I am not saying this is a sign Putin is planning to go into genuine negotiations with Ukraine but… do I think Putin considers suppressing these bloggers a necessary prerequisite to taking actions that could be domestically criticized as weak in Russia and risk leaving a political flank open? Yes.
This is likely just another form of “circling the wagons” as the Russian economy falls apart but the timing is notable. This comes at an inflection point of the war and it is unlikely it isn’t an indicator of that in some way.
curb your enthusiasm. Girkin got shut down and jailed after he very loudly declared that he’d do things differently, and that more aggressive approach including mass mobilization would be a necessity. Did anything came out of it?
