Paranoid Putin bans satanic group that doesn't exist - could send metal fans to frontline

Russian metal enthusiasts could soon find themselves behind bars after Vladimir Putin gave the green light for the country's supreme court to ban the 'international satanism movement' as an extremist and terrorist group, following allegations of 'satanic sex orgies'.

Although no official group by that name exists, pleas from the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, along with lawmakers and other officials, now mean that anyone accused of being part of this supposed movement could face serious consequences.

Violating this law could result in up to eight years in a Russian prison, and potentially see some heavy metal fans dispatched to the Ukrainian frontline as Russia continues to employ unconventional recruitment strategies.

Earlier this year, Andrei Kartapolov, a senior MP who chairs the Russian parliament's defense committee, labeled satanism as a "direct threat to Russian statehood," alleging Western involvement and funding without providing substantial evidence.

Tensions have been escalating in Moscow, with another pro-Kremlin MP reporting an influx of public complaints regarding the increasing number of 'satanic sex orgies' in his city and throughout Russia.

In 2023, as part of a strategy to gather forces for Putin's Ukrainian campaign, the Kremlin released convicted criminal Nikolai Ogolobyak. Ogolobyak, along with his accomplices, had cooked and consumed the hearts and tongues of four teenage girls in a ritualistic murder, stabbing one victim 666 times in a grotesque tribute to satanism.

Ogolobyak, who was halfway through his 20-year sentence, received a pardon from Putin after serving six months on the frontline in Ukraine.

Orthodox Christianity is the prevailing religion in Russia and Eastern Europe, with Putin and legislators leveraging this to target other minority groups, such as the LGBTQ community and rights to same-sex marriage.

https://www.the-express.com/news/world-n...-jail-time

Why HIV rates among Russian soldiers are soaring

Russia’s armed forces have suffered a surge of HIV infections during the war in Ukraine, which has been attributed to fatalistic soldiers having unprotected sex and using drugs.

The number of HIV cases in the military has shot up since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, including a fivefold increase by autumn that year.

By the end of 2023, there were 20 times more HIV diagnoses among Russian soldiers compared with before the war.

These high transmission rates show “HIV is not just passed on in war through wounds and their treatment”, a report in Carnegie’s Russia and Eurasia Centre said.

Unprotected sex and sharing needles to inject drugs are “thriving in a fighting army of men who live every day as if it were their last”.

Russia has long battled with high rates of HIV among the general population; it ranks among the top five countries with the highest rates of infections.

https://www.thetimes.com/world/russia-uk...-r3p79s35l

OFC they do, because for about 1k of them, every day, it is.

In other news, russia has officially reached the "charge on horseback" portion of their regression as a fighting force. There are no longer enough pieces of antique armor in the boneyards to adequately equip frontline units with museum quality weapons. They've reached the end of their soviet inheritance. Ukraine, otoh, has not logged a single push with russian kit in months, leaning into their mraps, bradleys, abrams, and above all, the drone line, as they systematically degrade the rails currently supporting the russian infantry occupation of the east and crimea, after having effected an artillery genocide of an artillery army - according to the russians, no less...last year.

There was an assessment of the btg structure from aars in russias previous wars done by some rando bill nye the science grunt type here in the states pre 2022 that it seems like the ukranian tac units are using as a bible, I believe I linked it some time ago. The short version is that due to the structure the russian military put all it's eggs in, even fully staffed and well equipped, a btg cannot operate further than x distance from a railhead. It's a literal point of no return...and so it's happened, with russian units stuck and trapped and attrited incapable of either advancing or retreating regardless of their orders.

This is a fascinating war, the most well documented conflict in human history. Ukraine missed a funding opportunity by not monetizing their sm channels.

(July 31, 2025 at 7:35 pm)The Grand Nudger Wrote: The short version is that due to the structure the russian military put all it's eggs in, even fully staffed and well equipped, a btg cannot operate further than x distance from a railhead.

This is something I've read about since the beginning of this full-scale Ukraine invasion in Feb 2022, once Western commentators started tripping about Russia perhaps invading the Baltics. The logistics of the Russian army is light on trucks and light on air defense, and heavy on railheads. That's probably part of the reason why Russia has resurrected the armored-train platform.

From what I've read, a Russian division can't operate offensively more than about 75 miles from the nearest railhead, and probably less that under combat conditions of contested air superiority and missile barrage. Rail is vulnerable because you can't change routes easily, and your bridges aren't going anywhere.