1/ What can Russian soldiers do with thousands of useless Starlink terminals? One Russian warblogger has some humorous suggestions. ⬇️
2/ 'BKGB Casuar' writes:
"Here are 10 ways to use a broken terminal in the Special Military Operation zone:
3/ "1. Butt Kick.
The ground in the trench is cold and damp, and Elon Musk's plastic is warm and high-tech. Use it as an elite seat. Now you're not just a soldier in the mud, but a cyberpunk on a throne, whose butt is protected from moisture by American technology.
4/ "2. Snowshoes.
If you have two broken terminals and a lot of tape, you are the owner of elite snowshoes. The large surface area will prevent you from falling into a snowdrift or deep mud.
5/ "You'll walk through the swamp like Jesus, making everyone who hobbles in regular combat boots envious.
6/ "3. Shovel for emergency "digging in."
If the main shovel is lost, the Starlink turns into an excellent shovel. The soil capture area is huge! A couple of swings, and you've got not just a hole, but a foundation for a future dugout.
7/ "4. Souvenir
At the end of your service, you can sign the plate with your entire unit, write wishes and names of cities.
8/ "This will be the heaviest, most inconvenient, but also the most pompous souvenir, which you can bring home and hang on the wall in your garage as a monument to the era of "wars and high technology."
9/ "5. Kennel for a front-line cat
If your unit has a cat, it deserves the best housing. Two plates connected at an angle form a hut. The cat will sleep in warmth and comfort, knowing that its home is worth more than everything else in the dugout.
10/ "6. Reinforcement for the roof of the dugout
If there are a lot of terminals, you can use them to lay out the roof. This is not only protection from the rain, but also a psychological weapon. Any [Ukrainian] drone flying by will simply be amazed.
11/ "7. Cutting board
The body material is very durable. Cutting food on it is a pleasure.
12/ "8. Improvised Paddle:
If you need to cross a small puddle or river, the Starlink is the perfect paddle. Its hydrodynamics are incredible; Elon clearly had something in mind when he designed the shape.
13/ "9. Rain Shield:
Cover your gasoline generator with it when it rains. Now you have a "hybrid power system": Chinese hardware rattles underneath, and a satellite dome covers it from above. Looks incredibly reliable.
14/ "10. Tactical Map Pad:
Take a marker and draw a map of the area right on the plate. It's big, white, and you won't feel sorry for it. And if a sabotage and reconnaissance group shows up, just wipe it all down with a rag soaked in diesel fuel. No digital traces!" /end
1/ Russian warbloggers are continuing to provide examples of how Telegram is used for frontline battlefield communications, to refute the claim of presidential spokesman Dmitri Peskov that such a thing is "not possible to imagine". ⬇️
2/ Platon Mamadov provides two detailed examples:
"Example number one:
Aerial reconnaissance of Unit N spotted a Ukrainian self-propelled gun in a shelter in the middle of town N."
3/ "Five minutes after the discovery, the target's coordinates and a detailed video were uploaded to a special secret chat group read by all drone operators, scouts, and artillerymen in that sector of the front.
1/ Russian soldiers overwhelmingly prefer to use Telegram for tactical communications despite the Russian army having its own dedicated military messengers. The reason isn't complex – the military's own alternatives are unreliable and difficult to use. ⬇️
2/ 'Vault No. 8' explains the problem:
"The Telegram slowdown is particularly nasty because Telegram is used for communication on the front lines.
Military messengers have been around since I wrote about this, but... Guess what you have to do to get a firmware-ready smartphone?
3/ "That's right! Buy it [with your own money] and send it in for a firmware update. On top of that, one of the military messengers periodically crashes like crazy, and the phone has to be sent in for a [periodic] firmware update, which takes at least a couple of weeks.
1/ The Russian government's throttling of Telegram has deprived the Russian army of a huge repository of information for its soldiers' professional development and a key source of essential technical advice and instruction, as Russian warbloggers explain. ⬇️
2/ 'Kiba's Signalman's Diary' explains:
3/ "Telegram alone has been the only place where self-organised closed chats and knowledge bases on communications, in demand by the military at the moment, were quickly created and developed, independent of decisions and initiatives from above.
1/ Russian warbloggers are outraged at the Russian government's view that blocking Telegram is no big deal for frontline troops. They say it's a catastrophe heaped on the disaster of losing Starlink and that anyone who says Telegram isn't needed is talking "complete bullshit". ⬇️
2/ Dmitri Peskov, Vladimir Putin's spokesman, says: "I don't think it's possible to imagine frontline communications being provided via Telegram or some other messenger. It's difficult and impossible to imagine such a thing."
3/ However, it is very much a thing, as warbloggers have been pointing out furiously. 'Callsign Bruce' provides an example of how it is used to avoid friendly fire incidents:
"I'll give you a real-life example from one of the directions."
1/ Life after Starlink is proving to be difficult and frustrating for the Russian army. Russian warbloggers appear to be going through the stages of grief, expressing anger and alarm at the crisis and concern that Ukraine will exploit it. One anticipates "24/7 fucking". ⬇️
2/ Further instances of price-gouging are being reported, with the cost of US-made Ubiquiti WiFi bridges – illegally imported into Russia – doubling overnight. 'Strong Word' complains:
3/ "Elon is certainly a real jerk. But we have some real assholes in the rear who decided to ride the wave and make money off their own soldiers. Wi-Fi bridges instantly doubled in price. It's maddening, some are spilling blood, and others are making a living off of it."
1/ Russian political officers are reportedly using the Epstein files to justify the 'Special Military Operation' (SVO) as a "war against global evil". However, as a frontline Russian warblogger points out, Russia and its soldiers are hardly innocent of crimes against children. ⬇️
2/ 'Vault No. 8', a serving soldier in the Russian army, writes:
"Over dinner, we were shown a report on the Epstein files: Satanism, cannibalism, paedophilia, child trafficking to EU countries in Ukraine, etc. The conclusion: "The SVO is the fight against global evil."
3/ "At the same time, during the SVO:
— I listened to the stories of several female specialists in men's health. One was raped by her grandfather, then later by her first husband. The second had a stepfather who was violent and raped her mother.