Apparently the city of Sevastopol is pro-Russian but not willing to allow Putin to put his arm up their nether region to move their lips:
The confrontation now brewing between Moscow and Sevastopol is one that some Moscow-based experts are declaring will have tremendous implications for the whole of Russia. The city is gearing up for two elections – first for the city council in September this year and the governor election in September 2020. According to local experts, Moscow’s strategy is to prevent the emergence of a majority critical of it in the local parliament, and to still try to apply its usual methods to “freedom-loving Sevastopol.” ...
In Sevastopol, Moscow faces an existential dilemma. It has found that it cannot merely impose the same sort of repressive federal regime that exists in Russia. And the philosophy of Chaly’s followers in Sevastopol, and of his supporters in Russia, is not the usual sort of basis for challenge that the Kremlin has dealt with in the past. They call themselves patriots; criticise the liberal opposition and accuse them of being agents of the West; and they are both anti-establishment and anti-corruption. For them, it is undeniable that Crimea is a part of Russia, and they demand a genuine share of power in the region – and in Russia too.
That. is. hilarious! I think I peed myself laughing so hard.
So Putin managed with his conquest and annexation of Crimea in 2014 to push Ukraine more anti-Russian by taking a lot of pro-Russian people out of Ukraine; and managed to import more dissidents against Putin's autocratic rule.
Maybe more people in Crimea will understand that you can be ruled by Russia or you can be free to run your own lives. And Russia is confident that the choice is the former.
Bravo, Mr. Putin. Seriously, quite impressive. Rip that shirt off and ride the tiger! You da man!
Add these results to the already impressive result of the war on Ukraine of dragging NATO into the Black Sea.
I don't want to hear another Goddamn word about how brilliantly Putin is playing Russia's poor hand.
And I don't know whether the Western notion that "frozen" conflicts are brilliant or that so-called "hybrid war" is brilliant is more annoyingly wrong.
Putin should worry that Russians will finally realize how badly he has effed up royally.
UPDATE: Some people are noticing:
In Moscow large protest demonstrations continue. People are angry over the federal government’s blatant efforts to rig the September city council election. The 45 member council has long been dominated by pro-Putin members but this time the polls show most voter support is going to opposition politicians. The current government, run by Vladimir Putin and his KGB cronies, is visibly losing its popular support and the Moscow unrest is the latest manifestation of this. Despite the restoration of the many police state aspects of the old Soviet Union, and a constant diet of “we are at war with NATO” propaganda, a growing number of Russians are visibly blaming Putin and his policies for a growing list of problems. Worse are the Russians who are defying new laws against public demonstrations. In the last week there have been daily demonstrations, some with over 20,000 people. Today over 3,500 people turned out in Moscow to illegally protest the election rigging. ...
Because of declining support in opinion polls, using police state tactics on critics has now made the problem worse rather than burying it for a while. This is how the Soviet Union collapsed 1991, as did the communist governments in East Europe in 1989. Sacrificing good relations with the West for an alliance including traditional enemies like Iran, Turkey and China does not leave most Russians feeling better. That’s especially true as the economy keeps getting worse and living standards decline visibly every year since 2014. That was the year Putin sought to forcibly make Ukraine pro-Russian. That backfired badly, with Ukrainians very visibly mobilizing to stop the Russian “invasion”. Western trading partners imposed economic sanctions and a promising feature became an unwelcome revival of past mistakes.
Heck. The FUF is multiplying like bunnies.
UPDATE: And the charge leveled admits there are masses of people unhappy with Putin, no?
Russian investigators said Thursday they had detained five people as part of a criminal probe into mass unrest, in an apparent attempt to crush a wave of peaceful protests demanding fair elections.
After the collapse of the USSR, Russia could have chosen to be a friend of NATO as common victims of communism. But no. Instead Putin offered generous subsidies to entice the FUF to settle in Russia permanently.
And a more powerful China with claims on Russian territory quietly watches.
