1/ There's no need to resort to conspiracy theories about Trump being "compromised" to explain his support for Vladimir Putin. Nobody claims JD Vance supports Trump because he is "compromised". The truth is likely much simpler: Trump shares Putin's ideology. 2/ As the Washington Post article linked below points out, Putin promoted many aspects of MAGA ideology (anti-LGBT, anti-woke, anti-migrant, anti-abortion, anti-feminism, Christian nationalism) before they became mainstream in the Republican Party. washingtonpost.com/world/2025/02/…

1/ Russia is reported to have offered lucrative oil and gas concessions as a sweetener to get the Trump negotiating team to agree a favourable deal over Ukraine in Riyadh. ⬇️ 2/ The VChK-OGPU Telegram channel reports a source's comments on the negotiations:

"Kirill Dmitriev (Russian Direct Investment Fund) was clearly appointed to the negotiating delegation from Russia as a person who at least knows a little about business."

1/ Donald Trump's friendliness to Russia has earned praise from Russian propagandists and a wave of Trumpmania from online sellers, including MAGA hats and Trump toilet brushes. One commentator suggests he'll be declared the Messiah and will build the Third Temple in space. ⬇️ 2/ The notorious propagandist Vladimir Solovyov has broadcast a video of J.D. Vance's speech to the Munich Security Conference and has spoken approvingly of Vance's statement that negotiations between America and Russia are needed.

1/ The Russian army is using wounded soldiers as human bullet sponges, sending them out to identify Ukrainian positions by getting themselves shot. An appeal to Vladimir Putin by one man's wife illustrates how soldiers find themselves in this position. ⬇️
2/ The Russian 'Soldier's Truth' Telegram channel has published an 'appeal to the Tsar' from Sofia Sergeevna Merzlyak, the wife of 33-year-old soldier Alexander Alexandrovich Merzlyak, who is serving with the 1st Rifle Company of the 5th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade.

1/ Russian warbloggers are furious about the catastrophic defeat of a Russian armoured column in the Kursk region, reportedly causing hundreds of casualties. They are bitterly critical of the commanders responsible. ⬇️

https://x.com/JimmySecUK/status/1891122148174856261

2/ The failed assault happened near the hamlet of Nikolskiy, near Malaya Loknya in Russia's Kursk region. According to the Russian 'North Channel' Telegram channel, Nikolskiy was mostly recaptured by North Korean forces, who then lost it in what may have been a failed rotation.

1/ Russian kindergarteners are being taught to throw grenades, navigate trenches, weave camouflage nets, and go through obstacle courses, as part of an increasingly intensive programme to train the next generation of Russians for war. ⬇️

2/ 2025 has been declared the "year of the defender of the Fatherland" by Vladimir Putin. Schools and local authorities have been using social media to publicise what they have been doing to commemorate it and promote nationalist-militarist values.

1/ The owners of the Russian oil tankers which sunk in the Kerch Strait in December 2024, causing damage estimated at $335 million, have been fined 600,000 rubles ($6,588). It's also emerged that they bought some of their tankers for under $13,000 each, likely from scrapyards. ⬇️ 2/ The Arbitration Court of Krasnodar Krai has fined Volgatransneft, the company which owned the ill-fated Volgoneft-212 and Volgoneft-239 tankers, 300,000 rubles for violating rules banning its tankers from operating at sea after the permitted sailing season.

1/ Russian Muslims who fight in Ukraine are to be rewarded with a free pilgrimage to Mecca, under a new initiative of the Religious Council of Muslims of Russia. Around 14 million Russians, or 10% of the total population, are Muslims. ⬇️ 2/ Veterans of the war in Ukraine are to be given a free ticket to the Hajj by the Religious Council of Muslims of Russia, which controls the number of Hajj tickets assigned to Russia. A family member can be nominated to go on the soldier's behalf.

1/ Most Russian recruits who arrive on the front lines are almost completely unaware of the nature of the war in Ukraine, say Russian warbloggers. They blame it on deliberate, conscious ignorance and say that it is exploited by commanders to throw unprepared men into assaults. ⬇️ 2/ Mobilised paratrooper, warblogger and volunteer Nikita Tretyakov writes that Russians who come to fight in Ukraine "know catastrophically little about the war."

1/ Russia is systematically sending badly wounded men back into combat, often denying them medical treatment. Previously, men were allowed to recuperate or leave the army if seriously injured; now, death appears to be the only way out for many. ⬇️

https://x.com/wartranslated/status/1889322319052410987

2/ The independent Russian news outlet Okno Press reports that since November 2024, the Russian army has routinely been sending men with category D (unfit) fitness ratings back to Ukraine to fight in the front lines. The army has ignored court rulings to release them.

1/ Only half of the artillery pieces in some Russian units are able to fire or hit targets, according to a Russian artilleryman, due to a combination of inexperienced soldiers being unable to maintain them, a lack of people to fire them, poor command and faulty ammunition. ⬇️ 2/ The Russian 'Callsign OSETIN' Telegram channel passes on the comments of an artilleryman who is fighting on the Kherson front:

1/ Reacting to videos of numerous destroyed Russian vehicles on the road to Pokrovsk, Russian warbloggers say that civilian vehicles are now used in preference to armour because commanders fear reprimands if armoured vehicles are lost. ⬇️

https://x.com/prestonstew_/status/1889055465478226233

2/ 'Military Informant' writes: "The enemy publishes footage of destroyed Russian light vehicles in the Pokrovsk direction.

As can be seen, civilian cars were converted into buggies and are used for the rapid delivery of infantry, similar to motorcycles earlier."

1/ Russian commanders are said to be faking successes in the war in Ukraine in order to earn cash bonuses and awards, an approach Russian sources call "taking on credit". This is being blamed for Ukraine's recent advances in the Kursk region. ⬇️ 2/ Recent setbacks for the Russians, such as the breakthrough in the Kursk pocket on 7 February and the bloody battles for control of Novoiehorivka, are being blamed by Russian warbloggers on corrupt behaviour by commanders.

https://x.com/ChrisO_wiki/status/1886147804252274768

1/ Ukraine's drone dominance has meant that Russia's front line logistics now depend on two new types of military specialist: 'stalkers' and 'hikers'. ⬇️
2/ As reported last week, Ukrainian drones have so successfully paralysed Russian vehicle movements that soldiers now have to walk tens of kilometers daily to bring supplies to the front lines.

https://x.com/ChrisO_wiki/status/1885662035343536294

1/ The Russian army is reportedly forcing mobilised soldiers to either sign permanent contracts or be sent to die in assaults. The reasons are unclear, but it may be intended to prevent them demobilising if a ceasefire deal is reached. ⬇️ 2/ The Russian pro-war 'Philologist in ambush' Telegram channel reports that the ultimatum has been issued by the Dnepr grouping of forces and the Southern Military District. Commanders and political officers have been ordered to 'persuade' their men with threats.

1/ Roscosmos head Yuri Borisov was reportedly fired by Vladimir Putin because of the failures of the Oreshnik ballistic missile and other space projects. Russia's space industry is suspected to have been crippled by corruption; Borisov may face charges. ⬇️
2/ The VChK-OGPU Telegram channel reports that Borisov, a former acolyte of sacked defence minister Sergei Shoigu, was abruptly dismissed from his post as CEO of the State Corporation for the Space Industry Roscosmos because of Putin's anger at the industry's direction.

1/ News that 'combat donkeys' are being issued to Russians on the front lines in Ukraine has baffled and enraged Russian warbloggers. "Are the Ural [trucks] on fire? They are on fire. Here's a donkey. A real, fucking, live, fucking donkey," says one.

https://x.com/bayraktar_1love/status/1887285444842312182

2/ Warblogger Dmitry Steshin records a soldier friend's reaction to encountering Russia's latest military innovation for the first time:

1/ Armenian-Russian paramilitary and crime boss Armen Sarkisyan was reportedly assassinated in a Moscow apartment block by a suicide bomber using a Soviet copy of the US M18A1 Claymore anti-personnel mine. It's unclear who the man was or what his motive might have been. ⬇️ 2/ More details have emerged of the death on 3 February of Sarkisyan, a gangster who founded the ARBAT (Armenian Battalion) mercenary group which is fighting in Ukraine.

https://x.com/wartranslated/status/1886333345971269656

1/ The Russian army has suffered exceptionally high casualties in Ukraine due to what one blogger calls "assault for the sake of assault" – performative attacks carried out principally to allow local commanders to inform their superiors that they have complied with orders. ⬇️ 2/ The Russian 'Philologist in ambush' Telegram channel writes:

"As an illustration of the issue of "organisation" (I can't bring myself to write without quotation marks) of multiple attacks, I quote one good comrade from the ground:

1/ A lack of mine protection kits for Russian armoured vehicles has prompted some Russian units to create their own home-brew versions. Although Russia does have some mine-resistant vehicles, they are not widely available. ⬇️ 2/ The Russian 'Military Informant' Telegram channel has published a video of what it calls a "makeshift mine trawl and additional mine protection for the bottom of Russian BMP-2 vehicles", installed by a repair unit. It comments:

1/ The Russian media has reportedly been ordered by the Kremlin not to cover Donald Trump positively because his agenda is seen by ordinary Russians as better aligned with their own interests and values than that of Vladimir Putin. ⬇️ 2/ The VChK-OGPU Telegram channel reports what a source has told it about a new directive suppressing Russian media coverage of Trump: