Generals tremble before the Kremlin boss

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The time will soon come: the Ukrainians want to fight back in the war and push back the Russian troops. Ukrainian officer Andriy Chernyak (52) spoke in an interview with Blick of “real fireworks” and a “violent affair for the Russian occupiers”.

The commanders of the Russian army are also aware of this imminent counter-offensive. According to the American think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW), the Russian officers want to deviate from attack and switch to defense.

‘Can’t get message across to Putin’

The experts write: “The Russian military leadership is probably trying to convince Putin to also switch to defensive operations.” However, according to the ISW, that is not so easy, because the tactical war leaders are “unable to convey this message bluntly to Putin”.

Numerous military experts believe that Russian President Vladimir Putin (70) has surrounded himself with yes men since the beginning of the war. Isolated from reality, Putin should only receive feedback from people who tell him exactly what he wants to hear. Therefore, it would be difficult for Russian officers to tell their president the truth.

Someone who does business directly with Putin and who does not shy away from criticism of the Russian troops is Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin (64). He also wants to convince Putin to switch to defense mode.

Is Prigozhin the transmitter of truth?

“The financier of the Wagner group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, appears to be trying to persuade Russian President Vladimir Putin to go on the defensive ahead of a possible Ukrainian counter-offensive,” ISW said.

Prigozhin should beg Russia to focus on preserving the current front lines. In his view, this is the only way the attackers can regain combat power for later offensive operations. Russia must “entrench itself in such a way that it is only possible to tear the Russian forces from their positions with the claws of the enemy,” said the Wagner boss.

The leader of the mercenaries must act as the sender of this message. The ISW believes that Russian officers and Kremlin officials have turned to him because they are afraid to tell the president the inconvenient truth.

Generals are afraid of being impeached

Putin is notorious for his rapidly changing leadership in the war in Ukraine. Many generals are probably afraid of offending the president with the realities of war and risking their posts.

However, it is highly questionable whether Prigozhin’s words of warning will be enough to convince Putin to switch to the defensive. To this day, the Russian president maintains offensive operations in eastern Ukraine. Putin and his close circle of supporters of the war are likely to continue pushing for war gains in the future. (obf)

Source: Blick