Number of wars snowballing, as Middle East turns against USI/UAE
Sun 10:09 am +00:00, 10 May 2026Russia doesn’t wage war the way the West does and that difference may be deciding the outcome in Ukraine, the Middle East, and now Africa.
In this deep-dive episode, Alex Christoforou and Alexander Mercouris are joined by military analyst Stanislav Krapivnik, fresh from a visit to the Donbas front, for a sweeping breakdown of three simultaneous conflicts and the radically different military doctrines driving them.
From Russia’s systematic, science-based approach to warfare versus America’s personality-driven “art of war,” to the reorganization of Russian drone battalions, the gamification of Ukrainian drone kills, and the depletion of US Patriot missile stockpiles in the Iran campaign every thread points to a single uncomfortable conclusion. With Kupiansk fallen, Konstantinovka more than half-captured, and Russian forces just 10 kilometers from Sumy, the question isn’t whether the front is moving it’s how fast, and what comes after.
Watch The Duran’s full analysis to understand what the mainstream media isn’t telling you.
00:00:00 Introduction Stanislav Krapyvnik joins The Duran
00:01:10 Not two wars but three: Ukraine, Iran, and Africa
00:04:30 Russia in Mali: African Corps, Wagner successor operations
00:06:00 Russian military philosophy: science of war vs. art of war
00:08:27 How US military doctrine differs flexibility vs. systematic learning
00:09:35 Repeating mistakes: Tora Bora and the limits of personality-driven war
00:12:13 Russian drone adaptation NYT report and real battlefield context
00:20:20 Front-line drone labs: 3D printing and rapid technology cycles
00:30:46 NATO kill tables and inflated Russian casualty counts
00:41:37 Sumy offensive: Russian forces 10km from the city
00:46:41 Iran-US campaign: PAC-3 depletion and what has actually been achieved
00:53:20 Ukraine front update: Konstantinovka, Chasiv Yar, Kupyansk fallen
01:00:37 Northeastern Kharkiv encirclement the coming Russian breakout
01:04:41 Anti-drone microwave systems: China’s area-effect solution
David Hearst, editor-in-chief of Middle East Eye, says that US and Israeli plans for regime change in Iran have failed, leaving the Islamic Republic “more in control” than it was before the attack. He notes that Donald Trump has hit a brick wall; a renewed war would destroy Gulf infrastructure, while a peace deal would fail to secure the surrender of Iran’s missiles and drones.
Hearst says that Iran has burst the “fragile bubble of wealth” in the Gulf. He adds that Iranian retaliatory strikes have pummelled the United Arab Emirates, wiping more than $120bn from local stock exchanges, halting regional aluminium production, and deeply damaging the tourist and gold markets in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
The UAE was targeted because Iranian intelligence concluded Abu Dhabi served as an “advanced platform for Israeli interests,” Hearst says. He states that UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed is now doubling down against his neighbours, pulling out of Opec in a calculated move to damage Saudi Arabia and destroy the cartel.
Hearst suggests the UAE’s next move is to announce a formal military pact with Israel, which he says already exists in reality through the deployment of Israeli air defence systems.
He concludes that major regional powers must urgently form a security pact to contain Israel and its Emirati ally.
