As the losses mount in the Russian-Ukrainian war, the war is coming home for Russians. I do not mean indiscriminate bombing of Russian cities by Ukrainian missiles destroying apartment blocks, schools and hospitals. I am discussing the highly pinpointed targeting of Russian fuel refining and distribution networks.

This is highly effective, Russia is burning and all their citizens are seeing this in real time. The long-term lines waiting for fuel are seen by all, the inflation and scarcity of consumer items. Russians have food shortages, flight issues with aircraft now not maintained correctly, Russian financial reserves held. Firstly, there is the financial cost to the Russian government, this directly funds the Russian war, the price of oil, the shadow fleet is still operating – at least under duress.

The population has been mostly shielded from the effects of the war. The elites in Moscow and St Petersburg don’t send their children off to die as canon fodder, that is the domain of the poorer population further east in Russia. These are more ethnic minorities who are poorly organised in terms of political representation, they are mostly poor, and live in more sparsely populated areas. They lack the voice, they lack the wealth and they lack the power to displace the elite in Moscow, they are the voiceless cannon fodder.