This is a watercolour I did while watching the evening news in bed, which is not always a good idea. It’s messy and some of my Egyptian cotton sheets are now permanently stained with things like Cadmium Yellow and Indigo. This guy is called Mikhail Khodarenok, who may or may not have have had Putin’s permission to say what he said on Russian state TV last night. While come Redditors applauded his ‘Bravery”, others thought it was a statement meant to prime the Russian public for more economic pain.
Meanwhile, here’s a quote from former world chess champion, Garry Kasparov: “This is likely part of a broader Kremlin campaign to manage expectations at home and encourage its international appeasement brigades to push for ceasefire and off-ramps to salvage Russian’s remaining gains…. it doesn’t take courage to say things on Russian TV, it takes permission.”
