Following on from earlier posts about polls that show waning support for the war from the Russian public, an interesting piece by Andrei Kolesnikov, senior fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, has been published today.
In it, he suggests Vladimir Putin "really needs elections, at least in theory", in reference to the scheduled Russian presidential election in March next year.
"In addition to refreshing his legitimacy, they serve as a way to show that the opposition—through the predictable landslide outcome—remains a tiny minority and cannot go against the overwhelming will of the Russian people," he writes in the Foreign Affairs magazine.
"Moreover, by voting for Putin in 2024, Russians will legitimise his war. Even if the active phase of that war ends someday, it will still need to continue through permanent confrontation with the West and as a rationale for unrelenting repression, suppression, and censorship at home."
He says it "is essential for Putin to consolidate his narrative about the war".
"Rather than elections, then, the March vote should be thought of as a kind of acclamation for the leader: they are simply voting yes to the only real choice available."
Mr Kolesnikov concludes that most Russians want to end the war "as quickly as possible and begin to live better, more safely, and more peacefully".
"But it is unlikely that this will happen without regime change," he says.
https://news.sky.com/story/ukraine-russia-war-news-putin-zelenskyy-latest-live-updates-12541713
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when you disallow any narrativer but your own ,when you refuse candidacy one way or another to all alternative candidates ..... you close off democracy as a form of regime change .....meaning it only becomes possible through violent means .
Now Priggy is gone , the military are all "tame" ..... but there are still the oligarchs and they are hurting badly through this ill conceived war .
regime change in russia is becoming more a possibility daily
