Angry Russians displaced after Ukraine crossed the border and invaded the Kursk region last week have vented their frustrations online to President Vladimir Putin.
The criticisms represent an unusually public show of defiance in a country where any cracks at the leader or military can draw harsh punishments.
I am not 100% sold on this. People ARE complaining to Putin but not the way we might think. Many try to speak directly to him in a manner of “you might not be aware of this”, or “every politician around is a corrupt criminal except our glorious leader, they just don’t tell him”.
It reminds me of people getting sent into the gulag murmuring “If Stalin knew of this”, ignoring the fact that it was Stalin himself who signed the imprisonment.
If you are interested about the Russian peoples reaction. It’s frustrating to listen to some.
There’s also the issue of self-censorship. No way of knowing if any Russian folk interviewed actually agree to what they say.
My favorite story about the gulags is the childhood of Mikhail Gorbachev.
He was born in a family of peasant farmers. His paternal grandfather opposed the collectivization of the farms and was sent to the gulag. His maternal grandfather supported collectivization of the farms, and ended up as the chair of the local farm. He was also sent to the gulag.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikhail_Gorbachev