Is it perhaps time for a tough decision for Vladimir Putin regarding Russia’s so-called “special operation” in Ukraine, now 201 days old? Ukraine’s counterattack in the northeastern region of Kharkiv and the eastern region of Donetsk, and the withdrawal of Russian forces, may represent the “end of illusions” for the Russian president.
In Russia, there are growing calls for Putin to declare a general conscription, recognizing that there is a war going on in Ukraine, and considering that the Russian forces are not capable of defeating the Ukrainians under the existing conditions. It is noted that the word “war” used in this context is characterized as “false”, and indeed “defamation of the armed forces”. Therefore, whoever uses the word “war” is threatened with prosecution.
On Tuesday, converging information from various sources spoke of an advance of Ukrainian forces in Kharkiv and heavy losses of Russian forces, with the Ukrainian army having recaptured nearly 6,000 square kilometers, according to Kyiv. The Armed Forces of Ukraine destroyed $673 million worth of Russian equipment in 6 days, Forbes Ukraine reports, while according to the Kyiv Post newspaper, among others, the Russians have lost over 53,000 soldiers since February 24, including over 2,170 tanks (for more analysis please read the article titled “Can Ukraine become the ‘Russian Vietnam’?“).
Elements of the Russian forces that retreated from the Kharkiv region last week belonged to the 1st Guards Armored Army under the Western (Russian) Military District, Britain’s Ministry of Defense says. The 1st Armored Army suffered heavy losses in the initial phase of the invasion and was not fully reconstituted before the Ukrainian counterattack on Kharkiv.
Putin’s political problem and an unprecedented move
However, the declaration of general conscription would be seen as a crushing defeat for the proud Putin, who speaks of a “general operation”, and the support of the Russian public opinion would evaporate in this case, when it sees its children leaving for the front.
It is recalled that on Monday something unprecedented occurred in Russia, demonstrating that beneath the surface there is a political problem for Putin that will intensify as long as the war lasts. Municipal councilors of 18 districts of Moscow and St. Petersburg called on the Russian president to resign. The appeal was published by the municipal councilor of the Semyonovsky district of St. Petersburg, Ksenia Tortsyom. “We, the municipal councilors of Russia, consider the actions of President Vladimir Putin to be damaging to the future of Russia and its citizens,” the appeal reads.
Last week, the city council of Smolninskoye in St. Petersburg had by its decision asked the deputies of the State Duma (lower house) to charge Russian President Vladimir Putin with high treason for declaring war against Ukraine and as therefore to be removed from his duties. Seven municipal councilors voted in favor, while three abstained.
The following day, September 9, the councilors who signed the petition were called to the police station, where they were prosecuted for “defaming” the Russian army. On the same day, September 9, on the official website of the city council of the Lomonosov district of Moscow, an appeal of the city councilors to President Putin asking him to resign was published. In their appeal, the municipal councilors stated that for the well-being of the country, the power must change and pointed out that after the second term of the Russian president “everything went backwards”.
For his part, the leader of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRO) Gennady Zyuganov publicly described what is happening in Ukraine as a war. “How is special military operation different from war? You can stop the military operation at any time. You can’t stop war, war ends with either victory or defeat.
“I want you to think that a war is being waged that we have no right to lose,” the Telegram channel of the SOTA website said, citing a statement made by Zyuganov during a meeting of the Communist Party parliamentary group in the State Duma (lower house). “Today the fate of Russia depends on the victory in Donbas, a general mobilization is needed in the country, completely different laws are needed,” Zyuganov said.
The mistakes of the Russians in the war in Ukraine
Meanwhile, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov criticized the Russian military after Ukrainian forces retook large swaths of territory from the Russian military in northeastern Ukraine over the weekend. “They (including the Russians) have made mistakes and I think they will draw the necessary conclusions,” Kadyrov said in an audio message posted on his Telegram account on Sunday, translated by the Guardian.
“If there are no changes in strategy today or tomorrow, I will be forced to talk to the leadership of the Ministry of Defense and the leadership of the country to explain to them the real situation on the ground,” Kadyrov said after the Ukrainian forces recaptured most of of the Kharkiv area.
