To be fair though, internet assholes are a dime a dozen in any country. If Zoom and social media were available in 2003, it would have been trivial for an Iraqi civilian blogger to find dozens of Americans calling him all sorts of dehumanizing and insulting names without answering questions as to why.
Training is basic practice in militaries. I remember reading that Russia sent their training units to fight early in the war.
I have no idea what Russia will do to rebuild the training units now. It needs to be done.
I hope they don’t burn the training manuals to stay warm. 
You’re assuming they have training manuals to begin with. At this point, that’s not an assumption I’d be willing to back.
Putin met with Lukashenko today. There seems to be an imprint of something rectangular on his back under his jacket. Bulletproof vest?
Last I heard, the 300,000 conscripts were being given about a day of training and then put onto trains for Ukraine.
Lukashenko also told Putin not to worry that thousands of Russians are trying to flee Russia, saying that thousands of Belarusians fled Belarus in 2020 (after sham presidential election) but later wanted to return.
Has anyone seen any reliable reports of Ukrainian efforts to disrupt the annexation referendum? Partisans damaging offices or the personal records of the locals?
Apparently, there was a school shooting in Russia today but someone wearing a swastika shirt. I wonder if Putin (or the Russian media) will try to pin it on Ukraine somehow?
I haven’t seen anything about this but the polls are being very very heavily guarded and are being conducted mainly house to house. Actual polling stations are thin on the ground and may only be open for a few hours on one day.
I did see this though:
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/kazakhstan-says-it-wont-recognise-referendums-eastern-ukraine-2022-09-26/
I don’t see where, up to this point, Russia has respected the authority of anyone other than Russia. I don’t know why you think Putin would respect the authority of the UN.
Somebody in Russia has read Tom Clancy’s Red Storm Rising.
you are aware that Ukr. is fighting 8 winters against russians, already … I doubt they need somebody explaining the concept to them ;o)
I think the Ukr. did one thing exceptionally well… they completely leveraged off russian weaknesses … e.g. fracturing the chain of command and letting sit units there completely “headless”
Kabuki form must be followed.
That reaction by Kazahkstan makes perfect sense. If Russia can pull that off with one former Soviet republic, what’s to stop them from trying it in another former Soviet republic?
No need to squabble over the captured Russian T-90 tank. Ukrainians “found” two more in running condition. One, off road in the ditch, is still churning its track. High centered on the road edge. The other is stuck in a swampy area. Tractor brigade is probably on the way.
Multiple sources: Funding bill includes more than $12 billion on Ukraine
https://www.nbc12.com/2022/09/26/ap-source-funding-bill-includes-more-than-12-billion-ukraine/?outputType=amp
Senators from both parties have been largely supportive of providing Ukraine with more military assistance. The White House request for the spending bill included $11.7 billion for security and economic assistance for Ukraine, on top of some $53 billion Congress had already approved through two previous bills.
There are also reports of people being required to vote orally so
there isn’t even the illusion of a secret ballot.
This. I would imagine most of the “aligned but not captive”* republics will think along the same lines.
* Belarus and Chechnya being captive.
Very Bad day at the Russian drone base.
Not fully confirmed but ISW felt confident enough to report. Would be very significant if the Iranian drone trainers are no longer alive.
I added bolding for clarity.
ISW Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, September 26 | Institute for the Study of War
“Everything old is new again”. So, will we see a kommissar in every unit, pistol at the ready?