1/ The Russian National Guard (Rosgvardiya) is reported to have come under suspicion as a possible accomplice of Yevgeny Prigozhin's mutiny, following some strange occurrences involving the Wagner Group's weapons. ⬇️
2/ The VChK-OGPU Telegram channel reports that although nobody has been charged over the mutiny, "the FSB continues to actively search for high officials who may have been involved in the June "march of justice", organised by the head of PMC Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin."
3/ "At the same time, the focus of attention of investigators is now concentrated on the Rosgvardia, although initially employees of this service as potential traitors were not considered."
4/ According to VChK-OGPU, a "strange agreement between Rosgvardiya and the private military company" emerged immediately after the mutiny. This has prompted the interest and suspicion of investigators.
5/ The channel reports that "it turned out that during the disarmament of the Wagnerites they 'stashed until better times' a significant part of their ammunition and equipment right in the warehouses of the Rosgvardiya."
6/ One such cache is said to have been created near the village of Kazachiy Stan (location not further specified), near a Rosgvardiya training ground.
7/ "Up to four large containers of military equipment were transferred to the cache, and the scheme was supervised by a certain Roman, who holds the rank of general."
8/ There may be an innocent explanation for this – immediately after the mutiny, it was announced that the Rosgvardiya would be equipped with heavy weapons to suppress future armed uprisings. However, the authorities will likely want to be completely sure of its loyalty.
1/ Mobilised Russians fighting in Ukraine are finding that they're not being allowed to go on leave, even after a year of active service, despite the promises of Vladimir Putin. Relatives are complaining with little success, while the men face deteriorating health. ⬇️
2/ In his original 21 September 2022 announcement of mobilisation, Putin stated that the mobilised would get two months' leave every six months. Soldiers have to petition their commanders for leave, but are commonly finding they're not being given permission.
3/ Radio Free Europe reports that much of the blame lies with individual commanders, according to posts from relatives on social media. "Some people get leave, and some don't, even if you write 100 reports [requesting leave]," Anna Averkina from St. Petersburg writes on VK.
1/ Wounded Russian soldiers and their relatives say they are being sent back into battle without being treated, and in some cases are not paid injury compensation or even their regular salaries. It's been blamed on a shortage of frontline manpower. Some are choosing to flee. ⬇️
2/ Radio Free Europe reports on several such cases. Nikolai from the 27th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade has been sent back to the front line despite being unable to walk without painkillers due to his legs being damaged by shrapnel. His mother is appealing to prosecutors.
3/ Nikolai, a former prisoner who signed a contract with the Russian Ministry of Defence, was not even given treatment after being wounded twice, and was told it was "not the [right] time" to send him to a hospital.
1/ A new analysis has found that mobilised Russians who have been sent to Ukraine have only survived, on average, for 4.5 months before being killed. One in five of the mobilised has not survived longer than eight weeks. ⬇️
2/ A joint investigation by Important Stories and the Conflict Intelligence Team (CIT) has analysed the reported deaths of thousands of mobilised Russians. They found that almost every region of Russia has sustained fatalities, with the youngest just 19 and the oldest aged 62.
3/ At least 130 died within the first month of mobilisation, with some being killed just days after arriving in Ukraine. 20% were killed within two months, with the average mobik dying within 4.5 months. 0.2% lasted 11 months before they were killed.
1/ In another indication that a fresh wave of mobilisation may be coming, companies in Moscow are seeking to recruit an unprecedented number of specialists in managing military and mobilisation records – twice the peak number recorded during the last mobilisation. ⬇️
3/ The Moscow-based news website MSK1 reports that there has been a record surge in adverts from employers to fill these roles. Before the war in Ukraine, the number of such vacancies on job search websites was only 10-16 per month.
3/ The Moscow-based news website MSK1 reports that there has been a record surge in adverts from employers to fill these roles. Before the war in Ukraine, the number of such vacancies on job search websites was only 10-16 per month.
1/ Mobilised Russians say that their commanders ordered them into an assault despite their injuries and then abandoned them under heavy Ukrainian fire. After refusing, they were imprisoned by their own side in a notorious torture facility in north-eastern Ukraine. ⬇️
2/ ASTRA reports the account of Evgeny P., as told to his wife Evgeniya on 18 September. He says that while fighting with the 27th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade near Bakhmut in May, he suffered a shrapnel wound and was sent to hospital. However, he was not treated.
3/ Instead, he was sent with other injured men to Naro-Fominsk in the Moscow region and confined to a barracks for a week. He says that a military doctor declared them all fit to fight, despite their unhealed wounds. The men were sent back to Ukraine under a new commander.
1/ A Russian colonel arrested earlier this year for stealing seven T-90 tank engines appears to have been even more industrious than first realised: investigators have now reportedly linked him to the theft of 21 tank engines, worth tens of millions of rubles. ⬇️
2/ In April 2023, the Russian media reported on the case of Colonel Alexander Denisov, then the head of the Southern Military District's technical support department for the armoured vehicle service.
3/ He was accused of having stolen seven V-92C2 engines intended for installation on T-90 tanks, valued at 20.5 million rubles (worth £212,000 at today's prices), between November 2021 and April 2022. Now he's been linked to the theft of four V-84 AMS and ten UTD-20 tank engines.