Change of mood in Russia: Putin is triggering more and more anger and panic among his own population

Created: 03/10/2022 04:54

By: Klaus Rimpel

People walk towards the Verkhny Lars border crossing between Georgia and Russia.

In view of the many fleeing conscientious objectors, the Russian republic of North Ossetia, which borders Georgia, has imposed entry restrictions.

© -/AP/dpa

Putin is trying to sell the Ukraine war as a success to the citizens, but unrest is growing in the country.

Even those who are loyal to Putin express criticism.

Munich/Moscow – Vladimir Putin is again celebrating the annexation of Ukrainian territories – but unlike when Crimea was included in Russian territory, this time there is no sense of euphoria among the Russian population.

On the contrary: According to a survey by the opinion research institute Levada, which is also recognized as comparatively authentic in the West, 47 percent of those questioned said that their emotional state after Putin's partial mobilization was characterized by "fear, fear, horror".

On the other hand, only 23 percent stated that they were “proud of Russia”.

Video: Russia threatens citizens who have left the country with repatriation

Change of mood in the Ukraine war triggers panic

In the Kremlin, the change in mood regarding the Ukraine war is apparently causing panic.

Margarita Simonyan, the editor-in-chief of Putin's number one propaganda channel RT, said: "We have to stop lying at all levels, everywhere in our country: in banks, ministries, military services, factories, schools, universities, media organizations." Lying always led to "wrong decisions" and "irreparable losses".

In the Russian social media, Simonyan was mostly ridiculed: “If she manages to stop lying, what will she do then?

Living off their savings?

All she can do is lie," says one blogger.

Russian media can no longer hide Putin's military steps backwards

The Russians do not see Simonyan's remarkable about-face as the beginning of a new glasnost, i.e. openness movement à la Gorbachev.

Rather, in view of the partial mobilization, the Kremlin can do no other than admit the military steps backwards in Ukraine that can no longer be overlooked.

The BR quoted the Kremlin-related portal VN-News as saying that it was "foolish" to gloss over the lousy situation at the front for any longer.

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The annexation show on Friday was overshadowed by reports that Russian troops were surrounded in the strategically important small town of Lyman in the Donetsk region.

The Russian nationalist military blog Rybar warned that “the fate of Balaklija is at risk”.

And the Kremlin had to concede that the "exact borders" of the annexed areas in the Kherson and Zaporizhia regions were still "to be clarified".

Ukraine war: Putin tries to divert anger about partial mobilization

With the recapture of Balaklija, the Ukrainian troops had launched a major offensive in the Kharkiv region, as a result of which Kyiv regained control of almost the entire region and forced the Russian troops into a hasty retreat.

Putin is trying to direct the anger of the citizens in connection with the partial mobilization to lower levels by denouncing the "mistakes" of the district military replacement offices in the conscription.

Anyone who was mistakenly sent to the front must return home.

This also applies to fathers of large families.

Is Putin's war escalating to the point of using nuclear weapons?

Kremlin experts fear that the apparent panic in the Kremlin will only make the war more brutal.

Ex-BBC Russia correspondent Farida Rustamova quoted an insider as saying: "Putin cannot lose.

He always relies on escalation – up to and including the use of nuclear weapons.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov tried to allay such fears on Friday.

When asked about the possible use of nuclear weapons, Peskov said one should read Russian military doctrine more closely.

It states that nuclear weapons can be used if an attack with conventional weapons puts "the very existence of Russia" at stake.

On Friday, however, it also became apparent that the war is now entering an even bloodier phase: According to Ukrainian sources, at least 23 people were killed in an attack on civilians in the Zaporizhia region in southern Ukraine.

Kyiv and Moscow blamed each other for the attack near a checkpoint between the Ukrainian-controlled and Russian-held parts of the region.

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