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.
4/ "Customer service is subpar.
Bottom line: Starlinks aren't working, and they're going to slow down Telegram. All of this has already had a profound negative impact on military communications."
5/ There's a notable parallel here with the Russian-developed alternative to Starlink, the Yamal 601 satellite internet system. It is far larger and more difficult to use and install, while providing a much slower service with lower reliability. /end
1/ The barrel of Russia's troubled AK-12 assault rifle bends after intensive use and its trigger mechanism often breaks, according to a Russian warblogger. He says that AK-12s are frequently issued in defective condition, requiring soldiers to buy expensive parts to fix them. ⬇️
2/ The AK-12 has had a troubled history since its launch in 2018 as a replacement for the AK-74M. Described by some as "the worst AK", it has had multiple design, reliability, and functional deficiencies, which led Kalashnikov to issue a simpler "de-modernised" version in 2023.
3/ "No Pasaran" writes:
"Someone asked me why I don't like the AK-12.
Excuse me.
Barrel bending. I've never seen this problem on a Soviet AK, but I've seen it with my own eyes on a Russian-made AK-12."
1/ The near-simultaneous shutdown of Starlink and Telegram are having a massive impact on Russian forces in Ukraine, according to Russian warbloggers. They say that recent Ukrainian advances are a direct consequence of the problems that are being caused. ⬇️
2/ 'Two Majors' writes:
"[W]e can say that it was precisely the combined communication problems that have led to the localized Ukrainian Armed Forces offensives in the south of Kupyansk and in the Zaporizhzhia direction in recent days.
3/ "We didn't make this up; veterans from various parts of the front told us so.
Why are we so angry? Our people are dying there. Our comrades. And if our grumbling can make even a small difference, then it won't have been for nothing that we've all gathered here."
1/ Russia may be preparing to announce a mass mobilisation, a bad peace deal with the US, or confiscate people's savings to fund the war effort, according to Russian warbloggers. They suspect that the government wants to ban Telegram to block public dissent over such moves. ⬇️
2/ Russian officials have hinted strongly that Telegram, which is currently being slowed down and partly blocked by the government, faces a total ban by 1 April 2026. 'Alex Parker Returns' writes (in a since-deleted post) that the government faces a dilemma:
3/ "Either capitulate in accordance with the renewed spirit of Anchorage—freezing the line of contact, surrendering the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, and other whimsical proposals that our esteemed partners will come up with along the way, …
1/ An ongoing epidemic of murder and extortion in the Russian army has reached such a level that Russian warbloggers say the army has become a "gangster supermarket". "Extortion under the threat of death has become an entire shadow industry", says one Russian blogger. ⬇️
2/ Fresh reports of men being "zeroed out" by their commanders are published almost daily. Recently leaked data from the Russian human rights commissioner records over 6,000 complaints in 6 months from soldiers and their relatives about abuses in the army.
3/ Corrupt Russian commanders routinely extort their men with the threat of having them murdered, or sending them into unsurvivable assaults. "Life support" bribes – paid either by the men or their relatives to keep them out of assaults – are commonplace.
1/ Why are Russian soldiers so ill-equipped that they are forced to rely on combat donkeys? Russian warbloggers draw a direct connection to cases of egregious military corruption, such as the recent conviction of Rear Admiral Nikolai Kovalenko for stealing 592 million rubles. ⬇️
2/ Kovalenko's case – for which he was fined just 500,000 rubles ($6,519) and spared jail – has attracted outrage from many Russian commentators. As they point out, it is merely one of many similar cases over the past three decades.
1/ Ukraine's rapid advances in recent days have revealed that many Russian claims of capturing settlements along the length of the front were false or tenous. Russian warbloggers complain that this has exposed more lies by their side's commanders. 📷
2/ Rybar provides a gloomy assessment of Ukraine's progress:
"The situation on the western flank of the Zaporizhzhia front has deteriorated sharply over the past 24 hours."
3/ "The enemy is attempting to cut off the penetration toward Zaporizhzhia along the shore of the former Kakhovka Reservoir. Ukrainian forces have launched an offensive along a sector approximately 20 kilometers wide.