INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
administration told The Moscow Times.Since the start of the war, the Kremlin has counted pro-war hawks, imperialists and Russian
large followings of their own.After muzzling Wagner mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Kremlin set its sights on Igor Girkin, a former
Sergei Bobylev / TASSThe targeting of these pro-war hawks comes as the Kremlin aims to retain loyal leaders in at least one-quarter of
Russia's 89 federal subjects (a figure that includes Russia's regions, plus annexed Crimea, Sevastopol and four occupied Ukrainian regions)
frequent drone attacks; the Voronezh region, which has reported regular cross-border attacks; the protesting regions of Sakha and Khakasia
in Siberia and Primorye in the Far East; and the four Ukrainian regions it claims to have annexed.Before and immediately after the February
2022 invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin jailed or forced out all liberal opposition figures and the independent press, removing any source of
public dissent against the war.As Putin's plans for a swift takeover of Kyiv failed, the Kremlin was forced to grant more resources and
annexation of four Ukrainian regions
Grassroots patriotic volunteer movements were awarded state grants, while officials and politicians assisting the army and working in the
occupied territories were given promotions.The longer Putin's army failed to achieve victory, the louder and harsher the criticism of the
came with criticism of the Kremlin itself.Both Strelkov and Prigozhin have separately expressed this discontent
The danger for the Kremlin is that their criticism has begun to reach out to a broader segment of the population, including the army itself,
If the authorities didn't punish him, others would realize that it's possible to do so and start criticizing him as well
For years, these groups were represented in Russian politics by the far-right Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR), with the Communist Party also
like Navalny or killed like Nemtsov is the fate of any person taking an active role in Russia's political space under our current boss," a
longtime Russian government official said.
