During his last TV appearance, Vladimir Putin exuded confidence. It is not surprising to know that this plan “Direct Communication”, Putin has long been a tool for the Kremlin to push its own agenda while answering questions from Internet users. This is done using carefully vetted questions that Putin must ask.
So, it’s worth watching the titles that “don’t have enough air time”. This year, one of the most glaring omissions — aside from the disappearance of Russian President Alexei Navalny’s nemesis — is the anti-women movement.
In recent weeks, a group of wives and mothers of those mobilized to fight Russia’s war in Ukraine has dominated headlines and social media.
Wives and mothers are tough enemies for Putin. They cannot be jailed like the opposition. Such a move would be met with backlash even from dedicated Kremlin supporters. In Russia – at least in declarations – wives and mothers have a distinct status.
In an attempt to quell criticism, Putin last year invited a group of mothers, some of whom had lost sons in the war, over tea. Activists condemned the meeting as wrong. Putin told a mother that her son had a purpose and “didn’t die in vain,” as others his age died of alcoholism.
MIKHAIL METZEL / AFP
Vladimir Putin meets with mothers and wives of soldiers killed in the war in Ukraine. November 2022
Although the rally was a “set-up,” outrage over the mobilization has faded somewhat in recent weeks, primarily because the mobilization campaign has subsided.
The Kremlin received 24,000 this year. Complaints about this mobilization. Mainly from women – so he can’t ignore them. With the mobilization campaign reaching its annual target and those sent to the front yet to return home, families’ fears resurfaced. This week, Putin was expected to use a “direct line” to address the problems of harried wives and mothers.
– Putin may have been partial to women. He could have used the pre-election campaign. He could have started a campaign to send happy people back to their homes. He can present them with awards and take photographs with soldiers in the arms of their wives – Says Putin’s former interlocutor and Russian political scientist Abbas Kaliamov.
But Putin didn’t do that, he knew they could take him to the bottom.
“Spitting into the Souls” of Women
All he could do was reply, “He doesn’t see the need for another rally at the moment.” He also noted that 244,000 enlisted men at the front were fighting “intelligently,” nearly 2,000 volunteers arriving every day, and no shortage of new recruits.
While bragging about Russia’s economic and military resilience, he also said there would be no peace with Ukraine until Russia achieved its goals of “demilitarization” and “detente.”
But in February 2022, when he first mentioned these terms in a speech justifying a full-scale invasion, the Russians had no idea what these goals actually were. Meanwhile, the issue of troop rotation to allow soldiers mobilized last year to return home has been completely ignored.
The women became very angry because of no response.
– The turning point, when we were waiting for the president to say something, has passed, said Maria Andreeva, activist of the group uniting wives and mothers of mobilized men (“The Road Home”). Another woman said Putin was “spitting on the souls of hundreds of women”. “It’s like we don’t exist,” another woman said in a video posted on social media. “How much longer can we and our families be mocked?” she asked rhetorically.
Putin fears them
Kaliamov said the Kremlin may try to ease tensions closer to the March election to achieve maximum propaganda effect.
But waiting is a risky strategy, she added, noting that women’s language is increasingly politicized and that their opposition is destroying the consensus surrounding the war.
Like other independent analysts, Kalyamov said Putin’s response to a question about whether there would be a second mobilization campaign opened the door to a change of course after the election. “Basically it depends on the moment. Not necessarily now. But tomorrow it could change.
For now, Putin thinks the women’s complaints won’t spill over into a larger protest movement.
Some members of the group reported receiving police visits at home and facing legal harassment. But a too harsh response to women — traditionally the core of Putin’s electorate — would be disastrous even for the Kremlin.
