1/ People across Russia are freezing in their homes in temperatures as low as -38°C because essential utility workers have been mobilised – even after the supposed end of mobilisation – and sent to Ukraine, hindering repair and maintenance work at home. ⬇️
2/ The "We can explain" Telegram channel reports that several regions and cities in Russia, including Astrakhan, Krasnodar and Rostov, are suffering problems with their communal heating systems because the engineers responsible for maintaining them have been mobilised.
3/ A source in Astrakhan's municipal services says: "We have appealed to the military registration and enlistment offices and officials, explaining that the heating season is coming soon and we need people, but we never received a clear answer."
4/ Despite being engineers, most of the mobilised workers were used as infantry. They were "told to hold a difficult section of the front, although there were no professional soldiers among our men, some had just finished their military studies, others were already in their 40s."
5/ Some of the men, who were fighting near the village of Mirolyubivka, were forgotten about by their commanders during the retreat from Kherson. They were left behind, resulting in them being captured by the Ukrainians.
6/ Two of the municipal workers were sent to serve with engineering forces near Kherson, then subsequently sent for training in Belarus before they are due to return to Crimea to build defences there.
7/ The source notes that the men were given draft notices even after the partial mobilisation was claimed to have ended. Essential workers are supposed to be exempt from mobilisation, but military officials have widely ignored such exemptions.
8/ Problems with heating have been reported across Russia, exacerbated by a lack of engineering personnel. Residents of Novosibirsk were left without heating in mid-November in temperatures of -30°C due to a damaged pipeline.
9/ 270 apartment blocks housing 70,000 people in Abakan faced a similar problem around the same time. At Artemovsky, a heating breakdown lasted for several days in temperatures of -38°C. /end
1/ A leaked list of casualties from a Russian battalion taking part in an offensive suggests a killed/wounded ratio of 1:36 to 1. According to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, losses stand at over 100,000 dead this year alone. ⬇️
2/ A reported list of the losses of the Russian 3rd Motorised Rifle Battalion of the 9th Separate Motorised Rifle Brigade (military unit 71443) lists 163 casualties in only a month. Daily casualties are stated to be between 5 and 10 per day.
3/ This is almost certainly an underestimate, as commanders often underreport losses to make themselves look better or to exclude those who have been executed or tortured to death by their own side. The brigade is known for cruelty towards its men.
1/ FOOL'S GOLD IN UKRAINE, PART 3: The Russian government promises bonuses to soldiers who destroy Ukrainian tanks and seize positions – but it's unlikely that they will long enjoy the benefits. Former Russian soldier Igor S. explains more about the illusory riches of the war. ⬇️
1/ FOOL'S GOLD IN UKRAINE, PART 2: Former Russian soldier Igor S. from Chuvashia was invalided out of the Russian army after sustaining injuries at Chasiv Yar. This thread continues his account of how the riches promised to Russians fighting in Ukraine are illusory. ⬇️
"How did our "Ministry of Finance" work? Very simple: we handed over cards with a PIN code, they were at the base in Berdiansk [in the occupied part of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region]."
1/ Russian warbloggers say that the message from Donald Trump is clear: Russia is free to do anything it wants in Ukraine over the next 50 days. They advise the Russian government to "wreck Ukraine" in "the promised, bloodiest period" ahead. ⬇️
2/ 'Military Informant' asks, "Where did the unusual 50 days come from for Trump, who previously liked to measure everything in two weeks?" It comes up with the same answer as many Western commentators – that it matches Putin's timeframe for completing his conquests:
3/ "▪️Today, Axios published an article stating that Vladimir Putin, during a phone call with Trump, said that Russia would attempt to establish control over all entities included in the Russian constitution [i.e. taking control of all annexed regions] within the next 60 days.
1/ Most Russian soldiers go to Ukraine hoping to earn life-changing amounts of money. As one ex-soldier from Chuvashia describes, however, the reality is very different: the only things that are free are "ammunition and body bags", and soldiers have to buy everything else. ⬇️
2/ 46-year-old Igor S. from Chuvashia survived the Ukraine war at the cost of an eye and many fragmentation injuries. He has described his experiences with the Russian army from his mobilisation in September 2022 to his discharge following injuries sustained in January 2024.
3/ A participant in the Chechen wars, he went to Ukraine "not because I am a super-patriot or because I want to conquer Ukraine. It’s just that there is no one to take to war from our village – young people and old people. The men left because there is no work or prospects."
1/ A Russian soldier with cancer and two broken legs was sent to the front lines in Ukraine to fight in a wheelchair, even though his chronic condition meant that he was ineligible to serve. After his cancer was deemed terminal, he was sent home to die. ⬇️
2/ 42-year-old Vitaly Anisimov suffered from a rare and usually fatal condition, gastric arteriovenous malformation, for which he had a complex operation in 2019. Despite still being chronically unwell, in 2022 he was abruptly mobilised into the Russian army.
3/ His daughter Anastasia said that despite the family's protests, the recruitment officers told him, "We don't care about your diagnoses - according to our papers, you are suitable." He fell a few days later and broke both his legs. Despite this he was declared fit.