Silicon Bites Ep261 - Day 1,338 - 2025-10-23 | In this episode we follow the fumes: fires and explosions at refineries in Hungary and Romania, rumors of an apparent accident in Slovakia, and what unites all three refineries – their handling of Russian crude oil. Also, fresh U.S. and U.K. sanctions on Russia’s oil giants, pressure on India’s bulk buys of Russian crude, and Europe’s newest squeeze on the shadow — or “grey” — fleet. Are we finally seeing the public and covert playbook to choke the Kremlin’s oil revenues that are sustaining its war machine? ----------SOURCES: AP (Oct 21): “Firefighters… have contained a blaze… No injuries have been reported.” (Hungary)Digi24 summary via Ukranews (Oct 21): “a localized explosion in the industrial sewage system.” (Romania). (Українські Новини)Slovak Spectator (Oct 23): “Oil company Slovnaft denied rumours of a fire at its Bratislava refinery…” (Slovakia).EU Council (Oct 23): “An additional 117 vessels have been made subject to a port access ban…” and “These measures target non-EU tankers that are part of the shadow fleet…” (Consilium)U.S. Treasury/Reuters (Oct 22): Scott Bessent: “Given President Putin’s refusal to end this senseless war…” (Reuters)Reuters (Oct 20): Kaja Kallas: the latest package “will not be the last.” (Reuters)----------SILICON CURTAIN FILM FUNDRAISERA project to make a documentary film in Ukraine, to raise awareness of Ukraine's struggle and in supporting a team running aid convoys to Ukraine's front-line towns.https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extras----------This is super important. There are so many Battalions in Ukraine, fighting to defend our freedoms, but lack basics such as vehicles. These are destroyed on a regular basis, and lack of transport is costs lives, and Ukrainian territory. Autumn Harvest: Silicon Curtain (Goal€22,000)https://car4ukraine.com/campaigns/autumn-harvest-silicon-curtain----------SILICON CURTAIN LIVE EVENTS - FUNDRAISER CAMPAIGN Events in 2025 - Advocacy for a Ukrainian victory with Silicon Curtainhttps://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extrasOur events of the first half of the year in Lviv, Kyiv and Odesa were a huge success. Now we need to maintain this momentum, and change the tide towards a Ukrainian victory. The Silicon Curtain Roadshow is an ambitious campaign to run a minimum of 12 events in 2025, and potentially many more. Any support you can provide for the fundraising campaign would be gratefully appreciated. https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extrasWe need to scale up our support for Ukraine, and these events are designed to have a major impact. Your support in making it happen is greatly appreciated. All events will be recorded professionally and published for free on the Silicon Curtain channel. Where possible, we will also live-stream events.https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extras----------SUPPORT THE CHANNEL:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtainhttps://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtain----------TRUSTED CHARITIES ON THE GROUND:Car4Ukraine - Providing 4x4 vehicles to Ukrainian warriors https://car4ukraine.com/campaignsSave Ukrainehttps://www.saveukraineua.org/Superhumans - Hospital for war traumashttps://superhumans.com/en/UNBROKEN - Treatment. Prosthesis. Rehabilitation for Ukrainians in Ukrainehttps://unbroken.org.ua/Come Back Alivehttps://savelife.in.ua/en/Volunteer-run, US non-profit and UK charity supporting survival and recovery of Ukrainehttps://www.ukrainianaction.com/Chefs For Ukraine - World Central Kitchenhttps://wck.org/relief/activation-chefs-for-ukraineUNITED24 - An initiative of President Zelenskyyhttps://u24.gov.ua/Serhiy Prytula Charity Foundationhttps://prytulafoundation.orgNGO “Herojam Slava”https://heroiamslava.org/kharpp - Reconstruction project supporting communities in Kharkiv and Przemyslhttps://kharpp.com/NOR DOG Animal Rescuehttps://www.nor-dog.org/home/-----------