1/ Ukrainians are scamming millions of rubles a day from Russians and directing the proceeds to fund the Ukrainian armed forces, according to Russian investigators. They accuse the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) of being behind the scam operations. ⬇️
2/ Russian journalist and warblogger Anastasia Kashevarova has posted on her Telegram channel the results of an investigation by SNOS Call Centre, a group which is dedicated to countering Ukrainian scam operations against Russian citizens.

1/ Two Russian policemen who were sent to Ukraine after being found guilty of killing two teenage girls with an axe have both died there, according to Russian sources. ⬇️ 2/ The two men, Dmitry Istomin and Yevgeny Inkin, committed the double murder in the Selenginsky District of Buryatia in 2002, but were not caught until 2019.

1/ The 51st GRAU arsenal near Moscow, which exploded spectacularly today, was the target of a massive theft in 2017 which 646 million rubles ($7.9m) out of a 1.3 billion ruble ($16m) budget were stolen from a modernisation programme. ⬇️ 2/ These photos show the interior of the arsenal in happier times; the drone footage above was filmed in 2017 during a press tour. The Russian authorities say that the explosion was due to "safety violations" and are setting up a commission of inquiry to investigate it.

1/ A former Wagner mercenary has spoken of his experiences fighting for the Russian army after joining it in 2023. He says that there is "corruption, drugs, alcohol all around" and most soldiers are prevented from going on leave because desertion is so common. ⬇️ 2/ 'Mikhail', a Central Asian man, says in an interview with the independent Russian news outlet Current Time that he first went to Ukraine after the end of the battle of Bakhmut and around the time of Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin's rebellion in June 2023.

1/ Russian paranoia about the colours yellow and blue has struck again, with a kindergarten in Ulyanovsk having to be repainted after a complaint from a member of Vladimir Putin's United Russia party. ⬇️
2/ State Duma deputy Vladimir Ozhogin complained on his Telegram channel on 11 April 2025 that "some 'smart heads' decided this week to paint the building of kindergarten #91 in the 'yellow and blue' colors of the Ukrainian flag, which caused the most unpleasant associations."

1/ Three years on from the sinking of the cruiser Moskva, a leaked report indicates that the warship was in a 'deplorable' condition when it left Sevastopol for the last time. Commentators suggest it may have had its radars wrongly painted with a radio-opaque paint. ⬇️ 2/ The video above shows the ship's departure from Sevastopol on 10 April 2022. Exactly two months earlier, on 10 February 2022, its captain Anton Valerievich Kuprin wrote a "Reference Report on the Status of the Guided Missile Cruiser 'Moskva'", which has been leaked.

1/ Disastrous Russian attempts to mount armoured assaults are being blamed on commanders relying too much on electronic warfare equipment to defeat drones while ignoring the need to ensure that it is updated with a current tactical threat library. ⬇️

https://x.com/Maks_NAFO_FELLA/status/1914358581895242092

2/ Lamenting the destruction of dozens of armoured vehicles in failed assaults such as the one shown above, in the Zaporizhzhia region, the 'Zhivov Z' Telegram channel puts the blame on commanders who ignore or overlook the need to maintain EW systems mounted on vehicles:

1/ Ukraine was reportedly able to breach Russia's fortifications in the Kursk region in August 2024 because of a massive fraud by Russian constructors and politicians, with fake companies, fake workers, substituted materials, and trenches made of "shit and sticks". ⬇️ 2/ Prior to the incursion, the authorities in Moscow sent the Kursk regional government $230 million to fortify the border. At least $50 million is said to have been stolen. On 16 April 2025 former governor Alexei Smirmov and his former deputy were arrested on corruption charges.

1/ Russian warbloggers are strongly critical of Putin's so-called 'Easter ceasefire' in Ukraine. One calls it a gift to 'Donny Trump'; others point out that the Ukrainians will be able to use it to their advantage, and describe it as a trap. ⬇️

https://x.com/wartranslated/status/1913862605690589576

2/ 'Ghost of Novorossiya' invokes the famous Simpsons rake-stepping meme to criticise the ceasefire indirectly: "In honour of the festive truce, I will break my ban on advertising on the channel.

Advertisement of agricultural equipment: Minsk rake, model 3.0, 11-year warranty."

1/ Russian soldiers are heavily dependent on aid provided by volunteers, but are afraid to publicly identify their units because they fear being sent to their deaths by their commanders if they disclose that they are short of vital supplies. ⬇️ 2/ The prominent Russian Telegram channel 'Two Majors' harshly criticises the attitude of Russian commanders towards volunteer efforts, which have to be undertaken under a cloud of secrecy and fear – in marked contrast to comparable Ukrainian efforts.

1/ Uranus has been severely pounded in Ukraine over the past two years. The Russian space agency's head says 105 of its employees have died and 342 have been wounded fighting in Ukraine, likely as members of the Roscosmos volunteer battalion. ⬇️ 2/ In an event marking Cosmonautics Day (12 April), Roscosmos head Dmitry Bakanov told attendees: "While carrying out combat missions, 342 of our comrades were wounded, and 105 colleagues passed away forever or went missing."

1/ Since the beginning of 2025, Russian forces in Ukraine have been using 'combat donkeys' for logistics, due to the success of Ukrainian drones in stopping vehicles getting to the front lines. This thread compiles filmed instances of donkeys being used by the Russians. ⬇️ 2/

https://x.com/Archer83Able/status/1909200546038169811

1/ Russian commanders routinely tie soldiers to trees, sometimes for days on end, as a punishment for disciplinary offences. In some cases they are deliberately left to be killed by Ukrainian drones. This thread compiles filmed instances of 'tree punishments'. 2/ Tied to a tree and left to be killed by Ukrainian drones - a practice called 'sacrificing to Baba Yaga'.

https://x.com/GirkinGirkin/status/1893553389302165679

1/ The Washington Post reports that international travel to the US from almost everywhere has collapsed by up to a third in some cases. It's a clear sign that foreign travellers are being repelled by Trump's rhetoric and policies, and is likely to cost the US billions. ⬇️ 2/ Particularly striking drops from countries which were previously been close US allies:

🇨🇴 Colombia: -33%
🇩🇪 Germany: -28%
🇪🇸 Spain: -25%
🇰🇷 South Korea: -15%
🇬🇧 United Kingdom -14%

Summer bookings by European tourists are reportedly down by 25%.

1/ Russian commanders are robbing and deliberately killing their men, forcing female subordinates into sex and engaging in corruption with impunity, due to attitudes in the Russian army that a Russian commentator says are unchanged since the 19th century. ⬇️ 2/ Over the past three years of war in Ukraine, abuses by Russian officers have frequently been reported. Dissent is often punished by sending the culprits to die in unsupported assaults (an approach nicknamed Puzikism, after one particularly notorious commander).

1/ Only 40% of US Republicans see Russia as an enemy, a majority have a negative opinion of NATO, and an overwhelming majority say they are unconcerned about Russia invading other countries or the consequences of Russia winning in Ukraine. ⬇️ 2/ A new poll by Pew Research has found that the share of Americans who consider Russia an "enemy" has fallen to its lowest number since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. This has been driven largely by Republicans and Republican-leaners changing their views on Russia.

1/ Further updates on the situation on the ground in eastern Ukraine illustrate the relentless nature of the fighting. It's all "blood and rubble", says one Russian soldier, with so many Ukrainian drones that they are "like mosquitoes on a lake". ⬇️

https://x.com/Gerashchenko_en/status/1912916089622913345

2/ The Russian 'DONTSTOPWAR' Telegram channel has been posting more short updates from Russian soldiers fighting in ruined villages along the frontline in Ukraine's Donetsk and Luhanks regions (see below for previous updates):

https://x.com/ChrisO_wiki/status/1912052101410181443

1/ Commenting on a video showing a huge number of destroyed vehicles on a 'road of death' in the Belgorod region, a Russian warblogger describes how the area behind the front lines has become defined by the ranges of various types of Ukrainian drones. ⬇️

https://x.com/bayraktar_1love/status/1912231131115663404

2/ The author of the 'Vault No. 8' Telegram channel comments that whereas in 2023 the rear was defined by the ranges of various types of artillery, aided by Ukrainian observation drones, it is now defined by the various types of drones that Ukraine uses:

1/ Russian sources complain that they face a "systemic and extremely acute" situation with the supply and capability of drones on the front lines in Ukraine. They say they are still using off-the-shelf Mavics, while the Ukrainians have rapidly advanced their own capabilities. ⬇️ 2/ The 'Philologist in ambush' Telegram channel publishes "a signal from the ground from a comrade from an ordinary Russian people's (motorised) rifle regiment":

1/ The Russian naval infantry has introduced its own UAV units to fight in frontline border regions, but senior commanders are reluctant to expand them or pay salaries to the operators. A Russian warblogger complains that "indifferent and useless mediocrities are at the helm". ⬇️ 2/ The 'EvilSailor2' Telegram channel is written by a Russian sailor who has become a "trench rat" (i.e. naval infantry) but is still in touch with comrades elsewhere in the fleet. He reports on the Russian Navy's faltering attempts to create land-based UAV units:

1/ A Russian warblogger has compiled a series of updates from the Russian perspective of the ongoing fierce fighting in eastern Ukraine. "We're just going like a herd to the slaughter," says one soldier. ⬇️
2/ The Russian blogger 'DONTSTOPWAR' has summarised the current situation at the front based on "information from our fighters on the ground":