1/ The Russian army is recruiting incontinent, brain-damaged men who are incapable of fighting and are literally having to be carried around. A Russian warblogger protests the waste of resources that this represents. ⬇️
2/ Anastasia Kashevarova, a journalist and warblogger who has campaigned for the rights of Russian troops, highlights the ongoing problem of so-called "black recruiters" who recruit sick people into the army to meet arbitrary quotas and steal their recruitment bonuses.
3/ This is a widespread issue on which she has written before. Thousands of medically unfit men, many with infectious diseases like HIV and hepatitis, have been recruited. Some have been discharged, but many have ended up on the front lines.
4/ She writes: "I was sent a video of two servicemen: they show clear signs of mixed encephalopathy (of vascular and alcoholic origin), they move with difficulty (due to alcoholic polyneuropathy), and they have pelvic floor dysfunction…
5/ …(in common parlance, they pee and defecate in their own beds).
Both signed contracts about 10 days ago. When speaking to each other, neither knows where or how they signed the contract.
6/ "They walk with difficulty, pee and defecate in their own beds in the dugout, and stink. Since they are already at the base area, their commanders are obliged to send them to the training ground. Other servicemen are forced to literally carry them around.
7/ "Upon examination, they show no acute pathology. But clinically, disability due to chronic encephalopathy, coupled with long-term alcohol abuse and an antisocial lifestyle, is also a reality.
And these aren't isolated cases.
Why is this happening?
8/ "It's clear that people are needed at the front. There are regional quotas. But the regions are working in such a way that they cram everyone into the front lines. Our troops suffer, receiving such reinforcements who need to be carried.
9/ "Are these people unable to fight? They move with difficulty. This isn't the fault of the Ministry of Defence, but of those responsible in the rear.
10/ "The military is trying to fight, but superior generals are only given figures, while the figures for contract signatories don't indicate how many of them are unfit for military service.
11/ "Many of these people were recruited fraudulently while intoxicated. Their cards were taken by these same "black recruiters," that is, scammers, who pocketed their payments.
12/ "The FSB, the Investigative Committee, the Military Prosecutor's Office, and military investigative departments are fighting this, but scammers continue to profit from the war.
13/ "What's the point of hiring such soldiers? They won't be able to fight because other soldiers are forced to carry them around because it's just a shame, and the unit's combat effectiveness is diminished.
14/ "‼️We need to impose liability on those who hired such soldiers. This is a blow to our army. These people are on the payroll, and they're supposed to be a combat unit. But in reality, they're not.
15/ "And that’s one of the reasons why the guys can’t take leave or be rotated out, because the rear echelon is signing up unfit citizens!
16/ "This approach is neither financially nor strategically feasible. It would be better to spend this money on drones, while the state budget is being spent on scammers and sending asocial troops to the front who are incapable of fighting." /end
1/ Russian warblogger Lev Vershinin wonders how Russia has managed to revert to 18th century standards of brutal military discipline, as seen in this video. How did it "become so savage in just one generation?", he asks. ⬇️
2/ The video shows a commander (almost certainly Russian, despite Vershinin's disingenuous uncertainty in the post below) savagely beating several men. They have apparently retreated ("rolled back") without authorisation from a mission or frontline position.
3/ “I came across some front-line footage. Not AI. But I don’t know which side it was filmed on. Neither the Russian language nor the swearing mean anything, because the war is essentially a civil one. So, it could be both.
1/ A Russian soldier says that he and his comrades were told by their commander that "a single shell is worth more than all your lives". The men were sent on suicidal missions without artillery support, without supplies, and had to scavenge for weapons on the battlefield. ⬇️
2/ In a video explaining his decision to desert from the Russian army's 144th Separate Motorised Rifle Brigade (military unit 11739), 36-year-old Anton Aleksandrovich Shirshin describes his commanders as brutal and corrupt.
3/ He was forced to join the army after being blamed for a traffic accident. The police offered him a choice between imprisonment followed by being conscripted to join the army, or joining the army voluntarily. He chose the latter option.
1/ Continuing his review of how Ukraine is employing Palantir Technologies' platforms in its war with Russia, Belarusian-Russian journalist Alex Zimovsky breaks down in detail Palantir's capabilities and usages, according to public statements and reports. ⬇️
2/ (For a briefer summary see the linked thread below.)
3/ "Palantir's platforms (primarily Gotham for data fusion and targeting, MetaConstellation for multisensor orchestration, and their derivatives, integrated through the Brave1 Dataroom) serve as the primary "operating system of war."
1/ Russian warbloggers are increasingly admitting that Russia is suffering steady attrition from endless swarms of Ukrainian drones. '13 Tactical' posts a lament about Russia's strategic dilemma as it faces escalating costs in its war in Ukraine. ⬇️
2/ The Russian military volunteer Dmitry Tinkov, writing on the '13 Tactical' Telegram channel, reviews the current situation and is very unhappy at what he sees, but takes refuge in half-hearted bravado as the only solution that he sees:
3/ "I think there are three underlying factors at the root of all our problems:
1. Those at the top genuinely believed they could reach an agreement on our terms.
2. They don't know what to do next with Ukraine (= what the outcome should be).
1/ The powerful AI-driven Palantir platform is becoming Ukraine's 'operating system' for the war with Russia. Belarusian-Russian journalist journalist Alex Zimovsky warns that it's "heading towards the point where Palantir will soon become a scary name for children in Russia." ⬇️
2/ Zimovsky has been assessing how Ukraine uses Palantir. He writes:
"As of May 2026, the American company Palantir Technologies has become a key element of Ukraine's AI- and big data-based war management architecture."
3/ "The system is based on the Gotham and MetaConstellation platforms, which integrate into a single combat environment:
→ UAV video feeds
→ satellite reconnaissance
→ SIGINT / electronic intelligence
→ radar data
→ OSINT and open sources
1/ After mobilised Russian troops were threatened with being sent to their deaths if they didn't sign contracts making them permanent soldiers, they were promised a big cash bonus if they did so. There's just one problem: they've now been scammed out of the payments. ⬇️
2/ 'Vault No. 8,' a serving Russian soldier, writes that the mobilised residents of the Moscow region who are serving in his unit are now complaining bitterly that they have been scammed:
3/ "As some may recall, last fall was marked by the slogan, "Mobilised men! Sign a contract or run to attack!"