The President's Daily Brief - July 30th, 2026: Ukraine’s Wildberries Strikes Threaten Russia's Banking System & Iran's Missile Attack

Episode Date: July 30, 2026

In this episode of The President's Daily Brief: Ukraine strikes another Wildberries logistics hub, and new reporting says the Kremlin is considering emergency support for Russia's largest online retailer. We examine how Kyiv's campaign against Russia's version of Amazon could create unexpected pressure on the country's banking system. The fighting between the United States and Iran intensifies after Tehran launches a surprise missile attack on American forces in Jordan, prompting U.S. and allied retaliation. Ukraine warns that Russia is preparing to deploy as many as 30,000 North Korean troops, marking a dramatic expansion of Pyongyang's role in the war. In today's Back of the Brief, the U.S. military is reportedly considering requiring some troops in the Middle East to surrender their cell phones over fears Iran is using social media to identify and target American bases. To listen to the show ad-free, become a premium member of The President’s Daily Brief by visiting https://PDBPremium.com. Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of The President's Daily Brief. YouTube: youtube.com/@presidentsdailybrief Cardiff: Get fast business funding without bank delays—apply in minutes with Cardiff and access up to $500,000 in same‑day funding at https://Cardiff.co/PDB QUO: Make this the season where no opportunity slips away. Try QUO for free PLUS get 20% off your first 6 months when you go to https://Quo.com/PDB Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's Thursday, the 30th of July. Look at that. We have made it almost to the end of another month. Welcome to the President's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. And yes, I am still on the road. Thank you for asking. All right, let's get briefed. First up, Ukraine has struck another Wildberry's logistics hub, and the Kremlin is now discussing emergency support for the company. We'll examine how a campaign targeting Russia's version of Amazon could become a a much bigger problem for Putin. Later in the show, we'll have the latest on the renewed fighting between the United States and Iran after the regime launched a surprise missile attack on American forces in Jordan.

Plus, Ukraine says Russia is preparing to deploy as many as 30,000 North Korean troops, marking a dramatic expansion of Pyongyang's role in the war. And it stays back of the brief. The U.S. military may soon require some troops in the Middle East to surrender their cell phones over fears that Iran is using social media to target American bases. But first, today's PDB spotlight. If you've been following our coverage here on the PDB, and I hope you have, you know we've been tracking Ukraine's increasingly aggressive drone campaign against Walburys, the Russian

equivalent, basically, of Amazon. And just yesterday, Ukraine struck another Walburys logistics hub, this time in Russia's Ryezhen region. This facility was apparently the company's fourth largest warehouse. Now, the attack forced Walburys to evacuate employees, suspend operations at the facility, and remove inventory from sale while crews assess the damage. On its own, that's another successful strike against Russia's logistics network. But taken together with the attacks we've seen over the past two weeks, something much more significant appears to be happening.

According to Reuters, the Kremlin is now discussing financial support for Walburys and the thousands of businesses that depend on the platform. Officials are reportedly considering tax breaks, government subsidies, and state-backed loans, with Russia's second-largest bank, that would be VTB, expected to play a central role in any rescue effort. And that raises an obvious question. Why is the Russian government talking about bailing out what most people think of as an online shopping company? The answer is that Walburys has quietly become something much larger. It is, yes, an online retailer, but it's also one of the largest logistics companies in Russia, handling millions of orders every day. Hundreds of thousands of businesses rely on a two-store inventory,

process payments, and reach customers across the country. Over the past several years, Wildberries has also expanded into financial services, creating its own bank and building a business model that's increasingly intertwined with Russia's broader financial system. And that's what makes these attacks so interesting. When a Walbury's warehouse burns, the immediate loss is obvious. Merchandise is destroyed, deliveries are delayed, and businesses lose products they were counting on selling. The financial damage, well, that takes longer to appear. Many of those merchants purchase that inventory with borrowed money. Losing the inventory does not eliminate the loan. Those businesses still have suppliers to pay, taxes to pay, and in many cases, banks expecting money.

loan payments. And we're already beginning to see signs of that pressure. Spurbank, which is Russia's largest lender, says hundreds of businesses affected by the Walburys attacks have already requested loan restructurings because of their losses. But the banks aren't just exposed to the merchants who sell on Walburys. They're exposed to the company itself because Walburys is one of the most indebted companies in Russia. According to Russian financial statements, the company's main operating business carries roughly 830 billion rubles in debt. Now, for those of you keeping score at home in dollars, that's about 10.5 billion U.S. dollars. Industry estimates put total borrowing across the broader Walburys group at closer to 1.3 trillion rubles, that's trillion with a T. That's approximately

16.3 billion U.S. dollars. That is a lot of fat Russian stacks. More importantly, much of that borrowing is short term. That means Walburys depends on banks continually renewing those loans as they come due. As long as lenders believe the company is healthy, well, that's a perfectly normal way to finance a fast-growing business. But repeated drone attacks begin changing that calculation. Every warehouse that's taken offline interrupts operations, reduces revenue, and increases pressure on the company to compensate affected sellers. If that continues long enough, lenders may begin asking whether Walburys is becoming a riskier borrower than it was just a few months ago. And that's where VTB, the bank, enters the story. Industry sources estimate Walburys may owe the state-controlled

bank more than 500 billion rubles, although neither company has publicly confirmed that figure. Then, just last month, VTB acquired a 5% stake in WB Bank, that's Walbury's financial subsidiary, with the option to increase that ownership in the future. Now, Reuters' report, that same bank is expected to play a leading role in any government-backed support package. In other words, VTB could find itself in the position of lending additional money to one of its largest borrowers in order to protect the loans it's already made. So let's put this into perspective. Russia's largest banks remain well capitalized, of course, and the Kremlin has both the resources

and the political incentive to prevent a disorderly failure. In fact, that's precisely what these discussions suggest. The government isn't talking about intervention because Walburys has already failed. It's talking about intervention because officials appear determined to make sure it doesn't. Even so, the episode reveals something important about Ukraine's strategy. For much of this war, Kiev has tried to increase the economic cost of Russia's invasion by attacking the infrastructure that keeps the country functioning. Strikes on oil refineries reduce fuel production, damaged rail lines, slow military logistics,

and now repeated strikes against wildberries are putting pressure on one of Russia's most important commercial platforms at the same time that the country's banks are being asked to help absorb the fallout. Whether or not wildberries ever requires a full-scale bailout, Ukraine has already forced Moscow to confront a new problem. The longer these attacks continue, the more resources the Russian government may have to devote to supporting businesses, extending credit, and stabilizing strategically important companies instead of directing those resources into Putin's war effort. All right. Coming up next, the war between the U.S. and Iran is heating up again. And Ukraine says Russia is preparing to bring 30,000 North Korean troops into the fight.

Yeah, 2026 is really shaping up. I'll be right back. Hey, Mike Baker here. Now, many of you may know me as the host of the president's Daily Brief, but I am also a business owner, have been for years. And I want to take just a moment. moment to talk with all of you business owners out there. Now, you probably already know this, but small businesses face an uphill battle with big banks, where getting a loan means endless paperwork and delays. But let me tell you about a business out there working to make life easier for small businesses. I'm talking about Cardiff. For bank rates without the wait, go to cardiff.com slash PDB for up to $500,000 in funding.

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Real growth, fast funding, Cardiff. Borrow better. Welcome back to the PDB. We're learning more this morning about the joint U.S. and Saudi airstrikes that followed Iran's surprise ballistic missile attack on American forces in Jordan. And as more details emerge, it's becoming increasingly clear that Iraq may be the next major front in this widening regional conflict. The strikes targeted facilities belonging to the popular mobilization forces, or PMF, if you like an acronym, an umbrella organization made up of dozens of mostly Shiite militias operating across Iraq. Now, these groups have played a major role

in the country's recent history, and several of the militias within the PMF are trained, funded, and directed by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, the IRGC. The PMF was formed in 2014, after ISIS swept across large portions of Iraq. At the time, the Iraqi government called on militias to help defend the country, and many answered that call. Over time, the organization was formally incorporated into Iraq's security forces, and today receives government funding. On paper, at least, the PMF answers to Baghdad.

But that is on paper, and only tells part of the story. While some PMF factions remain primarily loyal to the Iraqi government, others maintain deep political, financial, and military ties to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Tehran has spent years, cultivating these groups as part of its broader network of regional proxy forces, providing weapons, training, intelligence, and strategic guidance. According to both Washington and Riyadh, several of those Iran-aligned militias were responsible for recent drone attacks against Saudi energy infrastructure, prompting the joint airstrikes inside Iraq. Now we're seeing the political fallout.

Iraq's government has condemned the operation as a violation of its sovereignty, arguing that the strikes targeted an official component of the country's security forces. Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi has also canceled a planned visit to Saudi Arabia, underscoring just how politically sensitive the operation has become. Meanwhile, one of the most powerful Iran-backed militias, Harakat, Halibullah al-Nuzhaba, has threatened retaliation, warning that the U.S. and South Saudi Arabia will not be allowed to, quote, desecrate Iraqi soil without paying a heavy price, end quote.

We're also seeing unconfirmed reports from Iranian media that four advisors with Iran's IRGC were killed in the strikes. That's not been confirmed by U.S., Saudi, Iraqi, or Iranian officials, but if true, it would suggest that the operation reached beyond proxy fighters and directly struck members of Iran's military establishment. Taken together, these developments help illustrate. just how complicated the conflict has become. What began yesterday with Iranian missiles flying toward an American air base in Jordan

has now spilled deeper into Iraq, placing Baghdad in an increasingly difficult position. The Iraqi government depends on security cooperation with the U.S., but it also relies on armed groups that in many cases maintain close relationships with Tehran. The Iranian regime has essentially embedded Iranian proxies within the Iraqi government and security apparatus. For President Trump, that presents a difficult challenge. His administration has been working to reduce America's military footprint in Iraq. But if attacks by Iran-in-line-to-malicious continue,

and if Washington responds with additional strikes, the U.S. could find itself drawn deeper into a country that it's spent years trying to leave behind. Okay, shifting back to the war in Ukraine. North Korea may soon again be sending thousands more troops to reinforce Russia's war effort. We're learning from a recent nightly address by Ukrainian President Zelensky that Russia is preparing to receive as many as 30,000 additional North Korean troops. If confirmed, the deployment would more than double the military commitment

that Pyongyang first made nearly two years ago and could place Kim Jong-un soldiers inside Ukraine for the first time. So, you may be asking, why would Russia need another 30,000 North Korean troops? The answer is that more than four years into the invasion, the Kremlin still hasn't solved one of its biggest problems. That, of course, would be manpower. Despite incremental battlefield gains, Russia continues paying in extraordinarily high prices for every village it captures and every slow advance it makes. Rather than Russian President Putin asking hundreds of thousands more Russians to fight, which he really, really doesn't want to do, Moscow has increasingly looked elsewhere.

If you're a longtime PDB listener, you've heard me discuss the Kremlin's attempts to mobilize prisoners, hire mercenaries, and welcome foreign volunteers, and now, once again, turning to North Korea to help fill the ranks. Now, Kim's regime has already fought alongside Russian forces, of course. According to intelligence from Ukraine, South Korea, and Western governments, beginning in late 2024, Pyongyang sent an estimated 11 to 14,000 troops under its mutual defense agreement with Moscow. But those soldiers never actually entered Ukraine. Instead, they were deployed inside Russia's Kursk region, where they helped push Ukrainian forces back after Keeves' surprise cross-border offensive.

And while that now appears to be changing, with Russia having recaptured nearly all of the territory that Ukraine once held inside Kursk, the Kremlin no longer needs thousands of North Korean troops guarding its own border. If another deployment moves forward, those soldiers could instead find themselves, fighting inside Ukraine for the very first time. Zelensky, citing Ukrainian intelligence, revealed that Russia has already begun

preparing logistics infrastructure in its western Varaniz region near the Ukrainian border to receive the additional personnel. If those troops ultimately cross into Ukraine, North Korea would be directly participating in Moscow's invasion of another sovereign nation while reinforcing future Russian offensives

at a time when the Kremlin continues searching for more manpower. Now for Putin, it's a practical solution. Russia is already one of the most heavily sanctioned countries on earth. Deepening military ties with another isolated regime like North Korea carries relatively little additional diplomatic cost. For Kim, however, this isn't simply an act of friendship. It, of course, is business. As I've discussed, the relationship between Moscow and Pyongyang has become increasingly transactional.

It's widely believed that North Korea has received cash, food, fuel, military technology. technology, satellite expertise, and advanced missile assistance in exchange for supplying Russia with troops and weapons. It's a trade that benefits both regimes while strengthening one of America's most hostile adversaries. But for Kim, there may be an even greater benefit, battlefield experience. For generations, North Korea's military is trained for war without ever fighting one. That first North Korean deployment suffered heavy casualties fighting in Kyrrhusk. Those troops were used as little more than cannon fodder, absorbing heavy losses while preserving Russian manpower. Whether all 30,000 troops ultimately arrive or when such a deployment might take place,

also remains unclear. But if Zelensky's assessment proves accurate, Russia won't simply be receiving another shipment of North Korean weapons or ammunition. It will be importing an entire foreign fighting force to help sustain an invasion that continues consuming men faster than the Kremlin appears willing, or able, to replace them on its own. All right, coming up in the back of the brief, the U.S. military is cracking down on cell phone use in the Middle East, after concerns that online videos may be helping Iran target American forces. More on that when we come back. Hey, Mike Baker here.

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It's the smartphone in an American service member's pocket. Now, according to a previously unreported letter from earlier this week obtained exclusively by Reuters, the top U.S. commander in the Middle East now believes the threat has become serious enough that some deployed troops could soon be ordered to surrender those phones altogether. If that sounds like an extraordinary step, well, that's because it is. For years, American troops deployed across the globe relied on their phones to stay in touch with family back home. After an Iranian missile or drone attack recently, a quick text saying, I'm okay, can spare loved ones hours of uncertainty. So the military doesn't make a potential decision like this lightly.

But according to Admiral Brad Cooper, who leads U.S. Central Command, Iran has figured out that those same devices are valuable intelligence tools. In the letter, Cooper warned that Tehran is increasingly combing through newsworthy. reports, journalists online posts, and videos recorded by American troops to figure out whether its attacks hit their intended targets. When Iran launches a missile or drone attack against an American base, the IRGC usually doesn't know how successful that strike was. American electronic warfare, battlefield deception, and immediate retaliation that follows an attack makes it surprisingly difficult for Iran to tell whether a missile landed harmlessly or struck something of value. But then the videos start showing up online. Within minutes, footage of troops rushing to bunkers,

photographs taken after the strike, or eyewitness reports from journalists can begin to answer all of the regime's questions. Cooper warned that Tehran is increasingly monitoring the, quote, reactions, photos, and footage from the cell phones of our troops. He also wrote the, quote, descriptions and analysis of what was hit, openly published by news outlets, are essentially performing Iran's battle damage assessment, free of troops. charge." One recent incident appears to show exactly what Cooper was talking about. During Iran's deadly 17 July missile attack on Moufuk-Assaulty Air Base in Jordan, a U.S. service member recorded videos as troops ran for shelter. According to Reuters, Cooper referenced that footage in its

letter. To the soldier recording it, that video may have seemed completely harmless. But from the perspective of Iranian military planners and intelligence personnel, they can reveal where missiles landed, how American troops sought cover and what Iran should do differently the next time. That's why the Pentagon is now considering tighter restrictions. According to two sources familiar with the matter who spoke with Voiders, some deployed troops in Jordan have already been told that they should prepare to surrender their phones in the coming days. Jordan has become a consistent target for Iranian missile and drone attacks against American forces, making operational security and especially urgent concern.

Now, Central Command downplayed reports of any sweeping policy change. Spokesman Captain Timothy Hawkins described Cooper's message as a, quote, general reminder to our service members on the importance of maintaining operational security, end quote. That warning isn't simply about smartphones. It's about the reality that modern wars are fought as much with information as they are with missiles and drones. And that, my friends, is the President's Daily Brief for Thursday, the 30th of July. Now, if you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at PDB at thefirsttv.com. And if you happen to find yourself with a few free minutes, I hope you'll check out our YouTube channel. Just wander on over to YouTube and search up at President's Daily Brief.

I'm Mike Baker, and I'll be back later today with the PDB afternoon bulletin. Until then, stay informed. Stay safe. Stay cool.