ChrisO_wiki

https://mastodon.social/@ChrisO_wiki

Independent military historian and researcher. Also (for now) at https://www.twitter.com/ChrisO_wiki

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chriso_wiki_at_mastodon.social@momostr.pink

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Last Notes

2024-09-04 15:53:48

1/ A Russian Arctic brigade which has been recruiting from prison colonies is reported to have been decimated in Ukrainian attacks on Russian-occupied islands in the Dnipro estuary and Black Sea, suffering as much as 80% casualties. ⬇️
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/113/080/088/667/382/607/original/bd39585a318cd8d4.png

2024-09-03 07:43:20

1/ A Russian colonel who drunkenly sent dozens of mobilised soldiers into an assault in which all were killed was awarded a Hero of Russia medal. The widow of one of the dead soldiers wants Putin to prosecute him for "mass murder and genocide of the Russian people." ⬇️
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/113/072/498/046/711/952/original/9281cf4c5b9cb878.jpeg

2024-09-02 20:01:35

1/ Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine are subjected to a variety of arbitrary, brutal and illegal disciplinary methods, such as beatings, being imprisoned in pits, or being chained to trees for days at a time. Commanders kill their own soldiers and conceal their deaths. ⬇️
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/113/069/738/049/055/733/original/7e3e7ccdb640a879.jpeg

2024-09-02 12:37:39

1/ Russian Defence Ministry officials are coming under scrutiny in an expanding investigation into an alleged 2 billion ruble ($22.3 million) fraud involving the supply of low-quality bulletproof vests to the Russian military, which may have cost lives.
https://mastodon.social/@ChrisO_wiki/112758089981052586

2024-08-30 22:49:41

1/ A chronic shortage of vehicle transport has left the Russian army in Ukraine dependent upon civilian vehicles. This is leading to conflict – sometimes with weapons drawn – between Russian troops and military police, who are trying to confiscate the vehicles. ⬇️
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/113/053/412/694/499/597/original/ec3361aef527a3e2.jpeg

2024-08-29 20:40:41

1/ At least 50,000 Russian convicts have joined the Russian army, with tens of thousands dying in battles in Ukraine. Convicts are still joining, but what makes them want to risk death? Prisoners say that sadistic treatment in penal colonies makes war preferable to prison. ⬇️
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/113/047/243/084/850/861/original/279c5a6dc493be5c.jpeg

2024-08-29 08:34:18

1/ Russian soldiers and their relatives are buying their own body bags, due to a lack of assistance from the Russian Ministry of Defence. A crowd-funded effort in Chelyabinsk has sought to purchase "bags for the 200s" at a cost of 200 rubles ($2.18) each. ⬇️
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/113/044/386/974/142/781/original/338e2a30803fcdd8.jpeg

2024-08-29 07:40:58

1/ Moscow police are to be paid a 50,000 ruble ($558) bounty for each person they 'persuade' to sign up for military service, including immigrants and homeless people. The initiative will create more incentives for corruption for Russia's already notoriously corrupt police. ⬇️
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/113/044/176/949/096/218/original/90b11eb6c0b7a1b5.jpeg

2024-08-26 17:47:23

1/ Over 600,000 Russians are estimated to have left their country since 2022 in the biggest exodus since the post-Soviet period. Many have left to avoid being mobilised to fight. One man managed to escape into exile after deserting the Russian Army twice. ⬇️
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/113/029/574/590/009/066/original/e572a60c92667eab.jpg

2024-08-26 08:33:34

1/ A group of Russian junior commanders have published an appeal to the military authorities about the use of violence and extortion by their battalion commander and his deputy, as well as the theft of money from the salary cards of dead soldiers. ⬇️
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/113/027/396/965/631/922/original/e927cda09d7eea94.mp4

2024-08-22 07:57:08

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2/ Russia's Ministry of Defence transports the bodies of dead soldiers free of charge to airfields capable of handling military transport planes. However, these may be hundreds of kilometers from where the relatives live, necessitating the use of ground transportation as well.

2024-08-22 07:56:58

1/ So many Russian soldiers have been killed in the Irkutsk region that the local authorities have run out of money to transport them back to their relatives. Local people are now having to crowd-fund for body bags and the transportation of corpses. ⬇️
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/113/004/603/621/958/550/original/179dab1e61fed899.jpeg

2024-08-22 06:51:28

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9/ After the video of Gennady's torture was published on social media, the Kiskorov brothers were called in for a conversation with Captain Rubanov. They had previously requested to be transferred to civilian service. Instead, both men disappeared.
At the start of August 2024, Semyon's body was returned home in a closed casket which his family was banned from opening. His remains were identified through DNA testing. Gennady's fate is unknown, but he is also believed to be dead.

2024-08-22 06:51:13

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8/ Gennady's wife says that she sent bribes to the commander to protect her husband from "combat missions". The demands escalated, to the point that she paid 50,000 rubles to ensure that he would not be sent into assaults.
“At first the amounts were small – to buy food, medical supplies, chip in for fuel, then they chipped in to buy an expensive dog for the commander, and then to avoid being sent into assaults, just to stay alive."

2024-08-22 06:50:57

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7/ In December 2023, Semyon found that his younger brother Gennady had been tied to a tree for two days. He videoed the scene (shown at the top of this thread) and sent it home to their family.
At this point, Gennady's wife says, "he was already exhausted and depressed, Semyon did not rule out that he would give in and go on a mission where he would be killed. He himself held on even after several days of hunger and cold, in the rain, when he himself was also chained to a tree."

2024-08-22 06:50:41

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6/ "This was not only for refuseniks, but also for those who were caught drunk or did not obey an order. Here any word is an order."
According to a friend of Gennady, the men were told, "if you don't go into battle, we will chase you [there] anyway, but without support, etc., so that you will surely [be killed]."

2024-08-22 06:50:25

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5/ "First, they sent us, the refuseniks, to a construction site, and then gave the order to tie us to a tree, not to feed or water us. A contract soldier returned from the hospital and refused to go on a combat mission. Then the officer beat him and ordered him to be tied to a tree. To be released, you had to pay 50-100,000 rubles ($546–$1,100). Sometimes the handcuffs were nailed to the tree so that the person could not even sit down."

2024-08-22 06:50:07

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4/ In the summer of 2023, the two brothers refused to continue fighting. They were put on construction duty (presumably digging trenches) until 1 December 2023, during which time they suffered severe abuse. Semyon himself described what happened:
"In July (2023), Captain Rubanov, deputy commander of the military-political work battalion [i.e. a political officer] of the first motorised rifle battalion of the 74th Independent Motorised Rifle Brigade, started putting pressure on us."

2024-08-22 06:49:56

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3/ Semyon Kiskorov (pictured here) and his brother Gennady served with the brigade's 1st motorised rifle battalion. They were mobilised in October 2022 and were subsequently wounded several times. Semyon was allowed to recuperate at home but this was denied to Gennady.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/113/004/339/945/441/287/original/6636323413476cc8.jpeg

2024-08-22 06:49:22

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2/ Two brothers from Russia's Shor ethnic group (a Turkic minority numbering only some 15,000 people) were killed – either by their own side or by the Ukrainians – after prolonged starvation and torture ordered by their commander in the 74th Separate Motorised Infantry Brigade.

2024-08-22 06:49:17

1/ Russian soldiers who have refused to fight have reported being beaten and handcuffed to trees for days without food and water, while their commanders profit from bribes given by relatives desperate to avoid their loved ones being sent into suicidal 'meat wave' assaults. ⬇️
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/113/004/335/525/508/499/original/a7e0319fc6e76cd9.png

2024-08-21 08:11:15

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6/ "Here is the difference in the management model. And we will not catch up with them, neither in quantity, nor in quality, nor in the economy [of production], if we do not change the model and priorities and do not move away from the model where giving a contract to our own is more important than even winning. Priorities need to be changed and personal responsibility of officials must be introduced in order to win and somehow reduce the cost of victory." /end
Source:
https://t.me/Alekhin_Telega/11303

2024-08-21 08:10:50

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5/ "At the same time, I was at the Army 2024 [exhibition] and saw many developers and manufacturers of drones, with interesting technologies. And each of them had from a thousand to five thousand ready-made FPV strike drones in stock at the moment. In stock, not in the Kursk direction... And for that direction, I am looking for money for drones and have already transferred about 200 FPVs with friends."

2024-08-21 08:10:32

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4/ "Look, according to Shmygal, 500 Ukrainian companies produce drones and contracts are signed with them. At the same time, I saw the scheme for organizing the work - there is not only network management, but also development.
And what about us? We have contracts, [but] as before the Special Military Operation, they took their own, and nothing has changed, although there is enough evidence that this model did not work and does not work now. Flexible control systems are needed."

2024-08-21 08:10:12

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3/ Meanwhile, Alekhine says, "the numerical superiority of attack drones in Ukraine feels like 1 to ... it's hard to say, but the number is double-digit. And they were able to achieve this superiority because they want to win, not to make money on absolutely everything. Yes, corruption and theft are rampant there, but they understand that not all defence budgets can be trimmed."

2024-08-21 08:09:58

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2/ The Russian military volunteer and technologist Roman Alekhine notes that Ukraine's Prime Minister, Denys Shmyhal, recently announced the allocation of $580 million for the purchase of UAVs for Ukraine's Armed Forces, with 1 million drones already ordered from 500 companies.

2024-08-21 08:09:46

1/ Although Russian manufacturers have thousands of drones in stock, they are not being sent to the front, where Ukraine reportedly has at least a 10 to 1 advantage in UAV numbers. The greed of powerful Russian manufacturers and a lack of focus on winning is blamed. ⬇️
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/998/992/020/962/363/original/54369db5261a07cb.jpeg

2024-08-20 07:29:53

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6/ The detainees are reportedly being 'encouraged' to return to the war. It's not clear why they were brought to the facility, but they are likely there because they refused to fight. Similar 'remotivation' facilities have been reported at 17 locations in occupied Ukraine.

2024-08-20 07:29:41

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5/ A video (above) published by ASTRA shows a man lying on a mattress with his right arm handcuffed to a radiator. He is addressed by the person recording the video, who remarks that it's "not healthy" to be left in the cold and notes that the prisoner has been handcuffed for two days.

2024-08-20 07:29:27

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4/ An appeal to the Russian authorities names the acting commander of the unit, Captain Bogdan Romanov, as being in charge of the facility. However, the authorities have refused to open a criminal case on the grounds that nobody is being held by force.

2024-08-20 07:29:16

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3/ They say that men are handcuffed to a radiator and beaten in a former armoury, and kept for days without food, water or toilets. This has included men wounded in the war, such as a mobilised soldier who lost part of his leg. Detainees are reportedly "not allowed to undergo medical examinations or surgeries and, according to the source, 'are kept like cattle'." At least three had their ribs broken.

2024-08-20 07:28:52

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2/ ASTRA reports that Russia's 272nd Motorised Rifle Regiment has established an illegal prison and torture facility on the grounds of the 47th Division's headquarters. Russia's largest military training facility, where the Russian Ground Forces exercise, is located at Mulino. According to former detainees, wounded soldiers – mainly conscripts – are being "illegally detained and subjected to violence" by military police.

2024-08-20 07:28:13

1/ Wounded Russian conscripts and mobilised soldiers are reportedly being handcuffed and tortured in a dilapidated building in Mulino, Nizhny Novogorod, to 'remotivate' them into going back to fight in the war in Ukraine. ⬇️
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/993/165/881/114/990/original/200fc59f56fbbf3d.mp4

2024-08-19 23:24:20

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23/ Not surprisingly, morale was low even before the attack. One mother says: "At first the boys had an adventure. Then there was the expectation that they would be relieved, they were promised. And now there is devastation. They feel betrayed and abandoned."
These issues were publicised by Russian outlets, so the Ukrainians certainly knew about them. It's no surprise that when they attacked in Kursk, resistance appears to have collapsed quickly and conscripts surrendered in large numbers. /end

2024-08-19 23:23:45

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22/ The men were in place for months, despite repeatedly having been promised they would be rotated out or withdrawn. This didn't happen, despite appeals to the authorities by their mothers. Many became ill and some contracted pneumonia in the cold, damp dugouts.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/991/260/991/700/532/original/26d9299b990507d5.jpeg

2024-08-19 23:23:18

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21/ The conscripts say they are treated badly by their commanders, who made parents feed them as well as the conscripts. According to a girlfriend, the officers "drink and get violent", and take out their frustrations on the conscripts under their command.

2024-08-19 23:22:55

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20/ Some of the conscripts were not given food or water by the army. One conscript told his girlfriend that "they were eating earth there. I laughed and then realised it was no joke." Volunteers and parents brought them fresh clothes and food, which they cooked themselves. Something similar is likely to have happened in the Kursk region, with many of the captured conscripts reported to be malnourished.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/991/256/295/359/730/original/16f0a67213485fb0.jpeg
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/991/256/298/813/139/original/98f2a13ccf44ba46.jpeg

2024-08-19 23:22:12

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19/ One conscript was made a medic, although he "didn't even know what aspirin and No-Spa [drotaverine] were for". Others were given old grenade launchers and mortars but no training to fire them. Some were not even trained to use their rifles.

2024-08-19 23:21:53

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18/ Those serving on the border were reportedly given rifles but no ammunition. According to their mothers, in six months of service, the conscripts only went to the firing range once or twice, while their commanders submitted false reports about daily training. The men were assigned to military professions that did not correspond to their training.

2024-08-19 23:21:22

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17/ The collapse of Russia's defences in Kursk is no surprise, as something very similar happened in the Graivoron district of the Belgorod region when the Russian Volunteer Corps briefly invaded in May 2023. It was guarded only by 23 conscripts with one officer and one mobik.
The defenders were routed almost immediately. According to the conscripts, they were not even given brushes and liquids to clean their rifles, radios and other equipment.

2024-08-19 23:20:42

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16/ Engineering conscripts in Volgograd faced similar conditions: "There are no elementary medicines in the unit's medical centre, and what parents bring must be hidden from the officers (if it is not taken away immediately after receiving the package)."

2024-08-19 23:20:32

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15/ "The guys were shoved into an abandoned part where there is no canteen. Imported food is disgusting. There is no hot water. There is mould, dampness and one dryer for 180 people in the barracks.
"Drying socks on radiators is not allowed, everyone wears wet clothes and gets sick. At the same time, there are no medicines, and the paramedic gives only soda and salt to gargle."

2024-08-19 23:20:15

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14/ Even without the abuse, conscripts face terrible living conditions. In the Russian Navy's training centre located in Lomonosov, Leningrad Region, conscripts reportedly faced worse conditions than convicts and had to live in abandoned barracks buildings.

2024-08-19 23:19:49

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13/ One officer recalled what he was told by another officer who forcibly recruited conscripts: "Our officers 'reeled in' guys who were conscripted. The officer says before lights out, we have to 'give birth to a contract soldier', and asks who wants to sign a contract. Nobody wants to, and the guys start swinging until somebody gives up and signs it."

2024-08-19 23:19:30

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12/ Russian law forbids conscripts from fighting abroad, but officers have found ways around this. During the Ukraine war, officers have forced conscripts to sign contracts against their wishes by beating them until they gave in. Conscripts in the Kursk region have reportedly been threatened with being sent to a penal battalion for 7 years unless they sign a contract.

2024-08-19 23:19:11

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11/ A fairly common form of corruption among officers is to use conscripts as unpaid labour to build or maintain their dachas (holiday homes), or hiring them out to businessmen work in building sites, fields or factories – for which the conscripts get no compensation.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/991/241/225/001/498/original/46c10b1fa09a13b7.jpeg

2024-08-19 23:17:58

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10/ Conscripts receive little or no military training, making them of little use as a fighting force. The mothers of conscripts in the Kursk region have complained that instead of getting any training, their sons were simply used as labour – carrying shells or digging trenches.

2024-08-19 23:17:47

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9/ Other forms of abuse include doing unpaid labour, being made to sell blood to earn money for the abusers, or being forced into prostitution. Conscripts in St Petersburg were forced by the dyedi to perform sexual services for influential middle-aged clients or face torture.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/991/237/794/774/453/original/1e58fb8625e45d97.jpeg

2024-08-19 23:17:27

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8/ One video shows a young soldier stripped, beaten and then repeatedly pushed, face down, into a toilet. Later, he is show with new iron burns over his back. His tormentors urinate on him.
In 2005, a conscript had to have his legs and genitals amputated after being tortured – an incident which caused such an outcry that conscription was reformed, with the length of service cut from two years to the present one year.

2024-08-19 23:16:41

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7/ This has occasionally led to lethal retaliation. In October 2019, 20-year-old conscript Ramil Shamsutdinov (shown here after being arrested) shot 10 of his colleagues, killing 8 of them, after being forced to stay awake for days at a time and suffering other forms of abuse. Such torture is frequent.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/991/232/873/728/341/original/1191ee3c05d9ff3e.jpeg

2024-08-19 23:16:14

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6/ For decades, conscripts have been subject to extreme and often lethal forms of hazing and abuse, known as 'dedovshchina' (literally 'reign of the grandfathers'). In 2006, at least 292 Russian soldiers were killed as a direct result of dedovshchina. It also has indirectly lethal effects: 341 soldiers died by suicide in 2007.

2024-08-19 23:15:44

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5/ In 2007, the Russian Air Force reported that 30 percent of the 11,000 men it conscripted annually were "mentally unstable," 10 percent suffered from alcohol and drug abuse, and 15 percent were ill or malnourished.
Conscripts are paid a pittance – those currently fighting in Kursk are reportedly being paid $0.75 a day – and as the lowest-ranking soldiers, they are ruthlessly exploited by those above them. This includes older soldiers (dyedi or 'grandfathers') and officers.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/991/229/050/505/710/original/ff6e8cb247a3b569.jpeg

2024-08-19 23:14:54

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4/ Conscription is very undesirable (for reasons which we'll cover shortly). As many as 70% of those eligible for conscription buy their way out of it by bribing a doctor or recruiting officer. The 'fee' was reportedly between $5,000-$10,000 in 2007.
This drastically skews the demographics of conscription, with the armed forces being left with the poorest and least healthy men to serve as conscripts. This leaves the Russian military with chronic problems of fitness and efficiency.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/991/226/414/281/794/original/060c6f4fbece97a4.jpeg

2024-08-19 23:12:56

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3/ Mobiks differ from conscripts in that they are principally older men (and sometimes women) in Russia's reserves who have previously served in the armed forces as contract soldiers or as conscripts. There were estimated to be around 2 million people in this category.

2024-08-19 23:12:51

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2/ Russia's armed forces are currently made up of four principal groupings: professional ("contract") soldiers, who join voluntarily; mobilised soldiers ("mobiks"), recruited compulsorily; convicts, who sign up in exchange for a pardon; and conscripts, who serve for one year.

2024-08-19 23:12:13

1/ Russian conscripts are now fighting, dying and being captured in large numbers in Ukraine's Kursk offensive. As this is the first time that conscripts have been a significant factor in the war, let's look at who the conscripts are and why so many have surrendered. ⬇️
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/991/210/105/566/253/original/6c158f3c96cdb593.jpeg

2024-08-16 17:44:04

1/ Russell Bentley, the so-called "Donbass Cowboy" from Texas who fought for the 'Donetsk People's Republic' (DPR), is reported to have been tortured to death in an abandoned mine being used as a concentration camp for 'remotivating' Russian soldiers who refuse to fight. ⬇️
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/972/938/081/866/852/original/ac32b0f7f145e9d8.jpeg

2024-08-16 08:26:06

1/ Russia is reportedly creating 'Kursk battalions' of newly enlisted conscripts, many of whom are barely trained teenagers paid only $0.75 a day, who are being sent to Kursk to fight the Ukrainian incursion. Some are being forced to sign contracts to fight at the front lines. ⬇️
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/970/744/598/130/696/original/09b088ba80afb4ad.jpeg
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/970/744/609/846/490/original/e5a21511c72c80a8.jpeg

2024-08-15 07:50:20

1/ Hundreds of Russians who have refused to fight for various reasons – age, sickness, mental health – are reported to have been taken from a military base where they were being held and flown to Kursk, where they will likely be used in efforts to repel Ukraine's incursion. ⬇️
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/964/941/283/065/622/original/b1b4b2bf049f12a3.jpeg

2024-08-14 18:52:49

1/ Numerous adverts have appeared on Avito, Russia's equivalent of eBay, seeking workers to dig trenches in the Kursk region. It's likely that this is related to the rapid construction of a trench network located well behind the current front line. ⬇️
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/961/884/294/252/981/original/18cf38ffb8328a29.png
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/961/884/296/569/615/original/94c85087398c8190.png

2024-08-13 16:58:47

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2/ The former officer comments that the Russian Volunteer Corps and Freedom of Russia Legion began mounting raids into the Kursk region in March 2024. This was done to observe "how quickly they respond to your arrival, how many forces are there, where, what, how."

2024-08-13 16:58:38

1/ The Russian publication 'Interesting Stories' has published a lengthy interview with a former Russian army officer who opposed the invasion of Ukraine. He explains how the Ukrainians were able to invade the Kursk region so easily. Here are some extracts. ⬇️
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/955/772/928/167/312/original/8e0c064297539ce2.jpeg

2024-08-12 16:55:44

1/ A Russian soldier captured by Ukraine recorded himself looting an abandoned house in the Kursk region. The video was reportedly retrieved from his mobile phone. It potentially corroborates reports of widespread looting from their own civilians by the Russian military. ⬇️
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/950/098/910/205/630/original/3b3344ea01d67660.mp4

2024-08-12 11:08:30

1/ As Ukrainian forces advance in the Kursk region, law and order in frontline Russian-held areas is reported to have collapsed completely. "Rampant looting" is said have broken out – being done by the Russians themselves – while local residents say they feel abandoned. ⬇️
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/948/734/092/111/085/original/42e6304691dea20c.jpeg

2024-08-12 06:19:48

1/ Ukraine's recent HIMARS attack on a Russian convoy in Rylsk, Kursk region, has prompted fury from Russian milbloggers at the military's incompetence. "The Russian land is full of idiots", one concludes; another complains that "this is some kind of sodomy". ⬇️
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/947/598/734/771/552/original/e57f867696a373bd.jpeg

2024-08-11 08:12:27

1/ Gloomy assessments by Russian milbloggers suggest that Russia faces serious difficulties in defeating Ukraine's Kursk offensive due to a lack of strategic reserves, a reliance on a "patchwork" of badly attrited units, and the weakening of other fronts. ⬇️

2024-08-10 19:47:24

1/ Despite China's professed support for Russia, Russian drone-makers complain that Chinese companies are providing them with poor-quality, defective, overpriced components that are delivered late or not at all. They attribute it to China covertly seeking to weaken Russia. ⬇️
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/939/447/734/231/432/original/4a52321a6d19b5f2.png

2024-08-10 13:38:31

1/ The border between Russia's Kaliningrad exclave and its neighbours Poland and Lithuania is reportedly barely guarded due to a lack of manpower. Meanwhile, the FSB is said to be resisting the creation of an expanded border protection force recruited from veterans. ⬇️
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/937/998/761/036/865/original/a3dffe31f2e3867a.png

2024-08-09 16:51:07

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20/ "Production [lines] should be built according to Toyota technology [i.e. the Kanban management system] with quick changeover, with the creation and support of logistic chains of both materials and components and finished products to the front. There should not be large contracts and large batches – this is the meaning of work in the constantly changing conditions of combat operations." /end
Sources:
🔹 https://t.me/xronikabpla/7479
🔹 https://t.me/Alekhin_Telega/11104
🔹 https://t.me/rusengineer/4885

2024-08-09 16:50:47

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19/ Alekhine recommends establishing flexible financing for "a smart network structure for UAV development (in electronic warfare, it is about the same), which will unite UAV operators at the front with the centre."

2024-08-09 16:50:22

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18/ "And hence drones appear that do not pass quality control, do not have additional systems for detonation, with cheaper components that reduce the probability of hitting by two or three times, and at a shorter range.
As a result, the cost of hitting the target increases, but on paper, there is savings."

2024-08-09 16:50:00

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17/ The channel comments that "the flawed logic of reducing the cost of the product 'at any cost' does not allow improving the quality of the drone's FPV, not as a reworked toy, but as a combat product. That is, additional elements are additional expenses, which increases the cost.
But the procurement system thinks – wow, how expensive, but others make it much cheaper. So we'll buy from them."

2024-08-09 16:49:40

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16/ The system also favours cheapness over quality or effectiveness, according to the 'Russian Engineer' channel. (This may be related to the frequent tendency of Russian defence contractors to boost their profits by charging excessive fees for cheap components.)

2024-08-09 16:49:24

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15/ He says that the systems "are set up in such a way as to avoid responsibility. The official who must make a decision is not ready to make a decision, since he can be accused of favouring his own people. Because of this, they drag each project through 10 commissions, each with several signatures–- these are like witnesses that everything is honest. This is how they've been brought up by the system, and the Ministry of Defence system has not accepted alternatives yet."

2024-08-09 16:49:06

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14/ "Some bosses say that it is necessary to preserve personnel, but a day later an order comes to make an unprepared attack on well-defended enemy positions, with the prefix: "Colonel (and further down the line: lieutenant colonel, major, captain, lieutenant), I don't care how you do it, but you must take it tomorrow.""

2024-08-09 16:48:41

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13/ Transferring management of drone procurement to the Russian armed forces would not work either, in Alekhine's view. "Maybe this is correct in one of the management models – but not in ours. The thing is that at this level, in most cases, management is not built better, there is no control, no responsibility, and no evaluation of the commander's work, which leads to the fact that he himself does not understand how to manage."

2024-08-09 16:48:18

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12/ Another Russian milblogger, Roman Alekhine, agrees with the general complaint of the UAV Operator and adds that a major problem lies in the culture of Russian state administration. He says that it "is built on three pillars: snatch, dump responsibility, including through a report with 10 signatures, simplify the focus of management to one loyal individual. There is also the main rule for the pillars – loyalty is higher than professionalism."

2024-08-09 16:48:02

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11/ "My comrades and I look at the enemy drone fleet and ask ourselves, if they were to work for the front, for their Ukrainian victory would they have to pound the thresholds of local [government initiatives]? How many Sharks, Chaklunovs, Leleks, Bekovs, Bobrovs, Deltas, Transitovs, Sinikhs and a whole sea of noname FPV drones would they have invented and made?"

2024-08-09 16:47:46

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10/ According to the blogger, the state's revenue stream for developing drones has been captured by existing large manufactuers, making it pointless for the Russian government to dump "helicopter money" into the sector:
"Detachment of the source of funds from those who make drones and for whom they are made puts an end to the whole idea. The main money will go to professional grant recipients and that's it. It's not important what you do, it's important that the grantors like your project."

2024-08-09 16:47:23

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9/ "With every new drone that comes to us for reverse-engineering, we see the enemy's diversity of solutions expand. From the assembly culture, from the handwriting, we see that all these products are assembled by different teams. There are so many manufacturers on the other side that there is no talk of any standardisation. It is clear that the competencies of the new technological war are being protected there, cultivated and attracted from abroad."

2024-08-09 16:47:03

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8/ "The 'systems' engineers remained on the payroll of high-precision corporations of the old technological paradigm. They are good guys, but their competence, as it turned out, is insufficient and they are all from a completely different field. The people's engineering front, which spontaneously formed in the first months of the war, has now practically collapsed – this is primarily due to the lack of money and support."

2024-08-09 16:46:46

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7/ "We lost the engineering school. Connected companies appeared, to which funding and orders were transferred. All the enthusiasts who could integrate into the system at the initial stage of the Special Military Operation and start making new technological miracle weapons were abandoned, left without money and forced to leave the industry. Some went to war, some went into business, some went back to work."

2024-08-09 16:46:30

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6/ The UAV Operator notes that in contrast to Ukraine's rapid and diffused approach to developing and producing drones with the aid of start-ups and volunteer engineers, in Russia well-connected companies have taken over the field and driven out the volunteer enthusiasts:

2024-08-09 16:46:17

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5/ "It is easier for them to understand the difference between a smartphone and a radio station. It is easier for them to introduce Agile principles into the ministry's management and create a whole project office with a process acceleration function, it is easier for them to implement a matrix management structure. And they can do it not by word of mouth, locally, in one single corporation, but introduce it everywhere without any ‘islands of safety’ for top officials."

2024-08-09 16:46:03

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4/ ...where FPV [drones], Mavics [drones], new means of communications, new means of reconnaissance, unmanned surface vessels and foam plastic long-range aircraft live."
He points out that Ukraine's senior decision-makers are much younger than those of Russia: "the enemy's decision-makers are aged from 35 to 55 years. They all played CS [Counter-Strike] and Dota [Defense of the Ancients]!"

2024-08-09 16:45:32

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3/ He blames the fixation of Russian military decision-makers on old military techologies: "Those who made such decisions can be understood, because these steps are the three pillars of the old technological school, where the Kalashnikov assault rifle, the Mosin rifle and the RPG warhead live. But these same three reasons are the basis for defeat in the technological paradigm, ...

2024-08-09 16:45:11

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2/ The "Chronicle of a UAV Operator" Telegram channel has posted a commentary assessing why Ukraine has gained UAV superiority over Russia. The UAV Operator highlights the push for "monopolisation, standardisation and simplification", which he says has been counter-productive.

2024-08-09 16:45:01

1/ Russian commentators say that Russia is losing parity in the drone war with Ukraine. They blame old-fashioned military commanders, the takeover of drone development by state contractors, and a dysfunctional military procurement system which prioritises loyalty over competence. ⬇️
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/933/069/828/202/848/original/e1f62dfd0f9618e6.jpeg

2024-08-07 17:10:49

1/ Russian milbloggers are furious at the failure of Russia's Ministry of Defence to protect the Kursk region border from the current large-scale Ukrainian incursion. They call the situation there "hell on earth".
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/921/846/812/617/986/original/001026a765148c34.mp4

2024-08-06 19:31:52

1/ Russia faces an increasingly severe shortage of workers due to the war in Ukraine, with a shortfall of as many as 1.7 million people. Public transport has been particularly badly hit due to drivers taking better-paid military jobs. Women are being recruited to fill the gaps.⬇️
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/916/739/505/458/313/original/2b8ee0803f9da807.jpg

2024-08-05 17:27:03

1/ An entire military hospital is reported to have effectively been stolen by corrupt contractors. The S. M. Kirov Military Medical Academy is said to have been swindled out of 1.4 billion rubles ($16.5 m) intended to build a new clinic for wounded Russian soldiers. ⬇️
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/910/586/335/351/144/original/8d7f78b05d744a06.jpeg

2024-07-31 17:12:21

1/ Observations from a Russian milblogger on the deficiencies in Russia's "grinding strategy" in Ukraine, based on his experiences of playing Warcraft 2: Tides of Darkness as an orc (!). He recommends that Russia's "real Horde" should learn the same lessons: ⬇️
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/882/216/634/692/076/original/e86dd95a8e66aa07.mp4

2024-07-06 08:52:42

Russian battle scooters are officially a thing! A Ukrainian drone spotted this. (See https://mastodon.social/@ChrisO_wiki/112715687961441423 for more.)
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/738/694/201/877/404/original/f2dc0fe0ff9fa1ba.png