1/ Hundreds of Russian soldiers from Chelyabinsk were reportedly locked into boxcars to prevent them complaining to visiting officials about the theft of their supplies and non-payment of their salaries. ⬇️
2/ According to Tatyana Zolotavina, the wife of one of the men, 380 soldiers from Chelyabinsk have been sent to fight in Ukraine. She says in a video that three days before they were sent, the men were hidden from an inspection by regional authorities by locking them in boxcars.
3/ Zolotavina says this was done to prevent them complaining. The men had been sent 500 packs of 'humanitarian aid' (essential supplies and equipment), none of which they received. Instead, they had to buy what they needed themselves.
4/ She also says the men's posting to Ukraine was not recorded in their military IDs and they were paid far less than they were owed. Her husband received only 39,000 rubles ($404) for three months of service – equivalent to $4.49 a day. /end
1/ Men over 50, many with serious illnesses, are being forced to serve in the 'Donetsk People's Republic' armed forces despite this being illegal and in defiance of legal rulings and orders. "We turned out to be third-class people without rights", says one relative. ⬇️
2/ ASTRA reports on the stories of a number of mobilised DNR residents who have been made to serve continuously, in some cases for 18 months, without any breaks. Under local and Russian law, men over 50 are not supposed to serve in the army. This has systematically been ignored.
3/ Thousands of relatives have travelled thousands of kilometers between Donetsk, Rostov, where the headquarters of the Russian Southern Military District is located, and Moscow, to petition military officials and politicians – so far without much success.
1/ Two Russian servicemen based in the Astrakhan region have been convicted for stealing working drogue parachutes and replacing them with relabelled worn-out ones. It's another illustration of the prevalence of logistics corruption in the Russian military. ⬇️
2/ The servicemen, Nikolai Yemtsev and Igor Ostapenko, stole eight drogue parachutes from a logistics depot in Astrakhan between March and June 2022. Such parachutes are usually employed to help with aircraft braking.
3/ They were found by a court to have sold the parachutes to an acquaintance for $2,000-$2,100 each, therefore earning up to about $16,500. The Russian MOD put the lost value at 4 million rubles ($41,000), which suggests they sold them for considerably below unit price.
1/ Yevgeny Prigozhin's death may have cleared the way for Russia to send a 20,000-strong army corps to Africa. Other Russian mercenary groups also plan to go there. One mercenary leader promises that "the era of bare-assed Zulus with a Kalashnikov assault rifle is over". ⬇️
2/ Recent reports indicate that Prigozhin's death and the Russian Ministry of Defence's efforts to squeeze out Wagner have likely unleashed a wave of competition between Russian armed organisations to take over the remains of Wagner's African empire.
3/ So far, the organisations reportedly looking at Africa include the Russian Ministry of Defence, the Russian National Guard (Rosgvardia, which reports directly to Putin), the GRU, and the Convoy and Redut private military companies, which are both closely linked to the MOD.
1/ Wagner Group fighters face hard times due to being expelled from Ukraine and squeezed out of Africa and the Middle East. A leaked audio message advises them to find alternative work in the face of 'competition' from the Russian MOD and National Guard. ⬇️
2/ Following Yevgeny Prigozhin's mutiny, thousands of Wagner fighters were sent on a paid 'vacation' in Belarus; many subsequently returned to Russia. Now their 'vacations' are coming to an end, leaving many Wagner fighters at a loose end.
3/ In the recording, which the Russian media outlet Important Stories has authenticated, a Wagner representative says:
"Our employees often ask what to do next. Their holidays are coming to an end. They have to work. Guys, understand that the situation is extremely difficult.
1/ Yevgeny Prigozhin's funeral was reportedly kept secret even from the Russian authorities, who appear to have been fooled by a dummy cortege. Now the entire cemetery is locked down by heavily armed police, who have installed metal detectors at its gates. ⬇️
2/ Commentators have noted that an elaborate "special funeral operation" was held for Prigozhin, in which journalists and the police were directed towards St Petersburg's Serafimovskoye cemetery. Meanwhile, Prigozhin was actually buried at the Porokhovskoye cemetery.
3/ According to the VChK-OGPU Telegram channel, the coffin carried by a hearse to Serafimovskoe was empty. Meanwhile, his remains were taken to Porokhovskoye. Although it's formally closed, it can still be used for subburials in family plots. His father is buried there.
1/ Mobilised Russians who joined the 'Wolves' mercenary group say they are being threatened with execution if they don't go to the front line, despite being untrained. They have not been rotated for months due to manpower shortages caused by huge casualties. ⬇️
2/ In April 2023, some mobiks were reportedly ordered at gunpoint to sign contracts transferring them from the Russian Army's 352nd Motorised Rifle Regiment to the Wolves private military company. Others seem to have been recruited directly from training.
3/ Since then, ASTRA reports, the men have been sitting in positions in Ukraine for six months without a break, due to a lack of manpower to rotate them. The Wolves are known to have been positioned around Bakhmut.