Kremlin boss dissatisfied?
Putin visits commanders on border with Ukraine
08/19/2023 10:46 am
The Russian invasion has already lasted 18 months, and Vladimir Putin is apparently not satisfied with the course of events. The Kremlin boss travels to the headquarters of the “military special operation” not far from the Ukrainian border. Commanders are to report there.
According to official sources, Russian President Vladimir Putin met high-ranking commanders in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don. At the headquarters of the “special military operation,” as the war against Ukraine is further trivialized in Russia, Putin met Chief of Staff Valeri Gerasimov, the Kremlin said. He also had reports from commanders and officers.
It is unclear when exactly the meeting should have taken place. A reason for Putin’s visit was not given either. Rostov-on-Don, not far from the Ukraine, has also gained international notoriety because the Russian mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigoshin had it occupied for several hours at the end of June as part of his short-term uprising.
Out of frustration at what he saw as ineffective Russian military leadership, Prigozhin had his fighters march from Rostov towards Moscow. After negotiations with the Kremlin, in which the Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko acted as mediator, the 62-year-old then ordered the withdrawal.
But the Kremlin boss cannot be satisfied with the course of the war. The Russian invasion has been going on for 18 months. According to a media report, almost half a million soldiers have been killed or wounded on both sides. The total number of Ukrainian and Russian troops killed or wounded since the beginning of the war is approaching 500,000, the New York Times quoted US government officials as saying. At the same time, they warned that the losses are difficult to estimate because Kiev does not publish any figures. In addition, it is suspected that Moscow is naming too few deaths and injuries.