2025-10-26 | Silicon Wafers 041 | DAILY UPDATES | The hammer is falling on Putin’s regime, swinging against the oil revenues that support the system and the illegal war. The first cracks are showing in Moscow’s façade, as oil is targeted, and the main buyers China and India blink. Putin says that the sanctions are serious but will not affect his regime. He’s lying and immediately dispatched a Kremlin minion and apparent ‘deal maker’ to the US to advocate for lifting the sanctions. See the problem with the logic – please remove these sanctions that are having no effect on us. It simply makes no sense. What else is happening? Russia’s fourth-largest refinery goes dark after a Ukrainian strike. We’ll also look at fresh data on desertions, Russia’s creeping mobilization by stealth, hybrid hits against Europe, and what frontline commanders say about the next phase of drone warfare. ----------Partner on this video: KYIV OF MINE Watch the trailer now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arJUcE1rxY0'Kyiv of Mine' is a documentary series about Ukraine’s beautiful capital, Kyiv. The film production began in 2018, and much has changed since then. It is now 2025, and this story is far from over.https://www.youtube.com/@UCz6UbVKfqutH-N7WXnC5Ykg https://www.kyivofmine.com/#theprojectKyiv of Mine is fast paced, beautifully filmed, humorous, fun, insightful, heartbreaking, moving, hopeful. The very antithesis in fact of a doom-laden and worthy wartime documentary. This is a work that is extraordinarily uplifting. My friend Operator Starsky says the film is “Made with so much love. The film series will make you laugh and cry.” ----------SOURCES: Reuters, “Analysts: ‘Can’t be one and done’ on sanctions,” Oct 22–24, 2025The Guardian / Reuters markets wrap, oil jump then ease, Oct 23–24, 2025Reuters, “Chinese state majors suspend seaborne Russian oil; India to cut,” Oct 23–24, 2025The Guardian, “Putin: sanctions may cause ‘some losses’,” Oct 23, 2025The Moscow Times, “Putin Envoy Visits U.S. After New Sanctions,” Oct 24, 2025; Reuters, Dmitriev appointed special envoy, Feb 23, 2025Kyiv Independent, “Ryazan (4th-largest) refinery suspends operations after attack,” Oct 25, 2025Reuters, “Orenburg gas plant hit — Kazakhstan cuts Karachaganak output,” Oct 20, 2025Reuters graphics, “Inside Ukraine’s refinery strike campaign,” Oct 16, 2025ISW / Critical Threats, Russian Offensive Campaign Assessments, Oct 22–24, 2025Mediazona, “20,662 refusal-to-serve cases by end-May,” Jun 26, 2025----------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----------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----------