In his speech ahead of Victory Day celebrations across Russia on Sunday, President Vladimir Putin continued to promote the idea that his troops in Ukraine are fighting “to liberate their homeland from Nazi filth with the certainty that, as in 1945, the victory will be ours”. .” Its portrayal of Ukrainians as Nazis rings so hollow that state TV propagandists struggle to justify the so-called “special military operation”. The description itself was meant to depict an almost painless blitzkrieg, akin to the annexation of Crimea. Instead, it turned into a continuous bloody massacre and a series of crippling punishments.
Russia was so unprepared for this turn of events, both militarily and economically, that even the most pro-Kremlin propagandists were forced to acknowledge the grim reality of a pariah state waging a war of assault.
During Friday’s broadcast of the state television show The evening with Vladimir Solovyovmilitary analyst Konstantin Sivkov argued that “Russia’s current economic market system is incapable of meeting the needs of our armed forces and the country as a whole under these conditions”. Instead, he pushed for what he described as “military socialism,” a set of wartime rules and regulations that would move all strategic resources – including land and factories – under direct government control to better finance the war.
During the same show, host Vladimir Solovyov claimed that Russia could not compete with Ukraine’s seemingly endless supply of Turkish-made Bayraktar drones, which have taken their toll on troops and military. Russian equipment. “They tell us from the front: ‘Give us drones!’ People fund crazy amounts of money. They bought whatever was available in stores. Why can’t this junk be mass produced in Russia? » Solovyov fumed.
“We have neither the reserves, nor the pilots, nor the planes.”
Semyon Bagdasarov, a member of the State Duma, added: “Everyone is ashamed to talk about this topic. Volunteers, like our mutual acquaintances… buy everything and transport there. It’s a shame ! Solovyov then angrily complained about the restrictions that make it difficult to deliver such items to Russian troops in Ukraine, adding, “It is easier to get them through Ukrainian customs in Lviv. They let in all the weapons.
Bagdasarov then resorted to blame the West for humiliations by the Kremlin, saying the recent sanctions were intended to provoke a popular uprising, similar to the 1917 October Revolution or the 1991 Soviet coup attempt, also known as the coup d’etat. August State. To forestall potential riots, Bagdasarov suggested the need for “purges” of current “leadership officials”. He said Russia badly needed a figure like Lavrentiy Beria, head of the Soviet secret police, known for his serial rapes and bloody mass executions.
It attempts to whitewash obnoxious figures from the past on Russian airwaves if nothing new., Shortly before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, the host of Weekly dress Dmitry Kiselyov praised Joseph Stalin, Lavrentiy Beria, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, among others, for Russia’s nuclear capabilities.
On Friday’s live show 60 minutesretired colonel Mikhail Khodaryonok made the astonishing confession that even a mass mobilization in Russia would not help alter the course of Putin’s stalled invasion of Ukraine. He admitted that Russia would struggle to replenish its mounting losses in Ukraine and that sending masses into battle with obsolete weapons would be counterproductive because Russia’s arsenal is not up to par with first-class weaponry. NATO order.
“Imagine the drumbeat, the sound of the fanfare, and the mobilization is declared. In how long within the framework of this mobilization will we obtain the first fighter aviation regiment? We would have it by New Years. We don’t have the reserves, the pilots or the planes so mobilization would be of little help,” Khodaryonok said. “If tonight we order the construction of new ships, how soon will we have the first? In two years! This is the problem of mobilization. If we set ourselves the goal of forming a new tank division, when would it be ready? I would say in at least 90 days. And it wouldn’t be equipped with modern weapons because we don’t have modern weapons and equipment in our reserves.
The retired colonel continued: “Sending people armed with old weapons into a 21st century war to fight NATO’s world standard weapons would not be the right thing to do. We need to replenish our losses, of course, but that should be done through industrial companies. Mobilization would not solve these problems.”
In December 2021, appearing on 60 minutes, Khodaryonok casually declared that Russia could destroy Ukraine in 11 minutes, but in early February, when Putin’s invasion seemed almost imminent, the colonel was much more clear-headed. His sobering predictions, published in the newspaper Independent Military Observerwere remarkably accurate.
Khodaryonok contradicted many popular analysts, saying in part that “To assert that no one in Ukraine will defend the regime means, in practice, complete ignorance of the military-political situation and the mood of the broad masses of the people of the neighboring state. . Moreover, the degree of hatred (which, as you know, is the most effective fuel for armed struggle) in the neighboring republic towards Moscow is frankly underestimated. No one will meet the Russian army with bread, salt and flowers in Ukraine.
Khodaryonok correctly predicted long and difficult battles, in addition to the considerable aid the West would provide to Ukraine, writing in part: “There is no doubt that the United States and the countries of the Alliance of the North Atlantic will begin a sort of reincarnation of Prêt-Lease, on the model of the Second World War.
While open opposition to Putin’s war on Ukraine is prohibited, it is clear that the Russian people are resisting in various unconventional ways. A series of fires have broken out at several military enlistment offices in recent days, as rumors of impending mobilization unsettle potential conscripts.
Putin’s propagandists have apparently been enlisted to convince the public that the outcome of Russia’s invasion is a matter of life and death for all its citizens. State TV pundit Karen Shakhnazarov, who previously pleaded with Putin to end the war as soon as possible, returned to national broadcasts after a temporary absence with a starkly different narrative last week.
In three separate broadcasts of The evening with Vladimir Solovyov, Shakhnazarov claimed that the Russians would find “no mercy” from their adversaries if the country lost the war. He threatened opponents of Putin’s invasion, predicting they would face a future of “compulsory concentration, re-education and sterilization camps” imposed as a “final solution” for the Russian people sought by enemies of Moscow. While some Kremlin propagandists reluctantly admit that Russia cannot afford to fight this war, the mainstream narrative force-fed by state media is that Russia cannot afford to lose.