Russo-Ukrainian war, day 1505: Ukraine and Croatia break ground on underground drone factory

Exclusive

Hungary robbed $82 million from Ukraine's state bank, now it has fabricated subtitles on a toilet-office joke video to justify it. They took a year-old private video from an illegally seized phone of couriers joking about preparing documents in a public restroom and added a phrase about "corruption money" that was never spoken to the subtitles.

Ukraine and Croatia are building underground drone factory to kill Chinese supply chain. General Cherry and ORQA sign first joint production deal on Ukrainian soil, targeting full localization of drone components.

Oil posts biggest crash since 1991—but the Gulf ceasefire has two versions. Brent fell 15%. Missiles kept flying. Iran's "open" Strait comes with a $2 million entry fee.

Ukraine unleashes machine gun-toting drones into the Black Sea. Evidence for this adaptation comes from both Ukrainian and Russian sources.

China opens its flour market to Ukraine as Kazakh producers pay for using Russian wheat. In the same week Beijing welcomed Ukrainian flour, it blocked Kazakh producers from using Russian wheat.

Military

Ukraine's Leopard 2A6 reportedly hit Russian T-72B3 at 5.5 km — this may be longest kill in this war. Ukraine is turning the Leopard 2A6 into a sniper rifle against Russian armor.

Ukrainian intelligence called it "the last Russian railway ferry in the Kerch Strait still afloat" — now it's out of action too. The Slavyanin carried fuel, weapons, military equipment, and ammunition to Russian forces in occupied Crimea. HUR says it destroyed its ability to operate with a drone strike on the night of 5-6 April.

Ukraine hit Crimea's key fuel hub and struck deep into Luhansk Oblast — while clearing more air defenses across the occupied south. The Feodosiia Marine Oil Terminal fire was visible over 20 km away and confirmed by NASA FIRMS; in separate strikes that week, Ukrainian forces also destroyed a Buk-M3, Tor-M2, and a Zoopark-1M radar Brovdi called "a fierce enemy" of Ukrainian artillery.

Intelligence and technology

Ukraine's interceptor drones just set record, as industry has crossed threshold. Ukraine is paying drone companies per Shahed they shoot down — and it's working.

Japan is sending engineers to Ukraine's frontline — and they're coming back with $2,500 weapon. Saudi Arabia and the UAE are watching a Ukrainian drone startup more closely than Raytheon.

German, Japanese, and Swiss machines are inside Russia's missile factories. None are sanctioned. Russia builds Iskander missile components on German lathes and Swiss machining centers.

International

WP: Hungary is sharing intelligence with Iran, while Vance flies to Budapest to back its leader amid election campaign. Vance is campaigning for a man whose minister offered Iran his intelligence services.

While West watches Middle East, Russia quietly secured foothold in world's second-largest graphite producer. Russia got cobalt, graphite, rare earths, and access to a key Indian Ocean shipping route.

Leaked documents show Hungary agreed to Russian teachers, energy deals, and circus cooperation with Moscow. Magyar calls it outright betrayal. Hungary and Russia signed a 12-point cooperation plan.

Humanitarian and social impact

ISW: Russians "weaponizing civilian harm as an intentional tool of war" by pervasively employing human safari tactics. The assessment follows two FPV strikes on civilian buses in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast on 7 April — part of a pattern that the UN has previously confirmed as crimes against humanity.

Ukraine's greatest philosopher visited this estate. Russia burned it down 242 years later. The Donets-Zakharzhevskyi estate in Velykyi Burluk — a locally protected architectural monument where Hryhorii Skovoroda once stayed — was completely consumed by fire on 7 April after two direct drone strikes; no casualties were reported.

Political and legal developments

Russia's buffer zone wishlist now includes Vinnytsia — via Moldova's Transnistria, Ukrainian official says. Zelenskyy's office deputy chief Palisa said this is the first time such plans have been recorded, though he stressed Russia currently lacks the forces to act on any of its territorial ambitions.

New developments

Artemis II just flew around Moon. Path that got humans there started with Ukrainian engineer from Poltava in 1929. He died in WWII and never saw the Moon landing he made possible.

Read our earlier daily review here.