Kathrine Frich
The author pointed out a stark reality about his homeland.
When a nation commits to a long and brutal conflict, the true motives are often hidden behind layers of state propaganda.
Millions of ordinary citizens sit at home watching the evening news. They remain completely disconnected from the devastating reality unfolding just across their border.
Weapons of terror
But sometimes, a critical voice from the inside steps up to break the silence. Prominent author Sergei Lebedev recently sat down with Newsweek to explain the dark mindset driving the current leadership in Moscow.
He offered a grim look at how the military operates today. The writer compared modern Russian missile strikes on Ukrainian cities to historic German tactics from the Second World War.
Because ground troops cannot break the frontline, the Kremlin is directly targeting civilians instead. Lebedev argued that the president is unleashing a doomsday arsenal on neighboring cities.
“He uses missiles that were waiting for the outbreak of World War III,” the author told Newsweek.
Blaming the engineers
Lebedev expressed deep anger at the technical experts building these specific weapons. He firmly believes they share the ultimate blame for all the endless devastation.
“The engineers and designers who created the missiles used by Putin are treated as heroes in Russia, but they are war criminals co-responsible for the destruction and deaths in Kyiv, Lviv, and Kharkiv,” he told the publication.
Despite the ongoing violence, a recent poll by the independent Levada Center showed something surprising. Over 60 percent of the Russian public actually supports peace negotiations.
Playing for time
Yet, the state completely ignores this desire. Officials know that organizing a massive street protest takes a lot of time and a strong local network.
Lebedev noted that public anger simmers very slowly in his home country. “In Russia, public sentiment doesn’t translate into concrete action so quickly,” he explained during the interview.
Because of this slow burn, the president actively avoids calling for a full national draft. He knows a sweeping military order could finally push the weary public over the edge.
Fascinated by power
The author pointed out a stark reality about his homeland. The entire political structure is glued together by force, and citizens are conditioned to respect strict authority.
They care deeply about who sits at the top of the social ladder. “We’re obsessively fascinated by power, by hierarchies of power,” Lebedev told Newsweek.
Right now, the leadership is carefully balancing the heavy costs of the frontline with the quiet apathy of the general public. This fragile balance could easily hold for a very long time.
Sources: Newsweek, Levada Center
