Putin is ‘struggling to maintain loyalty’ among local officials and is resorting to vending machines

Struggling to keep local officials loyal, Vladimir Putin is resorting to installing vending machines to bolster support amid growing discontent over the cost of the war, military analysts say.

The Kremlin is said to be engaged in a charm offensive with lower-ranking officials in an effort to boost morale as the burden of war grows heavier.

The government of the Russian despot has demanded that regional deputy governors install vending machines, offer free city parking and preferential bank loans and provide health insurance for civil servants, according to an independent Russian media outlet. Verstka.

Drastic but desperate measures, such as providing vending machines ‘with chocolates and crisps’, are likely to ‘pay lip service to the burden placed on regional entities, but are unlikely to lead to a significant increase in support for the war at the regional and local level’, ‘military analysts of the Institute for the Study of War said.

The US think tank said: “The Kremlin is likely to have increasing difficulty retaining the loyalty of lower regional authorities as it continues to place responsibility on financing the war against Russian federal subjects.”

There is believed to be growing dissatisfaction among local officials over the rising costs of the war in Ukraine. In the photo: conflict in Donetsk, March 29

On April 21, the program of privileges will also provide grants and training seminars for municipal workers to support them in a time of rising prices and other negative effects of the war.

Deputy governors were reportedly instructed to organize “initiative groups” at a meeting last week in Senezh, near Moscow, to find out the demands of local officials through questionnaires and surveys.

It was previously reported that Russia has placed the responsibility on Russian regional authorities to mobilize and finance the war.

But while local regions continue to bear the brunt of Russian decision-making, both economically and demographically, dissatisfaction is growing.

It comes as military analysts warn that Putin – who was told he looked “tired” by fellow tyrant Alexander Lukashenko – is likely laying the groundwork for a crackdown in occupied Ukrainian territory.

The Russian leader has called for “continued economic, legal and social integration of occupied regions,” including Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia.

The Institute for the Study of War said: “In particular, Putin has invoked the concept of ‘terrorism’ and threats to Russian internal security to justify internal repression and is likely setting conditions for further repression and crackdowns by law enforcement in occupied territories using of similar framing.”

It was previously reported that Russia has placed the responsibility on Russian regional authorities to mobilize and finance the war. In the photo: Ukrainian soldiers in Bakhmut yesterday

Putin was told he looked ‘tired’ by fellow tyrant Alexander Lukashenko when the pair met yesterday

He accused Ukraine of threatening civilians in occupied territories and highlighted recent “terrorist attacks” – no doubt referring to the statue bombing of Putin’s propagandist and blogger Vladlen Tartasky.

The latest discontent comes when Western officials claim that Putin fired the Russian commander who oversaw a pair of ill-fated attacks in eastern Ukraine that left thousands of men slaughtered.

General Rustam Muradov led Russia’s Eastern Group of Forces (EGF) in Ukraine for nearly a year, but he was dismissed after leading two disastrous attacks near Vuhledar.