JRL NEWSWATCH: “The war in Ukraine is starting to dictate its own rules to Putin” – Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
“The war in Ukraine is starting to dictate its own rules to Putin. The president and his inner circle are being forced to submit to the new wartime reality that they themselves created.”
“… Just like Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine, the presidential election is influencing domestic political trends and changing Russia. The Kremlin can … build a digital gulag and tighten the screws of political control, but the very existence of the presidential campaign presupposes a discussion within the regime about the present and future. … The Kremlin’s domestic policy bloc was adamant that the vision for the country’s future should be built upon a civilian agenda …. The war, in contrast, is something temporary on the periphery of public life and people’s consciousness. … In the end, however, Putin confirmed that he would run again in a very different setting …. The message — that the country is fighting for its survival, and every Russian must play their part — could not have been more different to that planned. The proponents of this message are betting everything on a long-term political mobilization in which the general public becomes complicit in military decisions. Such a system encourages sacrificial patriotism right up to and including people being prepared to offer up the most precious gift of all — their children ….”