The Kremlin's response to defectors, reflecting historical paranoia, may impact Russia's war effort in Ukraine. Putin's actions show a strategic decision influenced by past totalitarian leaders. Militarizing the region could hinder war efforts due to sea ice loss.
“Putin’s preoccupation with defectors is a strategic decision informed by a long history of Soviet and Russian paranoia about threats from within—and a further symptom of the regime’s emulation of its totalitarian twentieth-century predecessors.” https://t.co/QFiX9iLCRE
Since Putin's colonial invasion of Ukraine, "Kremlin critics say Russia is targeting its foes abroad with killings, poisonings and harassment." https://t.co/j3vD6iRsLb
What explains the Kremlin’s preoccupation with defectors? https://t.co/E4ORZXgOoP
Read @AndreiSoldatov and @irinaborogan on the Kremlin’s preoccupation with Ukraine-based Russian rebels—and how Putin’s response to Russian defectors reflects the paranoia of his twentieth-century predecessors. https://t.co/pL4OokAKiS
Militarising an already volatile region, which in turn accelerates the loss of sea ice, will compromise #Russia’s ability to conduct the war in #Ukraine, given it is already under pressure to break the grinding stalemate: @ZerinOsho & @EoinJackso75355 https://t.co/FTVtu1nQgi
This here from @DAlperovitch is pretty insightful. I never quite understood our fascination with Putin's past as a "KGB agent" in Dresden etc, while ignoring the 1990s - Putin's real formative experience. https://t.co/GKJHCKsKMV
Putin’s campaign against defectors reflects the lasting impact of his totalitarian twentieth-century predecessors—especially Stalin, who sent assassins after the Russian volunteer troops fighting for the Germans, write @AndreiSoldatov and @irinaborogan. https://t.co/A5Py69JjXg
“The Kremlin’s ruthless response to defectors is unlikely to help Russia’s war effort in Ukraine. Creating more fear within the military and intelligence services will certainly not raise morale.” https://t.co/dcCx2KceUp