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☆ Russia's biggest airline asked employees to refrain from reporting malfunctions on flights, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Sophia Ankel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Aeroflot asked its employees to stop reporting malfunctions on planes, Proekt reported. Russia's biggest commercial airline Aeroflot has asked its employees to refrain from reporting malfunctions as it continues to suffer under Western sanctions, according to the investigative Russian outlet Proekt. This means that many flights are departing with significant breakdowns that staff are fully aware of, several employees said. A former pilot told Proekt that on a flight in January, he found a fuel leakage while starting the engines of a Boeing 737. "It had happened several times before, but there were no records of it in the technical log book — the airline's management asked us not to write anything," the pilot told Proekt.

☆ Wagner boss Prigozhin is going off the rails in Ukraine, and Putin may not have much choice but to let him, war expert says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-13 | by ( Ryan Pickrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Though he strikes hardest at the defense ministry, he has seemingly aimed his frustrations at Putin as well. During the intense fighting in Bakhmut, where the mercenaries have suffered tremendous losses, simmering tensions between the Russian defense ministry and the Wagner boss have boiled over. With the replacement of Gen. Sergei Surovikin, an infamous Russian leader pushed by ultranationalists like Prigozhin, in January, the Russian defense ministry retook control. The situation got so bad for Wagner at one point that expert observers speculated that the Russian military was purposefully decimating the group. Prigozhin said he was threatened with treason over his assertions that Wagner forces would pull out of Bakhmut.

☆ A woman left a note on the grave of Putin's parents calling him a 'freak.' She was convicted of desecrating the site.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-12 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A Russian woman who left an insulting note on the grave of Putin's parents was convicted Thursday. The note, left last October, called Putin a "freak and a killer," per the Associated Press. The note, left by 60-year-old Irina Tsybaneva last October, read: "Parents of a maniac, take him to your place." She may not leave the city or move house for two years without notifying authorities, according to Russian newspaper Kommersant. She said she intended the note to be secret, concealing it in the grass, the paper earlier reported.

☆ Someone in Russia broke into a military airfield to set fire to a bomber jet, and Russian cops only found out it was happening on social media: report
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-11 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Russian authorities found out through social media that someone set fire to a military jet. Footage of the burning aircraft emerged on Monday on the Telegram channel for the Freedom of Russia Legion, a Ukrainian organization that consists of military defectors from Russia and Belarus. Local police then discovered the video online, reported the independent Russian media outlet Baza. But it reported that despite the Freedom of Russia Legion's claims that the Su-24 was "completely destroyed," the aircraft was "not particularly damaged." Russian authorities categorized the Freedom of Russia Legion as a terrorist group on March 16.

CNN —An acclaimed theater director and playwright have been arrested in Russia and accused of “justifying terrorism” for their play about Russian women being recruited online to marry Islamic State fighters in Syria. Yevgenia Berkovich was arrested on Friday alongside the play’s author, Svetlana Petriychuk, after investigators alleged that their award-winning play “Finist, the Brave Falcon” was in violation of the law. Prosecutors argue the work “romanticizes, justifies and glorifies terrorists” as well as promoting the “ideology of radical feminism”, Russian state media TASS reported. It was staged in 2021 by Berkovich’s own company, with the support of the Union of Theater Workers of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, according to independent news website Meduza. Russia’s cultural scene has faced increased repression since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine.

☆ Kremlin document shows how Russia is instructing state news outlets to handle potential losses in Ukraine counteroffensive: report
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The Kremlin has prepared media talking points about Ukraine's expected counteroffensive, per Meduza. Sources told independent Russian outlet Meduza the document is aimed at priming the public for potential losses, or to capitalize on any Russian success. Reporters have been told "not to downplay expectations for the NATO-supported counteroffensive," and not to say that "Kyiv is unprepared for a 'counteroffensive," Meduza reported. Dr Precious Chatterje-Doody, an Open University lecturer in politics and an expert on Russian media, told Insider that the reported guidance fits "perfectly" with Russia's existing coverage of the war. Most Russian media is subject to strict controls over how the Ukraine war is discussed.

☆ Russian commanders now punish misbehaving troops by sticking them in dirt holes covered with metal grilles called 'zindans:' UK intelligence
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The holes in the ground are covered by metal grilles, and are makeshift dungeons called "zindans." Independent Russian media also reported recent cases of Russian troops being held in"zindans." The intelligence update comes several weeks after the independent Russian media outlet Vertska also reported that Russian troops were beaten and placed in "zindans." He pleaded for help from the Russian defense ministry, accusing his commanding officer of being "corrupt." The Russian defense ministry's press service did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment sent outside regular business hours.

☆ Russians trying to help the Kremlin are being scammed into throwing Molotov cocktails at its offices and cars instead: reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

They were told by scammers to chuck Molotov cocktails, but most were unsuccessful, per local media. The people involved have tried to set fire to enlistment offices, bank ATMs, a car trunk, and a police department, though most have been unsuccessful, the outlet reported. Olga told authorities an unknown man had been calling her for a month, saying he was a bank employee. He'd taught Olga how to create the Molotov cocktails and instructed her to start a fire in the government building, according to Shot. We're standing on the street where they stopped me," Olga told the man on the phone.

☆ Putin's political enemies and Kremlin critics face an 'extremely dangerous' situation in Russia right now
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

"All of the opposition political leaders are either in jail or under restrictive measures or outside of the country. The oppression of political opposition figures in Russia is nothing new. Some accuse the Russian state of trying to poison them, while others have died in suspicious circumstances. Evgenia Novozhenina | ReutersThe persecution of political opposition figures attracted global attention in 2020 when the high-profile Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny was poisoned with a Novichok nerve agent. Russian political analyst Tatiana Stanovaya agreed that "it's extremely dangerous" to be a critic of the Kremlin now, no matter what your background is.

☆ The son of a Putin aide says he fought in Ukraine, but reports claim that at the same time his Tesla was racking up fines in Moscow
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov says his son fought in Ukraine. But reports say at the same time his luxury car was racking up parking fines in Moscow. Peskov's son, Nikolai Choles, told Russian newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda in an interview published on Saturday that he had fought in the Wagner Group. Insider was unable to verify the claim that Choles served with Wagner or was driving his Tesla in Moscow. On moving to Moscow he enjoyed a luxury lifestyle, despite only holding temporary jobs, and racked up hundreds of parking fines, the report claimed.

☆ Ukrainian soldier says Russian forces are using 'morons taken from prison' to draw fire and find enemy troops: report
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Lloyd Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Ukrainian soldiers have been fending off Russian forces for more than seven months in Bakhmut. A Ukrainian soldier told BBC that using prisoners is "cruel, immoral, but effective." "They are learning, they are getting cleverer, and it really freaks me out," a Ukrainian soldier who goes by the name Dwarf told BBC. There have been previous reports that say Russian forces are using prisoners to bolster its troop numbers. Dwarf, the Ukrainian soldier, told BBC that Wagner's use of prisoners is still proving to be an effective strategy in Bakhmut.

☆ A Russian trainspotter who became obsessed with taking photographs of Putin's 'ghost train' now lives in exile: report
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Sophia Ankel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A trainspotter spent years tracking Putin's secret train, which he reportedly uses to get around. Mikhail Korotkov told The Washington Post that in 2021, he felt like he was being watched. Mikhail Korotkov, 31, spent years tracking, photographing, and blogging about Putin's armored train, which he reportedly uses to travel inconspicuously around the country. But the 31-year-old was also careful to not be too public about his hobby, telling the Post that he did not post all the pictures of Putin's train online. He now lives in Sri Lanka, but told The Post that he is "ready to move around the world."

☆ Russia is recruiting female convicts to serve in Ukraine amid growing battlefield losses, reports say
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Reports have emerged of Russian efforts to recruit female convicts to fight in Ukraine. Ukrainian officials said a carriage full of female prisoners was seen heading towards Donetsk. The report suggested that Russia was seeking to find new sources of fighters against a backdrop of heavy losses. The region borders occupied Ukraine by way of the Kerch bridge that connects Russia to Crimea. Prigozhin later announced that he was ending this policy, amid reports that inmates were put off by the mounting death toll.

☆ 'My call sign is 'Grandad.'' The retirees who are frontline fighters for Ukraine against the Russian invaders
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( Isobel Van Hagen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Some volunteer fighters in Ukraine are considerably older than the average age of a typical soldier. 63-year-old Leonid Onyschenko, for example, is fighting for Ukraine near the city of Bakhmut. While the classic image of a soldier in battle evokes a fit young person with a chiseled jawline, the diverse volunteer fighters in Ukraine defy this expectation. The Territorial Defense Forces (TDF) — a volunteer military reserve — said that Onyshchenko had been serving the country for nine years since Russia's invasion and illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014. Many of the older volunteers the news outlet spoke to appeared eager to stay in eastern Ukraine at the time.

☆ Terrifying video shows a Russian plane losing cabin pressure mid-flight — showing how dangerous it's gotten to fly in Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Sophia Ankel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A video of the incident shows panicked passengers with oxygen masks on their faces. An expert told Insider that Western jets are deteriorating due to a lack of servicing and parts. The main federal investigating authority in Russia told RIA Novosti that the flight was forced to land "due to depressurization of the aircraft cabin," adding that an investigation is ongoing. One expert told Insider that flying in Russia could become increasingly dangerous. "Access to spare parts, which are sanctioned, is very limited," Denis Brailsford, the head of asset management at the UK's leading aviation consultancy group IBA, told Insider.

☆ Terrifying video of Russian plane losing cabin pressure mid-flight shows how dangerous it's gotten to fly in Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Sophia Ankel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A video of the incident shows panicked passengers with oxygen masks on their faces. An expert told Insider that Western jets are deteriorating due to a lack of servicing and parts. Musician Andrey Saltanov, who was also on the flight and verified the video to Insider, said: "The plane turned out to be ancient. The main federal investigating authority in Russia told RIA Novosti that the flight was forced to land "due to depressurization of the aircraft cabin," adding that an investigation is ongoing. One expert told Insider that flying in Russia could become increasingly dangerous.

☆ Russian father had his daughter taken away after she drew an anti-war picture in art class, reports say
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Sophia Ankel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A Russian sixth-grader drew an anti-war painting in her art class, Meduza reported Tuesday. He fears he will permanently lose custody of his daughter if he is jailed, his lawyer told OVD-Info. Moskalev's lawyer told OVD-Info that he was interrogated and told that his daughter had also made anti-war comments on the Russian social media outlet VKontakte. Moskalev was able to retrieve Masha from the children's center a few days later and both have since left Yefremov, Meduza reported. Under Russian law, using the words "war" and "invasion" can land someone in prison for up to 15 years.

☆ A top Russian military official is dead after falling out of a 16th-floor window, the latest in a string of untimely deaths
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Natalie Musumeci | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A Russian defense official has died after reportedly falling out of a high-rise window. Marina Yankina, who worked for Russia's Western Military District, was found dead on Wednesday. Her death is the latest in a string of untimely deaths among officials and allies tied to Vladimir Putin. Before Yankina joined the Western Military District, she worked for the Federal Tax Service of Russia. Last September, 67-year-old Russian energy oligarch Ravil Maganov also died after falling from a hospital window, Insider reported at the time.

☆ Wagner Group's turn from prison recruitment could be effort to tap soldiers who might balk at 'serving with rapists and murderers,' historian says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Erin Snodgrass | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Wagner Group, the Russian paramilitary organization, has stopped recruiting prisoners for the war. An expert in Russian history told Insider the move could be an attempt to recruit more competent fighters. "It was people deciding they would take their chances dying in Ukraine as opposed to dying in a Russian prison." While Prigozhin's quest for influence is well-documented, it's also entirely possible that Wagner ceased its prison recruitment efforts simply because the well had run dry, Miles said. The group could look to other war-torn countries where experienced soldiers might fight for pay, Miles said.

☆ Wagner Group stops recruiting prisoners as growing numbers refuse to be enlisted on suicide missions, reports say
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Sophia Ankel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The Wagner Group has stopped recruiting prisoners to fight in Ukraine, its founder said Thursday. One prisoner told Meduza they no longer want "even to discuss the possibility" of joining the war. "One of the prisoners who left [with Wagner Group] told me that after he asked [Wagner] representatives how much training there would be, [they told him], 'The battlefield will be your training.' Russian prisoners for Wagner also said they've witnessed public executions of deserters and those who failed to obey orders. The mercenary organization has now "completely" stopped recruiting prisoners, its founder Yevgeny Prigozhin said in a Telegram statement on Thursday.

☆ Volunteers who used digital ads to counter Russian propaganda about Ukraine plan to fight misinformation in countries like Syria and Iran
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Lara O'Reilly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

A group of volunteer 'spammers' who used ads to counter Russian propaganda about Ukraine plans to expand the campaign. Rob Blackie, organizer of the Breaking Putin's Censorship campaign. Earlier this month, the Kremlin said that anyone found simply posting a link to the banned independent Russian news site Meduza could face a six-year prison sentence. An example of one of the Breaking Putin's Censorship ads, which reads, "Why have 141 countries condemned Russians invasion of Ukraine? Breaking Putin's CensorshipThe group, which has now grown to around 60 volunteers, is already structured similarly to an ad agency.

☆ How Russia is molding the minds of schoolkids to support its brutal invasion of Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-29 | by ( Elise Morton | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Russia is running a campaign of propaganda lessons to rally support for its invasion of Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin at a rally in Moscow held in March 2022, a few weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine. An image from the lesson materials showing Russian armored personnel carriers marked with the Z symbol from the invasion of Ukraine. But, the union said, "huge internal resistance" from Russia's teachers forced officials to edit out most references to the "special military operation" and achieve its aims less directly. It's the effect on young children, whose whole world is their school and family, that scares me."

☆ Military tech is racing towards a dangerous AI future, and Russia's war in Ukraine is paving the way, drone experts say
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Currently, the drones are guided at launch by a human operator, according to independent Russian outlet Novaya Gazeta Europe. But more advanced drone technology is enabling what Rogers calls "on" the loop of control. "In the case of the systems that we have seen used, there's still a human operator authorizing the use of force," she said. Under pressure and potentially under fire, a drone operator may take the machine's prompt less as a suggestion and more as an infallible instruction. In a fully autonomous future of drone warfare, he asked, will drone AI be programmed "to avoid those who are waving a white flag?"

☆ Zelenskyy aide resigns after suggesting Ukraine air defense caused a Russian missile to hit an apartment building, killing 44
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A Ukrainian official resigned after suggesting Russia did not target a Dnipro apartment block with a missile. Oleksiy Arestovych said Ukraine shot down the Russian missile that hit the block, killing 44. There was an international outcry after a massive Russian KH-22 missile slammed into the residential block on Saturday. Russian missiles have repeatedly struck residential buildings throughout the war. Contrary to Arestovych's statement, Ukraine's air force said that the country doesn't have the capability to shoot down the type of missile Russia used on Saturday, which has been dubbed an "aircraft carrier killer."

☆ Wounded Russians are being sent back to Ukraine with major injuries like punctured lungs and shrapnel still in their bodies, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Joshua Zitser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Wounded Russian soldiers are being sent to Ukraine to fight despite their injuries, according to a report. Soldiers with damaged lungs and shrapnel wounds have been returned to the frontline. The presidential Human Rights Council in Russia is investigating the matter, a council member said. There have also been cases of soldiers receiving treatment for ulcers, heart attacks, and strokes being sent back to Ukraine, she said. In November, Army Gen. Mark Milley, the highest-ranking US military officer, estimated that "well over" 100,000 Russian soldiers had been killed or wounded in the war in Ukraine, according to The Washington Post.

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