Part 12/14:
Despite the official 88% support reported in the March elections—a figure widely regarded as fabricated—there are signs of growing dissent. Small protests against the war have occurred on significant anniversaries, with Russians risking imprisonment just to lay flowers or demonstrate quietly.
Perhaps more troubling for Putin are the vocal critiques emerging from his once-loyal ultra-nationalist supporters—dubbed "angry patriots" or zatriots. Figures like Igor Girkin, a former FSB officer turned critic, have publicly condemned Putin for perceived weakness and indecisiveness. Girkin’s critique was so pointed that he was eventually arrested for extremism—yet the discontent persists among the armed and ideologically driven minority that once backed the regime wholeheartedly.