1/ An exchange of fire in the occupied Ukrainian village of Urzuf, in which several Russian soldiers and bystanders were reportedly killed, is said to have been started by drunken Chechen soldiers fighting drunken convict soldiers.
2/ According to the VChK-OGPU Telegram channel, which quotes an apparently leaked report, "drunken criminals of the Ministry of Defence, assigned to a military unit based in Chechnya, and an equally drunken military policeman confronted each other with weapons."
3/ It reports that the incident took place in the morning of 12 August at the Miami Club in Urzuf, near Mariupol.
4/ "Soldiers from unit 71718 [70th Guards Motorized Rifle Regiment from Shali, Chechnya] were resting there, mostly former prisoners who had signed liberation contracts with the Ministry of Defence ...
5/ "Two companies sat next to each other. The first, natives of the southern regions. The second, fellow soldiers from the company attached to [the Chechen battalion] Akhmat. According to testimony, the latter drank a bottle of whiskey for three.
6/ "At the establishment's closing time (around 4 a.m.), a conflict broke out between the guests in uniform – Sergei Alikhanov, 25, a resident of the Kaliningrad region, who had been convicted of theft, and Sadrutdin Akayev, 30, a native of Dagestan, ...
7/ ... a military policeman (formerly of Buynaksk, military unit 63354 [136th Motorized Rifle Brigade]). In the fight the convicts were more convincing. But this was not the end of the conflict.
8/ "The denouement was a street scene during which Akayev opened fire with an AK-74. Alikhanov was killed on the spot. A fellow soldier from his company, fellow countryman and also convicted for theft, 26-year-old Vladimir Yevseenko (pictured), tried to stand up for Sergei.
9/ "He tried to kick the automatic rifle with his foot, but was wounded in the thigh, shin and arm. Akayev continued firing indiscriminately at everything he saw.
10/ "At the sound of the automatic rifle fire, the emergency response team of unit 71718 came running, and Akayev opened fire on the team as well. As a result, the shooter was killed.
11/ "Two medical teams travelled to the scene and found two men dead and one wounded man was taken to a local hospital in a state of alcoholic intoxication." /end
1/ Russian warbloggers are mystified and angry at a recruitment advert for the Russian army posted on the Facebook-like social network VK. Unlike the usual ads, which show Russian soldiers as muscular supermen, it's attracting attention for being a lot more realistic. ⬇️
2/ Sergei Moskalkov, who spotted the advert, declares angrily:
"This isn't a fake, not a disinformation-like collage, but a genuine advertisement for contract service in the Russian Armed Forces.
This is a VK ad.
#fifthcolumn
#lawlessness"
3/ Lev Vershinin suggests a return to the classics:
"Since Sergei Moskalkov never lies and isn't particularly prone to jokes, I'll take it on faith."
1/ Ukraine is reportedly using large 'drone carrier' unmanned surface vessels (USVs), each carrying between six to eight FPV drones as well as themobaric rockets, to attack multiple targets on the strategic Kinburn Peninsula in Crimea. ⬇️
2/ The Russian Telegram channel 'Archangel of Special Forces' posts footage apparently taken by a Russian UAV of what it says is a Ukrainian USV off Kinburn. According to the channel, the Ukrainians have been launching an increasing number of attacks against Russian positions:
3/ "The footage shows one of two unmanned Ukrainian Armed Forces boats launched today from the Southern Bug River basin. The port of Mykolaiv was likely the launch site, given the size of the USV. The waters of the Southern Bug have not been used for a long time.
1/ The stress of Russia's worsening economic problems, Internet shutdowns, and the war in Ukraine is reportedly causing a huge decrease in Russian citizens' happiness, and a corresponding surge in antidepressant prescriptions and morbidity. ⬇️
2/ The Russian 'Political Report' Telegram channel reports that antidepressant sales in Russia are setting new all-time records year-on-year, alongside opinion polls suggesting substantially worsening levels of unhappiness:
3/ "Russians are sinking en masse into apathy, depression, and persistent pessimism. Faith not only in a bright future, but even in the remote possibility that reality won't at least slide into a worse-case scenario, is rapidly fading.
1/ The notorious Russian colonel Igor 'Evil' Puzik is once again making news for the wrong reasons. His regiment's political officer is reported to have confessed to the FSB that he and the colonel were imprisoning and torturing their own men to extract money from them. ⬇️
2/ Colonel Puzik, the commander of the 87th Motorised Rifle Regiment, is widely detested by Russian warbloggers, his own men, and their relatives, for his alleged corruption, brutality, and willingness to send men to their deaths or shoot them himself to shut them up.
3/ He became notorious over his alleged involvement in drug dealing which prompted him to send two UAV operators, who had spoken out about it, to die in an assault. No action was taken against him despite an outcry. However, it seems he may now be the target of an investigation.
1/ Why can't Russia have n̶i̶c̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶n̶g̶s̶ interceptor drones that work, unlike Ukraine? The answer, says one warblogger, is that Russia's military-industrial complex has been captured by big vested interests who've made it into a "gravy train". ⬇️
"The Ukrainians also made a "Yolka." How is it different from ours?
P1-SUN.
Acceleration up to 450 km/h.
Interception altitude up to 5000 m.
3/ "Our Yolka:
Maximum speed 250.
Interception altitude 2000 m.
Not allowed in the rain, not allowed at night, not allowed if facing the sun. If a bird flies between the Yolka and an enemy UAV, the Yolka can lock onto it. It can simply get knocked off course.
1/ The Russian army's response to the threat of Ukraine's drones is to give its soldiers prayer cards appealing for divine help against "demonic drones". Incredulous Russian warbloggers are demanding something a bit more tangible. ⬇️
2/ The text of the "Prayer against demonic drones" says: "O, Saint Barbara, the great martyr and patroness, look upon us who grieve and suffer from the demonic drones, that sow death and destruction."
3/ "Strengthen us in faith and hope, give us strength and courage not to despair in the struggle for truth and freedom. Our intercessor, pray for us, that He will spare us and that He deliver us from the evil slander of our enemies. Amen."