EKO HOT BLOG reports that Russian President, Vladimir Putin has insisted that Russia’s military is doing a great job in Ukraine, while his defence ministry confirms its forces have been forced to retreat from several key towns.
Vladimir Putin’s frontline in Ukraine has spectacularly collapsed within just days – but the Kremlin leader has refused to acknowledge the retreat. On Saturday, President Putin instead praised Russian officials for doing a “great job” in Ukraine.
He also spent the day opening the largest Ferris Wheel in Europe, in an out-of-touch ceremony that one BBC journalist described as “surreal”.
Commemorating Moscow City Day on Saturday, President Putin spoke with officials and delivered a speech praising Moscow’s role in the Ukrainian war.
He claimed that “Moscow specialists are already doing a great job in reviving the capitals of the Donetsk and the Lugansk people’s republics”.
President Putin claimed Russians were helping to “rebuild damaged residential buildings, roads, schools, doing everything to prepare Donetsk and Luhansk for the winter period”.
However, he did not acknowledge the dramatic collapse of the Russian frontline nor the remarkable game-changing advances of Ukrainian forces.
President Putin also released a video encouraging Russians to cast a vote in Sunday’s local and regional elections.
The BBC’s Francis Scarr tweeted: “For the time being, Putin isn’t reacting publicly to the setbacks now being encountered in his ‘special military operation’.
“Instead, this morning the Kremlin released a video in which he encourages Russians to cast e-votes in tomorrow’s local and regional ‘Single Voting Day’.”
A growing number of Russians are voicing their criticism of the recent retreats.
Ramzan Kadyrov, the Kremlin-appointed leader of Chechnya, questioned Russian military leadership in the wake of the retreats.
In a post on Telegram, Mr Kadyrov said: “If today or tomorrow no changes in strategy are made, I will be forced to speak with the leadership of the defence ministry and the leadership of the country to explain the real situation on the ground to them.
“It’s a very interesting situation. It’s astounding, I would say.”
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