1/ As yet another Wildberries facility goes up in smoke, the company is taking care of its most important problem: it's reportedly banned its employees bringing smartphones, to prevent them filming the aftermath of drone strikes.

🦋Special Kherson Cat🐈🇺🇦@specialkhersoncat.bsky.social · 2d ago

The moment an FP-1 strike drone hit another Russian Wildberries logistics hub this morning, the 175,000-square-metre complex in Khryastovo, Vladimir region.

Idly wondering if these are ISO 20471-compliant

1/ Yet another import substitution scandal, in which a Russian drone manufacturer was caught red-handed passing off Chinese-made drones as Russia, has highlighted a persistent weakness in drone manufacture: economies of scale dictate Chinese dominance of components. ⬇️

A good way of thinking about Ceuta and Melilla is that they're Spain's dangling nuts which Morocco likes to squeeze every so often

1/ Could Dmitri Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Security Council, be lying about the current level of recruitment to the Russian army? This appalling and unprecedented scenario is considered by Russian warbloggers, who smell a rat in his claims of success. ⬇️

1/ A massive new mobilisation in Russia this fall is increasingly being forecast by Russian warbloggers. They are, however, cautious about this prospect given the strains on the Russian economy and the chaos that accompanied the 2022 mobilisation. ⬇️

1/ With rumours of a new mobilisation in the fall sweeping the Russian blogosphere, one warblogger wonders: what's the point? He points out that the land that Russia has seized is essentially worthless, having been destroyed, depopulated, and strewn with mines. ⬇️

Charlie Brown, football, etc

1/ Russian online marketplaces are reportedly trying to discourage their sellers offering non-lethal military equipment, for which Ukraine has targeted them. According to one such seller, fees of as much as 60% are now being charged on such equipment by the marketplaces. ⬇️

1/ Another Wildberries warehouse is on fire, this time in Sarapul, after a Ukrainian drone strike. As the ongoing massacre of Wildberries facilities continues, Russian warbloggers are becoming steadily more irate about the Russian military's failures. bsky.app/profile/spec...

🦋Special Kherson Cat🐈🇺🇦@specialkhersoncat.bsky.social · 6d ago

The Wildberries logistics hub in Sarapul burns after the attack. 1200km from the frontline.

1/ Russia's mobile fire teams (MOGs), which are the backbone of its defences against Ukrainian drones, are poorly paid and lack the benefits given to soldiers. Despite the dangers – MOGs have been attacked – their members do not get the benefits or pay that soldiers receive. ⬇️

1/ The Russian blogosphere is agog with speculation, rumours, claims, and much criticism of the authorities after the Russian government's decision to put Telegram founder Pavel Durov on the wanted list for terrorism. The reasons are murky, as usual for Russia. ⬇️

1/ Recently-announced Russian plans for a giant 500-ton unmanned surface vessel (USV) are being greeted with scepticism, confusion, and ridicule by Russian warbloggers. They say that the Navy is wasting money on grandiose schemes while failing to fix its current problems. ⬇️

1/ Russia's Navy, Marines, and non-strategic nuclear forces are in a dire state, according to Russian warbloggers. They are angry that the Navy has announced a huge, expensive, and likely useless unmanned surface vessel (USVs) while ignoring many other problems. ⬇️

1/ Recently-announced Russian plans for a giant 500-ton unmanned surface vessel (USV) are being greeted with scepticism, confusion, and ridicule by Russian warbloggers. They say that the Navy is wasting money on grandiose schemes while failing to fix its current problems. ⬇️

1/ As Russian progress in Ukraine slows to a crawl, frustration is mounting among warbloggers about why Russia isn't yet 'fighting for real'. One proposes a list of what should be done, from seizing the eastern half of Ukraine to emulating 2022's infamous Hostomel helicopter assault. ⬇️

1/ Russia has doubled the rate of personal income tax to cover the budget deficits caused by the war in Ukraine. However, as a gloomy Russian commentary notes, it's likely to have dire effects on the economy and the country's already declining demographics. ⬇️

1/ Gas prices were lowered, restrictions were lifted, and queues vanished temporarily for a visit to Irkutsk by Vladimir Putin. Russians are calling it a modern-day Potemkin village, but it appears to show how hard Putin's underlings try to hide Russia's problems from him. ⬇️

This thread makes the point that when the vast majority of news media is State-controlled and the State has an interest in convincing the people everything is going great, when systems fail the only people to blame are the State.

ChrisO_wiki@chriso-wiki.bsky.social · last wk.

1/ Wildberries sellers are generally blaming the Russian government, rather than Ukraine, for their losses. It's an interesting and striking dynamic, which Russian warbloggers say the Russian government itself has created through its suppression of bad news. ⬇️

1/ Russia isn't winning in Ukraine and it's all the fault of Russian society, says an angry Russian warblogger. Seeking an explanation for why (in the eyes of warbloggers) Russia has not yet started "fighting for real", he blames ordinary Russians for apathy and cowardice. ⬇️

From Trump's latest posts on Truth Social, the hitherto undisclosed double-ended version of the F-35. Presumably it's designed this way so that the enemy won't know whether it's coming or going

1/ Wildberries sellers are generally blaming the Russian government, rather than Ukraine, for their losses. It's an interesting and striking dynamic, which Russian warbloggers say the Russian government itself has created through its suppression of bad news. ⬇️

1/ A rare Russian armoured assault on 22 June ended in disaster, with the loss of numerous vehicles and the reported deaths of scores of Russians. Russian warbloggers are scathing about the losses, seeing the attack as incompetent. ⬇️ bsky.app/profile/wart...

WarTranslated (Dmitri)@wartranslated.bsky.social · 2w ago

Phoenix border unit pilots from Revenge brigade stopped a Russian assault with dozens of armored vehicles. They destroyed 9 tanks, 2 armored vehicles, 3 Grad launchers and eliminated dozens of occupiers. The rest of enemy armor was left burning in Donetsk fields.

1/ Vladimir Putin has strongly hinted that Russia should claim the entire eastern half of Ukraine, going far beyond the existing annexation of the Donbas and southern Ukraine. He foresees a future in which western Ukraine is also annexed by its neighbours. ⬇️

1/ Vladimir Putin is today celebrating the 330th anniversary of the Russian Navy. However, it's a muted, shrunken event held under the shadow of Ukrainian drone strikes and with the Black Sea Fleet blockaded in Novorossiysk. Russian commentators fear for the Navy's future. ⬇️

1/ A Russian commander has reportedly come up with a novel form of 'flag-sticking', the practice of planting flags in Ukrainian-held territory to falsely report advances. He was reportedly caught using AI to fake flag-sticking events to conceal his territorial losses. ⬇️

1/ Russian soldiers say they are facing a "catastrophic shortage" of fuel at the front lines due to Ukrainian drone strikes on refineries. Far less is available now, it's more expensive, and it's only being issued for vehicles owned by the army – excluding vast numbers in use. ⬇️

1/ The energy situation in Crimea is steadily worsening as Ukrainian drones systematically destroy power facilities across the peninsula. Russian warblogger 'Two Majors' says that Russia's air defences are being crippled by a lack of coordination. ⬇️ bsky.app/profile/medu...

Meduza in English@meduza.io · 2w ago

Ukraine’s strikes have plunged Crimea into a deepening blackout. Meduza and Vertical52 analyzed nighttime satellite imagery and found the peninsula’s illumination down fivefold, with water and power failing across the region. meduza.io/en/feature/2...

1/ Ukraine's systematic destruction of Wildberries warehouses across Russia should be understood as an act of psychological warfare intended to remind Russians of the ruinous 1990s, argues RIA Novosti correspondent Sergei Shilov in a lengthy commentary. ⬇️ bsky.app/profile/spec...

🦋Special Kherson Cat🐈🇺🇦@specialkhersoncat.bsky.social · 2w ago

A long compilation of yesterday’s drone strikes on Wildberries logistics hubs, filmed from different angles by St. Petersburg residents.

1/ Does the Russian soldier in your life need something to entertain him? A Russian entrepreneur has come up with the perfect answer: a board game called Silapoly which features 'Uncle Vova', the Oreshnik missile, the FSB, and anything else needed to control Russia. ⬇️