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
Apr 7 25 tweets 5 min read
1/ Russian warbloggers warn of an alarming development: Ukraine's long-range drone strikes into Russia are reportedly being guided by Starlink connections, which potentially provides drones with precise and unjammable navigation across the entire country. ⬇️ Image 2/ While Starlink is normally a civilian network, Ukraine makes extensive use of it for military purposes, including on the front lines and in sea drones. Until recently, Starlink was blocked in Russia but not in Ukraine, which enabled the Russian military to use it as well.
Apr 6 8 tweets 2 min read
1/ Russia has reportedly provided Iran with targeting data on Israel's critical energy infrastructure, according to Ukrainian intelligence sources quoted by the Jerusalem Post. ⬇️
2/ The Post reports that the targets fall into three categories:

– Level 1: Critical production facilities, like the Orot Rabin power station, whose destruction would cripple the national energy system. Image
Apr 6 19 tweets 4 min read
1/ Russia's blocking of Telegram is having a devastating effect on the volunteer communities that support the Russian army in Ukraine. A Russian warblogger posts a despairing account of how the 'humanitarian aid' system has all but collapsed as a result. ⬇️ Image 2/ The Russian army is hugely dependent on volunteer-provided 'humanitarian aid' – which in practice means anything from drones to generators to bulletproof vests – because so little is provided by the Russian Ministry of Defence. Alexander Zaborovsky writes:
Apr 5 23 tweets 7 min read
1/ Goldman Sachs analysts report that the biggest oil crisis in history is about to hit globally, with profound and highly destructive consequences. A new report asks ""Are We Running Out of Oil?", and concludes that the answer is yes. ⬇️ Image 2/ Goldman reports that average daily flows of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz have fallen by 94% from their pre-war levels. Image
Apr 4 7 tweets 2 min read
1/ A shortage of drones reportedly means that Russian drone pilots often don't attack Ukrainian vehicles again after disabling them. This, says a serving Russian soldier, means that the Ukrainians are frequently able to retrieve disabled vehicles. ⬇️
2/ Russian forces in Ukraine have been complaining for a long time that they lack drones, with those provided by the Russian MOD being few and often of poor quality.
Apr 4 4 tweets 2 min read
1/ News of the destruction of yet another US aircraft on the ground is being met with incredulity by Russian Air Force pilots. They ask if the United States has learned nothing from Russia's own very costly experiences. ⬇️ 2/ 'The Voivode Broadcasts', a Telegram channel run by a group of Russian military helicopter pilots, expresses astonishment at pictures published overnight of a US CH-47 Chinook helicopter that was destroyed on the ground in Kuwait.
Apr 4 6 tweets 2 min read
1/ Russian army commanders are reportedly refusing to allow stored ZSU-23-4 Shilkas mobile anti-aircraft guns to be refurbished and put back into service, despite Russia's desperate need for more defences against Ukraine's increasingly large-scale drone strikes. ⬇️ Image 2/ 'The Voivode Broadcasts', a Telegram channel written by three Russian Aerospace Force pilots, writes:

"I was talking to some guys from one of the repair battalions the other day."
Apr 3 5 tweets 2 min read
1/ Russia has "shot itself in the dick" with its block on Telegram, according to a scathing commentary. A Russian warblogger notes that pro-Kremlin propagandists have seen huge falls in views of their Telegram channels, but not dissident and pro-Ukraine channels. ⬇️ Image 2/ Komsomolskaya Pravda journalist Dmitry Steshin calls it "a day of celebration for foreign agents, as the audience for pro-Russian channels on Telegram has plummeted."
Apr 3 5 tweets 2 min read
1/ In a further sign of an economic slump in Russia, the giant vehicle manufacturer AvtoVAZ will shut down production entirely for 17 days due to falling demand and overcrowded warehouses. Its vehicles aren't selling and storage facilities are overflowing. ⬇️ Image 2/ The Russian news outlet Mash reports that AvtoVAZ will shut down its assembly lines for almost the entire period from 27 April to 17 May, with the workforce sent on mandatory leave.
Apr 2 20 tweets 4 min read
1/ Brutally murdering women in front of their children has effectively been legalised in Russia, due to the Russian government's policy of allowing pre-trial detainees to go to Ukraine to fight rather than facing justice. A horrific case from Voronezh highlights the problem. ⬇️ Image 2/ Madina Nikolaevna Mironenko, a 42-year-old soldier's widow and mother of four children, was dragged out of her house by her hair and stabbed to death by a masked neighbour, in front of her nine-year-old daughter. Another neighbour witnessed the attack and recognised the man.
Apr 2 15 tweets 4 min read
1/ The late governor of Russia's Kursk region, Roman Starovoit, is said to have received huge cash bribes in grocery bags of food and alcohol, and stole 100 million rubles ($1.2 million) from the budget assigned to build fortifications along the border with Ukraine. ⬇️ Image 2/ Starovoit, who shot himself on 7 July 2025 shortly before he was due to be charged for fraud, has been the subject of testimony given by Alexey Smirnov, his also-indicted deputy and successor. Smirnov says that he and his own deputy also took bribes.
Apr 2 13 tweets 3 min read
1/ Austria has become the latest European country to ban US military overflights related to the Iran war. The country's Defence Ministry has announced that it has refused "several" requests from the US government, citing Austria's Neutrality Law. Image 2/ A statement issued by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Defence says that it will not let the US use its airspace for military operations against Iran. Individual requests for overflights are being reviewed in consultation with the Austrian Foreign Ministry.
Apr 2 24 tweets 6 min read
1/ Global oil and gas shortages are likely to persist for months, industry insiders are warning. This is due to shut-in, or idled, wells suffering progressive damage that is becoming increasingly severe as the Iran war drags on, leading to long delays in restarting production. ⬇️ Image 2/ Wells manage the release of oil and gas that is under great pressure from underground reservoirs. While they are designed to throttle flow up and down as required and can be shut in for short periods for maintenance, they are not designed for indefinite shut-ins.
Apr 1 16 tweets 4 min read
1/ The Russian IT sector faces being crippled by new, harsh penalties for using VPNs. The Russian public also faces an imminent ban on the use of foreign AI systems, which developers say will wreck Russia's development of its own AIs. ⬇️ Image 2/ Russia's Ministry of Digital Development, Communications, and Mass Media has put forward a bill on state regulation of artificial intelligence, which essentially outlaws the use of foreign AI systems such as ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini.
Apr 1 8 tweets 2 min read
1/ Russians fighting in Ukraine are now unable to buy Chinese-made drone jammers due to Internet blocking, according to one Russian soldier. His account illustrates the practical – and quite possibly lethal – frontline impact of the Kremlin's Internet restrictions. ⬇️ Image 2/ 'Marmot of the Burning Prairie' writes:

"I had the dubious pleasure of experiencing whitelisting firsthand. I was stunned.

Without the skills to bypass blocks:
- no Telegram
- no LiveJournal
- VK hasn't changed much, just as slow
- no IMO"
Apr 1 8 tweets 3 min read
1/ With losses escalating in Ukraine, a Russian region has ordered businesses to send their employees to fight. Varying recruitment quotas have been set depending on the size of the business. The 'voluntary-compulsory' scheme appears to be a de facto form of mobilisation. ⬇️ Image 2/ 'Military Informant' publishes the text of the decree:

"The Governor of the Ryazan Region has established a plan for local businesses to recruit contract soldiers into the military."
Apr 1 29 tweets 6 min read
1/ Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska has proposed that Russia should shift to a 12 hour working day and 6 day working week to halt the country's deepening economic crisis. This has not gone down well with Russian commentators, who compare it to slavery and feudalism. ⬇️ Image 2/ Writing on his personal Telegram channel, Deripaska argues that "in difficult times, we know how to pull ourselves together and work more. And the sooner we switch to this new schedule—from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., including Saturdays—the faster we will undergo this transformation."
Mar 31 9 tweets 3 min read
1/ An ongoing list of the times that Donald Trump has declared victory in the war in Iran (this will be expanded over time): Image 2/ March 7th: "We don't need people that join Wars after we've already won!"
Mar 31 8 tweets 2 min read
1/ The City of London bank Peel Hunt has warned investors that Donald Trump "may have lost control" of the Iran war, raising the "real risk of an inflationary recession" globally. Prolonged higher interest rates are forecast to be a significant possibility. ⬇️ Image 2/ The bank has issued a briefing note to investors drafted by its chief economist, @KallumPickering. He writes:
Mar 31 23 tweets 6 min read
1/ The US attempted to send several Iran-bound bombers to an Italian air base without prior authorisation and was refused permission by the Italian government while the aircraft were in flight. The news comes a day after Spain disclosed it was refusing US military overflights. ⬇️ Image 2/ Corriere della Sella and La Republicca report that on Fridary 27 March, the Italian Chief of the Defence Staff, General Luciano Portolano, was informed that several US bombers were inbound to the Naval Air Station Sigonella in Sicily, controlled by the Italian Air Force. Image
Mar 31 17 tweets 3 min read
1/ Russians are facing an 'internet tax', reportedly imposed by a secret decree from Vladimir Putin, of 150 rubles ($1.84) for each gigabyte of VPN traffic they use. This is being seen by commentators as a new way of suppressing Telegram's 100 million users in Russia. ⬇️ Image 2/ The BBC Russian Service reports that the FSB has told the Ministry of Digital Development to impose a tax on every gigabyte of VPN traffic after an initial 15 Gb. The FSB wants to discourage Russians from connecting to foreign VPN servers to access resources blocked in Russia.