1/ Gloomy assessments by Russian milbloggers suggest that Russia faces serious difficulties in defeating Ukraine's Kursk offensive due to a lack of strategic reserves, a reliance on "patchwork" of badly attrited units, and the weakening of other fronts. ⬇️
2/ The "Philologist in Ambush" Telegram channel comments that although Russian reserves are being brought up to serve as a "fire brigade", they "continue to be insufficient even for sustainable stabilisation of the situation, let alone the defeat of the enemy grouping.
3/ "They are insufficient not only quantitatively, but also qualitatively. On the enemy side, there are fairly well-equipped units and formations. So far we have a patchwork of fire brigades, and not enough in terms of numbers.
4/ "I won't take it upon myself to judge some units and formations of the strategic reserve, but, as the events of the last few days have shown, we don't have many operational reserves at all – to stop the crisis, reserves are being transferred from other parts of the front, …
5/ …and not only from the nearest Kharkiv direction, but also from other directions (including those in which our troops have had at least some limited successes in the last few months), thus further weakening our already thinning ranks in these directions.
6/ "Reserves arriving from other areas are, by definition, mostly undermanned due to existing losses.
7/ "These losses are often quite high due to the poor organisation of combat work with poorly supported attacks within the framework of a strategy that requires an offensive in all possible areas.
8/ "Plus, not all formations and units can be pulled out from other directions entirely, because they are directly involved in offensive actions.
9/ "As a result, against initially fully equipped formations and units of the enemy group, we have to a large extent a scattering of grouplets of the type of the sagging BTGs of the summer of 2022.
10/ "Add to this the enemy's advantage in military-technical means (including communication systems and UAVs), organisational structures (primarily in individual units and subdivisions of strike UAVs) and a flexible operational control system that allows them to…
11/ …adequately respond to changes in the situation and promptly inflict fire damage on identified targets, and we get a very specific assessment of the activities of our top military leadership, including, first of all, Chief of the General Staff Gerasimov." /end
1/ Despite China's professed support for Russia, Russian drone-makers complain that Chinese companies are providing them with poor-quality, defective, overpriced components that are delivered late or not at all. They attribute it to China covertly seeking to weaken Russia. ⬇️
2/ Russian drone manufacturers are heavily dependent on imported Chinese components. According to research by the Yermak-@McFaul International Expert Group, 67% of the components in the Shahed-136/131, Lancet and Orlan-10 drones come from China.
3/ The 'Vostok Battalion' Telegram channel reports that Ukraine's recent successes in its Kursk offensive were aided by a previously unseen ability to evade enemy electronic warfare systems. The Russians say they themselves lack this ability due to problems with Chinese supplies:
1/ The border between Russia's Kaliningrad exclave and its neighbours Poland and Lithuania is reportedly barely guarded due to a lack of manpower. Meanwhile, the FSB is said to be resisting the creation of an expanded border protection force recruited from veterans. ⬇️
2/ The VChK-OGPU Telegram channel reports the views of a source on the border situation in Kaliningrad: "How do they guard the border (with Poland and Lithuania) in the Kaliningrad region now?
3/ "No way, God willing, 17% of the personnel remain, the rest are on a mission in the Belgorod region (where they send people from all departments, whoever they can find)."
1/ Recriminations are reportedly taking place within Russia's special forces over the deaths in an ambush on 28 July of six elite soldiers, who were part of a sabotage and reconnaissance group infiltrating into Ukraine. ⬇️
2/ The six men were members of the 322nd Special Operations Centre ("Senezh"). Their unit has been active in many of Russia's conflicts in recent years, in the Caucasus, the Middle East, Africa, Crimea and the Russian-Ukrainian war since 2022.
3/ The men have been named by the VChK-OGPU Telegram channel as:
- Guard Major Alexander Vasiliev
- Guard Major Andrei Ivanovich Pospelov
- Guard Major Mikhail Aleksandrovich Asanov
- Guard Captain Vyacheslav Andreevich Larionov
- Guard Captain Viktor Yuryevich Soldatkin
1/ Russian commentators say that Russia is losing parity in the drone war with Ukraine. They blame outdated military commanders, the takeover of drone development by state contractors, and a dysfunctional military procurement system which prioritises loyalty over competence. ⬇️
2/ The "Chronicle of a UAV Operator" Telegram channel has posted a commentary assessing why Ukraine has gained UAV superiority over Russia. The UAV Operator highlights the push for "monopolisation, standardisation and simplification", which he says has been counter-productive.
3/ He blames the fixation of Russian military decision-makers on old military techologies: "Those who made such decisions can be understood, because these steps are the three pillars of the old technological school, where the Kalashnikov assault rifle, the Mosin rifle and the…
1/ Russian sources say that soldiers with rare specialities, such as tank drivers, UAV operators or even anaesthesiologists, are being sent to fight in the front lines and serve as stormtroopers. This is reportedly being caused by a severe shortage of assault troops. ⬇️
2/ The Russian blogger Anastasia Kashevarova says there is a "huge problem" with the "transfer of fighters with rare specialities to the [assault units of] the motorised riflemen."
3/ Kashevarova writes: "We receive letters with tragic stories about talented UAV operators, RPG operators, tankers, who were transferred to the storm troops on the same day and died on their very first mission.
1/ Russian milbloggers are furious at the failure of Russia's Ministry of Defence to protect the Kursk region border from the current large-scale Ukrainian incursion. They call the situation there "hell on earth".
2/ A common complaint is the military's failure to anticipate the attack. Ravreba comments: "The Kursk region lived, like Moscow, without thinking about the fact that there was an enemy nearby that was not sleeping.
3/ "On August 2, a Russian sabotage and reconnaissance group was completely wiped out, the bodies were shown in Ukrainian [Telegram channels], but the understanding that the fighters had run into a group preparing an invasion, not a special force, did not come.