Ukraine war: New Russia course causes trouble in the Putin camp

Created: 03/31/2022, 21:16

By: Tim Vincent Dicke

According to its own statements, Russia wants to withdraw troops near Kyiv.

The announcement of the Ukraine war not only infuriated Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov.

Moscow – Russia* has announced that it will “drastically” reduce its military presence in the Ukraine war near the capital Kyiv.

The West assumes that Putin's troops want to increase their presence in the Donbass region.

The alleged change of strategy has met with little enthusiasm among regime-loyal pro-war advocates in Russia.

Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin said after a round of Russian-Ukrainian talks in Istanbul on Tuesday (March 29, 2022) that the decision was taken to "enhance mutual trust" and create conditions for a peace deal.

Troop withdrawal announced in Ukraine war: Panic among Putin fans

Russia's chief negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said operations north of Kyiv and in the northern city of Chernihiv, about 100 kilometers from the Russian border, will be severely scaled back.

Forces that unconditionally support Vladimir Putin* and the war in Ukraine consider this to be absolutely the wrong way to go.

They firmly believe that Russia must “cleanse” and “denazify” Ukraine* of fascists.

Like the Russian President, they deny the country's right to exist.

A day after the announcement, Russian writer Alexander Prokhanov told The Moscow Times newspaper: "I was panicking myself yesterday." Prokhanov is a nationalist publicist and supports what Russia's propaganda calls "special military operations" - the word " War” must not be mentioned in connection with the Ukraine conflict*.

Russian President Vladimir Putin.

© Mikhail Klimentyev/Imago

Immediately after Fomin's statements, doubts arose in the West as to whether promises of an alleged withdrawal were reliable.

According to Ukrainian sources, the city of Chernihiv was "bombed all night" after the announcement.

Prokhanov was relieved after the shelling.

"I'm better today.

The night was accompanied by heavy bombardment of Ukrainian targets across the country, from Lviv to Donetsk,” he told The Moscow Times.

According to the newspaper, the writer sees the Ukraine war as an attempt to heal the wounds left by the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Ukraine war: Ramzan Kadyrov wants to take more of Kyiv

Auch Putins tschetschenischer Statthalter Ramsan Kadyrow, der als besonders skrupellos gilt und zahlreiche Truppen in der Ukraine bereitstellt*, kritisiert die offizielle russische Linie. Kadyrow ging am Mittwoch (30.03.2022) Chef-Unterhändler Wladimir Medinski im Messengerdienst Telegram an. „Wir werden keine Zugeständnisse machen“, sagte der Tschetschenenführer. Medinski habe einen Fehler gemacht und sich falsch ausgedrückt. Putin beschrieb Kadyrow mit den Worten: „Und wenn Sie glauben, dass er das, was er begonnen hat, einfach so aufgibt, (...) dann ist das nicht wahr.“

"I believe it is necessary to finish what we started: destroying the banderits, Nazis and evil spirits.

Only then should we decide what to do next,” Kadyrov said in a rage.

He promised on Telegram that the Russian military would invade the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv*.

New course in the Ukraine war?

Criticism on state TV

Even the Russian state TV partially opposes Russia's new official line.

TV presenter Vladimir Solovyov, who is considered one of the best-known Putin propagandists and repeatedly rants about a nuclear war with the United States on his show, also opposed Medinsky.

“Nobody will give up.

It should be remembered that every time Putin announced the withdrawal of troops from Syria, our grouping there only grew,” Solovyov said on his TV show, according to the Moscow Times.

As reported by the Bild newspaper, Solovyov raged against Medinski.

He was not a "patriot and not a negotiator," the TV host said, according to the newspaper.

And further: "Of the tasks that he (Vladimir Putin) has set, he has not changed a letter: denazification, demilitarization, neutral status and the independence and security of the republics of Donetsk and Luhansk." Medinski should not appear like the "press spokesman of the Ukrainian side".

(tvd)