“Self-censorship phase” over
ISW sees great frustration among Russian ultranationalists
November 23, 2023, 10:44 a.m
After a Ukrainian attack on a concert in Donetsk that left several people dead and injured, there is great outrage among Russian military bloggers. According to the think tank ISW, the criticism reflects “the ongoing frustration” of the ultranationalists and shows that the time for restraint is over.
Russian military bloggers are apparently increasingly expressing their dissatisfaction with the conduct of the war. Like that Institute for the Study of War reports, the latest occasion is a Ukrainian HIMARS attack on Kumachove, which is around 61 kilometers from the front line. More than 25 people are said to have died, including actress Polina Menshikh. More than 100 members of the Russian Black Sea Fleet were apparently injured. They attended a concert to mark Artillery Day on November 19th.
After the HIMARS strike on the town in the Donetsk region, Russian military bloggers expressed outrage. The military bloggers mainly criticized the inadequate security measures and criticized the Russian command for allowing a large gathering of people within the HIMARS range of the front line. “And in the end, all previous efforts were in vain because a stupid decision was made to gather a large crowd in a conspicuous place,” that’s what it says in the Telegram channel Rybar. “And the price for this was, among other things, the death of a young actress. Unlike the others, she had no combat experience and trusted in the lives of seemingly experienced people.”
The military bloggers called on the Russian military to ban such events. They also expressed disappointment that the Russian military command had not learned this lesson despite the almost two-year war.
Criticism of poor planning
According to the ISW, military bloggers’ reaction to the HIMARS strike “reflects the Russian ultranationalist community’s ongoing frustration” with the military command’s conduct of the war. “Russian mibloggers have recently started complaining about the Russian military leadership after going through a period of self-censorship,” the institute continued. The reluctance was probably related to the death of the head of the Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, and the arrest of highly critical Russian ultranationalist military bloggers in the summer of 2023.
According to the ISW, the complaints now focus largely on how the Russian military leadership’s poor conduct of the war and lack of discipline led to poor treatment of its own soldiers and casualties. Russian military bloggers also complained, according to the report, that the military command’s orders to push Ukrainian forces out of positions on the left bank of Kherson Oblast resulted in numerous Russian casualties.