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/ Russian warbloggers are advocating various ways of taking revenge on Ukraine, but Komsomolskaya Pravda journalist and propagandist Dmitry Steshin has proposed an option which even the warbloggers aren't sure about: nuking Chornobyl. ⬇️
2/ Responding to another channel's complaint that the West isn't taking Russia's nuclear threats seriously, Steshin suggests:
3/ "Why not use tactical nuclear weapons in the 30-kilometer Chernobyl "exclusion zone" to demonstrate Russian restraint? Seriously, use it as much as you want!"
1/ A Russian deserter has described how Russian evacuation teams loot bodies for items to trade for alcohol and leave the wounded to die. He had most of his teeth pulled out to force him to join a stormtrooper squad, after which he deserted and fled to Germany. ⬇️
2/ 34-year-old Anton Shirshin says he was forced by the Russian police to sign a military contract after he crashed his car and ended up with a 200,000 ruble ($2,500) debt which he couldn't pay off. Despite being rated unfit for service, he was told if he could walk he was fit.
3/ Shirshin was sent for a week of 'training', consisting of firing two clips from an automatic rifle, before he was sent to the front. His commander decided he would be more of a danger with a weapon to his own side than to the enemy and assigned him to evacuation duty instead.
1/ Foreign-made components in Russian Kilo-class submarines in the Black Sea Fleet have reportedly been systematically stripped out and replaced with Russian or Chinese components. However, this is said to have resulted in corruption and significant problems with reliability. ⬇️
2/ In the mid-2010s, Russia undertook a major project to upgrade the design of its Kilo-class submarines with new systems. 11 new Project 636.3 ("Improved Kilo II") boats were launched between 2013 and 2024, with another 5 currently either on order or under construction.
3/ According to the VChK-OGPU Telegram channel, the new systems incorporated foreign components, presumably imported from Western countries. This practice ceased in 2022 when technology sanctions were imposed following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
1/ Russia's use of frontline 'combat donkeys' is backfiring, according to Russian warbloggers. They say that the animals' large thermal signature is allowing the Ukrainians to track them easily and expose hidden Russian positions. ⬇️
2/ The Russian army has been using donkeys to replace vehicles in frontline logistics since at least the start of 2025. The thread below is a compilation of reports of donkey use on the front in Ukraine.
3/ A recent appearance by General Andrey Kartapolov on the 'Solovyov Live' show on the Russia 1 TV channel has attracted ridicule from warbloggers due to the general's claim that the donkeys don't get noticed because Ukrainian operators mistake them for roe deer.
1/ The Russian Air Force's inability to protect its aircraft against Ukrainian drones is symptomatic of its neglected status within the Russian armed forces, according to a prominent milblogger linked to the air force. He says it is afflicted by "desperation and poverty". ⬇️
2/ The Fighterbomber Telegram channel, which is believed to be run by a former Russian Air Force captain, comments that "the [Aerospace Forces] Commander-in-Chief could not do anything in the current situation" because of a chronic lack of resources.
3/ "The Aerospace Forces Commander-in-Chief cannot even get themselves normal "Pantsirs" [anti-aircraft missile systems] in the required quantity to protect combat airfields. Which are subordinate to them.
1/ A Russian military journalist says that Russian manufacturers won't produce electronic warfare drones because "the more UAVs shot down at the front, the more orders they have". It's said to illustrate how they treat the war as a get-rich-quick scheme. ⬇️
2/ Alexey Sukonkin quotes a correspondent on how the developers of a flying electronic warfare system, created in 2023, have found a complete lack of interest from Russian drone manufacturers despite the increasing threat from Ukrainian drones:
3/ "Our subscriber saw full-scale exhibits and heard a speech by the authors of the development at the Army-2023 exhibition – an unmanned aerial system for electronic suppression of FPV drones.