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Kremlin Warns Russians Critical of War Losses: ‘Be Very Careful’

“The line is very, very thin.”

The Kremlin has issued a thinly veiled threat against Russians venting their anger over recent military defeats on social media. Pro-Kremlin bloggers and military reporters were among those to join an uproar on social media over the weekend as Russian troops literally fled from advancing Ukrainian forces, a move the Russian defense ministry managed to bill as a simple “reshuffling” of forces. Asked Tuesday about the chorus of criticism, Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the “unsympathetic” takes would be seen as “diversity of opinions” as long as they remained within the confines of the law. “But the line is very, very thin. Here you need to be very careful,” he told reporters. Peskov went on to insist that “statistical data” shows that “Russians support the president,” despite municipal deputies from 18 districts in St. Petersburg and Moscow recently calling for Putin’s ouster.