Russia's military command has come in for sharp criticism over the stalled offensive in Ukraine.
Two voices have been especially vocal - Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov and Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner mercenary group. This is why they matter.
The two men do not formally head any of Russia's military or security agencies, and yet they have somehow been allowed to criticise army commanders in unison and praise each other's views too.
Russia's war in Ukraine has ruined its army's image of an efficient and well-run body - from its failure to live up to state TV's promise of Kyiv being captured in three days to its retreat from large swathes of Ukrainian territory. A newly appointed chief of Russian forces in Ukraine, Gen Sergey Surovikin, can so far only claim success in blowing up Ukrainian power stations.
But the mere fact that these two men have not been silenced for what would otherwise be seen as an unheard of display of disloyalty suggests Vladimir Putin is taking their opinions into account.
The fate of Col Gen Alexander Lapin is a case in point. One of the top Russian commanders in Ukraine, he was fired late in October, according to widespread reports.
Ramzan Kadyrov had described him only two days earlier as "talentless", blaming him for recent defeats, including the recapture by Ukrainian forces of the eastern town of Lyman in early October. The Chechen leader said on social media that Gen Lapin should be stripped of his rank and "sent to the frontline as a private".