1/ Russian soldiers fighting in the Zaporizhzhia region say they have run out of medications due to their officers' incompetence, and are having to rely on folk remedies such as pine needles for coughs, salt and soap for fungal infections, and vodka with garlic to treat pain. ⬇️
2/ 'Brothers in Arms' writes:
"Brothers from the 166th Motorised Rifle Regiment sent a message via chat ... about medicine in their regiment's units."
3/ "They write: they're searching for medications themselves, first aid kits are empty, medical assistance can be postponed, and sometimes, instead of normal medications, people are prescribed folk remedies.
4/ "Pine needles for coughs, salt and soap for fungus, garlic and vodka for pain.
Medical support in the mission area is terrible. First aid kits are empty.
5/ "Due to the complete incompetence and inaction of the medical company commander, the guys don't even have basic cold medications.
6/ "On his orders, the entire medical company is keeping quiet about the situation, prescribing folk remedies or postponing appointments until "tomorrow."
7/ "Honestly, I don't even want to discuss it. Because there's not much news here. Over the years, everyone's seen stories where it's easier to get something needed through friends, volunteers, or with your own money than to wait for it to arrive.
8/ "But the fact that we've kind of resigned ourselves to this is just fucked up. So what if there aren't any medications? So what, they'll figure it out themselves.
9/ "Only then do these "little things" begin to form the overall picture, where people live for months by the principle: if you get sick, you have to solve the problem yourself.
10/ "In general, vodka really should be left alone. With the current supply, it will soon be the most reliable medicine.
Okay. It's not the first time."
11/ Relying on vodka might not be a good idea; only a few days ago, it was reported that multiple soldiers from the same regiment had died from drinking poisonous alcohol. /end
1/ Summer vacations in Crimea are definitely off, in the face of constant Ukrainian drone attacks and worsening fuel shortages across the peninsula. The Crimean economy is said to be in deep trouble, with factories and amenities closing, and workers being laid off en masse. ⬇️
2/ 'Your News' laments:
"Comrades from Crimea report: the resort season on the peninsula has been almost completely cancelled.
Fuel is hard to come by, or not available at all."
3/ "Destroyed factories and oil depots are not resuming operations, but simply disappearing from the economic map along with their workers.
Hundreds of workers are being sent on unpaid leave or simply laid off due to a lack of jobs.
1/ Ukrainian operatives inside Russia are reportedly acting as forward air controllers, according to a Russian source, using infrared laser beams – invisible to the naked eye – to guide drones to targets. This is likely being done to defeat Russian electronic warfare. ⬇️
2/ 'UAV developer' writes that "in many cities (probably all of them), there are pigs that illuminate targets with infrared lasers. These lasers are invisible to the naked eye, but cameras can see them."
3/ "A drone flying into the area sees these lasers (the beams and "spots" from them) and targets them even in complete darkness.
These lasers have been recorded in Crimea, Cheboksary, and Ryazan. I'm sure they've been seen in other places as well.
1/ A Ukrainian attack in December 2025 which almost certainly caused serious damage to a Russian submarine in Novorossiysk was reportedly facilitated by an extraordinary security breach by the Black Sea Fleet's commander, Admiral Sergei Pichuk. ⬇️
2/ At the time of the attack, it was noted that the Ukrainians had managed to record it using an image-recognising security camera with a view over the military port in Novorossiysk. This indicated a major security breach, given the sensitivity of what it could see.
3/ According to an apparent insider source, "thanks to a personal order from the Black Sea Fleet Commander, Admiral Sergei Mikhailovich Pinchuk, the complex's camera, which was not designed for network use due to its secrecy,…
1/ The commander of Russia's Unmanned Systems Forces, Lt Col Yuri 'Toilet' Vaganov, has reportedly been caught in an apparently major corruption scandal by a federal sting operation. His career now faces being flushed away. ⬇️
2/ Vaganov has been the head of the Unmanned Systems Forces (BPS) since November 2025. A former plumbing salesman, from which he earned his unofficial callsign (his real one is apparently 'Thunder'), he was a monopoly supplier of drones to the Russian army before his appointment.
3/ Allegations have emerged that Vaganov was rigging drone testing results to steer contracts to his friends (with whom, it is assumed, he had a beneficial financial connection.) An apparent insider source, 'VARANGIAN', reports:
1/ Sevastopol is effectively under siege from Ukrainian drones, prompting some Russians to make comparisons with the sieges of 1855 and 1942. Others compare it to J.R.R. Tolkien's Minas Tirith. However, unity is lacking among the inhabitants, says a Russian warblogger. ⬇️
2/ 'Near the War' describes a recent visit to Sevastopol:
"I confess, I thought several times before driving from Donetsk to Sevastopol. Military acquaintances had long warned me that the enemy might attempt to blockade the Crimean Peninsula."
3/ "And since early May, the R-280 "Novorossiya" highway has been under attack by Ukrainian Hornet drones.On the way to Sevastopol, we saw the aftermath of these artificially intelligent hornets' hunt:…
1/ Former Roscosmos CEO and current Russian Senator Dmitry Rogizin has a novel suggestion for deterring Western countries from seizing 'shadow fleet' tankers. He advocates turning them into giant bombs by rigging them to explode if they're captured. ⬇️
2/ Commenting on the British seizure of the Russian shadow fleet tanker SMYRTOS at the weekend, Rogizin – like many other Russian commentators – likens it to an act of piracy. He suggests:
3/ "I believe we should mine the tankers we use. Initiation should occur when appropriate commands are received or when a tanker deviates from its route and is forced to enter a foreign port.