What the f*ck is happening in Russia??

Asmongold TV| 00:28:44|May 18, 2026
Chapters7
Ukrainian drones strike Moscow, including an oil refinery, with viewers noting visual footage and ongoing attempts to shoot them down.

Asmongold breaks down Ukraine’s drone attacks on Moscow, Putin’s risks, and the messy propaganda surrounding the war, weighing military reality against online narratives.

Summary

Asmongold uses his live-stream persona to dissect the latest drone strikes targeting Moscow and the broader war dynamic between Russia and Ukraine. He references multiple reports of Ukrainian long-range drones hitting Moscow-area targets, including an oil refinery, while noting Moscow’s air defenses and the confusion surrounding battlefield facts. Throughout the discussion, he questions official narratives and laments the propaganda environment that makes it hard to separate truth from speculation. He weighs whether the conflict resembles a quagmire for Russia, noting economic isolation, military setbacks, and the human cost on both sides. The stream blends on-the-ground drone footage with speculative takes on Putin’s mindset, NATO dynamics, and domestic Russian opinion. Asmongold also reflects on the role of Western support for Ukraine and the possible long-term consequences of protracted fighting. The tone swings between incredulity at the spectacle of modern warfare and concern for civilian harm, ending with a personal stance in favor of Ukraine’s continued resistance.

Key Takeaways

  • Ukrainian long-range drones reportedly reached the Moscow region, with several strikes described on oil infrastructure and civilian targets (as cited by commentators in the stream).
  • Over 550 Ukrainian drones were claimed shot down overnight by Russian defenses, signaling high-intensity drone warfare and the strain on Moscow’s air defense networks.
  • Asmongold notes the propaganda environment around Russia’s war, likening it to China-style messaging and insisting it’s hard to know what’s real amid conflicting reports.
  • The streamer questions Putin’s calculus and whether the war is sustainable for Russia, pointing to economic isolation, conscription, and the toll on Russian society.
  • There is a recurring debate about civilian harm versus military targets, with discussions about where drone attacks are aimed and whether the goal is morale rather than mass casualties.
  • Asmongold emphasizes his support for Ukraine and frames the conflict as a fight for national self-determination, while acknowledging the complexity behind Western involvement and strategic goals.
  • The conversation touches on long-term questions about NATO, Ukraine’s prospects in negotiations, and the political dynamics within Russia and Ukrainian leadership.

Who Is This For?

Essential viewing for viewers following the Russia-Ukraine conflict who want a candid, streamer-led analysis of drone warfare, propaganda, and the humanitarian stakes—plus personal takes on Western involvement.

Notable Quotes

"“Ukraine is actually bombing Moscow.”"
Initial claim about Ukrainian drone strikes reaching Moscow, setting the scope of the discussion.
"“Russia’s not going to nuke Ukraine. It’s not going to happen.”"
Skeptical take on escalation and nuclear threats within the conversation.
"“Glory to Ukraine.”"
Emphatic show of support for Ukraine amidst the drone attacks.
"“Moscow drone attack continues right now.”"
Quote captures the live-commentary pace and the ongoing nature of the events discussed.
"“If I had to fall off on one side of the fence, it would be Ukraine.”"
Asmongold articulates a clear personal stance on the conflict.

Questions This Video Answers

  • What caused the spike in drone attacks on Moscow in 2024-2025 and how credible are the reports?
  • How does Ukraine’s drone strategy affect Moscow’s air defenses and civilian infrastructure?
  • What are the risks of escalation between Russia and Ukraine with Western involvement?
  • Why is propaganda so influential in understanding the Russia-Ukraine war?
  • How likely is Russia to collapse or sustain the conflict given economic and military pressures?
Ukraine-Russia conflictDrone warfareMoscow drone attacksPropaganda and information warfarePutin and Russian politicsNATO and Western involvementCivilian impact of war
Full Transcript
Ukraine is actually bombing [ __ ] Moscow. Like I I I didn't expect to see this at all, but it looks like we're actually having like a uh a legitimate [ __ ] crash out. Look at this here. Uh Ukraine a massive Ukrainian drone attack reportedly targeting Moscow. Look at this. Oh my god. Trump posted a threat to Iran on truth social. Who cares? He's done that so many times it's not really worth looking at or um you know like getting upset about. So the Ukraine has managed to hit a Moscow. So they say it's an oil refinery. One one Uh-huh. one. Yeah. Classic. Damn. Holy [ __ ] Would be surprised Russia decides [ __ ] it. And And what is this here? Uh, and nukes Ukraine. Russia's not going to nuke Ukraine. It's not going to happen. I mean, again, I know people like, you know, everybody has opinions like that. I I find that to be like extremely unlikely. Yeah. So, there's been a lot of these explosions. Apparently, they've been bombing this, right? Russia wants Ukraine's land. Yeah. They want the land. And oh, this is it. And and Zinsky even responded. He says, "Our responses to Russia's prolongation of the war and its attacks on our cities and communities are entirely justified. This time Ukrainian longrange sanctions reached the Moscow region and we're clearly telling the Russians the state must end the war and so distance from Ukraine state borders over 500 km and so you've got a whole lot of that. The concentration of Russian air defense in the Moscow region is the highest but we are overcoming it. Glory to Ukraine. Wow. Uhoh. Trying to shoot him down. You say Sunday's going to be one day a week all gaming. I said I might do that. Yeah, we'll see what happens. I don't know yet. And uh and uh it's [ __ ] crazy. Yeah, it is. I think Russia might collapse this year. It's really hard to know what's real coming out of Russia because like obviously they have a propaganda state, etc. It's kind of like China where it's like you can look at for example, you know, like Russia or China. There's a lot of places where it's like it looks really nice there, but you don't really know if that's actually the way it is. You know what I mean? So, it's hard to say. And uh I I just I I don't know what to I I don't know what's real. I I just don't I feel like there's so much propaganda and so much fake news about it that it's almost impossible to be like, "Oh, okay. I know what it is. It's this. So, uh, yeah, Mother Russia will never collapse, maybe. I don't I don't know. Let me turn this. So, that's like one of their airplanes. Where' the camera go? What happened? Oh, the boat. Oh, they're killing the boats. Damn, bro. They really hate this boat, huh? God damn [ __ ] That's cool. Russia's a PvP server. Well, I mean, that whole area is right now. I wonder that if you were to read Putin's mind, do you think that he thinks this is worth it? I feel like there's no way he does, right? I mean, like four years entangled in Ukraine doing this [ __ ] Like, there's no way he thinks this is worth it. I mean, I think he regrets it. Yeah. I mean like I how can you possibly not regret this? It's just been a huge [ __ ] problem and uh he can't back down anymore. No, I don't think he can either. I really don't. And so uh yeah, there's another one. Moscow drone attack continues right now. Here's another one. Look at this. [ __ ] another one is flying somewhere. Is it going to hit? Oh, that false alarm. False alarm. There they are. There he is. The little bastard. Scum. [ __ ] [ __ ] Second one already. [ __ ] Probably flying to the component. I don't know what that is. The second one's definitely getting Didn't hit him, man. So, they're just Well, wait a minute. I mean, are is Ukraine really just flexing on them that hard that they're just flying these [ __ ] things in in the middle of the day? They're like, "Ah, yeah, it's like 300 p.m. Yeah, send in another one of the one of the Buzzy Boys. We're going to flex on them. Let them know. SEND HIM ANOTHER LAWN MOWER. Waste ammo." Yeah, it's time. I know. Like, how do you do that? And so, comically slow drone. Yeah, no air. Yeah, they've got no air def I mean it's it's embarrassing. It is. It's [ __ ] embarrassing. So, uh regret in hindsight doesn't mean it was the correct choice overall. We don't know the other futures that we dodged. I mean, I think that it was Oh, here's is is this this one, too? Like, I think this is the same one we saw before. Oh, man. Maybe here the road closed until 900 p.m. I bet it is. There's probably a like an issue going on. Imagine world leaders argument on Twitter ring a major war. Shit's wild. Yeah, it is. And uh so you've got this one and then Oh, I guess this is probably this looks like it's about the same place, right? They're trying to put it out. Oh my god. You can see it's a US drone sent to make Ukraine look good. I I mean I I I think that we probably are helping Ukraine. I mean, we have been already, but like you know, apparently it's been toned down. I think that we probably still are. I do. I think that we're probably still helping them and doing back channeling. Uh, let me see here. Uh, I'll see if there's any more. Russia barely has any equipment. Their Soviet supplies ran out long ago. I feel like it's made I'm going to be real like it has made Russia look so weak. Like I don't know about you guys, but like after watching what happened with like Ukraine and that like I I feel like most people expected I did too. Honestly, I did. I expected that Russia would roll over Ukraine in like three days. Like it would be basically like it wouldn't be over in three days, but like it would be so definitive that like everybody knew that like you know this is what was going to happen, right? And so like they can well they didn't, right? They didn't. And uh that was 2022 propaganda. Putin said four days. Yeah. Well, now it's been four years. So, it's not, you know, again, the four the 3-day special operation enters its fourth year. Not a good time to be him, man. And uh it's str it's struggling with land border country. Uh the US and Aland assault would [ __ ] them. Well, yeah. I mean, maybe. So, this is Russia Moscow here. Holy 600 drones. Oh my god. Three people were killed. 586 drones were shot down. Ooh, bro. They deleted him. Get the [ __ ] out of here. 14 drones made it. Yeah. Said also on Sunday that had Russia border guard ship with the Caspian Sea. Oh my god. Is Ukraine just targeting civilians now? I have no idea. Said his army had destroyed a rare amphibious aircraft behind enemy lines. I I mean I don't know if they're probably not even going to show that. Russia can't catch them all. Yeah. Russia's pummel Kiev with hundreds of missiles and drones coming east 24. Wow. Well, um I guess that's really not a big surprise. Moscow Ukraine and drone shot down a Russian capital. Oh, is this another one that got shot down? Let me see. I'm not Oh, there's one. Nope. Nope. Got him. Got him. Buzzy boy. Yep. I didn't even see that. They just Oh, now I do. Yeah, there it is. Ukraine war is longer than World War II. No, World War II started in 1940. Uh, sorry. Yeah. 1939. Uh, that's that's generally the way that people uh like look at the start of the war, right? And 1939. Yeah, exactly. And so like is the invasion of Poland, but like I I don't know. Maybe like a specific conflict. I have no idea. And Moscow is looking a lot like Ukraine. Not fun anymore, is it? Uhoh. god damn means World War I. Oh. Oh, he does. Um, yeah, that's 14 to 18, right? 1914 1918. So, yeah, maybe it is. I I really don't know. I mean, like, uh, it's it's kind of crazy that this Ukraine war has just been going on. People have been just getting killed for [ __ ] for years and it's like kind of I feel like a lot of people have just kind of lost a lot of interest in it. But now with something like this happening, I feel like it's going to get people. Is it Russia's Vietnam? Not really. I think it's a lot worse than Vietnam for Russia because you have to keep in mind that like I mean this is this isolated and alienated Russia like economically, politically, and it's killed a lot of their people. Like obviously Russia has like a kind of a police state in a way so it's easier for them to be able to like stop descent but in a general reason. Yeah. I feel like 35k dead in a month. Yeah. That's nuts on a bordering country. They're already economically isolated. Yeah. And this just made it a lot worse for them. Right. So this is it. Moscow air defenses unable to hit apartment building. Strike Ukraine drone. You see there he is. And I mean, yeah, blocks. I mean, you got to That's pretty cool. That is that like they that that's that Damn, they blew that [ __ ] up. God damn. [ __ ] was fast. And not going to lie, it is. Yeah. Holy [ __ ] man. And Moscow's little cruise missile flying. But here's the thing, right? is that in a lot of these in a lot of these instances, what I think is happening is that, you know, you you fly like a $600 drone and they spend like, you know, a a million dollar missile to intercept it or like, you know, not a million dollar, but like a a really expensive missile to intercept it. So, it's like you can probably bleed them out that way. I don't know if that's what's going to happen, but like I mean how many video Oh my god. Moscow's region during Krenland special operation and this is in Moscow. Holy [ __ ] Are they hitting civilian targets? I have no idea, honestly. Like I mean that looks like a civilian target, but I don't know if there's like a military leader there or something. I have no idea. So drones are attacking Moscow oil refinery. Yeah, I'm I'm very confused. And so I mean Russia does it. Yeah, that's probably the way that they're looking at it. They're like, "Oh, well, Russia's bombing our civilians, so we're going to bomb theirs." Right. But like I feel like if they were trying to bomb civilians, you probably could find I mean like I don't mean to be like [ __ ] you know, it's not like a good thing to say, but like couldn't you find a higher concentration of them, right? I mean, like, let's be real, rather than just hitting an apartment building, right? I mean, like, if it was me, right? It's like, if I was going to try like I mean, you would go after like a mall, you'd blow up like a school, you'd blow up like a uh, you know, a grocery store, something like that, right? I mean, you kill way more people, right? So, like, if the goal was to kill a bunch of people, those would be the things that you would bomb, right? Yeah. A hospital, right? Hospitals. Exactly. A church. Yeah. Sure. And so, it's the fear, not the killing. Yeah. And so, like, I I don't know what they're doing. I have no idea why. And so is this. Okay, so this is this is in [ __ ] uh yeah, it's in Ukrainian. Uh conducted deep strikes inside of Moscow. Heavily protected area in Russia. However, Ukraine's long-range capabilities are already overcoming the defense. Russia war is returning home. There's a clear signal that one should not mess with Ukraine. Yep, not big of a surprise there. Let me go back and see if there's any more of this, but uh holy [ __ ] man. Godamn. This is the one we already saw. The drones are getting jammed not intentionally hitting civilians. Oh. Oh. I mean, again, I I it's it's very hard to know what's actually happening, right? Who knows? And so, do you think it's dangerous to perceive Russians as weak as opposed to Ukraine being stronger than expected? I think that it is just I think it's an analysis that a lot of people have that you know if you were to ask I think the average American like if you were to rank a like you know countries military power the top three would be America, China, Russia in that order I feel like 99% of pe not 99 like 90% of people would rank them in that order and and also like I think that's generally the generally true that that's what the order is right. And I think Ger Yeah, I think Germany's like number four or something like that. I I really don't know what number four would be if it wasn't Germany. But and so like whenever you hear that, you know, like you're comparing it to like, you know, the Chinese military or like the American military, right? And so like whenever you see them like not able to take over Ukraine, I mean, I don't know this another one. North Korea, don't forget India. Yeah, I guess India must be really big. I mean, India and Pakistan are pretty good military, right? Legit. That makes sense. Yeah. So, I I I do think this definitely has um it Oh. Oh, where'd it go? There it is. Yep. Even now, dude, it's always so weird for me to see the the idea of like sound taking a long time to travel. Like, to me, it's just that's so so weird for me to even see that, right? Ukraine has launched one of its largest drone attacks on Russia since the war began. Russia's defense ministry says more than 550 Ukrainian drones were shot down overnight. Multiple locations were hit in and around Moscow. At least three people were killed as drones hit residential areas. Videos posted on social media show drones hitting residential buildings and industrial facilities. Moscow's airport suspended hundreds of flights following the attacks, although they have now mostly resumed. Only three. Yeah. I mean, if you were trying to kill people reged at least eight people, three others were injured in strikes in the Sunumi region. Cars, houses, and other civilian sites. Apparently, there's nuclear reactors in the way in North Korea. Russian joins us now. That ship got sunken action taking place quite close to where you are took what 12 years in Afghanistan. Tell us more about the events that unfolded. Well, the the thing is that the US was able to overpower Afghanistan militarily very quickly. Same with Iraq. The the problem is like establishing a lasting presence and like an influence in the country. Like I I feel like there are very these are two very different things. Like winning militarily is different than winning diplomatically and like culturally. The US took a long time to win diplomatically and culturally. And I would argue that they didn't win diplomatically and culturally, but we just completely rolled them the [ __ ] over militarily. like we destroyed them militarily in in same thing in [ __ ] Vietnam, same thing anywhere else is that we've always had an extremely deadly military that the problem is that a lot of the United States goals are not necessarily just military. It's not just land conquest. Like for example, like if we were trying to just simply take over the land, then I feel like that would be a lot easier to do. But whenever you're trying to push a narrative and create a government there and do all this other [ __ ] then I think you're in a very different situation, aren't you? This week, Russians launched over 3,170 attack drones, over 1,300 guided aerial bombs, and 74 missiles of various types, most of them ballistic against Ukraine. Oh my god. Unfortunately, what is this here? 52 people were killed as a result of the attacks. So this is Kiev. Oh my god. Well, no wonder they sent over the lawnmowers. They're [ __ ] mad. I don't blame them. People say W. It's not W. My my mentality about the Ukraine war is that I I think that you I think Ukraine are freedom fighters. I think that they're on the right side. I think Russia is the aggressor. I understand that there's like uh you know complicate it. It it it's not extremely simple, but if I had to fall off on one side of the fence or another, it would just so easily be Ukraine. It would be so easily Ukraine. It's obvious. Like I don't think the Russian people are at fault. It's just Putin and the government that are trying to push this. Like that's it. I mean like I I I I don't think that like they're evil or something like that. It's just this is what happens. AOFTs are still a bad subgroup though. What? Because there's some racist people in Ukraine. That means this is like bombing Ukraine's okay. Who cares? Like there's racist people in every country. Like I mean you could use that example to do anything. Russia's the aggressor, but the Russian people are the victims as well. Yeah, exactly. Right. Care for this stuff. That force mobilization and conscription. Yeah, I think so. Why would Russia allow NATO on their border? NATO Ukraine isn't NATO. Ukraine isn't NATO. And Trump came out and said explicitly that um Ukraine wasn't going to go to NATO. They weren't going to join NATO. So like this entire like NATO uh you know fearmongering, they said that multiple times, right? I mean that's it. Finland is well then why aren't they bombing Finland, right? So, like, yeah, look at that. And so, like, what is this? Why are they bombing Ukraine? I I think it's very clearly that like this is just my I'm not a mind reader. I don't really know this, but like if you listen to Putin talk about, for example, the Soviet Union and you know, the history of Russia, it seems like, you know, how people accuse Israel of trying to build greater Israel and expand the size of Israel. I think that Putin views Russia the same way. and he views the, you know, the the land loss from, you know, the collapse of the Soviet Union and everything as like something that is to be regained, right? And I think that's probably one of the reasons why he's doing that. But I I don't really know. I mean, like it's it's too ideological for like something to happen like this, but maybe I'm wrong. I I really just don't know. Uh it's just Yeah, it's just it's really hard to know actually what's happening. And I'll be honest, guys, I I really don't. I mean, it's kind of hard to say. I mean, I can give you my best idea of it, but I mean, it's just [ __ ] insane to see. And Israel mentioned brain now malfunctioning. Yeah, it is very uh people are very very opinionated about Israel nowadays. I think that it's a bit much. Um, but you know, that's totally another thing. So, this is the oil refinery here. Language barrier makes it hard for some people. I'm sure it does. World War II DLC. To be honest, I forgot about the Russia and Ukraine war. I stopped caring about it. Well, most people stop caring about conflicts once they go on long enough. Like it's the same thing as like even the um you know the Iraq war or the uh Afghanistan war like people at a certain point just lose interest in caring. And this is just the way people are. It is like it doesn't matter. It can be the biggest, most awful, horrible story in the world, but eventually people will say everything that there kind of is to say about it and then everybody will just simply move on. It doesn't matter whether it's something like the Epstein files or whether it's something else. It's almost like it's not even happening anymore. Yeah. I mean, I think to an extent that's kind of true. True. It doesn't affect us. Yeah. It it doesn't affect people and I think because of that, it's very easy for them to be able to just kind of ignore it. central Moscow right now. Holy [ __ ] [ __ ] And uh people are saying the reason why the drones are hitting civilian targets in some cases is because they're dam they're jammed. I mean I I really don't know. It's you know like people that like Ukraine are going to say that. People that don't like Ukraine are going to say the opposite. So it's kind of hard to really know what's true or what's not. Everything is a distraction from what I care about. Yes, of course. That's a big [ __ ] fire. Holy [ __ ] You have pre-programmed flight paths and sometimes buildings are in the way. Do you think Zillinsky is prolonging the war? Um, well, he's uh also uh along with is it okay that he's flooding the country with third world migrants? I mean, I think that having migrant workers is okay as long as it's done for a temporary period of time, right? Like having temporary migrant workers during like a war or something like that isn't a bad thing. It becomes a bad thing when those people become permanent residents and then supplant the existing population. So like I mean obviously number one. Number two, is Zalinsky prolonging the war? Yeah, he is because he could have just given up land and surrendered and he's not doing that. But him prolonging the war is that a good or a bad thing. I think that really the answer to that it depends on what the Ukrainian people think. Like I mean in in my opinion like this is my opinion as an American. I hope Ukraine keeps fighting them. I hope they don't give away any land. I think that Russia is going to have to get land in order for them to stop this fighting. I think that's what's going to have to happen. But I don't think that should happen. But it should be the Ukrainian people that make that decision, not not us. And to the extent that they make the decision to keep fighting, I will continue to say like we should keep supporting them. Like I would support them doing whatever they want to do. Giving land won't stop anything. Well, that's the that's the mentality, right? Cuz like you know, they took Crimea, Russia did, and you know, like now they're doing this. And so, you know, it's like, okay, well, what's next at this point? And I think that's the way a lot of people feel. I've never been so scared of my life. It's a nightmare. Moscowites are warning a four-year genocide a war on peaceful neighbors. No longer a fun TV show. Well, I I think that really I mean this is my outlook is that I I can see people that are starting to do this and they do the same thing with uh with Israelis. A lot of so Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel is not he isn't like their leader that everybody loves and everybody agrees with him. Like they have elections and not everybody voted from Benjamin Netanyahu. There are people that have opposite political parties that disagree with how he's doing things, etc. I think that Russia is probably the same way. I think Russia probably doesn't agree. A lot of Russians don't agree with this at all. They don't like it at all. But at the same time, it's not like they can be open and vocal about that opinion. So, they just kind of have to keep it to themselves. So, you can't look at the people that are in Russia that are getting bombed because their government decided to start a war and say that it's their fault. I mean, like it's it's the same I've I've said this before about Gazins. I said it about the Lebanese. I said it about the Israelis. I said it about Iranians. This is also true in Moscow, the the Russians. Most of the average people don't want a war. They don't want a war. They don't want to send bombs over there. They might have like an ideological idea about this, but like whenever a push comes to shove, do they actually want to engage in this? Uh, absolutely not. No, they don't. Like most of the time it is the people that are the victims of these wars. Do you think Russia has a two-party system that's perceived to fight each other like Democrats and Republicans in the USA? I think that they I I really honestly I I can't give you an answer for that. Like I I really I I could I could make something up. I could give you my best guess, but I really don't know. Uh like my understanding is that they do, but it's performative. Like that's generally what I that that's my understanding, but I I don't know. Ukraine attack largest in over a year on Moscow. Russian state media reports if the Russian state media is saying it's the largest in over a year. That's going to be pretty interesting. Uh what time is it what time is it in Ukraine right now? Yeah. Let me see what it what it is cuz I'm I'm just like thinking about like what the Okay. Well, apparently I can't even What is it? Is it like it's 10 p.m.? Okay, good. So, it's 10 p.m. drum bombing time. Yeah. Well, I feel like you'd probably have that. I mean, I'm I'm really shocked about this that they're just bombing in the middle of the day. Like, I mean, cuz again, the only other time that I've seen this happen is uh is in Iran and Iran, they're doing it because all of [ __ ] Iran's military and anti-air is gone. Weird cope. I think most Russians are pretty naturally anti-Western because the West has shunned them for a long time with not state repression necessary. Like Israel, they'll practice total solidarity with Netanyahu against foreign adversity. I think that people will probably side with Netanyahu over a foreign enemy, but that doesn't mean that they like Netanyahu. Like, yes, obviously when people's countries are threatened, there is an increase in nationalism. Like, yeah, usually that's the case, right? I mean, almost every time. But that doesn't mean that they all necessarily agree with it or they're okay with it. Uh even Russia wants Israel to move there. I don't know about that. Personally targeted civilians to decrease morale. It's impossible to stop hundreds of drones with jamming. Again, like I'm not an expert and I think probably most of the people commenting on it right now aren't either, so it's hard to say. But yeah, I mean this is really I mean you guys know that I've been a big supporter of Ukraine for many years and uh you know I raised money for Ukraine in 20 like 22 or 23 or something and uh you know I have friends that obviously are from Ukraine and also people that live there uh previously like you know is Zeppela lived there and she was displaced from Ukraine and there was also I I guess I can just say um you know there's a studio that OTK worked with um when I was still involved with them and it was a Ukrainian Ian based studio and so like talking to people there and you know other people that I've known that are from there it you know it gives me a unique insight on it.

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