In Russia, Victory Day Is Starting to Feel Like Defeat

Some of the Russian “milbloggers” have always allowed themselves more candid assessments of Russian military incompetence than the official media, probably because their pro-war stance gives them more leeway. But expatriate Russian analyst Michael Nacke observes that the criticism, or the handwringing, has grown far more outspoken lately. What’s more, even members of the Russian media establishment, such as Dmitry Steshin, a reporter for the mainstream Russian newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda, are contributing. “The tempo of the offensive has changed,” Steshin said on a recent livestream. “Ukraine is feverishly stepping up its abilities. Their strategy of a wall of drones and an offensive aided by robots has worked.” Steshin also offered “an unpleasant quote” from a Ukrainian POW, reported to him by a Russian source: “He said that you bring a truckload of men to the front lines, and we bring a truckload of FPV drones.”