There could well be factions within their dysfunctional system that would let it happen. It might be the only way to put an end to the humiliation and hardship being forced on them.

NATO Sentry
 

A NATO Sentry doing racetracks over East Gwermany near the border with Czechia. I wonder why?

They are trying to discover who suddenly annexed numerous states from the Federal Republic of Germany and renamed them East Gwermany :8

It might be close enough for them to see what they want without putting them too close to countermeasures and such.

He's been there for days, as has the US Rivet Joint and RAF Sentry along the Poland/Ukraine border, and the US Guardrail over Lithuania, The tankers are there most of the time though I've noticed a fighter lit up only once presumably when he was refuelling. Maybe the EC aircraft show up because they want to be seen, maybe it's because of the busy traffic passing their orbits. Good to see them, one hopes they are gathering zillobytes of dara.

The RAF Airseeker R1 is there but not the RAF Sentry.

I tried saying that - Gwermany - but used the German pronunciation of w. I ended up with something that sounded like gewehrmany. Gewehr in German means gun.
East Gun Many.
That would be Baltimore, as far as I can tell. :p
Back on topic: the eyes in the sky are a pretty important mission, and I suspect are providing info that ends up being tactically useful.

Lord Haw Haw radio propagandist used an interesting pronunciation of Germany , they opened their radio torments with “ Germany Calling “
A variation that might be of historic interest . No links as per roe .

At one point earlier in the week there were 3 RC-135Ws, two E-3s, an E-8 and a Swedish Gulfstream, as well as the Guardrails and an EP-3E. All visible on ASDB. They certainly want them to be seen

A depressing report in The Guardian

"Putin’s approval ratings surged in March to levels not seen in five years as the war in Ukraine enters its second month, according to an independent survey. According to the Levada Center, Putin’s job approval grew to 83% in March from 71% in February. The last time Putin reached similar approval ratings was in 2017."

As for tankers, it is interesting to see that two KC-46A's are practising racetracks over Poland. Some relief for the KC-135's and KC-10A's presumably.

but do you believe that?

Do you believe that even if it's accurate that people were giving truthful responses?

What kind of response would you give if calling it a "war" could get you several years in prison?

What kind of response would you give if all you could read or watch was controlled by the state?

What does "independent" mean in this case?

1 Given the control enforced on all media, how is any official survey carried out in Russia believably independent?
2. Since the population have little or no access to any version of events except Putins, even a genuine survey would be invalid.

People have no independent sources of information anymore. Just government media. Even BBC, Deutsche Welle and such are considered to be "hostile organisations" now or how they call it officially. The Russians will make up their minds but it will take some time.

Well, if we take it as given that the Russians employ troll farms (yes, they do, a few visit PPRuNe now and again) it is not beyond reason that a few of those trolls are less than pleased with Vlad.
They do do have access to the web, or a lot of it.
They'll be able (I suspect) to find ways to disperse "over the {fire}wall information" among various nodes that public do have access to, and private nodes, and thus pass what they are seeing to (some) others.
From that point the viral spread of information (telephone, telegraph, tell a friend) takes care of the rest, just a bit slower than via Twit-her.
While most trolls will be 'politically reliable' (and not do the above) in only takes a few not to be so reliable (and come on, how do you get 100% reliability in anyone?).
That is but one way that info from "over the {fire} wall" gets out to the general public.

"Demoralised Russian soldiers in Ukraine have accidentally shot down their own aircraft, sabotaged their own kit, and refused to carry out orders, a British spy chief will reveal."

https://news.sky.com/story/ukraine-w...eveal-12578490

The pure stupidity of the Russian military is coming to the fore, nothing like not being prepared, I would even bet they have been hunting the wildlife to supplement their diet in a wildlife rich radioactive zone.

This does not surprise me. This reading is from an indoor location taken when I was inside the exclusion zone in 2019. They were much higher nearer the red forest.

I have read that many younger Russians have never heard of Chernobyl or the disaster, though I suspect that is equally the case closer to home.


https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....abd17627d.jpeg

Finland discuses joining NATO, talk about Putins Folly, producing exactly what he was working against.

“Russian” soldiers hitch hiked home… 300 of them! I do hope they survive and are not treated as deserters.