WorldcrunchIvan Philippov, born in 1982 in Moscow, is a Georgia-based writer, journalist, film executive and co-host of a popular podcast. Ivan graduated from a History Faculty of Moscow State University and for seven years worked as a reporter, starting in the news and graduating to writing about entertainment and media industry for «Vedomosti» at the time a joint-venture of Wall Street Journal and Financial Times.
In Putin’s Russia, dissent is silenced. Yet pro-war “Z” bloggers and influencers insult and lambast military failures constantly, and go unpunished. The state tolerates them because without these defiant voices knitting the war machine’s lifelines, Russia’s offensive would stall.
Both Russia and Ukraine are waiting to see what stance the new U.S. president and his administration will take on the war and aid to Kyiv. Within Russia’s pro-war factions, some are eagerly anticipating a potential shift in U.S. policy. But regardless of Washington’s decisions, Ukraine’s main allies are those ensuring Moscow’s military is corrupt and inefficient.
Bashar al-Assad’s fall raises short-term questions about the fate of Russian generals sent to Syria after failures in Ukraine, but also deeper reflections on Moscow’s war on multiple fronts.
Russia’s Roskomnadzor agency blocked the Discord messaging application earlier this month, and thus disrupted one of the Russian military’s well-established communication systems. It’s a reminder of the Kremlin’s need for Western technology to wage its war against Ukraine.
Russia’s pro-war influencers, or so-called ‘Z’-bloggers, have sought to blame those responsible for Ukraine’s breakthrough into the Kursk region. Yet Russian President Vladimir Putin’s name never comes up. Fear of reprisals is only one reason; another is belief in Putin’s infallibility.