Russian citizens are “increasingly accepting” the war in Ukraine will end in “defeat” and with low morale the Russian Army may well “collapse.”
The constant criticisms of the war in Ukraine by the Wagner chief and the Chechen warlord with their constant “feudal” public arguments is one of the main reasons the Russian public fear defeat.
Greg Yudin, Head of Political Philosophy at the Moscow School of Social and Economic Sciences said, “While majority in Russia remains detached and prefers to avoid bad thoughts, those who dare to think are increasingly accepting that the war is likely to end with a defeat.
“That applies perhaps mostly to those who tend to support Putin in this war for one reason or another (mainly because they fail to make difference between Putin’s and national interests).
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“This is a mood I notice in people from various industries, all of them rather elevated.”
Noting the frequent and prominent criticisms of the war effort from military figures including Wagner Group financier Yevgeny Prigozhin and Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, he said, “The whole public fight between feudal warlords makes it extremely difficult to imagine this army achieving any success.
This comes as Prigozhin blasted Moscow for not supplying “ammunition and weapons” and showed many dead bodies of his troops who were killed in action in Bakhmut in a video which the Russian public viewed.
The Chechen dictator then hit our at the Wagner chief saying, “It is wrong to film the bodies of one’s killed brothers-in-arms to make a public splash. Let’s never do that.”
“Their language projects defeat, and this is what I often hear – ‘I don’t know how this can possibly end with a victory’.”
He said there is low morale and he would not “be surprised if the Russian army collapses after a couple of setbacks.”
He added, “The defeat of Putin’ atrocious plans should be separated from the defeat of Russia.
“Instead of trying to figure out what part of Ukraine will be enough for Putin… it is high time to think what are the costs and opportunities for Russia after Putin’s defeat and removal.”
