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/ An immediate 'energy ceasefire' is reported to have been agreed between Russia and Ukraine in talks in Abu Dhabi, supposedly ending Russian strikes on Ukrainian power and heating infrastructure. Russian warbloggers are angry about the move. ⬇️
1/ Trump Administration officials have reportedly held several secret meetings with Canadian separatists, who are seeking US$500 billion to bankroll their efforts. It suggests that the Administration is interested in breaking up Canada and absorbing the remnants. ⬇️
2/ According to the Financial Times, US State Department officials have secretly met with leaders of the far-right Alberta Prosperity Project three times since April 2025, with another meeting scheduled for February 2026. The APP is regarded in Canada as a fringe movement.
3/ The group says that the US is "extremely enthusiastic about a free and independent Alberta". They want the US to provide a $500 billion credit facility to support Alberta if it votes for independence. The APP is currently seeking signatures to call a referendum.
1/ This video and a second one from the same group of men highlight how the Russian army treats ex-convicts as expendable cannon fodder without any regard for their lives. Here's the back story. ⬇️
2/ The men shown in the videos are serving in the 126th Motorised Rifle Regiment (military unit 50526) of the 71st Motorised Rifle Division. They have all suffered serious injuries leading to amputations of limbs. Despite this, they say they are being sent to the front. One says:
3/ "By order of Colonel Vladimir Nikolaevich Konstantinov, deputy commander of the 71st Division, we are being driven, as it were, to the slaughter. Because, it seems to us, he has a personal score to settle, as we have repeatedly heard that prisoners should not live, and so on."
1/ Russian soldiers are being tied to trees and murdered if they do not pay large bribes to their commanders, according to a testimony by a junior sergeant. They are assigned 'debts' by their commanders which they have to 'repay', or be killed. ⬇️
2/ A contract (professional) soldier named Denis Vyacheslavovich Kolesnikov, a junior sergeant in an assault detachment of the 1435th Motorised Rifle Regiment (military unit 95375) of the 27th Guards Motorised Rifle Division, has recorded a testimony about the abuses in his unit.
3/ Kolesnikov says that he was the head of the detachment's vehicle service, which his commanders 'Bison' and 'Semyon' systematically exploited to run an organised system of extortion in the unit.
1/ Four years on, realisation appears to be dawning among Russian warbloggers that the war in Ukraine has achieved little more than capturing "an empty wasteland with a dispersed population." A bitter commentary highlights the futility of it all. ⬇️
It's when one of Russia's most prolific war correspondents, Yevgeny Poddubny, sits down and spouts this when asked directly, "What are the goals of the SVO [Special Military Operation]?"
3/ [Poddubny:] "The main goal of the SVO lies within us, within our society. We need to determine who we are, why we are here, and where we are going."
1/ Denmark was preparing to fight the United States over Greenland, according to Scandinavian news reports. Around 1,000 Danish troops and a frigate with anti-ship and anti-aircraft capabilities are being sent to Greenland, with standing orders to fight invading forces. ⬇️
2/ Prior to Donald Trump's apparent climbdown after the recent Davos summit, Denmark planned to send around 1,000 soldiers to Greenland during 2026. Around 300 have already arrived in Kangerlussuaq and Nuuk, supplemented by a French mountain infantry unit.
3/ Denmark has also deployed the frigate Peter Willemoes, which has advanced anti-aircraft and anti-ship capabilities, to patrol off western Greenland. The deployment will release ice-capable Thetis-class patrol vessels to operate nearer inshore.