Gordon Chang

So these are citizens that are definitely being inconvenienced by this.

So that's one factor to think about.

And then we also are seeing the Kremlin issue some new, even stricter controls on how much the Russians are able to talk about the strikes when they happen.

So, again, it is not new that there have been restrictions on how much people can film smoke clouds that appear after a really large Ukrainian strike.

You can't post that without getting punished.

But, for example, just a couple of days ago, they issued a new regulation where only a very limited number of officials in Moscow city are able to even publish information about strikes.

And then anything that gets published afterwards has to follow that standard line that has been published.

So, again, this is really showing us, I think, that the Kremlin is aware that now more than ever they have to control this narrative.

And they're really the Kremlin has really started this major censorship campaign in the beginning of this year where they're trying to they're really on track to block.

foreign platforms like Telegram, like WhatsApp.

They've obviously already blocked Instagram, Facebook and other platforms.

But Telegram is absolutely huge in Russia.

So blocking that is going to be pretty significant.

No, but and yet there's so much to unpack.

I mean, so the thoughts kind of coming to my mind is, you know, unlike here in the U.S., where we really do have the right to protest and write together, that freedom has very much been quashed long ago in Russia.

The Russian people, I think a lot of and we've actually seen polling recently to this effect, as much as they might be angry and they might not approve of these Internet restrictions, for example.

They still are not going to be super willing to go out on the streets because they know that the police will come and get them.

They've seen this happen.

You know, we've seen this movie before.

They've seen the violent crackdowns of protests.