1/ An ISIS video condemning "Russian criminals wreaking havoc on earth" by supporting the Taliban in Afghanistan may point to the group's motives for attacking Crocus City Hall in Moscow on 22 March 2024. ⬇️
2/ The 'We can explain' (MO) Telegram channel highlights a video published on 18 February in which ISIS representatives condemn Russia. A voice-over in the video declares:
3/ "Among those who sought to establish ties of friendship with them [the Taliban], there were also Russian criminals wreaking havoc on earth . They invaded the homes of the Muslims and went to extremes, fighting and displacing them in various parts of the earth."
4/ The video shows a message from an ISIS terrorist who attacked the Russian embassy in Kabul in a suicide bomb attack on 5 September 2022, killing between 8-10 people including two embassy staff.
5/ It also features a song in Russian – "Soon, very soon, blood will be shed by the sea..." – and similarly blames the US, India and Chin for aiding the Taliban. However, it does not make specific threats of an imminent attack on Russia.
6/ The Russian orientalist and former Middle East correspondent for TASS, Ruslan Suleymanov, comments: "By all indications, this is ISIS, or rather its Afghan branch Vilayat Khorasan. All information products on their behalf are conducted in the same style.
7/ "In addition, there were no refutations on other ISIS-related resources."
8/ The video was published in an ISIS-linked Telegram channel that reposts the output of the ISIS propaganda outlets Amaq News and Nashr News. Amaq published photos of the Crocus attackers and the video they made of the attack. /end
1/ The Russian Orthodox Church has ordered its priests to read a daily "Prayer for Holy Rus'" asking God to oppose those who have "taken up arms against Holy Rus'" and asking for "victory to Russian weapons" Priests who refuse are being punished by being defrocked. ⬇️
2/ The head of the Moscow Patriarchate, Metropolitan Gregory of Voskresensky, has issued a circular which is the first publicly disclosed official church document regulating internal church support for the war, according to the journalist and religious scholar Ksenia Luchenko.
3/ The ROC's leader, Patriarch Kirill, wrote the prayer, which has gone through a number of versions in the two years since the full-scale war in Ukraine began. It reflects Putin's ideology that Ukrainians are merely Russians with a sense of false identity.
1/ Russian military personnel are reportedly paying bribes to be posted to Syria rather than Ukraine. As casualties mount in the 'Special Military Operation', Syria now appears to be seen as a much safer option for military service. ⬇️
2/ The VChK-OGPU Telegram channel reports on the case of three soldiers who paid 100,000 rubles ($1,080) each to a colleague, which he was to transfer to an official of the Russian General Staff to ensure that they were put on the list for a 'business trip' to Syria.
3/ Perhaps not coincidentally, 100,000 rubles appears to also be the standard bribe for soldiers to be granted permission to go on leave. As it's the equivalent of a month's pay, it's probably a convenient amount for a bribe.
1/ 143 people are now reported to have died at Crocus City Hall, with 350 more injured and 100 still missing. Most casualties were reportedly caused by smoke and carbon monoxide rather than shooting. The emergency services' response is being criticised. ⬇️
2/ The VChK-OGPU Telegram channel has highlighted numerous issues with the response of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations (MChS). The ministry's responses to recent industrial emergencies have come under similar criticism.
3/ It implies that the fire response may itself have caused casualties. Among the questions raised by the channel:
"Where was [the Minister of Emergency Situations], why didn’t he come? Who was the real leader of the fire response?
1/ Details of the capture of the suspects in the Crocus City Hall terrorist attack are still unclear. However, various individuals have already been awarded medals and the bloodstained knife used to cut off one suspect's ear may have been sold for 10 million rubles ($107,800). ⬇️
2/ Officially, the capture has been attributed to the Russian "special services and law enforcement agencies". The Russian Ministry of Defence has published a video showing the award of five sets of "For Courage" and "For Military Distinction" medals.
3/ Separately, the Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has published a video and Telegram post claiming that men of the Akhmat-Russia regiment had "distinguished themselves in searching for and neutralizing" the terrorists. They also received medals.
1/ Viktor Orbán has disclosed what he says is Donald Trump's plan for ending the war in Ukraine – by cutting off all American aid. As Trump has at least a 50-50 chance of becoming the next US President, this has to be taken seriously. Could Trump's plan actually work? ⬇️
2/ There's good reason to believe that it wouldn't, and could not only make the war much worse – particularly for the Ukrainians – but would also damage Trump and could also force European powers to intervene directly, turning the war into an overt EU-Russia fight. Here's why.
3/ Let's think first about what Ukraine needs from its allies: military equipment, ammunition, air defences and financial aid. Europe has provided a lot, but US support has undoubtedly made the difference between survival (so far) and defeat.
1/ Mobilised Russian soldier Alexander Leshkov, who was sentenced to 7 years' imprisonment for arguing with and pushing an officer, is being further punished by being denied treatment for a broken leg. However, he still wants to fight in Ukraine. ⬇️
2/ 'Caution, news' reports on the ongoing travails of Alexander Leshkov, who was filmed berating an officer in Moscow's Patriot Park in November 2022 for the lack of training and poor equipment he and his comrades had received. Leshkov was subsequently sent to a penal colony.
3/ According to his wife, Leshkov is a keen sportsman and churchgoer. While in penal colony no. 5 (IK 5) in the Ivanovo region, he has been giving sports training to prisoners intending to sign contracts to go to war, so that they would be in good physical shape.