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☆ A Ukrainian recon commander in Kharkiv said its first line of defense was missing, in a 'betrayal' that allowed Russian troops to just walk in
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-13 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

"There was no first line of defense," Denys Yaroslavskyi told the BBC, which reported from Vovchansk on Sunday. Jonathan Beale, a defense correspondent at the outlet, wrote that Yaroslavskyi showed him drone footage of Russian troops walking past Ukraine's northeastern border without resistance. Lying on Kharkiv's northeastern border, Vovchansk is one of Ukraine's closest cities to the Russian region of Belgorod. Related storiesDays earlier, Ukrainian military observers reported that between 30,000 to 35,000 Russian troops had gathered for the push. The Kremlin has since 2022 been accusing Ukraine of shelling Belgorod, though this also comes amid repeated reports of Russian troops misfiring or dropping bombs by mistake on civilians there.

Persons: —, Denys Yaroslavskyi, Jonathan Beale, Yaroslavskyi, Oleksandr Syrskyi, Syrskyi, Vladimir Putin, Vovchansk Organizations: Service, BBC, Business, Reconnaissance Unit, Armed Forces, Ukraine's General Staff, Russian Federation, Kyiv, Russian, NATO Locations: Ukrainian, Kharkiv, Russia, Vovchansk, Ukraine's, Russian, Belgorod, Moscow, Ukraine, The Washington, Kyiv

☆ Russian soldiers forced to rape each other says report alleging brutal violence on Ukraine frontline
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-25 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

download the appSign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. The outlet interviewed several Russian soldiers over three months, who described brutal conditions in which troops recruited from Russia's prisons bully and abuse mobilized soldiers while commanders remain stationed safely away from the front. AdvertisementHandcuffed to trees"It's hell here," another Russian soldier said. Verstka also published a video appearing to show an unidentified soldier being tied to a tree. Ukraine has said that Storm Z shows extremely low combat capability, according to a press release translated by Pravada .

Persons: —, Verstka, Misha Maltsev, Semyon Kiskorov, Kiskorov, Maltsev, Kirill Kudryavtsev, Pravada Organizations: Service, Business, Getty, Storm, Main Intelligence, Ministry of Defense Locations: Ukraine, Krynky, Dnipro, Yuzhno, Sakhalinsk, Russia, AFP

☆ Putin fears the wrath of soldiers' wives as the Kremlin tries to 'pay off' potential protesters, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-03 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Russian soldiers and their wives are becoming increasingly unhappy with long deployments. The outlet reported that the Kremlin believes most wives are more concerned about the paycheck than their husbands returning from war. AdvertisementThe report comes after the wives of deployed soldiers held a rare public protest in Moscow on November 7. In its latest briefing note, the MoD cited that On 27 November 2023, a prominent online group for soldiers' wives published a manifesto against "indefinite mobilization." Recent requests by soldiers' wives to hold protests in Moscow and St. Petersburg have been denied.

Persons: —, RkeSEZILBt — Slava, @Heroiam_Slava, doesn't, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Ella Pamfilova Organizations: Service, Ministry of Defence, MoD, Kremlin, Levada Locations: Russian, Moscow, London, St, Petersburg, Afghanistan, Chechnya, Ukraine

☆ Putin fears the wrath of soldiers' wives, as the Kremlin tries to buy-off potential protestors, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-26 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Russian soldiers and their wives are becoming increasingly unhappy with long deployments without rotation. AdvertisementThe Kremlin is concerned that the disgruntled wives of conscripted soldiers unhappy with long deployments could become a significant political headache, reports say. The Kremlin believes that most wives are more concerned about the paycheck than their husbands returning from war, the outlet reported. The report comes after the wives of deployed soldiers held a rare public protest in Moscow on November 7. AdvertisementRecent requests by soldiers' wives to hold protests in Moscow and St Petersburg have been denied.

Persons: —, RkeSEZILBt — Slava, @Heroiam_Slava, doesn't, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Ella Pamfilova Organizations: Service, UK Ministry of Defense, Russian, St, Levada Locations: Russian, Moscow, The, London, St Petersburg, Afghanistan, Chechnya, Ukraine

☆ Drug-abusing Russian soldiers get sent to fight with Storm Z assault forces as punishment, intel says, putting them on the front lines with convicts
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-13 | by ( Natalie Musumeci | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

UK intelligence said Russian commanders are likely punishing drug-abusing soldiers. The commanders are apparently tossing the soldiers in so-called "Storm Z assault detachments." A Russian news outlet previously reported that soldiers were getting hard drugs delivered to them on the front lines. One unnamed soldier told the independent Russian outlet at the time: "It's like in Las Vegas." The units these drug-using soldiers fight in are mostly made up of convicts and are thrown onto the frontlines, according to analysts from the Institute for the Study of War.

Persons: —, Verstka Organizations: Service, UK's Ministry of Defense, Institute for Locations: Russian, Ukraine, Las Vegas

☆ Russian soldiers killed a Ukrainian family of 9 for refusing them moonshine liquor, reports say
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-04 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Two Russian soldiers are being investigated for murdering a Ukrainian family. Reports say that they had a dispute over the soldiers demanding moonshine liquor. Throughout the conflict there have been multiple reports of Russian soldiers heavily consuming alcohol. AdvertisementAdvertisementTwo Russian soldiers are being investigated for killing a Ukrainian family, possibly in revenge for not giving them moonshine, according to reports. Throughout the conflict, there have been multiple reports of Russian soldiers heavily consuming alcohol and drugs.

Persons: —, Putin, Ramzan Kadyrov Organizations: Service, Russian Investigative, Russian Telegram, Chechen, Russian Army, Astra, Russian Investigative Committee, Russian, Separate Naval Infantry Brigade, for Locations: Ukrainian, Donetsk, Russian, Chechen, Russia, Ukraine, Chechnya, Russia's North Caucasus

☆ The Russian military is executing soldiers who won't follow orders and threatening to execute entire units if they retreat, the White House said
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-27 | by ( Erin Snodgrass | Sebastian Cahill | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

In a briefing, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Russia is executing some soldiers. AdvertisementAdvertisementThe Russian military has been executing soldiers who refuse to follow orders, White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said in a White House press briefing Thursday. "It's reprehensible to think that you would execute your own soldiers because they didn't want to follow orders," Kirby said in the briefing. There have been multiple reports documenting the apparent poor conditions, low morale, and high casualty numbers for Russian soldiers. In a video plea from March, Russian soldiers complained that they were being sent into battle with "blocking" units that were meant to keep them from running away.

Persons: John Kirby, Kirby, —, Simon Miles, Stalin, Miles, haven't, Verstka Organizations: White, National Security, Service, House, Duke University's Sanford School of Public, Soviet Union, Red Army Locations: Russia, Soviet, Ukraine

☆ Russian soldiers are getting hard drugs delivered to their trenches in Ukraine to escape boredom, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-20 | by ( Sophia Ankel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Drug use is widespread in the Russian forces fighting in Ukraine, news outlet Verstka reported. One soldier told the outlet that drug use is "like in Las Vegas." AdvertisementAdvertisementRussian soldiers are getting hard drugs delivered to their trenches in Ukraine to escape boredom, according to the independent Russian news outlet Verstka. Mephedrone, amphetamines, and alpha-PVP, known as "salt", are among the substances that Russian soldiers on the frontline take, with effects including paranoia and hallucinations, the report said. "It's like in Las Vegas," one unnamed soldier told the outlet, according to a translation by The Times of London.

Persons: —, Verstka, Mick Ryan, Insider's Erin Snodgrass, it's, Ryan Organizations: Service, The Times, Royal United Service Institute, Australian Army Locations: Ukraine, Las Vegas, Russian, London, British

☆ Russia pardoned a murderer who put his girlfriend through a meat grinder because he agreed to fight in Ukraine, his mom says
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-29 | by ( Joshua Zitser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A Russian murderer was pardoned after fighting against Ukraine with the Wagner group, his mom said. AdvertisementAdvertisementA Russian convicted murderer who was sentenced to 11 years in prison after he killed his girlfriend and put her body through a meat grinder has been pardoned after fighting against Ukraine, his mother said. The mother of Dmitry Zelensky told the Russian media news outlet 59.RU that her son was pardoned after serving less than half of his sentence. AdvertisementAdvertisementAccording to 59.RU, Zelensky told investigators during an interrogation that he dismembered her body, processed it in a meat grinder, collected the bones in three bags, and threw them into the river. However, a July report by the independent Russian outlet Verstka alleged that Russian authorities were covering up crimes being committed by pardoned men.

Persons: Wagner, —, Dmitry Zelensky, Tatiana Melekhina, Zelensky, Galina Zelenskaya, Zelenskaya, Zelensky's, Yevgeny Prigozhin Organizations: Ukraine, Service, RU, Wagner Group, Russian Ministry of Defence, UK Ministry of Defence Locations: Russian, Chechen, Ukraine, Russia, Antratsit, Luhansk

☆ Russia's 200,000-strong national guard is getting armed with heavy weaponry, in a sign of its growing importance to Putin, UK intel says
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-08 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Russia is granting its 200,000-strong national guard force heavy weaponry, the UK MOD said. This shows how the Kremlin sees the force as key to ensuring "regime security," per the MOD. While its leader bragged of its response to the Wagner mutiny, there's no sign it did much, the MOD said. Reports have suggested that Putin has become increasingly isolated and paranoid since he launched the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Reports of a paranoid Putin have only intensified since the Wagner Group's mini-mutiny, which could lead to a bigger role for the national guard.

Persons: Wagner, Vladimir Putin's, Putin, Rosgvardia, Viktor Zolotov Organizations: MOD, Kremlin, Service, UK Ministry of Defense Locations: Russia, Wall, Silicon, Russian, Moscow, Ukraine

☆ In Urgent Need of Ammunition, Ukraine Speeds Its Own Production
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-02 | by ( Gaya Gupta | Alina Lobzina | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

When an office building next to her gleaming glass residential skyscraper in Moscow was hit by a drone filled with explosives early on Sunday, Mari Kletanina seemed worried. “People are consciously or unconsciously ignoring it,” wrote Aleksandr Kynev, a Russian political analyst. “This is the time of сonflict, a conflict of interests, so this is a natural procedure,” Mr. Yzakov said. “We live in a difficult time.”Russian government officials seemed to be more serious about the threat. “If attacks continue, then there will be no new sales at the current prices.”

Persons: Mari Kletanina, Kletanina, ”, Aleksandr Kynev, “, Mirlan Yzakov, Mr, Yzakov, Maria Zakharova, Dmitri S, Peskov, ” Andrei Perla, Vladimir V, Putin, Maksim Khodyrev, Khodyrev Organizations: Russian Foreign Ministry Locations: Moscow, Russia, Ukraine, Russian, Kremlin

☆ Pardoned Wagner convicts are once again committing crimes, and Russian authorities are trying to cover it up, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Former prisoners pardoned after fighting with the Wagner Group in Ukraine have returned to Russia. Some, including those convicted of murder, are committing violent crimes again, per Russia's Verstka. And Russian authorities are trying to hide the cases, including in court documents, it reported. Independent Russian outlet Verstka said it discovered recent cases against former Wagner fighters when it looked at court documents. UK intelligence said in March that half of all Russian prisoners recruited to fight in Ukraine had likely been killed or wounded.

Persons: Russia's Wagner, Wagner, Verstka, Yevgeny Prigozhin Organizations: Wagner Group, Service, Independent, Internal Affairs, CBS News, UK Ministry of Defence Locations: Ukraine, Russia, Wall, Silicon, Independent Russian, Russian, Moscow, Belarus

☆ There's blood in the water after Prigozhin's revolt shattered the façade of Putin's invincibility
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-29 | by ( Jason Corcoran | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

It represented the most significant affront to President Vladimir Putin's 23-year reign. It has also fed paranoia and put a spotlight on Aleksey Dyumin, Putin's ex-bodyguard turned governor. A brief and ultimately aborted attempt at a coup d'état by Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin represented the most significant affront to President Vladimir Putin's 23-year reign. President Vladimir Putin (L) and Aleksey Dyumin, the governor of Tula and Putin's former personal bodyguard, in Moscow in 2016. Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) and Tula Governor Aleksey Dyumin visit Russian writer Lev Tolstoy's former home in 2016.

Persons: Yevgeny Prigozhin, Vladimir Putin's, Aleksey Dyumin, Putin's, —, Vladimir Putin —, Prigozhin, Vladimir Fesenko, trundling, Sergey Shoigu, Valery Gerasimov, There's Prigozhin, Wagner, Putin, Belarus —, defenestration, Dyumin, Shoigu, Vladimir Putin, Mikhail Svetlov, Igor Girkin, Alexander Lukashenko —, Dyumin's, Dmitry Peskov, Boris Yeltsin, Viktor Yanukoyvch, Girkin, Andrei Gurulyov, Russia's, Lev Tolstoy's, Tatiana Stanovaya, Alexandra Prokopenko, Prokopenko, Sergei Surovikin, Surovikin, Viktor Zolotov, Zolotov, Alexander Lukashenko, Chris Weafer Organizations: Service, Kremlin, Kommersant, Angry Patriots, Russia's First Channel, Prigozhin, Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, Central Bank, Washington Post, New York Times, Defense Ministry, Moscow Times, National Guard, Ministry, Macro Locations: Russian, Russia, Rostov, Ukraine, Moscow, Voronezh, Lipetsk, St, Petersburg, Minsk, Belarus, Russia's Tula, Kremlin, Tula, Dyumin's Tula, St Petersburg, Prigozhin, Crimea, Berlin, Novosibirsk, Osipovichi, Africa, Syria

☆ Belarus wants exiled Wagner officers to use their experience in Ukraine to make its own army more deadly
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

He said Wagner fighters could give its army advice on "tactics, and weapons, and how to attack, how to defend." "Now there is a lot of talk and chatter: 'Wagner, Wagner, Wagner'. Belarus, Russia's neighbor and closest ally, is run by Lukashenko, a dictator who has been in power since 1994. It's not clear what the future of Wagner fighters looks like in the country. Russian media outlet Verstka reported that Belarus is constructing a base for around 8,000 Wagner fighters 124 miles from its border with Ukraine.

Persons: Wagner, —, Alexander Lukashenko, Belta, Lukashenko, Viktor Khrenin, Vladimir Putin, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Putin, Prigozhin, It's Organizations: Service, Kremlin, Pravda, Don, Saturday, Wagner Group, Washington DC Locations: Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, Africa, Russian, Rostov, Moscow, Minsk, Washington

☆ Putin may have set a trap for Wagner fighters by letting them flee to Belarus, military experts say
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Wagner fighters may not be safe in Belarus as it could be a trap after their uprising, the ISW said. The ISW said in an update on Monday that "Putin may be presenting Belarus as a haven for Wagner fighters as a trap." And if the Kremlin pressures Belarus, it said, "Belarus will not offer Prigozhin or Wagner fighters a true haven." The Wagner Group's short-lived uprising, which humiliated Putin and provided what experts said was the biggest threat during his decades in power, came after months of feuding between the Wagner Group and Russia's military brass. Russian media outlet Verstka reported that Belarus is constructing a base for around 8,000 Wagner fighters 124 miles from its border with Ukraine.

Persons: Wagner, Prigozhin, —, Vladimir Putin, ISW, Putin, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Ian Bremmer, he's, Alexander Lukashenko Organizations: Service, Washington DC, Wagner Group, Eurasia Group, CNBC, Wagner, Kremlin, Guardian Locations: Belarus, Kremlin, Rostov, Moscow, Russian, Minsk, Ukraine, Russia

☆ Putin has postponed his annual marathon phone-in as Ukraine starts re-taking territory in its counteroffensive: report
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Vladimir Putin's annual phone-in has been postponed, Kommersant reported. The "Direct Line" phone-in usually runs for hours and involves Putin fielding questions from ordinary Russian citizens about a range of social and policy issues. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian state media agency Tass that no date had been set for the event. If held in December, the phone-in would be timed for just before the likely launch of Putin's 2024 presidential campaign. But on Thursday Ukraine launched its much-anticipated counteroffensive to drive Russian forces back from territory in east and south Ukraine.

Persons: Vladimir Putin's, —, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Dmitry Peskov Organizations: Kommersant, Service, Tass, Ukraine Locations: Ukraine, Moscow

☆ Putin is terrified of being assassinated and is refusing to travel abroad after a drone attack near his luxury home: reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The report said Putin was so scared of being assassinated that he was refusing to travel abroad. Dmitry Medvedev, a Kremlin official and former Russian president, said a drone attack on the Kremlin in May was a Ukrainian attempt to assassinate Putin, which Ukraine denied. Ingram's comments echo those of a former Kremlin security official, Gleb Karakulov, who fled Russia in April in opposition to the war in Ukraine. Ingram said Putin's isolation meant he was only being presented with distorted information by a group of close aides, warping his decision-making. Ingram said Putin would like to portray himself as an "international statesman" who asserts himself on the global stage.

Persons: Vladimir Putin's, Putin, —, Vladimir Putin, Verstka, Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Dmitry Medvedev, Philip Ingram, Ingram, MIKHAIL KLIMENTYEV, Gleb Karakulov, RFERL, wouldn't Organizations: Service, International Criminal Court, Moscow Times, Kremlin, British Military, SPUTNIK, Getty, ICC, Reuters Locations: Moscow, Russian, Ukraine, Hague, Novo, Ukrainian, Russia, Saint Petersburg, London, COVID, India, South Africa, China

☆ Wives of Russian soldiers showed up at Ukraine border and demanded to take their husbands home, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Sophia Ankel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Wives of Russian soldiers traveled to a military base at the Ukrainian border, The Insider reported. They said their husbands were wounded on the front and demanded they be taken out of the country. One woman said if officials don't help, she would go to the front to rescue the soldiers herself. (The Insider is a Russian news outlet and has no affiliation with Insider.) Top US general Mark Milley estimated Wednesday that more than 100,000 Russian soldiers were "killed and wounded" since Russia invaded Ukraine, Reuters reported.

☆ More than 400 Russian reservists died after their commanders ran away during a Ukrainian artillery bombardment, Russian soldier says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Their wives are pleading with authorities to rescue the mobilized men, per Russian outlet Verstka. A second, unnamed soldier corroborated Agafonov's account, saying that "hundreds" of reservists died that day, per The Guardian. On October 13, Anastasia Kashevarova, a pro-war Russian blogger, complained on her Telegram channel of how the Russian reservists are being treated. The Russian Telegram channel "War on Fakes," which spreads disinformation in the Kremlin's favor and is often quoted by Russian authorities, claimed on Sunday that reports of mass casualties among the Russian reservists were fake. Western intelligence now regularly reports that Russian reservists are arriving at the frontlines with poor equipment and Soviet era weapons.

☆ Russian soldiers say leaders threw them into 'incomprehensible battle' where they lost 300 men and half their equipment
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Russian soldiers say hundreds of men died in "incomprehensible battle" in eastern Ukraine. The letter also accused Russian officials of "hiding these facts and skewing the official casualty statistics for fear of being held accountable." A second soldier told The Guardian that "hundreds" of Russian reservists had died in the battle. Accusations of heavy Russian losses prompted a rare response from Moscow. Many of these soldiers were drafted as part of Russia's mass mobilization of 300,000 reservists, per a report from Insider's Matthew Loh.

☆ Russian mothers are turning deadbeat fathers over to Putin's military draft: 'My ex-husband died as a person a long time ago'
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-22 | by ( Taiyler Simone Mitchell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

A group of Russian women has attempted to send idle fathers to fight Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin's failing war in Ukraine gave rise to a "partial military mobilization" in which 300,000 new conscripts were called upon to fight. The women claim Putin's military order may produce better results than the courts, which have enabled these fathers to abandon their children with little to no financial support. But for me, my ex-husband died as a person a long time ago. If he happens to get killed, it will even be good: the child will receive compensation," Kruglova added.

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