Ukraine plunges war leader Putin into a dilemma

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Bad military strategist or victim of his obsession with power? Kremlin ruler Vladimir Putin (70) has hurled virtually the entire combat capability of Russia’s armed forces into Ukraine. He dreams of the new, great empire of Russia. This at an enormous price of blood – while the national borders apparently only sporadically remain secured. The Russian army is busy in Ukraine. This shows Putin’s failure as a war leader. Russian border guards were limited to a few soldiers. Ukraine is now taking advantage of this coolly – possibly as part of its long-awaited spring offensive.

War has also been raging in Russia since Monday. Russian anti-Putin groups have seized several villages in the Belgorod border region and are engaged in heavy fighting with the Russian army. These are not random spontaneous attacks by nationalist irregulars and partisans. Most militia members are Russians and declared guerrilla fighters. But they wear Ukrainian combat gear, are armed with standard NATO rifles and travel in armored American Humvees.

The maneuvers from Ukraine put Putin in a dilemma. The Supreme Commander of the Russian Armed Forces has weakened his country. If Putin does not send troops back to Russia to defend his own territory, he is showing his people that he cannot even defend his own border. However, if he moves troops to the border, he weakens his own defense positions at the front. This comes at a time when Ukraine is about to launch its spring offensive.

Guerrilla disruption with a clear goal

The Russian provincial government of Belgorod quickly proclaimed an anti-terror regime on Monday. But soldiers and combat equipment are missing. The motley crew of invaders set up positions in the “liberated” areas on Tuesday evening and initially held them – although Russian media soon reported that the “saboteurs had been completely destroyed”, according to “Komsomolskaya Pravda”. The Moscow Defense Ministry speaks of the “destruction of more than 70 Ukrainian terrorists, four armored fighting vehicles and five pick-ups”.

The government of the oblast suspended the anti-terrorist operation late Tuesday, but explosions continued to thunder in Belgorod on Wednesday night. Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov (54) confirmed a drone attack on Telegram. It remains unclear whether the Russian “anti-terrorist operation” was able to completely repel the partisans. The guerrillas on the southern border pose a new threat to the Kremlin with enemy heavy artillery, armored cars and combat vehicles.

The purpose of Belgorod’s disruptive action is clear: Ukraine wants to cause chaos as far as Moscow, distract troops, demotivate the enemy and force them to waste resources. Despite denials from Kiev, it seems proven that the paramilitaries of the Free Russia Legion and the Russian Volunteer Corps cooperate with official Ukraine.

Bolgorod raid on Kiev approved

The Ukrainian online newspaper “Strana” reports that the leaders of the resistance groups were in Kiev on May 17 to visit the military intelligence service (GUR). A photo shows the two on Rybalskyj Island in Kiev, right next to the GUR headquarters.

People in Ukraine want to know that the secret service approved the attack on Belgorod five days before the invasion of Russia. Through their Telegram channels, the two resistance groups stated that they are putting aside their differences and are now doing “common cause”, the results of which will follow soon.

After the first cross-border attack in March on the Russian region of Bryansk, Legion Free Russia leader Denis Kapustin (52) confirmed in an interview with the “Financial Times” that Kiev was directly involved in the operation. (kes)

Source: Blick