Russia supply problems lead to taking vehicles of troops

 ISW:

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Russian milbloggers continue to indicate that Russian forces lack equipment and suffer from low morale along the entire frontline. A Russian milblogger claimed that Russian forces – especially the 20th Combined Arms Army (Western Military District) and 2nd Combined Arms Army (Central Military District), both operating in eastern Ukraine – lack light transportation vehicles, which inhibits them from using equipment and operating effectively and reduces their morale.[10] The milblogger claimed that Russian personnel must register their privately-owned vehicles with the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD), after which their vehicles disappear or get transferred elsewhere.[11] The milblogger claimed that Russian commanders regularly punish servicemen who keep their vehicles for minor administrative violations and that Russian personnel feel that they are “at war” with their commanders.[12] A Russian milblogger claimed on August 21 that Russian authorities have not provided Russian forces operating in the Kherson direction with boats and have ignored milbloggers’ ongoing appeals since July 2.[13] “Vostok” Battalion commander Alexander Khodakovsky claimed that Russian forces continue to face problems with counterbattery operations after Russian forces began experiencing artillery systems shortages and claimed that Russian forces began to receive “outdated” D-20 towed gun-howitzers.[14] Khodakovsky claimed that the “outdated” D-20 howitzers are not suitable for counterbattery combat, possibly referring to barrel wear from constant use that makes tube artillery less accurate over time.[15] Multiple milbloggers have claimed that Russian forces lack adequate counterbattery capabilities, especially since Commander of the 58th Combined Arms Army Major General Ivan Popov’s dismissal in early July.[16] Another Russian milblogger, however, claimed that Russian forces are improving artillery tactics and that artillery units have become far more accurate than they were a year ago.[17] The milblogger may be suggesting that mobilized personnel who did not have prior military experience have learned to accurately strike targets. Ongoing complaints from Russian personnel suggest that the Russian MoD is unwilling or unable to address persistent equipment shortages and problems with low morale. Russian forces may be improving tactics and learning from previous mistakes as the war continues, however. The protraction of the conflict resulting in part from delays in the provision of Western aid to Ukraine gives Russian forces time to improve and to learn from their mistakes.
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Russia does not appear ready for extended operations in the theater.  Its initial plan called for a quick strike expected to take a few days or weeks and it finds itself in a long war with inadequate supplies and troops. The Russian economy does not appear capable of generating the needed material and it is also struggling to find an adequate number of troops.

See, also:

Ukraine lines up destroyed Russian tanks in central Kyiv

Ukraine lined up the burnt-out husks of Russian tanks and fighting vehicles along the capital Kyiv's central drag on Monday as Ukrainians prepare to mark their second wartime Independence Day this week.

The national holiday, which commemorates 32 years of post-Soviet independence from Moscow on Thursday, falls exactly 18 months after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of its southern neighbour.

People walked along Kreshchatyk Street in the heart of the capital staring at the charred shells of armoured combat vehicles and other bits of hardware, arranged in a long line like a military parade of the dead.
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And:

 Ukraine's use of imprecise cluster bombs is making Russian 'very scared to go on assault', says frontline soldier

Ukraine says that controversial cluster munitions supplied by the US are proving important for stopping Russian attacks on its positions, The Washington Post reported.

President Joe Biden's decision to send the weapons to Ukraine in July attracted criticism, with allies including France, Germany, and Canada expressing concern over potential civilian casualties.

The weapons differ from normal munitions, which land and create a single explosion.

Cluster munitions break apart above their target, dispersing large numbers of small bombs over a wide area.

The smaller bombs often don't detonate properly, and can lie unexploded for years, posing a lasting threat to local populations.

Ukrainian officials told the Post that the weapons were having an important impact on the front line, helping to slow and deter Russian attacks.
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And:

 Who are Ukraine's 82nd Air Assault Brigade? A new elite unit armed with the best Western gear seems to have Russia rattled.

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The 82nd is said to have joined battle in near the village of Robotyne in the country's southeast. The area has been the scene of intense fighting and where Ukraine says it has made small gains, Ukraine's Kyiv Post reported.

The unit, made up of 2,000 troops, had previously been held in reserve, Insider's Rebecca Rommen reported, while many of Ukraine's other units tried to press ahead, making small advances but no major breakthroughs.

The 82nd brigade could now help those efforts: It has a large supply of advanced Western equipment, which Ukrainian leaders have been distributing carefully given the relatively small amount it has.

Leaked Pentagon documents from February and March of this year said the unit was expected to have 90 US Stryker combat vehicles, 40 German-made Marder infantry fighting vehicles, 24 US-made M113 infantry carriers, and 14 Challenger tanks from the UK, Politico reported.

This would mean that the 82nd battalion alone would have half of Ukraine's best infantry armored vehicles from its NATO allies, the Kyiv Post reported.
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And:

 Russia plans to settle 300,000 citizens in occupied Mariupol

And:

 How the West smashed Russia's deep-cover spy networks

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At least 705 diplomats suspected of spying have been expelled from Russian embassies across the world since 2022 – almost twice as many as the whole of the previous 20 years.

Some of the Russian diplomatic missions have been completely gutted. Bulgaria kicked out a staggering 83 Russian diplomats and Poland expelled 45. Faced with diplomatic corps shortages, Russia has been forced to close consulates in several countries.

Although it lacked the drama of a public exposure of an audacious spy op, the diplomatic purge dealt a heavy blow to day-to-day operations of the Russian spy network in Europe.
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“Russian intelligence agencies are under pressure to produce results, and now the remaining agents are having to [do] double work for those who no longer sit at those embassies.”

Not all of the expelled diplomats are Russian intelligence agents, but some of them likely were key human intelligence officers, running networks of local agents. The disruption is likely to have seriously affected many long-running operations involving such agents, who are carefully cultivated by now-expelled Russian officers.
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