1/ The aviation component of Russia's nuclear triad is said to be at serious risk of failure due to possible corruption at Russia's United Engine Corporation. This has come to light after the crash of a Tu-160M strategic bomber on which Vladimir Putin flew in February 2024. ⬇️
2/ On 22 February 2024, Putin flew on Tu-160M no. 801. The Tu-160M is the world's largest, heaviest and fastest bomber, designed to carry nuclear-capable free-fall bombs or air-launched cruise missiles carried on a rotary launcher.
3/ Less than two months after Putin flew on it, the same aircraft crashed on take-off at the Kazan Aircraft Plant on 11 April 2024. A leaked letter reportedly from the Scientific Production Enterprise (NPP) "Temp" named after F. Korotkov describes what happened:
4/ "A fire in one of the engines, followed by its destruction with the scattering of fragments, led to damage and fire to the remaining three engines and the aircraft. Luckily, there were no casualties.
5/ "It is obvious that on 22 February 2024, the long flight of the Tu-160M aircraft No. 801 with the President and Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Armed Forces on board could have ended in a terrible tragedy that served as a trigger for worldwide nuclear Armageddon."
6/ The letter expresses "serious concerns due to the unsatisfactory technical condition of one of the main carriers of Russian nuclear weapons." An investigation found that the accident was caused by the state-owned UEC's failure to properly maintain the aircraft's NK-32 engines.
7/ According to the letter, "JSC UEC, possibly under pressure, is avoiding performing work to maintain the good technical condition of strategic bomber engines, which is confirmed by the discovery of up to 10 more faulty NK-32 engines as of 01/07/2024."
8/ It warns that this poses "a potential threat of disrupting the combat readiness of a significant part of the Tu-160M strategic bombers." The Tu-160M fleet forms part of the aviation component of Russia's nuclear triad, along with the Tupolev Tu-22M and Tu-95 bombers.
9/ The letter continues: "Perhaps due to the lack of engine calibration test data, at the request of UEC JSC, restrictions for certain flight modes were introduced into the operating manual for the aircraft, engine and electronic engine control system, …
10/ … which could lead to catastrophic consequences, as shown by the accident on 11 April 2024."
According to the VChK-OGPU Telegram channel, rather than repairing engines, UEC has instead been substituting them with units in storage and those removed from other aircraft.
11/ It's possible that this was caused by a common scam in Russia's chronically corrupt defence sector – fulfilling contracts superficially or not at all, while corrupt executives pocket the difference between the cost of the contract and the substandard actual work.
12/ The letter complains that "JSC UEC, instead of admitting its guilt, taking emergency measures to eliminate the causes of the accident and prevent something similar in the future, through administrative pressure and, possibly, financial motivation, …
13/ … has been hiding the causes and consequences of the accident from you, dear Vladimir Vladimirovich, and citizens of Russia for almost three months."
14/ Possibly as a result of the letter, VChK-OGPU reports that Russia's Presidential Administration has forced the Prosecutor General's Office, the Investigative Committee, and the Russian Ministry of Defence to open an investigation.
15/ It alleges that the company and the state-owned Rostec State Corporation have persistently escaped legal consequences for "multi-billion dollar damages" due to their protection by government figures after previous air crashes.
16/ However, the circumstances of the latest incident – with its proximity to Putin himself and its implications for Russia's nuclear triad – may have made serious consequences unavoidable for UEC. /end
@MenchOsint My guess is that the plane was either damaged while it was still on the ground or just after takeoff, in which case the incident could have been confined to a fairly small area. It could quite possibly have been a constructive loss rather than complete destruction.
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1/ Ukraine's ongoing waves of drone attacks against Russian oil refineries are causing more discontent and complaints from Russian warbloggers, who are demanding that more should be done to stop them. ⬇️
2/ 'Ramzai' puts the blame on the refinery owners, reflecting a widespread conspiracy theory that they are happy to see their refineries being blown up because they make more profit from fuel price increases:
3/ "I believe that for every successful attack on an oil refinery, the owners of the refineries should be severely punished for "negligence" and "criminal inaction."
1/ A Russian mother protesting for the release of her son three years after he was mobilised has highlighted the plight of the remaining 'mobiks'. Over 85% are said to have died by now, and the remainder are being forced to sign contracts at gunpoint. ⬇️
2/ Lidiya Nekrasova, the mother of a mobilised soldier, was arrested in Moscow on Monday 21 September after holding a solitary picket while holding a sign reading "21 September 2022 – 21 September 2025. Freedom for the mobilised."
3/ She was immediately approached by police and told that "the topic of mobilised soldiers is forbidden to be raised." She folded the sign so that only the dates were visible, but the police told her that this was also unacceptable.
1/ This isn't the first time that OAN has blatantly pushed Russian propaganda lines. It's regularly opposed aid to Ukraine and promoted conspiracy theories about it. Here are a few more "highlights".
2/ Oct 2022 – "Conflict in Ukraine part of globalist plot to destabilize western nations, provoke WWIII with Russia" (Pearson Sharp report).
3/ Mar 2023 – "China and Russia are inching closer towards an unholy marriage... U.S. stands alone, shipping cash bags to Ukraine with no end in sight"
1/ Russian soldiers and their relatives are being forced to pay monthly 'life support' fees – bribes to avoid being sent into deadly assaults – to corrupt commanders, according to the wife of one soldier. She says that men in his unit are beaten and threatened with execution. ⬇️
2/ The wife of Rodion Igorevich Shashnin says that her husband was mobilised into the 205th Motorised Rifle Brigade (military unit 74814) but was then "sold" to the 4th Separate Motorised Rifle Brigade (military unit 40318) as a reconnaissance operator, without any documentation.
3/ According to her, he was forced to sign a contract to make him a professional soldier – and thus unable to benefit from demobilisation – along with many other men in the unit. Men were constantly beaten and threatened with being 'reset' (executed), and many deserted.
1/ An apparent Russian espionage scandal is unfolding in the Dominican Republic after the arrest of a 25-year-old man who has been linked to Yevgeny Prigozhin's disinformation network. He has been linked to a recently-exposed Russian network in Argentina. ⬇️
2/ According to the Dominican Republic's Procurator General, law enforcement agents arrested 25-year-old Dmitry Novikov on 19 September "during an operation in a villa in the Palmas del Sol II residential area of Bávaro, La Altagracia, where he lived with his family."
3/ He is said to have run "a cyber influence network ... linked to the project known as "Lakhta" or "The Company," based in Russia and dedicated to the creation and dissemination of digital content focused on political disinformation campaigns and social media manipulation."
1/ Russians can no longer complain anonymously about corruption. A corruption-reporting option on the Kremlin website launched under Vladimir Putin's predecessor Dmitry Medvedev has quietly been removed for unknown reasons (seen here before and after). ⬇️
2/ The independent Russian news outlet 'We can explain' reports that the option to send a message to Putin via email has disappeared from the Kremlin website. To do so, you now need to register through the Russian government portal Gosuslugi.
3/ Anonymous complaints are now no longer allowed for any reason. Until recently, it was possible to send messages to Putin using only an email address, via the Kremlin website's public services portal. This is no longer permitted.