1/ Russia is reportedly considering proposing a wide-ranging economic partnership with the Trump administration, including joint cooperation to push fossil fuels as an alternative to Chinese and European clean energy solutions, in opposition to curbing climate change. ⬇️ 2/ Bloomberg is reporting that Russia has prepared a seven-point memo that includes a return to the dollar settlement system, reversing Putin's by now well-established policy of creating an alternative system insulated from US economic pressure.

1/ Why does the Russian government appear to be so clueless about the role Telegram plays in military communications? The answer, one warblogger suggests, is that the military leadership doesn't want to admit its failure to provide its own reliable communications solutions. ⬇️ 2/ Recent claims by high-ranking officials that Telegram isn't relevant to military communications have prompted howls of outrage and detailed rebuttals from Russian warbloggers, but have also pointed to a deeper problem about what reliance on Telegram (and Starlink) represents.

1/ Telegram is deeply embedded into Russian military units' internal communications, providing functionality that MAX, the Russian government's authorised app, doesn't have. A commentary highlights the vast gap that is being opened up by the government's blocking of Telegram. ⬇️ 2/ The Two Majors Charitable Foundation writes that without Telegram, information exchange, skills transfer, and moral mobilisation work within the Russian army will be crippled:

1/ Russia's Federal Customs Service is seeking to prosecute Russian volunteers who are importing reconnaissance drones from China to give to frontline troops. It's the latest chapter in a saga of bureaucratic obstruction that is blocking vital supplies to the Russian army. ⬇️ 2/ Much of the army's equipment, and many of its drones, are purchased with private money by volunteer supporters or the soldiers themselves. High-tech equipment such as drones and communications equipment is purchased in China or Central Asia and imported into Russia.

1/ Leaked casualty figures from an elite Russian special forces brigade indicate that it has suffered huge losses in Ukraine, equivalent to more than half of its entire roster of personnel. Scores of men are listed as being 'unaccounted for', in other words having deserted. ⬇️ 2/ The 10th Separate Guards Special Purpose Brigade (military unit 51532) is a special forces (spetsnaz) unit under the GRU. It is a 2002 refoundation by Russia of a Soviet-era spetsnaz unit that, ironically, passed to Ukraine when the Soviet Union broke up in 1991.

1/ Russian warbloggers are continuing to provide examples of how Telegram is used for frontline battlefield communications, to refute the claim of presidential spokesman Dmitri Peskov that such a thing is "not possible to imagine". ⬇️ 2/ Platon Mamadov provides two detailed examples:

"Example number one:

Aerial reconnaissance of Unit N spotted a Ukrainian self-propelled gun in a shelter in the middle of town N."

1/ The Russian army faces a crisis with obtaining aid for its soldiers, who are dependent on volunteers to provide them with everything from socks to Starlink terminals. Russian warbloggers say that the blocking of Telegram will wreck voluntary assistance efforts. ⬇️ 2/ 'It's time ZOV to go home' writes:

"Since 2022, Telegram has become the primary source of funds for the front. Numerous units and volunteers have created their own channels."

1/ Russian soldiers overwhelmingly prefer to use Telegram for tactical communications despite the Russian army having its own dedicated military messengers. The reason isn't complex – the military's own alternatives are unreliable and difficult to use. ⬇️ 2/ 'Vault No. 8' explains the problem:

"The Telegram slowdown is particularly nasty because Telegram is used for communication on the front lines.

Military messengers have been around since I wrote about this, but... Guess what you have to do to get a firmware-ready smartphone?

1/ The Russian government's throttling of Telegram has deprived the Russian army of a huge repository of information for its soldiers' professional development and a key source of essential technical advice and instruction, as Russian warbloggers explain. ⬇️ 2/ 'Kiba's Signalman's Diary' explains:

1/ Russian warbloggers are outraged at the Russian government's view that blocking Telegram is no big deal for frontline troops. They say it's a catastrophe heaped on the disaster of losing Starlink and that anyone who says Telegram isn't needed is talking "complete bullshit". ⬇️ 2/ Dmitri Peskov, Vladimir Putin's spokesman, says: "I don't think it's possible to imagine frontline communications being provided via Telegram or some other messenger. It's difficult and impossible to imagine such a thing."

1/ Life after Starlink is proving to be difficult and frustrating for the Russian army. Russian warbloggers appear to be going through the stages of grief, expressing anger and alarm at the crisis and concern that Ukraine will exploit it. One anticipates "24/7 fucking". ⬇️ 2/ Further instances of price-gouging are being reported, with the cost of US-made Ubiquiti WiFi bridges – illegally imported into Russia – doubling overnight. 'Strong Word' complains:

1/ What can Russian soldiers do with thousands of useless Starlink terminals? One Russian warblogger has some humorous suggestions. ⬇️ 2/ 'BKGB Casuar' writes:

"Here are 10 ways to use a broken terminal in the Special Military Operation zone:

1/ Russian political officers are reportedly using the Epstein files to justify the 'Special Military Operation' (SVO) as a "war against global evil". However, as a frontline Russian warblogger points out, Russia and its soldiers are hardly innocent of crimes against children. ⬇️ 2/ 'Vault No. 8', a serving soldier in the Russian army, writes:

"Over dinner, we were shown a report on the Epstein files: Satanism, cannibalism, paedophilia, child trafficking to EU countries in Ukraine, etc. The conclusion: "The SVO is the fight against global evil."

1/ As many as 4% of the able-bodied men in one village in the Russian Far East may have died in Ukraine. The figure illustrates how the human cost of the war is being borne disproportionately by impoverished communities deep in the Russian interior.
2/ The village of Tigil is the principal settlement of a lightly populated region the size of West Virginia or Latvia. About 1,600 people live in the village. Ethnic Russians only make up about 36% of the population, with various indigenous groups making up the rest.

1/ The Russian authorities have published details of three people accused of Friday's shooting of Lt Gen Vladimir Alekseyev. Two men have been arrested, one in the UAE, while a woman is said to have escaped to Ukraine, which is blamed for the attack. ⬇️

https://x.com/wartranslated/status/2020416886215700944

2/ The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation (roughly Russia's equivalent of the FBI) has issued a statement, which includes the following:

1/ General Vladimir Alexseyev, who was shot yesterday in a Moscow apartment building, may have been secretly visiting his mistress before the attack. Despite a reputation as an uncorrupt officer, he is said to have enjoyed the same luxurious lifestyle as many of his peers. ⬇️ 2/ The building where Alekseyev was shot is a fairly ordinary apartment building in Moscow's Shchukino District. Completed in 2022, it has 10 apartments on each floor. Alekseyev was using an apartment on the 24th floor.

1/ Why has Russia failed so abysmally at providing secure battlefield communications to its troops in Ukraine? The answer, concludes Russian warblogger Oleg Tsarev, is that the military communications budget has been looted for years by corrupt generals and contractors. ⬇️ 2/ Tsarev relates the dismal history of Russia's military communications programmes:

"I remember how, at the beginning of the Special Military Operation, all units were buying Motorola radios. There was no other communications."

1/ The attempted assassination of Lt Gen Vladimir Alekseyev in Moscow this morning has outraged Russian warbloggers, who regard him as a hero of Russia. They have highlighted his key role and contributions to the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. ⬇️ 2/ Vladimir Romanov writes:

"An assassination attempt was made on Lieutenant General Vladimir Alekseyev [who is known as 'Stepanich'], First Deputy Chief of the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) of the Russian Ministry of Defence."

1/ Russia's battlefield communications are reportedly "in chaos" following the Starlink shutdown. Communications specialists are said to be scrambling to find alternative solutions, while warbloggers advocate torturing Ukrainian PoWs to get their Starlink passwords. ⬇️ 2/ Yuri Podolyak writes:

"So, what everyone had long feared, but secretly hoped wouldn't happen until the end of the Special Military Operation has happened. Elon Musk flipped the switch, and 80% of Starlink terminals on the front line went down."

1/ A Russian warblogger explains what the Russian army in Ukraine saw when they were disconnected en masse from Starlink yesterday. ⬇️ 2/ "Starlink went down across the theatre of military operations in a rather strange way.

At around 22:00 Moscow time, it was like this:

1/ Russian retailers are cashing in on Elon Musk's mass disabling of the Russian army's Starlink terminals by massively increasing the price of Russian alternatives. One such system has quadrupled in price overnight to over $2,600, but is said to be far inferior to Starlink. ⬇️ 2/ 'Combat Reserve' complains that there has been a huge overnight increase in the price being asked for the Yamal 601 system, which uses Gazprom's Yamal satellite constellation. Units are now selling for 200,000 rubles ($2,612) apiece.