“Disturbing,” “treason,” “depressing” — Moscow’s humiliating setbacks in eastern Ukraine over the weekend sent Russian hawks into a frenzy.

To stem the avalanche of scathing criticism, the Kremlin warned those who would go too far to question its strategy.

Dissenting voices must “remain within the law” that punishes people who “discredit” the army, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday.

“The line is very, very thin, you have to be very careful here,” Peskov continued.

The Russian Defense Ministry portrays the setback as a strategic “regrouping” of its troops and denies there was a debacle.

But this weekend’s news gave a jolt to the hitherto harmonious chorus of Russian media, which had been spreading the Kremlin’s message since the start of the special operation: Everything is going according to plan.

Even Vladimir Solovyov, one of the main Kremlin propagandists, admitted that “the situation is difficult and serious”.

And something once unimaginable happened.

A barrage of media pundits, analysts, bloggers and officials criticized the handling of the operation on TV shows and social media.

Chechen hardliner Ramzan Kadyrov has slammed the “mistakes” he said Russian generals made in a voice memo to his 2.4 million Telegram followers.

If no changes are made in the conduct of the military special operation, “I will be forced to speak to the Defense Ministry and the country’s leadership to explain the situation on the ground,” he said.

Although the opposition has been weakened by a massive crackdown since the beginning of the offensive, it redoubled its criticism.

Local officials in St. Petersburg are calling for President Vladimir Putin’s resignation – even if their petition has zero chance of success.

What is new is that criticism is now coming from nationalist groups that otherwise vehemently support the military operation.

While this wasn’t the first setback for the Russian troops who retreated from Kyiv and lost their admiral ship in April, it was a particularly shocking one for them.

Conservative commentator Yegor Kholmogorov said there were only two possible explanations for the hit.

Either “we have been betrayed” or “our army is not combat-ready,” said Kholmogorov.

In a televised debate, former lawmaker Boris Nadezhdin argued that “it is absolutely impossible to defeat Ukraine with resources that Russia fights with and with its colonial warfare methods, with contract soldiers, mercenaries and without mobilization”.

He was quickly taken to his seat by another guest.

Some of the staunchest supporters of the military operation are now urging the Kremlin to expand things in Ukraine.

Blogger Maxim Fomin – who wrote as “Vladlen Tatarsky” on a Telegram channel followed by more than 400,000 people – ordered a “preemptive nuclear strike” on Snake Island, which was abandoned by Russian troops in July.

There is much speculation about what this blow could mean for Putin.

According to R.Politik founder Tatyana Stanovaya, the government does not yet see any major risks.

But if the situation on the front lines continues to deteriorate, “with more casualties, more defeats, a retreat, then relations between patriots and the authorities could be seriously tested,” she told AFP.

It might be harder to crack down on those critics, Stanovaya explained.

In contrast to the opposition, which has been “crushed” as the West’s ideological enemy and mouthpiece, a so-called patriotic protest in Russia “can be regarded as legitimate”.