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/ Russia's leaky air defences are once again coming under scrutiny following the huge destruction caused by last night's Ukrainian strikes on Russian distribution centres. Russian warbloggers say that air defence teams aren't even being paid currently. ⬇️
2/ 'Combat Reserve' reports that mobile air defence teams in the Kursk and Belgorod regions, formed from the Moscow police department (MOGI), "aren't receiving their salaries. Payments are delayed throughout 2026. Not only these regions, but the entire border region as well."
3/ "It’s quite possible this is linked to local budgets, after all, [they] aren’t the Ministry of Culture, and the cash there takes a roundabout route through local officials.
1/ Ukraine's devastating overnight drone attacks on Wildberries warehouses in Russia are likely intended to cause damage across the Russian economy and increase public discontent. The estimated losses may exceed $1.2 billion. ⬇️
2/ At least 7 people are reported to have been killed and 49 more injured in the attacks. The head of Wildberries has promised to help the families of those killed. According to Russian estimates based on previous warehouse fires, financial losses are likely to be colossal.
3/ In a similar fire at Shushary, near St. Petersburg, in January 2024, Wildberries estimated the damage at 10 billion rubles ($127 million). It paid an additional 34.9 billion rubles ($449 million) to sellers in compensation for their losses.
1/ Ukraine's campaign against Russian shipping is claimed to have hit 159 vessels in only 12 days. Numerous vessels have been crippled, knocking out a significant fraction of Russia's maritime exports. A Russian commentary describes how it's being done. ⬇️
2/ The Russian political analyst Igor Dimitriev assesses the tactics being used in the campaign, and how 'Operation “MoLoChKa' is affecting Russia's oil exports:
"They don't sink the vessels, they immobilise them."
3/ "Initially, they fired at the crew in the wheelhouse—the vessel would be blinded, but the engine would still work, and the crews learned to steer from the wheelhouse using a compass and telephone.
1/ Reports from Crimea say that Ukraine's drone blockade is causing prices to soar, electricity and water supplies are intermittent or absent, and mobile phone access is down. Shelves are empty and supplies aren't arriving for lack of fuel. ⬇️
2/ 'Alex Parker Returns' summarises what a reader of his Telegram channel says about the situation in northern Crimea:
"There's no electricity at all, water supply is intermittent, mobile phone service is only at certain times."
3/ "There's nothing to even restore at the substations. They need to be rebuilt. As a result, northern Crimea is abandoned. It's only a matter of time before the rest of Crimea collapses.
1/ Israel has effectively reclassified crocodiles as livestock to facilitate a plan to dig moats filled with crocodiles around prisons housing Palestinian detainees. It's a pet project of the far-right National Security Minister, Itamar Ben Gvir. ⬇️
2/ The plan emerged in December 2025, apparently inspired by the notorious 'Alligator Alcatraz' detention centre in Florida (which is now closed). Prison officials have toured a crocodile farm in northern Israel which has been tipped as a possible supplier of crocodiles.
3/ The Israel Prison Service reportedly envisages digging moats around prisons and filling them with crocodiles. An IPS report claims that it would "significantly reduce ongoing security costs while also creating a strong deterrent against escape attempts by security prisoners."
1/ Russia's fuel crisis is causing gas stations to go out of business en masse. At least 150 have been put up for sale, including some belonging to major distributors, in a further sign of how the fuel crisis caused by Ukrainian drone strikes is impacting daily life in Russia. ⬇️
2/ Adverts offering gas stations for sale across Russia have been appearing on marketplaces, commercial real estate websites, and corporate resources, for prices of between 1 and 150 million rubles. An entire chain of 13 gas stations in Ufa is being offered for 350 million.
3/ National chains such as Gazprom and Lukoil are also offering stations for sale. However, the great majority of those currently on offer are independently owned. Around 60% of Russia's 27,700 gas stations are independently owned, with the rest belonging to large oil companies.