Russian propagandists and officials of various levels have begun working out the negative towards the country's leadership after the failures of the Russian army in Ukraine. The Ministry of Defense and the General Staff are to blame for all the failures, the activities of which President Putin is allegedly not aware of. Everything is blamed on military functionaries – the arming of soldiers with rusty machine guns, stolen ammunition, the mobilization of the disabled, women, the elderly into the army, and, of course, huge losses at the front. The military enlistment office and the generals are to blame. Yes, and the mobilization itself was the idea of the military, which Putin simply supported.
Ramzan Kadyrov
The very first ardent critic of the Russian Ministry of Defense can be considered the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, who publicly called Colonel General Alexander Lapin, who led the defense of the Ukrainian Liman, a mediocrity. Kadyrov also said that Lapin taught the star of the hero of Russia for the capture of Lisichansk, although in fact "he was not there and was not around."
According to Kadyrov, he personally reported about Lapin's miscalculations to the Chief of the General Staff of the RF Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov, but he did not listen. “It's not a shame that Lapin is mediocre. And the fact that he is covered at the top by the leaders in the General Staff. I don’t know what the RF Ministry of Defense reports to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, but in my personal opinion, more drastic measures should be taken, up to the declaration of martial law in the border areas and the use of low-yield nuclear weapons.
Evgeny Prigozhin
Kadyrov was immediately supported by "Putin's cook", the founder of PMC Wagner Yevgeny Prigozhin. “Kadyrov's expressive statement, of course, is not at all in my style. But I can say: "Ramzan, handsome, burn." All these ushlepkov – with machine guns barefoot to the front, ”Prigozhin wrote immediately after Kadyrov’s statement.
In criticism of the military, these two have already united – both, for example, simultaneously stated that 50% of the security forces should be called to the front. “First of all, those who have received benefits from the Ministry of Defense and from their country all their lives – contract servicemen who have been transferred to the reserve, should be subject to mobilization,” Prigozhin said through his press service.
Andrey Kartapolov
State Duma deputy Kartapolov and the ex-deputy minister of defense of the Russian Federation, who threatened Vladimir Zelensky with revenge for the attacks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Kursk and Belgorod, also joined the development of a narrative about the military, who constantly substitute the unknowing president of the Russian Federation. According to him, the Ministry of Defense does not convey to the population the whole truth about what is happening in the war zone. Due to the fact that the military somehow report information in a wrong way, some decision may not be made in time, the deputy says.
“If you carefully listen to the reports of the Ministry of Defense, then you are unlikely to find the abandonment of Davydov Brod in them. But have they left him? Left. And our adversary openly writes about it… Why don't they tell us about it? Why in 1941 they spoke, but now they don't. This is wrong, society should be respected. In war, you can’t lie at all, this is the worst thing that can be, you must always tell each other the truth. Then there is time to make decisions. And if this truth is not told, then decisions may not be made in time, ”said Kartapolov.
The disorderly and general mobilization, which Putin calls partial, Kartapolov also "hung" solely on the military. The deputy, together with another member of the United Russia State Duma, Vasily Piskarev, demanded to check the spending of funds for preparation for mobilization.
Andrey Gurulev
In unison with Kartapolov and Piskarev, their colleague, State Duma deputy from Transbaikalia, Lieutenant General Andrei Gurulev, began to ask questions to the military. To launder the reputation of the commander in chief, blaming the military for everything, he began immediately after the publication of Kadyrov criticizing Lapin and the General Staff. Prior to this, Gurulev began to defend the Russian military who had surrendered Liman, but after that he began to make statements with a vengeance about the devastation in the Russian army and rampant corruption.
The deputy, who was the commander of the 58th combined-arms army and the deputy commander of the troops of the Southern Military District, suddenly wondered where 1.5 million sets of purchased military uniforms had disappeared. Gurulev suggested asking about the “disappearance” from General of the Army Dmitry Bulgakov, who was dismissed from the post of Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation in September, allegedly “in connection with the transfer to another job.” Bulgakov was responsible for the logistics of the Russian army.
Roman Starovoit
The Kursk governor Roman Starovoit also criticized the Ministry of Defense, who visited the military units of the Ministry of Defense in the region, where the mobilized men are now, and “with bewilderment” found in them “ruined canteens, broken and rusty showers” and a parade ground, “like after the bombing” . “Somewhere it’s normal, but somewhere it’s just terrible. I am perplexed how the current training unit of the Ministry of Defense can be in such a state, ”Starovoit said.
The military does not have good uniforms, the beds are “killed,” says Starovoit. But, according to him, it is necessary to ask for this “only after the victory”, and now everyone needs to unite.
Margarita Simonyan
After the announced mobilization, RT propagandist Margarita Simonyan became practically a symbol of criticism of the military. After the media began to massively appear reports about the conscription of pensioners, women, the disabled and seriously ill people into the army, Simonyan took up "human rights". In her Telegram channel, she began to publish daily stories about the mobilization of those who do not fall into the category of experienced military personnel.
“I hope that after the words of the Chief that all the mistakes made during the mobilization must be corrected, I will not have to continue to publish stories about these mistakes,” writes Simonyan. Simonyan calls herself and the officials who, with her words and under her auspices, process all reports of illegally mobilized people "civil society." Propagandists began to actively use this definition after the Internet was filled with videos about the deplorable state of military barracks and equipment. For example, the replacement of rusty machine guns that were issued to the mobilized began to be called a victory for civil society. It was reported that such weapons were given for exercises before being sent to the front, and using the example of resonance and replacement of weapons, “one can see how that same civil society has finally been built in Russia.”