Former Russian secret service officer Igor Girkin (52) and Kremlin boss Vladimir Putin (70) are unlikely to be friends anymore. Girkin has been critical of the Russian military since the invasion of Ukraine. And he went on a rampage against the Kremlin again.
“What Putin is doing is nonsense,” Girkin said in the interview, according to Focus. The Russian government still does not accept responsibility for the mistakes in the war in Ukraine. According to Girkin, once defense minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR), Putin is shifting everything to the defense ministry. Many of his comrades would still fight at the front and lose their lives there.
A victory over Ukraine is “impossible”, but Putin says everything is going well. Girkin ruled out a coup, but the current Russian government cannot handle this crisis. Girkin is also going to court with Putin’s spokesman Dmitri Peskov (55). What he says about the war is “either sabotage or unimaginably stupid – or a combination of both”.
Putin plans to make important announcements next week
The former Secret Service agent had publicly criticized the Russian president several times in the past. Again and again he warned of military defeat for Moscow.
As military leader of the Donetsk People’s Republic, Girkin commanded the downing of passenger jet MH17 in 2014. He was instrumental in both the Moscow-led annexation of Crimea and later attempts at separatist secession around the Donbass in Ukraine.
According to Russian media, Putin plans to make an important announcement next week at a meeting of the defense ministry. At a government meeting last week, the Kremlin chief had already called for changes to the armament plans.
It is possible that Putin will continue to push for the conversion of his own economy to a war economy, as his own forces in Ukraine continue to have supply problems. Due to ongoing difficulties in the war, Putin has recently avoided the topic. (nad)