Russian President Vladimir Putin is moving to silence once-favored ultranationalist Z-bloggers, marking a new phase in the Kremlin's expanding repression as it targets even loyal supporters of the war in Ukraine.
Roman Alekhin — a decorated fighter, adviser to a regional governor, and high-profile pro-war blogger — was recently branded a "foreign agent" after a corruption scandal involving fundraising for Russian troops.
His sudden fall has sent shockwaves through the pro-invasion online community, which for years operated with unusual leeway to criticize battlefield failures while backing the Kremlin's broader goals, the U.K.'s Telegraph reported Sunday.
"This is the kind of dissent that, if it was directed at the political system, would have earned reprisals long ago," Chatham House senior Russia analyst Keir Giles told the Telegraph.
The Z-blogosphere "was seen by some as a safety valve, a means by which critics could vent without actually challenging the overall state policy," Giles added. "That avenue has now been closed off."
Analysts say the clampdown shows Moscow is no longer willing to tolerate independent narratives, even from ultra-loyal sources.
Other prominent figures have been swept up in the repression. Longtime Kremlin pundit Sergey Markov was labeled a foreign agent in August, while propagandists Tatyana Montyan and Oksana Kobeleva were added to extremist lists and detained after publicly criticizing aspects of the war effort.
All deny wrongdoing.
Experts warn the purge reflects both tightening information control and growing anxiety within the Kremlin over faltering battlefield performance.
Z-bloggers' large audience and close links to frontline troops have made them useful and increasingly dangerous to authorities, especially when their reporting contradicts state media — as happened during Ukraine's deep-strike Operation Spiderweb this past summer.
Factional infighting has also escalated between loyalist propagandists and more critical war commentators, further shrinking the space for dissent.
With Russia broadening the use of its foreign-agent laws and tightening control of platforms like Telegram and WhatsApp, observers say the country's online landscape is being drawn deeper into a totalitarian model.
"This machinery of repression cannot stop," opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza told the newspaper. "After silencing all political opponents, it is now turning on the regime's own supporters."
Newsmax writer Eric Mack contributed to this report.
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