ISW: Doubts about victory rising in Russia

The attack on the Kerch Strait Bridge, 'coupled with recent Russian military failures and partial mobilization, is generating direct criticism of Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin from the Russian pro-war nationalist community,' Report informs, referring to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

“Some milbloggers, who represent and speak to that community on Telegram, criticized Putin’s and the Kremlin’s failure to address major events forthrightly, noting that it is challenging to rally behind Putin when his government relies on secrecy.

Some milbloggers said that Putin must retaliate for the explosion on the Kerch Strait Bridge lest his silence be perceived as 'weakness'.

Milbloggers, who did not criticize Putin, instead criticized Russian Deputy Chairman of the Security Council Dmitry Medvedev’s silence following the explosion after he had made several public claims that an attack on the Crimean Bridge was a Russian “red line.” Direct criticism of Putin from this community is almost unprecedented,” ISW said.

According to the Institute, milbloggers and other nationalist figures continue to express overwhelming support for Putin’s goals in Ukraine and have hitherto blamed failures and setbacks on the Russian military command or the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD):

“These critiques from the pro-war camp may indicate rising doubts about Putin’s ability to deliver on his promised goal of 'denazifying' Ukraine and may undermine Putin’s appeal within his core constituency.

The Kremlin may be doubling down on the known milblogger distaste for the Russian MoD to use its military leadership as a scapegoat for its military failures.

Escalation, either conventional or nuclear, cannot solve Putin’s problems.”