Unfortunately, rules of war state roads and bridges are qualified as legitimate military targets.

Moreover, think about it, there are 140 million Russian people and most are apathetic. I understand that Putin’s regime is brutal, but it is tragic that the Russians have become culturally passive to accept their repression after centuries of authoritarianism, from tsardom, to communism to Putinism. And humans being humans, Russians, like many people really, only complain if it starts to affect them personally. Putin have been killing dissidents and engaging in wanton corruption way before; but only when he tried to implement an unpopular pension reform that people went to the streets en masse, which came close to seriously threatening his power from the public themselves. See, people are not naturally predisposed to yearn for democracy, and so long as their standard of living is sustained, people see authoritarianism as simply a different approach for leading a country.

Unfortunately, the Russian public are just as complicit by keeping mum about the war. Say what you will about the illegal invasion of Iraq, but at the very least thousands of Americans across the United States (and millions across the world) marched and protested against it. In Russia, there are thousands who protested the invasion of Ukraine, but it is only when they become personally affected that they mobilise in significant numbers. The invasion of Kursk is trying to convince the Russians that they are now affected, and Putin’s image of a strongman who could protect them is tarnished.