1/ Why are Russian soldiers so ill-equipped that they are forced to rely on combat donkeys? Russian warbloggers draw a direct connection to cases of egregious military corruption, such as the recent conviction of Rear Admiral Nikolai Kovalenko for stealing 592 million rubles. ⬇️
2/ Kovalenko's case – for which he was fined just 500,000 rubles ($6,519) and spared jail – has attracted outrage from many Russian commentators. As they point out, it is merely one of many similar cases over the past three decades.
3/ 'Informant' writes:
"Why do we see donkeys, horses, and camels at the front?
Why do soldiers go into battle in Ural, Bukhanka, and Niva trucks?
Why do we use an enemy state's satellite constellation for communications and drone control?"
4/ "Why do we use Telegram and Discord for communication?
Why...?
Here's an example of why."
5/ Alexander Kartavykh is furious at the leniency shown to Kovalenko, whose fine amounts to only about 0.1% of the amount stolen:
"It's obvious that even seasoned Shoigu witnesses will be a little freaked out by this news. Holy shit, was that even allowed?"
6/ "Well, apparently it is. And maybe it should be. Am I confused by the signals you're sending, or what the hell is this? Gentlemen decision-makers, you're literally talking live on a slow-motion, but still unblocked, Telegram.
7/ "Can you wait until the information space collapses into a singularity? And only then will you completely freak out?
I'm so fucking sick of all this, you know. I want a vacation."
8/ The verdict comes shortly after a different court ordered the Russian government to return a luxury mansion confiscated from the imprisoned former First Deputy Minister of Defence, Timur Ivanov. 'DSHRG Rusych' is angry at the apparent coddling of the corrupt:
9/ "This is the kind of justice we have.
One day, the embezzler Ivanov gets his house back (which neither he nor his family would have ever officially earned), the next, another embezzler gets released due to health reasons.
10/ "And then we're told there are no double standards in the justice system."
'Lawyer in the South' compares Kovalenko's treatment to that of 'ordinary' thieves:
11/ "Reading these lines, one marvels at how humane a Russian court can be.
He stole nearly 600 million, disrupted the combat readiness of units and formations, endangered people and the state, and all he did was receive a fine and be released from punishment “due to illness.”
12/ "Incidentally, the “respected” Rear Admiral most likely retained his military rank, pension, and other benefits, as there is no information about this in the media.
13/ "Thus, the grandfather who stole hundreds of millions, effectively a traitor to the country (since he knew the consequences of his actions), received only a fine amounting to just over 0.1% of the damages, since he will not serve the sentence "due to illness."
14/ "However, justice is usually much stricter when it comes to less respected individuals.
15/ "In October 2025, a robber was convicted in Perm for breaking a glass door at night in April 2025 and entering an M. Video store, where he stole three expensive phones. The court sentenced him to 5.5 years in a general regime penal colony.
16/ "4.5 years for 592,000,000 rubles, which the thief will not serve "due to illness," and 5.5 years in real life for less than 300,000 rubles.
It's time for justice to open its eyes, as more and more questions are being raised."
17/ Yuri Podolyak compares Kovalenko's lenient treatment with the five-year sentence handed down in April 2025 to the popular former general Ivan Popov:
"What a (selectively) humane "garrison" court we sometimes have."
18/ "For the THIEF Kovalenko, it's humane. For the THIEF Ivanov, it's humane. And for the combat general Popov, it's as if he's from a NATO "garrison" (just kidding).
19/ "And then someone wants to restore trust in our courts. With this approach, there WILL be NO trust. Well, it won't be with sentences like these, no matter how much they tell him he's fair.
20/ "And it's not the bloggers' fault. It's selective humaneness and injustice.
You can't fool the people. After all, everyone understands everything perfectly well. And Kovalenko was released for a reason. And not out of humanity.
People aren't idiots; they see everything.
21/ "How "garrison courts" release thieves and condemn combat generals.
And they draw conclusions..."
As for ordinary soldiers convicted of such an offence, they can only look forward to being sent to their death on the battlefield, as 'Soldiers' Truth' notes:
22/ "Stealing half a trillion rubles from the treasury as part of a group and escaping punishment by citing illness...
What a scheme!
Almost like grandma's.
But now grandpa's.
23/ "Unfortunately, this scheme doesn't work for those without big stars on their shoulder straps and huge sums in their accounts.
You'll either do time or die in the assaults. Even if you didn't steal anything, lived fairly, and fought for your soul." /end
Sources:
🔹 t.me/infomil_live/2…
🔹 t.me/AlexCarrier/14…
🔹 t.me/dshrg2/4605
🔹 t.me/yurist_yug/1227
🔹 t.me/yurasumy/26806
🔹 t.me/soldat_prav/15…
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