1/ Soldiers returning home to Russia after fighting in Ukraine are reportedly responsible for an increasing number of violent incidents, including fights and shootings. However, the Russian courts are being very lenient towards offenders, dismaying and frustrating civilians. ⬇️
2/ The independent Russian news outlet 'We can explain' ('MO') reports on what it calls 'special military operation syndrome' – the rising incidence of violence committed by returning soldiers. It's likely that many are suffering from untreated PTSD.
3/ Many incidents have been reported but have only resulted in light punishments from the courts, including:
4/ 🔴 "60,000 rubles ($803) for assaulting a member of the National Guard. The other day a Voronezh court passed a very mild sentence – a military man who hit and insulted a guardsman several times got away with a fine. The incident took place in a Voronezh hotel in September.
5/ The Russian Federal Guard Service was called by the staff, as the guest was behaving inappropriately. It came down to a fight, and the law enforcers made a concerted effort to get the troublemaker off.
6/ 🔴 In July 2022, a man threatened passers-by with a shotgun in Elektrostal, near Moscow. He said he had recently arrived from Ukraine and "they shot him there".
7/ 🔴 September 2022: In Tula, a military man beat up a pizzeria owner with a chair. The reason for the attack, according to the hooligan, was that he was not shown "enough respect" at the pizzeria.
8/ 🔴 In January 2023, a man in camouflage came with a Kalashnikov assault rifle to a nightclub and pointed the weapon at people standing on the stairs.
9/ 🔴 The loudest and most tragic event involving a serviceman returned from Ukraine took place in Kostroma. On November 5, Stanislav Ionkin, 23, who had been wounded, fired a flare gun at the Polygon nightclub (the incident was not captured on video).
10/ A fire broke out in the premises, killing 13 people."
MO notes that there have also been many incidents of weapons smuggling – Russia has strict gun control laws which returning soldiers have repeatedly violated.
11/ Since February 2022, it reports, "at least 42 Russian servicemen have been put on trial for misappropriation, storage, transportation and carrying of weapons, ammunition and explosive devices".
12/ There has also been a murder case: "in Udmurtia, according to investigators, in the course of a drinking bout in a garage, a comrade who had returned from the war shot his friend in the eye and then strangled him with a wire. The trial began on 9 February." /end
1/ What can Russian soldiers do with thousands of useless Starlink terminals? One Russian warblogger has some humorous suggestions. ⬇️
2/ 'BKGB Casuar' writes:
"Here are 10 ways to use a broken terminal in the Special Military Operation zone:
3/ "1. Butt Kick.
The ground in the trench is cold and damp, and Elon Musk's plastic is warm and high-tech. Use it as an elite seat. Now you're not just a soldier in the mud, but a cyberpunk on a throne, whose butt is protected from moisture by American technology.
1/ Russian political officers are reportedly using the Epstein files to justify the 'Special Military Operation' (SVO) as a "war against global evil". However, as a frontline Russian warblogger points out, Russia and its soldiers are hardly innocent of crimes against children. ⬇️
2/ 'Vault No. 8', a serving soldier in the Russian army, writes:
"Over dinner, we were shown a report on the Epstein files: Satanism, cannibalism, paedophilia, child trafficking to EU countries in Ukraine, etc. The conclusion: "The SVO is the fight against global evil."
3/ "At the same time, during the SVO:
— I listened to the stories of several female specialists in men's health. One was raped by her grandfather, then later by her first husband. The second had a stepfather who was violent and raped her mother.
1/ The Russian authorities have published details of three people accused of Friday's shooting of Lt Gen Vladimir Alekseyev. Two men have been arrested, one in the UAE, while a woman is said to have escaped to Ukraine, which is blamed for the attack. ⬇️
2/ The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation (roughly Russia's equivalent of the FBI) has issued a statement, which includes the following:
3/ "Investigators conducted a thorough inspection at the scene, during which they discovered the murder weapon – a Makarov pistol with an attached silencer and three rounds of ammunition.
1/ General Vladimir Alexseyev, who was shot yesterday in a Moscow apartment building, may have been secretly visiting his mistress before the attack. Despite a reputation as an uncorrupt officer, he is said to have enjoyed the same luxurious lifestyle as many of his peers. ⬇️
2/ The building where Alekseyev was shot is a fairly ordinary apartment building in Moscow's Shchukino District. Completed in 2022, it has 10 apartments on each floor. Alekseyev was using an apartment on the 24th floor.
3/ According to neighbours, the apartment is occupied by a younger woman with a young child. They say she was seen often with the child, but Alekseyev was only seen rarely. His 'official' wife is in her 60s (he is 64) and their children are in their 30s.
1/ Why has Russia failed so abysmally at providing secure battlefield communications to its troops in Ukraine? The answer, concludes Russian warblogger Oleg Tsarev, is that the military communications budget has been looted for years by corrupt generals and contractors. ⬇️
2/ Tsarev relates the dismal history of Russia's military communications programmes:
"I remember how, at the beginning of the Special Military Operation, all units were buying Motorola radios. There was no other communications."
3/ "Now, Elon Musk has shut down the Starlink terminals our military used in the Special Military Operation, and our communications at the front have been disrupted. I'm talking to military personnel: many say we still have virtually no communications of our own.
1/ The attempted assassination of Lt Gen Vladimir Alekseyev in Moscow this morning has outraged Russian warbloggers, who regard him as a hero of Russia. They have highlighted his key role and contributions to the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. ⬇️
2/ Vladimir Romanov writes:
"An assassination attempt was made on Lieutenant General Vladimir Alekseyev [who is known as 'Stepanich'], First Deputy Chief of the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) of the Russian Ministry of Defence."
3/ "An unknown assailant fired several shots into his back in the elevator lobby of a building on Volokolamsk Highway at 7:00 a.m. The assassin fled the scene. Alekseyev was hospitalised.