1/ Tens of gigabytes of secret data on Russia's strategic electronic warfare systems has been hacked by the pro-Ukrainian Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK). They say that Russia's EW shield is "not just fragile - it's full of holes" due to multiple flaws and vulnerabilities. ⬇️
2/ Two weeks ago, the RDK announced that it had obtained a large quantity of data on Russia's EW systems, including technical specifications, diagrams, official correspondence, equipment setup methods, drawings, test reports, and functional information.
3/ RDK commander 'Fortuna' says that "We got more than just the external appearance. We see the internal logic, architecture, connections between nodes, we know who designed it, which companies supplied the units, which research institutes are responsible for the developments."
4/ "We received a number of important military developments along with protocols, engineering solutions and approvals from the Russian Ministry of Defence. In addition, we managed to establish the entire chain of enterprises involved in production and supply.
5/ "And it is also important that all the persons involved in the development and creation of these stations were identified. Upon completion of the operation, the RDK had their names, addresses, car numbers, places of work."
6/ RDK announced in a YouTube video that it had obtained data on the following:
🔺 "ANCHAR-K — a polar warfare naval station. An automated station for electronic suppression of satellite communication lines in Arctic conditions. It is installed on icebreaker-class ships.
7/ "Developed as a response to the vulnerability of the Russian Federation in high-latitude areas."
8/ The system is intended to disrupt signals from satellites, aviation radars and ship navigation. However, the documents obtained by the RDK indicate that it is not capable of resisting Arctic conditions, including wind, cold and icing.
9/ According to the RDK, "When the ship maneuvers, the Anchar loses tracking. The guidance time is more than four minutes. In the event of a failure, the entire system is switched off." Its location is exposed when it is in operation.
10/ 🔺 "OZON-MEI — over-the-horizon. Over-the-horizon radar project using the evaporation waveguide effect. It works by forming a plasma channel in the near-surface atmosphere."
11/🔺 "Tirada-2.3 — "Interference". Satellite communications electronic suppression station. Part of the Tirada-2S complex."
According to the RDK, this is a narrow-target system for disabling satellite communications which uses directional antennas to focus on specific targets.
12/ Operating in ranges from 225 MHz to 15 GHz, it is used to temporarily disrupt communications with US and British military satellites (WGS, MUOS, Skynet).
13/ 'Fortuna' says: "Such a complex jams communications and also generates false signals. For example, a drone flying over the Bryansk region may "think" that it is over Ethiopia. Disorientation and substitution of coordinates occur."
14/🔺 "NMS REP DDV — suppression radio brain. Ground-based mobile station for suppressing long-range satellite communications. Controls other electronic warfare systems. Suppresses FleetSatcom, Milstar, MUOS, etc. links."
15/ The RDK desribes this as a key element of Russian signal suppression technology:
“This is a radio brain, everything depends on it: it determines radiation modes, types of interference, phasing."
16/ However, they say that it has serious flaws. It is reported to be extremely sensitive to weather, vibrations, requires complex settings and a stable power supply. The system copes poorly with combat conditions.
17/🔺 "Software modules, OS, CORVETTE. Operating systems and software modules used for protection and work with electronic warfare. We understand the architecture, but will not disclose all the security details."
18/ The hacked documents also reveal that Russia exploits China's satellites, apparently without China's knowledge. "Russia uses civilian Chinese satellites to cover the calibration of its systems."
19/ "That is, Russian electronic warfare systems are posing as terminals of the PRC’s civilian fleet in the Pacific Ocean. China has not been officially notified of this. If a signal is detected, Russia is betting that the responsibility will fall on the Chinese channel.
20/ "This is a risky game. Sooner or later, China will understand this. And we already know which satellites they “hang on to,” which channels they mimic. This is an extremely interesting and unexpected observation."
21/ 'Fortuna' says that Russian strategic electronic warfare systems suffer from the lack of an operational ecosystem. "This is a huge, overloaded structure, not ready for a real war."
22/ Russia has invested heavily in its EW systems to compensate for its relative lack of satellites, compared to the United States or China. The leak is likely to be a considerable setback, as it will enable Ukraine's Western partners to develop countermeasures. /end
1/ Huge numbers of Russian soldiers are dying unnecessarily in Ukraine because commanders at every level are falsifying claims of success, according to Russian warbloggers. "To back up their words, they're sending people to their deaths," says one front-line soldier. ⬇️
2/ The image above is an extract from an official Russian Ministry of Defence map showing a completely fictional front line around Kupyansk in Ukraine's Kharkiv region. Commanders falsely reported having taken settlements around the city before it was regained by Ukraine.
3/ Russian commentators call this practice "taking on credit" (as in amassing credit card debt). Commanders have both financial and career motivations for making false reports of success, which are relayed all the way up to Vladimir Putin himself.
1/ Russia's logistical capability to threaten Greenland, 1500 miles away, is fundamentally dependent on its ability to project naval power over long distances, potentially in contested waters. However, Russian warbloggers admit that this is severely limited even in peacetime. ⬇️
2/ 'Military Informant' writes that the Russian logistics vessel MYS ZHELANIYA has "delivered important cargo to the Afrika Korps, calling at the Libyan port of Tobruk. The SPARTA IV, escorted by the large anti-submarine ship Severomorsk, continued on to the coast of Syria."
3/ However, the channel acknowledges, this operation highlights the limits of "the real capabilities of the Russian Navy to escort its merchant ships at great distances from the country's coast."
1/ Donald Trump's aggressive tactics over Greenland are causing consternation among his far-right allies in Europe. With European publics overwhelmingly against surrendering Greenland, leading European far-rightists have come out in opposition to Trump's plans. ⬇️
2/ Bloomberg reports that Trump's designs have forced his ostensible allies to reconsider their support for him. Some may fear voters turning on them for their past support of Trump, much as Pierre Poilievre suffered in Canada in 2024.
3/ 🇩🇪 Alternative for Germany co-leader Alice Weidel says that Trump has acted no differently to Vladimir Putin in his actions in Venezuela and threats against Greenland. "Trump has violated a fundamental campaign promise — namely not to interfere in other countries," she says.
1/ 30 years ago, Russian law enforcement agents started wearing masks to carry out their duties. It soon became a standard tactic to intimidate and extort those seen as opponents of the regime, and became known in Russian as a 'mask show'. ⬇️
2/ During the Soviet era, there was no need for law enforcement officers to hide their faces. They were the agents of an all-powerful state, which although corrupt had huge resources to repress crime and political dissidence.
3/ This changed in the 1990s, when the chaotic collapse of the Communist economy led to the rise of widespread and deadly gangsterism. The police came under direct threat from well-armed criminals. To deal with this, some officers began wearing masks to conceal their identities.
1/ Cuts to public funding due to money being redirected to Russia's war effort are having increasingly severe effects on its already struggling health service. In one region, a collapsing maternity care system has produced horrifying stories of mistreatment and abuse. ⬇️
2/ An increasing number of Russian regions are facing financial crises due to the federal government making severe cuts to regional budgets. This is having a host of negative effects, ranging from collapsing healthcare to cities being flooded with sewage.
3/ The West Siberian region of Kemerovo is one of many to be affected, and faces a healthcare crisis that locals say is already costing lives. A recent scandal has centred on the Maternity Hospital No. 1 in the city of Novokuznetsk, where a number of newborns have died.
1/ Donald Trump isn't the first person to be given someone else's Nobel Prize medal. The last recipient of an unearned Nobel medal was none other than Nazi propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels, at the instigation of Norwegian author Knut Hamsun. ⬇️
2/ Hamsun had won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1920. After Nazi Germany invaded Norway in April 1940, he became a strong supporter of the Nazi occupation, writing numerous highly Anglophobic articles blaming the British for fighting over Norwegian territory.
3/ He was also an enthusiastic admirer of Hitler, travelling to the Eagle's Nest to meet him. Hamsun wrote in 1940 that "the Germans are fighting for us", and later eulogised Hitler as "a warrior for mankind" and "a preacher of the gospel of justice for all nations".