Sign Vladimir Putin is getting worried as Ukraine invasion continues

A conversation Vladimir Putin had behind closed doors is the latest sign that he’s worried about the state of his Ukrainian invasion.

As Vladimir Putin pushes forward with the next phase of his Ukraine invasion plan, there are hints that the Russian President is becoming increasingly concerned.

Ukraine has warned that Russian forces are preparing to intensify their fight for key cities in the Donbas region, less than a week after Putin claimed a key victory in Luhansk.

Since Russian forces invaded Ukraine on February 24, the Kremlin has faced months of setbacks, but now it seems Putin’s plans are gaining traction.

However, a recent assessment from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) has pointed to recent events that could indicate Putin is worried about how his actions and military offensive are being perceived by the Russian public.

The ISW found that reports of officials ramping up efforts to silence Russian war bloggers – known as milbloggers – were likely truthful.

There are signs Russian President Vladimir Putin and his military officials are concerned about Russian war bloggers. Picture: Mikhail Klimentyev/SPUTNIK/AFP

The report cited evidence from milblogger Rybar of tensions between the Russian military command and Russian war correspondents, including journalists operating on the front line and milbloggers offering unofficial, inside coverage of the situation.

“Rybar noted that Russian military commanders responsible for wartime information operations are attempting to silence Russian milbloggers and war correspondents to conceal the Russian military’s blunders during the invasion of Ukraine,” ISW researchers said.

“Rybar noted that Russian military commanders remain shaped by negative experiences during the Chechnya wars when war correspondents exposed problems at the frontline to the Kremlin and embarrassed Russian officers.”

The milblogger claimed the Russian Defence Ministry and possibly actors within the presidential administration were actively attempting to silence unofficial coverage of the situation in Ukraine and promote self-censorship among war correspondents.

Relationships soured after Putin meeting

There have also been claims that the relationship between the Russian military command and war correspondents soured even further after Putin met with reporters during the St Petersburg Economic Forum on June 17.

Rybar claimed that two prominent war correspondents effectively bypassed the Russian Defence Ministry to tell Putin directly of the “mess” at the frontlines.

“The event Rybar is describing likely occurred: Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov announced on June 12 that Putin would hold a largely closed-door meeting with Russian war correspondents, and Russian propagandist Margarita Simonyan confirmed that Putin had a ‘candid’ and long conversation with frontline journalists after the event,” ISW researchers noted.

Azov Regiment soldiers fire weapons during target practice in the Kharkiv region, Ukraine. Picture: Paula Bronstein/Getty Images

A Ukrainian military journalist takes cover in a wheat field as he captures video. Picture: Scott Olson/Getty Images

There are claims from milbloggers that this event tipped tensions between correspondents and the Russian Defence Ministry over the edge, with the Ministry now identifying them as a “threat” rather than just a “poorly controlled problem”.

ISW researchers warned the Russian information space would change “significantly” if milbloggers were silenced and stopped from operational reporting.

Despite increasing pushback from Russia, many milbloggers haven’t shied away from criticising the military strategy and recent successful Ukrainian strikes.

“Russian milblogger Voennyi Osvedomitel’ underlined the threat posed by Western-provided high mobility artillery rocket system (HIMARS) and stated that HIMARS will complicate Russian logistics in a Telegram post on July 9,” ISW researchers said.

“Voennyi Osvedomitel cautioned that Russian air defence may be increasingly insufficient against Ukrainian strikes and called on Russian forces to improve co-ordination between intelligence and aviation in order to identify and target Western-provided weapons systems.

“Another milblogger with a small following, Nam Pishut iz Yaniny, complained that Russian military leadership is proving unable to defend against Western weapons being used against Russian positions.”

Ukraine preparing for renewed attacks

Russian forces have been taking an operational pause in Ukraine in order to allow troops to rest and regroup.

Now, the Ukrainian army has warned that Russian troops are likely planning to launch some of their heaviest attacks yet in the Donetsk region.

“There are signs of enemy units preparing to intensify combat operations in the direction of Kramatorsk and Bakhmut,” it said, referring to two main cities still under Ukrainian control.

This comes as Europe is braced for deeper cuts in gas supplies from Russia.

On Monday Russian gas giant Gazprom began more than a week of routine maintenance on its Nord Stream 1 pipeline – with Germany and other European countries watching anxiously to see if the gas comes back on.

The annual work on the gas link was scheduled long in advance. But the fear is that, with relations between Russia and the West at their lowest in years because of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, Gazprom might take the opportunity to simply shut off the valves.

“Putin is going to turn off the gas tap … but will he turn it back on one day?” German newspaper Bild asked on Sunday on its website.

International Energy Agency head Fatih Birol has warned that Russia may cut off gas supplies to Europe entirely and that Europe needs to prepare now.

After the Nord Stream stop on Monday morning, Italian energy company Eni and Austrian Group OMV both reported their supplies from Gazprom had also been reduced.

“There are a number of scenarios in which we could end up in an emergency,” Klaus Mueller, the head of Germany’s federal gas network regulator, told public broadcaster ZDF on Monday.