1/ Citizens of the puppet 'Donetsk People's Republic' (DNR) are complaining en masse that they are not being paid their promised compensation for deaths and injuries caused to local residents by the war. The DNR itself admits that it owes more than 38 billion rubles ($467m). ⬇️
2/ Relatives and soldiers of the DNR's armed forces – which have been decimated due to being used as so-called 'meat waves' against Ukrainian positions – have been posting numerous videos complaining about the lack of compensation payments and appealing to Putin for help.
3/ In one video, a wife says: "Starting from September 2022, funding for lump-sum compensation for wounded and killed DNR servicemen for 2022 was terminated. We submitted documents to the commission of the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy of the DNR.
4/ "There are a lot of us. We applied to all authorities. From the presidential administration to the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation.
5/ "All our appeals are forwarded to the government of the DNR, which redirects them to the Ministry of Labour, and the answers come from there that there is no funding. We write to the deputies and there are no results."
6/ According to the wife of one wounded soldier, his unit "collected all the necessary documents promptly, the medical examiner issued a conclusion of a severe injury.
7/ "In November we submitted all the documents for payment, and for seven months there have been no payments, the allowance during treatment is 30,000 rubles ($371). The answer is the same, there is no funding."
8/ People seeking compensation have complained to the DNR state prosecutor's office, which admitted that an audit had "established the fact of lack of funding for this type of payment, which requires an amount of more than 38 billion rubles."
9/ It's very unlikely that the DNR will be able to pay the sums it owes, as its finances are precarious, its economy is a mess and it's kept afloat only by Russian government funding.
10/ The Russian government has shown little concern previously for the welfare of DNR soldiers and their families, so there seems to be little likelihood that the relatives' video appeals will achieve much. /end
1/ Why are 'penguins' being seen wandering around the front line in Ukraine and getting blown up? The answer lies in a flood of dubious "anti-drone ponchos" being sold on Russian online marketplaces. ⬇️
2/ The specific item seen in recent videos appears to be a poncho being sold for "tactical thermal imaging protection, anti-drone protection". It is just one of many similar garments being sold on Russia's equivalents of Amazon and eBay.
3/ Wildberries and Avito, Russia's Amazon and eBay equivalents, have dozens of listings for such garments. They are typically claimed to be produced in Russia (though more likely imported from China). Some are suspiciously cheap – less than 600 rubles ($8) each.
1/ Donald Trump's ambition to take over Greenland has done severe damage to right-wing Danish parties, according to a new poll. Almost the entire right wing has suffered a drop in the polls, with the MAGA-aligned Danish People's Party particularly badly hit. ⬇️
2/ Denmark's political system is highly fragmented but is divided between a 'red bloc' of left and centre-left parties and a 'blue bloc' of centre-right to far-right parties. A poll carried out for national broadcaster DR shows the latter sustaining a major loss of support.
3/ As DR puts it, "Danish politics have been turned upside down" by Trump's Greenland grab. In an almost exact repeat of what happened in Canada in 2024, centrist parties are making significant new progress while the right has slumped after previously leading in the polls.
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.