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 sign of how things are now on the Russian front lines: Russian volunteers declare success after raising enough money to buy a truckload of body bags. ⬇️
2/ From the 'Good staff' Telegram channel:
"Our next item to collect is body bags for our fallen comrades.
As hard as it is for us, and it's always hard for me to write about it, the guys have an urgent need for them."
3/ "It would be great to buy 1,000 of them. They're giving us that amount at 171 rubles each...
Friends, remember we started a fundraiser for bags for our fallen comrades.
We managed to collect and purchase 500 bags. The bags were purchased and delivered to the guys.
1/ Ukraine's audacious attack today on a Russian submarine at anchor in Novorossiysk has prompted anger and derision from Russian warbloggers. One complains: "I don't have the strength to comment on this anal fucking anymore." ⬇️
2/ Anatoly Shariy comments that the attack on the submarine Varshavyanka is "totally mindblowing." "Is Novorossiysk missing a submarine?" he asks sarcastically.
'Military Informant' comments gloomily that the damage is likely to be severe:
3/ "It appears the unmanned surface vehicle (USV) [sic, actually an unmanned underwater vehicle, UUV] struck near the Varshavyanka's stern, where the vertical and aft horizontal rudders, as well as the propeller, are located."
1/ Igor 'Strelkov' Girkin says that Russia will only achieve victory if Ukraine is 'defeated and reformatted', but complains that nothing has been done to persuade the Ukrainian people that this is actually a good thing for them. ⬇️
2/ From his suspiciously well-connected prison cell, he writes of his favourite (but distinctly fantastic) scenario, which is likely shared by influential pro-war figures in the Russian elite:
"I see clear criteria after which we could speak of victory."
3/ "Let me reiterate that this is precisely the collapse of the entire so-called Ukrainian state, which was created entirely as an anti-Russian project, as "Anti-Russia," and was bound to sooner or later enter into a military confrontation with the Russian Federation.
1/ Scammers claiming to be 'forensic experts' are reported to be conning hundreds of thousands of dollars from relatives of dead and missing Russian soldiers, to 'identify' their loved ones from heavily pixelated images released by Ukrainian sources. ⬇️
2/ The Russian warblogger and journalist Anastasia Kashevarova reports on the latest scam affecting relatives, who have been plagued by an entire industry of fake mediums, astrologers and other frauds who claim to be able to track down the missing and dead:
3/ "Independent experts profit from the families of the missing and killed, confirming for money that their fighter is theirs using blurry, faceless photos. The attached photos, or simply blurry pixels, are photos from forensic examinations used to identify the fighters.
1/ A member of Russia's military police says that they have been ordered to impose at least 15 fines per day, or face being sent to their deaths in stormtrooper squads. Because they are so widely hated, they are sent to fight alongside convicts and 'undesirables'. ⬇️
2/ The military police, known as the VP, are widely detested by the rest of the Russian military for their corruption, violent treatment of detainees, and tendency to impose fines for trivial breaches of regulations, such as not having the right stamps on official paperwork.
3/ The latter tendency has been the subject of an increasing number of complaints. Russian warbloggers report that that Russian soldiers in the rear areas of Russian-occupied Donetsk and Luhansk are experiencing worsening harassment from the VP.
1/ Mobilised Russian soldiers complain that they have not been paid this month. The reason isn't clear, but it may be part of an ongoing campaign to force them to sign contracts to make them permanent soldiers. ⬇️
2/ Around 300,000 Russians were compulsorily mobilised beginning in September 2022. Although many have since died in Ukraine, thousands of 'mobiks' still remain. They serve under different conditions and pay rates from permanent 'contract' soldiers.
3/ Contract soldiers are those who have voluntarily signed a contract with the Russian Ministry of Defence to serve for a set number of years (currently extended indefinitely).