Live Conflict Ukraine-Russia War

[Spitfire9]

Government-engineered internet shutdowns paralysing internet-dependent trade and payments in Russia have encouraged citizens to withdraw and hold more cash.

https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/central-bank-sees-no-need-extra-measures-worried-russians-withdraw-cash-2026-06-26/

Additionally the Russian banks are taking extraordinary steps to delay withdrawals from bank accounts in the form of specious anti-fraud checks requiring account holders to 'prove' the funds in their accounts were obtained legally.

Rational consumers will typically deposit funds with banks to earn interest on funds that are not needed for immediate living expenses and purchases. Unfortunately for the banks many savers are choosing to forgo interest on deposits due to the problems involved in withdrawing their funds. Additionally there will be some depositors who fear that the government may take moves to freeze withdrawal of funds from their accounts and will withdraw funds to avoid this possibility.

Russians turn to cash putting more strain on slowing wartime economy

Russians have been hit by mobile internet shutdowns and more businesses are seeking to dodge tax after more than four years of war with Ukraine.

www.bbc.co.uk

A change in sentiment regarding holding funds in banks is unlikely to precipitate a sudden 'run on the banks' but is likely to steadily reduce the amount deposited in banks, reducing the funds banks can lend to Russia's MIC. Good news for Ukraine!

Already unable to fund the war through receipts, the government may be forced to impose increasingly draconian measures in its quest to find extra funds.

 

[Relic]

Ukraine struck and set ablaze two more massive Wilberries distribution / logistics centers overnight. On in Stavrapol and the other in Karasnodar. The facilities are unsalvageable and hundreds of millions of dollars of product burned in each strike. The Russian version of Amazon is being systematically snuffed out as a company, with 5 of it's 10 largest distribution centers destroyed in a single week.

🦋Special Kherson Cat🐈🇺🇦 (@specialkhersoncat.bsky.social)

Firefighting helicopters fly against a massive wall of black smoke from the burning Wildberries warehouse in Krasnodar.

bsky.app

NOELREPORTS (@noelreports.com)

Ukrainian attack drones struck another Wildberries distribution center in Krasnodar overnight. The facility was engulfed in flames, and residents filmed a massive fire and a large column of smoke rising from the site. #Russia

bsky.app

NOELREPORTS (@noelreports.com)

Some more shots froim Krasnodar. A large-scale fire is ongoing. #Russia [contains quote post or other embedded content]

bsky.app

 

[Saithan]

EU agrees new sanctions on Russia as Greece secures LNG exemption

The deal reached by ambassadors grants Greece an exemption to continue shipping Russian LNG to non-EU clients for the foreseeable future. #EuropeNews

www.euronews.com

The agreement, reached on Thursday by ambassadors, is considerably watered down and raises serious questions about the influence of national economic interests in the yearslong campaign to cripple Moscow's ability to finance the invasion of Ukraine.

 

[Soldier30]

The Russian military continues to attack Ukrainian vessels in the Black Sea. Video footage shows Geran-4 Seeker drones striking dry cargo ships and a bulk carrier in the Black Sea and at the port of Chornomorsk. Following the attacks, Maersk, one of the world's largest shipping companies, officially announced it was temporarily suspending services to the port of Chornomorsk in the Odesa region "due to the current situation" and rerouting vessels to Romania. According to the latest reports, vessels have stopped calling at Ukrainian Black Sea ports due to Russian strikes in the region. Ukrainian media reported this, citing the country's Minister of Agrarian Policy, Taras Vysotsky. According to him, the decision was made by the shipowners themselves.

 

[Fatman17]

A Ukrainian F-16 fighter jet has shot down a Russian jet in an airborne battle for the first time, according to the U.S.' top soldier, swinging attention back onto the U.S.-made aircraft that has had a relatively low profile in Ukraine since the first jets arrived in the war-torn country two years ago.


"Recently, we had the first air-to-air kill where a Ukrainian F-16 shot down a Russian fighter," General Dan Caine, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, told U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday.

Caine didn't identify the type of Russian aircraft, but Ukrainian media referenced a statement from the country's air force on July 8, which claimed to have shot down an Su-35 over eastern Ukraine.

Newsweek​

 

[Spitfire9]

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has met with US counterpart Marco Rubio, telling him it's "unacceptable" to arm Ukraine.

https://news.sky.com/story/ukraine-war-latest-kyiv-launches-more-attacks-on-12-russian-ships-in-black-sea-12541713

I wonder if Rubio told him it was unacceptable to invade neighbouring Ukraine.

On a different tack, Russia is having big problems trying to sell government bonds. Cancelled 3 of the last 4 auctions. Russian banks don't have the money to buy them?

 

[Spitfire9]

Russian gold reserves exceed 2,300 tonnes.

Russia Gold Reserves

Gold Reserves in Russia decreased to 2304.75 Tonnes in the first quarter of 2026 from 2326.52 Tonnes in the fourth quarter of 2025. This page provides - Russia Gold Reserves - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

tradingeconomics.com

The price of gold on the free market is currently around 130 million USD per tonne. While Russian gold is sanctioned so that sales are difficult to make except within Russia, its gold reserves, if sold at free market price, would realise in excess of 2,300 x 130 million USD.

Russia is reported to have sold 44 tonnes of gold this year, probably at a heavy discount to the world price. If it could find buyers for its gold, it would be able to finance its budget deficit for this year and for many years to come. Fortunately for Ukraine it looks like few buyers are prepared to take the risk of buying Russian gold. Unfortunately for Russia its apparent inability to turn more of its gold reserves into cash means it has to suffer the financial and economic chaos resulting from Putin pursuing a war the country cannot afford.

Russia Continues Gold Sales To Shore Up Economy Under Western Sanctions

Russia continues selling gold reserves to support its wartime economy amid Western sanctions. Analysis of gold sales, economic pressures, and market impact.

bitcoinworld.co.in

China is reported to have bought some of the gold Russia sold this year. I wonder if Russia will try to sell it some yuan denominated Russian government bonds. Putin seems to be getting desperate to find more funds.

 

[Relic]

The coordinated and systematic destruction of Russian online retail giant Wildberries, which is connected to the Russian military, continues.

Last night Ukraine launched approximately 450 attack drones into Russia and Crimea. The Simferopol location in occupied i
Crimea and one of the two wearhouses that serve the St. Petersburg region were both turned into unsalvageable infernos. 7 of 10 largest Wildberries locations in Russia have now been targeted.

(((Tendar))) (@tendar.bsky.social)

Ukrainian forces struck the Wildberries logistics center in Russian-occupied Simferopol, Crimea, in Ukraine.

bsky.app

(((Tendar))) (@tendar.bsky.social)

The main warehouses of the Wildberries logistics hub in Shushary, Saint Petersburg / Leningrad region, in Russia are almost completely covered in fire and smoke. Once again, wildfire units have to move in, but there is no chance that they can salvage that Wildberries branch.

bsky.app

 

[Spitfire9]

The coordinated and systematic destruction of Russian online retail giant Wildberries, which is connected to the Russian military, continues.

Last night Ukraine launched approximately 450 attack drones into Russia and Crimea. The Simferopol location in occupied i
Crimea and one of the two wearhouses that serve the St. Petersburg region were both turned into unsalvageable infernos. 7 of 10 largest Wildberries locations in Russia have now been targeted.

(((Tendar))) (@tendar.bsky.social)

Ukrainian forces struck the Wildberries logistics center in Russian-occupied Simferopol, Crimea, in Ukraine.

bsky.app

(((Tendar))) (@tendar.bsky.social)

The main warehouses of the Wildberries logistics hub in Shushary, Saint Petersburg / Leningrad region, in Russia are almost completely covered in fire and smoke. Once again, wildfire units have to move in, but there is no chance that they can salvage that Wildberries branch.

bsky.app

I hope they keep going. Ukraine may have spent 1 million USD on attack drones to do 1,000 million USD damage. That would be an extremely asymmetric cost ratio.

I note that British newspaper The Sun has posted a video showing that many items of military use are offered for sale by Wildberries (3m 20s into video)

 

[Fatman17]

Russian Aerospace Forces Su-57 fifth generation fighter has crashed during a training flight near Zvenigorod in the Moscow region, prompting an investigation by Russian authorities into the circumstances surrounding the loss. The pilot successfully ejected and survived the incident without reported injuries, while images circulating from the crash site show extensive wreckage scattered across a wooded area. Russian sources have reported that the fighter was mistakenly engaged by the BARS-Moscow Air Defence Unit, a volunteer territorial air defence formation established to protect the Russian capital from increasingly frequent long range Ukrainian drone attacks.
Military watch