Russian dictator Vladimir Putin's recent decisions to block social media and internet access in aggressor countries have an unexpected explanation. As it turns out, the Kremlin leader is thus preparing for a potential peace with Ukraine.
Points of attention
- Despite the current determination to continue the war, the Kremlin acknowledges the war's inevitable end and the repercussions it may have on the country and its leadership.
- Andrei Soldatov, an expert on security services, highlighted the parallels with the past and the risks associated with abrupt cessation of conflicts, drawing lessons from history to inform Putin's current strategies.
Putin fears Russians' reaction to actual defeat in Ukraine
According to insiders, the Kremlin leader is trying to suppress freedom of speech as much as possible, primarily online, before it is too late for his regime.
Putin fears most that without repression, Russia will face collapse after the end of the war in Ukraine.
It's no secret that it was a wave of public discontent that accelerated the collapse of the USSR after its ignominious withdrawal from Afghanistan in the late 1980s.
The dictator fears that a similar scenario will happen this time, so he decided to play it safe.
Despite the fact that it is determined to continue the war for now, the Kremlin already understands that it cannot last forever.
Andrei Soldatov, a Russian investigative journalist and expert on security services, made a statement on this matter:
Russian leaders and security services remember 1991, and they remember what happened to Russia and what happened to them when Moscow stopped the major war in Afghanistan: the country fell apart, the security services splintered — it was a disaster.
