Silicon Curtain

2026-03-28 | UPDATES #156 | VYBORG: Ukraine Just Sank Putin's Arctic Dream a Thousand Kilometres from the Front Line. I used to go there from St Petersburg on weekend trips, to stroll around a city with a European scale and ambience (even though it has degenerated from a vibrant cosmopolitan city to a village mentality, when the Soviets stole it from the Finns). It’s odd to see places from one’s past descend into battlegrounds, with air raid sirens wailing and explosions detonating. A thousand kilometres from the nearest Ukrainian position. A shipyard on the Baltic Sea, 30 kilometres from the Finnish border. A city that used to be Finnish, that changed hands in wars most people have forgotten. And there, listing to port in the grey water of the harbour, her hull leaning against a neighbouring research vessel — a brand new Russian military icebreaker, built for Putin's FSB, designed to project power across the Arctic, worth an estimated €220 million.The Purga. Project 23550. Russia's state-of-the-art combat icebreaker. Struck by Ukrainian drones on the night of March 24th to 25th. Now keeling over in the port of Vyborg. This is symbolism of the highest order. It's a message to the Kremlin that nowhere is safe. Not your oil ports. Not your shipyards. Not your Arctic ambitions. Ukraine can reach all of it.----------SUPPORT THE CHANNEL:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtainhttps://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtainhttps://www.gofundme.com/f/scaling-up-campaign-to-fight-authoritarian-disinformation----------A REQUEST FOR HELP!I'm heading back to Kyiv next month, to film, do research and conduct interviews. The logistics and need for equipment and clothing are a little higher than for my previous trips. It will be cold, and may be dark also. If you can, please assist to ensure I can make this trip a success. My commitment to the audience of the channel, will be to bring back compelling interviews conducted in Ukraine, and to use the experience to improve the quality of the channel, it's insights and impact. Let Ukraine and democracy prevail! https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extrashttps://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtainhttps://www.gofundme.com/f/scaling-up-campaign-to-fight-authoritarian-disinformationNONE OF THIS CAN HAPPEN WITHOUT YOU!So what's next? We're going to Kyiv in April 2026 to film on the ground, and will record interviews with some huge guests. We'll be creating opportunities for new interviews, and to connect you with the reality of a European city under escalating winter attack, from an imperialist, genocidal power. 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!----------

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".----------BOOKS: The Plot to Betray America: How Team Trump Embraced Our EnemiesImage of Hacking ISIS: How to Destroy the Cyber JihadThe Plot to Hack America: How Putin's Cyberspies and WikiLeaks Tried to StealDefeating ISIS: Who They Are, How They Fight, What They Believe----------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----------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.----------SUPPORT THE CHANNEL:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtainhttps://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtainhttps://www.gofundme.com/f/scaling-up-campaign-to-fight-authoritarian-disinformation----------PLATFORMS:Substack: https://substack.com/@siliconcurtainTwitter: https://twitter.com/CurtainSiliconLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/finkjonathan/Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/4thRZj6NO7y93zG11JMtqm----------DESCRIPTION:Malcolm Nance on Trump’s Iran War, Market Manipulation Claims, and the New Asymmetric BattlefieldMalcolm Nance, a former US Navy cryptography and intelligence officer and national security commentator, joins Silicon Curtain to argue that Trump’s Iran war reflects personal pathology more than coherent domestic or foreign policy, describing an “imperial presidency” mindset and warning of dangerous, grift-driven decision-making. Nance alleges war-related announcements are timed to minimize market impact and enable profiteering, citing claims of stock moves tied to Trump’s circle, and says US leadership is unprepared for modern asymmetric warfare where cheap drones can overwhelm expensive defenses and cause massive economic damage. The discussion covers alleged US alignment with Moscow’s interests, hostility to Ukraine, and shifting Middle East security dynamics as Gulf states seek Ukrainian drone-defense expertise. Nance points to troop and logistics movements—special operations airlift, airborne deployments, parachute loads, and runway repair units—as indicators of potential escalatory operations involving Gulf islands or Iranian facilities, warning of catastrophic consequences.----------

2026-03-25 | UPDATES #154 | The economy is where the detail gets most technically damning. And here, Naki provides something Zygar's op-ed gestures at but doesn't fully document: the forensic evidence from inside the Russian financial system itself. In February 2026, the Centre for Macroeconomic Analysis and Short-Term Forecasting — known by its Russian acronym CMAKP — formally registered what it called a latent banking crisis. This is not an opposition think-tank. As Naki stresses: "This is an organisation maximally close to the authorities. The brother of Defence Minister Belousov works there. It publishes real economic data." And by its own formal criteria, the share of problem assets in the Russian banking system exceeded 10 percent. A crisis — described as "latent" because the state is actively concealing it. Banks are restructuring hopeless loans rather than writing them off. State banks are not being allowed to go bankrupt. The statistics are being massaged.----------SUPPORT THE CHANNEL:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtainhttps://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtainhttps://www.gofundme.com/f/scaling-up-campaign-to-fight-authoritarian-disinformation----------A REQUEST FOR HELP!I'm heading back to Kyiv next month, to film, do research and conduct interviews. The logistics and need for equipment and clothing are a little higher than for my previous trips. It will be cold, and may be dark also. If you can, please assist to ensure I can make this trip a success. My commitment to the audience of the channel, will be to bring back compelling interviews conducted in Ukraine, and to use the experience to improve the quality of the channel, it's insights and impact. Let Ukraine and democracy prevail! https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extrashttps://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtainhttps://www.gofundme.com/f/scaling-up-campaign-to-fight-authoritarian-disinformationNONE OF THIS CAN HAPPEN WITHOUT YOU!So what's next? We're going to Kyiv in April 2026 to film on the ground, and will record interviews with some huge guests. We'll be creating opportunities for new interviews, and to connect you with the reality of a European city under escalating winter attack, from an imperialist, genocidal power. 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: Mikhail Zygar / New York Times — "For Putin, the War in Iran Changed Everything" (March 25, 2026)Mikhail Zygar / The Last Pioneer (Substack) — "When the Internet Disappears" (March 19, 2026)Mykhailo Naki — "PUTIN IS LOSING — AND HE KNOWS IT. The Kremlin for the First Time Thought About an Exit from the War" (YouTube, March 25, 2026)Centre for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) — "Iran War Won't Save Putin's Crumbling Economy" (March 3, 2026)Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI) — "From Tehran to Donbas: What the Iran War Means for Russia and Ukraine" (March 2026)Mikhail Khodorkovsky / Ukraine Today — "The Iran War Is Good for Putin — But Not Good Enough" (March 20, 2026)Russia Matters (Harvard Kennedy School) — "Russia Analytical Report, March 9–16, 2026"Fortune — "Putin is the real winner in Trump's Iran war as it puts Russian oil back on the map" (March 23, 2026)----------

2026-03-25 | UPDATES #153 | How Trump's Iran War Gave Putin a Reprieve He Doesn't Deserve. Based on Mikhail Zygar's New York Times Op-Ed (March 25, 2026) and Mykhailo Naki's Video Analysis. Plastering over the cracks. It is the end of January 2026. Russia is selling oil to India at twenty-two dollars a barrel. Twenty-two dollars. About a third of the market price. The country that funds its wars with oil money is offloading its most valuable export for the price of scrap metal — because nobody else will take it.At the same moment, inside the Kremlin, something unprecedented is stirring. After four years of dismissing every economic warning, every bankruptcy protection, every desperate memo from the Finance Ministry — Vladimir Putin is paying attention. According to those close to him, he is allegedly beginning to think, seriously and concretely, about ending the war. Not through the theatre of negotiations that has been running on a loop since early 2025, and without serious intent behind them. A real exit. With real signals. Including two moves that, if taken, would have sent shockwaves through Moscow's political system.----------SUPPORT THE CHANNEL:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtainhttps://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtainhttps://www.gofundme.com/f/scaling-up-campaign-to-fight-authoritarian-disinformation----------A REQUEST FOR HELP!I'm heading back to Kyiv next month, to film, do research and conduct interviews. The logistics and need for equipment and clothing are a little higher than for my previous trips. It will be cold, and may be dark also. If you can, please assist to ensure I can make this trip a success. My commitment to the audience of the channel, will be to bring back compelling interviews conducted in Ukraine, and to use the experience to improve the quality of the channel, it's insights and impact. Let Ukraine and democracy prevail! https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extrashttps://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtainhttps://www.gofundme.com/f/scaling-up-campaign-to-fight-authoritarian-disinformationNONE OF THIS CAN HAPPEN WITHOUT YOU!So what's next? We're going to Kyiv in April 2026 to film on the ground, and will record interviews with some huge guests. We'll be creating opportunities for new interviews, and to connect you with the reality of a European city under escalating winter attack, from an imperialist, genocidal power. 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: Mikhail Zygar / New York Times — "For Putin, the War in Iran Changed Everything" (March 25, 2026)Mikhail Zygar / The Last Pioneer (Substack) — "When the Internet Disappears" (March 19, 2026)Mykhailo Naki — "PUTIN IS LOSING — AND HE KNOWS IT. The Kremlin for the First Time Thought About an Exit from the War" (YouTube, March 25, 2026)Centre for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) — "Iran War Won't Save Putin's Crumbling Economy" (March 3, 2026)Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI) — "From Tehran to Donbas: What the Iran War Means for Russia and Ukraine" (March 2026)Mikhail Khodorkovsky / Ukraine Today — "The Iran War Is Good for Putin — But Not Good Enough" (March 20, 2026)Russia Matters (Harvard Kennedy School) — "Russia Analytical Report, March 9–16, 2026"Fortune — "Putin is the real winner in Trump's Iran war as it puts Russian oil back on the map" (March 23, 2026)----------

Silicon Bites Ep307 | 2026-03-25 | Russia’s record attack on Ukraine — and the miracle defence that’s been overlooked.Nine hundred and forty-eight drones. In twenty-four hours. Between the evening of March 23rd and the evening of March 24th, Russia launched the largest aerial assault of the entire war against Ukraine — nearly a thousand drones and missiles fired at cities, at homes, at hospitals, at churches, at children. The Institute for the Study of War confirmed it: the largest Russian strike series since February 2022. The previous record? Eight hundred and ten launches, set back in September 2025.Ukraine shot down nine hundred and six of them. That is not just a record. That is a revolution in air defence. And almost nobody in the West is paying attention. ----------SUPPORT THE CHANNEL:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtainhttps://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtainhttps://www.gofundme.com/f/scaling-up-campaign-to-fight-authoritarian-disinformation----------SOURCES:Interfax-Ukraine — "Russia launches record 948 drones at Ukraine in 24 hours, 906 downed or damaged – Air Force," March 24, 2026.Kyiv Independent — "Russian drones strike Lviv in daytime attack, casualties reported," March 24, 2026.NBC News — "Russian drones attack downtown Lviv in broad daylight," March 24, 2026.Euronews — "Almost 1,000 drones within 24 hours: Russia launched one of its largest attacks on Ukraine," March 24, 2026.Al Jazeera — "Russia fires 948 drones at Ukraine as new offensive begins," March 24, 2026.PBS News — "Russia fires 400 drones at Ukraine, signaling its spring offensive has started," March 24, 2026.The Art Newspaper — "Unesco-protected monastery in Lviv damaged by Russian drone strike," March 25, 2026.Atlantic Council / UkraineAlert — Peter Dickinson, "Russia bombs UNESCO site as Putin escalates attacks on Ukrainian civilians," March 24, 2026.United24 Media — "Russia Launches 982 Drones and Missiles in Record 24-Hour Attack on Ukraine," March 25, 2026.United24 Media — "UNESCO Speaks Out After Russian Drone Strike Hits Lviv World Heritage Site," March 25, 2026.----------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----------