1/ Russian soldiers fighting in the Kursk region are brutally beaten by their commanders for getting wounded or losing drones, are denied food, water, and medical treatment for injuries, and are sent into 'meat wave' assaults from which few return. ⬇️
2/ The account of an injured Russian soldier interviewed by The Insider illustrates the Russian experience of the extraordinarily bloody fighting in the Kursk region, in which thousands are likely to have died. The man is a member of the 155th Marine Brigade.

1/ Widespread looting of Russian civilian homes and businesses by Russian troops in the Kursk region is being directed by Russian officers for their personal profit, according to a Russian marine who has fought in the area. ⬇️

https://x.com/wartranslated/status/1851549278994412011

2/ A large part of the Kursk region, beyond that occupied by Ukrainian forces, has been evacuated by Russia to make it into a closed military zone. However, residents have reported many instances of their properties being ransacked by their 'defenders'.

1/ A cult of 'Saint Stalin' has appeared in the Russian Orthodox Church, with the Soviet dictator being hailed as a saint or even a secret Orthodox bishop. In reality, Stalin closed or destroyed nearly all churches in Russia and had 85,000 Orthodox clergy shot in 1937 alone. ⬇️ 2/ The Russian religious journalist and researcher Alexander Soldatov has noted the increasing appearance of Joseph Stalin in the pantheon of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC). Stalin is portrayed as a saint in religious icons and priests are blessing monuments to the dictator.

1/ A Russian soldier from Yakutia cut off his own gangrenous leg after spending 17 days on the front line with an untreated severe wound. A lack of medical care and evacuation is reportedly causing wounded Russians to commit suicide or chop off their limbs with axes. ⬇️ 2/ 38-year-old Alexander 'Shurik' Fedorov spent 17 days in a basement in the village of New York, Donetsk, and was forced to amputate his own leg, which was festering due to a wound. His fellow soldiers were afraid to do the amputation in the field, so he had to do it himself.

1/ X's algorithm was changed in mid-July 2024 to systematically boost Republican-leaning accounts and Elon Musk's own account following his endorsement of Donald Trump, according to a newly released computational study of engagement from the Queensland University of Technology.⬇️ 2/ The study, by Professor Timothy Graham of the QUT and Professor Mark Andrejevic of Monash University, analysed 56,184 posts sent by a number of accounts between January 1, 2024 and October 25, 2024 and examined view counts, retweet counts, and favourite counts for each.

1/ Russian soldiers who recently rioted in a barracks near Novosibirsk and tried to escape from it were protesting against being sent back to Ukraine despite being "bedridden, on stretchers, blind," in the words of the commandant's office. ⬇️

https://x.com/wartranslated/status/1856709257086783933

2/ The riot took place on 13 November at a barracks in Kochenyovo, which was housing soldiers assigned to the 35th Management Brigade (military unit 57849), a subunit of the 41st Combined Arms Army. At least 10 soldiers escaped from the barracks but have since been recaptured.

1/ Russian military authorities are reported to have rescued 17 soldiers from their own commander, who was holding them prisoner, torturing them and stealing their salaries. Other soldiers are said to have been murdered, with their deaths covered up by compliant medics. ⬇️ 2/ In early September, Russian military prosecutors arrested the commander of the assault unit of the 110th Guards Brigade, Vladimir Novikov – call sign 'Bely' ('White'). He has been decorated multiple times and participated in the bloody battles for Avdiivka and Krasnohorivka.

1/ Russia's Wagner Group reportedly operated a unit manned by people with chronic or terminal illnesses, who were used as "moving targets" to identify Ukrainian firing points. The 'Umbrella' unit is said to have formed a separate force within the wider Wagner Group. ⬇️ 2/ In a discussion among Russian milbloggers about stormtrooper training, the Russian Telegram blogger Glockmeister pushes back against suggestions that Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin was "some kind of super-effective manager who demonstrated unprecedented military effectiveness."

1/ Injury payments for Russian soldiers injured in the Ukraine war have been reduced by as much as 96.6% under a new decree by Putin. The decree went into force today only hours after it was published. The move is likely intended to reduce Russia's massive compensation costs. ⬇️ 2/ Under new rules announced today at 13:30 Moscow time, Putin decreed that the rules for compensating injured soldiers would be changed with immediate effect. Until today, all war injuries resulted in a compensation payment of 3 million rubles ($30,457).

1/ Injured Russian soldiers are being sent into assaults on crutches, are ordered to kill their own wounded on the battlefield to prevent them holding up attacks, and are attacked by their own side's drones if they do not continue moving forward, according to two eyewitnesses. ⬇️
2/ Two Russian soldiers trapped in a basement in the Donetsk region town of Toretsk, which Russia is currently assaulting, have sent a video account of their experiences. They say they have been sent on a one-way mission and now want to get to an evacuation point and survive.

1/ Relatives of Russian soldiers missing in a notorious Luhansk-based brigade have published a leaked audio recording of a torture session, likely indicative of the systematic use of torture. Its commander is said to be a 'sadist' who has sent over 1,000 men to their deaths. ⬇️ 2/ The 123rd Separate Guards Motorised Rifle Brigade (military unit 40463) gained notoriety after over 100 men who were transferred to it, some as punishment, disappeared without trace. Relatives have been trying to find out what has happened to them.

https://x.com/ChrisO_wiki/status/1848994938635042920

1/ Russian Major-General Pavel Klimenko reportedly did not die in a drone strike, as previously reported, but from injuries sustained after drunkenly driving his motorcycle into a ditch. Relatives of men who served under him have assailed him as a butcher and torturer. ⬇️ 2/ It was reported a few days ago that Klimenko had died from wounds sustained after a Ukrainian FPV drone strike while he was riding a motorcycle near Krasnohorivka in the Donetsk region. However, the VChK-OGPU Telegram channel says this was a cover-up.

1/ Russian soldiers are being provided with Warhammer 40,000-style 'purity seals', blessed by the Russian Orthodox Church, to protect them from harm on the battlefield. The initiative illustrates the huge popularity of Warhammer 40K on both sides of the war in Ukraine. ⬇️ 2/ Purity seals are an element of Warhammer 40K lore. As the 'Lexicanum' wiki says, they comprise "prayers or litanies inscribed onto paper and then affixed to the Space Marine armour with red or black wax".

1/ A headless Russian man was rated as fit for military service by no fewer than five doctors working for the Smolensk military registration and enlistment office. Not surprisingly, relatives are now demanding that the doctors be investigated for fraud. ⬇️ 2/ The Russian Telegram channel Baza reports on the bizarre case of Alexander L., who was found decapitated on a railway line in October 2021. Investigators found a strange anomaly when his personnel files were obtained from the local military enlistment office.

1/ Two Russian soldiers who massacred an entire Ukrainian family while they slept have been given a life sentence by a Russian court. The length of the sentence means that they are – for now at least – unlikely to be allowed to go back to fighting in Ukraine as convict troops. ⬇️ 2/ Anton Sopov and Stanislav Rau, both from Primorsky Krai in the Russian Far East, were arrested after killing nine members of the Kapkanets family on 27 October 2023 with silenced weapons, allegedly in a dispute over illicit alcohol sales.

https://x.com/ChrisO_wiki/status/1721630264038687134

1/ A man from Crimea is in hiding after, he says, he was forced by two of Russia's notoriously corrupt police officers to sign a military contract, give them his enlistment bonus and marry a 'black widow' fictitiously to get compensation money for his death. 2/ Ex-convict 35-year-old Sergei Zhukov from Stary Krym in Crimea says that he was was drinking beer on a bench in Mikhaylovka when two police officers approached and detained him. They threatened to "find drugs on him" and have him jailed unless he signed a military contract.

1/ Less than half of Russians would support a family member's wish to go to war in Ukraine, according to a new poll. Rather than indicating anti-war sentiment, however, it's likely that this simply indicates a widespread unwillingness to make sacrifices for the war effort. ⬇️
2/ Russia's Levada Centre carried out a poll asking respondents whether they would approve or disapprove if a family member or someone close to them was to sign a contract to go to fight in Ukraine.

1/ Repatriated Russian POWs are said to be routinely treated as deserters on their return. A chaotic personnel system means that the Russian army is often incapable of identifying who is captured, missing, deserted, or dead, depriving relatives of compensation payments. ⬇️ 2/ The Russian journalist and blogger Anastasia Kashevarova, a former adviser to State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin who now advocates on behalf of soldiers and their families, has posted a lengthy commentary on the problems of determining the status of individual soldiers.

1/ Russian Railways is planning to reduce the number of freight cars it operates by 100,000 as it faces a deep crisis, with employees leaving to fight in Ukraine and a lack of spare parts due to sanctions. It's expected to have a widespread economic impact. ⬇️ 2/ The VChK-OGPU Telegram channel has posted a leaked recording of a speech by the head of Russian Railways Oleg Belozerov to the Central Directorate of Traffic Management and the Centre for Branded Transport Services.

1/ Russian UAV development is seriously hampered by a lack of support from commanders and the state, in contrast to the much more open and supportive approach taken by the Ukrainians, according to a Russian drone developer. ⬇️ 2/ The 'Project Archangel' Telegram channel, which represents volunteer Russian drone developers, has posted a critical commentary contrasting the Russian and Ukrainian approaches towards UAV development. The author calls for urgent changes on the Russian side.

1/ Daniel Martindale, the US missionary who has defected to Russia and publicly declared that he has spent the last two years spying on the Ukrainian military, describes himself as a Christian and 'conservative American', and subscribes to a wide range of conspiracy theories. ⬇️ 2/ Martindale, a native of Indiana, held a press conference earlier today in Moscow in which he explained why he decided, as soon as the war broke out in Ukraine, that he would cross the border and spy for Russia while posing as an aid worker.

https://x.com/ChrisO_wiki/status/1852713306068246619