‘publicly lambasting the “generals and ministers” in Moscow’
Ah, things are getting interesting now. In Russia, you couldn’t criticize the tsar, so it was always “the tsar is being ill-advised by his generals and ministers”. So for a Russian, this is basically the same as directly criticizing Putin, just doing it in a way that they can’t be held accountable for.
Kremlin Palace intrigue. Grab some popcorn.