremlin political managers. He now writes for outlets including The Atlantic and Air Mail, lectures on information warfare and authoritarian media systems, and is publishing a memoir, provocatively titled 'The Propagandist'.----------LINKS:https://andrewryvkin.com/https://andrewryvkin.substack.com/https://x.com/andryvkin?lang=en-GBhttps://daviscenter.fas.harvard.edu/about/people/andrew-ryvkinhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewryvkin/https://www.theatlantic.com/author/andrew-ryvkin/----------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 Ep401 | 2026-09-16 | Trump announced a truce that nobody had agreed to. As if uttering the lie loudly and demonstratively would make it so. This little authoritarian trick is wearing thin. Hours later Ukraine burned the AVT-6 unit at a Rosneft refinery — and Russia burned two Kyiv petrol stations. There is no truce. Never was and is very unlikely to be one until Putin snuffs it. The problem is that only one side’s act of violence is being treated in Washington as a problem. And of course, the problem according to Trump is the victim defending themselves, lawfully. Trump is an abuser, and a grifter, and so will always politically and psychologically side with the aggressor, a fellow abuser, the bully and parasite. This is the world he is comfortable with. ----------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:Kyiv Post — Ukraine Strikes Russian Refinery, Aircraft Plant and Ozon Facility in Massive Overnight Attack, 15 September 2026 — https://www.kyivpost.com/post/84536UNITED24 Media — Ukraine Confirms Strikes on Rosneft's Syzran Oil Refinery and Orion UAV Plant, 15 September 2026 — https://united24media.com/war-in-ukraine/ukraine-confirms-strikes-on-rosnefts-syzran-oil-refinery-and-orion-uav-plant-22565Kyiv Post — Putin Resists Energy Truce Announced by Trump, 15 September 2026 — https://www.kyivpost.com/post/84540UNITED24 Media — Moscow Says Trump Energy Truce Is a "Very Good Idea" — But Adds One Big Demand (Peskov, via Ukrainska Pravda), 15 September 2026 — https://united24media.com/war-in-ukraine/moscow-says-trump-energy-truce-is-a-very-good-idea-but-adds-one-big-demand-22570Ukrainska Pravda — Peskov remarks on the proposed energy truce, 15 September 2026 — https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2026/09/15/8053526/Kyiv Post — Russian Drones Hit Kyiv Gas Stations, Kill 1 as 200 UAVs Attack Ukraine, 15 September 2026 — https://www.kyivpost.com/post/84528Euromaidan Press — Russian drones killed a man and injured eight in Kyiv, hitting two gas stations, 15 September 2026 — https://euromaidanpress.com/2026/09/15/russian-drones-killed-a-man-and-injured-eight-in-kyiv-hitting-two-gas-stations/UNITED24 Media — Russian Drones Target Kyiv Gas Stations Again as Morning Attack Injures Eight, 15 September 2026 — https://united24media.com/war-in-ukraine/russian-drones-target-kyiv-gas-stations-again-as-morning-attack-injures-eight-22555Reuters (via The Globe and Mail) — Brent rises above $107 as attacks, pipeline outage deepen Saudi supply concerns (contains the Reuters calculation on Russia's top diesel refineries), 15 September 2026 — https://theglobeandmail.com/investing/article-oil-climbs-as-saudi-pipeline-outage-fresh-attacks-heighten-supplyReuters (via US News) — Trump Tells Ukraine's Zelenskiy to Stop Hitting Russian Diesel, Doonbeg, 13 September 2026 — https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2026-09-13/trump-tells-ukraines-zelenskiy-to-stop-hitting-russian-dieselKyiv Independent — Trump tells Zelensky to stop striking Russian diesel infrastructure, 13 September 2026 — https://kyivindependent.com/trump-tells-zelensky-to-stop-striking-russian-diesel-infrastructure/----------

Malcolm Nance is a former career US Naval Intelligence officer specializing in counter-terrorism, intelligence and violent extremism. He has been an advisor to the US government’s law enforcement, Homeland Security and Intelligence agencies. As an Arabic-speaking special intelligence collections operator, field interrogator he provided top secret anti and counter-terrorism support to national intelligence agencies while on numerous reconnaissance and combat operations in the Balkans, Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa. On April 18, 2022, Nance revealed that he had joined the Ukrainian Foreign Legion in March 2022. In an interview with Michael Harriot of The Guardian, Nance alluded to African-American military aviator Eugene Bullard's service in the French Foreign Legion to his service in Ukraine, hoping to inspire "African Americans and young Americans who have been in the military" and describing the International Legion as "the pantheon of the defense of democracy in the defense of Ukraine".----------LINKS:https://x.com/MalcolmNancehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_Nancehttps://www.linkedin.com/in/malcolmnance/https://www.spymuseum.org/host-an-event/spy-speaker-series/malcolm-nance/https://us.macmillan.com/author/malcolmnance----------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 Ep400 | 2026-09-15 | A Putin-decorated oligarch paid for Don Jr's wedding party. Jared Kushner was a guest. Four months later, Kushner spoke remotely to an event in Kyiv and explained that the obstacle to peace is Ukraine. He is clearly upset that Ukraine won’t surrender, won’t capitulate to the aggressor, acquiesce to be erased. Both stories are crashing into our timelines today, in waves of disbelief, outrage and nausea. These are simply the worst people, dragging us to hell. Fireworks launched from a barge over the Caribbean. A five-tier cake airlifted in from Florida. Helicopters and seaplanes landing on a pair of ultra-exclusive private islands. The president's eldest son lifting his bride into the air on the sand. ----------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----------Dedicated to the bravest person I know - who has set their will implacably against the enemy, who would stop at nothing to defend their land, their language, their family and their freedom. May they see live to see Ukraine liberated, and the enemy defeated and ground to dust. SOURCES:ProPublica — Donald Trump Jr.'s Bahamas Wedding Was Secretly Bankrolled by Russian Oligarch Close to Putin, 14 September 2026 (full text as syndicated): https://www.rawstory.com/donald-trump-jr-2677854200/Meduza (English) — Russian oligarch Umar Kremlev spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to help fund Donald Trump Jr.'s Bahamas wedding, 14 September 2026: https://meduza.io/en/news/2026/09/14/russian-oligarch-umar-kremlev-spent-hundreds-of-thousands-of-dollars-to-help-fund-donald-trump-jr-s-bahamas-weddingCBS News — Donald Trump Jr.'s wife says Russian oligarch hosted post-wedding festivities as a "gift", 14 September 2026: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/donald-trump-jr-wife-wedding-russian-umar-kremlev/Forbes — Donald Trump Jr. And Wife Defend Lavish Wedding 'Gift' From Russian Oligarch, 14 September 2026: https://www.forbes.com/sites/saradorn/2026/09/14/donald-trump-jr-and-wife-defend-lavish-wedding-gift-from-russian-oligarch/Axios — What we know about the Putin ally who allegedly funded Donald Trump Jr.'s wedding, 14 September 2026: https://www.axios.com/2026/09/14/umar-kremlev-donald-trump-jr-wedding-bahamasThe Washington Times — Donald Trump Jr.'s wedding partially funded by Russian oligarch, ProPublica reports, 14 September 2026: https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2026/sep/14/donald-trump-jrs-wedding-partially-funded-russian-oligarch-propublica/The Hill — Top Oversight Democrat wants answers on Russian oligarch's role in Trump Jr.'s wedding, 14 September 2026: https://thehill.com/homenews/house/6088330-garcia-questions-russian-oligarch-funding/Rolling Stone — Don Jr.'s Wife Confirms Putin Ally Paid for Huge Portion of Wedding, 14 September 2026: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/putin-ally-umar-kremlev-paid-don-jr-wedding-1235626155/Ukraine War & Sanctions register (GUR) — entry for the All-Russian public movement "Healthy Fatherland", kidnappers section: https://war-sanctions.gur.gov.ua/en/kidnappers/companies/11460Proekt (English) — investigation into Umar Kremlev and Alexei Rubezhnoi: https://www.proekt.media/en/guide-en/kremlev-rubezhnoy/----------