Questions for Mr. Putin from a Russian
posted on moonofalabama.org [1]
It seems that I am not the only person with doubts about Putin’s approach to conflict.
Questions for Mr. Putin from a Russian
- Why has a special operation, which usually takes no more than a few days, a few weeks maximum, has turned into a full-scale armed conflict that has been going on for a year and, judging by the President’s actions (giving vacations to the members of the Special Military Operation every six months, for example), will last at least several years? If this is due to intelligence errors and miscalculations of the political leadership, then what conclusions should be drawn from these errors, including those involving personnel?
2. What is the purpose of the SMO? Demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine, coupled with pushing NATO out of our borders, as mentioned at the beginning? Or the protection of Donbass from bombardments, or the protection of our border lands, which until February 2022 were never hit by shells and rockets from the Ukrainian side? The president and his ideologues named and the first, and second, and third reason, but never explained why they have change their minds so quickly. It is noteworthy that not only were none of these goals achieved in the last year, but exactly the opposite happened. An attempt to demilitarize Ukraine has led to a Ukraine is now much better armed than a year ago, and with the most modern Western weapons. An attempt to denazify ended with an increase in the approval of the nationalist Bandera among the citizens of Ukraine (from 22% in 2012 to 74% in the spring of 2022). The “defense of Donbass” was carried out with such elephantine grace that it is still being bombed and the number of casualties has increased dramatically (in 2021 there were about 100 victims of the UAF bombing, and in 2022 more than a thousand). An attempt to put up a barrier against NATO has resulted in Finland and Sweden joining NATO (which means NATO troops soon to be stationed near St. Petersburg), and Ukraine, though formally remaining a non-NATO member, is in fact in the closest coordination with the armies of the alliance. And again, no one at the top even tries to admit mistakes and understand who is to blame for the fact that the goal of the SMO achieved exactly its opposite.
3. What are the losses of Russia in this conflict? The Ministry of Defense reported on the losses many months ago, the authorities with cheerful cynicism repeat the words that “we have not started yet” and “we have a large resource.” Foreign media and internet sites are spreading such frightening figures that they cause deep despondency among the Russian population.
4. Why, during this protracted conflict, has Russia continued to sell oil and gas to the West, which propaganda and the top leaders themselves call the enemy? Why does Russia continue to pay millions of dollars to Ukraine for the transit of gas and oil through its territory? Obviously, these millions go to the Ukrainian budget and turn into bullets and shells that kill Russian servicemen and volunteers. Why, finally, is the command regrouping troops in such a way that it suspiciously resembles a retreat from previously occupied territories?
5. Why did the army find itself in such a state that people even have to buy weapons and equipment themselves? The media reported that about 1 million uniforms were stolen from warehouses and the perpetrators were not found or punished! People take loans to supply their mobilized relatives with the necessary things! The authorities, the prosecutor’s office, the police are silent about this.
6. Why do any attempts to criticize the outrages that are happening cause a sharp repressive reaction? People are fined, imprisoned for “fake news,” the media and Telegram channels are closed. We have no provision for censorship under the constitution; civil liberties, on the contrary, are indeed guaranteed by that document. No martial law has been introduced in the country, and formally we are generally at peace with Ukraine and continue to recognize its government and its borders under the relevant treaty. True, several former Ukrainian regions have been declared part of the Russian Federation, but it seems that we have not canceled international agreements that are incompatible with the current state of affairs.
When will President Putin explain all this, say what is happening, what the government expects from the people, and why it is behaving so incomprehensibly?
Posted by: Roman | Mar 13 2023 17:56 utc | 291