1/ "Colossal embezzlement" in Russia's defence industries has led to them failing to modernise Russian military equipment to meet modern demands. It has forced Russian troops in the field to make crude improvisations like 'turtle tanks', according to a Russian commentary. ⬇️
2/ The 'Segodyna. ru' Telegram channel highlights the inability or unwillingness of many Russian military equipment makers to develop new or improved versions of equipment. It attributes this to manufacturers being are content to milk the state rather than make improvements.
3/ The channel highlights problems with artillery and armoured vehicles in particular. On artillery, it notes "problems with the range and accuracy of artillery. The situation has not changed over the years of combat operations." Western-made artillery is superior on both counts.
4/ It's worth noting that other Russian sources have been making similar points for some time regarding UAVs, where corruption, bureaucracy and monopolistic manufacturers have hindered innovation and production.
5/ On armoured vehicles, "they are outdated! The anthropometric data of an infantryman has changed since the creation/production of armoured vehicles. A person has grown, physically become larger, and now barely fits in the troop compartment."
6/ "A soldier with equipment and weapons in a bulletproof vest is simply inconvenient there. The same thing happens during disembarking. That's why we ride on armour. But no one takes this into account!"
7/ The author praises the approach taken by Kalashnikov to resolve problems with the AK-12 assault rifle, which has resulted in multiple upgrades in response to feedback and complaints from users.
8/ In contrast, "a number of domestic military-industrial complex giants are not interested in the consumer's voice. They do not hear it at all. This is a disaster. It is important to talk about this, at the very least, constantly, raise the topic in the media."
9/ "The situation has gone too far. Even the republics of the former socialist camp are already producing their own versions of BMPs, APCs, which are superior to existing domestic models.
10/ "And we have frozen in place, preferring to churn out BMP-3s without modernisation and, when necessary, turn on the so-called anti-crisis [messaging], talking about "wonderful modern machines." But you can't lie forever.
11/ "Note that in 3 years of combat operations, the Ukrainians have established the production of folding screens to protect armoured vehicles from UAVs. Mass industrial production.
12/ "And we are still in a "some to the forest, some for firewood" [i.e. uncoordinated] situation. Our GABTU [Main Armored Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation] has not even presented a standard for such a screen, what it should be like.
13/ And the enemy produces a folding one, which, if necessary, covers the armor with a hood from attack drones and ammunition...
14/ "How are we any worse? We're not. But in practice, we are in disarray, they still stick these "humps" on tanks, turning them into barns from science fiction films. In the 4th year of military operations, shouldn't some kind of spare parts kit for tanks appear?
15/ "Shouldn't someone think about this? Are they thinking? Not to stick sheds on tanks, but get something reliable and simple from the factory...
16/ "A huge number of questions. The same with the BMP, APC. The enemy was given "Bradley", BTR-4E. And where are our "Kurgan", projects that were developed with the Italians at the time? Continue to develop this!
17/ "But no – the monopolists are categorically against anything new being done. They are not able to do anything new, but they can spend a lot of money on stories about wonderful models from half a century ago.
18/ "Because there is a colossal embezzlement of state orders. And this is a lot of money." /end
1/ Russian commanders are dumping unwanted sick, wounded, mutinous, drunk or disobedient men, whom they call 'illiquid assets', into assault squads. They aim to get rid of them by sending them to a likely death. As a commentary points out, this is counterproductive. ⬇️
2/ Svyatoslav Golikov of the 'Philosopher in ambush' Telegram channel writes:
"Below is a message from a good comrade, with whom we also discussed the problems of the practice of informal punishments and at the same time the organization of assault actions:"
3/ "In principle, we have formed a system when assault groups are equated to a penal battalion, where all fly-by-nighters, all inconvenient ones, all who are not to be pitied are sent for their mistakes.
1/ The US Office of Management and Budget is circulating questionnaires to democracy-promoting organisations in eastern Europe, asking them if they are promoting DEI or climate science, opposing abortion, "combating Christian persecution", or making money for the USA. ⬇️
2/ A six-page memorandum with the questionnaire has been leaked to the independent Russian media outlet Agency. News. It appears to have been sent to all agencies that fund foreign assistance as part of a global review. Further funding depends on how the questions are answered.
3/ Four Eastern European organisations which have received currently frozen funding from the State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor say they have received the questionnaire.
1/ In two possible indications that the Russians expect fighting in Ukraine to end soon, the Russian army has reportedly abruptly stopped recruiting convicts, and officers are said to be flocking to safe areas of Donetsk and Luhansk so that they can gain war veteran benefits. ⬇️
2/ According to the VChK-OGPU Telegram channel, "sources report that in a number of penal colonies and pretrial detention centers the recruitment of prisoners for the war was suspended. It is possible that this was done everywhere."
3/ "In some regions even those convicts who had been approved for sending to the so-called Special Military Operation zone by all authorities were "turned back".
1/ The acute exhaustion and demoralisation of the Russians fighting in eastern Ukraine comes across in a vivid description of conditions on the ground, as told by the Telegram blog of a Russian soldier titled, revealingly, 'Groundhog Day'. ⬇️
2/ 3 March 2025
"I have not been able to concentrate, sit down and write a note lately. Another hit cuts off the power, so I sit down to try to convey all the feelings of the last few days.
3/ "It is difficult to say that this is even real. The whole essence of what is happening to us, in general and to me in particular, is expressed easily and simply - a nightmare. No, there is no fear as such.
1/ Russian soldiers are being stuck with massive fines, to be paid from their own pockets, for driving military vehicles on toll roads. They complain that the Russian army is making them pay for so much themselves that they can't make any profit from fighting in Ukraine. ⬇️
2/ A Russian army driver writes to the 'Two Majors' Telegram channel:
"I am a mobilised driver, I drive a Ural [truck]."
3/ "In Moscow there is a road called Bagration Avenue, I drove along it, with black [military] licence plates, I carried out orders, I chose this road because I wanted to reduce travel time.
1/ Ukrainian drones are dominating the skies above exhausted Russian soldiers in the Donetsk region, according to a prominent Russian warblogger. As a result, Russia's progress has virtually halted in the region, even as it advances in Kursk. ⬇️
2/ 'Military Informant' highlights the likely culmination of the Russian offensive in eastern Ukraine. He contrasts the situation in the Donbas and Kursk, and warns that an orderly Ukrainian withdrawal in the latter will cause more difficulties in the former:
3/ "Against the background of significant advancement in the Kursk region, a serious slowdown in the offensive tempo of the Russian Armed Forces in Donbas has been observed for a month now.