Draining the Ukrainian Political Swamp: The Great Russian Restoration III

There appears to be a breather in the offensive campaign two weeks in. Every talking head with a Telegram channel, a LiveJournal or a radio broadcast has weighed in on what this means. Some accept the statements from Russian officials at face value—that it is a genuine effort to provide humanitarian relief to the civilian population and to save lives through evacuations. Others, that it is a chance for the Russians to resupply and mass up even more troops. Some patriot voices in Russia are furious that Putin refused to give the order to engage the enemy head-on, choosing the velvet glove approach instead. Others say that this stratagem to win over hearts and minds is the correct one. Most intelligent commentators have already pointed out just how intense and overwhelming the NATO/Ukrainian propaganda barrage was and just how ill-equipped the Russian side was to deal with it. In our previous article, we explained why that may have been the case— the government never really took combatting Western disinformation too seriously until it was almost too late. If there is one clear and objective failing of Putin’s long rule that can be squarely pinned on his decision-making, this would be it.

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