Pro-Russian Crimeans “smell” the Kremlin’s defeat

According to the author of the “Crimea.Realii” publication, a decadent mood is increasing across Crimean telegram channels. More and more pro-Russian Crimeans see defeatist views in the Kremlin. Often in their comments the word “betrayal” appears, used in relation to the Russian elite.

Pro-Russian Crimeans reacted very violently to the interview of the Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov to the English edition on April 7 and the statement made there. “We have suffered significant losses of troops, this is a huge tragedy for us,” Peskov said. That is, the Kremlin speaker confirmed to the whole world that the data of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are not fiction, and this is not just about serious losses of the Russian army in manpower and equipment, but about the loss of entire units of troops!

At the same time, the pro-Russian audience was confused by the appearance of the person closest to Putin – Peskov wore a blue shirt and a yellow tie for an interview with the British. “I am sure that the West will ease the sanctions on those Russian officials who give interviews in a blue shirt and a yellow tie. After all, the colors of the Ukrainian flag,” pro-Russian politician Oleg Tsarev wrote ironically in his telegram channel.

I recall the comments of pro-Russian Crimeans in social networks immediately after the full-scale invasion of Russian troops into the territory of sovereign Ukraine. How much pathos and celebration! There was so much bragging and expectation of a quick “denazification”. But, unfortunately for them, less than two month had passed and the Armed Forces of Ukraine not only held back the onslaught of the enemy, but also went on the offensive, pushing the Russian troops far to the east. In the north of the country, the Armed Forces of Ukraine completely cleared the Ukrainian land of the aggressor troops.

As the hostilities moved into a protracted stage with huge losses on the Russian side, the rhetoric of the pro-Russian Crimeans in the comments began to change. Now there is more and more decadence and disappointment. “Where is the vaunted power of the Russian army?” they ask. “Where is the superweapon that Putin boasted about in front of his parliament and the Russians? Where is the support of the allies? Where is the effect of the trillions spent on rearmament?” Pro-Russian Crimeans do not receive answers to these and many other questions, but the Kremlin speaker sadly reports about “significant loss of troops.”

It can already be definitely said that the morally broken Kremlin, with its defeatist moods, infects both the pro-Russian Crimeans, and its army, and its population, and its ally – Belarus. Russian negotiators are also demonstrating the Kremlin’s willingness to “crawl back to its corner” like a beaten dog does. Understanding this gives decisiveness and confidence to the Ukrainian army and people and takes strength from the Russian side of the conflict.

Today we can safely state that Russia, in the confrontation with Ukraine and its Western partners, has already lost the information war, lost its political weight and was shamefully expelled from the Human Rights Council of the UN General Assembly. Russian diplomats are being expelled en masse… And what is extremely dangerous for the Kremlin is that Russia has begun to lose the moral war, not only with the Ukrainian people, but also within its own country.

Friends from the apparatus of the Russian Council of Ministers and the Crimean parliament say that it is extremely difficult to find local people willing to cooperate with Russia in the temporarily occupied territories of the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions. Even those scoundrels who would like to get a position through betrayal are well aware that Russian troops are not there for long. Actually, the Kremlin itself has never hinted at claims to these territories, each time declaring that it will be content with Crimea and Donbass. And even these statements are heard more and more uncertainly. Similarly how pro-Russian Crimeans feel less confident, who cannot help but notice how the Kremlin is backpedaling more and more. I think that Vladimir Putin himself already understands that during his political career he made two fatal mistakes – when he annexed Crimea in 2014 and when he launched a full-scale military invasion of Ukraine on the 24^th of February, 2022 (trying to correct the first mistake, he only aggravated the situation, leading his country to disaster).

Even in terms of regions, only the Russian authorities of the annexed Crimea and Chechnya are actively stating their position in the conflict with Ukraine. Other numerous regions of Russia are neither heard nor seen in this situation. This also speaks volumes. As the saying goes, sometimes silence speaks louder than words.

One thing is clear: in the military conflict with Ukraine, the Kremlin has completely lost the initiative and morale. Defeatist moods reign in the “Kremlin towers”. This means that the Russian elite grows more agreeable and accommodating in its negotiating position with each passing day.

So what about Putin’s phrase “Crimea topic is closed”? That is unlikely…