Estonian Intelligence: Russia Is Tightening Its Control Over the Population Through Fear
Amid domestic problems, Russian authorities are tightening their control over society, fearing growing discontent among citizens. Estonian intelligence also noted the effectiveness of Ukraine’s long-range measures of influence against Russia.
Colonel Ants Kiviselg, head of the Estonian Defense Forces Intelligence Center, spoke about this at a briefing.
Kiviselg noted that rising social tensions in Russia, stemming from the problems ordinary Russians are beginning to face, could have an impact on the State Duma elections in September.
“We continue to see that the ruling hierarchy, whose legitimacy is steadily diminishing, is forced to use increasingly totalitarian and repressive measures against its own society to keep the situation under control,” the colonel said.
In his report, he highlighted Ukraine’s successes in “neutralizing” air defense systems in occupied Crimea and the Donetsk region, which provided significant freedom of action for strikes in the Sea of Azov area and significantly complicated Russian logistics on these routes, effectively bringing transit through the Sea of Azov to a halt.
“Ukraine has also significantly increased the risks associated with Russia’s activities in the Black Sea. Consequently, the transportation and transit of Russian energy resources have become considerably more difficult, and we will clearly see the consequences of this for Crimea in the coming weeks,” the colonel noted.
Kiviselg stated that the fuel shortage continues to spread across Russian territory and is worsening due to new Ukrainian strikes on fuel and energy infrastructure.
“The Russian authorities are trying to portray these strikes and the resulting fuel shortages as a temporary phenomenon that will quickly pass. At the same time, it should be noted that the damage inflicted by Ukraine is truly massive, and the consequences will be felt for quite some time,” the colonel said.
He also noted that Russia’s losses on the front lines have increased over the past week. While the average number of military personnel killed and wounded per day was around 1,100 the previous week, it rose to 1,400 this week.
The most intense fighting continues in the Kostiantynivka, Pokrovsk, and Lyman sectors. Despite Russian claims that Kostiantynivka is allegedly already under their control, these assertions are premature. At the same time, in the Oleksandrivka area, Ukraine has managed to continue pushing back Russian forces.
Kiviselg noted that due to the actions of the Ukrainian Defense Forces, Russia is forced to redeploy reserves to areas where the situation is deteriorating. In the short term, this could weaken the Russian troops’ ability to respond quickly to changes in the tactical situation on specific fronts, ERR reports.
As a reminder, the U.S. has resumed most arms deliveries to Estonia after a delay caused by the war in Iran.
Estonia wants to cut off funding for the IOC due to the return of Russia and Belarus to sports.
Ukraine and Estonia have signed a cooperation agreement on unmanned aerial vehicles.
