The cost of the war for Russia continues to rise. By my rough estimate, Russia spent RUB ~5.3 trillion on "defence" in the first half of 2024, or 36% more than in the first half of 2023. Secret spending (mostly arms procurement) is particularly high. 1/6

The open part of Russia's military spending suggests that the increase in personnel costs is leveling off (25% this year after 120% last year), while the increase in equipment costs continues to accelerate (54% this year after 47% last year). 3/6

I fully agree with Fabian. I have been focusing on the improvement of the Russian metal industry from 2014 to 2022. It's clear that Russia heavily depended on Western companies to modernize their industry. It is now crucial for Western governments to collaborate with the

Hey, John Ridge 🇺🇸 🇺🇦 silly question: is 200 a lot? Isn't it like a month-worth of production, the equivalent of two big waves? or is it something that is sufficient to top off Russian production and reach critical mass to overwhelm Ukrainian defenses?

Incredible 300 to the 2000 mark, nearly 2/3 covered, you are simply amazing!

Great piece by Alan Beattie on whether globalization can survive the US-China rift. The answer (I think?) is "yes", but with additional cost, overlap and spare capacity of solutions to minimize security risks. Definitely worth your time! ft.com/content/611a48… via @ft

France is going to use the income generated from frozen Russian assets to fund some weapons for Ukraine. My thoughts about using Russian assets this way, and/or transferring the capital directly to Ukian: It is usually wrong to take something that belongs to somebody else, and

Got some medical news ( nothing too heavy) and I'll have to take it slow for a bit. The 15th Kara Dag and Helena are in Pokrovsk and don't have the option to take it slow I have $576 in my latest fundraiser for them of a 2k goal for the drone team. On the 13th of September,