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Feb 24 12 tweets 2 min read Read on X
1/ Four years on from the start of the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russian warbloggers are reflecting on the changes that the war has wrought in Russia. Some Russian soldiers are wondering what it was all for. ⬇️ Image
2/ Nikita Tretyakov writes:

"Our varied thoughts and questions converge on one thing: what is going on out there, in the rear, while we are here, far from our families, loved ones, and past lives, defending the Motherland as best we can and seemingly honourably as possible?"
3/ "What is going on there in this very Motherland behind our backs?

Why does it feel more and more uncomfortable to walk around our cities in military uniform – now including Donetsk and Luhansk – every year? Is it even inappropriate?
4/ "And why, instead of "military," "soldier," or "frontline fighter" have we suddenly started calling them, often with a hint of disgust, "SVOshnik"?
5/ "Why is life—utilities, groceries, gasoline, transportation, everything!—so expensive, as if we were suddenly paying tribute as a country to the Golden Horde?
6/ "Why did we leave for war from a country with an advanced digital development, proud of our convenient use of government services, banks, and even deliveries—…
7/ …and now, when we return on vacation to, say, Krasnoyarsk, we find that our mobile internet (which, by the way, was paid for as a service under a tariff) is disconnected, and geolocation doesn't work?
8/ "Why did we previously save from a frontline soldier's salary for a down payment on an apartment, while now, at best, we save for a mediocre car, even though the salary, apartment, and car themselves are still the same?
9/ "Why, in order to stay in touch with our families on the home front, do we have to constantly invent something—something will be slowed down, something else will be cut off?
10/ "Why, finally, do the people on TV who supposedly represent us talk in such a way that it's clear they know nothing about the front or are simply lying, but then it's also unclear—why?
11/ "There are certainly very clever and very "correct" answers to these questions. But no matter how many answers you give, you can't shake the feeling that while we're here defending our Motherland from those who would destroy and plunder it, someone else,…
12/ …a far more cunning enemy, is plundering and squandering our Motherland behind our backs. He's disfiguring it so completely that soon it will be completely unrecognizable." /end

Source:
t.me/tretyakov_n/18…

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More from @ChrisO_wiki

Feb 23
1/ With manpower increasingly in short supply, Russia is reportedly turning instead to womanpower. Women, particularly convicts and migrants – some still only teenagers – are being forced to join the army, in some cases to serve in frontline combat roles. ⬇️ Image
2/ Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reports that the Russian prison service is putting female convicts under intense pressure, including through starvation, to sign contracts to join the army. Hundreds of women – both Russians and foreigners – are thought to have signed up.
3/ The Uzbek human rights organization Ezgulik reports that it has received letters from the relatives of dozens of Uzbek women who say they are being abused and mistreated to force them to sign military contracts.
Read 20 tweets
Feb 23
1/ It's generally been assumed that the Russian government wants to force its soldiers off Telegram and onto the government-approved MAX app. However, it seems that MAX may also be banned for military use, and an unnamed specialised military messenger may be imposed instead. ⬇️ Image
2/ The generally reliable Fighterbomber Telegram channel reports on a possible ban of both MAX and Telegram in the military (referring to "Laos" as a commonly-utilised euphemism for Russia, to evade the censors):
3/ "Sources within the Security Council suggest that, amid the suppression of Telegram by all available means, Lao troops have received orders banning the use and installation of the world's most secure national messenger on devices with advanced multimedia capabilities,…
Read 19 tweets
Feb 23
1/ The Starlink shutdown has reportedly made 'flag-sticking' – one of the most suicidally dangerous and militarily useless Russian combat missions – even more lethal. Deprived of high-speed Internet, Russian soldiers now have to courier drone videos on USB sticks. ⬇️ Image
2/ 'Flag-sticking' is the practice of sending a small group of soldiers to carry a Russian flag to a Ukrainian-held settlement and unfurl it prominently, to be videoed by a Russian drone for a commander's video report to his superiors, so that he can falsely claim a capture.
3/ This often turns out badly for everyone except the commander. The soldiers are often killed shortly afterwards, having exposed themselves to Ukrainian drones, and many Russian soldiers die when they enter a settlement that is supposedly now Russian-held.
Read 13 tweets
Feb 22
1/ Who are Russian army Major General Roman Geradotovich Demurchiev and his sexologist wife Alexandra, to whom he promised a garland of severed Ukrainian ears? Ukrainian sources paint a detailed picture of the Russian general currently at the centre of war crimes allegations. ⬇️ Image
Image
2/ Gigabytes of text and voice messages apparently hacked from Demurchiev's phone show that he was likely responsible for war crimes against Ukrainian POWs between 2022 and 2024, including murder, torture, and mutilation.
3/ The messages also illustrate the bitterly fractious and corrupt relationships between Russia's generals and senior leaders, with Demurchiev and his colleagues harshly criticising peers and superiors, and transferring money to pay for bribes.
Read 22 tweets
Feb 20
1/ A huge cache of messages from the phone of Russian Major General Roman Demurchiev provides a unique insight into the inner workings of the Russian army. It reveals a force riven by feuds between generals, plagued by corruption, and full of contempt for superiors and peers. ⬇️ Image
2/ Ukrainian sources have provided Radio Liberty with gigabytes of text and voice messages to and from Demurchiev, most likely as the result of a hack of his mobile phone or instant messenger account. They implicate him directly in numerous war crimes.
3/ The messages, from 2022–2024, show Demurchiev engaging with other generals in extended dialogues, notably with Major General Ivan Popov, who commanded the 58th Combined Arms Army until July 2023. He and the other generals are scathing about the war and their colleagues.
Read 50 tweets
Feb 19
1/ Leaked messages and photographs from a senior Russian general show his role in the murder, torture and abuse of captured Ukrainians, some of whom had their ears cut off. The messages illustrate how routine extreme brutality is in the Russian army, even at senior levels. ⬇️ Image
2/ Major General Roman Demurchiev, Deputy Commander of the 20th Combined Arms Army of the Russian Federation, has been commanding Russian forces in Ukraine since 2022. He has been given awards and promotions for his service. Image
3/ Ukrainian sources have obtained an archive of his personal data by undisclosed means, almost certainly by hacking his phone. The correspondence, published in part by Radio Liberty, includes open references to the mistreatment of Ukrainian POWs.
Read 41 tweets

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