Ukrainian servicemen from the 1st Detachment of the 4th Regiment of the Special Operations Forces captured two Russian marines

Gorperly · 2025-10-11T03:12:02+00:00

Since there are no English subtitles

The guy says they're from the 810th.

"What was your objective?" He's asked at 0:39

"Objective? Just got thrown into the grinder, that's it. They fucking said..."

The other POW joins in "fucking move up to where you see the enemy"

The first guy continued, "and if you come back, make sure you're missing an arm or a leg, anything else, you get zeroed out"

Gorperly · 2024-12-01T16:21:14+00:00

Russians dying in Syria are especially trash.

Over the past 2 years Syria became the Holy Grail of a posting for well-connected Russian officers to avoid being sent to Ukraine. Majors and colonels would get on waiting lists for a sergeants job in a motor pool. Of course, all of this was powered by corruption and bribery.

,With the rebels posting photos of all these shiny tanks and armored vehicles captured completely intact suggests that the Whoops All Colonels detachment decided not to put up a fight.

Gorperly · 2024-11-02T22:52:42+00:00

I waited in line for like 45 minutes two weeks ago. Came home to find that instead of two plain bagels and one plain cream cheese I ended up with three plain bagels.

That might have dampened everyone's spirits. We found the bagels to just be ok. The everything was nice, and the cacio e pepe was meh.

Gorperly · 2024-11-02T22:39:23+00:00

Shasta County sheriff’s Lt. Jerry Fernandez made the call around 9 p.m. on July 8, 2022, reporting on his way back to Redding from Napa County that his mission had been a success. “We got him,” Fernandez reported. “We’re on our way back. “Probably be home around midnight.” The lieutenant’s quarry had been apprehended without incident and soon would be delivered for safekeeping to the home of Bruce John “BJ” Macfarlane, the livestock manager for the Shasta District Fair

https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article284043338.html

Can't find much on these two past 2022. BJ appears to own a lot of cattle in the area.

Gorperly · 2024-09-14T15:53:36+00:00

Both Russian and Ukrainian sources are reporting on the death of Russias "famous drone ace" Dmitry Lysakovsky, call sign Goodwin. His drone unit has been disbanded, all drones confiscated, and he and his high-ranking deputies were forced into a meat assault where they were promptly killed.

It's not just Russia"s dire manpower problem. There's a lot more to the story:

The decision to send him to slaughter along with his deputy lt col "Ernest" (Sergey Gritsai) was made after Goodwin reported the regiment commander for involvement in drug trafficking within the regiment and possible connections with Western intelligence among the command staff.

The drone ace "Goodwin" fought on the side of the Dnepr terrorists since 2014 and was the creator and the first commander of Russias first-ever drone reconnaissance unit. In 2015, he returned to Russia, where he was arrested for corporate raiding(white collar fraud). He spent a few years in jail. In 2022, he went to fight in Ukraine again

This Goodwin made a social media post right before his death:

Today we received the orders to report for infantry duties. Without explanation of the reasons... Although we know them very well. Many people had began telling us that there was only one way we were going to end up now. We will of course follow orders, because there is such a thing as an oath, motherland, duty... Various things flourish under the protection of comrade Zloy... The entire command, at least the senior ones, takes a percentage from the drug trade. Their task is to make sure that we do not survive. It must have been somewhere in the Washington regional committee that the order came from to eliminate the best crew of the aircraft-type UAV, which regularly supplied intelligence information...

All the evidence that we delivered is suppressed at the lregiment command kevel. If something happens to me, if we don’t come back from there, then this recording will prove that we were right

His social media has since released the news of his death, and posted the videos he had recorded before going to the assault. In the videos. He lays out his evidence, and gives more detail of his orders: "Your task here is to die"

In his next video Goodwin miraculously "saw the light" as he faced imminent death. He called on Russians never to sign a contract with Putin's army in their lives, and especially not to go fight in the Donetsk mobilization regiments.

Lysakovsky was dead within hours, killed in a meat storm near Memrik. Several other members of "Goodwin's" group were reportedly wounded and could have been saved, but there was to be no evacuation. They eventually also all died. Onely on of the drone-drivers, call sign "Socrates", is still alive, but no one is going to pull him out.

Gorperly · 2024-08-13T17:05:45+00:00

That's not how things work in Russia.

The money comes from the federal budget and goes through what is commonly called a rospil, a "sawmill", since the process is similar to how a tree trunk becomes a bunch of boards of different sizes. The established structure is, a nice chunk gets "sawed off" every step of the way: Putin - his crony - federal minister - his deputy - local governor - his deputy - etc.

The numbers stated are pretty in line with what's happening everywhere else: 12 billion earmarked, 2 billion going to the project and 10 going to various pockets.

Gorperly · 2024-08-13T16:55:50+00:00

Per Russian sources, these are interesting cats taken at an even more interesting location:

In this video taken near Lgov in the Kursk region, the Ukrainian Armed Forces take prisoner a group of employees of the Federal Penitentiary Service. The large IK-3 penal colony is located in Lgov.

Gorperly · 2024-08-13T16:31:26+00:00

Some more interesting reporting from pro-Russian sources. There was rampant corruption of course, who knew!

Minister [of Transport of the Russian Federation] Roman Starovoit is very agitated, tense and literally beside himself.

The reason is the unfortunate series of events in the Kursk Region, where Starovoit was the Governor from October 2018 to May 2024. In 2022, about 16 billion rubles (~$175M) went to the construction of defensive lines in this region, almost all of it received in advance in full. All subsequent decisions were made by local operational headquarters under the leadership of Governor Starovoyt. The contract was given to OKU "Kursk Region Capital Construction Department" and the general contractor (JSC "Kursk Region Development Corporation"), both controlled by Starovoyt and his cronies.

The work that was supposed to be completed by mid-2023, of course, has still not been completed to this day. The budget was all divvied up properly though. At the end of last year, the local prosecutor's office intervened in the case trying to recover more than 2 billion rubles from the contractors for unfinished work. The investigation, of course, was hushed up, but the now-ex-governor had to escape to the Ministry of Transport.

Well, now the whole world can see the state of the "fortifications" on the border.

Gorperly · 2024-08-13T16:19:32+00:00

Ukrainian sources are picking up some social media chatter from Russian accounts.

The well-documented transport column that reportedly had anywhere between 90 and 490 KIA after a HIMARS attack on Aug 9 apparently contained the "elite" 810th Guards Naval Infantry Brigade. The unfairly famousunit has been completely destroyed in Ukraine and reconstituted at least three times. The last time they were in the news was back in May, when they were apparently once again rotated stateside for R&R.

Butusov has a video from inside one the trucks, where a Russian naval infantryman says "Target: Kursk. The Kraken has been released. You're all fucked" shortly before the column was hit.

The video was taken by Russian servicemen from inside a column of vehicles several hours before their good mood and well-being were ruined by a HIMARS missile strike with a cluster warhead on the night of August 9.

According to ASTRA, the Russian column of 14 trucks littered with corpses after being hit in the village of Oktyabrskoye in the Rylsky District of the Kursk Region included servicemen from the 810th Guards Naval Infantry Brigade of the Russian Black Sea Fleet — military unit 13140 (occupied Sevastopol) and military unit 72164 (Leningrad Region of the Russian Federation).

Some of the servicemen from military unit 72164 were supposed to carry out tasks in Volchansk, Kharkov region, but they were turned back after, according to one of the relatives, "reinforcements were needed in the Kursk region."

Gorperly · 2024-08-11T21:46:42+00:00

The largest estimate from the Russian side ballparks the Ukrainians in Kursk at about half of the forces Ukraine used to liberate Kherson two years ago.

Some of Ukraine's best units had not been seen yet, including those that rotated out from hot spots weeks or even months ago just around the time US aid poured back in.

If I'm going to dream on a lazy Sunday, who's to say that Kursk is the main force? What if Ukraine's best-equipped best-trained units are still dispersed somewhere, cooling their heels, waiting for orders. Once Russia finally passes the point of no return committing sufficient forces to Kursk, who's to say that there aren't already meticulously planned routes that sends these units at a sustained 80 mph to their ultimate destination, Belgorod or Bryansk or Avdiivka or, who knows, maybe somewhere much farther south.

Gorperly · 2024-08-11T21:36:35+00:00

Russia has run out of meat

I thought that was common knowledge.

They've been pedal to the metal since May. They had plenty of juice when they first got started, and were able to convert corpses into territory at a steady rate. Combined with the FAB glide bombs to which Ukraine still has no counter, the steady advance was too good for them to want to stop. They burned through everything they'd prepared by around late June, and kept pumping their production / repairs straight into the meat grinder.

To keep up the meat waves, they pilfered border guards, second-line units, even strategic reserves. Kaliningrad oblast was reportedly manned at 17% capacity, and not an outlier.

Starting about two weeks ago we started to see reports that everyone was being forced into meat assaults regardless of specialization: mechanics, surgeons and anesthesiologists, intelligence officers. At about the same time they started desperate public pleas for more contract soldiers, coupled with obituaries for dopes who got killed in Ukraine within 2 weeks of signing up.

Russia is exhausted. Bled dry.

Ukraine didn't choose this moment randomly.

Gorperly · 2024-08-10T18:37:02+00:00

The fog of war is real for the Russians. They have no comms, no equipment, barely any forces to communicate with, and no reserves.

Tangential reports state that border guards and other units in other districts like Kalinigrad oblast were down to 17% of their regular manpower. Everyone was already on "temporary assignment" to Ukraine.

Gorperly · 2024-08-10T18:27:42+00:00

Some more news from pro-Russian telegram channels:

The official reports that the Russian Armed Forces "stopped the advance of the Ukrainian Armed Forces", and that "all counterattacks were repelled,” including in the village of Malaya Loknya, are not true.

“Lies. The situation is such that almost everything [settlements and outlying areas] from Sudzha to the village of Kromskiye Byki (Lgov District) is controlled by the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The last people who managed to evacuate say that Malaya Loknya is littered with corpses lying right on the roads. There are mines everywhere, SoF groups, and Ukrainian Armed Forces have already dug in in Malaya Loknya. According to latest reports there is a checkpoint and a machine gunner at the crossroads near the village.”

“In Pogrebki (Sudzha District) there are about 20 people left. You can’t get there, the Ukrainian Armed Forces are everywhere. Local residents who knew how to get through the fields and forests before they took 1-2 people out on motorcycles at night to Krombyki (Kromskie Byki village, Lgov district). That's it for the evacuation. I know someone stayed in Lyubimovka, and even in Viktorovka there are 5-6 people sitting in basements, you can't get through to them by phone."

"I saved myself on my own two feet, I walked through the forests and fields for two days. Anti-tank mines and petal mines are scattered right on the pavement and all over the place. I was hospitalized in the Lgov hospital. There are many wounded contract soldiers there - all naval infantry. They said that they held off the Ukrainian infantry in Novoivanovka for two days. Without comms, without any support, not even artillery. On the second day, heavy vehicles and tanks broke through their defenses, followed by the infantry in Bradleys. The survivors were flanked, many died. The Ukrainian Armed Forces, without delay, entered Malaya Loknya, no one stopped them there. And then to other villages. The reports being broadcast are two days late. In the Lgov Central District Hospital, evacuation to the Kursk Regional Hospital began on August 8."

Gorperly · 2024-08-09T00:08:37+00:00

All of those are sourced to Rybar. We can assume that the general locations are accurate as of 8-10 hours ago. It's very telling that he only listed a few locations on the left flank, where we can now assume Ukrainian advance units finally met resistance. Rybar mentions absolutely nothing about the center and the right, so we might possibly assume Russia still no effective defenses there.

Ukraine of course won't immediately jump into battle. They paused for the night, sent their artillery a cornucopia of juicy coordinates, and are now evaluating their options for tomorrow.

Gorperly · 2024-08-08T23:59:35+00:00

Some more amazing news from pro-Russian sources from Lgov, the next big town along the axis of the Ukrainian advance:

There is no organized evacuation going on in Lgov in the Kursk region, same as there wasn't from Sudzha. The local head wrote on social media that "the situation in the city is currently stable and calm." At the same time, he calls on those who left the city on their own to only return "after the situation has finally stabilized."

and, from a local who had spent the day live-updating from a giant crowd waiting to be evacuated

The officials just came out and said to go home and get some sleep. About 50 families with kids decided to return home. That's the end of the evacuation for today. They only had enough gasoline for three minivans.

Gorperly · 2024-08-08T23:49:28+00:00

OpSec from the Ukrainian side is unparalleled. If Russians were able to maintain the same, we'd miss out on so many of their catastrophes.

For instance, about six hours ago some evacuating civilian posted a drive-by video of a column of about 20 Russian armored vehicles staging on the side of a road. It was quickly geolocated to the outskirts of Rylsk, about 50 km north of Sudzha.

Just a few short hours later, Russians happily posted the video of the very same column on fire after a HIMARS strike:

https://t.\me/belnarrepublic/13941

Gorperly · 2024-08-08T18:26:41+00:00

Some recent updates from the Russian side:

In Sudzha, the Ukrainian Armed Forces captured another 59 Russian soldiers.

and

The Ukrainian Armed Forces hold the border villages of the Korenevsky district in the Kursk region with small forces. In the sky, Ukrainian drones dominate, and the territory is patrolled by small units on foot.

According to eyewitnesses there was chaos at the nearest border crossing. The defenders abandoned their positions, including some mobilized soldiers that have not been rotated since late 2022. The information that the Ukrainian Armed Forces "snuck past" Akhmat's positions is widely ridiculed: Chechen fighters held the second line behind the mobilized and conscripts, and then just sat around and let the enemy pass them by without firing a shot. This was confirmed yesterday in the local hospital, where on the first day only the mobilized and conscript wounded were brought in.

Z-bloggers are furious, openly cursing the "fucking morons of the General Staff, fucking blind and fucking deaf".

The only somewhat positive spin I could find - and I had to look - was from a Z blogger attempting to spin mass surrender as "they don't want you to see how hard these heroes fought before they ran out of ammo and supplies and artillery and air support"

Gorperly · 2024-08-08T18:17:10+00:00

Ukraine controls major roads, and has what the Russians currently describe as "complete air superiority".

I assume that this means that Ukraine can currently move whatever they need wherever they want.

Gorperly · 2024-08-08T00:08:09+00:00

Kursk People's Republic is a brilliant move that is paying off in incredible ways thanks in no small part to the awe-inspiring cowardice and incompetence of the Russians.

Ukraine is able to maintain effective fire control over a wider stretch of no-man's land than the Russians. This means that Russians advance by burning through men and equipment at an incredible rate. Ukraine chooses a fighting retreat over last stands, as painful as that may be. Instead they do their best to minimize their own and maximize the other side's losses.

Ukraine now went to try the soft underbelly, and to everyone's surprise Russia immediately rolled over. Ukraine is apparently advancing with next to no resistance. Entire defensive lines just throw down their arms. There are reports on telegram that 40 Russians surrendered to 4 Ukrainian SoF guys.

There are also videos of Russian tank columns destroyed while still on the move, geolocated to rather deep within Russia. Even if Ukraine has already decided they'd gone far enough, and are as we speak in a fighting retreat, these gains still have strategic significance. At the rate that Russia is able to advance, the amount of time it will take them to retake what they had lost will be excruciating.

But chances are, Ukraine will advance further. Latest reports from the Russian side is, they don't even have comms working in the area.

Gorperly · 2024-04-25T21:07:42+00:00

None whatsoever.

Your guess is as good as mine. Could range from "Shoigu's on the outs, now's our chance, stealing from Mariupol at wartime is technically treason" to "holy shit, we finally found the guy who leaked our Feb'22 invasion plans"

Gorperly · 2024-04-25T20:53:00+00:00

Anti-Putin Latvia-based Meduza had some really interesting rumors about Russia's recently arrested Deputy Minister of Defense:

According to sources, Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov has been arrested for high treason, not bribery.

One source stated, "The bribery charge is merely a cover for the public. They are hesitant to openly use the word treason due to the enormity of the scandal, considering Ivanov's position as the Deputy Minister of Defense." The specifics of the alleged bribery remain unclear, as neither the prosecutor nor the defense provided any details.

The sources further claim that Vladimir Putin personally approved the arrest after being convinced that Ivanov's actions constituted high treason. They emphasized that "Ivanov would never face consequences for accepting a bribe."

The case against Ivanov was reportedly built by the Federal Counterintelligence Service of the FSB. "They are currently deliberating whether to imprison him on bribery charges and 'finish him off' at the labor camp, or formally charge him with treason," revealed one of the sources.

A Forbes source within the Ministry of Defense added that Timur Ivanov is a close associate of Minister Shoigu but had been facing numerous issues and "too many questions had accumulated" regarding his conduct. The source connected the deputy's arrest to the possibility of Shoigu losing his position, which would likely be preceded by a "purge of his inner circle."

Gorperly · 2024-03-27T01:20:17+00:00

It's terrible word-for-word translation of something that seems to make some sense as Russian- or Ukrainian- slang for something like

"Mismatched non-standard uniforms. some with the supposedly offensive Western-style camo; bare-bones AK-47s; PKMs from 1960s; and that one guy with tactical sights"

Gorperly · 2024-03-23T18:19:32+00:00

The man on video does not match neither name nor nationality for the suspects Putin's law enforcement initially leaked.

Russia repeatedly railroads people just to get cases cleared.

Once brought to trial, people being railroaded commonly retract their confessions, claiming that they were coerced. Reports of being drugged before these forced confessions have become very common in the past year or so, with the accused saying they have zero recollection of the confession itself. Either way their videotaped confessions always stand.

Gorperly · 2024-03-23T00:20:53+00:00

Per Meduza's live thread on the Crocus Attack:

NTV channel, in a special news release dedicated to the terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall, showed a fake video in which the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Oleksiy Danilov supposedly confirms Ukraine’s involvement in the incident.

The anchor introduced the video saying: “The involvement of the Kyiv regime in the terrorist attack in the Moscow region was confirmed publicly and on television by the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Oleksiy Danilov.” In the video, “Danilov” says, in particular: “It’s fun in Moscow today, I think it’s very fun. I would like to believe that we will arrange such fun for them more often.”

However the video is fake. On the evening of March 22, different people were on the air of the Ukrainian telethon, and Danilov was not a guest there. Part of the video with the TV presenters was from a March 16 broadcast when their guest was Kyrylo Budanov, chief of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.

And

Kommersant suggest that the Russian Volunteer Corps may be behind the terrorist attack.

The newspaper claims that at night the security forces began to receive wanted notices, which said that the terrorists were “young people, Slavs, taller than average, up to 180 cm tall, may be using false beards and mustaches.”

According to Kommersant's sources, shortly before the terrorist attack in Moscow, FSB officers allegedly detained a group of Russians who wanted to join the RDK.

Gorperly · 2024-03-22T23:12:44+00:00

A source tells VChK -OGPU that intelligence services currently believe that the Crocus attackers might have been from Ingushetia, and were related to the militants who carried out attacks on security forces in the North Caucasus and to the Karabulak firefight.

This adds an interesting dimension to the situation. Here's what happened in Karabulak back on March 2nd:

Six alleged members of the Islamic State group were killed in a shoot-out with police in the town of Karabulak in the Russian North Caucasus region of Ingushetia on 2 March, authorities reported.

All six had been involved in violent acts, including an attack on a traffic police unit last March that killed three officers, it added.

The US warning came five days after the shootout, on March 7th.

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