1/ As Ukrainian forces advance in the Kursk region, law and order in frontline Russian-held areas is reported to have collapsed completely. "Rampant looting" is said have broken out – being done by the Russians themselves – while local residents say they feel abandoned. ⬇️
2/ The VChK-OGPU Telegram channel reports that "in the border areas of the Kursk region, where fighting has been going on all week, there are no police, no firefighters, no doctors, no representatives of the administration.
3/ "According to official information, more than 76,000 people left the settlements (most of them left on their own, since there was no organized evacuation, despite the statements of the authorities), but there are still people there, mostly elderly."
4/ The channel says that "the desertion of villages and towns has become a catalyst for rampant looting". The disorder is being carried out by the Russians themselves, though it isn't clear if opportunistic civilians or indisciplined soldiers are responsible.
5/ A local resident says: "They are robbing stores, there is a collapse in Korenevo, the “Magnit” [supermarket, pictured below] was simply destroyed. There is no water, no gas, no electricity.
6/ "There was no organized evacuation, and if there was, then why didn’t we hear anything about it in Lobanovka [an outlying area of Korenevo]?"
According to VChK-OGPU, "a similar situation exists in other border municipalities."
7/ It reports that "Kursk residents are sure that representatives of the [regional] administration, having abandoned people to their fate, themselves provoked the collapse in the border areas.
8/ "Currently, it is impossible to get through to the administration of the Korenevsky district of the Kursk region. People are forced to self-organise in order to protect themselves and their property and essentially perform the functions of state and law enforcement agencies."
Addendum: The Ukrainians have now published a video which shows soldiers, possibly from the Rosgvardia, looting an abandoned Russian house in the Kursk region. New thread here:
1/ A Russian artilleryman has written a highly critical commentary on the way that the Russian army manages small units, which he says discourages independent thought and empowers "scoundrels". ⬇️
2/ The 'Ghost of Novorossiya' Telegram channel posts the thoughts of an artilleryman with the callsign 'Lame', about the controls of small units at the platoon-company/battery level:
3/ "1. The old army maxim does not work: "Until you have risen to the rank of colonel, you do not need to think. Just follow orders." In general, it is a bad habit not to think, and in a modern war it is fraught with death.
1/ The defendants in the case of the 22 March 2024 terrorist attack on the Crocus City Hall venue near Moscow, in which 145 people died, have appeared in court this week. The testimony of an alleged ringleader has been published, providing a detailed account of the plot. ⬇️
2/ Shamsiddin Fariduni, allegedly the leader of the terrorists who attacked Crocus, was photographed shortly after his capture being tortured by the FSB. He appeared to have been severely beaten before his first appearance in court. His testimony should be read with this in mind.
3/ According to his testimony, Fariduni had a criminal record in his native Tajikistan for "committing a crime against sexual inviolability." He went to Russia to get a job in Podolsk, where he became interested in radical Islam and subscribed to ISIS-linked Telegram channels.
1/ A Russian soldier at the front line writes of the harsh conditions at the front line, under continuous fire from "German artillery" [sic] and FPV drones in such a high density that soldiers often cannot move from their dugouts without getting hit. ⬇️
2/ An administrator of the 'Management Speaks' Telegram channel says that they are "slowly but steadily moving through the fields and plantations. The faggots stand to the end and are not going to give up!"
3/ "It is very difficult to work on the flanks because of the German artillery and FPV, they work point by point and [so] densely that we cannot take out the bodies of people!
1/ The short and potentially tragic journey of American émigré Derek Huffman, who moved with his family from Texas to Russia to escape gays and pornography, joined the Russian army and was sent to the front in Ukraine, is documented by his YouTube channel. ⬇️
2/ Until recently, Huffman has vlogged his migration to Russia on his family's YouTube channel, 'Huffman Time'. He described his reasons for the move in a video of March 4, 2025:
3/ "We were motivated by our concerns over LGBT indoctrination in the American schools, unhealthy food, and a desire for a safer environment that is aligned with our Christian values.
1/ At least 226 million rubles ($2.88 million) is reported to have been stolen during the construction of border fortifications in Russia's Bryansk region. The deputy governor, Nikolai Simonenko, has been been raided by investigators pursuing a criminal case. ⬇️
2/ Bryansk has become the third Russian region bordering Ukraine to become the focus of a scandal over corruption in the fortification programme, after Kursk and Belgorod. Kursk's governor and deputy governor are currently detained and awaiting trial.
3/ The corruption scandal in the Kursk region is reportedly the reason why another former governor, Roman Starovoit, shot himself on 7 July. He was said to have been about to face charges over a $190 million fraud.
1/ Residents of the Russian-occupied Donetsk region of Ukraine have issued a desperate appeal to Vladimir Putin to resolve a disastrous shortage of water. A Russian warblogger admits that the region was better off before the Russian takeover. ⬇️
2/ The entirety of Russian-occupied Ukraine is experiencing a severe and worsening lack of water for domestic, agricultural and industrial use. War, neglect, faulty infrastructure and corruption are widely blamed for the problems.
3/ The 'Blue Z Beard' Telegram channel has published the text of an "appeal to the Tsar" which residents of Donetsk have made to Vladimir Putin. It's unlikely to have much effect, as similar appeals have simply been referred to the local authorities.