Notices by ChrisO_wiki (chriso_wiki@mastodon.social), page 2

4/ When volunteers "communicate with fighters and medics, we offer them the following interaction scheme: we report on the situation in their unit to those above ➡️ they check there ➡️ if there are no first aid kits for some reason, they supply them in the required quantity."

3/ On every occasion, the channel says, "the conversation [between volunteer aid providers and the Russian Ministry of Defence] comes to one thing. 'Give us information about where there are no standard first aid kits, we will check and provide them'."

6/ "Do you know how many times we got consent from the fighters? Once. And that one case didn't end very well for the military man :((. So we started hearing the argument 'they'll send us into assaults as soon as we open our mouths' long before it became mainstream.

1/ Russian soldiers fear punishment if they ask commanders for first aid kits, according to a Russian group providing medical supplies. They prefer to "run around the front line without a first aid kit rather than initiate some kind of inspection". ⬇️

1/ A high-ranking officer of the Russian aerospace forces (VKS) is reported to have died by suicide in the Moscow region. He is said to have despaired of the bad working conditions and "criminal orders of the commanders" in the VKS Communications Centre. ⬇️

4/ "Usually, units try to have one "medic" per platoon, or at most per company. And they study in different ways: private tactical medicine courses in different schools, a two-week course for a tactical medicine instructor at the Military Medical Academy, volunteer courses in the Special Military Operation zone, telegram channels like Khiler, UTsTM, Kobra-tactical and others... without a single system and requirements."

3/ The channel, which organises supplies for frontline medics, discusses the role of 'freelance' or 'tactical' medics who supplement regular paramedics. They are supposed to give immediate first aid to frontline casualties before they are evacuated to field hospitals in rear areas.

2/ The 'Doctors, you are not alone' channel complains about the current state of combat medicine in the Russian army and advocates that the American 68W combat medic system should be adopted – though with Russian soldiers receiving 1950s first aid kits, this might be ambitious.

1/ Russian combat medics are haphazardly trained, are not issued supplies, and are sent to die on assault missions, according to a Russian medical Telegram channel. Some commanders are said to be 'hiding' medics in UAV units to ensure they do not get used as stormtroopers. ⬇️

8/ The channel praises how the US Army's 68W Combat Medic system works. 68Ws "are trained for 16 weeks, 6,500 NEW ones per year. And each one goes through annual two-week training camps, various recertifications once every 2 and 3 years, and in good units they train constantly."

7/ "Smart management sometimes 'hides' their medics in UAV units to save them. And stupid [management] ... you know a lot about that without our help.

And there are not enough full-time medics in principle (in the staffing table they are allocated a few lines, but in reality there is a shortage of personnel). Plus, they are often not at their stag[ing area], but are sent to the rear."

6/ "What are they ENTITLED to from [military] supplies? They are not entitled to anything! According to the Ministry of Defence website, the First Aid Bag is issued to ENTITLED medical instructors, medical orderlies-riflemen... These same medics can be listed as riflemen, drivers... or anyone. They are also sent on assaults and die like regular riflemen. It is critically important to protect medics – they then save others."

5/ "In fact, these guys bear the brunt of providing assistance at the front lines. In many cases, our medical backpacks end up not with regular paramedics or medical instructors, but with these freelance medics."

9/ It calls for the US system to be adopted in the Russian army, with the "urgent mass training of full-time medical instructors for 3.5-4 months and their appointment in each PLATOON", rather than one medic for an entire company.

"In this case, each group will have its own medic, the fighters will not be left on their own, without help. The mortality rate on the battlefield will be sharply reduced (at the same time, it will become reliably known to the relevant authorities)."

2/ The Russian dissident group Gulagu.net reports on the impact of the attack on the 107th GRAU arsenal, also known as military unit 11777 and Object 606/60-3TSO. It reports that at least 10 guards and arsenal security staff were killed as a result of the attack.

5/ As Gulagu notes, the man in charge of the project – former Deputy Minister of Defence General Dmitry Bulgakov – was arrested for large-scale fraud in July 2024. Poor fire safety is likely to have been a major factor in the depot's destruction. /end
https://mastodon.social/@ChrisO_wiki/113158494430247224

Source:
https://t.me/NetGulagu/9104

4/ Gulagu doesn't give any details of the alleged fraud, but common forms of theft on such contracts include overcharging for work or materials, or substituting cheap materials for more expensive ones (for instance, using flammable rather than fireproof materials).

3/ Since 2016, Gulagu says, Russia "has invested more than 5 billion rubles ($54 million) in the construction, repairs and strengthening of Object 606/60." The site was opened in 2018.

Gulagu reports that "these works were carried out by GVSU-12 and "GVSU for special objects"," two Federal State Unitary Enterprises (state-owned companies). It claims that more than 30% of the funding (i.e. at least $16 million) was stolen.

1/ The Ukrainian drone attack on Russia's Toropets munitions depot is reported to have destroyed 20 billion rubles ($217 million) worth of ammunition. At least 10 people are said to have died. Around 30% of the site's 5 billion ruble cost of construction may have been stolen. ⬇️

4/ Bulgakov claimed that compared to old Soviet-era arsenals, the modernised site represented the difference between wearing "a bulletproof vest that protects against bullets and shrapnel" or not wearing any body armour at all.

In practice, ammunition safety seems to have been neglected at the site. As one Russian pro-war blogger notes, on Yandex satellite images it can be seen that "there are endless stacks of ammunition all over the facility. In the open air."