Ukraine Knows Kremlin's 'Weakness': Former Russian Commander
A former Russian commander spoke about the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine and said that Kyiv's armed forces have found the Kremlin's "relative weakness."
"The enemy has really grown stronger, created a highly combat-ready army," former Russian Commander Igor Girkin, also known as Igor Strelkov, wrote in a message on his Telegram Channel. "In general, he successfully repelled our winter-spring offensive, while also managing to create large strategic reserves. And now the time has come for the 'respectable Kyiv partners' not to be ashamed of anything - they feel strong enough and understand our current relative weakness."
The comments by Girkin came as the war between Russia and Ukraine recently entered its 16th month, with recent reports suggesting that the Kremlin has had minimal success on its offensive front.
Igor Girkin, aka Igor Strelkov, a former defense minister of the separatist Donetsk People's Republic and Russian Federal Security Service officer, speaks during a press conference on September 27, 2022, in Moscow, Russia. On June 1, 2023, he spoke about the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and said that Kyiv has discovered the Kremlin's "weakness." Contributor/Getty Images
"Since the start of May 2023, Russia has increasingly ceded the initiative in the conflict and is reacting to Ukrainian action rather than actively progressing towards its own war aims," the U.K. Ministry of Defence said in an update on Wednesday.
"Operationally, Russian commanders are likely attempting to generate reserve forces and position them where they believe Ukrainian counter-attack will occur. However, this has probably been undermined by uncommitted forces instead being sent to fill gaps in the front line around Bakhmut."
Since the start of the war, Girkin has been critical of Russian forces and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"And Moscow? And Moscow 'rested on hopes.' The reserves recruited after the autumn defeats were wasted, no one thought to transfer the economy to a war footing, martial law was not introduced, the troops at the front were slowly decomposing and losing faith in the final victory," Girkin wrote in his Telegram post.
On May 21, Girkin expressed further criticism of the Russian military and its efforts in the war. Girkin said that he expected the Ukrainian military to attack Russian forces soon because "they have the best chance to succeed now."
"The best strike units of the Russian Armed Forces are exhausted from months of fighting," Girkin said. "Stocks of ammunition are minimal."
While a majority of the fighting has taken place in Ukraine, Putin recently accused Kyiv of carrying out drone strikes in Moscow.
"In response to this, the Kyiv regime chose a different path, the path of attempts to intimidate Russia, to intimidate Russia's citizens, and of air strikes against residential buildings," Putin said while speaking on TV, the BBC reported.
Ukraine has denied the attacks and White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said this week that the U.S. does not "support attacks inside of Russia."
Newsweek reached out to the ministries of foreign affairs in Russia and Ukraine via email for comment.
Source: Newsweek
