Ro at The Tracker

Through Mordovia to Mordor: How Latin American and African mercenaries are recruited for Russia’s war against Ukraine Russia is actively recruiting mercenaries from countries in Latin America and Africa to take part in the Kremlin’s «special military operation.» As The Insider has found, many of them arrive in Moscow...

And yes, Russia is also using civilians from these countries as meat for their grinder.
theins.press/en/inv/289429

Russia doesn't have many allies. Their operations in the Global South are a way of rectifying this by further destabilizing the rest of the world, pulling countries apart and inserting themselves as bringers of stability. It's disgusting.

An AI bot that is an effective interface with your computer, rather than a weird pseudo best friend? And it does the things you want it to? This is the AI revolution I actually wanted.

⚡ Zelenskyy: "You need Ukraine's independence because tomorrow you may have to defend your way of life."

A key quote from the article:
"Russia is effectively admitting that it uses military and coercive instruments of influence under the cover of humanitarian and educational diplomacy".

Putin’s Own Propagandists Finally Admit Russia Is Scr*wed The holiday season has not been kind to the Kremlin.

Putin’s Own Propagandists Finally Admit Russia Is Screwed

The holiday season has not been kind to the Kremlin.

My latest for @thedailybeast.bsky.social:
www.thedailybeast.com/putins-own-p...

Why does Rybar suck? Here: bsky.app/profile/hack...

Just a perfect characterisation of russia in 2025 - at so many levels.

They want to increase the size of bribes due to inflation. Due to inflation in Russia, it has been proposed to change the size of bribes.

1/2

Agree. There is probably some sunk cost fallacy in their thinking, as Russia has now been too invested for too long in this war to accept defeat now. And the authorities know that everyday Russians will accept a lot of hardship before actually doing anything about it.

It's a Russian custom so in-built into the society that it has its own word: враньё (vranyo). It's people on all sides who go along with a lie even though they all know it's a lie. Sad to see it spreading from Russia to elsewhere.

OTD in 1991 Ukrainians, including those in Crimea, voted overwhelmingly for independence from USSR.

I don't like that vote result, so I am changing the voters and having new votes.

Russia has run out of money to pay its soldiers, finance minister warns The region of Yakutia said that lack of funds meant payments for soldiers in Ukraine were paused.

Russia has suspended payment for soldiers from the Far Eastern region of Yakutia, due to a budget shortfall. This region has already suffered huge losses in the war and is now struggling to recruit more troops, currently failing to meet Moscow's recruitment quotas.
www.newsweek.com/russia-run-o...

The "absolutely neutral Russian Orthodox Church" that some people around the world keep defending.

While it's infuriating to us, this is a perfect piece of brainwashing for Russians. Reinforcing false histories, victim mentality, and further isolation from the rest of the world. It's Putin's version of the abuse tactics "this is all for your own good" and "no one understands you like I do".

It looks like Russia is trialing mobile internet blocks in multiple regions at once... Citizens of St Petersburg report that all functionality is gone, except government services which are still usable.

Ulyanovsk Region Imposes First Permanent Mobile Internet Blackout - The Moscow Times Mobile internet access will be restricted in parts of the central Ulyanovsk region for the duration of Russia’s so-called “special military operation” in Ukraine, regional authorities said Tuesday, ma...

Ulyanovsk Region Imposes First Permanent Mobile Internet Blackout - internet access will be restricted for the remainder of the "special military operation". www.themoscowtimes.com/2025/11/11/u...

Massive mobile internet outages have started in St. Petersburg.

Get used to it Ivan.

Independent outlet Verstka publishes list of Russian soldiers who execute their own comrades A list of more than 100 servicemen in the Russian army accused of carrying out extrajudicial executions against their own comrades has been published by the independent outlet Verstka. The outlet’s da...

Independent outlet Verstka exposes 100+ russian soldiers accused of executing their own comrades.

The list includes commanders and 'Heroes of russia,' with most cases ignored by military prosecutors.

Read more: theins.ru/en/news/286288

Maria Lvova-Belova is monstrous

"I abducted a child from Mariupol and brought him into my family."

Russia's Presidential Commissioner for Children's Rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, has admitted guilt in a war crime - the abduction of Ukrainian children - for which the Hague court issued a warrant.

⚡️ Molfar Agency has identified some of the Russian troops involved in the Bucha massacre.

🧵 1/11

Psychotic

Russian Только заголовки... more English Only headlines ******************** 1) The Accounts Chamber warned of a possible recession in the economy 2) Authorities are preparing to take control of all Russian citizens' bank cards 3) "Imports have come to a halt." Truck imports to Russia have fallen 20-fold 4) Trump announced India's readiness to stop purchasing oil from Russia 5) "There are not many opportunities." Novak spoke about difficulties in buying gasoline abroad 6) Businesses are preparing to raise prices in response to tax increases 7) The government promised that the economy will accelerate by Putin's order 8) IEA raised its estimate of oil supply growth

The morning’s economic headlines in Russia are grim. 💀

“Imports have come to a halt.’ Truck imports to Russia have fallen 20-fold”

“The Accounts Chamber warned of a possible recession in the economy”

“Authorities are preparing to take control of all Russian citizens' bank cards”

Artur Rehi talks about #Moldova in this one;
www.youtube.com/watch?v=z47p...

Its actually pretty incredible what #MaiaSandu and the patriotic people of Moldova have done

They had the entire weight of the russian disinformation machine on them 5 times in 5 years - A russia lost.. every single time!

Ahahahaha

Excellent and succinct thread about the Moldovan vote-buying scandal. For the past few months, Russia has been doing everything in its power to buy Moldova's democracy, and now the election is almost here (Sunday 28th). We can only hope Russia doesn't succeed.

I do enjoy seeing the russian money getting picked up and their operation hobbled and unmasked.

Today from Chișinău: CNA is tearing into the crypto pipelines that were buying votes.

Russia is actively trying to influence Moldova's election, which takes place on Sunday 28th.
A reminder of who, why and how:

How Russian-funded fake news network aims to disrupt European election - BBC investigation An undercover reporter discovers a network is offering to pay for social media posts undermining Moldova’s ruling party.

Next weekend there are important elections in Moldova, the small state which borders Ukraine, but has a section of the country defacto occupied by Russia.

The BBC proves that Moscow is again interfering in elections.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

"The number of those killed,guys,will be enormous.I think when we learn the whole truth about how many there are,the whole country will be horrified."

A native of the town of Myski in the Kemerovo region of Russia recorded a video at a local cemetery, which he visited after a long absence