Criticism of Putin “unprecedented” in Russia- ISW

The US Institute for the Study of War said Sunday that the recent 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.

The organisation suggested that Putin was continuing to shuffle his senior military commanders, likely to deflect blame from himself and to regenerate enthusiasm in the extremist pro-war community, noting that the Russian pro-war nationalist community greeted Sergey Surovikin’s appointment as the new commander of the war with “irrational enthusiasm”. 

“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 Other Russian nationalists, propagandists, and proxy officials are blaming security services and the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD), a phenomenon that can undermine Putin’s regime in the long term”, ISW said. 

It said that the perception of the trajectory of the war and of Ukrainian capabilities “is changing as well”, and Russians are undergoing a “rude awakening”. 

“Russian voices within the information space demand that the Russian military retaliate for the Kerch Strait Bridge explosion by regaining the initiative on the battlefield and resuming the missile campaign against Ukrainian infrastructure,” ISW said.