1/ Six crippled Russian soldiers, some on crutches, are sent to their deaths in Ukraine with three bulletproof vests and two automatic rifles between them. "It's just fucking crazy," says the man filming it, who is now likely missing in action. ⬇️
2/ The video was filmed by 50-year-old Sergei Aleksandrovich Pisarchik, a soldier in the Russian Army's 69th Motorised Rifle Division. He sent it to his relatives on 21 May 2026 and stopped communicating afterwards.
3/ The division was reported to be fighting around Vovchansk north of Kharkiv earlier in the year.
Pisarchik says: "We are going on a combat mission with two assault rifles and three body armours for six of us. We are all cripples. It's just fucking crazy."
4/ His relatives say that he signed a military contract after getting into debt, and was promised a position at a checkpoint inspecting vehicles. Instead, as has happened to many in a similar situation, he was sent to a stormtrooper unit, and likely to his death.
5/ The video highlights how Russia has frequently used badly wounded soldiers as assault troops, denying them medical treatment and sending them into assaults on crutches, or even occasionally in wheelchairs. /end
1/ The 'SVOshnik' – a drunk, traumatised, violent veteran of the Ukraine war – has become a figure of fear in Russia. Russian journalist and activist Anastasia Kashevarova, who has fought for soldiers' rights, admits that some veterans are out of control. ⬇️
2/ Many participants in the Ukraine war have been discharged, usually through ill-health or in some lucky cases, having completed contracts. They have brought with them a wave of violence and crime, with even prostitutes avoiding them.
3/ A large part of the problem, as Kashevarova notes, is that participants in the 'Special Military Operation' (SVO) are often treated with deference by law enforcement agencies, leaving ordinary people vulnerable to their violent behaviour. She writes:
1/ Claims by a senior Russian military official that the Russian army's tactical medicine system is efficient and rapid are greeted with incredulity by Russian commentators. They point out that wounded soldiers are often not evacuated for days or weeks. ⬇️
2/ Deputy Minister of Defence Anna Tsivileva – a relative of Putin's who was controversially appointed a lieutenant general despite no previous military experience – has given an upbeat assessment of the performance of Russian tactical medicine.
3/ At a board meeting of the Russian MOD, Tsilvileva said that since December 2025, work has been undertaken as a high priority to improve the speed of evacuations and the quality of primary care on the front lines.
1/ The Russian-appointed governor of the occupied part of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region has told Vladimir Putin in person that the R-280 highway to Crimea is under total Russian control. Russian warbloggers dispute this and suggest that he's lying. ⬇️
2/ In a meeting at the Kremlin, Yevgeny Balitsky said:
"The R-280 road, which supplies Crimea, is currently under complete control, the effectiveness of Ukrainian drones has significantly decreased. The means used are constantly being improved."
3/ "There are new methods being used. There are new means being used by the Russian Armed Forces. At your direction, the road was placed under special control."
1/ The arrest in Miami of Andrew and Tristan Tate is being celebrated in Russia, where a few weeks ago they were guests of honour at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum. Now they're seen as too scummy for Russia; one Russian blogger calls them "genetic garbage". ⬇️
2/ The fact that the Tates were invited to Russia in the first place attracted criticism at the time, given their reputation. Russian nationalist bloggers saw it as a degrading display of subservience to the 'decadent' West. They now see themselves as vindicated by the arrests:
3/ 'Leib-Hussar' isn't mincing words: "This utterly "uncivilised" subservience to the West has been an unquestionable fetish of the domestic authorities for about 40 years. They constantly import and promote all sorts of genetic "garbage" into the country, which,…
1/ The destruction by Ukrainian drones of two of Wildberries' massive warehouses near Moscow is a huge disaster for the Russian economy, which will inflict far more damage than the headline $1.2 billion loss of stock. Here's why. ⬇️
2/ While Wildberries itself can absorb the loss of two of its biggest warehouses – it will not need to compensate sellers as it has very recently disclaimed responsibility for losses caused by enemy action – the impact of the strikes on the wider economy will be significant.
3/ Wildberries is frequently called the 'Russian Amazon', but it has a far more dominant role in the Russian economy than Amazon does in Western economies. Since it was founded in 2004, it's become one of the most structurally important companies in the Russian economy.
1/ Ukraine's attacks on two of Wildberries' biggest warehouses in Russia, causing losses estimated at over $1.2 billion dollars, has once again prompted Russian warbloggers to ask "when will we start fighting for real?" ⬇️
2/ Ever since the great Russian retreat in 2022, after the unsuccessful assault on Kyiv, ultra-nationalist warbloggers and supporters of the war have been demanding to know why the war is not being fought according to their preferences, blaming a 'weak' elite for the failures.
3/ The Wildberries attacks have revived such sentiments, with warbloggers perceiving the massive destruction as a humiliation and sign of Russian weaknees. 'Intelligence Diary' complains: