1/ Russia's fuel crisis has spread to its Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad. Fuel prices have soared, rationing has been introduced, gas stations have kilometre-long queues, but most have no fuel to offer. Extreme heat is also causing pumps to break down en masse. ⬇️ 2/ Russians are posting videos of long queues at Kaliningrad gas stations, the vast majority of which reportedly have no fuel available. According to one reader of the ASTRA news outlet:

1/ Russia needs better propaganda, argues a prominent warblogger known for pro-Kremlin propaganda. He and other warbloggers say that the Kremlin's current PR approach to the war in Ukraine is causing the population to be complacent and disbelieving about the real situation. ⬇️ 2/ 'Rybar' writes:

"When does morale plummet? It often occurs against a backdrop of cognitive dissonance when reality collides with a poorly correlated media image. This applies to major Russian media outlets as well—take the news on federal television channels, for example."

1/ Five years into the full-scale war in Ukraine, the Russian army appears to be exhausted and in low morale. An account from a serving Russian soldier at the front line highlights the current mood of dejection and frustration with incompetent commanders. ⬇️ 2/ 'Combat Reserve' writes:

"We'll all be going home, it's just not entirely clear in what condition.

The Vostok group's officer ranks are depleted, a leg was blown off—he went home. If he's lucky, he'll get a mortgage or a certificate."

1/ In possibly the most predictable outcome ever, a Russian former soldier who made a video appealing to Vladimir Putin to meet with him to avert an army rebellion over abuses on the front line has been jailed for "propagating extremist symbols". ⬇️ 2/ As reported in the thread below, 39-year-old Alexander Lunin recorded an instantly viral video appeal to Putin last week in which he denounced the abusive behaviour of frontline commanders and asked for a meeting with Putin in Moscow.

https://x.com/ChrisO_wiki/status/2071157529690701976

1/ Vladimir Putin's speech to the United Russia Party Congress on 28 June has received a frosty reception online from Russian Telegram commentators and users. The most commonly used reaction emoji used by readers of related posts is a clown 🤡, while bloggers are sceptical. ⬇️ 2/ While many warbloggers have reported the speech neutrally, some are openly hostile – a sign of increasing antagonism towards the regime from parts of the warblogger community, who feel that it isn't doing enough to win the war.

1/ In another sign of worsening economic problems in Russia, a fifth of the fleets of the country's largest airlines have been taken out of operation. The idling of the aircraft has been blamed on equipment failures and extended maintenance incurred by the effect of sanctions. ⬇️ 2/ The Russian newspaper Kommersant reports that almost a third of the fleet – 93 out of 322 aircraft – is now idle at the eight largest carriers. This breaks down as follows for the top five airlines:

1/ Russia's ongoing fuel crisis will soon lead to impacts far worse than queues at gas stations, warns a Russian warblogger. A logistical crisis is predicted, accompanied by shortages of raw materials and goods, along with soaring inflation. ⬇️

https://x.com/wartranslated/status/2071260051168276865

2/ Russia's huge size means that logistics drivers have to travel great distances between pickup and delivery points. With fuel increasingly being rationed, their ability to do this is being curtailed. 'Intelligence Diary' writes:

1/ President Alexander Lukashenko's unscheduled two-day meeting with Vladimir Putin is attracting interest and speculation from Russian commentators. Unusually, there has been no official comment about what was discussed, nor even a photo of the two leaders meeting. ⬇️ 2/ Alexey Zhivov notes:

"No information about the meeting between the two presidents has been released to the press. Not a single comment or photo.

1/ Is a rebellion brewing in the Russian army? A Russian soldier's video appeal to meet with Vladimir Putin to avert a mutiny over the appalling conditions on the frontline has gone viral, and has clearly struck a nerve at the Kremlin. ⬇️

https://x.com/Gerashchenko_en/status/2070186478659879036?s=20

2/ Alexander Lunin, a self-proclaimed Russian Ukraine war veteran, attracted widespread attention on 25 June when he published a startling video on Russian social media in which he claims to have met with government officials who asked them to convey certain demands to Putin.

1/ The continued success of Ukraine's FP-5 'Flamingo' cruise missile in hitting targets deep inside Russia is causing frustration and anger among Russian warbloggers. They criticise Russian air defences, but concede clever Ukrainian tactics. ⬇️

https://x.com/bayraktar_1love/status/2070766954491629636?s=20

2/ The fact that Volgograd – the former Stalingrad – was hit is seen as particularly symbolic and insulting to Russia. Vladimir Romanov complains that Russia's leadership is shying away from ordering Ukraine's leaders to be killed and Kyiv nuked to deter such attacks:

1/ Russia's fuel crisis isn't just about a lack of fuel being produced by refineries. The country is in the grip of a full-blown fuel panic, with people buying far more fuel than normal to get ahead of shortages and in some cases to resell fuel for profit. ⬇️ 2/ As the 'Intelligence Diary' Telegram channel reports:

"Russia is gripped by a fuel panic.

People are buying up gasoline by the hundreds of litres. There are huge queues at gas stations. Prices are rising.

It's a real fuel scare.

A true gasoline vendetta."

1/ A Russian military police officer who stole 2 million rubles from a mentally disabled recruit was sent to an assault unit. However, illustrating the current state of morale on the front lines, he and three comrades reportedly blew their own legs off to avoid going to fight. ⬇️ 2/ Russian warblogger 'BCh3' tells the story in three posts:

"We usually write about heroes, but here we have an anti-hero. One of those who profit from war; one of those who ‘while some suffer, others benefit’. Meet one of the staff officers of the Military Police."

1/ Why aren't Russia's treaty partners helping it in the war against Ukraine, ask Russian warbloggers. They wonder what use the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) is if it can't even help Russia to conquer a neighbouring state. ⬇️ 2/ The CSTO was established in 2002 as a military alliance of six post-Soviet states – Armenia (which is in the process of withdrawing), Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan. Its charter requires participants to abstain from the use or threat of force.

1/ Russia is constructing shelters for its heavy bomber aircraft to protect them from Ukrainian drone strikes, such as the famous 'Operation Spider's Web'. However, Russian warbloggers say it's too little, too late. ⬇️

https://x.com/thewarzonewire/status/2069108465948049490?s=20

2/ The shelters are being constructed at the Engels air base near Saratov, which has previously been attacked by fixed-wing Ukrainian UAVs. It houses the 22nd Heavy Bomber Aviation Division, which includes a single squadron of Tu-160s and another of Tu-95s.

1/ Wounded Russian soldiers are having to wait for anything from 48 hours to a remarkable 90 days for evacuation from the battlefields of Ukraine. Russian medical specialists say that there is a widespread lack of field medical expertise, likely dooming many of the wounded. ⬇️ 2/ The Bulletin of the Russian Military Medical Academy has published a new report "On the Impact of the Nature of Combat Operations on the Structure of Medical Losses and the Organization of Surgical Care for the Wounded." However, commentators say it doesn't reflect reality.

1/ Russian warblogger Nikita Tretyakov is "thinking the unthinkable" about the war in Ukraine and its disastrous consequences. He lists a long series of catastrophes that he says have befallen Russia since February 2022, and the Russian weaknesses that they have exposed. ⬇️ 2/ Tretyakov quotes Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov's recent comments on the failed negotiations with Donald Trump in Anchorage on 15 August 2025, in which Lavrov implicitly accused Trump of betraying Putin's trust:

1/ Russia's blocking of Telegram has had a disastrous impact on the reach and income of many Russians. This includes Russia's professional warbloggers, who have suffered a drastic drop in income that threatens to make their work financially unviable. ⬇️ 2/ The 'Novorossiya militia reports' Telegram channel has been active online for 12 years. Its operators say it now faces a battle for its survival following the block on Telegram and an apparent algorithmic downranking on VKontakte (VK).

1/ Russian warbloggers have frequently called for the destruction of the bridges over the Dnipro to cripple Ukraine's ability to move troops and supplies. However, a recent Russian strike highlights why this hasn't happened: they keep missing. ⬇️
2/ 'Shakespeare' credulously repeats official Russian propaganda lines about the success of the strikes:

"And on the eve [of 20 June 2026], strikes were quietly and somewhat modestly carried out against enemy bridges: 12 gliding bombs "shut down" the logistics of Zaporizhzhia."

1/ Ukraine is using quadcopter drones carried by uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) to hunt down and destroy Russian anti-drone teams in occupied Crimea, according to a Russian source. ⬇️ 2/ Ukrainian drone carrier USVs have been observed in use in the Black Sea in recent months. The Russian warblogger 'Veterans' Notes' describes how they are being used to support Ukraine's middle-strike campaign, by suppressing air defences in the occupied regions:

1/ The Russian government is a "great hypnotoad" that is trying to distract the population from the fact that things are bad and about to get worse, says Russian warblogger Anastasia Kashevarova. She complains that the government is attempting to "zombify people". ⬇️ 2/ A common complaint among Russian warbloggers in recent months has been that the Russian government frequently but ineptly tries to play down the deteriorating situation with the Ukraine war, through so-called "anti-crisis" propaganda or simply not mentioning Ukrainian attacks.

1/ Russian commanders are being accused of failing to ensure that their soldiers do not wear neo-Nazi and far-right insignia. The practice is said to be widespread. However, a crackdown is apparently underway, with offenders being sent to die in assault units. ⬇️ 2/ Throughout the war in Ukraine, Russian soldiers have been photographed wearing unofficial patches representing extremist ideologies, such as death's-head insignia, Nazi runes, and the "black sun" Sonnenrad symbol.

https://x.com/ChrisO_wiki/status/1742483606101004464