Allen Maggard

17/ Read the full investigation by Systema (in Russian)/ svoboda.org/a/zagadka-groz…

1/ In March, the FSB claimed it had prevented a terrorist attack in Moscow: allegedly, Ukrainian saboteurs had purchased a batch of drones from a Russian company to strike the Russian capital. In the video, the manufacturer’s name was visible: “Groznye Ptitsy” (“Fearsome Birds”).

BREAKING!!! U.S. hails ‘humanitarian reset’ with UN as Washington commits further $1.8bn in aid, including Ukraine

I used the Moldovan Ministry of Defense's press release to build a @claudeai visualization of today's Russian drone incursion into Moldova.

[Rosatom] Rosatom a dévoilé la nouvelle imprimante 3D compacte RusMelt 150M. Ce modèle complète la gamme d'imprimantes 3D Rosatom utilisant la technologie de fusion laser sélective qui comprend déjà 2 modèles, la RusMelt 300M (taille moyenne) et la RusMelt 600M (grande taille).

Scoop via @CBSNews: A memo between US and Ukraine outlines the terms of a defense deal between the two countries. It would allow Ukraine to export its military tech to the US and manufacture drones in joint ventures with American companies, @aidan_stretch reports.

#Rosja info własne: Ogromne problemy z silnikami turbinowymi GTD-1250 używanymi w T-80U i T-80BWM. Plany przerobienia wszystkich wariantów T-80 na mogące być wyposażone w te silniki – chodzi głównie o T80UD – spaliły na panewce. Dla przerobienia jednego wozu potrzeba 600 roboczogodzin i trzeba ingerować w wannę kadłuba. Zresztą T-80UD nie ma już wiele - nie opłaca się. Produkcja „od nowa” jaką uruchomiono, wypuszcza buble – najgorszy silnik wytrzymał ledwie 60 godzin pracy, 200 godzin to „zawyżona norma”. Czołgiści mówią, że wewnątrz silników znajdują się opiłki, brak szlifowania spawów nadlewy nawet 10 cm(!)na szczęście na zewnątrz. Przemysł mówi, że silniki są zarzynane bo w brygadach każe się jeździć bez sensu, silniki nie są prawidłowo utrzymywane i dlatego się szybciej zużywają. Zarówno przemysł jak i samo MON zgadzają się, ze po prostu brakuje odpowiednio wykwalifikowanych ludzi, ale tu MON jest oskarżany przez przemysł że podbiera im pracowników i wysyła na SWO. Dochodzi do sytuacji kuriozalnych – w jednej PolBaz 1.APanc.Gw nikt nie mógł remontować sprzętu pancernego i zmechanizowanego ponieważ pewnego dnia przybył dowódca jednej z brygad płk. Karpow, wygarnął wszystkich techników, zostawiając tylko dowodzących oficerów i włączył ich do brygad szturmowych „na pomoc okrążonym w Kupiańsku towarzyszom”. Nikt z tych 45 ludzi nie wrócił, ale to już był zbyt gruby numer i sprawą zajęła się Moskwa, która wynalazczego dowódcę przeniosła na inny odcinek frontu. Nb. MON oskarża przemysł, że nie pilnuje ludzi, w zakładach jest zbyt duża rotacja, bo po 2-3 miesiącach wykwalifikowani pracownicy kiedy już mają papiery że pracują dla obronności uciekają do Kazachstanu gdzie mogą więcej zarobić (i zapewne jest bezpieczniej). Cała sprawa ma stanąć na Komisji Obrony jeszcze w obecnym miesiącu. O problemach produkcyjnych przemysł pisał już swego czasu @JanR210 @KapitanLisowski @MarekKozubel @MattLech23 @pdjezierski @TrompBK @verekerrichard1 @Jonpy99 @HALLONSA @Tom_Lisiecki @Zmechozaur @Krystian_Pogr @Maciej_Korowaj @AGolawski @Martinnkaaaa @AntoniWalkowski @labuszewska @Anna_M_Dyner @FilippDM @MarekAsimo @LachowskiMateus

1/ Yuri Kozarenko, the high-profile Russian drone developer who was arrested last Friday on fraud charges, is being accused of passing off Chinese products as his own. Other Russian UAV developers say that his firm was notorious for "brazen relabeling of products from China." ⬇️

NEW!! Sweden's SAPO security service says two people had been detained on suspicion of helping Russia procure advanced engineering products that could be used in the war against Ukraine.

Under the cover of news about May 9, Russia has begun the de jure annexation of South Ossetia. kommersant.ru/doc/8652910

The Russians have developed a new radio reconnaissance system called the “Meshtastic-Sniffer” for detecting and analyzing Ukrainian Meshtastic/LoRa mesh networks. Using multiple synchronized receivers, it can geolocate transmitting nodes via TDOA (Time Difference of Arrival). 1/

On May 9, Victory Day — undeniably one of Russia’s major national holidays — it is worth remembering how wrong it is to equate today’s Russian army with the Soviet army of World War II, something both supporters of the current regime and some of its opponents are inclined to do. And not only because this comparison, when made by some opponents of the current war, ends up granting its supporters exactly what they want: to be seen as “the same army.” But above all because it is simply not true. Back then, it was the army of a country defending itself. It drew people from a much broader social base. It was a genuinely national army, far more diverse in composition — from collective farmers and ideological communist internationalists to physics students, and to nobles and peasants who had not yet forgotten the dignity that Bolshevik terror had only recently taken from them; communists and anti-communists alike, supporters and opponents of Soviet ideology. What united them was not a leader’s geopolitical fantasies (those either came later or remained a background inheritance from the past), nor money or vanity, but the basic reality of humiliation, fear, pain, and death brought by the invasion of a foreign army whose leaders had freed it from the restraints of common human morality. To stop it, they had to go as far and fight as long as necessary. This stands in stark contrast to today’s Russian invasion army, fighting a war of conquest for money under the false banner of “defending the motherland” — despite the fact that no one had attacked it.

Russian media pick up on reports that Japan will send a business delegation to Moscow, 26-27 May, incl. Mitsui & Co, Mitsubishi Corp, Mitsui OSK. - In April Chief Cabinet Secretary Kihara denied it was true. Seems he was being economical with the truth. rbc.ru/politics/08/05…

Since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, Belarus has quietly become a key player to its war machine, yet half of the network enabling this role remains unsanctioned. @BelarusFiles investigated. 1/4 Read 👇 c4ads.org/news/belarusia…

58 Belarusian companies have supplied goods worth more than $1.2 billion to the Russian military-industrial complex. Russia relies on Belarus for approximately 85% of its supplies of optics and sights and up to 90% of its military vehicle chassis investigatebel.org/en/investigati…

My comments on Belarus' role in Russian defense industry supply chains and the challenges facing export control efforts @BelarusFiles 👇

Things in Transnistria are bad and not getting better. Tiraspol's economy is now 13% smaller than it was in 2010. Some figures: Ten years ago, salaries in Transnistria mostly matched those on Moldova's right bank. Today, they're half of right bank salaries. In 2025, Right bank GDP grew 2.7% — Transnistria's contracted 18%. newsmaker.md/ru/pobory-ili-…

Internet shutoff going well I see

[JSC Kalashnikov Concern] Metalloobrabotka-2026 le tour à commande numérique (CNC) IZH Caliber 20. Cette machine unique et prometteuse, de fabrication russe a été développée par la division machines-outils du groupe Kalachnikov. kalashnikovgroup.ru/news/kalashnik…

Something Is Shifting Inside Russia Recent developments inside Russia suggest the system is struggling to cope with mounting pressures. These include growing domestic strains, behind-the-scenes manoeuvring among elites, rumours of a coup d’état, a tighter and more reactive grip on control, fears of losing that control, and increasing exposure to Ukrainian strikes and assassinations. All this is unfolding against a worsening external backdrop: a destabilised Middle East and stalemate over Iran, a distracted Trump, and a more militarised (including nuclear-oriented) Europe. For the first time in years of war, there may be a shift. Pressures have reached a point where too many actors inside Russia face a new reality: the status quo is starting to threaten their own position. If nothing changes, it makes survival difficult, if not impossible. Until recently, many assumed that Putin had a plan, even if it was simply to keep the war going. Now there are growing doubts as to whether such a plan exists. And even if it does, it may imply political or physical ruin for some. Ironically, after years of pursuing a “wait and see” approach towards the West and, in part, Ukraine, Putin has now become the object of a similar approach from the Americans — an uncomfortable position for Russians. There are growing sentiments in Russia that the current system of governance is becoming too damaging and increasingly self-defeating. Tolerance for the status quo is eroding. However, different actors interpret that change in opposing ways, while Putin appears either unable or unwilling to rethink his policy.