Mobilizing the mobilizers, a Finnish finish, GUR-SBU clashes

"I talk young people out of it. I tell them straight: 'Boys, you’ll end up in meat brigades—the survival rate there is catastrophically low,”

Plenty of events over the past week.

A mobilization officer sent to the frontlines after criticizing the ‘meat brigade’ tactics of the Ukrainian army and stating he would never send his son to fight.

New photos, justified by the mobilization authorities, of fresh meat strapped to heaters and beds with zip ties.

Cunning mobilization catfishing tactics.

A Kyiv city official threatens a journalist after uncovering his father’s corruption, a mobilization officer. ‘I’ll smash your fucking face in’.

A double murder over an arms deal dispute.

And most tantalizingly, rumors emerge of a clash in April between Ukraine’s two largest secret services, involving armored vehicles on the streets of Kyiv. Yermak may be out for Budanov’s head…

But first, the death of the True Finn, as reported by Finnish publication yle.

Leo Aland, 20, died on April 13, four days after he received a message from his father asking him to come home.

Aland’s father, Jyrki Aland, is the head of the Finns Party's southwest Finland district. Formerly known as the True Finns party, it is the second-most powerful party in the country’s parliament. The Finns Party is considered a rightwing populist party. Originally opposed to NATO membership and favoring neutrality, it changed its policy after 2022.

Jyrki and the rest of the family didn’t support their son’s January decision to volunteer in the Ukrainian army. The father had this to say:

"It may seem noble to go and fight against the Russians, but I see no sense in young men fighting the battles of old men,"

Leo became interested in the idea of fighting in Ukraine while completing military service in Finland, pictured here (centre)

Jyrki didn’t hear from his son for several weeks after he left to Ukraine. When he came back in contact, it turned out that young Leo had missed the Finnish government’s warning that Ukrainian military contracts cannot be terminated. The son sent this to his father in early February:

It was a harsh collision with reality. It's really tough here. I definitely don't want to stay here for long. It was probably a mistake to come here

…

I know this experience will help me grow as a person, but it's still really difficult. I'm doing my best to cope. Sometimes I just don't know what I'm doing here.

He began asking his father to help him escape Ukraine. Despite the combined efforts of Jyrki Aland and the Finnish foreign ministry, Leo could not be brought home. The Ukrainian military confiscated his passport and restricted his phone use.

His training finished in mid-February, and he became more optimistic about the war. He was also thinking about the future, signing up for a Finnish university course.

But Jyrki was worried:

I warned him that it might be time to seriously consider coming home, as the Russians were beginning their spring offensive. He replied that he didn't think his unit would be sent to the front line

That isn’t what happened:

He died somewhere in eastern Ukraine, in exactly the kind of attack he feared most — a drone strike directed by a human

Little space for heroism when killed by a lump of plastic bought on aliexpress and operated by a glorified gamer.

In Ukraine around early January. Training over by mid-February. Dead after what seems like several days at the frontlines in eastern Ukraine in mid-April. Four months out of a six month contract.

The body, however, is missing. Aland was registered as missing in action, with those serving alongside him claiming nothing remains of him.

Other, more gruesome details exist.