Massive war casualties, 21st-century repression, and media control. In the latest episode of Russia Decoded, hosts Andy Kuchins and Chris Monday unpack how state media effectively insulates Russia’s urban middle class from the grim realities of a grinding war of attrition.

As the Ukraine war grinds into its fifth year, Moscow’s military losses have reached a scale not seen since World War II. According to a new CSIS report, total Russian casualties since February 2022 stand near 1.2 million; in other words, Russia sustains roughly the same number of casualties per month that the Soviet Union suffered in over 9 years of war in Afghanistan. Yet, unlike the societal discontent that accompanied Soviet losses in the 1980s, the Russian public today remains strikingly quiet. This domestic........

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