Russian Pro-War Bloggers Blast Army Failures After Border Raid

Several influential Russian military bloggers on Wednesday blasted the country's army leaders for failing to thwart a major Ukrainian cross-border raid.

Ukrainian troops, tanks and armoured vehicles stormed into Russia's southwestern Kursk region on Tuesday, forcing Moscow to rush in reserves and deploy drones, aviation and artillery to counter the attack.

It was one of the most serious border incursions by pro-Kyiv fighters, and brought Russia's army bosses in for criticism over failing to learn the lessons from previous attacks.

"The enemy has been accumulating forces for two months," the influential Rybar channel, which has links to Russian troops, said in a post.

"For two months the full information was sent to the useless headquarters. There was enough time to make an appropriate decision," it added.

The attacks, still being felt on Wednesday evening, are one of the first major tests for Russia's new defence minister Andrei Belousov.

In May he replaced Sergei Shoigu, who was blamed for a string of Russian military setbacks since the start of the Ukraine offensive in 2022. Several other defence ministry officials have been removed or arrested on corruption charges.

But the man in charge of army operations in Ukraine -- Chief of the General Staff, Valery Gerasimov, also detested by many of the military bloggers -- remained in place.

In light of the Kursk incursion, Rybar and others criticised the decision not to "break up the combat management system".

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The Russian military leadership "continue to make mistakes and lie," another influential blogger, Anastasia Kashevarova, said.

"Every day they make mistakes that cost our fighters their lives," she wrote on Telegram.

The WarGonzo channel, run by Semyon Pegov, welcomed that Gerasimov was shown on state television in a meeting with President Vladimir Putin as it meant he would be "directly responsible" for resolving the "mistakes".

"We have long lacked public responsibility," he said.

Criticism of the offensive from military bloggers used to be common but has become rarer lately as the Kremlin has clamped down on public dissent.

The bloggers shot to prominence in the first months of the Ukraine offensive with searing criticism of Moscow's military bosses, alleging ineptitude and corruption.

Many back a more aggressive campaign against Ukraine and are angry at heavy losses among Russian rank-and-file troops since February 2022.