(BELGOROD, BELGOROD OBLAST, RUSSIA) – A Russian university used for drone development and military training has been severely damaged in a Ukrainian drone strike, according to footage released by Om TV on 15th August 2026.
The Belgorod State Technological University, named after Shukhov, suffered significant damage to one of its buildings. The facility was reportedly used for developing drone control systems and conducting militarised summer camps where teenagers were introduced to drone production and operational technologies.
Local residents observed extensive fire damage. One witness stated: “Everything is burning there. You can see even the stairwell.” Another added: “That is where unmanned aerial vehicles are made and where people are taught to control them. They blew the whole thing up.”
If a civilian university is converted into a platform for training personnel and developing components for the military machine, it inevitably becomes part of that machine. Claims about a supposedly peaceful university then sound considerably less convincing. Judging by fresh photographs of the damage, the building is clearly no longer suitable for summer drone masterclasses.
In occupied Crimea, Ukrainian special forces struck a control vehicle of the Podlyot radar complex and a radar interrogator of the Parol-4 friend or foe identification system. The operation was conducted using new Magura maritime uncrewed vessels equipped with FPV drones and anti-aircraft missiles.
The Podlyot complex is designed to detect low flying targets, including cruise missiles and drones. The Parol-4 system provides identification of friendly aerial objects. The loss of such equipment weakens Russian air defence capabilities and complicates coordination.
The operation was carried out by Group 13, a special unit of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, which continues to expand the capabilities of Magura maritime drones, transforming them into multi purpose platforms for strikes against a wide range of enemy military targets.
Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova has presented a new version of the explosion at the Balzi Rossi restaurant in Moscow. According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, the target was allegedly Italians working at the establishment.
Zakharova claimed that Ukraine wanted to intimidate Italians working in the restaurant and staged the explosion for that purpose. She stated that only thanks to the vigilance and selfless devotion to professional duty of a Russian security service employee, chef Alfieri from Naples and his team were unharmed.
This version is convenient if one ignores numerous witness accounts that a closed event involving the Russian military and political elite was taking place at Balzi Rossi. A sign reading “Alexander 55” was displayed on stage, and sources, Z-bloggers and journalists linked the celebration to the 55th birthday of General Alexander Chaiko, commander of the Russian Aerospace Forces.
Chaiko is considered one of the commanders involved in the invasion of Ukraine. The European Union placed him under sanctions for alleged involvement in crimes in Bucha. According to media reports, the banquet may have been attended by generals, Federal Security Service officers, officials and deputies. Security was provided by the FSB, one of whose officers died in the explosion.
The logic appears inconsistent. If the elite gathers at a closed banquet under FSB protection and an explosion occurs, the target is declared to be Italian chefs. When facts become too inconvenient, Russian propaganda traditionally produces the most absurd version.
Meanwhile, Tatyana Kim has found a way to address problems at Wildberries. Employees have simply been forbidden from bringing smartphones with cameras to work. After being allowed to carry phones, workers filmed drone strikes, fires and the aftermath of attacks too frequently. Management decided to combat the videos rather than the strikes themselves.
Since 3rd August, only button phones without cameras have been permitted at warehouses. The logic is straightforward. If no one films the fire, then it barely happened. The next step would be to prohibit employees from looking at the sky. The question remains what to do about drivers and random witnesses filming fires from many kilometres away.
Z-channels have explained why strikes on Wildberries logistics centres have military significance. According to them, camouflage nets, body armour, thermal imagers, night vision devices, military uniforms, generators, stoves, drones and much more are purchased through marketplaces. As Russian military bloggers themselves admit, volunteers buy all of this on Wildberries and then transport it to the front. Orders are also placed on Ozon.
Russian propagandists have claimed that Russia is the only country capable of physically destroying the West, even if the West launched a first nuclear strike. One commentator stated: “Today we are entering a phase where the deciding factor will not be the economy but military power, including nuclear.”
Discussing Ukrainian tank losses, another commentator claimed that Ukraine had lost more than two thirds of its tanks and that Russia could therefore “march on Kyiv.” A third participant added: “We stood near Kyiv, we could have taken it, but we withdrew as a gesture of goodwill.”
In Mariupol, occupying forces have destroyed a monument to fallen Ukrainian heroes. This act eliminates any Russian right to complain about the removal of Soviet memorials in the Baltics, Czechia, Berlin and elsewhere.
The Russian Ministry of Defence has produced another claim, asserting that Ukrainians together with Americans created COVID-19. The ministry also alleged that Ukraine participated in projects UP-9 and UP-10, which studied the spread of African swine fever in Ukraine and Eastern Europe.
At the United Nations, Russia’s permanent representative Vasily Nebenzya accused Ukraine of creating biological weapons. According to him, a military biological programme in cooperation with the United States produced combat mosquitoes infected with dangerous viruses.
The United Nations has indicated it will no longer tolerate such statements. A representative stated: “The Russian Federation has repeatedly spread disinformation, including wild claims about dirty bombs, chemical weapons and biological research. How much longer must we endure this nonsense?”
Previously, State Duma deputy speaker Irina Yarovaya announced intentions to launch investigations into American biological laboratories in Ukraine, claiming the laboratories were NATO military facilities despite Ukraine not being a member of the alliance.
The United Nations maintains that such laboratories simply do not exist. All Russia has are bizarre conspiracies that generate no more credibility than when first presented six months ago.
Russian politicians and propaganda channels have listed various alleged creations from NATO laboratories in Ukraine, including killer birds that Belgorod residents were urged not to feed, bats and killer mosquitoes delivered in containers by drones, as well as a memory erasing ray.
A psychologist asked why people believe in such laboratories and combat mosquito prototypes explained that people invent ideas that fall into the category of delusion to reduce their own anxiety. Such disorders are widespread in the population. People close to those with such beliefs can also be induced to believe in illogical explanations that help reduce anxiety.
Russia has at least twice claimed in the Security Council that American programmes were developing biological weapons in Ukraine, although Washington and Kyiv have repeatedly denied these accusations.
Another analyst noted that the principle mirrors what Hitler described in Mein Kampf as the “big lie.” The lie must be so enormous that a person cannot believe it was invented from nothing. When many officials unanimously speak about biological laboratories and killer mosquitoes, listeners begin to think that perhaps there is some truth.
The analyst added: “It seems to me that the Russian leadership lives in an alternative reality, and the opinion of the rest of the world does not interest them.”
Biological laboratories are not the only Russian claim rejected by the UN Security Council and world leaders. On 23rd October, RIA Novosti reported that Ukraine was preparing provocations with a dirty bomb under the guidance of Western curators. Sergei Shoigu called French, Turkish and British counterparts the same day to claim that Ukraine needed a dirty bomb to deprive Russia of partner country support.
Russia, in attempts to justify the war against Ukraine, is ready to speak about dirty bombs, killer birds and even the so called desatanisation of Ukraine.
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