Silicon Curtain

Silicon Bites Ep333 | 2026-05-07 | Z-patriots are losing their minds, telling Russia that 1917 is coming again. But history does not repeat in such convenient ways – but it may well rhyme. Moscow and St Petersburg cut off again from mobile internet, forty regions blacked out, and the pro-war cheerleaders crack.It is the morning of 5 May 2026. A woman in Moscow wakes up, picks up her phone, and stares at the screen. No notifications. No SMS. No app pings. Nothing. She opens the camera and starts filming herself, in the kitchen, in real time, narrating the moment her capital city has been disconnected from the world.----------SUPPORT THE CHANNEL:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtainhttps://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtainhttps://www.gofundme.com/f/scaling-up-campaign-to-fight-authoritarian-disinformation----------SILICON CURTAIN LIVE EVENTS - FUNDRAISER CAMPAIGN Events in 2025 - Advocacy for a Ukrainian victory with Silicon Curtainhttps://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extrasOur events of the first half of the year in Lviv, Kyiv and Odesa were a huge success. Now we need to maintain this momentum, and change the tide towards a Ukrainian victory. The Silicon Curtain Roadshow is an ambitious campaign to run a minimum of 12 events in 2025, and potentially many more. Any support you can provide for the fundraising campaign would be gratefully appreciated. https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extrasWe need to scale up our support for Ukraine, and these events are designed to have a major impact. Your support in making it happen is greatly appreciated. All events will be recorded professionally and published for free on the Silicon Curtain channel. Where possible, we will also live-stream events.https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extras----------SOURCES:Michael Naki / YouTube — "МОСКВУ И ПИТЕР ОТРУБИЛИ. Путин режет интернет — страна в ярости" (Moscow and Petersburg Cut Off — Putin Severs the Internet, the Country Is Furious)Meduza — "Moscow mobile internet restored after Russia's Digital Development Ministry says temporary restrictions lifted" (5 May 2026) Liga.net — "Even the 'white list' does not work. People in Moscow complain about internet outages before the parade" (5 May 2026)Mezha (Ukraine News) — "Moscow activated white lists for mobile internet, some base stations remain offline" (March 2026) Kyiv Post — "Moscow Cuts the Signal: First Russian Region Faces Indefinite Mobile Internet Shutdown" — Korbinian Leo Kramer (November 2025) Charter'97 / Kyiv Post (cross-referenced) — Coverage of Kalashnikov "civil war / toxic figure / dead end" framing across April-May 2026 Newsweek — "Russia 'can't win,' pushing to freeze Ukraine war: Kremlin propagandist" — Kalashnikov coverage (July 2024, with continuing relevance) iStories / Important Stories — "Vladimir Putin fears an assassination attempt and a coup, tensions among security services are rising, an EU intelligence agency says" (4 May 2026) iStories / Roman Anin — "Russia Has Two Paths Left" (4 May 2026)CNN — "Unsettled Kremlin tightens security around Putin amid assassinations and coup fears, intel report says" (4 May 2026) ----------

2026-05-07 | UPDATES #196 | The fall of an empire – the humbling of the Russian bear and elimination of its vast stock of Soviet weapons, and Soviet-minded population of Putin’s Russian Federation. A victory made by housewives: how a German CEO insulted the drone revolution he cannot compete with. Today’s episode is a breakdown of why Ukraine’s mil-tech threatens every defence prime in NATO and the U.S. with a new paradigm of how to fight wars, and how to supply them. Last Friday, the Atlantic magazine published an interview with one of Europe's most powerful defence executives. The man is Armin Papperger, Chief Executive Officer of Rheinmetall AG — Germany's largest arms manufacturer, market capitalisation north of fifty billion euros, supplier of tanks, 155mm artillery shells, and air defence systems to NATO and to Ukraine itself. The Atlantic's journalist Simon Schuster asked Papperger about Ukraine's domestically-produced drones — the cheap, mass-manufactured, daily-iterated weapons that have, by independent count, destroyed roughly two-thirds of Russia's tank fleet and account for 80 percent of all combat casualties on both sides of this war.----------SUPPORT THE CHANNEL:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtainhttps://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtainhttps://www.gofundme.com/f/scaling-up-campaign-to-fight-authoritarian-disinformation----------ACTIVE CAMPAIGN:We are raising funds for 5 of 15 Vampire DronesSilicon Curtain for Kupiansk Vampires. Dzyga’s Paw, together with Jonathan Fink, is joining forces to raise $40,000 to provide the Khartiia Brigade with Vampire Drones.https://dzygaspaw.com/silicon-curtain-for-kupiansk-vampiresThese heavy bombers are designed to destroy manpower and equipment, as well as for remote mining. The Vampire UAV, manufactured by Skyfall, has proven itself to be one of the most effective weapons in the Kupiansk direction. Skyfall is one of Ukraine’s largest defense tech companies, producing Vampire bomber drones, various modifications of Shrike FPV drones, P1-SUN, Shahed drone interceptors, communication systems, and components.----------PLEASE HELP ME ME TO GROW SILICON CURTAINWe are planning our events for 2026, and to do more and have a greater impact. After achieving more than 12 events in 2025, we will aim to double that! 24 events and interviews on the ground in Ukraine, to push back against weaponized information, toxic propaganda and corrosive disinformation. Please help us make it happen!----------SOURCES: 1. The Atlantic — Simon Schuster interview with Armin Papperger (published Friday, late March 2026)France24 / AFP — "Rheinmetall addresses row over CEO's Ukraine 'housewives' comment" (29 March 2026) Euronews — "'Every housewife could be CEO of Rheinmetall': Zelenskyy hits back at German weapons boss" (30 March 2026)Ukrainska Pravda — "'Housewives' and 'Lego': Rheinmetall says it respects Ukraine after CEO's controversial remarks" (29 March 2026)Militarnyi — "Rheinmetall Apologizes for CEO's Comments About 'Ukrainian Housewives With 3D Printers'" (late March 2026) The Print — "More 'hits' than Rheinmetall ever — Ukraine drone manufacturer claps back at CEO's 'housewives' remark" (1 April 2026) Bull Source — "Social media backlash as Rheinmetall's Armin Papperger says Ukraine's drones are made by housewives" (April 2026) United24 Media — "Ukraine's New Point-Based Rewards System for Drone Operators Is Rewriting War Management from the Ground Up" (May 2025) United24 Media — "Ukraine Launches Combat E-Points System: Troops Can Now Redeem Kills for Drones and EW Kits" (10 July 2025) SOFREP — "Ukraine Launches Combat-Based Reward System to Equip Troops With Cutting-Edge Tech" (8 May 2025)----------

Joe Lindsley is a traveller and a writer, and American reporting on Chicago's WGN Radio from Ukraine each and every weekday of Russia's full-scale war. He once was protégé to Fox News founder Roger Ailes, but Lindsley escaped that frenzied world where power mattered more than truth. He came to Lviv for a Ukrainian Catholic University journalism conference on Information Overload, AI, and Responsibility. Then the Coronavirus shut down world travel, and he stayed to build a better vision for the media industry.----------LINKS:https://www.ukrainianfreedomnews.com/donation/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Lindsleyhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/joseph-lindsley-60087618/https://www.youtube.com/@jplindsleyhttps://twitter.com/JPLindsleyhttps://www.instagram.com/jplindsley/https://www.facebook.com/josephlindsleyhttps://www.ukrainianfreedomnews.com/ ----------ACTIVE CAMPAIGN: We are raising funds for 5 of 15 Vampire DronesSilicon Curtain for Kupiansk Vampires. Dzyga’s Paw, together with Jonathan Fink, is joining forces to raise $40,000 to provide the Khartiia Brigade with Vampire Drones.https://dzygaspaw.com/silicon-curtain-for-kupiansk-vampiresThese heavy bombers are designed to destroy manpower and equipment, as well as for remote mining. The Vampire UAV, manufactured by Skyfall, has proven itself to be one of the most effective weapons in the Kupiansk direction. Skyfall is one of Ukraine’s largest defense tech companies, producing Vampire bomber drones, various modifications of Shrike FPV drones, P1-SUN, Shahed drone interceptors, communication systems, and components.https://dzygaspaw.com/silicon-curtain-for-kupiansk-vampires----------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.orgNGO “Herojam Slava”https://heroiamslava.org/kharpp - Reconstruction project supporting communities in Kharkiv and Przemyślhttps://kharpp.com/NOR DOG Animal Rescuehttps://www.nor-dog.org/home/----------PLATFORMS:Twitter: https://twitter.com/CurtainSiliconInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/siliconcurtain/Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/4thRZj6NO7y93zG11JMtqm Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/finkjonathan/Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtain----------

Jason Jay Smart is a political adviser who has lived and worked in Ukraine, Moldova, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Latin America. Due to his work with the democratic opposition to Vladimir Putin, Smart was made persona non grata for life by Russia in 2010. Jason is a Special Correspondent at the Kyiv Post. It’s the state of US support for Ukraine that we will discuss today.----------LINKS:https://jasonjaysmart.com/ https://www.kyivpost.com/authors/5 https://americanpoliticalservices.com/https://www.facebook.com/jasonjaysmarthttps://twitter.com/officejjsmart ----------ACTIVE CAMPAIGN: We are raising funds for 5 of 15 Vampire DronesSilicon Curtain for Kupiansk Vampires. Dzyga’s Paw, together with Jonathan Fink, is joining forces to raise $40,000 to provide the Khartiia Brigade with Vampire Drones.https://dzygaspaw.com/silicon-curtain-for-kupiansk-vampiresThese heavy bombers are designed to destroy manpower and equipment, as well as for remote mining. The Vampire UAV, manufactured by Skyfall, has proven itself to be one of the most effective weapons in the Kupiansk direction. Skyfall is one of Ukraine’s largest defense tech companies, producing Vampire bomber drones, various modifications of Shrike FPV drones, P1-SUN, Shahed drone interceptors, communication systems, and components.https://dzygaspaw.com/silicon-curtain-for-kupiansk-vampires----------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.orgNGO “Herojam Slava”https://heroiamslava.org/kharpp - Reconstruction project supporting communities in Kharkiv and Przemyślhttps://kharpp.com/NOR DOG Animal Rescuehttps://www.nor-dog.org/home/----------PLATFORMS:Twitter: https://twitter.com/CurtainSiliconInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/siliconcurtain/Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/4thRZj6NO7y93zG11JMtqmLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/finkjonathan/Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtain----------DESCRIPTION:Putin’s Regime as a Criminal Business: Elite Cracks, Siloviki Power Struggles & May 9 Risks | Jason Jay SmartJonathan speaks with Jason Smart about why the war benefits Putin’s inner circle as an asset-stripping, profit-driven system, arguing the Putin regime functions as a literal criminal organization and that this distorted incentive structure can make escalation—including risking conflict with NATO—seem rational to insiders. They discuss rising billionaire wealth during the war, large-scale state seizures allegedly funneled to Putin allies, and growing signs of elite fragmentation: oligarch factions, nationalist “Z” voices, selective law enforcement, leaks and “hacks,” arrests and firings tied to loyalty concerns, and a tightening security apparatus. The conversation highlights Rosgvardiya and the FSO’s role in regime protection and monitoring, the possibility that intelligence leaks aim to destabilize the system, and speculation around May 9 targets amid Russian air-defense gaps. The episode also promotes a book release and a fundraiser for Ukrainian drones.----------

Silicon Bites Ep332 | 2026-05-05 | Nightmares of the ‘bunker Tsar’. The European intelligence dossier on Putin’s drone paranoia — and why it probably has a kernel of truth. What we are about to discuss is the most explosive single document published about the inner state of the Russian regime in 2026 — and like all explosive documents, it deserves to be handled with care.On Sunday 4 May, the Russian independent investigative outlet Important Stories — known by its Russian name iStories, founded by 2024 European Press Prize winner Roman Anin — published the text of what it described as an intelligence report compiled by an unnamed European Union country's foreign intelligence service. The same dossier was simultaneously distributed to CNN, the Financial Times, the OCCRP investigative consortium, Meduza, and other outlets. The source was, in iStories' words, a government official close to the agency that compiled the report.----------SUPPORT THE CHANNEL:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtainhttps://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtainhttps://www.gofundme.com/f/scaling-up-campaign-to-fight-authoritarian-disinformation----------SILICON CURTAIN LIVE EVENTS - FUNDRAISER CAMPAIGN Events in 2025 - Advocacy for a Ukrainian victory with Silicon Curtainhttps://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extrasOur events of the first half of the year in Lviv, Kyiv and Odesa were a huge success. Now we need to maintain this momentum, and change the tide towards a Ukrainian victory. The Silicon Curtain Roadshow is an ambitious campaign to run a minimum of 12 events in 2025, and potentially many more. Any support you can provide for the fundraising campaign would be gratefully appreciated. https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extrasWe need to scale up our support for Ukraine, and these events are designed to have a major impact. Your support in making it happen is greatly appreciated. All events will be recorded professionally and published for free on the Silicon Curtain channel. Where possible, we will also live-stream events.https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extras----------SOURCES:iStories / Important Stories — "Vladimir Putin fears an assassination attempt and a coup, tensions among security services are rising, an EU intelligence agency says" (4 May 2026) iStories / Roman Anin — "Russia Has Two Paths Left" (4 May 2026)CNN — "Unsettled Kremlin tightens security around Putin amid assassinations and coup fears, intel report says" (4 May 2026) OCCRP (Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project) — "Security Tightens Around Putin Amid Coup and Assassination Fears, According to European Intel Agency" (4 May 2026) Meduza — "Report: Putin fears assassination attempt by Russia's political elite, tightens security" (4 May 2026)RBC-Ukraine — "Putin fears drone assassination, coup as security tensions rise inside Kremlin" (4 May 2026)Ukrainska Pravda — "Putin begins to fear possible assassination attempt using drones" (4 May 2026) Liga.net — "Putin fears coup and assassination by drones. Important stories revealed by EU intelligence report" (4 May 2026)Michael Bociurkiw / Substack analysis — "Putin Under Fortress: Kremlin Tightens Security Amid Coup Fears and Drone Threat" (4 May 2026) Britbrief — "Putin Fears Coup or Assassination as Shoigu Named Potential Threat" (4 May 2026)The Vermilion — "Fears of attacks and coups d'état, security around Putin strengthened" (4 May 2026) Ground News — "Putin Retreating to Bunkers Amid Coup and Drone Fears, EU Intelligence Reports Claim" (4 May 2026)----------