1/ Russian propagandist Vladimir Solovyov has been denounced again in another memo to the Kremlin, reportedly written by the political strategist and Duma deputy Oleg Matveychev. It calls Solovyov and his colleague Margarita Simonyan "information structures of Prigozhin". ⬇️
2/ The memo follows one leaked last month which denounced Igor 'Strelkov' Girkin and other "hurrah-patriots" as a threat to the Kremlin. Solovyov's TV show on the Russia-1 channel was denounced for hosting a nightly "gang rape of the authorities".
3/ The new memo, published by the VChK-OGPU Telegram channel, is in much the same vein. It reiterates several of the same points as its predecessor, dismissing liberals, the left and 'hipsters' as possible threats. It calls the ultra-nationalist "patriots" assets of the West.
4/ The memo complains that the "patriots" spend too much time highlighting problems with the war effort and creating a false impression of a "fifth column" around Putin who "rule our president". This, it claims, is part of a concerted "patriots against Putin" effort.
5/ It attacks in particular Ramzan Kadyrov, unnamed Russian milbloggers who "carry all sorts of crap in their Telegram channels", the "main propagandist of Russia, Vladimir Solovyov", Konstantin Malofeev's Tsargrav TV channel, Margarita Simonyan, and Yevgeny Federov's NOD.
6/ The memo also attacks a number of individual politicians: retired General Andrey Kartapolov, the head of the Duma Defence Committee, and other deputies who have "made resonant statements about the stolen money that was allocated to the Ministry of Defence."
7/ The "patriots" are criticised in the memo for being disingenuous in their statements about why they are critical of the government's approach. "In fact," says the memo, "this is guile ... Each of them is engaged in personal populism," rather than sincere problem-solving.
8/ As well as attacking propagandists, the memo castigates "a large network of feminist and women's organisations" who it says are preparing a "full-scale female hysteria". These, it says, are "ordinary nervous and hysterical women who are afraid for their children and husbands."
9/ "They are conducting destructive work related to mobilisation, spreading panic and negative rumours against the authorities," the memo says. It claims that Western leaders "plan to pay a great deal of attention to them and pour very large budgets into them".
10/ The feminist and women's organisations are distributing "materials about improper conditions of service and the death of our servicemen" on the Internet. The memo says that the number of such posts has increased "many times" in recent months.
11/ This part of the memo likely reflects increasing concern within the Putin regime about the impact of protests by wives and mothers. In July, the government forced the closure of the Council of Mothers and Wives by declaring it to be a 'foreign agent'.
12/ It also reflects increasing hostility towards feminism by nationalist-conservative circles in Russia. The memo's purported author, Oleg Matveychev, introduced a draft law in April 2023 that would designate feminism as an 'extremist activity'.
13/ Patriarch Kirill has also publicly condemned feminism as an 'anti-Russian' force, lending the Russian Orthodox Church's authority to a prospective crackdown.
14/ The memo admits frankly that "society can lose trust only when it is confronted with the fact that the authorities have lied or concealed something."
15/ "If trustworthy sources do not pay attention to the facts of lying to the authorities or hiding anything, then these facts do not exist for society. Thus, if ... the topic is not scratched, it will not be itching."
16/ "The argument [made by Solovyov] that people still learn the facts hidden by the authorities or distorted by the authorities from enemies is illegitimate. Firstly, only a few, not millions, will find out.
17/ "Secondly, they learn it from enemies, that is, from sources that most people do not consider to be trustworthy. It's one thing when theft in the army, for example, [is discussed] by a fake demotivator, scattered on the web, which looks like enemy propaganda.
18/ "It's another matter when the same facts begin to be voiced by a current State Duma deputy and such statements get to the top of Yandex [search results]."
19/ Similarly, the memo argues, it's futile for the authorities to publicise the fight against corruption, because it only draws more attention to the problem.
20/ "Any attempts to demonstrate that we are the main ones in the fight against corruption, firstly, only invests additional resources in this topic, and the topic becomes ever more burning, and secondly, it still does not work out in practice, because it is "bees against honey".
21/ It's not clear when the memo was written, but it's likely to have been within the last few weeks, as it no longer highlights Igor Girkin as a threat. The mention of Prigozhin is likely intended to paint the propagandists with a post-mutiny brush of disloyalty. /end
1/ A Russian holidaymaker who incautiously posted footage on social media of air defence missiles being fired over the Kerch Bridge appears to have been dragged off the beach in his shorts to film a public apology for his actions. ⬇️
2/ In the video, a man naming himself as Roman Sergeyevich apologises profusely for "filming the Special Military Operation", pledges his support for the war, and swears he won't do it again.
3/ According to the independent Russian news outlet Rise!, the man was made to apologise by 'activists'. They were likely members of a vigilante pro-Kremlin group which has been working to root out 'disloyalty' in the occupied Crimea.
1/ Injuried Russian marines near Tokmak in the occupied part of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhya region were berated and beaten unconscious by their political officer when they asked for medical assistance. The incident was recorded and illustrates how Russia's political officers work. ⬇️
2/ According to the ASTRA Telegram channel, the men – who are from the 2nd company of the 3rd reinforcement battalion of the 810th Guards Naval Infantry Brigade – took "heavy fire" near Robotyne before their company commander ordered them to withdraw.
3/ The men were presumably defending some of the extensive trench systems that the Russians have built in the area. They say that they were "without communication, drinking water and food," and there was no evacuation of the wounded or dead from the battlefield.
1/ Russian soldiers say they were forced to crawl across minefields, taking huge casualties, because their commanders had falsely reported to their superiors that their objectives had already been captured. Those who refused to attack were shot in the legs by their commander. ⬇️
2/ In an audio message published by the ASTRA Telegram channel, men from the Russian 15th Guards Motorised Rifle Regiment complain that they were "forced to take the so-called 'Moustache', it's a forest belt. We are forced to go to the minefields with our chests."
3/ "Why are we so driven there? Because the bosses have already reported that they have already taken everything."
They say that they had to attack a Ukrainian "fortress" guarded by four machine guns and a mortar.
1/ Parents of teenagers at Alabuga Polytechnic in Tatarstan say their children are being exploited to work long hours building Shahed kamikaze drones in dangerous conditions. Some parents are rescuing their children from the facility, despite facing large fines for doing so. ⬇️
2/ As described in the thread below, Alabuga Polytechnic is a STEM college that has been repurposed as a military drone factory. As well as recruiting Russian children, it's reportedly catfished African girls via dating apps to perform menial work.
3/ Hundreds of children aged 15-17 are reported to be assembling Shahed drones from parts provided by Iran. Ostensibly, they are undertaking a "dual programme" of study and work with a 70,000 ruble monthly salary ($719). In reality, their studies have reportedly been abandoned.
1/ A Russian police major has reportedly pleaded guilty to selling data on the vehicle used by Alexander and Darya Dugin before it was blown up by apparent assassins last year. The case highlights how personal data in Russia is corruptly traded by insiders. ⬇️
2/ The ultra-nationalist Dugins were targeted in a vehicle bombing last August, following which it emerged that police officers had been systematically stealing and selling data from police databases – including selling tablets with privileged access.
3/ It's probable that the assassins, who killed Darya Dugin while her father escaped unscathed, made use of stolen data to target the Dugins. Now, the VChK-OGPU Telegram channel reports, the police officer who sold the Dugins' data has pleaded guilty to criminal charges.
1/ The Wagner Group is reported to have effectively been kicked out of Belarus, with thousands of its remaining fighters being bussed back into Russia. The Belarusian leader, Alexander Lukashenko, is reported to have refused to finance Wagner's stay in his country. ⬇️
2/ The VChK-OGPU Telegram channel reports that Wagner fighters are being taken by bus from their camps in Belarus in batches of 500-600 to Voronezh, Rostov and Krasnodar in Russia. The first stage of the withdrawal has already taken place and a second will begin after 13 August.
3/ According to a VChK-OGPU source, Lukashenko refused to pay for Wagner's presence in Belarus and instead expected Moscow to fund it – which apparently it hasn't done. A small number of Wagnerites are expected to stay on in Belarus as military instructors.