Olga Ivshina
@oivshina
Followers
18,695
Following
470
Media
996
Statuses
7,903
BBC World correspondent, opinions are my own
Joined June 2011
Don't wanna be here?
Send us removal request.
Explore trending content on Musk Viewer
Lewis
• 641798 Tweets
Macron
• 281414 Tweets
Francia
• 259636 Tweets
#ElectionsLegislatives2024
• 233588 Tweets
Amerix
• 188390 Tweets
The French
• 155577 Tweets
Le NFP
• 153741 Tweets
Les Français
• 152275 Tweets
Melenchon
• 137802 Tweets
Feds
• 134505 Tweets
EMMANUEL
• 108863 Tweets
Coco
• 77364 Tweets
Vive la France
• 71899 Tweets
Hanouna
• 68072 Tweets
Ombachi
• 38812 Tweets
France 2
• 35823 Tweets
Salasya
• 31651 Tweets
Blade
• 31349 Tweets
Margot Robbie
• 31059 Tweets
Gaitho
• 31028 Tweets
Gabriel Attal
• 29596 Tweets
Renato
• 27441 Tweets
Nuevo Frente Popular
• 26577 Tweets
Le Pen
• 24777 Tweets
Hollande
• 22921 Tweets
EL PARQUE IS COMING
• 20488 Tweets
UK and France
• 19618 Tweets
Meyer Habib
• 18697 Tweets
Poutou
• 17342 Tweets
Cacá
• 14891 Tweets
Francji
• 11310 Tweets
Striking example - there are zero(!) reports about military casualties from Moscow. Even Ukrainian sources never mentioned anyone from Moscow city, who was captured or killed in Ukraine.
21
569
4K
Telegram blog of Kadyrov (the head of Chechnya) is a grasping read at the moment. E.g. head of his specnaz unit tells that he is searching for neonazis in
#Ukraine
for 15 days now and "still can't find them - not in forests, not in towns,not at the bases". Mmmm.. let me guess why
88
609
3K
Regions that reported the highest number of the losses are so called depressed or semi depressed, ie areas with high unemployment and a low standard of living. In Dagestan (93 reported deaths) or Buryatia (53 rep. deaths) it’s very hard to find a job (let alone well paid job)
31
375
3K
Putin's spokesman said Russia “have suffered significant losses of troops". BBC was able to verify identities of the 1,083 Russian servicemen killed in Ukraine (they were reported by local officials or media in Russia). So what do we see and know? Thread
64
631
3K
It can have 2 explanations: 1) there are very few military units in Moscow itself 2) people from the capital don't join military that often. But people from Russian regions do. Many males from small towns and villages see army as the only social lift available
38
259
3K
20% of officially confirmed losses come from 10 Russia's depressed regions (plus Dagestan). If we add numbers from semi-depressed regions - it will be roughly 80% of all losses reported by Russian official sources (ie local officials, media and schools).
25
606
3K
During “special operations” salary of a private infantryman of Russian army can reach 2.200 USD because of bonuses. Or even 2.600 USD if you are a sergeant or corporal. This is huge money for those living in the regions
17
224
2K
With all that in mind - some aspects of Russian soldiers' behaviour in Ukraine look not surprising at all. END
119
164
2K
This is Mikhail Garmaev from Siberia. He finished school,went to college, dropped out, joined the army (as a conscript).Then returned home, got a job(installing alarm systems).But soon he returned to army (becoming a prof soldier. On March 6 he was killed near Kiev. Typical story
24
270
2K
Russian army is an important employer for people from places where it is almost impossible to earn money. "Joining the army gives them a stable salary and sense security" - experts told BBC.
13
243
2K
Roughly 20% of all verified losses are officers. The research was based on analysis of official statements by Russian governors, local media reports, posts by official accounts of universities, schools etc.
8
271
2K
Estimates of the Russian soldiers KIA vary greatly. But it’s not only the total number of losses which is important, but also what kind of specialists were killed. BBC established that Russia has over 900 elite specialists, whose training took years of effort, and mlns of $.
33
412
2K
And there are many similar stories if you read biographies of Russian servicemen killed in Ukraine (especially non-officers). Young males in Russian regions study, then try and fail to find a stable job that will allow them to provide for their families. What is left? the Army
9
215
2K
"Those migrants who didn't get good education and didn't find a better job in Russia find army career quite attractive. And strong propaganda adds to it”- explains human rights activist Svetlana Gannushkina.
13
171
2K
All of them were technically citizens of Russia, who joined the Army. Egemberdi Dorboev lived in Siberia with his mother. He joined the Army in November. 4 months later he was deployed to Ukraine and killed in action
9
180
2K
In early 2000s people from some post-Soviet countries aspired to join the Russian army, because it was a quick way to obtain Russian citizenship. Now there is no such path officially. But some loopholes remain. And again army is almost only social lift accessible for them
8
157
2K
20% is a huge number. But it doesn't mandatory mean that every 5th Russian servicemen killed on a battlefield is an officer. May be officers are removed from the battlefield more quickly or may be they are given more prominent place in local news announcements
15
156
2K
Coffins with Russian soldiers KIA in
#Ukraine
started coming to other countries of the former USSR. We know at least about 2 funerals in
#Kyrgyzstan
, 2 in
#Tajikistan
and 1 in breakaway region of South Ossetia (part of Georgia controlled by Russia since 2008)
5
163
2K
The majority of the confirmed losses are paratroopers of different ranks (from private up to colonel). And this can be explained by the fact that paratroopers are often used by Russia as a main storming force. They are better trained and equipped compared to most other units
22
179
2K
Russian have confirmed deaths of over 10 military pilots, navigators and flight mechanics.These are unique specialists. Training of 1 fighter pilot takes 7-8 years and costs over 3 million $. So called sniper-pilots need 10-12 years to train and cost over 7mln $
11
206
2K
Now on geographical spread of the losses in Russia. Here is a map published by BBC a week ago. It shows how many losses were reported in each region (the darker colour is - the more losses have been reported). Figures have changed since then but the tendency remains the same.
18
310
2K
Confirmed losses list also includes over 10 GRU spetsnaz fighters (ie most likely special operators rather than intelligence officers)and some casualties from the elite special forces units of Rosgvardia, including at least 1 confirmed death from "Vityaz"(Витязь)-top level group
5
150
2K
We need to remember that attitude to military casualties is very different in different cultures and regions. We get reports that officials in Dagestan put huge effort in getting back bodies of local servicemen. They also seem to official report each death and visit funerals
1
120
1K
There is at least one confirmed death of Russian Crimson beret in Ukraine - it's Ruslan Galyamov from Tatarstan region.
22
128
1K
1 Siberian journalist told BBC: "All local media outlets were instructed by regional government not to publish any data on losses in Ukraine.There are cases when local officials put pressure on the relatives of the victims, ordering them to stay silent...
5
257
1K
"Vityaz" is considered one of the strongest special units in Russia-they go through constant arduous training, the best servicemen pass one of the world’s most difficult test to earn the right to wear "crimson beret" (краповый берет)- symbol of their exceptional skills and spirit
6
111
1K
The majority of losses are reported by Dagestan and South Ossetia regions. Many reports come from Buryatia (region in Siberia).But it doesn't mean that in reality most of the servicemen killed are ethnically non-Russians or muslims. There has been a lot of speculation about that
7
135
1K
There is evidence of growing pressure on local journalists in Russia who report on the military losses – some of the earlier publications about soldiers killed in action were deleted. Sometimes it happens in a day or two, sometimes within an hour.
1
158
1K
It's not the same in other regions of Russia. E.g. last week 15 of Russia’s 85 regions hadn't published any info about their local servicemen being killed in Ukraine. And in 1 of these regions- Kemerovo – BBC Russian managed to establish identities and burial places of 7 soldiers
2
114
1K
...They say, now there is no need to make a fuss, we will find a way to commemorate your boys later." So the amount of losses reported by each region mainly depends on the position that local authorities take. Dagestan has officially reported over 50 casualties. Chechnya - only 2
1
155
1K
"I hate everyone already. They say there are civilians there and our boys can't shoot at them.But they fired at my son from Kiev.Why can they shoot, and our boys can't? So I tell now - do bomb civilians, may be then more of our boys will return alive" - Gulnara told BBC.
33
197
1K
Mother of Pavel Pozanen(also killed in Ukraine) told local newspapr that her son's signature to become a contract soldier was received illegally just before he was deployed."Everything is very complicated," she said not specifying details."They signed him to a contract illegally"
2
132
1K
Проспект Независимости прямо сейчас. Это видео Би-би-си прислал житель Минска.
22
218
1K
Some interactive graphs can be found in this article. The figures have changed already, but the tendencies seem to stay the same
15
139
1K
A few hours after the BBC investigation was published the Kemerovo authorities announced that 13 servicemen were buried in Kemerovo region since the start of the war – 11 of them were born in the region and 2 were serving and living there.
1
93
1K
217 out of 1083 confirmed losses - ie over 20% - are officers. This includes 10 colonels, 20 lieutenant colonels, 31 majors and 155 junior officers (ranging from second lieutenant to captain).\3
13
133
1K
Khanygin's grandmother claims that the family was informed on February 25, but she does not know when they will get the the body. There was a ceremony, but not funerals. She insists her grandson was a conscript.
3
91
1K
Even if we talk about confirmed losses only - there is evidence that Russia has lost some of its best specialists, incl. elite spec. forces operators, highly skilled fighter pilots and some experienced commanders.
8
122
1K
Gulnara Valieva -mother of special ops soldier Yevgeny Dudin (killed in Ukraine)-told BBC that Russia should "bomb Ukraine more".She believes that Russia conducts only high precision strikes on Ukrainian military targets. This message is constantly broadcasted by Russian stateTV
5
138
1K
Important milestone -
@bbcrussian
,
@mediazzzona
and a group of volunteers confirmed names of 20 451 Russian combatants KIA in Ukraine. 33% of these people were civilians before the invasion – volunteers, mobilized, prisoners and newly recruited members of Wagner PMC.🧵
32
355
1K
She also believes that Russia conducted a preemptive strike to avoid an attack from Ukraine which was imminent. Next words will be her direct quote which shocked me
8
108
1K
Relatives of Russian servicemen killed in Ukraine rarely publicly express their attitude to what is called a "special operation in Ukraine". Mother of POW Valery Zaluzhny told the BBC that she "does not know why all this is necessary at all". But there are opposite opinions.
6
102
995
Local media wrote that a farewell ceremony for Maxim was held on March 5.There are photos of soldiers carrying a wreath, a portrait of Khanygin and the "Order of Courage" he got for fighting in Ukraine. But the photos don't show either a grave or a coffin.
2
77
994
It takes 5 years and at least 10.000 USD to prepare an infantry lieutenant in Russia. For other specialties prices rise up to 60.000 USD per one young officer. It costs from 4 to 14 mln USD (and up to 14 years) to prepare a skillful fighter pilot.\4
14
88
941
We also noticed another trend. About 15% of all confirmed losses are paratroopers from units, which are considered elite of the Russian army. And preparation of a paratrooper in Russia demands more money and time compared to an infantryman. So these are sensitive losses.
7
95
902
There are at least 15 GRU special forces operators (including 5officers) and 3 maroon berets (краповые береты) in the confirmed losses list.These take months or even years to train and educate.Test to get a maroon beret is considered to be one of the hardest in the military world
10
76
813
I underline that a high number of officers in the list of established losses doesn't mean that every 5th Russian killed on the battlefield was an officer. Fallen commanders are usually given a special treatment in the Russian army, so they can be sent home earlier than others
5
60
800
Some servicemen were very experienced. E.g. fighter pilot Sergey Volynets (captain) fought in Georgia and Syria, he had several medals
11
58
761
Великий Тви, нужна помощь! Для спасения людей в Олешках нужны прямые контакты директоров аптек - РФ или Крым. В идеале - крупных аптечных сетей. У спасаемых - огромная потребность в лекарствах, а ближние аптеки все выгребли.
23
605
763
Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Wagner group lost over 17 000 fighters recruited from prisons in the battle for the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, a new investigation by the BBC and
@mediazona_en
has discovered.This constitutes almost 90% of group’s overall losses during that campaign (thread)
21
269
776
But there are also people of unexpected specialties in the list. On March 28 the death of the military orchestra sergeant Alexander Karpeyev was reported. He played the trumpet. Publications do not say what tasks he performed in Ukraine.
18
60
709
More figures and some grphics summarising info about confirmed
#Russian
military losses in
#Ukraine
can be found here It was our joint effort with
@Olya_Prosvirova
. I'll write about background of soldiers and geographical tendencies we noticed tomorrow.END
22
80
656
From the official reports we see that usually it takes at least 2 weeks for bodies to be delivered home. Sometimes it takes more than a month. Some bodies require a DNA test to establish an identity
4
53
631
Russia may find more new soldiers among prisoners, veterans and older males with low income. But they can barely substitute the loss of all those elite fighters. More data and analysis can be found in my article at
17
88
618
The loss of special forces officers may be the most painful and difficult to replace.If the commander of a GRU company is killed, he can only be replaced by an officer of the same military specialisation. And it takes 8 years to train one
2
51
606
MoD last updated their figures on March 25 - just 4 days after first BBC publication about Russian losses (they were silent for 23 days before). MoD states there are 1351 Russian servicemen killed in Ukraine. It’s unclear whether Rosgvardia losses are included in this figure.
10
53
592
Combined armed units of the Russian military have proven unprepared for assault operations. As a result, tasks that are generally assigned to infantrymen have had to be carried out by special forces, marines, and paratroopers.
2
37
568
We also managed to confirm death of 245 members of the Russian National Guard. Most were SF operators or members special police units such as SOBR and OMON. And again 25% are officers
3
51
565
Overal BBC managed to confirm the death of 151 servicemen from the GRU. 22% were officers. These figures do not reflect the real number of losses, but they to estimate how many special forces troops are missing from units of the Russian army fighting in Ukraine.
1
38
548
Judging by a monument on the ground of 25th SF unit "Bars' from Kazan, the detachment has lost as many people during the six months of war in Ukraine as it did during 10 years of armed conflict in Chechnya.
5
44
545
Both GRU and Rosgvardia SF operators were assigned to tasks which are atypical to them - because many other army units have shown themselves unprepared to participate in battle. And this led to additional losses.
4
37
497
We also noticed sufficient losses among elite paratroopers and marines units. E.g. fccording to open source data, the 331st Guards Airborne Regiment from Kostroma lost (as both killed and injured) at least half the estimated strength of the 331st regiment at the start of the war.
5
37
484
This morning head of Russian National guard went to church. Russian Patriarch gave him an icon.'Things are not going on as quick as we would like to-said Z(olotov) - This icon will speed up our victory'. Is it what Russian Patriarch really prays for these days?
90
164
478
3rd GRU Brigade lost at least 47 soldiers. And for every Russian KIA during the war in Ukraine there are approximately 3.5 wounded. So up to half of the reconnaissance companies of this brigade have been put out of action.
7
37
469
Тем временем закончился допрос крутейшего журналиста-расследователя Романа Анина. В вс ФСБ провела у него обыск. Сейчас Роман в статусе свидетеля. Невозможно привыкнуть, что к коллегам приходят с обысками
В 11 часов у главреда «Важных историй» Романа Анина начнется допрос в СК. Пожелайте ему удачи.
#LeaveRomanAninAlone
На фото: Роман Анин с адвокатом Анной Ставицкой
Снимок:
9
37
237
13
35
378
BBC and Mediazona have obtained and verified personal data of 19,547 Wagner mercenaries who died at Bakhmut. It allowed us to trace the entire history of the battle and the transformation of recruited prisoners from valuable personnel into “disposable material”
4
94
349
Ужасные новости! Александр был очень добрым, не боялся говорить прямо и был очень смелым... Получается, что ради помощи беженцам он отдал все. Нет слов
2
42
331
According to our data Russia has lost more than 3,230 elite specialists (SOF soldiers, paratroopers, marines, etc) since the beginning of the war. There are 134 military pilots among KIA. These are specialists took years to prepare and millions of dollars to train.
1
52
272
So during the 14 months of the invasion, the face of the Russian forces has changed. At first, Moscow relied on its best officers and elite troops - now its main force are mobilized civilians and Wagner PMC (including prisoners). More details here
13
60
257
Позвали в эфире BBC News рассказать про Пугачеву!! Жизнь удалась (а мир сошёл с ума, но это вы и так знали)
2
13
245
Сегодня в суде по делу MH17 был еще один очень важный день. Обнародовали целую кучу новых прослушек, в которых высокопоставленные командиры самопр ДНР в деталях обсуждают перевозку "Бука" по своей территории. Все детали собрала вот тут
4
152
227
What do we know about Russian military losses? June update. BBC keeps compiling a list of Russian soldiers killed in action. It already has 2 times more names that Russian MOD has acknowledged. Thread.
13
90
234
And its logical. BBC confirmed names of 1947 officers, including 525 with ranks senior than major. With that many officers killed, it's hard to train newbies and organise your units effectively.
3
35
235
Now,large industrial regions in the Urals report most of the Russian losses.There, thousands of people were mobilized and send to battle after v. little training. We confirmed deaths of1900 Russian mobilized soldiers. Some say their comrades were killed because of poor leadership
2
36
221
We include only cases that we have been able to verify, so collected data does not reflect the full extent of KIA. We think that our list contains 50% fewer names than the actual number of soldiers that have been buried in Russia (we studied cemeteries in over60 Rus settlements)
6
31
213
Прямо сейчас у станции метро Грушевская в Минске. Спасибо читателям ВВС, которые присылают нам свои видео
6
43
207
In the first 6 months of the invasion, majority of the losses were reported by in Dagestan and Buryatia - Russian regions with low average income where many young people choose to serve because it was almost the only social lift available. Now the picture has changed
2
26
201
@Chrisgoesberlin
I am not an expert in Russian school education. But what we know for sure - some teachers in schools all over Russia are involved in manipulations during presidential and parliam. elections.They have been doing it for years and this is one of many reasons Putin is still in power
4
19
196
Now mobilized civilians, volunteers and prisoners are the backbone of the Russian troops fighting in Ukraine. We confirmed names of 3080 prisoners KIA. Wagner PMC even has to organise new cemeteries for them
3
27
192
From mid-November, until May of the following year, the Wagner group was losing an average of 400 fighters every week. Of these, 90% were former prisoners.
2
34
193
@RichardGS1079
Officially Russian MoD admitted 1351 deaths so far. Zero other info provided. So we have to collect our evidence piece by piece scanning through local media publications. That's how we established those 1083 names and biographies
1
11
184
Помните? В школе N1 Беслана. Все также, как 16 лет назад #помнибеслан
4
48
177
Все-таки что мы ТОЧНО знаем о потерях российских военных в Украине к этому моменту? Оценки в 20-30-40 тысяч не дают понимания того, что именно происходит в армии России. А вот наш анализ с опорой на конкретные цифры и фамилии, я думаю, дает
2
40
173
The main findings: The project to recruit mercenaries from prisons was informally named "Project K". The designations on the tokens of all prisoners fighting for Wagner group began with this letter. This is assumed to be a reference to the Russian word ‘kolonya’ – a prison colony
3
20
174
By studying the ID tag numbers of the dead prisoners, we found that the Wagner group had recruited at least 48,366 people from Russian prisons. Of these 17 175 were killed ie: 35% of the all prisoners who went to the front. But there is a disparity...
2
32
169
On January12 2023 - 213 Wagner fighters were killed. Almost all of them – 202 men, were prisoners. By contrast the survival rates for ordinary Wagner fighters who had not been recruited from prisons was much higher. Until April 2023, they lost only 40-50 people per week.
3
19
161
Wow! A lady walked into a broadcast of Russian state 1channel. She started shouting "Stop the war, no to war". Her poster is saying "They lie to you here". She has then been detained.
7
55
146
The prisoners recruited in the summer and autumn of 2022 had 75% chances of survival. Those who went to war later, in December and January had only a 50% survival rate. Our graph shows that the number of dead prisoners begins to rise sharply from September 12, 2022
2
18
155
Wagner took the most prisoners from the notorious IK-6 prison colony in Krasnoyarsk in Siberia. The prison has a capacity for 1410 prisoners. More than 500 signed up to join the Wagner group and 136 of them were killed in Ukraine
2
14
148
The recruitment began in two high-security prison colonies in Yevgeny Prigozhin’s native Leningrad region - and then the geography of recruitment expanded rapidly.
2
12
147
Друзья, нужна помощь, чтоб вывезти из зоны боев 2 дедушек и 5 бабуль. Им срочно нужна мед.помощь, которой там нет и не будет. Цена вопроса 370 тыс рублей.Если успеем, еще 7 человек встретят НГ в тепле и с родными.Карта привязана к моему телефону 89197608375 (детали далее вТреде)
2
77
141