How did Joe Biden’s speech go over in Russia? Particularly the “cannot remain in power” part?
Julia Davis of Russian Media Monitor ("I watch Russian state TV, so you don't have to") was interviewed about this on MSNBC this morning. She said it was not a big deal in Russia. What Biden said is something they assumed was our policy anyway, even if we don't always say it: we want Putin gone.
What did get some attention was the criticism of him for saying it. Basically, they love any criticism of Biden. However, a far bigger story was the bombing of Lviv while Biden was in Poland. That got all the coverage.
Davis also said no one believed Putin's original justification for the war: that they had to get rid of Nazis. So they're trying new stories. One is that Ukraine was about to attack Russia. Another is that they were about to unleash biological weapons on Russia, with the help of Hunter Biden. (Gee, I wonder where they got that from.)
They want to undermine Biden, in hopes that Trump will be re-elected. They're also pushing the idea that the Soviet Union was always meant to be. They’re talking about replacing the flag of Ukraine with the flag of the Soviet Union. They're also claiming Ukraine is bombing themselves.
Davis does say that more and more Russians using VPNs to find out what's really happening.