The Guardian: Peskov and Kiriyenko tried to convince Putin not to impose strict internet blocks, but to no avail

People from Vladimir Putin’s inner circle, including his press secretary Dmitry Peskov and first deputy head of the presidential administration Sergei Kiriyenko, tried to convince the Russian leader to abandon the most stringent measures to restrict the Internet, The Guardian writes, citing sources.

According to two of the newspaper's interlocutors, these attempts were unsuccessful. The sources do not provide any other details.

The Guardian notes that the Russian Internet and restrictions on it are supervised by the Second Service of the FSB (The Bell was the first to write about this). “As long as the war continues, Putin will rely on the security forces,” says the newspaper’s source.

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One business official with knowledge of the situation says that amid growing economic problems at home, "the mood among the elite has definitely changed this year." According to him, there is “deep disappointment in Putin.” He does not believe that “everything will suddenly collapse,” but notes the understanding that “completely senseless and self-destructive decisions continue to be made.” “The people who used to defend Putin don’t do that anymore,” he adds.

At the same time, according to sources, Putin still expects to capture the entire Donbass by the end of the year. However, he no longer counts on the United States in this matter: two interlocutors of The Guardian say that the Russian president has “lost faith” in Donald Trump’s ability to force Kyiv to agree to the transfer of territories as part of a possible deal.