China HELD Putin back from hitting Kyiv! Russia is THREATENING nuclear escalation. A HIT on Belarus

Added: 2026-05-31

[00:00:03]So, friends, we're going live urgently because China is slapping Putin's hands.

[00:00:08]Xi Jinping is against the shelling of Kyiv.

[00:00:12]At the same time, the speaker of the State Duma, there's this guy Volodin, has already officially threatened Ukraine with a nuclear strike. And on top of that, Lukashenko claims to have found 116 Ukrainian drones in just 1 week. What they're drinking over there is anyone's guess.

[00:00:28]And I have just one question. Is Belarus really preparing a provocation at the border this way? And then there's the return of Crimea. Russians can forget about the land corridor.

[00:00:39]So, what happens next? The general mobilization in Russia is just around the corner. See how it looks. Russians are already being summoned en masse to enlistment offices and receiving mobilization notices. Hi, friends. It's the Pristaliem project. I'm Volodymyr Tymoshenko. Let's start.

[00:01:02]So, right now, friends, the legendary Azov is beginning the return of its native Mariupol and is already keeping enemy military targets under fire control.

[00:01:12]Now, let's watch the report. I also want to say one more thing. Look, leave your comments and questions under this broadcast.

[00:01:20]Very soon, there will be an exclusive interview with Ivan Stupak.

[00:01:24]And we will be answering your questions as well.

[00:01:27]So, now, let's watch the report and then we'll come back. Let's go.

[00:01:32]>> There will no longer be any safe place near Azov for the Russian occupiers. The defense forces have fire control over temporarily occupied Mariupol.

[00:01:41]Ukrainian drones are terrifying the occupying army and forcing the enemy to flee from temporarily occupied Crimea.

[00:01:48]Learn more about this in the following report.

[00:01:51]The first core of the National Guard of Ukraine, Azov, has released a video showing targets being struck near the Russian border in the vicinity of temporarily occupied Mariupol.

[00:02:01]Ukrainian drones are successfully attacking Russian military equipment, disrupting the enemy's logistics.

[00:02:07]The footage captures combat operations taking place on the roads Mariupol-Taganrog and Mariupol-Volnovakha.

[00:02:13]The press service of the first Azov Corps notes the following.

[00:02:17]>> The territory of Ukraine must be free of Russian troops.

[00:02:21]The most reliable way to achieve this is to move the sanitary zone for enemy logistics closer to Russia itself and the occupied Crimea.

[00:02:29]>> Earlier, pilots of the first Azov National Guard Corps demonstrated the operation of reconnaissance and strike complexes. In Mariupol, they also announced that roads are being patrolled at distances of up to 160 km from the line of combat engagement.

[00:02:44]Strikes were carried out on the so-called Novorossiya Highway.

[00:02:49]Logistics is increasingly becoming the main vulnerability of the Russian army.

[00:02:53]Even the Russians admit that the land corridor to temporarily occupied Crimea is under Ukrainian fire control.

[00:03:01]The occupation authorities have restricted the movement of civilian freight transport toward Crimea.

[00:03:06]This applies to the federal highway R280, stating that these measures are being introduced to ensure the safety of transit road traffic.

[00:03:15]As reported by the publication Arya Yug, with the introduction of middle strike class drones into the arsenal of the Ukrainian armed forces, there are no longer any safe routes for Russian troops in southern Ukraine.

[00:03:28]There are practically none left. Burning fuel trucks and destroyed military vehicles are regularly observed along the key highways of the occupied territories.

[00:03:39]>> On the Melitopol bypass and at key junctions, truck drivers observe cabins burned to the ground and tankers torn in half.

[00:03:46]There is information that the occupiers have already been forbidden to move military equipment in convoys.

[00:03:52]Now they try to slip through one by one or transport cargo for the Russian army in civilian trucks.

[00:03:58]>> Defense forces are also successfully attacking their legitimate targets on the territory of temporarily occupied Crimea.

[00:04:05]And with the development of Ukrainian drone production, striking targets in the aggressor country will become even easier.

[00:04:12]As reported by Denys Shcherman, the chief designer at FirePoint, the FP-2 drone after modernization received an increased warhead weight, 200 kg.

[00:04:23]And the strike range is now up to 370 km.

[00:04:27]Now, this drone will be able to reach any target in occupied Crimea.

[00:04:32]At the same time, defense forces continue to regain control over Ukrainian territories.

[00:04:38]As reported recently by Serhiy Bratchuk, spokesperson for the Ukrainian Volunteer Army, the [snorts] Armed Forces of Ukraine have completely cleared the settlement of Stepnohirsk and thwarted Russian plans to shell the city of Zaporizhzhia.

[00:04:51]>> Thanks to our special forces, in particular the Artan special unit of the Main Intelligence Directorate, the defense forces managed to regain control over Stepnohirsk, to reclaim our tactical positions that had been lost there.

[00:05:04]>> According to ISW data, the village of Malatokmachka in the Zaporizhzhia region has also been liberated. In addition, the defense forces of Ukraine have regained control over Otradnoye in the Kharkiv region and the surrounding areas.

[00:05:22]>> Dear friends, we really have a lot to discuss, and right now military analyst Ivan Stupak has joined us live. Ivan, hello. Thank you so much for finding the time. As always, I'm glad to see you.

[00:05:33]>> Hello, hello. Glad to see you, too.

[00:05:35]Thank you for the invitation.

[00:05:37]>> Well, you know, Ivan, you have to agree, there really is a lot to discuss today.

[00:05:43]Let's start with the story that's unfolding right now in China.

[00:05:47]Various Telegram channels and public pages are reporting on it.

[00:05:52]They are sharing information that China is allegedly against Moscow heavily bombing Kyiv.

[00:05:58]I have some very serious doubts about this.

[00:06:02]I'll just quote for you how it actually looks in reality.

[00:06:06]The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China, in response to new threats from Russia to carry out massive strikes on the capital of Ukraine, called on the relevant parties to refrain from escalating hostilities.

[00:06:19]Well, and the Russians immediately started to backtrack a bit here. They began to claim that President Zelenskyy's office is not a decision-making center. What do you think? In general, what does it actually mean? This statement from the Chinese side, from the Celestial Empire, how can we interpret it?

[00:06:36]>> Well, the most interesting thing is when it suddenly turned out that the president's office is not a decision-making center. So, where is it then? Is the Bessarabsky market the decision-making center or the Vladimirsky market? It's unclear. A simple clarification for your audience not familiar with Ukrainian geography.

[00:06:51]The Embassy of the People's Republic of China is literally located so close that if you fall down twice, you're near the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, near the Ukrainian Parliament. Therefore, with a high degree of probability, China was concerned about making sure that, God forbid, no drone or cruise missile would fly by. A Russian one, near the Embassy of the People's Republic of China, so that, God forbid, no diplomat would be killed. That would be a major reputational loss.

[00:07:15]And China wants to avoid that.

[00:07:17]There is no doubt that the Russian Federation will continue to shell Ukrainian territory. They will shell Kyiv without a doubt.

[00:07:23]This is the mindset, the standard way the Russian Federation operates, especially when things aren't going well at the front.

[00:07:30]And I am sincerely speaking to your audience, not because I have to say this.

[00:07:34]They really are truly not finding any success on the ground. There's nothing special happening at the front.

[00:07:40]Plus, they're even losing something.

[00:07:43]In the regions and territories under their direct or indirect control, it's very likely that considering it as a strategic option, this attempt was intended as a direct threat to Kyiv.

[00:07:52]An attempt to achieve at least something at the front, anything at all. If we can't capture even a small village, then let's at least smash Kyiv to pieces.

[00:08:01]At least show the core audience that even though we couldn't take this tiny village, they fought around it for 1 and 1/2 thousand days.

[00:08:09]Instead, they decided after all to destroy the central part of the city of Kyiv.

[00:08:14]In general, regarding the statement from the Chinese side, I wouldn't have any particular illusions about it being anything more, you know?

[00:08:20]We're for all the good things, for the sun to always shine, for people to always smile, for phones to always be charged, for everyone to be in a good mood, for there to be no war, but when it comes to concrete steps like let's actually do something, let's bring both sides to the negotiating table, let's have each side make some concessions so that the war ends. No, that's not happening. So, for now, it's just statements without any practical steps.

[00:08:44]>> Ivan, how would you describe and characterize the current stage of the war?

[00:08:48]And what exactly do I mean by that? You put it absolutely correctly. The reality is what it is.

[00:08:54]I don't want to, as they say, play the role of an oracle, but nevertheless, we understand that the bombings in Ukraine are very severe, and in fact, they will continue. At this stage of the war, in any case, at least as an informational backdrop, the threat still looms. It's the threat of an invasion from Belarus. That element of anxiety still exists regardless. We'll talk with you further about how realistic all of this is.

[00:09:18]But nevertheless, in general, what should people be preparing for?

[00:09:23]What is happening globally right now?

[00:09:26]In this war, as of May 2026, how would you describe it?

[00:09:32]>> It is something very similar to World War I, occurring around the year 1917, roughly speaking. But again, that's all very conditional, a bit of a stretch.

[00:09:41]Why? Because despite the amount of resources and efforts by the Russian Federation, again, seriously, without any propaganda spin, they are not able to advance. The city of Konstantinovka is still standing, even though it is already being destroyed. It's been over a year. They are trying to take it, but they can't.

[00:09:59]Slaviansk, Kramatorsk, the last 15 to 17% of the territory of Donetsk region, they can't take it.

[00:10:06]So, roughly speaking, again, unless there are some major additional changes from the outside, we are heading once more toward a war that is strikingly reminiscent of 1917.

[00:10:16]A stalemate is emerging in some areas, meaning it's becoming more of a positional war, but that doesn't mean the intensity of the fighting has decreased.

[00:10:23]That is almost 6,000 drones from the Russian Federation are launched daily, 200 to 250 glide bombs are dropped, and nearly 20,000 shells are fired every day, artillery, mortars, and so on.

[00:10:35]In other words, the intensity is just over the top, huge, extremely complex, extremely serious. Plus, there is a push to increase the use of aerial components. As for drones, unfortunately, there are more and more of them.

[00:10:49]I'll be honest with you. I admit that I was wrong in my assessments. I sincerely believed that at the beginning of 2026, taking into account the pace of development of the Russian military-industrial complex, I thought they would be able to reach a figure of 5 to 5 and 1/2 thousand drones produced per month by around June. As it turned out, I was indeed wrong, I admit it.

[00:11:10]Admitting my mistake, they actually reached almost 6,500 units.

[00:11:15]Looking back at the month of March in the year 2026, during the March-April period, we saw between 6,400 and 6,700 drones being launched on a monthly basis.

[00:11:26]And we're saying that this number will increase. It will increase significantly higher than last year. That's why air attacks are up, but on the ground advances are fewer and fewer.

[00:11:36]>> Yes, that is absolutely the truth of the matter.

[00:11:38]Let's take a moment to mentally transport ourselves to the territory of Belarus.

[00:11:43]What's actually happening there?

[00:11:45]A certain logical chain is emerging.

[00:11:49]Lukashenka cynically asked for a meeting with Zelenskyy on camera, staging yet another theatrical performance.

[00:11:56]After that, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya arrives in the city of Kyiv. Today, Zelenskyy stated, and I quote, that Lukashenka wanted a meeting of presidents. Interestingly, it worked out because Tsikhanouskaya arrived. And then Lukashenka claimed to have seen 116 Ukrainian drones over Belarus in a week.

[00:12:14]Here's my question. Is it possible they're preparing a provocation for themselves by accident on the territory of the Republic? What do you think?

[00:12:22]>> That's a good question.

[00:12:24]Look, I personally I make a connection here. This emergence of information about 100 Ukrainian drones, which were raised by the Republic of Belarus, is purely a show of support.

[00:12:34]Support for the Russian Federation. To say, "Listen, we're helping you here, too. We're also shooting them down."

[00:12:40]We don't talk about it, but so many drones have already been shot down.

[00:12:44]Well, listen, if Ukrainian drones were flying over the Republic of Belarus, there would be a lot of statements from the Belarusian side, a lot of aircraft scrambled every night, hundreds of video clips and photos. There would be images of downed Ukrainian drones or footage of them being shot down, hundreds of publications from Belarusian propaganda.

[00:13:03]None of that exists at all. That's why I see this more as a media move, a way to support Putin and say, "You know, Vladimir Vladimirovich, you're not alone here.

[00:13:12]I'm helping you, too. We've shot down so many."

[00:13:15]Only once I remember, I think it was back in 2023, somewhere near the settlement of Kostyukovichi, in the Kostyukovichi district, they supposedly found a downed Ukrainian drone with Ukrainian stickers.

[00:13:29]But what's interesting what's interesting is that when the Belarusian security forces showed the wreckage of the Ukrainian drone, it was burnt burnt parts of it were burnt.

[00:13:38]Well, logically yes, the drone was flying. It was shot down. It burned and fell into dry grass.

[00:13:43]But the grass was dry where they picked it up. So it's clear that they brought it there from somewhere else from another location.

[00:13:51]As of today, personally, I don't feel any threat from Lukashenko at all.

[00:13:55]Yes, there might be tension. There might be a provocation, but I really don't expect anything large-scale simply because first of all, Lukashenko is a Teflon dictator. He's managed for 30 years.

[00:14:07]He manages to make sure that nothing sticks to him like walking between the raindrops.

[00:14:13]He fully expects and anticipates that he'll keep successfully slipping through like this in the future.

[00:14:18]Secondly, he's being pulled out of the old dirty and grimy environment.

[00:14:24]story called the sanctions regime, meaning they're pulling him out of that situation.

[00:14:28]We have already discussed this before, right?

[00:14:31]Belaruskali was withdrawn from the list.

[00:14:32]Belavia was withdrawn and the official American representative visits Lukashenko. So to say that he has any reason to start some kind of military action when he's just now being brought to the surface when he's only just beginning to see the light in this long dark stinking sanctions tunnel. But on the other hand, you know, it's still not entirely clear whether the light at the end of the tunnel is really light or if it's just a train coming toward us.

[00:14:56]We still haven't figured that out.

[00:14:59]>> It really is, you know, a rhetorical question.

[00:15:02]And there's something else I wanted to discuss with you. You know, there are topics that during the full-scale war we regularly come back to in our conversations with you naturally including this one.

[00:15:13]And now there's a new, I would say, stage in the conversation about the fact that a large mobilization is about to take place in the Russian Federation.

[00:15:22]And this time it might even be official.

[00:15:24]Well, that's what people are saying anyway.

[00:15:26]They say that more draft notices are being handed out, and supposedly Putin wants to recruit 100,000 new soldiers and so on.

[00:15:34]So, as of now, these very 100,000 people that are being talked about, at least for the moment, I read specifically about this number, this figure of 100,000, can it fundamentally change anything at the front for the enemy's army or not? If we look at it purely from a mathematical point of view, so to speak.

[00:15:53]>> Purely arithmetically, 100,000 Russians are now near Pokrovsk, but that's already less than it was before. There used to be 170,000, now it's 100,000.

[00:16:03]Again, for comparison, that's exactly half a percent of the entire Polish army.

[00:16:08]But overall, the number is serious.

[00:16:10]Let's not underestimate it. It really is impressive.

[00:16:13]But if you break it down by month, that's almost 8,000 people give or take each month.

[00:16:19]On the other hand, it doesn't seem like that much considering that they used to recruit 30 to 35,000 in previous periods.

[00:16:28]Interestingly, there are already preliminary estimates of how many people the Russian army recruits daily.

[00:16:35]In the first quarter of 2025, last year, in the first quarter, they were recruiting 1,200 people per day.

[00:16:42]Remember 1,200.

[00:16:45]In the first quarter of this year, it's already down to 800.

[00:16:48]So, there is a decline.

[00:16:50]But to say that the mobilization has completely failed, no, that's not the case. Therefore, most likely, these mobilization efforts, these 100,000 people, are an attempt to somehow restore the balance. These 400 people who are missing daily need to be somehow replaced. And most likely, the task is to make up for them.

[00:17:08]Go out there and search, hand out draft notices, and actively recruit foreign nationals.

[00:17:13]By the way, over the entire past year in the first quarter of this year, the Russian army managed to recruit a total of approximately 3,000 Peruvians into its ranks.

[00:17:22]In other words, this recruitment is happening across the entire globe.

[00:17:27]>> Recruitment is underway. We agree it's better to overestimate the enemy. It's always better to overestimate than underestimate them. At the very least, when you're dealing with such a, let's be honest, vile and cynical enemy. I'd also like to talk with you, of course, about the temporarily occupied Crimea.

[00:17:45]The topic of the land corridor is also being widely discussed right now. Very seriously, there are a lot of videos showing what's happening on the highways. Various fuel trucks are burning, equipment, and so on.

[00:17:56]Considering that, naturally, there's a lot we can't talk about, I think that both we and our general staff aren't being told everything. Again, it's a time of full-scale war, that's understandable, but nevertheless, what is currently happening now in Crimea with the Russian-held land corridor?

[00:18:11]Just how significant is this moment overall?

[00:18:14]And how promising is it for the armed forces of Ukraine?

[00:18:19]>> This is genocide, genocide of the land corridor by the armed forces of Ukraine.

[00:18:23]This alone is a reason to appeal to the UN for protection.

[00:18:27]On the one hand, this land corridor has become both a salvation for the Russian Federation and a curse. On the one hand, they created a loop for themselves, Rostov, Taganrog, Mariupol, downwards.

[00:18:39]They went there through the occupied Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions into Crimea.

[00:18:44]All of Crimea, the Crimean Bridge, and back to Russia. In other words, they created a kind of so-called Azov ring for themselves. They were very proud of this bridge, of the road they built, something that didn't exist under Ukraine. Under Ukraine, cities weren't destroyed, and tens of thousands of people weren't buried near their homes, as the Russian Federation does to our citizens. Well, I think everyone understands that by now.

[00:19:06]On the other hand, these roads, once again, they have become a curse.

[00:19:10]Because the main the vast majority of cargo is currently moved across the country either by rail or by road. The Crimean bridge is already sufficiently frightened, intimidated to operate at 100%.

[00:19:21]And this road connection has become a significant curse for Russia. Ukrainian drones produced by the company Swift bit are the brainchild of the Ukrainian defense industry. Together with the American defense industry under their direct guidance or funding. This project involves former Google CEO Eric Schmidt.

[00:19:39]Greetings from Google to the Russian occupiers.

[00:19:42]These Hornet drones actively fly deep between 100 and 150 kilometers into the occupied territories.

[00:19:49]They hunt everything that moves along this highway, specifically everything that has a clear military purpose.

[00:19:55]Military vehicles painted in that disgusting swamp green color are always target number one. Furthermore, all vehicles transporting fuel or any essential spare parts are strictly subject to immediate destruction. And already by the way in Crimea, there is a shortage of fuel, problems with fuel supply.

[00:20:14]There is information that tanker truck drivers are refusing to go on runs for any amount of money.

[00:20:20]And interestingly, one of the Russian war correspondents after analyzing publicly available footage of these Ukrainian strikes says the following.

[00:20:29]This showed a checkpoint at the state border back when it was still between Ukraine and Russia.

[00:20:37]And he says that Ukraine only showed a fragment in this video footage. They showed a fragment of the old checkpoint, but there is a new one nearby.

[00:20:44]His assumption is as follows.

[00:20:47]The Ukrainian side deliberately does not show the new checkpoint where there are usually traffic jams, where vehicles are lined up for inspection.

[00:20:54]The idea is that it could be destroyed just like at a shooting range. For example, we have a fuel tanker standing there. They could be destroyed one after another.

[00:21:03]He suggests that perhaps the next strike will target this very checkpoint.

[00:21:08]>> Ivan, considering everything we've already discussed today, how do you feel about the theory that many are now writing about, that even now, in 2026, Putin he lives in a state, you know, of complete trust, so to speak, in his generals. Well, roughly speaking, the military come to him with their big epaulets and say, "We're winning, everything's fine, the special military operation is going according to plan, and so on." And Putin believes this and lives in this illusory world.

[00:21:38]Do you think that's really how things are going over there? Or once again, should we not underestimate the enemy?

[00:21:46]>> That's partially true. I've seen moments when high-ranking individuals with large epaulets and an immense amount of swagger, believe me, can lie even more convincingly than a schoolboy. Like when a kid lies to his parents about a bad grade in his report card. Honestly, I was sincerely surprised. I saw a big example of this once, and it happened a lot. But when a general lies to his superior and doesn't even blush, he just lies. I know that everything is actually the opposite, completely different, but I also understand that if I open my mouth, I'll be the one to take the fall here. So, he lies, saying everything is fine, we're doing everything, we're on schedule.

[00:22:21]The second general asks, "Are you sure?"

[00:22:23]"Of course I'm sure," the first one replies. "All right then, good job. Go on, keep working." Even though, once again, the situation is completely, absolutely different.

[00:22:32]That's why I don't rule out that people really do lie to Putin, boldly and shamelessly, and he, in principle, is willing to be deceived. If a general reports, that means the general is telling the truth. A general couldn't possibly deceive me. That's the kind of twisted logic we're dealing with.

[00:22:46]>> Ivan, and finally, you know, it was suggested that we bring things full circle. Today, we started our conversation with news from China, because China supposedly does not approve of strikes on Kyiv.

[00:22:58]Now, we've received a comment on our live broadcast from one of our subscribers. So, China gives the green light for an attack and now forbids it.

[00:23:07]Well, yes, Sita also thought it would all be over in 3 days.

[00:23:12]And tell me, please, just as we go along, a question came to my mind. So, at the start of the full-scale invasion, did China expect that Ukraine would fall in those very 3 days and so on as Simonyan and others announced?

[00:23:27]>> I think so. I think Chinese generals were definitely preparing some reports, maybe not the most extensive ones, for the top leadership with their assessments. Because no matter how you look at it, China is interested in everything. Yes.

[00:23:39]They may not physically get involved everywhere, but I'm sure they're interested in everything. Chinese generals also prepared and provided breakdowns. How many tanks Ukraine and Russia had, how many people.

[00:23:50]It's clear that arithmetically everything pointed to Ukraine having to fall.

[00:23:55]Whether in 3 days or 3 weeks, it was expected to fall because the sheer power was three, four, even 10 times greater, purely arithmetically speaking. But Ukraine wasn't supposed to survive, yet Ukraine did survive. It's a simple analogy. By all the laws of aerodynamics, a bumblebee shouldn't be able to fly, but it doesn't know that and keeps flying anyway.

[00:24:16]>> Thank you very much, as always. It was a pleasure to talk with you during these 20 minutes. I think we really discussed many important topics and I look forward to seeing you next time. Thank you.

[00:24:26]Military analyst Ivan Safronov joined our broadcast. Friends, one more important point. Subscribe to Union to know the truth about what is happening in Ukraine and in the rest of the civilized world. And of course, to see how modern Putin's Russia is plunging into the abyss.

[00:24:41]It really is spiraling down into it, just like all of Putin's cronies.

[00:24:46]Just hours ago, Zelensky trolled Lukashenka during Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya's visit to Kyiv. We'll talk about this in the next episode of In the Crosshairs. I'm Volodymyr Tymoshenko. Goodbye. Take care.

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