As Their Own Needs Go Unmet, Russians Increasingly Angry about How Putin’s War has Unjustly Enriched Soldiers But Not Brought Victory, Gallyamov Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Sept. 17 – Since Putin launched his expanded war in Ukraine three years ago, the Russian government has given enormous bonuses to get Russians to sign up to fight there. Initially, Russians accepted that as something in the nature of things; but now they are beginning to view this arrangement as fundamentally unjust, according to Abbas Gallyamov.

            As their own needs go unmet, the commentator says, Russians are increasingly resentful about such payments, especially as the regime keeps talking about what it is doing in that regard and as those being paid by the government to fight haven’t yet brought home the convincing victory the Kremlin has repeatedly promised (pointmedia.io/story/68cd1a33e25aea416748a8bf).

            Such feelings are an important step toward the delegitimization of the war in the eyes of the Russian people, with anger about the newly rich veterans growing into anger at the government that made their rise possible, especially as Russians view wealth largely as a zero-sum game in which any group’s gains lead to the losses of the benefits others have had.