Posted on 09/12/2022 11:01:38 AM PDT by dennisw
You can normally expect Russian state TV's flagship weekly news programme to trumpet Kremlin successes.
But yesterday's edition opened with a rare admission.
"On the frontlines of the special operation [in Ukraine], this has been the toughest week so far," declared sombre-looking anchor Dmitry Kiselev.
"It was particularly tough along the Kharkiv front, where following an onslaught by enemy forces that outnumbered ours, [Russian] troops were forced to leave towns they had previously liberated."
For "liberated", read "seized". Moscow had occupied those areas months ago, but after a lightning counter-offensive by the Ukrainian army, the Russian military has lost considerable territory in north-east Ukraine.
Still, Russian state media are putting a brave face on things. Officially, what happened in Kharkiv region isn't being referred to here as a "retreat".
"The Russian defence ministry dismissed rumours that Russian troops fled in disgrace from Balakliya, Kupiansk and Izyum," claimed the latest edition of the government paper, Rossiyskaya Gazeta. "They didn't flee. This was a pre-planned regrouping."
In tabloid Moskovsky Komsomolets, a military analyst took a different view: "It's already clear that we underestimated the enemy. [Russian forces] took too long to react and the collapse came… As a result, we suffered a defeat and tried to minimise the loss by withdrawing our troops so they weren't surrounded."
This "defeat" has sparked anger on pro-Russian social media channels and among "patriotic" Russian bloggers, who have accused their military of making mistakes.
So has the powerful leader of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov.
"If today or tomorrow no changes in strategy are made," Mr Kadyrov warned, "I will be forced to speak with the leadership of the defence ministry and the leadership of the country to explain the real situation on the ground to them. It's a very interesting situation. It's astounding."
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
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It’s more than six months since Vladimir Putin ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In the days that followed, I remember Russian politicians, commentators and analysts on TV here predicting that what the Kremlin calls its “special military operation” would be wrapped up within days; that the Ukrainian people would greet Russian troops as liberators, and that Ukraine’s government would collapse like a pack of cards.
It didn’t.
Instead, more than six months on, the Russian army has been losing ground.
The globalists may be very close to ridding themselves of Putin.
Putin’s regime won’t survive a loss in Ukraine. His best hope was to harden the front lines as they were and declare victory. But the Ukrainians aren’t cooperating.
He also won’t remain in office if he tries to order a nuclear strike. His own people will usher him into retirement.
No…Putin’s health will be his limiting factor…
Putin seems to have done a pretty thorough job of eliminating anyone in Russia who might impose consequences on him.
Is this a last gasp or a “bulge?”
More cartoonish/childish deep-state propaganda and characterizations of Russia/Putin - Parliament, the Military, the Orthodox Church, etc.... have NO voice in policy/society. For them, its all about Putin.
Putin will survive this.
Eventually, he’ll negotiate an end to the “Special Military Operation “ and withdraw Russian forces. The propaganda mills will treat it as not a loss but a win where Putin taught the West and Ukraine a lesson, etc., etc...
Aside from that, Putin isn’t stupid. He knows how to survive. After all, who could oppose him?
Nixon was good with Brezhnev. Carter came along and we got Afghanistan. Biden’s no different. The pendulum swings both ways on our end and the Russians will always stay the same. It goes back to the Czars. To say that we’re responsible for making them attack the Ukraine is blame American first. Did we make Norway and Sweden want to join NATO? The Russians didn’t learn in Afghanistan and can’t get over their breakup. We need to make NATO stand firm because they won’t on their own.
Russia is not in as bad a shape like it was when they dropped out of WW1. The people supported Putin 6 months ago. For Russia to change the war needs to go on and they need to bleed. The ethnic Russians in Ukraine are not going anywhere. There’s no place to put them. A negotiated settlement will never be permanent. Think the millions starved in the 30’s. Unfinished business.
Putin is so DONE! Stick a Fork in him, he’s done. He will not be in office in a week. More likely dead. His adventurism doomed him and his jerkwater nation. About time!
“ He also won’t remain in office if he tries to order a nuclear strike”
I happen to think the chain of command (where saner minds prevail) won’t let a nuclear strike go through even if Putin were to enter the launch codes. A “malfunction” will be blamed.
I have been following a bunch of discord servers and other alt news places. Putin has left Moscow and is North of Sochi. Some morons here still want the dictator Putin to win. Mostly pasty white, middle aged, conspiracy theory, couch potatoes, who think Putin is actually an enemy of the NWO. No one can deny that Ukraine is in the process of routing Russians back to the 2014 borders. HIMARS and well trained and motivated Ukrainians heroes are winning their freedom. LOVE IT!
“Putin seems to have done a pretty thorough job of eliminating anyone in Russia who might impose consequences on him.”
True, and is also one of the issues in this war. Any general with the intelligence or charisma to win the support of his soldiers gets transferred to run a fuel depot in Vladivostok, otherwise he could be a threat to the regime.
I keep thinking, ‘Putin has nukes’.
Putin is pretty much immune to consequences.
Like Trump said, “I could shoot somebody, and I wouldn’t lose voters”
His generals, however... Especially the one that told him his soldiers were endanger of excessive hugs ... That guy is going out a window.
I did read that the FSB was purged for their rosy pre-invasion assessments. They were given the task because of the ideologically driven belief that Ukraine was an internal matter. Supposedly the military intel replacement for the old Soviet GRU is now more in charge of Ukraine ops, but they may not have any hands on internal security, so their ability to act may be very limited.
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