1/ It's very hard to win a war with a strategy that is built on bullshit. This was one of the key lessons of World War II, thanks to the approach taken by Adolf Hitler, who launched the war in Europe. Here are some of the lessons from Hitler's Great European Bullshit War. ⬇️ 2/ Harry Frankfurt's famous essay "On Bullshit" draws a crucial distinction that is useful to consider here. A liar knows the truth and deliberately inverts it. A bullshitter is entirely indifferent to truth – what matters is the effect produced and the audience managed.

1/ Denmark was reportedly preparing for full-scale war with the US over Greenland in January, with military support from France, Germany, and Nordic nations. Elite troops and F-35 jets with live ammunition were sent, and runways were to be blown up to prevent an invasion. ⬇️ 2/ The Danish public broadcaster DR reports that officials in Denmark, France and Germany say that Donald Trump's threats to seize Greenland were taken so seriously that wide-ranging preparations were made to forcibly resist a US invasion of the Danish island.

1/ Pro-government Russians shouldn't be excessively disappointed by the Putin regime's repressive behaviour in recent months, says drone manufacturer Alexey Chadayev. He argues that that's how it's always been in Russia and nobody should expect any different. ⬇️ 2/ Chadayev is the Director General of Russia's Ushkuynik Research and Production Centre (NPC Ushkuynik). He comments on recent complaints by previously pro-government commentators about the blocking of Telegram and the Internet shutdowns in Moscow and St Petersburg:

1/ While the world's eyes are elsewhere, the long-running water crisis in Donetsk is continuing. An account from Russian warblogger Dmitry Steshin highlights how residents of what had been one of Ukraine's most developed cities are living now. ⬇️ 2/ Since 2022, much of the occupied Donetsk and Luhansk regions have been experiencing a severe water shortage. Cities have faced water rationing, while outlying towns and villages have often had no water at all.

https://x.com/ChrisO_wiki/status/1947207437238288673

1/ Powerful interests in Russia are milking the war in Ukraine for profit and power, complains a Russian drone developer and blogger. He argues that the interests are indifferent to the loss of Russian lives and are ripping off the state defence procurement system. ⬇️ 2/ 'UAV Developer' writes on Telegram: "You see, they couldn't care less about our victory."

1/ Russia is suffering huge casualties in the battle for Kostiantynivka, says a Russian soldier who is fighting there. He says that 75% of his unit of poorly-trained middle-aged men was killed in a single assault, with dogs eating the skeletonised bodies of the dead nearby. ⬇️ 2/ A man named Tamerlan – likely from the North Caucasus, judging by the name – has recorded a video describing his experiences. He says:

"Today, 27 men went into the assault, and only six survived ... "

1/ The Russian government is blocking Telegram to destroy the Russian people's social connections, says former high-level government advisor German Klimenko. The frank admission has caused outrage among Russian commentators. ⬇️ 2/ In an interview with 'Parliamentary Gazette', Klimenko says: "The primary function of any messenger is to create social connections. Therefore, to stop people from using a messenger, these connections must be destroyed."

1/ Russia's block on Telegram, crackdown on VPNs and mobile Internet shutdowns are threatening to destroy the 'People's Military-Industrial Complex' – a vast ecosystem of volunteer and start-up efforts that manufactures and supplies the army with drones and other equipment. ⬇️ 2/ The 'People's VPK', as it's known in Russia, has grown from garage workshops to well-organised industrial chains linking enthuasists, serving and ex-military personnel, and start-up companies to produce a wide variety of essential equipment for the Russian army.

1/ The blocking of Telegram by the Russian government is a disaster for huge numbers of Russian businesses and citizens, who have now lost a key means of advertising and income. The Russian government's preferred app, MAX, lacks the features that made Telegram so essential. ⬇️ 2/ Russian commentators are warning that two recent developments – Telegram's blocking by the state and the decision by two regulatory bodies that all advertising on it is retrospectively illegal – threaten to cause devastating economic harm.

https://x.com/ChrisO_wiki/status/2030278263260553242

1/ The Russian army is recruiting incontinent, brain-damaged men who are incapable of fighting and are literally having to be carried around. A Russian warblogger protests the waste of resources that this represents. ⬇️ 2/ Anastasia Kashevarova, a journalist and warblogger who has campaigned for the rights of Russian troops, highlights the ongoing problem of so-called "black recruiters" who recruit sick people into the army to meet arbitrary quotas and steal their recruitment bonuses.

1/ Iran intends to leverage its stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz to force the US and Gulf Arab states to accept an agreement in which Iran has set "appropriate political and security conditions", in which its security is guaranteed and US bases in the region are closed. ⬇️ 2/ Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the Speaker of the Parliament of Iran, has told the London-based Arabic newspaper The New Arab (Al-Araby al-Jadeed) that Iran will keep fighting and "will not return to the conditions that prevailed before the war."

1/ Russia's entire strategy towards the 'Global South' is on the edge of collapse, admits the Russian writer and politician Yevgeny 'Zakhar' Prilepin. He complains that Russia's ambitious projects abroad have turned out to be little more than a bluff. ⬇️

https://x.com/atrupar/status/2033656363734221249

2/ Prilepin, who represents a national-conservative perspective, writes:

"There's some extremely sad news coming out of Cuba: immersed in darkness, this country has begun negotiations with the United States.

We may be losing Cuba too."

1/ An immediate ban on the use of Telegram, ordered by the Russian MOD, is going to have disastrous effects on the Russian army's communications and fundraising, according to Russian warbloggers. ⬇️

https://x.com/ChrisO_wiki/status/2033569776220492232

2/ Telegram plays a central role in Russian military communications (see the thread below). Although Russia does have a secure military messenger, in practice its usability is so limited that soldiers from privates to generals all use Telegram instead.

https://x.com/ChrisO_wiki/status/2023030248833732781

1/ Leaked orders from the Russian Ministry of Defence show that Telegram is being banned immediately for operational use by Russian forces in Ukraine, with soldiers reportedly facing being sent to their deaths in assaults if they are found not to be complying. ⬇️

2/ The orders, published by 'Unmanned Brotherhood' on Telegram, are intended to "counter enemy technical reconnaissance means, close possible leakage channels and prevent the disclosure of information about the actions of troops in the area of ​​a special military operation".

1/ The Russian government has sued communications equipment manufacturer NPO Angstrem for 7.65 billion rubles ($94.5 m) for allegedly committing a massive fraud, in which supposedly state-of-the-art hand-held radios were substituted for cheap relabeled Chinese products. ⬇️ 2/ The lawsuit is the latest in the sorry story of the R-187P Azart radio, dubbed 'the green crocodile' – an advanced software-defined radio said to be immune to interception. It was commissioned after the 2008 invasion of Georgia exposed serious communications failings.

1/ Russia is having increasing problems using drones in the Kherson area, due to improved Ukrainian electronic warfare and drone strikes against Russian forces. Ukraine is reported to have devised an ingenious approach to deploy fibre-optic drones across the Dnipro river. ⬇️ 2/ Since Russian forces retreated across the Dnipro in November 2022, control of the river's banks and its many islands has been contested by both sides.

1/ Russian commentators are asking if the Russian government has shut down mobile Internet in Moscow due to fears of a coup attempt. With the shutdown now well into its second week, they express concern about the stability of the Putin regime. ⬇️

https://x.com/Gerashchenko_en/status/2032352148416086079

2/ Since March 5th, mobile Internet and even Wi-Fi in public places such as the Moscow Metro and State Duma have been shut down in central Moscow on the government's orders, for vague and unspecific security reasons. The shutdown has caused havoc for businesses and the public.

1/ A superpower invades a small island off the coast of an enemy nation. After a short bombardment, marines seize and hold the island. 126 days later, they stage a humiliating retreat under constant fire from the mainland. This is the story of Ukraine's Snake Island. ⬇️ 2/ With reports that the US may be considering seizing Iran's Kharg Island, it's worth reviewing what happened in Russia's disastrous attempt to capture the strategic Ostriv Zmiinyi (Snake Island) off the south-western coast of Ukraine between February and June 2022.

1/ Russia's air defences are doing great, according to Russian warbloggers. However, they say that those of Laos (a synecdoche for Russia, to evade censors) are crippled by shortages of manpower and resources, and an inflexible command and control system.

https://x.com/bayraktar_1love/status/2018045465812476123

2/ Two popular Russian Telegram warbloggers discuss problems with the Russian air defence system, using carefully worded euphemisms to avoid getting into trouble with the authorities. 'RAG&E' writes:

1/ Russian journalist and analyst Yuri Baranchik asks plaintively: "why have they started terrorising the people?" He joins the dots between various recent actions by the Russian government, including the blocking of Telegram, and warns of a "1917 [or] 1989" scenario. ⬇️ 2/ Baranchik's lament is the latest in a growing trend of Russian commentators suddenly becoming aware that the repressive power of the state is being turned on 'loyal Russians', rather than just against the despised liberals or anti-war protesters.

https://x.com/ChrisO_wiki/status/2032387444553748636

1/ Muscovites are being locked into an ever-growing 'digital gulag', complain Russian warbloggers, as a still-mysterious mobile Internet shutdown in central Moscow enters its second week. The shutdown is reported to be causing huge commercial losses and inconvenience. ⬇️ 2/ Starting March 5th, Internet access in central Moscow was shut down, apparently on the orders of the Russian government. It has even extended to shutting down Wi-Fi on the Moscow Metro and the parliamentary Wi-Fi network in the State Duma.