‘There is profound disappointment in him’: mood in Russia turns against Putin

Hi r/europe, this is Emma from The Guardian. We wanted to share this story we published today on Putin entering the most challenging period of his long rule

*From our story:*

Interviews with several people in the orbit of the Russian leader, as well as sources in the Russian business world and western intelligence officials, paint a picture of an isolated leader surrounded by an elite that is becoming rapidly disillusioned, both with the faltering war in Ukraine and the economic downturn at home.

“There’s definitely been a shift in mood among the elites this year … there is profound disappointment in Putin,” said a well-connected business leader, adding that there was “a growing sense that some kind of catastrophe is looming”.

“No one believes everything will suddenly collapse tomorrow,” the source said. “But there is a growing realisation that utterly senseless, self-destructive decisions keep being made. People who once defended Putin no longer do. Any sense of a future has disappeared.”

Putin’s approval ratings are slipping, the economy is under mounting pressure, and even pro-Kremlin bloggers who have rarely criticised the president are beginning to speak out.

[You can read the full story at this link.](https://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2026/may/24/there-is-profound-disappointment-in-him-mood-in-russia-turns-against-putin?referring_host=Reddit&utm_campaign=guardianacct)

Any day now, this time for real!

These so-called elites supported him so far. The full-scale invasion of Ukraine, four years ago, wasn’t the beginning. The Russian governments and elite have worked on getting Ukraine back under control ever since their independence. They bribed politicians, they supported separatists, and THEN they invaded in 2022. And most of these Russian elites supported him through that. They’ve only started considering NOT aligning with Putin once it makes their future prospects look bad. Profits, political power, probably both.

These people are all war criminals in my book. Useful idiots for Putin.

Quick EDIT: yes the war began in 2014 with Crimea and then Donbas. I did mean the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which is why I said “the full-scale invasion of Ukraine”, but yeah. Things weren’t peaceful until 2022.

Take your time, no rush

That fucking took awhile.

Wait til they see the reparation bill for their war. No Russian oligarch should be (financially) safe outside Russia

Not because he has been invading neighboring countries, destabilising half the world through online propaganda and terrorism, but because he’s *losing* and suddenly everyday Russians are part of the war as well. Sucks to suck.

“Putin is in trouble” article number 55500000

Of course, when ruz starts a war and Ukraine retaliates, then ruz pigs can’t call their attacks “payback”. It is like, i punch you first, and when you punch me back i will get angry and punch you because you just punched me. Ruz people are probably going to realize that more and more. It is a sick logic by ruz pigs.

I hope its true, but in the society Putin approval fell to like 78%… thats hardly a crisis

I wonder what the actual reasoning was behind Putin’s decision to escalate tensions with Ukraine to an attempted full scale invasion and all out war. It must have appeared to be a giant gamble even to the Russians back in 2022. Was Putin in such a tough spot back then? The moment until which Russia could have emerged stronger from that war seems to have long passed. What remains is a country suffering staggering losses for minuscule gains, the showcasing of the inferiority of Russian military equipment which hurts one of their major streams of revenue besides fossil energy and the complete depletion of their military stockpiles. And why start the war during the Biden administration? Wouldn’t it have made far more sense to do it under Trump? I mean is it to anyone’s surprise that Putin comes under internal pressure after sacrificing whatever future Russia once had for a war that has yet to bear any fruit.

Not a disappointment that he invaded another country and has committed war crimes, no. That he’s losing.

Why??

I only believe this if they arrest Putin, which I highly doubt.

It took them four years to realise it’s been longer than four days

Massively estimating your own nations military abilities and under estimating the opponent is politicly determined military campaigns default setting.

Most leaders will keep lying to the public long after the masses grow suspecious something is wrong and criticism start funneling up through the ranks towards the decision makers.

Russia is however deviating from the usual TACO response and try to get out fast and cut the losses, while it is still possible to manipulate the story into a victory”.

Now Russia and Putin is trapped. They can not win conventional war. They can get not victorious in the peace negotiations as their demands are not based on reality.

This sadly leaves the option for Putin to “win” at any cost or be removed by change of regime or “natural causes”

Right, then try doing something about that