Russian military bloggers experiment with criticising Russian Defence Ministry – ISW

Experts from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) have analysed how Russian bloggers are trying to criticise the Russian Ministry of Defence.

Source: ISW

Details: Analysts said that Russian so-called military bloggers seem to be experimenting with different ways of expressing critical opinions about the Russian Ministry of Defence following the recent appointment of Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov.

According to the report, a Russian blogger posted a photo of an undated document, supposedly from the head of the Russian Ministry of Defence's rocket and artillery weapons service, in response to a complaint about the inaccuracy of Russian artillery.

The document claimed that any problems with artillery ammunition were due to improper handling of shells by Russian servicemen and demanded that the Russian military comply with an earlier order issued by the Chief of the General Staff prohibiting the disassembly and weighing of artillery ammunition.

The blogger then described the potential problems using general terms and also various code words, such as names of other countries or places from popular science fiction films, which have been used by many Russian bloggers recently to cautiously discuss problems within the Russian Ministry of Defence.

The blogger stated that Russian military personnel had noticed that artillery systems were performing oddly, then discovered later that the amount of gunpowder in the shells varied greatly and reported this to the Russian military command, but to no avail.

Another Russian millblogger responded and used the same code words to criticise the Russian Defence Ministry and expressed hope that Belousov would introduce reforms that would solve the significant bureaucratic problems in the ministry.

A third Russian blogger, who had previously served as an instructor for the Storm-Z unit, was direct in his criticism of the Russian military and claimed to have heard information from them about the inconsistent amount of gunpowder in some artillery shells.

The blogger claimed that the problem began in the spring of 2022 and that an alleged order from the Russian General Staff described in the document indicated that the Russian military leadership was aware of this.

The blogger criticised the Russian military command for failing to find a solution and claimed that Russian artillery systems were also plagued by barrel wear (likely due to their extremely heavy use).

To quote the ISW’s Key Takeaways on 19 May: 

• Ukrainian forces reportedly conducted successful drone strikes against Russian military infrastructure and oil refineries in occupied Crimea, Krasnodar Krai, and Leningrad Oblast on the night of 18-19 May.
• Russian milbloggers appear to be experimenting with different ways to express critical opinions of the Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) following the recent appointment of Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov.
• A St. Petersburg court ruled that Russian authorities can seize over 700 million euros (US$760 million) of assets from three large European banks on 18 May on behalf of a Gazprom subsidiary.
• Russian forces recently marginally advanced within Vovchansk and near Chasiv Yar and Donetsk City.

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