1/ The Russian government has reportedly ordered hundreds of public sector employees in Moscow to give up their days off and watch the skies over the capital for Ukrainian drones during the 9 May Victory Day commemoration. ⬇️
2/ On 3 May 2023, a Ukrainian drone hit the Kremlin (shown in the video above). In an evident attempt to prevent a repeat, the VChK-OGPU Telegram channel reports that the authorities have "forced hundreds of public sector employees to patrol the streets around the clock...
3/ ... and watch the sky to watch out for UAVs. Employees of various state budget institutions and other organizations subordinate to the mayor's office have already been briefed, they have been divided into groups and have been given overtime schedules.
4/ "The observers have one goal - to record and report any flying objects approaching Moscow and directly in the sky above the capital.
5/ "All public sector employees involved in the May holidays were threatened with dismissal in case of refusal, and the shifts themselves will be under strict control. One of the conditions is to regularly send selfies to management during patrols.
6/ "During the briefing, the observers were openly told that they would be checked using the city's camera system.
7/ "The photos that the public sector employees will send to their supervisors will be 'run' through a special program of the Ministry of Internal Affairs called PARSIV [a facial recognition system that allows tracking of a person's route in a given area]." /end
1/ A wounded Russian soldier has recorded a nude video complaining that his commanders are "freaks who maim and kill our soldiers". He says that they use men as 'expendable material', inflicting huge casualties on their own side, and that medical facilities are terrible. ⬇️
2/ The unnamed soldier is currently a member of an assault battalion in the 1307th Guards Motorised Rifle Regiment (military unit 77860), which he says is a "bloody regiment" used as a penal unit for 'undesirables'.
3/ He joined the Russian army in March 2022 as a member of the BARS (Combat Army Reserve) and fought near Kharkiv in the early days of the war, receiving an award for bravery. Casualties were extremely high, with only 32 out of 500 men surviving. He was wounded himself.
1/ The career of a Russian UAV operator, as described by a Russian warblogger:
"A young man of about 25 years old is going to sign a contract, hoping to become a UAV operator. He has an engineering education and a couple of years of work experience after graduating."
2/ "He is shoved into assaults, without any discussion. They ignore his request to enroll him as a drone operator, they ignore his higher education. The training before the first battle is less than 14 days.
3/ "The guy ends up storming a populated area, where he receives a moderately severe wound to the leg (dropped from a copter).
A month later, slightly healed, he is returned to the regiment, where he is listened to and sent to a newly formed UAV platoon.
1/ A leaked order suggests that the Russian army is concerned about how many of its soldiers will leave once mobilisation and stop-loss orders have ended. It follows concerns expressed by Russian warbloggers that much of the army may quit after a ceasefire or peace deal. ⬇️
2/ The order, shown above, instructs commanders to "organise and conduct a survey of military personnel of all categories about their intentions (desires) to continue military service under contract after completing their military service, taking into account the proposed…
3/ …increase in salary (from 100 thousand rubles and above) and the expansion of the list of social guarantees provided (free travel to and from, basic leave for military personnel and their family members, increased monetary compensation for the rental of housing, etc.)."
1/ Russian soldiers' chances of being evacuated from the battlefield are now virtually non-existent in many parts of the front line, according to a Russian military doctor. The prevalence of Ukrainian drones, cluster shells and remote mining is blamed. ⬇️
1/ A young Russian soldier who has fled to France has spoken of life as a stormtrooper. He says that supplies are routinely stolen, almost everyone on combat missions ends up wounded or dead, and those who return uninjured are shot by their own side as suspected deserters. ⬇️
2/ Kamil M., who used the call sign 'Virus' while doing his compulsory service in the 15th Motorised Rifle Regiment (military unit 31134), described his military service in an interview with Novaya Gazeta Europa.
3/ Kamil found his compulsory conscript service to be a desultory experience. He was put to work painting the grass green in the spring and removing water with a shovel. He says that "everywhere around there was laziness" and he ended up doing his commander's work for him.
1/ Russian troops have repeatedly been seen advancing into assaults on crutches or canes or even in wheelchairs, being used as 'meat probes' against Ukrainian defences. This thread compiles filmed instances of Russian 'cripple battalions' being used in Ukraine. ⬇️