As Putin’s War in Ukraine Grinds On, Anti-War Underground Appears to be Growing in Russia

Paul Goble

            Staunton, May 13 – Whenever a government policy is or becomes sufficiently unpopular, some groups at the margins will engage in illegal, underground activities to protest. That is what has been happening in the Russian Federation since the start of Putin’s war in Ukraine. (See this writer’s report on that at jamestown.org/program/an-anti-war-underground-emerges-in-russia/.)

            Such actions typically are the work of individuals or small uncoordinated groups and so do not represent an accurate barometer of social tensions as a whole, but they do indicate just how angry some Russians now are and thus should be monitored, especially as the powers that be are certainly doing everything they can not to report such things.

            In recent days, there is evidence that such actions are on the rise and now include fires at draft offices and railways, hacker attacks on government websites and news outlets, and the spread of fake bomb threats which are forcing officials to empty schools and other institutions as safety precautions (ekhokavkaza.com/a/podzhogi-voenkomatov-i-zheleznodorozhnoe-soprotivlenie-kak-deystvuet-antivoennoe-podpole-v-rossii-/31847738.html and kavkazr.com/a/v-mahachkale-iz-za-soobscheniy-o-minirovanii-snova-evakuiruyut-shkoly-i-detskie-sady/31847914.html).