1/ Mobilised Russians from Irkutsk are being sent "to slaughter" in Ukraine and have been told that they are "expendable". Their commanders have fired at them to 'motivate' them and their unit has taken so many casualties that it has had to be reconstituted six times. ⬇️
2/ In a video, the men say:
"Vladimir Vladimirovich [Putin], we turn to you [for help]. We are mobilised from the Irkutsk region, regiment 1439, we were sent to the Donetsk People's Republic from the city of Novosibirsk on 31 December 22.
3/ We ask for your assistance and to deal with the lawless and criminal orders of our command.
4/ We have been transferred to the First Slavic Brigade of the DPR, where they formed assault units out of us soldiers of the territorial defence in one day, sending us to storm the Avdiivka fortifications without any artillery support.
5/ Communications, sappers, reconnaissance have been sent to slaughter. Command told us directly that we are expendable, and that the only chance we have of returning home is getting injured. We do not know the names and ranks of the commanders, as they do not tell us.
6/ There is no point in contacting the local military prosecutor's office, as they are in full collusion with the commanders of the First Slavic Brigade. Soldiers of the battalions of regiment 1439 have already made two appeals before us.
7/ At this point this battalion has been almost completely destroyed. The remnants of the men have also been distributed to the First Slavic Brigade. Due to the situation, we find ourselves in a desperate situation, as the command is indifferent to our lives.
8/ The command is replenishing the unit with new mobilised for the sixth time - this is evidence of the incompetence of our superiors and of the whole unit. Please help. There is nowhere else to turn."
9/ The men have also written desperate text messages to relatives asking for help. They say they are being sent "without cover, without escort, none of the DPR fighters are sent. BMPs drop people off in the field." The BMPs are so unreliable that half broke down en route.
10/ The DPR commanders have reportedly fired from armoured vehicles at the Russian mobiks to 'motivate' them into attacking Ukrainian positions. "Yesterday the DNRovites shot from a BMP at the house [where the men were sheltering] because the guys refused to storm."
11/ Not surprisingly, the assaults have been a bloody debacle. "It's a madhouse, you can't fight like that," one man says. "Yesterday the whole detachment was put down with mortars. They didn't even reach the [Ukrainian] trenches." /end
1/ Ukrainian citizens are reportedly selling 'whitelisted' Starlink terminals to Russia, to enable the Russian army to get around the blocking of unauthorised Starlink terminals. The trade highlights how corruption in Ukraine is directly aiding Russia's war effort. ⬇️
2/ Russian forces in Ukraine used Starlink on a large scale for both battlefield communications and, increasingly, drone guidance. Since early February 2026, however, only whitelisted terminals – which can only be acquired with Ukrainian government permission – can be used.
3/ However, some in Ukraine appear to be helping Russia to circumvent these restrictions. So-called 'White Starlink' offers are proliferating on Telegram channels, offering whitelisted "Starlink for military and civilians in the new territories of the Russian Federation".
1/ Starving Russian soldiers in Ukraine have been eating their comrades and Ukrainians, according to intercepted Russian communications. Audio and photographic evidence indicates that several incidents of cannibalism likely occured in 2025. ⬇️
2/ The UK's Sunday Times newspaper has published evidence of what Ukrainian intelligence sources say were at least five instances where Russian soldiers were said by their fellow soldiers and commanders to have engaged in cannibalism.
3/ The evidence reportedly came to light from intercepted messages on Telegram, which has universally been used by the Russians for battlefield communications until it was recently blocked by the Russian government.
1/ Russia's attempts at import substitution have "completely failed" and the corrupt state procurement system is effectively killing off domestic factories, warns a Russian factory head. He says the system makes some rich, but will lead to a domestic economic collapse. ⬇️
2/ Kubanzheldormash JSC is a large engineering company in Southern Russia. It is one of the few domestic manufacturers of mechanised track tools for railway construction and maintenance, as well as agricultural machinery and hydraulic equipment.
3/ The company marks its 93rd anniversary this August, but it may be its last, warns company head Vyacheslav Yakovlev in a YouTube video.
1/ The Russian Ministry of Defence has announced that it will not allow drone operators to be sent to assault units without their consent, in a bid to prevent them being sent to their deaths as a punishment. However, a Russian warblogger warns this will be hard to enforce. ⬇️
2/ 'Rybar' reports:
"On the front lines, some commanders sometimes mismanaged the personnel entrusted to them, sending drone operators, engineers, and medics to assault units for the slightest infraction."
3/ "The impact this has had on the recruitment of volunteers for the emerging unmanned systems forces is self-evident.
1/ The arrival of Ukrainian drones over the Urals for the first time has left Russian scrambling to explain why Russia's air defences seem to be unable to cope. Russian conspiracy theorists claim the drones are actually being flown from Kazakhstan. ⬇️
2/ Writing on his 'Ramsay' Telegram channel, Russian journalist Vladislav Shurygin says:
"I'll answer all the questions about how Ukrainian drones reached Chelyabinsk, 1,800 km from the Ukrainian border, very briefly, and probably for the hundredth time."
3/ "Their range is a consequence of the constant modernisation of enemy air attack capabilities. Over the past three years, Ukrainian drones have increased their range from 700 to 1,800 km, and potentially to 2,500 km. These technologies are now available to NATO countries.
1/ Lithuania is to open a €100m military training ground in the strategic Suwałki Gap between Belarus and Russia's Kaliningrad enclave. In response, the prominent Russian 'Two Majors' Telegram channel calls for all three Baltic states to be eradicated. ⬇️
2/ The Lithuanian MOD has announced that a new training ground will be built near the village of Kapčiamiestis in southern Lithuania's Lazdijai district. With an area of approximately 146 km², it will be located only about 11 km from the border with Belarus.
3/ The facility will be designed for brigade-level exercises, to accommodate up to 3,500-4,000 military personnel at a time. Its main purpose will be training the Lithuanian Land Forces and the German Bundeswehr's tank brigade deployed in Lithuania.