Russian officials are trying to clamp down on anti-war protests by soldiers’ wives by offering them cash and “discrediting them online”, according to UK intelligence.
Dissent is growing in Moscow as the conflict in Ukraine approaches its second anniversary.
In their latest update on the war, the Ministry of Defence said the Kremlin is “particularly sensitive” to protests relating to those troops called up in September last year and who have now been fighting for over a year.
The MoD said: “The Russian authorities are likely attempting to quash public dissent by wives of deployed Russian soldiers, including by attempting to pay them off and discrediting them online. This follows small scale protests in Moscow in November 2023.
“Research by independent Russia media outlets and comments by protesting wives themselves suggest that, in recent weeks, the authorities have likely offered increased cash payments to families in return for them refraining from protest.”
They said that last month, one online group for soldiers’ wives published a manifesto against “indefinite mobilisation”.
Four days later, however, “the group was pinned with a ‘fake’ warning label – likely at the instigation of pro-Kremlin actors”.
Last week it emerged that Vladimir Putin wants Russian women to have more babies in a bid to “preserve” old traditions.
He said increasing the population would be “our goal for the coming decades”.
However, he failed to mention the impact his war in Ukraine has had on the Russian population since it began in February 2022.
The MoD reported earlier in October that there have been around 300,000 Russian casualties in Ukraine, with up to 190,000 troops either killed or “permanently wounded”.