1/ Google has been fined 2,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (2 undecillion) rubles (equivalent to $204,871,202,000,00,000,371,569,396,369,326,080, or $204.8 octillion) by a Russian court for blocking the YouTube channels of 17 Russian state media companies. ⬇️
3/ Many of the blocked channels testified in court:
- Zvezda
- Channel One
- VGTRK (TV channels Russia 1, Russia 24, etc.)
- Parliamentary Television
- Moscow Media
- TV Center
- NTV
- GPM Entertainment Television
- Public Television of Russia
- Channel 360
- TRK Petersburg
3/ Many of the blocked channels testified in court:
- Zvezda
- Channel One
- VGTRK (TV channels Russia 1, Russia 24, etc.)
- Parliamentary Television
- Moscow Media
- TV Center
- NTV
- GPM Entertainment Television
- Public Television of Russia
- Channel 360
- TRK Petersburg
4/ - Orthodox Television Foundation
- National Sports TV Channel
- Technological Company Center
- IP Simonyan M.S. (representing the YouTube channel of propagandist Margarita Simonyan)
5/ Given that the GDP of the entire world is only about $100 trillion, it seems unlikely that Google will be paying a fine of $204.8 octillion any time soon. /end
1/ This morning's Ukrainian drone attack on the Vladimir Putin Russian Special Forces University in Chechnya is reported to have set the facility's main building on fire, potentially causing serious damage. ⬇️
2/ The Russian outlet Agency. News reports that despite Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov's claim that an "empty building" had been struck, in reality the target was the main building. As Agency reports:
3/ "Kadyrov said that a drone had attacked an "empty building" on the university grounds at 6:30 a.m. As a result, the roof caught fire. According to him, there were no casualties and the fire was extinguished.
1/ A protest against the lack of bonus payments for Russian fighter-bomber pilots appears to have bombed. The pilot responsible is now reportedly being dropped by the Russian Air Force. ⬇️
2/ The Russian '13 Tactical' Telegram channel reports that "the pilot who wrote this (he said it was him when they started screwing the uninvolved) is being fired under a tough article [disciplinary charge].
You can lie, but you can't make mistakes."
3/ According to the well-connected 'Fighterbomber' channel, the protest led to a furious reaction from the air force's high command. An entire unit was stood down and subjected to a day-long "epic fucking" while commanders tried to find the perpetrator.
1/ Wounded Russian soldiers face having to crawl for kilometres across a drone-infested battlefield to find medical assistance – which may or may not be available – due to a "catastrophic" shortage of vehicles and personnel across the front lines. ⬇️
2/ Prominent Russian milblogger Anastasia Kashevarova has commented about the dire situation facing soldiers needing evacuation, which is almost certainly causing far more to die than would have happened if prompt assistance was available. She writes:
3/ "This is a systemic problem, affecting absolutely all units. And many already perceive this as a given, which has a negative impact on the combat readiness of the Russian Armed Forces.
1/ A US citizen who lived in the Ukrainian city of Vuhledar, recently captured by Russia, is to be granted Russian citizenship after secretly providing Russian forces with targeting information on Ukrainian defences for at least the past two years. ⬇️
2/ The 'Donetsk People's Republic' Defence Headquarters has stated that the unnamed American has been evacuated from Vuhledar to Donetsk, where he has been photographed with local forces.
3/ According to the statement, he has been in Ukraine for at least two years and "gave Russia valuable intelligence that allowed it to carry out high-precision strikes on the enemy while minimising damage to civilian infrastructure and the civilian population."
1/ Tourniquets issued to Russian soldiers as part of the standard first aid kit issued by the Russian Ministry of Defence are of such poor quality that they have been dubbed "a good way to die quickly". Soldiers are now being urged to replace them with almost anything else. ⬇️
2/ The 'Doctors, you are not alone' Telegram channel, which represents volunteers working to improve medical care on the Russian front lines, has issued an urgent appeal to soldiers and the MOD to get rid of the standard 'Svetlina' tourniquet, which has multiple problems.
3/ A video showing the tourniquet being tested shows it snapping when used. 'Doctors, you are not alone' has replicated the same problems through independent testing. It concludes, "this is not a combat tourniquet, but a complete mess," affecting all of them, not just one batch.
1/ An interesting translation insight into what Russians call anti-drone protection:
🔺 What some Westerners call a "cope cage", used on military or civilian equipment to protect it from FPV drones, is referred to by Russian sources as a 'mangal' (barbecue).
2/ 🔺 What Westerners have dubbed a "turtle tank" – a homemade shelter that covers a tank, infantry fighting vehicle or armoured personnel carrier entirely – is referred to by Russians as a 'tsar-mangal' (a king barbecue).
3/ While this presumably refers to the grill-like appearance of many of these contraptions, it's probably also quite an appropriate description of what happens to the crews when the extra protection traps them inside the vehicles if they get hit...