Thread by @ChrisO_wiki

1/ The story of a Russian soldier who died last week, having signed a six-month contract but serving two years fighting in Ukraine, illustrates the career of a Russian drone operator. He was one of only 2 volunteers from 2022 to have survived in his unit until recently. ⬇️

2/ The 'Shelter No. 8' Telegram channel, which is written from the perspective of a mobilised Russian soldier, tells the story of a friend of the channel's author who volunteered for service in August 2022 while studying history at university.

3/ The man, who the author calls 'A', graduated from the Tambov training school for electronic warfare (EW) specialists. He was not put to work in EW – men were only accepted as infantry or drivers. This proved a short-sighted policy, as EW specialists were desperately needed.

4/ The author notes ironically that "in the spring and summer of this year, regimental-level EW units were massively created, which needed a lot of specialists. And then EW men were ready to be thrown into assaults."

5/ 'A' signed what was supposed to have been a six-month contract only a month before mobilisation started, and then his contract was extended indefinitely. Like many other volunteers, he experienced a "brutal attitude" towards paying his salary and providing his medical care.

6/ The author summarises 'A's career:

"— From a signalmen in one of the separate motorised rifle brigades of the 6th Combined Arms Army, he was transferred to the infantry, where he did various jobs at the very front.

7/ "He was wounded by a [drone] drop, and spent a long time recovering and receiving treatment.

— He couldn’t get leave for a long time, and learned all the joys of delays in this matter.

8/ "— He saw enough of how they treat the wounded in some hospitals: discharging those who were not fully cured, discharging them straight to the front, without leave due to injury, and so on.

— Transferred to work as a quadcopter operator. A scout and a dropper.

9/ "— Very active work near Syn'kivka, most of the time. Lots of impressions about the meat assaults, a report on the enemy’s tactics from this direction, which he passed on to me.

https://x.com/TheDeadDistrict/status/1741066343980400851

10/ "— Successful work on the drops. Thus, in just one day they managed to eliminate at least 6 enemy soldiers, and this is a solid result. 'A' himself participated in the manufacture of ammunition for the drops, they made both incendiary and anti-bunker IEDs.

11/ "— Consulted me on drones a couple of times, it was useful for our drone operators.

— This summer he fought in Vovchansk. He spent a month without rotation, in the most difficult conditions, including without washing.

12/ "— In total, 'A' served a little over 2 years, but fought in the Zone longer – from the autumn of 2022. That is, instead of the planned 6 months of the contract, he fought 4 times longer.

13/ The author says that 'A' was burned out by his experiences, both serving directly on the front lines and as a drone operator, during which "he saw the death of enemies and his own people live on air."

14/ 'A' ended up having "lost all interest in what he was doing" because of the way his commanders obstructed and mismanaged his work:

"He was attracted by the progress in the use of drones, for example, but orders from above were contrary to this."

15/ He also grew disenchanted by the tendency of commanders to use drones for filming propaganda rather than for kinetic military effects. Despite his expertise in dropping payloads, he "simply became the organiser of a 'movie about the war'" made for commanders.

16/ "By the way, there is a video on the Internet from that plant in Vovchansk, from which our troops retreated under enemy pressure. A review of the ruins after a powerful fire attack and the retreat of the enemy from the plant.

17/ "Filmed from a drone - this is, among other things, 'A's work, as he said."

https://x.com/DefMon3/status/1835732109421359195

18/ "'A' also witnessed stupid unprepared attacks. After our troops left that plant, a hysterical order was received to immediately recapture it. The result was shown by the hohols [Ukrainians] — a knocked-out MT-LB of our troops, littered with the bodies of our infantry.

19/ "In fact, quadcopter operators were watching this failure from our side. It was quite a sight. 'A' also shared similar ones as a very exhausting experience.

https://x.com/front_ukrainian/status/1831028976674054568

20/ "Finally, he lost many acquaintances. If I remember correctly, out of about 40 short-term volunteers in his first unit, only 2 people remained in service this spring, including himself.

21/ "The rest are either 200s [dead] or heavy 300s [seriously wounded], to be written off – consider them cripples. Now 'A' is no more.

The last time we talked with 'A' was on 10 October. On the 11th, he lost contact, which is quite normal on the front lines.

22/ "But on the 15th, a message came from his number: "he died on 11 October." A little later I found out that the hohols most likely got 'A' with a drone. They managed to take out the body ..." /end

Sources:
🔹 t.me/vault8pro/51696
🔹 t.me/vault8pro/51697