1/ Why are 'penguins' being seen wandering around the front line in Ukraine and getting blown up? The answer lies in a flood of dubious "anti-drone ponchos" being sold on Russian online marketplaces. ⬇️
2/ The specific item seen in recent videos appears to be a poncho being sold for "tactical thermal imaging protection, anti-drone protection". It is just one of many similar garments being sold on Russia's equivalents of Amazon and eBay.
3/ Wildberries and Avito, Russia's Amazon and eBay equivalents, have dozens of listings for such garments. They are typically claimed to be produced in Russia (though more likely imported from China). Some are suspiciously cheap – less than 600 rubles ($8) each.
4/ The prevalence of such garments highlights three things. First, the Russian Ministry of Defence's failure to provide adequate anti-thermal imaging protection to its men is clearly prompting them – and their wives – to buy garments of dubious effectiveness to try to stay alive.
5/ Second, as Russian soldiers and warbloggers have noted, soldiers are having to spend large amounts of their own money on equipment. While their salaries are generous by Russian standards, in reality it almost all gets swallowed up in purchasing personal equipment.
6/ And third, some marketers are clearly making a lot of money selling ineffective equipment to soldiers and their families, which is almost certainly getting men killed. As one buyer complains: "We tested it with a thermal imager and it is visible." /end
Source:
wildberries.tj/catalog/0/sear…
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