02/26/2026

Russia escalated hard overnight, throwing waves of Shahed drones and missiles at Ukraine in an attempt to overwhelm air defenses and force battlefield momentum. Instead, Ukraine’s interception rate climbed even higher, civilian targeting continued to dominate Russian strike patterns, and the front lines saw severe Russian losses with no strategic gain.

In this update, I break down what was launched, what was stopped, what got through, and why — despite the scale of the attack — nothing fundamentally changed in Russia’s favor. We’ll look at regional impacts, new interception methods, frontline fighting near Pokrovsk and Kupiansk, and why Moscow keeps paying a higher price for diminishing returns.

YouTube Chapters

• 0:00 – Introduction & Massive Russian Drone Strikes
• 0:50 – Drone Shoot-down Rates: Shaheds vs. Ballistic Missiles
• 2:00 – Interception Success and Systemic Improvements
• 3:15 – Cost of Destruction: Targeting Civilians vs. Strategic Gains
• 4:15 – Regional Impacts: Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv, and Kyiv
• 4:55 – Specialized Interception: Minigun on Modified Aircraft
• 5:30 – Battlefield Update: Record Russian Casualties (1,360)
• 6:15 – Detailed Equipment Losses and Casualties Dashboard
• 7:05 – Frontline Analysis: Pokrovsk and Huliaypole Attacks
• 8:10 – Kupiansk Deadline: Russia Misses Military Targets
• 8:30 – Ukraine’s Future Strategy: 4,000km Anti-Drone Tunnels
• 9:35 – Drone Operator Skill and Russian Mistakes
• 10:10 – Foreign Fighters and the Radicalization of Children
• 10:45 – Fiber Optic Drones: A New Defense Challenge in Kharkiv
• 11:25 – Shout-out: Alina, Hairstylist Turned Artillery Operator
• 11:50 – Geopolitics and AI: The Risk of Nuclear Escalation
• 12:15 – Final Thoughts and Support for Ukraine

Facts over noise. Context over headlines. Truth over talking points.

https://www.youtube.com/@Professor-Gerdes