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The Duffel Brief · the free edition, Monday, Wednesday and Friday

Vol. 15 · No. 116 · Tuesday, 29 September 2026

Air & Space

Space Force’s new uniform puts a little goose back in the step

White House says redesign projects discipline, strength and “absolutely no historical parallels”

Military leaders debate who gets to masturbate first in sniper arch

Mitch McConnell returns from extended drill weekend

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Vol. 15 · No. 116

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Vol. 15 · No. 116 · Deployed worldwide

Tuesday

29 September 2026

0645 Zulu

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← Front page
· Page 2

Russian military denied 'need-to-know' on Russian war

He is not in the circle of trust.

Filed · 1318

MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin’s campaign to unite ethnic Russians in neighboring countries by destroying their cities and homes has been hamstrung due to what some security analysts say is a failure on the part of the Russian military elite to achieve the proper “need-to-know” approval.

Sources revealed that the Russian military’s apparent failures stem from Russian Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov’s inability to achieve a passing score on his OPSEC computer-based training. Lacking the proper training documentation, Gerasimov was denied access to relevant war plans which prevented him from providing clear tasking and purpose for subordinate forces.

Gerasimov’s failed training quickly led to the Russian military’s failure to take Ukraine’s capital city, the collapse of the ruble, a demoralized fighting force, and possible global thermonuclear armageddon.

Russia’s stalled invasion has puzzled military analysts who speculate that many military units are operating independently of a coherent plan. Some wayward Russian soldiers have indicated to Ukrainian citizens that they believed they were involved in a military training exercise, rather than an actual war.

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