Putin is playing a very dangerous game when it comes to his own survival as president.
It is true that - as this report says- that Putin is very successfully convincing the Russian people that Russia is under attack from the west and that the war is an existential threat to the survival of Russia.
Fine for Putin in regard to his win on that propaganda front. The problem is that the more he scares the sh#t out of his own people the more they go into frenzy when they see Urkainian victories on the battlefield because Putin is busy convincing them that if they lose in Ukraine, Russia will be annihilated too. So if he does not win on the battlefield all the people that think Russia needs to survive will be more open to "change" at the top.
Also, not to beat this to death, but that report on how the mothers of the soldiers killed in Ukraine now support the Russian state even more is not really news. No mother wants to think that their son died in vain, and if you start telling them that they were not actually cannon fodder but saviors of Russia they like that. CNN needs to come back and tell us that the mothers of sons who have not gone yet are now suddenly thinking it is a great idea and a great way to serve their country. That would be news. Some are actually doing that, and they are coming back in a body bag. Keep doing it.
