Igor Girkin, also known by his spy name Strelkov, has been an officer in the Russian army and in the spy organization FSB.
He played a key role when the Crimean peninsula was annexed by Russia in 2014.
The Dutch authorities have issued an international arrest warrant for Girkin, because he is accused of being one of those who shot down the Malaysian Airlines plane MH17 over Ukraine in 2014. He is on that occasion charged with war crimes. He has since denied that it was Russian nationalists who shot down the plane.
Now he is reaching out to Russian President Putin, writes British Institute for the study of war.
Fears Putin’s successor
On Monday, Putin declared victory in the city of Lysychansk and thus in the entire Luhansk region. This has been one of Putin’s main goals throughout the war.
Girkin believes Russia has paid too high a price, for limited progress in eastern Ukraine.
– Maximum tap
Ahead of a meeting between Putin and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, Girkin posted a series of messages to his 400,000 followers on the Telegram messaging service.
Do you think Putin has changed his behavior?
Among other things, he believed that the Russian special forces had failed in the goals set in the “second phase of the special operation”, ie the phase that started when the Russians withdrew from Kyiv.
– The Ukrainian defense in Lysychansk is deliberately designed to inflict maximum losses on the Russian forces and thus use large amounts of crews and equipment, Girkin writes, according to the Institute for the Study of War.
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– It was a significant mistake by the Russian leadership to accept that the match should be fought on Ukrainian terms, he writes.
He believes the Russian forces need time to rest and recover, in order for them to regain their offensive potential.
He also believes that the Russians have limited opportunity to make further progress in Ukraine, because the Ukrainians have greater forces and better weapons.
– Undermining Putin
Guilty of famine
The Institute for the Study of War emphasizes in its article that they believe Girkin is undermining Putin and his attempt to portray a victory in Luhansk as a significant victory in the war.
The institute writes that Girkin probably still believes that the invasion of Ukraine was legitimate and necessary, but he believes that it was done in the wrong way.
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Girkin, along with other members of the Russian nationalist-military blogging sphere, will likely continue to criticize the Kremlin’s line when it comes to the operation in Ukraine, in an attempt to drive a mass mobilization of Russian forces and a more competent military leadership. the institute.
Støre met Zelenskyj: Gives ten billion
Zelensky: Difficult task
Despite Putin declaring victory in Lysychansk, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is not ready to lay down his arms.
“There have been no significant changes on the battlefield in the last 24 hours,” Zelensky said on Monday afternoon, according to the news agency Reuters.
– The armed forces respond, push back and destroy the offensive potential of the occupiers day after day. We have to crush them. It is a difficult task. It requires time and superhuman effort, but we have no alternative, Zelensky said.
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