A recent report has claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s closest confidants know what the retreat of Russian forces from Kherson means. The Russian independent news outlet Meduza has called the withdrawal of the Russian military earlier this month “very painful”.
“There is an understanding that we lost the real war. People begin to think about how to live on, what place they would like to take in the future, what bet to make, what to play. [On the one hand] there will be revanchist sentiments. On the other hand, there will be a request for normalization and stabilisation,” the report said, quoting Hindustan Times.
The report also mentioned that President Putin remains hopeful despite losing Kherson with an expectation that the leadership of Ukraine might change. The report says that Vladimir Putin is optimistic as a “change in politics in Ukraine, notably, the resignation of President Volodymyr Zelensky, would be positive. There was no reasoning behind such an expectation.”
John Spencer, the author of Understanding Urban Warfare told Newsweek that “Russia’s military is broken”. He added that conscription does not automatically equate to a more combat-ready military, as soldiers thrust onto the battlefield still require effective leadership along with heavy armor and long-range capabilities.
He further said, “In that sense, Russia’s combat power has been severely diminished over the past eight-plus months at the same time that Ukraine’s has been enhanced thanks to assistance from its international partners.”
On Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that millions of people in the war-torn country did not have electricity. This comes after fresh Russian strikes crippled the country’s energy infrastructure.
“Currently, more than 10 million Ukrainians are without electricity,” he said, according to AFP, adding that the regions of Odessa, Vinnytsia, Sumy, and Kyiv were most affected.
“We are doing everything to normalize the supply,” Zelenskyy added.
It’s been 269 days (about 9 months) since Russia began its military operation in Ukraine on February 24th earlier this year.