Odessa Today.

It is difficult to explain to some dude from British Special Boat Service or Sir Radakin (or any graduate whatever the vocational schools for retards UK military academies are today, the times when they graduated worthy professionals are long over) that you cannot hide. Here is Odessa today and 404 morons and their trainers (in this case some gun boat and, likely, USV launch platform) doing what they do best--hiding behind civilians. 

As you can see yourself, Europe is still in La-La Land regarding real warfare. They can kill innocents but that's about the extent of their military's what passes for expertise. It is understandable, anyone with a grasp of the clusterfuck of what modern Europe is, such as Colonel Jacques Baud, will always be suppressed in favor of losers from Brussels. And don't even start me of how the name of French Army's (or whatever passes for it) Chief of Staff Mandon sounds like in Russian. 

Meanwhile in Iran ...

 ... today, at the square Engelab (Motherland) in Tehran. 

This is what they sing:

Oh Iran, precious land.

Oh your land — an inexhaustible source of inspiration

Let the forces of evil be far from you,

But you remain immortal.

Oh enemy, if you are of stone, then I am of iron,

Let my life be sacrificed for my homeland.

Your love is my calling,

My thoughts are always with you.

What are we compared to you?

May our Iranian land be eternal.

Yep, that's how it goes. What is highlighted in yellow is beyond the grasp of Ivy League graduates. In related news:

On April 30, 2026, during the repulsion of a BEK attack by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, eight border guards - members of the crew of the "300" OPSKR marine border boat of the Novorossiysk border service unit - died in an unequal naval battle, ensuring the safety of an important strategic object of Russia - the CRIMEAN BRIDGE.

BATTLE AT THE CRIMEAN BRIDGE

At the beginning of the third hour of the night of April 30, 2026, the border guards of the PSKA-300 type "Falcon" unit of the PSKR border service in Novorossiysk were subjected to a massive attack by up to ten Ukrainian unmanned surface vessels (hereinafter - BEKs), which were trying to break through to commit a sabotage against the Crimean Bridge. They were loaded with deadly explosives and destructive elements.

Together with the soldiers of the Russian Guard and sailors of the Black Sea Fleet, the sabotage-terrorist raid of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and their patrons on this strategic object was repelled. Eight out of ten BEKs were jointly destroyed on the approach to the bridge, and the blows of two fast-moving surface targets that were trying to break through to the bridge were taken by a border guard boat, which exploded and sank at the site of the battle in the Kerch Strait.

Three crew members were thrown overboard by the explosion wave and were rescued, and eight border guards heroically died at the site of the boat's crash, stopping the enemy's fast-moving bombs that were trying to break through to the bridge at the cost of their lives.

The names of the fallen heroes:

 Senior Lieutenant Nikita Sergeevich Podoroga, born on April 10, 1998; 

Senior Midshipman Zair Kazimovich Akhmedov, born on May 21, 1984; 

Senior Midshipman Vasily Yurievich Makhovsky, born on April 17, 1986; 

Senior Midshipman Artem Nikolayevich Sheverdinov, born on August 21, 1989; 

Senior Midshipman Alexander Vladimirovich Sityukov, born on July 18, 1993; 

Midshipman Yuriy Yurievich Kalita, born on March 5, 1988; 

Midshipman Andrey Olegovich Kovtunov, born on February 14, 1991; 

Midshipman Vladislav Ivanovich Turkin, born on July 20, 1998.

From the post of Roman Baranov, chairman of the regional organization of border veterans of the All-Russian Border Guards Council

Reinforced Defense of the Border is a standard procedure--they get officers to "accompany" what otherwise is an NCO command. My classmate commanded (CO of Novorossiysk Brigade, Captain First Rank). This is the cutter that went on the eternal patrol ...

Sokol (Falkon)-class patrol boat. 

Europe Made Her Choice ...

 ... Russians made theirs. 

Some Tactical Thingy.

This is for those fanboys who continue to imagine the war in terms of drones. 

And this:

And here is what they say:

🔥 The tankers of "Vostok" broke through the enemy's defenses on the Zaporizhia direction — a complex network of Ukrainian Armed Forces strongholds in the area of Verkhniaya Tersa fell, reports our correspondent Anna Tsepaeva. Tanks are no longer a ram, but a high-precision tool — they operate from concealed firing positions in close contact with drone operators. This is more complicated than direct aiming, so the preparation of each position begins long before the start of combat duty. 💥The tankers have to repel attacks every meter of the way. For the crew of the "Aza" tank — named after its commander — enemy kamikaze drones have long ceased to be a critical threat. Often, the crew operates as a living shield and distracts the main forces of the enemy. "Kamikazes" are no longer relevant for the tank. We have very good armor, we hardly feel them. I counted 22 "EFPs" on my tank. We reached the task, completed it, and even returned. We take all the fire on ourselves," — shared the commander.

Tanks can take now drone strikes and, indeed, begin to work as a shield for advancing infantry, thus effectively "resetting" tank warfare to its original purpose but under new technological conditions. How? Well, you have to be Russian tank both in protection, weapons and, most importantly, crews. 

Russian MoD.

 Statement: 

In accordance with the decision of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, V.V. Putin, a truce is declared for May 8–9, 2026, in honor of the celebration of the Soviet people's Victory in the Great Patriotic War. We expect the Ukrainian side to follow this example. At the same time, we have taken note of a statement made by the head of the Kyiv regime in Yerevan at the European Political Community summit, which contains threats to strike Moscow specifically on May 9. The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation will take all necessary measures to ensure the security of the festive events. Should the Kyiv regime attempt to carry out its criminal plans with the aim of disrupting the celebration of the 81st anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation will launch a retaliatory, massive missile strike against the center of Kyiv. Russia—despite possessing the capabilities to do so—has previously refrained from such actions for humanitarian reasons. We warn the civilian population of Kyiv and the staff of foreign diplomatic missions of the necessity to leave the city in a timely manner.

This is for bloodthirsty fanboys who want to make a show out of war. Here is for your consideration. That will be a demonstration (if it comes to it) of what will happen then to Paris or London, or Berlin, which is long overdue for stone rearrangement. I am talking about conventional strikes. 

Simon Watkins Is ...

 ... a hot air balloon trying to cope with his little cozy universe born out of ignorance coming crushing down on him. He is an academic fraud with degree in journalism and English literature from Oxford. That means he has no serious education or background other than in speculation with virtual assets. He is also British, and that exacerbates the whole situation for the guy who is not really a professional. So, he pulls BS out of his ass. 

Iran has a long history of being screwed over by Russia, and last week’s meeting in Moscow between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Russian President Vladimir Putin over the U.S.–Israel–Iran war suggests nothing in that dynamic is about to change, according to extremely well-placed sources on both sides who spoke exclusively to OilPrice.com over the weekend. On the one hand, Tehran’s perennially baseless optimism that “this time will be different” was on full display in Araghchi’s excited praise for the marvels of the two countries’ so called ‘strategic relationship’. On the other hand, Moscow responded with all the warmth of an international telephone operator: Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said only that Russia stands ready to offer “goodwill or mediation services”, with no indication of any upgrade to the relationship service package. It fits so neatly into the familiar pattern of this abusive relationship that one wonders whether social services should be called. Or perhaps Moscow’s disinterest is merely an act — a way of masking the deep and broad assistance from Tehran that it so clearly craves?

First, let's clear something upfront--Oilprice has NO "well-placed sources" in Moscow. None, zilch. This derives from the fact that unlike tabloid-ridden shithole of London drowned in scandals, Moscow takes its contacts at the highest political level extremely seriously and keeps them out of reach of media (and MI6, not to speak about some losers from Oilprice) leaving Peskov to deliver classic diplomatic platitudes for general public--frustrating for tabloid-"educated" frauds like Watkins. So, Watkins, who has no idea about how strategic relations are built and, especially, how assistance is provided, simply makes shit up. He simply has no tool kit to grasp what ISR is and why the US has been humiliated. 

In related news, even Watkins' resource, which deals in virtual non-physical BS shows today:

Which means physical oil selling for $140 and up. But come to think about it, they do have their "sources" in Moscow--a collection of cherub graduates of VShE who sit as clerks in all kinds of offices and collect all kinds of BS rumors about Kremlin. But in the end, Watkins' sanctimonious mind cannot take the fact that Russia is awash in cash, while Anglo-world as a whole is paraded as impotent. Boy, that's gotta hurt. 

Getting Ready ...

 ... for the new work week.