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ChrisO_wiki Profile picture
ChrisO_wiki
@ChrisO_wiki
Independent military history author and researcher. Coffee tips are appreciated! https://t.co/t1EjNrIZ2c Now also at ...
Sep 16 • 14 tweets • 3 min read
1/ Russia's Major General Anton Grunis, who was killed on 13 September in the Donetsk house he was using as a headquarters, is believed by Russian insiders to have been targeted by the Ukrainians as the result of a leak from his own side. ⬇️
2/ Anastasia Kashevarova says that Grunis appears to have been blown up as the result of a leak of information on his whereabouts from within Russia's military. If she is right – and it is quite plausible – then it highlights Ukraine's ability to repeatedly assassinate enemies.
Sep 16 • 32 tweets • 6 min read
1/ Two years ago, two Russian drone operators with the call signs 'Goodwin' and 'Ernest' were murdered by their commander, Colonel Ivan 'Evil' Puzik. Many Russian warbloggers are commemorating this as the point when they lost confidence in the Russian military leadership. ⬇️ Image 2/ Russian warbloggers are, publicly at least, still very committed to the idea that the invasion of Ukraine is a noble national cause. However, the pervasive criminality of senior military officers has clearly had a tangible effect on morale.
Sep 15 • 32 tweets • 6 min read
1/ Russian reports from the Lyman salient say that Ukraine's counter-offensive is still underway with heavy fighting ongoing. Russian forces are said to be outnumbered two to one by Ukrainians, and have withdrawn to the Zherebets river with a large 'grey area' in the salient. ⬇️ Image 2/ 'Partizan' reports:

"🔻The situation in the Lyman area remains difficult. The negative trend has been developing gradually throughout the summer and is now manifested in active enemy pressure on several fronts simultaneously."
Sep 14 • 21 tweets • 5 min read
1/ Russia's "crushing defeat" north of Lyman is increasingly being blamed on systematic false reporting by local commanders, who appear to have claimed territory they never held. The two maps below – Russian and Ukrainian respectively – provide a good illustration of this. ⬇️ Image
Image 2/ Prior to the recent news of a successful Ukrainian offensive against the Lyman salient (see thread below), Russian sources claimed that Lyman was being cleared of Ukrainian troops and that Russian troops had entered Sviatohirsk to the west.
Sep 14 • 33 tweets • 6 min read
1/ Russia has officially launched its 5G mobile network – but as angry Russian commentators are complaining, the usefulness of the new service has been ruined by the demands of the military and FSB, and by Russia adopting its own incompatible standards. ⬇️ Image 2/ On 11th September, Russia's Ministry of Digital Development announced the launch of 5G in 16 major cities, with plans to expand its availability to 50 more cities by the end of the year. Image
Sep 13 • 29 tweets • 4 min read
1/ Igor 'Girkin' Strelkov is contemptously dismissive of the attempts of 'Daddy Trump,' through his emissaries Witkoff and Kushner, to reach a peace deal. He sees it as a cynical effort by the Kremlin to placate a war-weary Russian population. ⬇️
2/ Writing from his jail for disgraced former security officials, Girkin gives a caustic assessment of the latest unsuccessful peace talks:

"On TV, I'm seeing a wildly renewed hope for Daddy Trump and his notorious compromise settlement."
Sep 13 • 19 tweets • 4 min read
1/ Ukrainian footage of the first-ever battle between two unmanned surface vessels (USVs), won by a Ukrainian USV armed with a machine gun, has prompted Russian warbloggers to predict a future of robotic naval battles. ⬇️
2/ Yuri Baranchik sees the battle as the shape of things to come, in much the same way that aerial combat between unmanned aerial vehicles used to be seen as futuristic but is now routine:
Sep 12 • 21 tweets • 4 min read
1/ While drones have become an iconic feature of the Ukraine war, Russian warbloggers argue that the more important story is the re-emergence of the stormtrooper: "Until an infantryman's balls are hanging over an area, its control cannot be considered complete." ⬇️ Image 2/ Stormtrooper tactics have a long history in the Russian army. While the German stormtroopers of both World Wars are arguably more famous historically, the Russians developed their own version for General Aleksei Brusilov's 1916 offensive.
Sep 11 • 30 tweets • 6 min read
1/ Ukrainian forces have advanced through the Lyman salient to reach the Zherebets River, Russian warbloggers say. Fighting is ongoing in the 200 km² salient, with a "difficult" situation for the Russians, who are facing "massive use" of drones. ⬇️
2/ Other warbloggers have described the situation as a localised "collapse" of the front and a "crushing defeat" (see the thread below). 'It's Time To Go Home' reports on the problems that the Russians are currently facing:
Sep 11 • 27 tweets • 5 min read
1/ Russian commentators are gleefully greeting the news of the Houthis' advance in Yemen as a strategic defeat for the United States, Israel, and its Arab allies, and a boon for Russia, which will benefit from soaring oil prices. ⬇️
2/ Although Russia does not directly support the Houthis, it has an indirect stake in the conflict via its mutal allies in Iran. Several Russian warbloggers note that the situation is benefiting Russia. 'Veterans' Notes' writes:
Sep 11 • 25 tweets • 5 min read
1/ Russia has suffered a "crushing defeat" at Lyman in eastern Ukraine, with multiple regiments routed, heavy losses, and a "collapse of the front". Crippled soldiers are reportedly being sent into battle in a last-ditch effort to prevent disaster. ⬇️
2/ Russian warblogger Anatoly Shariy says bluntly that Russia has experienced "a crushing defeat at Lyman... [The Ukrainians have] cleared the area and want to try to advance further towards Terny. The Ukrainian Armed Forces are removing mines in that area."
Sep 10 • 12 tweets • 3 min read
1/ A Russian drone developer has unveiled a robotic drone factory contained in a standard 40-foot shipping container. It can be shipped anywhere, is operated remotely via the Internet, and can produce a claimed 400 FPV drones per day. ⬇️ Image 2/ The Ushkuynik Research and Production Centre has presented a preview of its robotic drone factory at the International Technology Congress. Its director, Alexey Chadayev, says it's just a mockup at the moment but the real thing is currently being built.
Sep 10 • 29 tweets • 5 min read
1/ Even as Russian state propaganda hails Ukraine war veterans as heroes, Russia's security forces are reported to be quietly stepping up surveillance of a group that they regard as a growing threat. War veterans are already reportedly forming criminal networks. ⬇️ Image 2/ During the 1990s, Afghan War veterans ('Afgantsy') became key participants in the explosion of crime that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union. Many organised crime groups recruited Afghan veterans, and veterans were disproportionately represented in violent professions.
Sep 10 • 12 tweets • 3 min read
1/ The Russian government is reportedly planning to sentence convicts to fight in Ukraine as a form of punishment – which for many will be a de facto death sentence. The initiative is said to have been prompted by declining numbers of convicts volunteering to fight. ⬇️ Image 2/ Tens of thousands, and possibly as many as 200,000 Russian prisoners have been mobilised to fight in Ukraine since the summer of 2022, first for Wagner and later for Storm Z assault units. Frequently used as expendable storm troops, they have sustained very high casualties.
Sep 9 • 28 tweets • 5 min read
1/ A gang of 'black recruiters' in Russia has been arrested for spiking men's drinks with drugs, kidnapping them, selling them to the army, stealing their money and emptying their bank accounts, and marrying them off to 'black widows' to steal their death benefits. ⬇️ Image 2/ Russian regions now offer large bounties to those who bring new recruits to military enlistment offices. While presumably intended as a 'bring a friend' scheme, this has led to widespread corruption and abuses, often with the involvement of corrupt recruitment staff.
Sep 9 • 16 tweets • 3 min read
1/ Russia's military aviation training system is undergoing large-scale reforms to increase the number of pilots being trained, following years of difficulties caused by cuts to training schools and problems caused by the demands of the war in Ukraine. ⬇️ Image 2/ Russian aviation expert Alexey Zakharov writes that the reforms introduced under former Minister of Defence Anatoly Serdyukov between 2008-2012 are being abandoned and the number of training instritutions will be increased, following years of cutbacks.
Sep 9 • 23 tweets • 4 min read
1/ Russia's agricultural industries are facing catastrophe due to Ukraine's long-range drone strikes against Black Sea ports and infrastructure. Harvesting grain now costs far more than selling it, and commentators say that the agricultural sector is "dying before our eyes". ⬇️ Image 2/ Since mid-August, more than 90% of Russia's grain export capacity in the Azov-Black Sea basin has been offline following Ukrainian attacks and navigational restrictions, hitting the country's main export corridor during the peak of the harvesting season.
Sep 9 • 21 tweets • 3 min read
1/ The Russian state has been transformed into "a system of total, covert conscription, where officials are transformed into full-time recruiters for the military," according to Russian commentators. ⬇️ Image 2/ Mobilisation under the original September 2022 decree has never stopped, although it has become less public and disruptive. The Russian government has modernised its mobilisation system and compelled state agencies, including state-owned companies, to become recruiters.
Sep 8 • 27 tweets • 5 min read
1/ A major Ukrainian advance in eastern Ukraine is finally being admitted by Russian warbloggers, who say it's a major setback that will prolong the battle for Donbas for at least a year. False reporting by Russian commanders is being blamed. ⬇️
2/ As highlighted in the thread linked above, Ukrainian forces – operating in secret, and aided by persistent Russian falsification of territorial control in reports to their own high command – have retaken a major salient and over 200 km² of occupied territory.
Sep 8 • 20 tweets • 4 min read
1/ Russia's police will be used to detain men en masse and force them to sign military contracts, according to a Russian source. It's claimed that rather than a 'traditional' mobilisation, the same effect will be achieved by exploiting pretexts to force men to join the army. ⬇️ Image 2/ The chaotic Russian mobilisation of September 2022 is technically still in force, and Russia has since created a wide-ranging digital mobilisation system. This has recently been expanded to include comprehensive personal data about potential recruits.
Sep 8 • 25 tweets • 5 min read
1/ Russian warbloggers are furious that the Russian army has set Vladimir Putin up for public humiliation by claiming falsely that Sviatohirsk has been captured. The army "continues to lie, and the scale of the lies is only increasing," one says. ⬇️
2/ False claims about territorial control have plagued the Russian army throughout the war in Ukraine, as demonstrated by the comparison below. The prospect of cash bonuses, medals, and promotions incentivises commanders to make such claims.