The Putin regime has developed an ambiguous relationship with Russian nationalism, which has been both a threat and a resource to the maintenance of its power. With the launch of the “Special Military Operation,” Russia’s national-patriot groups increased their profile as commentators on – and critics of – the war effort. This article analyses their content on Telegram – whose use has exploded inside Russia – and maps the discourses of this reinvigorated and politicized pro-war imperial-nationalist network. Our findings show these channels share important commonalities both in their critiques of state policy — “critical patriotism” — and their propagation of an imperial-nationalist imaginary. Their hardline illiberal demands put pressure on the Kremlin to be less pragmatic and more ideologically consistent – at home and abroad. The key difference amongst the clusters within the network was that those still conducting serious anti-regime dissent were moderating criticism to secure new niches in wartime conditions. We underline the agency of these actors in their stances to the regime in wartime, interpret their radical pro-war stances, and consider their prospects in a future postwar Russia.