1/ A Russian military police officer who stole 2 million rubles from a mentally disabled recruit was sent to an assault unit. However, illustrating the current state of morale on the front lines, he and three comrades reportedly blew their own legs off to avoid going to fight. ⬇️
2/ Russian warblogger 'BCh3' tells the story in three posts:
"We usually write about heroes, but here we have an anti-hero. One of those who profit from war; one of those who ‘while some suffer, others benefit’. Meet one of the staff officers of the Military Police."
3/ "Briefly, the situation...
A training ground. New arrivals are undergoing training. One of the fighters is a quiet guy, but something is wrong with his head. He is unwell.
4/ "The military police take him and for the entire duration of the recruits’ training, he stays with them and does odd jobs.
And every day, money is withdrawn from his card. The enlistment payment. In total, about 2 million was withdrawn.
5/ "And the people saw justice done. This man and three others who participated in the withdrawal of the money were sent to the assault company.
6/ "I'll be honest – they are not broken yet, only because tomorrow they will ride into the sunset. Along with those who were robbed, or rather, with the same as them. And this is right. This is fair. And justice is what relieves social tension.
7/ "Everyone's heard of people stealing fighters' money. Here's one of them before you."
The man, with the callsign 'Kino', was filmed being told contemptously that he was an "antihero" before protesting in vain that he hadn't stolen anything. 'BCh3' reports what happened next:
8/ "Look at that face again. A former private soldier who became the head of the [local] military police. He was supposed to be going to the front with the guys today. To prove he was an officer, even if he was dishonest.
9/ "But he took two grenade fuses, strapped them to his leg, and blew them up. Then he shouted, "Evacuate me, I'm wounded." Where's the manhood? And I think the story won't end there."
10/ "Continuing the story of the top brass of the military police, who were sent to assault companies for stealing money from military personnel's cards. We introduced you to a character with the call sign Kino. He blew himself up but didn't go to his positions.
11/ "There were four of them. And the others also blew themselves up, not a single one of them went to the enemy. Cheapskates. To whom the state gave loans, who literally sucked the blood of soldiers when they found themselves in the rear.
12/ "They fined people for not wearing a seat belt on the road, where there was a risk of drones. Cars with white [civilian] license plates were confiscated, despite the fact that the artificial intelligence of the waiting drones cued on black [military] licence plates.
13/ "They did a lot of things. And they stole, stole, stole. And when it came to fighting, they preferred to use their ammunition on themselves rather than the enemy." /end
1/ Why aren't Russia's treaty partners helping it in the war against Ukraine, ask Russian warbloggers. They wonder what use the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) is if it can't even help Russia to conquer a neighbouring state. ⬇️
2/ The CSTO was established in 2002 as a military alliance of six post-Soviet states – Armenia (which is in the process of withdrawing), Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan. Its charter requires participants to abstain from the use or threat of force.
3/ Despite this, Russian warbloggers can't seem to understand why none of the CSTO states will provide military assistance against Ukraine. 'Direct Action Z' laments:
1/ Russia is constructing shelters for its heavy bomber aircraft to protect them from Ukrainian drone strikes, such as the famous 'Operation Spider's Web'. However, Russian warbloggers say it's too little, too late. ⬇️
2/ The shelters are being constructed at the Engels air base near Saratov, which has previously been attacked by fixed-wing Ukrainian UAVs. It houses the 22nd Heavy Bomber Aviation Division, which includes a single squadron of Tu-160s and another of Tu-95s.
3/ At least 17 shelters are being built to accommodate the strategic bombers housed at the base. Reportedly, the work began in April 2025, before the June 2025 'Spider's Web' attacks.
1/ Wounded Russian soldiers are having to wait for anything from 48 hours to a remarkable 90 days for evacuation from the battlefields of Ukraine. Russian medical specialists say that there is a widespread lack of field medical expertise, likely dooming many of the wounded. ⬇️
2/ The Bulletin of the Russian Military Medical Academy has published a new report "On the Impact of the Nature of Combat Operations on the Structure of Medical Losses and the Organization of Surgical Care for the Wounded." However, commentators say it doesn't reflect reality.
3/ The data in the report is old, covering 2022-2024, and for some reason was not published until now. As the specialist military-medical warblog '5mg. KGV.' notes, it's not representative of the current situation on the battlefield. The blog's author writes:
1/ Russian warblogger Nikita Tretyakov is "thinking the unthinkable" about the war in Ukraine and its disastrous consequences. He lists a long series of catastrophes that he says have befallen Russia since February 2022, and the Russian weaknesses that they have exposed. ⬇️
2/ Tretyakov quotes Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov's recent comments on the failed negotiations with Donald Trump in Anchorage on 15 August 2025, in which Lavrov implicitly accused Trump of betraying Putin's trust:
3/ “I don’t even want to suspect that Alaska, like the European actions, was conceived to buy time for the Kyiv regime to be armed; I don’t even want to think about it, but in reality, that's how it turned out.”
1/ Russia's blocking of Telegram has had a disastrous impact on the reach and income of many Russians. This includes Russia's professional warbloggers, who have suffered a drastic drop in income that threatens to make their work financially unviable. ⬇️
2/ The 'Novorossiya militia reports' Telegram channel has been active online for 12 years. Its operators say it now faces a battle for its survival following the block on Telegram and an apparent algorithmic downranking on VKontakte (VK).
3/ An appeal to its readers for funds highlights how some are now struggling to make ends meet, and also provides an insight into the workings of professional warblogging outfits:
1/ Russian warbloggers have frequently called for the destruction of the bridges over the Dnipro to cripple Ukraine's ability to move troops and supplies. However, a recent Russian strike highlights why this hasn't happened: they keep missing. ⬇️
2/ 'Shakespeare' credulously repeats official Russian propaganda lines about the success of the strikes:
"And on the eve [of 20 June 2026], strikes were quietly and somewhat modestly carried out against enemy bridges: 12 gliding bombs "shut down" the logistics of Zaporizhzhia."
3/ "The strikes were carried out by the Russian Armed Forces using 500 kg gliding bombs.