Putin Was Betrayed By His “most Trusted” Allies

Abbas Gallyamov
15.09.2026, 12:19
12,896

The "patriots" turned out to be a hoax.

It used to be very easy to be a “patriot”; it didn’t require enduring any personal hardships. Now, however, thanks to the actions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and sanctions, it turns out that “patriotism” comes at a price—and the further we go, the higher that price gets. This is exactly where Russians start scratching their heads.

We need to be honest here: our people—for the most part—are a cynical lot. They’re used to surviving, and surviving means adapting to circumstances. There’s no room for ideals here.

I’ll repeat the question I’ve asked many times before: Where have all those crowds of “patriots” decked out in St. George’s ribbons gone—the ones who used to swarm the streets of Russian cities every May 9, scaring passersby with shouts of “We can do it again”? As soon as it came down to it, they immediately vanished and don’t want to repeat anything.

Putin likes to complain that the West has abandoned him, but, strictly speaking, it was his own social base that abandoned him. When he looked at those costumed figures, he thought, “We can go to war—look at the army of patriots I have.” He started the war, and the patriots turned out to be a hoax. What is that if not a scam? I think thoughts like this pop into Putin’s head from time to time.

It’s actually incredibly funny: to believe in a myth he himself constructed about some kind of unprecedented “patriotism” among Russians. I don’t remember who said it, but someone put it very accurately: unlike any other product created by humanity, propaganda is distinguished by the fact that sooner or later, the producer begins to consume it himself.

Putin Was Betrayed By His “most Trusted” Allies

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