This is the best summary I could come up with:

Putin’s re-election campaign, which has included a more than £1bn propaganda push, according to leaked documents obtained by the Estonian outlet Delfi and reviewed by the Guardian, has put the war front and centre, as he envisages a militarised society stripped of its liberal trimmings.

Insiders said that while his team had insisted that he focus on a positive agenda of social spending or cultural achievements he instead chose to declare his candidacy while speaking with veterans of the war, whom he has said should help form a new “management class” to replace the old, disgraced elite.

Even anti-war Russians regularly parrot views that the west bears some culpability for propping up the Ukrainian side, either by deterring possible moments to conclude a peace or prolonging a conflict that they believe Putin will never allow himself to lose.

Speaking before Russia’s legislature last month, Putin announced an initiative called the Time of Heroes, a programme meant to bring veterans of the invasion of Ukraine into the upper ranks of government.

In a crackdown that highlighted Russia’s conservative shift, household names like pop icon Philipp Kirkorov were forced to make tearful apologises after footage spread of them attending a raunchy “almost naked” celebrity party in Moscow.

“Now our guys, fighters, are returning from their training, many of them are very smart people with education and experience, of course, they should get their place in the management apparatus,” Anastasia Kashevarova, a former assistant to State Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin and one of the most vocal pro-war bloggers, told the Guardian.

The original article contains 1,908 words, the summary contains 258 words. Saved 86%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!