The threat from Russian ultra-nationalist figures who are using Telegram to demand a far more aggressive military deployment in Ukraine is growing.
For a long time, Putin seemed to have established broad support for the war. The president is facing pressure on a number of fronts after a series of military defeats.
The ultra-nationalists have become a thorn in the side of Putin's administration.
The leader of the pro-Russian rebels in the Donbass region told his subscribers on Telegram that Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu should be put to death.
Several people have called for tactical nuclear strikes to be used to drive 20 million refugees to Europe. A military expert and editor of Russia's National Defense magazine encouraged the tactic again on Channel One.
The Kremlin has been accused of hiding bad news about the war in Russia by others, a criticism that was previously made by the left.
The State Duma rubber stamps whatever law Putin wants. Many commentators were surprised when Mikhail Sheremet, a member of the United Russia party, said that "full mobilize" in Ukraine was needed for victory.
Attacks like that have made it easier for others from across the political spectrum to speak up. Liberal councilors in Moscow and St.Petersburg signed a petition demanding Putin's resignation.
The spokesman for Putin said that Russians as a whole still support the president.
The head of state's decisions affect the people. "For other points of view, critical points of view, as long as they remain within the law, this is pluralism, but the line is very, very thin."
All of Russia's key institutions, from the media to the church and the courts, have been folded into a power vertical where the Kremlin's bureaucratic machine is at the top. The plan was to make sure that all of the key decisions were made by him.
The biggest threat to Putin's edifice of power is the protests inspired by liberals, ecologists, retirees and Siberia.
In his criticism of Russia's military strategy, the nationalists' most prominent figurehead has been the one who has been most damning. His comments ranged from pessimistic to braggart as he tried to get Putin to take more aggressive action.
Last week, he told his followers that the war in Ukraine would continue until Russia was defeated. We have already lost and the rest is going to happen soon.
On Wednesday, he said that the Russians were living on the Planet of the Pink Ponies and that they needed to commit to total war.
Don't stop at the objects on the left bank. He said that Kyiv and WesternUkraine must be destroyed.
The pro-Kremlin war journalist with 600,000 followers used his Telegram channel to say that the Kremlin was hiding bad news from the Russian public.
He said that the system needs to be changed because their leadership doesn't like to talk about bad news and their subordinates don't want to upset their superiors.
Due to the protection afforded them by figures in the senior levels of the military and security services, warbloggers such as Boris Rozhin and German Kulikovsky are not thought to be in danger.
Ramzan Kadyrov is the leader of the Chechen republic.
Kadyrov said there was no need to wait for the Kremlin to make a declaration of martial law. Each regional governor has the ability to prepare, train and staff at least 1000 volunteers.
Chechnya has a law that allows the drafting of men born in 1995-2004, while Kadyrov has called on regional governors to do the same.
After two decades of being obedient, the Communists are acting up and their leader is frustrated.
"We need maximum mobilize of our strength and resources in order to win the war against the US, Europe and NATO," he said in his speech.
The suggestion that governors and deputies sign up for the front as volunteers was made by his Communist comrade, Mikhail Matveev.
While at the Eastern Economic Forum, the Governor of Khabarovsk complained to RIA Novosti that he would like to fight in Ukraine as a volunteer, but could not because he was still in his position.
The residents of his Far East region started a petition to help him fulfill his dream. A petition has been signed by tens of thousands of people, but Degtyarev hasn't resigned.
Many of the war effort's senior leaders are either in exile or have already been rounded up, so the liberal side of the political spectrum is giving criticism to the war effort.
The petition for Putin's resignation had been signed by two dozen fellow liberals in Moscow and St. "We believe that President Putin's actions harm the future of Russia and its citizens."
A week ago, representatives from St Petersburg's Smolninskoye region called on federal lawmakers to open a treason case against Putin in order to remove him from office.
The authorities have reacted quickly against the liberals. The municipal council was dissolved and the deputies were charged with defaming Russia's military.
Nikita Yuferev, who was fined and threatened with prison after attaching his name to the petition, said on his website that the Governor of St. Petersburg would make a decision on the matter.
The public discourse has changed since the beginning of the war.
In April of this year, a municipal councilor from one of Moscow's districts was sentenced to seven years in prison for joking about the invasion of Ukraine during a discussion about a children's drawing contest.
Despite the best efforts of the authorities, the Kremlin has a difficult relationship with fringe ultra-nationalists. The National Bosheviks, a movement led by the writer and dissident Eduard Limonov, had to be confronted in 2001 for their attempt to cause a rebellion by ethnic Russians. Limonov denied the accusations.
The nationalists advocated for Russia to conquer more territory in order to create "Novorossiya", a notional territory that encompassed eight Ukrainian oblasts. One of the nationalists' top priorities was realized when Putin decided to invade Ukraine to protect Russian speakers.
The ultra-nationalists were shown that Putin was committed to their cause when he convened a Security Council meeting just days before the invasion to rubber stamp the recognition of the Donbass and Crimea.
If the violence against ethnic Russians in the east of the country did not stop, Kyiv would be responsible for "ensuring bloodshed", as Putin warned.
In extraordinary footage broadcast from a Kremlin marble hall, each member of the Security Council was forced to say on the record whether they supported the controversial decision.
The head of Russia's foreign spy service, Sergey Naryshkin, got confused after being grilled by Putin, while the Prime Minister muttered that he did.
The political theater and invasion convinced the ultra-nationalists that the ruling elites were behind them.
The debate in Russia can be seen on state controlled television talk shows. A commentator could have been in trouble if they had called the Russian action in Ukraine a war. Lawmakers are making that point openly.
A token democratic stooge who is kicked from pillar to post for being a NATO apologist or in the pocket of the US has been featured in panel discussions on stations. In the face of Russia's overwhelming military setbacks, panelists and hosts are struggling to silence that lone voice, who is now seen as the only one making any sense.
In a clip that has gone viral, liberal Moscow municipal deputy Boris Nadezhdin appeared on a NTV talk show and declared that it's impossible to defeat Ukraine using those resources and colonial war methods.
The leader of the pro-Kremlin Just Russia party interrupted a call for peace talks by a one-time ally of Boris Nemtsov. There can't be negotiations with the "Zelenksy's Nazi regime" and only one option is destruction.
With that, the show suddenly erupted into a genuine debate, with another participant seemingly supporting the military.
On the same show in April, the other participants ganged up on him for suggesting that the Soviet Union had occupied Czechoslovakia.
"We didn't occupy anyone, we freed them," the panelist said.
By Thursday, he was wondering why he hadn't been jailed. There must be many people who think like Nadezhdin if he's free to say it on a federal television station according to one of his guests.
If Russia is democratic, it could be a sign that the Kremlin's control over the media is not as strong as it used to be.
In Russia, radical hawks use the media to test their ideas.
There is a growing number of figures who are threatening to replace Putin if he doesn't order more extreme action against Ukraine.
In Russia, the purge of liberals and journalists in the early days of the Ukraine war was fairly easy. If Russia loses the war, cracking down on ultra- nationalists will be dire.
Ordinary Russians are fed up with rising grocery prices, being on paid leave from their jobs, and being blocked from traveling to the West, as the Russian economy is grinding towards Brezhnev-era Zastoi.
"People are keeping their heads down and trying to prevent the news from coming in," said Maxim, who refused to give his full name out of fear for his security.
Everyone is tightening their belts and some of my friends have lost their jobs Nobody in this area wants to fight this stupid war, apart from the crazy nationalists.
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