August M
Anger is growing inside Russia over the course of the war in Ukraine, with accusations now being levelled directly at the Kremlin. A furious intervention by a nationalist figure has highlighted mounting frustration over losses, stalled advances and unanswered questions about Moscow’s strategy.
The claims come as the conflict approaches its fourth year, with heavy fighting still raging and no decisive breakthrough in sight.
Stalled campaign
Russian forces have struggled to achieve major gains across the frontlines, according to battlefield assessments cited by Ukrainian officials. Fierce clashes continue around key locations including Kupyansk and Pokrovsk, where Ukrainian troops remain entrenched.
Despite sustained offensives, Moscow has failed to secure full control of the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine. Kyiv still holds roughly a quarter of Donetsk, one of the two provinces that make up the area, Ukrainian authorities say, reports the Express.
Ukraine’s army chief Oleksandr Syrskii said Russia captured territory equivalent to just 0.8 percent of Ukraine’s total land area in 2025. He added that these limited gains came at a steep cost, with almost 420,000 Russian troops killed or wounded during the year.
Mounting losses
Overall casualties since the invasion began in February 2022 are estimated by Ukrainian officials at more than one million killed or injured. Moscow does not publish comprehensive figures, and the numbers cannot be independently verified.
The scale of the losses, combined with the lack of decisive progress, has fuelled anger among hardline Russian nationalists, some of whom have begun publicly attacking President Vladimir Putin’s leadership.
Accusations erupt
According to reporting by the Daily Express, Ivan Otrakovsky, a former leader of the Orthodox Christian movement Holy Rus, accused Putin and the Kremlin of deliberately sabotaging the war effort.
Speaking during a podcast, Otrakovsky said: “It’s not the generals who are to blame nor the Ministry of Defence.
“It’s the top management. They’re all political wheeler-dealers. All of this, the betrayal and all of it, was planned from the outset.”
He went further, accusing Russia’s leadership of seeking bloodshed rather than victory. “Initially they didn’t want victory, but carnage. Millions killed. Do you get what’s going on?” he said.
Otrakovsky claimed the Kremlin undermined its own campaign despite what he described as the bravery of Russian soldiers and officers.
Old grievances
The nationalist also revisited events from 2014, when Russia first intervened in eastern Ukraine. “If they wanted to reunite the Russian world or Holy Rus, they would have done so back in 2014,” he said.
“They killed the people’s commanders of Donbas, signed the Minsk agreements – consciously committing treason.”
His remarks underscore growing dissent from parts of Russia’s nationalist camp, adding to pressure on the Kremlin as the war drags on.
Sources: Daily Express, statements from Ukrainian military officials
