“The story of the shelling of Moscow is far from over”: expert explains why it is important to strike the capital of the Russian Federation

Political strategist Mikhail Sheitelman explained that strikes specifically on Moscow are important because it differs from the rest of Russia: Muscovites are both the most eager to wage war and the most afraid of incoming attacks, reports Politeka. He shared this on his blog.

“The most hated place in the world is Moscow. And, by the way, not without reason. Russians conducted a survey — it’s hard to trust it, but this is what they themselves say about themselves. What percentage demands continuation of the war, and what percentage wants negotiations? It turned out that, on average across Russia, 25–30% demand continuing the war, while the rest want negotiations. Negotiations, note, they somehow don’t want to withdraw troops and end the war — so they’re not our people either. But in Moscow, 60% want the war to continue. That is, Moscow is the most militaristically minded city, the one that most wants the war to go on. And at the same time, it is not ready to suffer. That’s what I completely cannot understand — these two things don’t fit together in their heads at all,” Mikhail Sheitelman says.

He notes that he was particularly amused by Ksenia Sobchak, who complained that Russians have been banned from posting videos, photos, and information about strikes on Moscow. Moreover, the expert emphasizes, because of this Russians have started massively turning to Ukrainian media and Russian opposition channels to understand what is happening — meaning “we are bombing them and we are the ones informing them where and what was hit.”

Overall, he explains, the survey shows that Moscow wants war, while the rest of Russia does not, because Moscow profits from the war, while the rest of the country only suffers losses. And this, the expert claims, means that the theme of a civil conflict between Moscow and the rest of Russia can be developed — between those beyond the Moscow Ring Road and the capital — especially since the publication of strike information has been banned only in Moscow.

“But the story with the shelling of Moscow is far from over. Not at all over. The adviser to the Ukrainian Defense Minister, Sternenko, said that we are preparing larger-scale attacks on Moscow. So in general I was right when I said: ‘Moscow, we have not even started yet.’ And even more eloquently, President Zelensky said: ‘The war is returning to its native harbor,’” Mikhail Sheitelman concludes.