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Vladimir Putin is used to getting his own way – and it’s fair to say that this is NOT happening with the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The authoritarian leader now seems resigned to accepting reality, according to Mikhail Kasyanov.
The former Prime Minister of Russia, who served between 2000 to 2004, has hit-out at his former colleague, branding Putin a ‘totally different person’ from the man he served with two decades ago.
What’s more, Kasyanov has lamented Russia’s slide into totalitarianism during the most recent years of Putin’s reign, saying that the political firebrand has ‘destroyed the features of a democratic state’. Alas, his latest act of brutality may already be unravelling.
The ex-PM is adamant that Putin has been forced to accept his offensive is failing dismally, and the exceptional resistance from Ukraine has completely derailed his plan of attack. And that’ll be music to many, many ears…
“The reaction of Mr. Putin and his Victory Day speech was absolutely weak. He has already started to realize that he’s losing this war. Putin is almost certainly being ‘misled’ by his advisers about the state of Russian forces.”
“I think Putin is sounding nervous… he has destroyed all features of democratic state and now just we have [an] absolutely authoritarian regime and gradually moving to a totalitarian one.”
Mikhail Kasyanov
Certainly, assessments from British Intelligence seem to support Kasyanov’s statement: In its latest report, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) says the Russian campaign in the east of Ukraine has ‘lost momentum’ and is now ‘significantly behind schedule’:
“Russia has now likely suffered losses of one third of the ground combat force it committed in February. Their forces are increasingly constrained by degraded enabling capabilities, continued low morale and reduced combat effectiveness.
“Many of these capabilities cannot be quickly replaced or reconstituted and are likely to continue to hinder Russian operations in Ukraine. Under the current conditions, Russia is unlikely to dramatically accelerate its rate of advance over the next 30 days.
Ministry of Defence
