Russian 'Z' channels and soldiers horrified after latest audacious Ukrainian attacks — but refuse to blame 'Good Tsar' Putin
Here is a frank and rather brutal monologue as a Russian volunteer was speaking on camera to a 'Z' milblogger on Telegram after Ukraine's drone attacks from inside Russia on Sunday which took out a sizeable chunk of the Russian nuclear-equipped, strategic bomber fleet.
It's pretty incendiary stuff, much like the attacks themselves were.
Attacks took place at air facilities as far away as Murmansk in the Arctic Circle, and the Amur region in Siberia, close to the Mongolian border — over 8000km away from Ukraine.
The attacks targeted the Tu-95, and the Tu-22, as well as the Tu-1600 planes. Repairing them would be extremely challenging given the apparent state of damage in in the verified videos circulating, and replacing them is an impossibility — as these aircraft are no longer in production.
Tu-95 bombers were unleashing large-scale Kh-101 subsonic cruise missile attacks on Ukraine as recently as last week.
A-50s can detect air defense systems, help guide missiles strikes and coordinate targets for Russian fighter jets. Each unit costs an estimated $350 million.
All of this was accomplished with domestically-produced Ukrainian drones valued in the low hundreds of dollars each.
With all of that said, let's hear from our frustrated Russian soldier. Be advised — the language here is pretty industrial:
“So, my dear friends, after six hours of fucking around, I feel just fine. I got 300 points for the Russian Union of Martial Arts. 1 June is for the kids.
"Fuck. And here you are, bitch, the situation. Vladimir Ladimirovich, I'm reporting the situation verbally.
"Fucking hell, our strategists are fucked up. Fuck. 95th, 22nd.
"This bitch means that tomorrow there will be fucking faggot negotiations. I feel like they're fucking with you. We don't need any negotiations.
"They fucked us over today. They fucked us over today in Irkutsk. They showed their strength.
"They showed their strategy, that they are working. They spat in our faces again. They spat in the faces of our intelligence because we're not working.
"Our boys are fighting every day. Bitch, when one regiment dies. Fuck, most likely while fucking, because my comrade called recently and said that our regiment was wiped out in four days.
"A year ago, our comrade also said that their regiment was wiped out in nine days near Kleschi. Our losses are incomparable. Fuck, we've been fighting for four years, bitch.
"The government doesn't give a fuck. Vladimir Vladimirovich, fuck, my Shustin's friend is Ilyiev. Next to the White House, bitch, is the Azerbaijan bank.
"Fuck, they have openly started helping Ukraine, the very people who are fucking fighting against us. Many, I'll say it again, many heads of districts and regions are against the Special Military Operation. But I'm telling you, Vladimir Vladimirovich, it is fucked up.
"The country is fucked up. When this fucking Zilyabobyr sucked up. Fuck, look, there are young people next to them.
"He fired all the old ones. Fuck, so that there will be no connection with our old morons. With whom, bitch, they once slept in the same bunks.
"Fuck, that's it, fuck, that's it, bitch. They just fucked us over today. We're all cocksuckers.
"Fuck, he always taught us to strike first. We struck. Fuck.
"But they beat us every day. Fuck. Is there really no one around who can tell you the truth?
"Fuck, we're fucking tired, you bitch. The people already understand everything. Don't you fucking understand in intelligence or anywhere else, bitch, that it is fucked up completely?
"They're selling us out, betraying us, the bastards. They showed us that we're helpless. Fuck, it's Silyuanov, it's fucking Nabiullin who are to blame.
"Vladimir Vladimirovich, they're fucking up our boys. The trenches are full of our dead people, our fighters, our people. Fuck, how much longer, bitch, can you take it?
"Fuck you, bitch. Faggots, gays and cocksuckers. Fuck, who sit in their offices and give fucking orders to our fucking commanders, who say, here's the order, but you don't have to carry out this shit because it's fucking shit.
"Vladimir Vladimirovich, here are the people. I am the voice of the people. I'm fucking tired.
"My hands are down after this. Something, bitch, has to be done. How can I fucking help?
"How can I fucking help if they think I'm an idiot? Many volunteers are considered idiots. And those people, bitch, who are district heads, governors for fucking justice, they're considered fools.
"Your surroundings consider you. These old faggots are the fucking youth who worked with them and they're fucking children. They consider you.
"Fuck, the old man has lost his mind. Vladimir Vladimirovich, fuck them. Vladimir Vladimirovich, hear us.
"Everything is fucked. It's over. My patience is gone.
"Fuck it, I can't take it anymore."
This account comes via the excellent The Eastern Border podcast, War in Ukraine episode 290: Spiderweb special, 3 June 2025.
Its host, Kristaps Andrejsons, made the following analogy, which also came to my mind — this is a textbook case of "Good Tsar/bad boyars".
The podcast in a great source for the feverish online 'Z' community world, but I'm going closer to the source material on Telegram too, these days.
I must have first become aware of Andrejson's podcast over a decade ago, back when it covered more general events in the post-Soviet space.
Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, that's become his central topic. You can find his articles in the likes of Foreign Policy magazine. Here's a Spotify link to the relevant episode for you to survey the full gamut of 'Z' reactions on the events of Sunday 1 June.
On Tuesday 3 June, the Ukrainians also attacked the 18km Kerch road and rail bridge from Russia to Crimea, which was personally opened in 2018 by Vladimir Putin, for the third time since the full-scale invasion occured.
This time, according to Ukraine's SBU security services, about 1,100kg of the equivalent in TNT in underwater explosives were placed on the support bases.
Three days on from Sunday's attacks on the air bases, and Vladimir Putin is nowhere to be seen in public, which is not at all uncommon during moments of national catastrophe. It's a pattern he's repeated over and over again throughout his 25 years of rule.
The Sunday attacks garnered a mere 30 seconds on main state television channel Rossiya-1's flagship news program on Sunday night.
you know it's a good morning when you wake up to a substack from the tallest earthbound writer.