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/ Igor 'Strelkov' Girkin is sceptical of "the mega-crook Donald and his cronies" and is confident there won't be a peace deal soon. In a fresh missive from prison, he draws attention to the Zaporizhzhia front, but says that Russia is unable to exploit successes there. ⬇️
2/ Replying to an earlier letter from a friend, he comments:
"Now we have yet another “sweet expectation of a quick and inevitable deal” (that is, a “compromise”), inspired by the statements of the mega-crook Donald and his cronies."
3/ "Naturally, my assessment of the situation hasn't changed at all: I'm confident there won't be a fixed deal, as we failed to achieve successes during the entire summer-fall campaign that went beyond the operational (at most, in isolated areas, but mostly beyond tactical).
1/ Russian State Duma deputy and surgeon Badma Bashankaev boasts that wounded Russian soldiers enjoy a 96% survival rate. Russian warbloggers point out, however, that only the lightly wounded usually get treated; most seriously injured Russians die on the battlefield. ⬇️
2/ Badma Bashankaev is a fervent supporter of Russia's war effort and represents Putin's United Russia party in the State Duma. He has recently appeared in an interview with state news agency TASS speaking about Russia's ostensible success in treating wounded soldiers.
3/ Russian warbloggers, however, are sceptical. Ilya Ovsyannikov writes in his 'INSTRUCTOR'S NOTES' Telegram channel that: "These statistics only show that the seriously wounded are not being transported and that they cannot organize a mass evacuation!!!"
1/ While Russia is making incremental advances in the Zaporizhzhia region, Russian soldiers say that it's resulting in carnage among their units. Conditions at Stepnohirsk are said to be dire, with entire battalions virtually wiped out. ⬇️
2/ Russian soldiers fighting at Stepnohirsk on the road to Zaporizhzhia city have told the 'Brothers in Arms' Telegram channel that "the situation there is, to put it mildly, dire."
3/ "The battalion has been practically wiped out. Only company and platoon commanders, sergeants majors, and clerks remain. The rest are reinforcements who arrive, complete the training ground, and immediately go on to storm Stepnohirsk."
1/ Igor 'Strelkov' Girkin warns from his jail cell that Ukraine and the EU have no reason to accept the Dmitriev-Witkoff proposals to end the war, because Russia is currently incapable of inflicting a strategic defeat on Ukraine, despite local tactical victories. ⬇️
2/ The imprisoned Girkin has posted a lengthy analysis of the context of the 28-point plan (he says that he has not yet read the full content of the points, "which our media modestly remained silent about").
3/ In a perspective which likely reflects that of powerful factions within the Russian security establishment (with which he has been closely linked), he sees the situation as overall negative for Russia, with the fiasco surrounding the plan hurting its own people's morale:
1/ Russian soldiers are complaining that if they fall foul of military regulations in any way – such as having only 1 litre of water in their car instead of 2, or wearing a non-regulation patch – they face being arrested by the military police and forced into an assault squad. ⬇️
2/ The notoriously corrupt Russian military police have been hated and feared by Russian soldiers throughout the Ukraine war for their brutality and larceny. To the soldiers' frustration, they are now reportedly dragging men off to die in assault squads for petty infractions.
3/ A correspondent writes to the 'Vault No. 8' Telegram channel:
"Requirements for military drivers at the border (Rovenki checkpoint and others), what must be in the cabin:
- 2 litres of bottled water.
- Engine oil.
- Regulation winter uniform for military personnel."
1/ Why have so many supposedly MAGA accounts on X been exposed as being based in Nigeria? The answer may be linked to the unfortunate coincidence that the word "maga" in Nigerian Pidgin English means "a gullible person, a fool, or the unsuspecting victim of a scam". ⬇️
2/ "Maga" is widely believed to have evolved from the Yoruba word "múgùn" (or "mugu"), which translates to someone who can be easily manipulated or used as a "ladder to reach the top".
Calling someone a "maga" is an insult, implying they are simple, easily controlled, or naive.
3/ Some specific examples:
🔺 "Maga don pay": → A common phrase among scammers, meaning "the victim has paid up," indicating a successful swindle.
🔺 "Maga must pay": → Reflects the mindset that it is inevitable for a naive person to be conned.