Thread by @ChrisO_wiki

1/ The Kremlin has reportedly told regional governors to "extinguish with money" the protests of wives of mobilised soldiers ahead of next March's elections. It is said to believe that they are "often waiting not for their husbands from the war, but for their salary cards". ⬇️

2/ Verstka reports that nervousness in the Russian government about complaints from soldiers' wives has led to the presidential administration making recommendations to the country's regional governments. Relatives' protests have grown in recent months.

https://twitter.com/ChrisO_wiki/status/1728871627805626643

3/ According to sources, the administration has recommended that payments be made "fully, quickly and without red tape" and that existing public activists be involved in the "round dance around the mobilised".

4/ Senior officials want to satisfy what they believe is many wives' primary demand – for money, rather than the return of their husbands. A source says: "Firstly, if it is clearly impossible to solve all the problems, then pay everyone the maximum amount of money."

5/ "If this does not help, then promise to look into it and write letters to the Ministry of Defence. At the same time, it is necessary to divide as much as possible those who are dissatisfied on private issues – some need a husband, some need money, some just to be listened to."

6/ "Therefore, there is a third thing – support funds like the one headed by Tsivileva should be included as much as possible in the round dance around the mobilised".

7/ This refers to the Defenders of the Fatherland fund, run by Putin's relative Anna Tsivileva, which provides support to those fighting in the war and their relatives.

8/ However, another official points out that this strategy is made considerably more difficult by disorganisation in the Russian army. "A soldier is mobilised, taken to training school – there he is in one unit, but he fights in another."

9/ "Documents are lost along the way, of course. It is not always clear where to send the payments, in what volume and for how many people. The situation is even worse if we are talking about volunteers."

10/ The administration's cynical attitude that money is all that counts seems unlikely to satisfy the wives, however; many seem genuinely to be motivated by concerns other than purely financial matters. /end

Source:
verstka.media/v-kremle-rekom…