1/ Despite searing temperatures of up to 40°C (104°F), Russian fighter pilots in Ukraine and southern Russia are reportedly being issued with only 1 litre (36 oz) of water per day. In between sorties, they are said to be driving around nearby villages begging for water. ⬇️
2/ The Fighterbomber Telegram channel has published a despairing post complaining about a chronic shortage of drinking water for Russian pilots stationed at forward airfields. The author writes:
3/ "The guys have been fighting from forward airfields for several months and for several months everything has been bad with food.
You can say it doesn't exist.
If with dry rations everything was solved after a time, then with water everything turned out to be difficult.
4/ "It turns out that pilots are not allowed water.
None.
5/ "After the intervention of those who don't give a fuck, within a day the issue with rations was essentially resolved, and the water issue was partially resolved. A water standard has appeared.
One
Litre
Of
Water
Per day
Per person.
6/ "When not flying combat missions, pilots are forced to drive around the surrounding villages in search of water."
7/ It should be noted that the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine has determined that an adequate daily fluid intake is about 3.7 litres (130 oz) of fluids a day. In very hot temperatures, more water is likely to be needed or dehydration will result.
8/ The channel appeals to Russian bottled water manufacturers to "deliver water to the nearest military airfield. Preliminary, this is Voronezh, Rostov, and any military airfield in Crimea. Wherever is more convenient for you.
9/ Water in one-and-a-half-litre bottles is more convenient, but we'll take any."
The south of Ukraine and Russia are currently experiencing very high temperatures and severe drought. The Kakhovka dam's destruction in June 2023 has cut off most of the water supply to Crimea.
10/ Ukrainian attacks on Russian supply chains are also likely to be a factor in causing shortages of food and water. Russian troops have recently filmed themselves having to drink nettle soup for lack of food supplies. /end
1/ Russian warbloggers are angry and frustrated that Ukraine has continued to attack 'shadow fleet' tankers in the Black Sea. They admit that Ukraine has not been deterred, and that the Russian Navy lacks the capability to prevent such attacks.
2/ Video of the latest attack, on the Gambian-flagged tanker Dashan, has been widely shared on Telegram. 'Military Informant' comments:
3/ "Like the previous tankers Kairos and Virat, which carried oil under the Gambian flag, Dashan is also included in the European register of vessels belonging to Russia's "shadow fleet."
1/ The Russian army's fetish for bureaucracy has reached new levels this year, according to a Russian soldier and warblogger. The quantity has tripled over the past year, but the system is geared towards generating false information, or "fantasy stories about armed conflict". ⬇️
2/ 'Vault No. 8' has previously written about the extreme quantities of paperwork that the Russian army requires its personnel to generate and process. As well as taking up huge amounts of officers' time, the output often does not reflect reality.
3/ A further problem is that the Russian army is still, in the year 2025, entirely paper-based, and does not make use of electronic data collection and processing; it all has to be dealt with manually. 'Vault No. 8' writes:
1/ Russian soldiers who fall out with their commanders – due to personality clashes, disagreements, or a refusal to pay bribes – are routinely sent to their deaths in stormtrooper squads. Few survive for long; the following account vividly describes the life of a stormtrooper. ⬇️
2/ 'Occupant's Life', written by a frontline Russian soldier, tells the story:
3/ "Before a soulless bot deletes me from the Telegram universe; before the last spark of life in local mobile networks fades; before my phone buried under a birch tree is flooded to death, I'll tell you about the amusing adventures of a fellow soldier with whom I'd developed…
1/ Injured Russian stormtroopers say they have to lie in their own blood, pus and feces while under armed guard in hospitals that are more like prisons. They get expensive, inedible food which they have to pay for themselves, and are sent back to fight before they are healed. ⬇️
2/ A Russian stormtrooper who has been seriously injured twice describes the grim conditions in the hospital where he has been sent. His account is consistent with accounts from other men of overcrowded, insanitary facilities for the war wounded.
3/ Such reports indicate a medical system which is under severe strain from the sheer number of wounded – likely hundreds a day – who need treatment. Many soldiers have taken advantage of hospitalisation to desert, which likely explains the armed guards.
1/ Russia's decision to block Roblox and other popular apps will backfire on the government, a Russian warblogger warns. He asks why the state is willing to "antagonise HUGE swathes of a warring nation" by taking away its "last bit of joy". ⬇️
2/ 'SHAKESPEARE' writes:
"Our tight-knit "good state" blocked Roblox. I have no idea what that is. But it has over 18 million unique users in Russia .
Again: 18,000,000 of our people."
3/ And at the same time, the same "good state" started blocking VPNs. Currently, it's the three most popular protocols. People mainly use them to watch YouTube and torrent.
1/ So-called 'black commanders' are confiscating Russian soldiers' salary cards, then sending them to their deaths, failing to report them missing or killed, and stealing their salaries. This scam is reportedly widespread and has prompted many complaints from soldiers. ⬇️
2/ The 'Brothers in Arms' Telegram channel describes how the scam works:
"'Black commanders' are those who do not report soldiers as missing when communication is lost or a soldier is killed."
3/ "On paper, the person is still listed, and money continues to be deposited into their account. But who has the card? Take a guess. Modern-day “dead souls,” damn it.