1/ Leaked casualty figures from an elite Russian special forces brigade indicate that it has suffered huge losses in Ukraine, equivalent to more than half of its entire roster of personnel. Scores of men are listed as being 'unaccounted for', in other words having deserted. ⬇️
2/ The 10th Separate Guards Special Purpose Brigade (military unit 51532) is a special forces (spetsnaz) unit under the GRU. It is a 2002 refoundation by Russia of a Soviet-era spetsnaz unit that, ironically, passed to Ukraine when the Soviet Union broke up in 1991.
3/ Since the invasion of February 2022, the brigade has been fighting on the Kherson front, which has seen constant and extremely bloody fighting over the islands in the Dnipro river and delta. Russian sources have reported very high casualties.
4/ The figures, along with names, have been published by the Telegram channel 'Don't Expect Good News'. It says that a staff officer with the brigade has passed it lists of the casualties, missing and deserters since the start of the war, complete with individual names.
5/ The data shows the following casualties since February 2022:
🔺 Killed: 621 men
🔺 Missing in action: 315
🔺 'Unaccounted for' [i.e. deserters]: 169
6/ By the end of 2025, the brigade was far below its normal roster of personnel. The figures were:
🔺 1,811 men rostered, of whom:
🔺 1,230 were on duty
🔺 315 missing in action
🔺 144 unaccounted for
🔺 109 in hospital
🔺 10 under arrest
🔺 3 in captivity
7/ The huge scale of the losses in even an elite unit reflect what commentators have described as an "astonishing" level of casualties. Spetsnaz soldiers are considerably better trained and equipped than regular infantry, so their loss will be significantly more harmful. /end
1/ Six months ago, the newly built Russian Navy tugboat Kapitan Ushakov capsized at its moorings during its final outfitting, when it was 97% complete. It's still there today, resting on its side, leading to some hard questions for the Northern Fleet. ⬇️
2/ The only thing that seems to have changed after six months is that the boat is now encased in ice at the Baltic Shipyard pier in St. Petersburg. It's an "endless disgrace", 'Military Informant' complains. But how and why has it not been raised?
3/ The shipyard's owner, Yaroslavl Shipyard (YaSZ), says that because the vessel "is being built under a state defence contract ... there is no permission to disclose this information or comment on it."
1/ Russian ultra-nationalist ideologue Alexander Dugin predicts that Western civilization will collapse due to the Epstein files, clearing the way for Russia and China to take over. He calls for all-out opposition to the West, and for Russia to save Iran from Donald Trump. ⬇️
2/ Dugin writes:
"The West, thanks to Epstein's lists, is beginning to crumble before our eyes. Russia and China have a historic opportunity to become the beneficiaries of the total collapse of the entire Western system.
3/ "Now it's no longer a matter of right or left, if they have a "right" like Epstein Island (or a left). It's time to end the West.
1/ Russia is reportedly considering proposing a wide-ranging economic partnership with the Trump administration, including joint cooperation to push fossil fuels as an alternative to Chinese and European clean energy solutions, in opposition to curbing climate change. ⬇️
2/ Bloomberg is reporting that Russia has prepared a seven-point memo that includes a return to the dollar settlement system, reversing Putin's by now well-established policy of creating an alternative system insulated from US economic pressure.
3/ The proposals also include joint US-Russian ventures in manufacturing, nuclear energy, oil and LNG extraction, preferential conditions for US companies in Russia to compensate for past losses, cooperation on raw materials, and jointly working against clean energy.
1/ Why does the Russian government appear to be so clueless about the role Telegram plays in military communications? The answer, one warblogger suggests, is that the military leadership doesn't want to admit its failure to provide its own reliable communications solutions. ⬇️
2/ Recent claims by high-ranking officials that Telegram isn't relevant to military communications have prompted howls of outrage and detailed rebuttals from Russian warbloggers, but have also pointed to a deeper problem about what reliance on Telegram (and Starlink) represents.
3/ In both cases, the Russian military has failed abysmally to provide workable solutions. Telegram and Starlink were both adopted so widely because the 'official' alternatives (military messngers and the Yamal satellite constellation) are slow, unreliable and lack key features.
1/ Telegram is deeply embedded into Russian military units' internal communications, providing functionality that MAX, the Russian government's authorised app, doesn't have. A commentary highlights the vast gap that is being opened up by the government's blocking of Telegram. ⬇️
2/ The Two Majors Charitable Foundation writes that without Telegram, information exchange, skills transfer, and moral mobilisation work within the Russian army will be crippled:
3/ "I'd really like to add that for a long time, we've been gathering specialized groups in closed chats, including those focused on engineering and UAVs, to share experiences and build a knowledge base. Almost everyone there is a frontline engineer.
1/ Russia's Federal Customs Service is seeking to prosecute Russian volunteers who are importing reconnaissance drones from China to give to frontline troops. It's the latest chapter in a saga of bureaucratic obstruction that is blocking vital supplies to the Russian army. ⬇️
2/ Much of the army's equipment, and many of its drones, are purchased with private money by volunteer supporters or the soldiers themselves. High-tech equipment such as drones and communications equipment is purchased in China or Central Asia and imported into Russia.
3/ However, the Federal Customs Service has been a major blocker. Increased customs checks on the borders have meant that cargo trucks have suffered delays of days or even weeks, drastically slowing the provision of essential supplies for the Russian army.