Anger Over Russia’s Battlefield Defeats Bursts Into The Open, Posing A Challenge For Putin

For weeks now, on the uncensored Telegram channels of hard-line nationalists and Russian military bloggers, there’s been a litany of angry criticism of Russia’s military commanders amid a stunning Ukrainian counteroffensive in the Kharkiv region and elsewhere resulting in substantial Russian losses.

Now with the Ukrainians’ weekend victory in Lyman, a Donetsk region city and strategic rail hub southeast of Kharkiv, that criticism is bursting into wider public view, hitting the front pages of some of Russia’s biggest newspapers.

That’s a serious problem for Russia’s military brass — and potentially for the Kremlin.

Ukrainian sniper takes out a Russian infantry from a distance of 550m.#Russia #Ukraine pic.twitter.com/uZV9ZWM4wC

— BlueSauron👁️ (@Blue_Sauron) October 3, 2022