A few days ago, on one of the most watched programs on Russian state television, a retired colonel in the Russian army criticized the war in Ukraine, saying, “On the battlefield, victory is in the end for those with high morale, but we the world is against us, even if we deny that fact. Sooner or later it must stun us."
In a rare moment of critical expression of what is happening in this war, the French magazine Le Point quoted Colonel Mikhail Khodarionok, 68, in a report, as saying in the program broadcast on May 17 on the first channel of Russian television, "There must be To stop swallowing up soothing information, our situation is getting worse and Ukraine can mobilize more than a million trained men who are ready to sacrifice themselves for their country."
"Le Point" stated that these remarks made the program's guests fidget and show unease, interrupting the presenter of the program, Olga Skabieva (37 years), - nicknamed "Putin's Iron Doll" for her propaganda skills - Colonel Khodarionok, saying, "But the Ukrainian army is not an army of professionals," which is what Khudaryonok replied, "It doesn't matter, the Ukrainians are ready to fight to the end, and we shouldn't believe everything our experts say about their low morale, it's not true."
The French magazine commented on what happened by saying that Russian President Vladimir Putin would not have imagined such bad publicity in one of the most watched programs in the country, attributing the audacity of the guests to the impatience of some commentators in light of what they see as setbacks for the Russian army and its slow progress.
Andrei Kolesnikov, a specialist in Russian politics at the American Carnegie Endowment, believes that the Donbass region has become an increasing source of concern for Moscow, noting that this colonel would not have appeared in front of the cameras during the period of strict censorship, "if he had not been one of the conservatives known for their loyalty to Putin," but he added that what he said This man "simply reflects the sentiments of Putin's supporters."
Even the star announcer Vladimir Soloviev (58 years), according to the magazine, expressed his indignation several times. He asked, shortly after the Ukrainians drowned the Russian cruiser Moskva, "I want someone to explain to me just how you lost this ship?", in a tone that reflected his doubts about the official version of the incident, wondering Further: "Why was there no missile defense system to defend this cruiser?".
In another program of his, Soloviev poured out his anger on the Turkish "Bayraktar" drones, which it seems that Ukraine has supplied a large number of, while the Russian soldiers lack equipment, wondering, "The soldiers on the front lines tell us: Provide us with drones! So why can't we produce Is this equipment in large quantities?
According to "Le Point", the criticism is not limited to television, but rather well-known bloggers have broken their reservations. The defeat of a Russian battalion that was trying to cross the Seversky Donets River in the Lugansk region on the tenth of May shocked Russian observers, as it is estimated The Russians killed more than 400 soldiers that day, with nearly 80 armored vehicles destroyed.
Blogger Yuri Podolyaka, who has 2.1 million subscribers on Telegram, commented in a video related to this incident, saying, “I have been calm for a long time, but what is happening now can only be explained by the stupidity of the Russian military leadership, as the problems that unfolded at the beginning of the war are still the same and they did not Something changes, and this leads us to question the leaders of this military operation."
In this bleak context, according to the magazine, the Kremlin revealed steps aimed at enhancing confidence in its forces. It announced the deployment of a new generation of Terminator tanks in Donbass and the arrival of laser systems aimed at destroying enemy drones, according to the Kremlin.
However, it seems, according to the magazine, that retired Colonel Mikhail Khodarionok received instructions and appeared again on the "Russia" channel, changing his tone, declaring that the Ukrainians could no longer win, and that "we will destroy all the artillery supplied by the Americans."