Heavy fighting is currently shaking eastern Ukraine. On the one hand, Russia is starting a new offensive in Luhansk and Donetsk, on the other hand, the Ukrainian army is striking back violently. Critical civilian infrastructure was also affected, according to Russian authorities. There were also numerous Ukrainian attacks in Crimea and southern Melitopol.
“Donbass is the most important front in the struggle for Ukraine’s independence,” Serhiy Cherevatyi, spokesman for the East Army Group of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, said on television Saturday. With violent attacks on Donetsk, the capital of the separatist oblast of the same name, the Ukrainian army has underlined this urgency in recent days.
This is leading to discontent, especially among the Russian deputy governments in the illegally annexed territories, The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported on Saturday. People are dissatisfied that Vladimir Putin’s (70) troops have not yet succeeded in pushing Ukrainian troops further west of Donetsk and ‘defending’ Donbass.
“Only the Kremlin sees the war as successful”
Former defense minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR), Igor Girkin (51), who also led the 2014 siege of Sloviansk, directly criticized Putin for failing to push Ukrainian troops out of Donetsk, despite the fact that that Putin demanded protection of civilians in Donbass as one of the targets of Russia’s “special military operation”. In particular, Putin’s statement on Friday, in which he described the operation as “stable”, irritates him. “Only Putin and the Russian Ministry of Defense see the war as successful,” Girkin told ISW.
Former Donetsk Security Minister Alexander Khodakowski also noted that criticism of Putin is becoming louder. A prominent Russian milblogger also accused the Russian forces of failing to counter fire in defense of the city of Donetsk, although they had never failed to do so in the previous eight years of the war.
Putin is looking for a Chechen alternative
According to the ISW, the Russian proxies warned the Kremlin even before the invasion in February that the military operation could fail. Nevertheless, people have supported Putin in the belief that his war would at least result in a Russian occupation of the Donbass. But Putin has neither achieved his Feb. 24 rhetorical goal of “saving” the people of Donbass by forcing the Kiev government to capitulate, nor achieved his local military goals in Donbass – and shattered confidence in the Russian ruler.
Instead of regaining the trust of the deputy officials, Putin relies on the Chechen alternative: As the ISW writes, the Russian authorities are increasingly “importing” Chechen officials to take over the administration of the occupied territories. This is how they want to control the territories – the Chechens under Ramzan Kadyrov (46) are known to be very loyal to the Kremlin.
The Chechen Republic and its affiliated officials are known for their brutality rather than their administrative skills. But Chechen units played an important law enforcement role during the war, acting as security forces in Russian strongholds in occupied parts of Ukraine.
Chiara Schlenz
Source: Blick
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
