Silicon Curtain

Silicon Bites Ep386 | 2026-08-19 | Russia cannot take Ukraine, cannot drive it to defeat. It cannot even achieve the minimal targets set by the Kremlin for a declaration of partial victory – occupation of all the Donbas. So, it is burning Ukraine's books — ten million of them since May 2026 and counting. This is not collateral damage. It is the oldest imperial policy Moscow has, if you cannot conquer, coerce and appropriate, then you erase. This time the cultural erasure is being delivered by ballistic projectiles. Millions of dollars of destructive hardware trained on the erasure of the written word. Burning books, language, identities. The Nazis burned books. Russia does the same. It claims to be fighting fascism but has itself become the instrument and character of fascism in the 21st century. A state built on aggression, illegality, hatred and erasure. ----------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:Interfax-Ukraine — Russian shelling damages BookChef, RM publishing offices, warehouses near Pochaina station, 17 Aug 2026 — https://en.interfax.com.ua/news/general/1193829.htmlUkrinform — Publishing house office damaged in Kyiv as a result of nighttime attack (Nash Format), 16 Aug 2026 — https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-ato/4154692-publishing-house-office-damaged-in-kyiv-as-a-result-of-nighttime-attack.htmlUNN — Russia's attack on Kyiv damaged the office of the Nash Format publishing house and destroyed the Petrivka book market (incl. Kazanskyi), 16 Aug 2026 — https://unn.ua/en/news/russias-attack-on-kyiv-damaged-the-office-of-the-nash-format-publishing-house-and-destroyed-the-petrivka-book-marketUNN — The office and part of the warehouses of the "Laboratoria" publishing house were damaged during Russia's attack on Kyiv, 16 Aug 2026 — https://unn.ua/en/news/the-office-and-part-of-the-warehouses-of-the-laboratory-publishing-house-were-damaged-during-russias-attack-on-kyivEuromaidan Press — Kyiv's largest book market hit by Russian missiles, 16 Aug 2026 — https://euromaidanpress.com/2026/08/16/russian-attack-pochaina-book-market/LIGA.net — The book market at Petrivka burned down on August 16 following the shelling of Kyiv (Kryvoruchko; Suspilne footage), 16 Aug 2026 — https://news.liga.net/en/war/news/book-market-at-pochaina-in-kyiv-burned-down-following-russian-attack-photosKyiv Post — Russian Attacks Destroy ArcelorMittal in Kryvyi Rih and Kyiv Book Market, 16 Aug 2026 — https://www.kyivpost.com/post/82456NPR — Ukraine launches one of its largest aerial attacks of the war… (Zelensky quote), 16 Aug 2026 — https://www.npr.org/2026/08/16/nx-s1-5933006/ukraine-aerial-attack-6-dead-russiaFrance 24 — Russian strike on Kyiv book market: 'An attempt to annihilate Ukrainian identity' (Emmanuelle Chaze), 17 Aug 2026 — https://www.france24.com/en/video/20260817-russian-strike-on-kyiv-book-market-an-attempt-to-annihilate-ukrainian-identity----------

Silicon Bites Ep385 | 2026-08-18 | The whole architecture of Russian military space power runs through one building, one cleanroom in Samara. This is a central node of the terror state and its illegal war, and Ukraine just hit it. The cleanroom is no longer so clean, and with this strike, Russia’s efforts to develop an alternative to Starlink may have been consigned to the trash bin. Good riddance. At around ten to three in the morning on the fifteenth of August, the missile alert went off across Samara oblast. Nine hundred kilometres from the Ukrainian border. Deep in the Russian interior, in a city that had gone four and a half years of full-scale war without a single strike of this kind on its industrial zone. Minutes later, residents heard a jet engine overhead, then the detonation. By dawn there was a column of black smoke over the eastern edge of the city. Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed the target himself that Saturday. The Progress Rocket and Space Centre. A core enterprise of Roscosmos. Struck, in his words on X, with Flamingo missiles — "Flamingo missiles were used. A good achievement."----------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:Ukrainska Pravda (English) — "OSINT analysts show damage to plant in Russia's Samara where rockets for military satellite launches are equipped," 15 August 2026 Kyiv Post — "Zelensky Confirms Flamingo Missile Strikes in Samara and Savasleyka," 15 August 2026 Militarnyi — "Flamingo Missiles Strike Industrial Facility in Samara," 15 August 2026 Euromaidan Press — "Reported Flamingo strike hits Samara industrial area housing factory that builds rockets for Russia's Starlink rival," 15 August 2026UNITED24 Media — "Ukraine's Flamingo Missiles Strike Russia's Soyuz Rocket Factory Behind Its Starlink Rival," 15 August 2026Defense Express — "Ukraine's Defense Forces… Striking Progress Plant in Samara with FP-5 Flamingo Missiles," 15 August 2026 Defence Blog — "Ukraine strike hits Russia's main space rocket maker," 15 August 2026 Euronews — "Ukraine strikes rocket and space centre in Russia's Samara," 15 August 2026Charter97 — "At the Progress Rocket and Space Center in Samara… workshop may have been damaged," 15 August 2026 EU Today — "Ukrainian Flamingo Missiles Reportedly Hit Russia's Progress Space-Rocket Centre in Samara," 15 August 2026 Türkiye Today — "Ukraine strikes Russia's only Soyuz rocket plant with Flamingo missiles," 15 August 2026 SpacePolicyOnline — "Ukrainian Missiles Strike Russian Soyuz Rocket Factory," 16 August 2026 ----------

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----------