Russia Traps Ukraine On Frontline With No Way Out w/ Stanislav Krapivnik (The Duran)

The clip provides a good account of how the Russian side has handled the war from the beginning, hedging on diplomacy, and not fully engaging in the conflict as a full scale war. The operational philosophy has always been based on attrition, and solid defence, and it looks like nothing has changed except that they've massively improved all aspects of their forces. Big arrow offensives are still off the table. 

Time Stamps:

00:00 Intro and weather chat
01:25 Overview: Russian strikes on Kiev, Ukrainian strikes on Russia
02:22 Mystery drone hits Russian refinery 2,500km from Ukraine
03:24 Why Russia struggles to stop deep drone strikes
07:48 Could the refinery drone have launched from Kazakhstan?
10:14 Zelensky sends 420 drones at Moscow
13:17 The big question: what is Putin actually doing?
19:35 Is Putin playing chess, or falling for the West again?
23:38 Is "maximum restraint" really a strategy?
27:40 Kremlin hardliners vs. the pro-deal faction
28:13 Russia hits 37 Ukrainian fuel stations
28:40 Konstantinovka and Kupyansk fall to Russian forces
33:55 Azov's "Greater Ukraine" map threatens Poland
35:03 Oreshnik, Iskander missiles, and Geran drones pound Kiev
41:13 Life on the ground in Donbas as civilian drone strikes rise

[Posted at the SpookyWeather2 blog, July 13, 2026.]