Russia is reportedly trying to censor media coverage of a rumoured second mass mobilisation of reserve troops to stamp out discontent in the leadup to next year’s presidential elections.

Pro-Kremlin media have allegedly received a memo issuing guidelines and including an ‘urgent request’ to downplay speculation that Russia might be getting ready to call up more reservists to funnel into its brutal invasion of Ukraine.

Opposition outlet Meduza yesterday claimed to have seen the guidelines, shared by employees working for state-controlled media. One reportedly told the publication: ‘Everybody knows, if the government is denying something’s going to happen, it’s definitely happening.’

The memo allegedly told pro-Kremlin outlets to instead focus on coverage of contract recruitment for the military.

Russia has upped efforts to censor dissident voices this year. Only on Thursday, State Duma Deputy Anton Gorelkin said that Russia should consider blocking WhatsApp in Russia if the app launches Russian language channels.

State censor Roskomnadzor added that Russia could block WhatsApp if it disseminates prohibited information as the application prepares to launch a channel feature to feature over 150 countries, likely including Russia.

Rumours of a second call-up of reserves have mounted in the lead-up to the start of the six-monthly conscription cycle on October 1.

Earlier this month, a fake photograph of a signed mobilisation order caused a stir on Russian social media.

Media insiders reportedly told Meduza that they had been instructed to abstain from all discussion of the incident – and even to avoid refuting fake news.

But anxious rumours of another looming mass mobilisation order continue to circle online.

A Russian Telegram channel claiming ties to Russian security sources stated earlier this week that officials want to recruit some 170,000 – 175,000 troops in the next cycle.

Officials also allegedly hope to move the start of conscription to November 1 to accommodate new mobilisation processes, while recruiting 130,000 soldiers through coercive ‘contract mobilisation’. 

The Institute for the Study of War assessed on Tuesday that top officials are ‘actively disagreeing about the necessity of and preparations for a second wave of reserve mobilisation’, however.

But speculation is not likely to help Putin’s popularity ahead of the upcoming 2024 elections, Meduza observed. 

It judged: ‘The Kremlin’s intent… is to re-elect the incumbent president with record unanimity: the goal is to garner at least 80 percent of the vote with a turnout of 70 percent or more.’

State Duma and Federation Council members went so far as to propose blocking WhatsApp in a bid to control online content and limit access to prohibited information. 

Following Meta’s decision to launch a channel feature to over 150 countries, likely including Russia, Russian officials proposed an outright ban on the application.

Politician and journalist Alexander Khinshtein wrote on Telegram on Thursday: ‘I share the position of my colleague [State Duma Deputy Anton] Gorelkin: if What’s App [sic] really launches Russian-language information channels, it would be right to reconsider the attitude towards this messenger, even to the point of blocking it.

‘There is no doubt about the anti-Russian nature of these channels, since [WhatsApp] belongs to the extremist company Meta with all the ensuing consequences.’

Meta, the parent company of WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook, was designated an extremist organisation in March 2022. 

Its products have since been banned in Russia.

Russia’s presidential elections are scheduled to be held in March 2024, with the winner inaugurated next May.

Putin has not yet confirmed whether or not he will run again.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Monday: ‘The president has not yet announced that he will nominate his candidacy.

‘But if we assume that the president stands as a candidate, then it is obvious that there can be no real competition for the president at this current stage,’ Peskov was quoted as saying by RBC.

A disagreement between Russian units in the occupied Zaporizhzhia region descended into a full-blown conflict in which at least 20 of Putin‘s troops died after shooting at each other with automatic weapons, it has been claimed.

Ukraine’s National Resistance Centre – an organisation that helps to coordinate the operations of pro-Ukrainian movements in occupied territory – reported that Russian fighters from Dagestan clashed with a unit of Chechen troops operating under orders from the head of the Republic of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov, a close Putin ally. 

A disagreement between the groups, who encountered each other in the Ukrainian town of Mykhailivka near Melitopol, led to some of the troops getting embroiled in a fist-fight. But the scrap quickly spiralled out of control.

One fighter was stabbed, at which point the violence immediately escalated and the troops drew their guns, blasting each other with automatic weapons and even grenades, according to NRC sources.

The conflict was sparked when troops from Dagestan – a poor, mountainous region of southern Russia disproportionately affected by the Russian army’s conscription drive late last year – took umbrage with the arrival of the ‘Kadyrovites’, who are particularly vocal on social media and were allegedly in town to film propaganda clips. 

Around 8pm local time, a fight broke out between the two groups. 

The NRC said: ‘During the quarrel, one of the occupants opened fire in the air from a small automatic weapon.

‘In the course of the fight, one of the occupiers was inflicted with numerous stab wounds which were fatal. 

‘This led to an open confrontation between units using under-barrel grenade launchers GP-25 Koster hand grenades and small automatic weapons.’

Some 20 Russian troops slaughtered each other in the impromptu war, with the Chechen crew ultimately being overpowered by the Dagestanis, according to the NRC.

More than 40 were allegedly wounded. 

The reports of Chechen units active in the Zaporizhzhia region corroborate the account of Britain’s Ministry of Defence whose intelligence update this week recognised Kadyrov’s praise of his troops’ work there.

‘In an online post on August 10, 2023, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov acknowledged the efforts of the Chechen Vostok Akhmat Battalion in the heavily contested Orikhiv sector in Zaporizhzhia Oblast. 

‘Kadyrov’s comments highlighted the continuing role of one of the premier Chechen units in this key area. Vostok officially comes under the command of the Southern Military District’s 42nd Motor Rifle Division which has been active around the village of Robotyne.

‘Chechen forces comprise a relatively small but high-profile component of Russian forces in Ukraine. Kadyrov likely heavily promotes his units’ roles partially to burnish his credentials as a Putin loyalist.’

The town of Orikhiv, where Kadyrov claims his troops were instrumental in fighting Ukrainian counterattacks, sits a mere 25 miles from Mykhailivka. 

The report of Russian troops turning on one another comes as pictures from the frontlines showed Ukrainian artillerymen raining fire down on Vladimir Putin‘s invaders amid Kyiv’s counter-offensive. 

The Ukrainian military said it had pushed Russian forces out of pockets of territory along the front lines in the east and south of the country, building on the gruelling counter-offensive launched two months ago.

The gains – announced by Ukraine’s deputy defence minister – came as Russia claimed its forces had progressed in the eastern Kharkiv region, undermining Kyiv’s highly anticipated campaign.

Ukraine kicked off its counter-offensive against Russian forces in June after building up assault battalions and stockpiling Western-donated weapons.

But progress has been hampered by widespread Russian-laid minefields and strong fortifications, Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said.

Nevertheless, the Ukrainian military had pushed forward around the village of Staromaiorske, around 60 miles southwest of Russian-held Donetsk, and was pressing on two fronts in the south, Maliar said. She said troops were fighting for control of the neighbouring settlement of Urozhaine.

A Moscow-installed official in an occupied part of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region said on Sunday that Kyiv was attempting to pierce Russian lines by gaining a foothold in both villages which stand in the path of Ukraine’s goal of reaching the Sea of Azov.

‘Hostilities are taking place in the vicinity of Urozhaine and the fight is for this particular locality,’ Maliar said in a statement to an official military platform. ‘There is some success on the southern and southeast axes in the vicinity of Staromaiorske.’

Maliar also said Kyiv’s army had conducted ‘certain tasks’ on the left bank (or eastern bank) of the Dnipro river in the Kherson region.

The river was rendered the de facto front line between Ukrainian and Russian forces in the region after Kyiv recaptured the territory’s main city, also called Kherson, in November.

In a recent intelligence update, the British defence ministry noted ‘an uptick in small-scale combat’ along the lower Dnipro river, where it said Ukrainian forces were attempting to conduct raids and set up new bridgeheads.

A Russian colonel has claimed Wagner mercenaries are raping, kidnapping and torturing Vladimir Putin‘s soldiers.

Lieutenant colonel Roman Venevitin, who was captured near the embattled Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, claimed he was tortured by Wagner mercenaries, despite being on the same side of Russia‘s war.  

‘Wagner mercenaries stole two T-80 tanks, 4 cannons, a KAMAZ truck and armoured vehicles,’ Venevitin said. ‘The Wagner mercenaries took them as war trophies [even though we are supposed to be on the same side].’

In an extraordinary claim, Venevitin said: ‘There were kidnappings of our servicemen, when they were physically abused and humiliated. One of our battalion’s petty officers was kidnapped and tortured.

‘He was kept naked on a cold floor in a basement.’

Venevitin claimed: ‘They sprayed acid into his eyes, so he temporarily lost vision, he was doused with petrol and [they] tried to burn him. 

‘One of the serviceman was beaten up and raped by Wagner mercenaries. He couldn’t survive the humiliation, and killed himself.’

In a video orchestrated by Putin’s top brass, he also accused Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin of discrediting the Russian army – a crime which could see him jailed.

Venevitin said kidnapped Russian soldiers were traded back to Putin’s army in return for ammunition, which Wagner claims the Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu had failed to provide them.

He said the Russian soldiers were used as ‘slaves to load [dead bodies] and [wounded soldiers]’, or forced to sign contracts leaving the army for Wagner.

‘This weakened the Russian flanks in the Battle of Bakhmut,’ he said. 

Apparently reading his statement to the camera, he said of Prigozhin: ‘You are engaged in active discrediting of the Russian armed forces.’

This allegation hints that the authorities are preparing to charge Prigozhin.

‘I [am speaking] to convey to the Russian public the truth about what happened, to tell some facts about the so-called Wagner,’ he said. ‘Honour requires me to do this.’

Venevitin said he was himself tortured by Wagner mercenaries when he was kidnapped, after being accused of opening fire at them as they pulled back from Bakhmut.

‘I was tortured inside a basement when I was captured,’ he said. ‘They tortured me worse than an angry Russian soldier would treat a captive Ukrainian. 

‘I was beaten up, deprived of sleep, three times a night I was forced outside where they staged an execution by firing [squad].’

Earlier this week, a video emerged of Venevitin being captured by Wagner in the latest example of bitter infighting in the Russian ranks. 

Venevitin was seen hanging his head in a humiliating video posted by the Wagner group in which he confessed his ‘guilt’ and admitted to being drunk on duty after allegedly shooting at a Wagner vehicle. 

The shooting damaged a Ural supply truck but did not wound any Wagner soldiers, according to the private army.  

Venevitin also confessed to leading a group of ten to 12 Russian army soldiers who ‘disarmed’ a Wagner rapid response group. 

This followed claims by the mercenaries that the regular Russian army targeted their ranks with mines, as a clip showed their sappers clearing the explosive devices from a road. 

Wagner mercenaries have been fighting for Putin in Ukraine and are credited with seizing the embattled city of Bakhmut from Ukrainian armed forces after months of bloody warfare.

But their success has seemingly angered regular Russian army commanders.

Wagner chief Prigozhin has launched several verbal tirades at Putin’s military leaders. He has accused them of ordering their troops to retreat from their positions and leaving Wagner fighters unprotected on the frontlines. 

In Prigozhin’s latest rant, he claimed Russia may nuke its own territory in the Belgorod region where anti-Putin insurgents are causing havoc.

Prigozhin warned Russia might be forced to unleash nuclear weapons on its Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, where pro-Ukrainian Russian volunteer units have conducted a series of cross-border raids and reportedly taken hostages.

Prigozhin, who has been highly critical of the Russian army, said Putin‘s forces could be retreating from the region because the Kremlin wants to ‘drop a tactical nuclear bomb on their own territory’.

In recent weeks, pro-Kyiv paramilitary groups of Russians who have been fighting alongside Ukrainian forces have launched forays over the border into Russian territory, attacking the Belgorod region. 

Prigozhin’s latest rant came after he slammed claims by the Russian defence ministry it had killed 1,500 of Kyiv’s soldiers in two days in the embattled city of Bakhmut as ‘absurd science fiction’.

In remarks published on the Telegram channel of his press service, the 61-year-old said to kill that many Ukrainian troops would require daily gains of 150km (93 miles).

 ‘I therefore believe that this is simply wild and absurd science fiction,’ said Prigozhin.

Totting up the figures provided by the ministry would imply ‘we have already destroyed the entire planet five times over,’ he added sarcastically.

Prigozhin last week lambasted Russia’s military leaders after Ukrainian armed forces managed to retake settlements on the outskirts of Bakhmut. 

Prigozhin said it was a ‘disgrace’ that Kyiv‘s troops were able to push back Russian lines and seize Berkhivka, a town in the northern suburbs of the embattled city.

The mercenary figurehead hit out at Russia’s defence minister Sergei Shoigu and army chief Valery Gerasimov, taunting them and urging them to go to the front lines and see the failures for themselves as the armed factions spiral towards civil war. 

‘Now part of the settlement of [Berkhivka] has already been lost, the troops are slowly falling back. What a disgrace! 

‘Shoigu, Gerasimov, I urge you to come to the front, raise your pistols at your men to make them go forward. Come on, you can! 

‘And if you can’t, then you will die as heroes.’    

Prigozhin has launched several verbal tirades at Putin’s military leaders. He has accused them of ordering their troops to retreat from their positions and leaving Wagner fighters unprotected on the front lines.

Last week, Prigozhin unleashed an explosive tirade of abuse at Putin’s cronies after Moscow was attacked by suspected Ukrainian kamikaze drones.  

In a furious 70-second rant, Prigozhin screamed vulgar insults at Russia’s defence officials, whom he described as ‘smelly scumbags’ and ‘b*******’. 

The Wagner boss said he was ‘deeply outraged’ by Putin’s troops doing ‘f*** all’ to prevent explosive drones falling on the Russian capital this morning. Shortly after, Putin claimed that Moscow’s air defence system worked ‘satisfactorily’.

Known for his foul-mouthed rants, Prigozhin, who handed Bakhmut over to Russia’s army last week, was translated as shouting: ‘Smelly scumbags! What are you doing? Get your a**** up from the offices you’ve been put in to protect this country.’

His astonishing meltdown came after several buildings in the wealthy suburbs of Moscow were damaged by suspected Ukrainian kamikaze drones, just hours after Putin unleashed strikes on Kyiv. 

He said: ‘You are the Ministry of Defence. You’ve done f*** all in order to advance.  Why the f*** are you allowing these drones to fly to Moscow? Who gives a s*** that they are flying to your homes on Rublyovka! Let your houses burn.

‘And what should ordinary people do when drones with explosives crash into their windows? So as a citizen, I am deeply outraged that these scum sit quietly with their fat a**** smeared with expensive creams. 

‘And that’s why I think the people have every right to ask them these questions, these b*******.

‘But I have already warned about this many times, but no one wants to listen. Because I’m angry and I upset bureaucrats who have a great life.’

Prigozhin’s outbursts highlight the rift inside the Kremlin forces fighting Ukraine, and some analysts see civil war as a possibility in Russia if Putin loses the war.

Despite huge losses, and a ban on recruiting prisoners from Russia’s penal colonies, Prigozhin is still thought to have up to 60,000 men at his disposal.

Wagner is one of several private armies in Russia. Chechen warlord leader Ramzan Kadyrov controls a heavily armed group of his own, and Russian energy giant Gazprom has set up its own private military company. 

Russian soldiers will be ‘shaking with fear’ at the UK’s decision to supply Ukraine with Storm Shadow long-range cruise missiles amid Kyiv‘s upcoming counteroffensive, a retired US Army Colonel said today. 

Gian Gentile, who served two tours in Iraq, said the deadly missiles may be catastrophic for Russia‘s war efforts as they will allow Ukrainian troops to hit Russian soldiers and command centres deep into Moscow-held territory in eastern Ukraine.

Gentile, the associate director of think tank RAND’s Arroyo Centre in the US, said the delivery of Storm Shadow missiles to Ukraine will have a huge psychological impact on Russian soldiers, whose levels of morale are already at ‘rock bottom’ amid heavy losses on the battlefield.

In the face of the Storm Shadow missiles, US-supplied HIMARS rocket systems and armoured fighting vehicles that can destroy tanks, Russian troops will be ‘shaking in their boots’ with fear ahead of Ukraine’s upcoming counteroffensive, Gentile said.

‘Discounting all of the bluff and bravado of Russian political leadership and senior generals who are far, far away from the front line, the Russian troops fighting there will be shaking in their boots about the prospect of this likely upcoming counteroffensive,’ Gentile told MailOnline.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine more than a year ago, 197,000 Russian soldiers have been killed, according to Kyiv’s estimates. And Ukraine’s long-awaited counteroffensive could prove deadly for thousands more – especially with the weapons supplied by Western allies including the UK and US.

Yesterday, UK Defence Minister Ben Wallace confirmed that Britain is sending the Storm Shadow missiles to Ukraine, a decision that prompted a furious response from the Kremlin.

‘We see this decision as an extremely hostile step from London, aimed at further pumping weapons into Ukraine and leading to a serious escalation of the situation,’ Russia’s foreign ministry said on Friday. 

Gentile, also a senior historian at RAND, said the move to provide the weapons is significant for Ukraine’s counteroffensive. 

The Storm Shadow missiles, which have a firing range of more than 155 miles, will give the Ukrainian troops the ability to strike ‘high-end targets like command and control nodes, logistic supply points, and potentially troop concentration areas deep in Russian held territory in Ukraine,’ Gentile said.

The retired colonel said this is ‘significant’ as it extends the striking range of US-supplied HIMARS rocket systems currently in use and frees up the HIMARs for other missions.

He pointed to how, in the past, if Ukrainian troops had wanted to strike a Russian logistics base in Bakhmut, eastern Ukraine, they would have to move the HIMARS very close to the embattled city. 

‘But now, with the Storm Shadow cruise missiles, they have the capability to strike this kind of target but from a distance,’ Gentile said.

‘This is a big deal. It will help Ukraine and it will further complicate Russian defensive measures as they will now have two longer range strike missiles to worry about and defend against.’

Gentile added: ‘And let’s not forget the psychological effect the introduction of the Storm Shadow cruise missile can have on the Russian military in Ukraine whose levels of morale are at rock bottom.’

The Storm Shadow is an air-launched long-range missile, designed for attacks against high-value targets such as hardened bunkers and key infrastructure. 

The missile, jointly developed by the UK and France, has a firing range of more than 155 miles (250km) which means Kyiv would be able to strike deep into Russian-held territory in eastern Ukraine where the fiercest battles are ongoing.

Dr Alan Mendoza, Executive Director of the think tank Henry Jackson Society, told MailOnline: ‘Providing Ukraine with Storm Shadow Missiles gives Kyiv the long-range striking capabilities it needs in advance of a highly anticipated rise in the Russian offensive.

‘The precision-guided weapons would allow Ukraine to strike targets anywhere in the country. 

‘This is a critical kit and an essential boost in our support allowing Ukrainian forces to reach behind enemy lines and giving them the best chance of defending themselves against Putin’s aggression.’

Announcing the decision to supply Ukraine with the Storm Shadow missiles, Wallace told the Houses of Parliament yesterday: ‘The donation of these weapons systems gives Ukraine the best chance to defend themselves against Russia’s continued brutality, especially with the deliberate targeting of Ukrainian civilian infrastructure, which is against international law. 

‘Ukraine has a right to be able to defend itself.’

Britain has received assurances from the Ukrainian government that these missiles would be used only within Ukrainian sovereign territory and not inside Russia, multiple senior Western officials said. 

Wallace said the missiles would be used to push back Russian forces in ‘Ukrainian sovereign territory’, while adding that the UK’s support for Ukraine is ‘responsible, calibrated, coordinated and agile’.

‘We simply will not stand back while Russia kills civilians,’ Wallace said.

Wallace did not say how many cruise missiles were being sent to Ukraine, but said they are ‘now going into or are in the country itself’. 

Britain and other Western countries have scaled up their military aid for Ukraine this year, with Britain saying in January it would send 14 of its main Challenger 2 battle tanks to Ukraine, a pledge that was followed by other nations including the United States and Germany.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told the Munich Security Conference in February that Britain would be the first country to provide Ukraine with longer range weapons. 

The United States said in February it would provide the Ground Launched Small Diameter Bomb (GLSDB), which has a range of about 151 km.

The war in Ukraine is at a turning point. Kyiv is expected to unleash its new counteroffensive after six months of keeping its forces on the defensive, while Russia mounted a huge winter offensive that failed to capture significant territory.

Moscow’s main target for months has been Bakhmut, which it has come close to capturing but not quite taken in what would be its sole prize after months of the bloodiest ground combat in Europe since World War Two. 

Kyiv says it has pushed Russian forces back over the past two days near Bakhmut in small-scale local assaults, but a counteroffensive involving tens of thousands of troops and hundreds of new Western tanks has yet to begin.

Today, the chief of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group Yevgeny Prigozhin admitted that Ukrainian forces have counter-attacked Russian positions around Bakhmut – as the warlord mocked Kremlin defence minister Sergei Shoigu.

‘The situation on the flanks is shaping up according to the worst predicted scenario,’ Prigozhin said, signalling fresh misery for Putin‘s troops.  

‘Those territories, which were taken with the blood and lives of our comrades-in-arms for many months, every day, by tens or hundreds of metres are now being thrown almost without a fight by those [Russian army soldiers] who are supposed to hold our flanks.’

Prigozhin then directly addressed the long-suffering Shoigu.

‘Given your super long experience, please can you come to Bakhmut?’ he asked sarcastically, poking fun at the defence minister’s civilian background in engineering.

President Volodymyr Zelensky sought to manage expectations around the pushback in Bakhmut, telling reporters the long-awaited Ukrainian counter-offensive was yet to begin in earnest and declaring: ‘We still need a bit more time.’

Ukraine’s deputy defence minister Hanna Maylar added later Friday: ‘The enemy has suffered great losses of manpower. Our defence forces advanced two kilometres (around one mile) near Bakhmut. We did not lose a single position in Bakhmut this week.’ 

Moscow has since denied the reports of Ukrainian counter-offensives in Bakhmut and said the frontline is under control.

‘Statements circulated by individual Telegram channels about ”defence breakthroughs” that took place in different areas along the line of military contact do not correspond to reality,’ the Russian defence ministry said in a Telegram post.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov meanwhile told Russian news service TASS that the military operation in the east of Ukraine was ‘very difficult’ but ‘certain goals have been achieved’. 

Ukrainian forces have been training a new contingent of forces and stockpiling Western-supplied munitions and hardware that analysts say will be key to reclaiming territory captured by Russia.

The timing of Kyiv’s effort to claw back ground in the eastern Donetsk and Lugansk regions, as well as the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, remains a question.