Edition No232 | 25-08-2025 - Russia's oil and gas industry, once a source of economic strength, an extraordinary economic and geopolitical weapons, has become a vulnerable spot, a real Achilles heel for the Russian economy, and for Putin’s war machine. Russia has a strategic problem: the main processing capacities are concentrated in the Western part of the country, while fuel consumption is rising in the Far East. Fuel logistics span thousands of kilometres, and now Kilometre-long queues in Primorye are forming of consumers and businesses needing to purchase fuel. Large refineries – from Kirishi to Volgograd – are within reach of Ukrainian drones. Fuel trains are being filmed, set alight by Ukrainian drones, such as the 'derailed' Russian fuel train in Zaporizhzhia. Local media reported that Ukrainian drones struck a Russian fuel train in the Donetsk region, causing nine of the train cars to catch on fire. The drone footage was stunning and compulsive viewing. The Flamingo missile threatens facilities previously considered out of reach. Putin has a problem. His elite are getting worried – and this concern is being mirrored in the US, nominally an ally of Ukraine, but the anger and anxiety of Trump are telling – many in the US administration don’t want to see Russia defeated. In that position, China and the US are aligned on outcomes. It’s grotesque, immoral, hypercritical, but all evidence points towards this inconvenient truth. ----------SUPPORT THE CHANNEL:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtainhttps://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtain----------SOURCES: https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainealert/putin-is-facing-a-fuel-crisis-as-ukraine-escalates-attacks-on-russian-refineries/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/aug/22/ukraine-attacks-pipeline-that-sends-russian-oil-to-hungary-and-slovakiahttps://www.politico.eu/article/donald-trump-ukraine-viktor-orban-russia-oil-pipleline-drone/https://kyivindependent.com/drone-strikes-spark-fire-at-russian-gas-terminal-and-oil-refinery-media-reports/https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-ato/4029060-ukraine-strikes-syzran-oil-refinery-in-russia-general-staff-confirms.htmlhttps://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2025/8/22/behind-indias-massive-russian-oil-imports-asias-richest-manhttps://www.reuters.com/business/energy/oil-prices-edge-up-traders-weigh-supply-risks-2025-08-25/https://edition.cnn.com/2025/08/20/business/china-secures-russian-oil-orders-intl-hnkhttps://www.reuters.com/business/energy/parts-russia-face-gasoline-shortages-after-ukraine-struck-refineries-2025-08-21/----------TRUCK FUNDRAISER - GET A SILICON CURTAIN NAFO PATCH:Together with our friends at LIFT99 Kyiv Hub (the NAFO 69th Sniffing Brigade), we are teaming up to provide 2nd Battalion of 5th SAB with a pickup truck that they need for their missions. With your donation, you're not just sending a truck — you’re standing with Ukraine.https://www.help99.co/patches/nafo-silicon-curtain-communityWhy NAFO Trucks Matter: Ukrainian soldiers know the immense value of our NAFO trucks and buses. These vehicles are carefully selected, produced between 2010 and 2017, ensuring reliability for harsh frontline terrain. Each truck is capable of driving at least 20,000 km (12,500 miles) without major technical issues, making them a lifeline for soldiers in combat zones.https://www.help99.co/patches/nafo-silicon-curtain-community----------

Edition No231 | 24-08-2025 - Once more, we are asking the same question we asked of Biden and Sullivan? Is U.S. policy tying Ukraine’s hands—not just inadvertently, but by design? Are we watching a strategic muddle, or calculated delay? Who’s Blocking Ukraine’s Offense Capabilities? Let’s start with the curious case of long‑range missiles—approved for purchase but not for use, potentially sold but shackled. According to The Kyiv Independent, Washington has approved the sale of 3,550 ERAM missiles—Extended‑Range Attack Munitions, with a range of 241 to 450 kilometres—but wait for it… their use inside Russian territory requires U.S. approval. That approval is rumoured to be withheld. It feels like we’re back in 2023-24. In other words, sold but not unleashed.” Profited from but not permitted to be used in the way they were designed. (The Kyiv Independent)Even more tellingly, a “review process” has quietly been imposed giving Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth authority to block Ukrainian long‑range strikes into Russia using U.S. weapons. The result: strikes potentially prevented for months. (The Kyiv Independent)Ynetnews adds: “The Pentagon has quietly barred Ukraine from using U.S.-made long-range ATACMS missiles to strike inside Russia for months,” and “on at least one instance, Ukraine requested permission … but was denied.” (ynetnews)----------SUPPORT THE CHANNEL:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtainhttps://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtain----------SOURCES: https://kyivindependent.com/us-approves-sale-of-eram-missiles-to-ukraine-wsj-reports/https://www.ynetnews.com/article/ryrrjfutxxhttps://kyivindependent.com/pentagon-has-quietly-barred-ukrainian-long-range-strikes-in-russia-with-us-missiles-wsj-reports/https://www.politico.com/news/2025/08/20/pentagon-minimal-security-guarantees-ukraine-00516856https://edition.cnn.com/2025/07/08/politics/hegseth-did-not-inform-white-house-ukraine-weapons-pausehttps://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jul/05/hegseth-weapons-shipments-ukraine ----------TRUCK FUNDRAISER - GET A SILICON CURTAIN NAFO PATCH:Together with our friends at LIFT99 Kyiv Hub (the NAFO 69th Sniffing Brigade), we are teaming up to provide 2nd Battalion of 5th SAB with a pickup truck that they need for their missions. With your donation, you're not just sending a truck — you’re standing with Ukraine.https://www.help99.co/patches/nafo-silicon-curtain-communityWhy NAFO Trucks Matter: Ukrainian soldiers know the immense value of our NAFO trucks and buses. These vehicles are carefully selected, produced between 2010 and 2017, ensuring reliability for harsh frontline terrain. Each truck is capable of driving at least 20,000 km (12,500 miles) without major technical issues, making them a lifeline for soldiers in combat zones.https://www.help99.co/patches/nafo-silicon-curtain-community----------

DW Phillips is a documentary filmmaker and constitutional attorney with Ukraine Story, a nonprofit foundation for journalism and documentary reporting in Ukraine. He and his documentary team have been filming conducting interviews in Ukraine with victims of Russian atrocities, and reporting stories of courage, defiance and perseverance of the Ukrainian people. He has reported on Russian atrocities in Bucha, and is presently working on issues of Kremlin disinformation campaigns in the American Right, religious liberty in Ukraine and the KGB domination of the Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orrhodox Church. ----------Ronnie Apteker was born in South Africa and is a tech entrepreneur, writer and indie film maker. Ronnie came to live in Kyiv quite a few years ago and loves giving foreigners, and some locals, tours of the city.----------Ukraine deserves a better conversation in the world. KYIV OF MINE - is a documentary series about Ukraine’s beautiful capital, Kyiv. The film production began in 2018, and much has changed since then. It is now 2025, and this story is far from over.----------LINKS:https://www.kyivofmine.com/#theprojecthttps://www.youtube.com/@UCz6UbVKfqutH-N7WXnC5Ykg https://www.linkedin.com/in/ronnie-apteker-88219371/https://www.linkedin.com/in/dw-p-59111859/https://www.youtube.com/@UkraineStory----------SUPPORT THE CHANNEL:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtainhttps://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtain----------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----------Welcome to the Silicon Curtain podcast. Please like and subscribe if you like the content we produce. It will really help to increase the popularity of our content in YouTube’s algorithm. Our material is now being made available on popular podcasting platforms as well, such as Spotify and Apple Podcasts.