ISW sees great frustration among Russian ultra-nationalists
Following a Ukrainian attack on a concert in Donetsk that left a number of 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 ultra-nationalists and shows that the time for restraint is over: The time for restraint is over.
Russian military bloggers are apparently increasingly voicing their displeasure with the conduct of war again. According to the Institute for the Study of War, the most recent cause is a Ukrainian HIMARS attack on Kumakhove, which is around 61 kilometers from the front line. More than 25 people are said to have died, including the actress Polina Menshikh. More than 100 members of the Russian Black Sea Fleet were apparently injured. They were attending a concert to mark Artillery Day on November 19.
Following the HIMARS strike on the town in the Donetsk region, Russian military bloggers expressed their outrage. The military bloggers particularly 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 of people in a conspicuous place," reads the Rybar Telegram channel. "And the price for this was, among other things, the death of a young actress. Unlike the others, she had no combat experience and relied on 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 almost two years of war.
Criticism of poor planning
According to the ISW, the reaction of military bloggers to the HIMARS strike "reflects the ongoing frustration" of the Russian ultranationalist community with the military command's conduct of the war. "Russian milbloggers have recently begun to complain about the Russian military leadership after 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 ISW, the complaints now largely focus 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 had led to numerous Russian casualties.
Source: www.ntv.de
