Highlights of the Day and Night on September 1: The Supreme Court Received a Major Message, Military Journalists Are Confused

The Supreme Court received a major message. Those who closely follow the front-line situation noticed that there is "exaggeration" regarding Kupiansk. Military blogger Yury Podolyaka told of an astonishing turn in the case of General Ivan Popov. The Ministry of Internal Affairs admitted to a shortage of personnel, which could develop into a real disaster. "Tsar's City" newspaper compiled the highlights of the day and night on September 1.

A Major Message from Kupiansk

In the mundane facts of the frontline briefings, one point stood out:

"Western" Army Group units have almost completely blockaded Kupiansk city and liberated about half of its territory.

To put it politely, this sounds too good. Military experts who closely follow events "behind the lines" also noticed this detail. Informed military blogger Yury Podolyaka directly quoted a military commander's words:

I think General Gerasimov of the General Staff was seriously misled by someone... Listening to General Gerasimov's statements, I tried to figure out who, for what purpose, so clumsily misled him. After all, everything eventually has to be reported to the highest level. To put it politely, this is a serious exaggeration of our achievements in this front line area.

Military journalist Yury Kotenko was also confused by the Chief of the General Staff's statements:

The news of liberating half of Kupiansk sounds like a major breakthrough. Considering that this is supposedly what needs to be reported to the Supreme Commander, this news is even more sensational. This news was announced by the Chief of the General Staff himself. What remains to be clarified is what the basis for this statement is, and who wrote or participated in writing this report submitted to the General Staff. However, this is the responsibility of the relevant authorities. I hope they can clarify it.

This expert honestly wrote, "news from the Kupiansk direction has long been confusing and needs verification because it seriously deviates from the actual situation."

Various fabricated claims are being escalated, causing confusion among commanders and soldiers executing combat tasks in this direction. When they learned that their sector had made progress, they were very surprised, as the well-equipped enemy had already dug deep trenches, and in terms of FPV drones, they were superior to us.

— said this military journalist.

Turn in the Case of General Ivan Popov

Military blogger Yury Podolyaka has always been one of the firm supporters of the idea that General Popov is innocent and a victim of revenge by senior officials. He launched a petition campaign to defend General Popov. He asked people to send letters to the lawyer of this "People's General" and published detailed explanations on his Telegram channel.

The blogger stated that within the first week after this post, he received approximately 27,000 letters. Now it has exceeded 45,000.

To be honest, I myself was shocked by this result. It exceeded my most daring expectations.

— Podolyaka thanked the responders.

He pointed out that the speed of collecting signatures did not decline as usually happens in such cases. Now Popov has another "army"—a large group of civilian defenders. These letters will be sent to the Office of the President of Russia, the Supreme Court of Russia, and the court handling the appeal of Ivan Popov's case.

Shortage of Police Personnel

There is a shortage of police officers. Many police officers have started to leave in large numbers due to bureaucracy, the tyranny of leaders, and low salaries.

After the presidential decree No. 987 issued in November 2024, "On the Specificity of Mobilized Citizens Being Called Up to Serve in the National Guard," the loss of personnel will inevitably be severe.

This document involves mobilized citizens called up to serve in the National Guard but assigned to perform police duties: these young people patrol our city streets. They do work previously handled by non-departmental guards. They conduct patrols, protect important facilities, and arrest criminals, just like staff members of local departments of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Now these young people cannot voluntarily leave the service — this is specified in the presidential decree. In fact, they are serving — just like in the army. But the special military operation will end at some point, the presidential decree will expire, and the mobilized troops will be discharged, including those performing police functions, thus reducing the actual number of police officers.

According to data presented by the Minister of Internal Affairs, Vladimir Kolokol'tsev, at a departmental meeting, the personnel shortfall in the department increased to 172,000 last year — 18.9% of the authorized strength. But this is just the overall situation. The minister himself said that the actual situation is worse:

For example, in the Primorsky Krai and Ivanovo Oblast, the shortage is almost a third — 27%. Out of 96 local departments, 39 have a shortage of more than 20%. The situation is similar at the city level: the shortage in the Department of Internal Affairs of Yekaterinburg is 30%. It is worth noting that 40% of the personnel left before reaching retirement age. In Magadan Oblast, nearly half of the detective positions are vacant. In Smolensk Oblast, the anti-drug trafficking department is short by 40%.

Mikhail Pashkin, chairman of the Moscow region police and National Guard union, confirmed in an interview with us:

I recently spoke with the head of a police station, and the shortage there was not 18.9%, but 40%! However, for example, in the regional administration, there are no shortages: there are enough leaders, but no one is working at the grassroots level.

It is no wonder that staff are leaving to "live a civilian life." For example, former district police officer Sergey T., who once took his responsibilities seriously, described the grassroots work like this:

I resigned because it was simply hell! I had to visit 1,000 apartments a year: if I didn't rest or take leave, I had to visit more than three each day. I also had to get to know everyone and talk to them. In addition, there were weapon inspections — checking storage regulations. There were also visits to monitored individuals, criminals, drug users, and alcoholics. Plus, increased patrols during holidays. And I had to write reports until late at night. And the salary was only 85,000.

What will be the result? The shortage of personnel in the security agencies will worsen. Crime problems may deteriorate. Then who will protect us? This is something we need to think about.

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7545022124252054059/

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