ChrisO_wiki Profile picture
Independent military history author and researcher. Coffee tips are appreciated! https://t.co/t1EjNrIZ2c Now also at https://t.co/4qGQ2ffHJJ
Jun 9 20 tweets 3 min read
1/ Why is Russia so vulnerable to Ukraine's mid-range drone attacks? Russian drone developer Alexey Chadayev says that it's due to an ongoing and unresolved series of Russian failures in developing new interceptor drones and anti-drone capabilities. ⬇️
2/ Chadayev asks:

"What's going on?

The balance of the war has shifted significantly in the enemy's favour, not because of any problems on our part at the front—the same positional dragging continues there, essentially."
Jun 9 22 tweets 4 min read
1/ Russia faces "tectonic events" in the near future due to Ukraine's seizure of the initiative in the war, which presages an "impending disaster", according to a gloomy commentary by Russian journalist and warblogger Maxim Kalashnikov. ⬇️
2/ Kalashnikov draws attention to the convergence of several unfavourable trends for Russia – economic, military and industrial – which he says are seriously threatening a Russian war effort that is faltering and weakened by chronic corruption, inertia, and backward-thinking.
Jun 9 15 tweets 4 min read
1/ The explosion in Moscow this morning killed Colonel Damir Davydov, head of the procurement department of the Main Missile and Artillery Directorate of the Russian Ministry of Defense, according to VChK-OGPU. ⬇️
2/ VChK-OGPU reports:

"The BMW X3 in which Damir Davydov, head of the Main Missile and Artillery Directorate [GRAU] of the Russian Ministry of Defence, was blown up today belongs to Davydov himself. He purchased the used car in 2024 from a businessman in the Vladimir region. Image
Jun 8 20 tweets 4 min read
1/ Russian journalist and blogger Anastasia Kashevarova is baffled and upset by Russia's apparent helplessness in the face of Ukraine's drone campaign. "They're fighting us, and we're wanking our limp dicks," she complains. "Guys, what are you doing?" ⬇️
2/ Kashevarova writes:

"The enemy is loading UAVs with all sorts of destructive elements. The enemy doesn't care what they use to kill you, as long as it kills you. The enemy is hitting everything that moves on the roads."
Jun 8 9 tweets 3 min read
1/ The Russian Navy is being condemned as "unteachable" by Russian warbloggers following a Ukrainian attack on an ammunition depot, which is said to have destroyed 5,000 tons of ammunition. They say that the Navy has learned nothing from the war. ⬇️
2/ High-resolution satellite images from before the strike show massive amounts of ammunition being stored in the open air at the 15th Arsenal of the Russian Navy in Petergof, Leningrad region. This Soviet-style practice has led to repeated disasters at Russian Army depots. Image
Jun 8 6 tweets 2 min read
1/ Igor 'Strekov' Girkin must die, says another Russian warblogger. His missives of doom are not universally welcomed by Russia's 'angry patriots', who don't always appreciate the ideological commitments which underlie his criticisms of the Russian war strategy. ⬇️ Image 2/ Girkin has repeatedly issued warnings about Russia's failing strategy in Ukraine, and the consequences thereof, along with criticisms of the Russian leadership. He is currently in prison for his criticisms, but this doesn't seem to have deterred him.
Jun 5 6 tweets 2 min read
1/ Donetsk Airport has been converted into a launch base for Russian attack drones, with hardened concrete shelters erected on the runways, aprons, and taxiways to protect them from attack. More than 130 shelters have been built, along with concrete warehouses and launch pads. ⬇️ Image 2/ Recent satellite imagery shows that, as of 2 June 2026, the following are located on the airport grounds:

▪️130 drone storage shelters
▪️4 concrete warehouses for drones.
▪️Four fixed launch pads.
Jun 5 53 tweets 8 min read
1/ Igor 'Strelkov' Girkin predicts that Russia will be stripped to the bone – "IN THE EVENT OF DEFEAT, THEY WILL TAKE EVERYTHING FROM US—UP TO AND INCLUDING NUCLEAR WEAPONS AND SOVEREIGNTY" – in a long and deeply gloomy commentary posted on Telegram. ⬇️ Image 2/ Girkin, who is currently in a prison for former security officials in the Kirov region, analyses the deteriorating situation in the war and warns that Russia is not going to end up in a good place:
Jun 5 15 tweets 3 min read
1/ Russia's corrupt elites are drinking 'Long Epstein Island' cocktails in St Petersburg while soldiers and civilians die, Crimea is effectively cut off, the Donbas is under constant attack, and Russian defenders struggle, an angry Russian warblogger complains. ⬇️ Image
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2/ Anger and contempt at the excesses of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) has become a widespread theme among Russian warbloggers, who almost all regard it as an expensive distraction from an increasingly difficult war.
Jun 5 20 tweets 5 min read
1/ Whatever Russian officials thinks they're achieving by hosting far-right influencer @RealCandaceO in St Petersburg, it's lost on Russia's warbloggers, who say they're dying of cringe. "They probably even licked the ass of that Yankee scum," one says appreciatively. ⬇️ Image 2/ 'Belarusian Silovik' observes sarcastically:

"American journalist Candace Owens, who attended the SPIEF, posted a photo on X with Russian journalists who surrounded her.

Of course, she's a REAL AMERICAN."
Jun 5 26 tweets 6 min read
1/ Vladimir Putin's unconvincing claim that Russia deliberately targeted a 'barn' in Ukraine to test the $50 million Oreshnik missile has produced scorn and incredulity among Russian warbloggers. "Fucking hell," says one flabbergasted warblogger. ⬇️
2/ On 24 May, Russia fired two Oreshnik IRBMs at Ukraine, with inert warheads. One demolised a garage complex at Bila Tservka near Kyiv; the other, embarassingly, fell short and landed in Russian-held territory.
Jun 4 6 tweets 2 min read
1/ A "time bomb" has detonated under Russian rumps. Botched attempts in the early 1990s to replicate Brazilian butt lifts are now disintegrating inside Russian backsides, causing buttocks to 'literally melt'. ⬇️ Image
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2/ 'Baza' reports:

"Thirty years later, the first post-Soviet buttock augmentations have become a shapeless mess and caused a ton of discomfort to their "owners."
Jun 4 10 tweets 2 min read
1/ Ukraine appears to have attacked Russian aircraft under cover in concrete shelters, likely with drones flown into the entrances. Details are as yet scant. ⬇️ Image 2/ "The 'Helicopterpilot' Telegram channel, written by a Russian military helicopter pilot, predicted on 27 May that "judging by how the Ukrainians are progressing and methodically whacking our air defence systems, oil refineries, trucks, and military equipment along the…
Jun 4 7 tweets 2 min read
1/ A Russian soldier serving in Ukraine says that the situation is terrible and getting worse. "It’s absolute chaos over here with all the bodies right now ... the action is getting heavier and heavier every day. We're just a bunch of fucking losers." ⬇️
2/ Russian warbloggers are becoming increasingly outspoken in describing how the war is going badly for their side. 'When the cannons start singing' publishes an account from a reader who is with the Russian Army in Ukraine:
Jun 3 18 tweets 3 min read
1/ Russian warbloggers are reacting with shock and alarm at the Ukrainian attack today on the Russian Baltic Fleet corvette Boykiy near St Petersburg. In particular, they question the apparent lack of effective air defences or anti-drone protection. ⬇️
2/ 'Rybar' comments: "The threat to the fleet is everywhere."

"Judging by the video, at least two hits were recorded. The corvette was in dry dock undergoing repairs, despite the ship being new. And Ukrainian forces intercepted it there."
Jun 3 27 tweets 5 min read
1/ Accused rapist and sex trafficker Andrew Tate is visiting Russia. The news has disturbed Russian warbloggers, who suggest that Russia, which has recruited literal cannibals into its army, should aspire to a higher standard. ⬇️
2/ 'Rybar' is strongly critical:

"Why do we need this gift?

Popular English-speaking blogger Andrew Tate has published a post with an unambiguous hint of a visit to Russia." Image
Jun 3 55 tweets 11 min read
1/ The Russian-occupied city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine is under a 'drone siege', according to local inhabitants. Ukrainian drones are striking targets across the city and the surrounding region. A resident provides a vivid eyewitness account. ⬇️
2/ 'Donetsk MartynoVa', a pro-Russian resident of Donetsk who positions herself as an influencer and Telegram blogger, has been writing about the deteriorating situation over the past month. On 11 May, she wrote:
Jun 2 20 tweets 4 min read
1/ Russia's captured and corrupted bureaucracy, which is under the thumb of powerful industrial concerns and complicit politicians, is strangling independent developers of military electronics. Several developers are complaining about the situation. ⬇️ Image 2/ Gagaring Lab, a developer of drone detectors and other military electronics, highlights how the 'People's Military-Industrial Complex' is being throttled:

"China launched a new strategy in February. China wants to be not only the world's factory, but also its laboratory."
Jun 2 16 tweets 4 min read
1/ News that Russia's BMPT Terminator, famed for its wobbly autocannons, is to be renamed the Spirodon has attracted criticism from Russian warbloggers. Perhaps not coincidentally, Spirodon also was the first name of Vladimir Putin's paternal grandfather. ⬇️ Image 2/ According to Uralvagonzavod's official channel, "The machine, which replaces an entire unit, no longer bears the nickname of the American destroyer robot. It is our shield and sword."
Jun 2 13 tweets 3 min read
1/ Russia may be forced back to its 1991 borders as the Ukraine war turns against it, a Russian warblogger warns in a gloomy commentary. The prospects of a ceasefire on the current line of contact are slipping away and the threat to Russia itself is increasing. ⬇️ Image 2/ 'Tulenkov', a Russian former soldier who fought in Ukraine, writes:

"As far as I can tell from my understanding of the situation on the battlefields of the Special Military Operaion, we've already lost sight of the option of freezing the line of contact."
Jun 1 4 tweets 1 min read
1/ Russian soldiers in Ukraine are unhappy that army health and safety inspectors have ordered them to tear down their camouflage nets because they are too flammable. They've been told to put up bright red fire safety equipment instead. ⬇️ Image 2/ 'Unofficial Bezsonov' complains:

"A commission from Moscow visited some of our units' temporary deployment locations. They ordered us to remove camouflage nets, as they violate fire safety regulations, and to hang up red signs like these."