“The whole West has closed ranks against us to destroy us,” Yekaterina Kolotovkina, the head of a humanitarian fund for soldiers and the wife of a Russian general fighting in Ukraine, told the Samara rally, echoing a main theme of state propaganda. .
On social media, initial calls by pro-war Russian commentators to accuse officials responsible for the Makiivka losses of treason gave way to more wary criticism of local military decisions and advice to prevent future disasters. None of them seemed to be critical of Putin, with covert attacks more often targeting his senior officials.
The instinct to spare Putin the blame was evident Monday night in a post by an influential Russian military blogger, Anastasia Kashevarova, who hails from the Samara region. “Yes, Vladimir Vladimirovich, we love our country,” she wrote, referring to Mr Putin. “I love Russia so much that I hate specific characters in your entourage.”
But some analysts believe there may still be a wave of protest. Mikhail Vinogradov, a Russian political scientist, noted that the public reaction to military casualties in the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in the 1980s “didn’t happen right away, not in the first year of the war.”
The fact that there is not yet public opposition to Putin in Russia could mean two things, Vinogradov said: either the political system is “maximally stable”, or feelings of frustration are gradually increasing and “one day would lead to an energetic outburst .”
“Both hypotheses have a right to exist,” he said.
For the Kremlin, it is not just the war that could cause political unrest this year. Russia’s next presidential election is scheduled for March 2024. While Mr Putin would not see a real election battle, the date was big because analysts and members of the Russian elite widely viewed it as a time when Mr Putin, 70, could clearly make who he eventually wants to succeed him.