1/ At least 250 Russian soldiers a day are being declared missing or dead by the courts, equivalent to the declared daily losses of the Russian army at the front. Although at least 50,000 men are missing, the Russian government is doing little to help relatives. ⬇️ 2/ Mediazona and Meduza report that by the beginning of August 2025, families of missing soldiers had filed about 50,000 claims to declare their relatives dead, so that they can obtain compensation. The vast majority of the missing are indeed likely to be deceased.

1/ Russian veterans of the war in Ukraine – known as SVOshniks – have a reputation for violence and abuse back home in Russia, committing many murders, rapes and assaults. Few are more exposed to the danger than Russia's prostitutes, whose experiences point to future trouble. ⬇️ 2/ The St Petersburg news outlet Bumaga ('Paper') has been speaking with prostitutes about how their business has changed since the start of the war in Ukraine. They say that soldiers now amount for as much as 50% of their clientele, but are also the most violent and difficult.

1/ Russian warblogger Alexander Garmaev has published a photo showing what he says are two Ukrainian POWs tied together with sticky tape, with one of them being made to hold a primed hand grenade which will explode if either try to escape or if it is dropped. ⬇️ 2/ Garmaev writes:

"A waltz performed by two crests [derogatory term for Ukrainians]🤣

Only those who pay close attention will understand that this dance cannot be completed without fatal consequences🤣"

1/ As Russian refineries continue to explode on a virtually daily basis, Russian warbloggers are furious at their government's failure to protect vital infrastructure. They blame government incompetence and call for a drastic overhaul of air defences. ⬇️

https://x.com/Osinttechnical/status/1960870664619118767

2/ The success of the Ukrainian drone campaign is undermining morale at the front, writes 'Brothers in Arms', who complains: "Seriously, do you know what it looks like from the outside?"

1/ A Russian soldier who was shot in the head miraculously survived when the bullet passed through his helmet, grazing him. He expresses dismay at how easily the bullet penetrated the helmet. Other soldiers and relatives say Russian army helmets can be "pierced by a nail". ⬇️ 2/ The unidentified soldier shows his helmet after being struck by a bullet from a machine gun, which pierced right through, leaving entry and exit holes. He received a grazing wound on his forehead but was otherwise uninjured.

1/ Russian refugees deported by the United States back to Russia have experienced intensive interrogation, threats, violence, and torture, according to Russian sources. Thousands of Russians have fled to the US to escape the war and political persecution by the Putin regime. ⬇️ 2/ On 27 August, 50 Russians were deported from the US to Russia, including dozens of asylum seekers. According to Dmitry Valuev, they comprised Russian citizens who were in immigration prisons in the United States, who had lost asylum cases or chose self-deportation.

1/ This needs unpacking a bit. Entry to the Schengen zone is recorded in the EU-wide Schengen Information System (SIS). Each Schengen country has a national SIS (N.SIS). They use it to identify persons of interest (such as wanted criminals or those with entry bans).

https://twitter.com/yarotrof/status/1960975036824871166

2/ Alerts include details like name, nationality, reason for the alert, and instructions for action (e.g., arrest, deny entry, or locate). They are uploaded to the central SIS database and instantly accessible to all member states.

1/ Internet shutdowns and blocks on Telegram continue to cripple the coordination of Russia's air defences. Mobile fire teams are reported to be secretly using insecure Chinese radios instead, and despite the name aren't allowed to be mobile. ⬇️

https://x.com/bayraktar_1love/status/1960919288782708923

2/ As previously reported, local officials frequently shut down mobile Internet access during drone raids to prevent Ukrainian drones using them for navigation. The Russian government has also recently blocked calls on Telegram and WhatsApp.

https://x.com/ChrisO_wiki/status/1958891217380413623

1/ Employees of Russia's space agency are reported to have gone without pay for over three months, causing severe hardship to many. It likely reflects the increasing financial difficulties of the Russian government, exacerbated by the demands of the war in Ukraine. ⬇️ 2/ JSC Sibpromproekt, formally the Siberian Institute for Design of Mechanical Engineering Enterprises, is a design institute of Roscosmos, the Russian State Corporation for Space Activities. The Zheleznogorsk-based company provides engineering and technical design services.

1/ The Danish public broadcaster DR is reporting that men with close links to Donald Trump have been 'infiltrating' Greenland in support of his goal of annexing the automous island. It is said to be part of a three-part strategy involving pressure, charm and infiltration. ⬇️ 2/ DR reports that at least three Americans linked personally to Trump have been seeking to find recruits for an annexationist movement, identifying supporters and opponents of Trump's plan to take over Greenland, and seeking to magnify Greenlandic grievances with Denmark.

1/ No previous US president has ever created criminal offences by executive order, as that's exclusively reserved to Congress. However, it *is* literally a hallmark of fascism, and it always starts with criminalising dissent. ⬇️

https://twitter.com/BulwarkOnline/status/1959998180218585406

2/ After consolidating power in 1925–26, Mussolini issued 'decreti-legge' (decree-laws) through the Fascist Grand Council and his own authority as Duce (Leader), bypassing the Italian Parliament.

1/ Russian soldiers face ever more draconian rules in occupied Ukraine, apparently imposed to crack down on desertions and misconduct by soldiers. Violations now effectively attract a death penalty. The soldiers, not surprisingly, aren't happy about this. ⬇️ 2/ The author of the 'Vault No. 8' Telegram channel writes:

"In general, so that you understand the depth of our depths. Our rear zones in the far rear have been declared "territory living by the rules of the permanent point of deployment."

1/ If history had gone differently, the notorious Wagner Group might have been known instead as the slightly less intimidating "Battle Moth". Russian warblogger Anastasia Kashevarova relates an account from former Wagnerites on how it got its name. ⬇️ 2/ "When we first started, we didn't have a name, it came by chance. We opened a base in St. Petersburg [region], 300 kilometers from [the city of] St. Petersburg, in the swamps. We had to cut down the forest and put up tents. We were so tired, our backs were strained.

1/ The second anniversary of the death of Wagner Group head Yevgeny Prigozhin in a highly suspicious plane crash has been marked by retrospectives from many Russian warbloggers. Anastasia Kashevarova, who was close to the Wagnerites, explains what happened after the crash. ⬇️ 2/ Kashevarova was on a flight from Moscow to Minsk to meet Wagner members at their base in Belarus. While en route, she learned that a plane carrying the entire core leadership of Wagner had crashed in Russia:

1/ The US government has for months been blocking Ukrainian long-range strikes on Russian targets using US-supplied ATACMS missiles and the UK-French Storm Shadow cruise missile, under a previously undisclosed review procedure created by Pentagon official Elbridge Colby. ⬇️ 2/ The Wall Street Journal reports that the mechanism, which was put in place in the late spring of 2025, gives US Defense Secretary and former Fox News host Pete Hegseth the final say over the use of ATACMS and Storm Shadow, which uses US targeting data.

1/ Water supplies have been cut off in parts of the Rostov region as firefighters struggle to deal with the ongoing fire at the Novoshakhtinsk refinery. Residents are incredulous at claims by the authorities that there's no problem with air quality. ⬇️

https://x.com/bayraktar_1love/status/1959160930958180379

2/ Novoshakhtinsk is the location of the Rostov region's only oil refinery. It specialises in the production of fuel and heating oil, as well as marine and diesel fuel. The refinery is a key supplier to the Russian military, making it a very attractive target for Ukraine.

1/ A Russian soldier has described an ongoing campaign of murder and extortion in the 80th Guards Tank Regiment, in which a sadistic company commander and his accomplices are said to be systematically robbing, torturing, and killing the men under their command. ⬇️ 2/ A soldier named Evgeny Alexandrovich has recorded a video message describing how company commander Dmitry Kemerov (‘Kemer’), his deputy Mikhail Dudukov (“Dudka”, pictured right), and a soldier with the call sign ‘Batrak' are systematically abusing the men under their command.

1/ More charges are reported to have been brought against a Russian colonel who is accused of extorting, robbing, beating, and murdering his men, including his own second-in-command. ⬇️

https://x.com/ChrisO_wiki/status/1932145282395025671

2/ Colonel Anton Necherda, of the 1428th Motorised Rifle Regiment, was arrested in the Kursk region of Russia in the spring of 2025 after years of complaints from soldiers and their relatives about criminal abuses in his unit.

1/ The Russian military's fetish for paper-based bureaucracy is requiring soldiers to deliver reams of paperwork to and from frontline positions, certifying that various standards are being followed, despite the danger that couriers face from drone attacks. ⬇️ 2/ 'Vault No. 8' laments:

"We were tortured with inspections. This time they checked the documentation in the baths and cook stations.

Guess how many pieces of paper need to be hung near the entrance to the dugout of the field canteen?"

1/ Russia's periodic shutdowns of mobile Internet services are crippling its air defences, according to Russian warbloggers. Shutdowns frequently take place to hinder Ukrainian drone attacks, but are disrupting coordination of Russian air defence units. ⬇️

https://x.com/bayraktar_1love/status/1958805124668616856

2/ Both Ukrainian and Russian drones have used mobile Internet services for navigation. To combat this, local Russian officials have ordered shutdowns during drone alerts, which has caused disruption for ordinary people, chaos for the economy, and hindrance to the air defences.

1/ A Russian tank crewman in the Pokrovsk region says that things are not going well there. Only 2 of his unit's 16 tanks are operational, there aren't enough men to operate the rest, and the tankers at the front line are being expended as assault troops instead. ⬇️
2/ The unidentified man, who says he is in a tank unit somewhere near Pokrovsk, says: "Well, we have no one left to send, we have no fucking crews at all. Of the three fucking companies left there... well, we can put together a company."